Dispatch Riders!

 

Just the other day I was reading an old Armed Forces magazine from December 1989 which had a report of Exercise “Roaring Lion” which was a 5^th Airborne Brigade exercise on Salisbury Plain.  Towards the end of the article the CO states the following:

“Command and control generally came together reasonably well, including the use of an aircraft as a command post.  Imposition of radio silence worked especially beneficially and that, and the inevitable communication glitches illustrated the continuing need for dispatch riders and liaison officers to get round such problems”

It got me thinking about Dispatch riders in Battlegroup and that maybe they needed a few more options in AirLand Battlegroup

Here’s the WW2 Dispatches Special Rule:

If radios and telephones won’t work, send a messenger.  A unit with the Dispatch special rule automatically passes a Communications check, because they have gone in person.  Remove the unit from play once they have been used.  It costs one order to send a Dispatch unit.

Currently in AirLand Battlegroup a unit with the Dispatches special rule looks like this:

I’m thinking of increasing the cost of a Dispatch Rider by about +5 points and making them Unique. I’m also thinking of replacing the Dispatches special rule in AirLand Battlegroup with this:

If radios and telephones won’t work, send a messenger.  A unit with the Dispatches special rule is Unique.  A unit with the Dispatches special rule can be used once per game.  Remove the unit from play once they have been used.  It costs one order to use a unit with the Dispatches special rule.  The employing player must select one of the following options:

- Automatically pass a Communications check as per the standard Battlegroup Rules

- Re-roll an Orders Dice after a roll of +3 on a D6

- Re-roll a D6 to determine the number of units arriving from reserve after a roll of +3 on a D6

This gives the Dispatch rider more of a role in Command and Control, rather than just dealing with Indirect Fire.  It will cost a bit more, but gives you some more options – with dice rolls so it doesn’t guarantee outcomes.

What do you think?

Thanks for looking

Richard

New Year, New Opportunities... on Facebook!

So after doing this blog for 15 years or so with a little bit prompting I've decided to expand my online presence (ha ha!) by starting a new Facebook group specifically for my completely Unofficial Cold War variant of the WW2 wargame rules "Battleroup".

You'll note I have called the group "AirLand BattleGroup" rather than "Battlegroup Something".  This is to, with any luck, protray the period - the mid to late 1980's when the AirLand Battle doctrine was being implemented and the game - Battlegroup, in one slick heading.  Well, that's what I was hoping anyway!

I classify myself as a reforming luddite so I made several mistakes in creating the group.  So you might find a second group called "Airland Battlegroup" - a slightly different style to the page below.  Just ignore it!

You can find the real group here on Facebook and it looks a bit like this for now:

Yes - with 2 whole members - one of whom is me!  The other is a non-wargaming mate who tested the group for me to see if it was working!

There a couple of innocent questions to answer and then you to can be counted as one of an elite number of group members!

Over the course of the next few days I'll be adding a lot of the files from this blog onto the Facebook Group.  Also a bunch of other documents I've found over the years from various places - including other Facebook groups - but at least I can have them stored all in one place rather just than sitting on my laptop.

Hopefully the Facebook group will become a useful resource and maybe help drive the game forward a bit faster - giving me the kick in the pants to work on some new stuff with your help.

I'd also like it to be used to test new ideas, start useful discussions, answer questions etc.  I want it to be a fairly dynamic situation where we test ideas and rules and see what we can do to make the game better.  I'm keen to see what other people think.

So please join the group, let people you game with or are aware of who are interested in the Cold War and Battlegroup know about it as well.  I'm sure it will be a slow start, but let's see where this goes.  You never know - if there turns out to be enough interest maybe PSC will see a way forward to publish an Official Cold War variant of Battlegroup.  Fingers crossed.

This blog will of course continue - it will just be more closely linked to the Facebook group.

Thanks as always

Richard

 

Some GREAT News!

 Hi All

You may have already seen this but just in case Plastic Soldier Company have recently made an announcement regarding their future plans for Battlegroup.  You can find it here:

PSC Announcement

The paragraph that may be of most interest to readers of this blog is as follows:

As we progress further we have releases planned in consistently over the next few years. We have very definite plans in regards titles for Battlegroup, but also expansion with two new rules systems within the Battlegroup family. One will be looking at the Cold War again, this time matching up the Cold War to the original Battlegroup level of play. So as Battlegroup Commander will mirror NorthAG and its play level, so a new title will do the same for Cold War and the original level of game that Battlegroup aims for… its time the 15mm/20mm Cold War gamers to also get some love! We have other titles pencilled in to expand NorthAG too so all our existing fans will be getting new content regardless of the system you play.

