bishnak
Joined 01/03/07
Last Visit 29/10/14
35 Posts
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Posted on 13 November 2009 at 13:03:12 GMT I recently changed my basing system, and I am about halfway through re-basing my existing platoons. My Soviets are almost all re-based, whereas the US Tank platoons in the report were not.
My previous system had everything based on 50x50mm bases. Tanks and APCs were based on the 5-vehicle per stand ratio favoured under some rules systems. The only problem (and one that I wasn't that happy with) was that platoons in real organisations are generally 3-4 vehicles (ie. not 5). So in the previous system with their HQ vehicles, 'western' style companies (3x 4-vehicle platoons, plus 2x HQ vehicles = 14 vehicles) ended up being rounded off to 3 platoons (like in real life), whereas 'Soviet' style companies (3x 3 vehicle platoons, plus 1x HQ vehicle = 10 vehicles) ended up being 2 platoons each. This didn't sit well with me, since it gave the soviets less sub-elements than they had in reality (although the counter-argument was that they only manoeuvred at the company level as a minimum anyway, so this didn't matter...). But since I like to represent my forces in 1:600 scale at 1:1 ratio using real-world organisation (one of the great advantages of 3mm), distorting organisations to fit the 1:5 ratio kinda irritated me!
So now, I've switched to a system where a platoon-stand simply represents a platoon, whether it is 3, 4, or 5 vehicles. Notionally this drops the average platoon strength ratio down from 5 to 4, but in game play terms, this makes no difference. And it has the advantage of allowing the use of real-world organisations (no conversion needed from historical TO&E or battlefield accounts). It also gives me the ability to use smaller bases (in rules using both APC / IFV stands and Infantry, like CWC or BKC, having both on 50x50mm stands takes up a lot of real-estate when they dismount!).
So the basing system I use now is:
Vehicle stands (Tanks, Half-tracks, Trucks etc): 50x25mm, with 3 or 4 vehicle models, depending on the historical platoon size. For 'western' platoons, this is generally 4 vehicles even if doctrinally they started with 5, due to battlefield attrition. For Soviet Style platoons this is generally 3 vehicles.
Mechanised / Motorised Infantry Stands: 50x25mm, with 20-25 infantry minis. I include Pl level LMGs, AT weapons etc as necessary.
Leg / parachute Infantry stands: 50x50mm, with 30-40 minis (these generally had larger Platoons). I include Pl level LMGs, AT weapons etc as necessary.
Artillery (SP & Towed) / AT Guns: 50x25mm, with 3 guns (for large calibre guns like 88's or 152mm Howitzers, this could be dropped to 2 gun models). Generally a "Battery" will have 2 stands - ie. 4-6 guns, but I have them fire using a single template per battery. I do this just for aesthetics - it would be easier to have all 4-6 guns on a single stand, but the frontage for the ground scale is far too small.
Infantry Support Weapons Platoons: 50x25mm with 4-6 weapons and crew. This would be used for Mortars, HMGs, MMGs etc that were regularaly used as *complete* Battalion support Platoons. Alternately if the common practice was to break the Platoon down into sections that were farmed out to Rifle companies, use the basing below.
Small "sections" of support weapons: should be on 25x25mm stands, with 2-3 weapons per stand. This would be used for single Battalion / Company level support weapons sections of 3 weapons or less, or sections of larger platoons that were regularly attached out to rifle companies. Examples are 2-weapon Infantry Gun sections in German WW2 Infantry Battalions, WW2 AT Gun sections, Modern ATGW or RR sections, HMG or AGL sections, or Shoulder Launched SAM sections. Where mounted like this, weapon section stands can be butted together and used as a full platoon stand if retained at battalion / regimental level.
Command Stands: I base "HQ" and "FAO" or "FAC" stands as single vehicles of an appropriate type on a 25x25mm base. To distinuish them, "CO" vehicles are based on the same size base, but with two vehicles. I usually use a fighting vehicle (eg. tank, APC, IFV etc) as per the rest of the unit and the second vehicle a command post / comms vehicle where available (otherwise a truck, jeep etc).
In practice there is still some interpretation to be done (but researching this stuff is part of the fun of the hobby IMO!). I always use the 'fixed formations' rule in CWC / BKC, allowing HQ only to command their own units. This means that CO and HQ elements need to be allocated down to an 'appropriate' level. For example, since the Soviets only manouvered at battalion level, I only give them Battalion HQs and above. My Soviet companies have 3 platoons (stands) containing 10 vehicles total, as in real life, with two stands of 3 vehicles and the third stand with 4 vehicles to include the Company Commander's vehicle (on the stand, with no command function under the rules). This is the organisation for Tank Companies in 31-Tank battalions and MRR APC/IFV companies. For 40-tank Battalions, as found in MRR tank battalions, I use either 4-tank stands for all platoons (still 3 per company), or just add a fourth 3-tank stand to each company.
Western style platoons (eg. US, UK, FRG, Israeli etc) can manoeuver at company level, so I allocate HQ down to Company Commanders. They then have three platoons of 4 vehicles, plus a HQ stand to represent the company commander.
cheers,
bish |
Macunaima
Joined 09/05/09
Last Visit 08/03/15
520 Posts
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Posted on 14 November 2009 at 17:22:24 GMT I'm interested in how Bish's interpretations differ from mine. That's the great thing about the **C system: it's flexible enough to accomodate multiple readings of reality.
For example, in my fictious 1955 cold war Blitzkreig nations. the forces of Red are generally modeled on those of the Warsaw Pact. I took a different route from Bish, however, and presume that all tank stands are basically 5 vehicles (occasionally 4). Given this, my 31 tank Red battalions are made up of six stands.
Like Bish, I give the NATO-like Blues and extra level of command. However, all my command units are one tier up from Bishes'. This means that Red has one HQ for each 24 unit tank regiment, while Blue has a headquarters for every 12 unit battalion.
Finally, I also differed in basing. As an apparetment dweller, I need to conserve space. However, I also want something of a mass effect on the table. I thus have armored stands based on 25mm x 25mm based at two models per. Unarmored stands go on 25x17mm bases, so type of target is visible at a glance. An infanty unit thus has about 10-12 figures on a 25x17mm base.
Different strokes for different folks, but both systems are highly playable. |