I have been doing a bit of reading today and have had a bit of a rethink about the organisation of the basic platoons.
I have decided, after a bit of soul searching, to remove the support sections from the platoons for a number of reasons:
1. The basic British infantry platoon doesn't have a support section as standard.
2. The British platoon commander is responsible for up to 30 troops.
3. The command section is in an IFV so their vehicle has a support role.
4. All of the infantry section APCs have support turrets.
5. 4 vehicles make a nice block...5 don't.
I have also been looking into the rank structures and will be posting that once I have put it down in print.
The good news is that the troops I've already painted don't have unit markings so they can be re-distributed if I need to and it also means that I am a little closer to having enough troops for that elusive third infantry platoon.
I am planning to put together a mechanised infantry company with three platoons with a company command section to act as the bulk of the army and will have more information about the organisation very soon.
What this all shows is that it is possible to make changes at an early stage and that those changes will have a noticeable impact on the army as a whole. The building block approach to the British Army is quite handy at times.
Heya
ReplyDeleteIts been a while, so my experiences may be out of date but our rifle coy had a suppot plt which was often broken down and attached to individual plt so plt Ic for all intents and purpose had dedicated gpmg and mortar team at his immediate disposal as well as radio support.
Likewise when on ex with recce plt they nearly always had a scimitar or 2 backing up their Warriors... but they weren't my unit so i could be wrong.
5 vehicles may look odd, but if one hangs back and supports the others still can have a nice formation as they push up.
But then this is the Grymn and organisation changes from one budget to the next for all armies, at the end of the day you have to go with what feels good and right to YOU... it'll all look good to us when its on the table :)
Cheers for the info :).
ReplyDeletePart of the plan is to include a support platoon so I will have exactly the options you speak about. What it means is that I can worry about the extra sections later and that should speed up getting the infantry company on the table. It also means that I only need three more APCs to finish the vehicle strength (rather than 3 APCs and 3 IFVs).
The 4 vehicle thing makes building a platoon dropship much easier because it reduces the size required ad I can better fit it onto the dining room table :).
So what you're really saying is you need a bigger dinning room table??
ReplyDeleteEven with only four vehicles that's still gonna be a hell of dropship, look forward to seeing that alone even more if the platoon then rolls out of it.
Good luck