The Commander Series Forum

I bought a load of Cold War Brits ages ago and now need to sort them out and get them usable

This is the base list:

Unbased Name Comments Company
1 Bedford bulk refueler
1 Bedford truck
4 BV202
11 Ferret
1 Ferret 2/6 H&R
8 Fox
4 FV180 CEV
9 FV432
3 FV432 + barmine
1 FV432 + Cymbeline radar
1 FV432 + wombat H&R
3 x FV432 eng
1 x FV432 eng
1 x FV432 signals
6 x FV432+gpmg turret
4 x FV432+rarden turret
2 x FV438 Swingfire ATGM
1 x FV439
5 x Land rover SWB
4 x Land rover 1t
1 x Land Rover trailers H&R
2 x M548 US Tracked trucks H&R
4 x Saladin
8 x Saracen
19 x Saxon Scotia
x Saxon Command Scotia
2 x Saxon Engineers
2 x Stalwart
7 x Warrior
3 x Abbot
3 x Centurion AVRE
7 x Challenger I
1 x Challenger I + camouflage
2 x Challenger II
2 x Chieftain ARV
1 x FH-70
1 x Gazelle
3 x M107 175mm G
4 x M109 155mm H
1 x M110 203mm H
4 x M270 MLRS
1 x M752 Lance SP Missile Launcher
8 x Scimitar
8 x Scorpion
12 x Spartan
2 x Stormer Starstreak AAGW Scotia
7 x Striker Swingfire ATGM
2 x Sultan
9 x Spartan Unpainted

Which can all be seen here:


I also have a bag of 17 H&R Chieftains...

I'm really aiming for a mid to late 80s period so I can have some of the meatier stuff if needed So using Steve G's suggestion in an earlier thread I think I can do.

1 x Type 57 Armoured Regt. Challenger
1 x Type 57 Armoured Regt. Chieftain (though I need two more FV438s)

1 Mech Infantry in FV432s. Now some of the FV432s I have have either the GPMG turret or the Rarden turret. Can these be used in mech inf. units?
1 Mech Infantry in Saxons. Need to ID the other vehicles for e.g. AT platoons

It's all the other weird and wonderful vehicles I know little about, especially in CWC terms.

Here are some pics of the stuff:




















It's what to do with all the Foxes and Ferrets? When did the M270 come in to use?

And needless to say, you'll notice the lack of infantry which will entail a lot of painting for those!

I think I may just start putting stuff on bases and seeing what is left after making up the untits. Some of the FV432 variants will probably just be going on HQ, FAC and FOA bases I assume.

As ever, comments welcome!

Cheers

Andy

Landrovers and Ferrets for CO and HQ stands.

Use the Foxes for a Territorial Yeomanry regiment shipped over as reinforcements.

Saxons for 2nd Infantry Division infantry battalions. Each of its TF brigades had Fox recce unit.

FV432 with Rarden were the Berlin Brigade ones weren't they?

Fox turret on a FV432 body - about a dozen of them converted?

13 Toxic,very unstable...and took forever to get out. Originally issued to 2 LI in the mid-70's, to test feasibility, with some at Warminster. Eventually sent to Berlin, use changed with senior officers shirts.

Foxes were probably gone by mid-80's as their turrets were used to convert Scorpions to Sabers in 93/4.

IanS

Count
It looks like you have various other vehicles mixed in your photos on the last photo you have 2 M577 these are the American command variants of their M113.
The CV 180's can be used with the Centurian AVRE to start an Armoured Engineer Coy
The Stormer starstreak did not come into Service until 1994.
Hope this helps
Sean

In the pic with the M577s are 8x M42 Duster SPAA. Not used by the British or most major NATO armies in the 80s, although they would have been active with Greece & Turkey (still are in reserve I think). Austria also used them in the 80s, retiring them about the end of the decade.
You also have M548 US Tracked Cargo Carrier, which I'm pretty sure we used with US-origin SP Artillery such as M107/M110, which you also have. And there is a US M752 Lance missile launcher, which the British used as well. Both of these are based on the well known M113 APC, which the British didn't use, having the home-grown FV432 series instead. Our main M113 variant is the Tracked Rapier and you don't seem to have either those or the towed version - H&R do nice ones of both.
Never mind the Ferrets & Foxes, I can see some 6-wheeled Saladins & Saracens in there, Stalwarts, too! Not in mainstream use in the 80s by UK (60s/70s kit), but were still in use in odd corners like on Cyprus and were used my many other '2nd rank' armies who had been traditional British armaments customers.
Cheers,
MarkJ

That's useful info. Thanks.

Just trying to figure out what cannot be used for mid-late 80s. Or which was never used by Brits.

Think I'll order the bases I need and just start putting stuff in units!

A

Your 432 with the GPMG turrets were used as normal infantry carriers in the mech bttns.

"13 Toxic,very unstable...and took forever to get out. Originally issued to 2 LI in the mid-70's, to test feasibility, with some at Warminster. Eventually sent to Berlin, use changed with senior officers shirts.

Foxes were probably gone by mid-80's as their turrets were used to convert Scorpions to Sabers in 93/4.

IanS"

I knew they weren't popular or successful, and that no one knew what to do with them and they kind slipped down the Berlin Brigade in a "errr, I don't want, you have them! No, you have them! Oh look they've gone, someone else's problem now" way.

I didn't know they were so unstable - the turret weight and movement just too much for the frame? Or that they were such a pig to get out of, but I guess the turret blocked the overhead hatch and the internal spaces were filled with the working parts of the turret?

The demo btn at Warminster did a practice emergency debuss - it took 30 secs, by which time the vehicle would be well toasted. The were also on elderly Mk 1 chassis, which were petrol driven, and could not be floated.

IanS

Ooops... 30 secs isn't great. Under fire that's going to be hard...

Foxes definitely were not gone in the mid-80s.

As already said, they were used by UK-based recce regiments.

Several of the FV432 + Fox turret conversions have found their way to a new home in Leicestershire - http://www.armourgeddon.co.uk/
The Rarden cannons have been bored out and compressed air kit attached to enable them to fire supersize paintballs.
I went with some workmates a year or three back and we had a great fun day driving these things around (slowly - that instability perhaps?) and then zapping each other with HVAP, errr, paint
MarkJ

Cool

432 was always a pig to drive, using the control levers for someone whose sole experience was using a small bike.

IanS

That must have been fun

Couldn't they have made you a despatch rider or something?!

Too sensible, far too sensible.

Got to love 6mm!!!