 I'm very excited about this!  Sounds like exactly what I've always hoped for and more in terms of using the Battlegroup core system to play out Cold War games.

Can't wait to see what happens next!

Richard

US 9th Infantry Division (Motorized) Battlegroup

So today's the first time a new Army List has been added to my "Totally Unofficial" Battlegroup Cold War variant of PSC's Battlegroup since about 2018.  I've been thinking about this list for years - as a devotee of the original Twilight:2000 RPG certain vehicles just had to be added to any fictional Third World War setting to make it just that much more fun and interesting.... but only if you want to!

I've strived to make this 9th Infantry Division (Motorized) (9ID(M)) list as real as it could be - whilst also making it as unreal as you the player might want it to be.  While we know the US Army was not enamoured with the whole FAV concept and got rid of them fairly quickly - there was a period of time when the FAV was a much loved 9ID(M) asset.  Just imagine have 87 of them roaming madly through the battlespace!

The HMMWV Ground Launched Hellfire-Light was tested under full exercise conditions and performed well - striking tank sized targets almost 8km away.  But it never saw service.

9ID(M) never actually got one of it's most vital weapons platforms - the Assault Gun System.  Instead for a while it used the M901 ITV as a surrogate system, then replaced them with M996 HMMWV's with the TOW II ATGM.  Imagine if circumstances were different, the Cold War wasn't drawing to a close. Congress loosened the purse strings and some of the more unconventional thinkers in the US Army had been able to push through some of these ideas.

You can use this Army List to create a realistic 9ID(M) Battlegroup reflecting actual equipment usage from about 1983 to 1989 or so.  Or you can use the List to create the 9ID(M) of your imagination - still sort of tethered to reality.  Apart from one HMMWV variant in the list, all of the rest of the speculative equipment was actually produced - some even saw service eventually in the US Army.  One of the Light Tanks saw service in the Thai Army!  Some like the XM8 Buford pictured above, won their specification contests, were approved for production, but never quite got there.  What if they had?

The good news is none of the vehicles or units in this List are Uber-Tanks.  Potentially you'll have a lot of Glass Cannons on your tabletop.  Bare in mind that 9ID(M) actually did very well on exercise, even under the testing constraints of the NTC.

So this really is the ultimate "What If" List.  I hope you enjoy it as a fair amount of effort and research has gone into it - although it has not yet been tested in any way.  As always I'm really keen for any feedback - negative or positive - but anything constructive will be welcome.

Here is the list:

9th Infantry Division (Motorized) Battlegroup

It can also be found under the NATO Army Lists Tab above.

Data Cards for all the vehicles in the List will be posted next.

Thanks

Richard

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)s in the "Totally Unofficial" Battlegroup Cold War Rules

Currently I'm writing the army list for the US 9th Infantry Division (Motorised) the High Technology Test Bed force for the US Army in the 1980s.  They either had, or kind of pretended to have, a lot of very cool bits of kit for the day and worked up these disparate bits and bobs into a well functioning motorised brigade which performed well in various exercises and tests.

As I've been reading about this division, I came across a few references to their use of UAVs - specifically one called "Mercury Green".  It appears this UAV was used to provide long-range surveillance, route reconnaissance and more - even some limited EW tasks.  Information from the UAV could be down-linked, processed and digitally reported to appropriate users in real time.  All the elements could be carried on HMMWVs.

Previously I had not considered UAVs to be part of a tactical battle as represented in Battlegroup.  My information on at least what I could see as the more prevalent UAVs of the day such as the Canadair CL-289, showed they had more of an operational role - flying pre-programmed routes, recording data onto something like video tape and then delivering the whole package back to base once it had completed the whole mission.  The tape was then analysed and the intelligence would be used primarily for planning purposes - rather than real time intel that could be used to direct artillery for instance.

Mercury Green appears to be well ahead of those other systems - but so far I've failed to find anything else about it.  I think therefore, it may have been a code name for the Lockheed MGM-105 Aquila, seen here. 

This UAV fits into the timeframe, and was part of a target acquisition, designation and aerial reconnaissance platform which was what I imagine was a low-light TV camera and a laser designator - specifically to lase targets for Copperhead rounds.

Interestingly, after the success of Israeli UAVs over the Beqaa Valley in 1982 the US Army pushed for Aquila Lite, where all the UAV assets could be fitted to HMMWVs, unlike this standard Aquila being launched from a 5-ton truck:

The other option of course is that Mercury Green was a cover name for the IAI Scout or the AAI RQ-2 Pioneer, seen here on the back of a 5-ton truck:

That's all academic in a way - as now, after ignoring them, if I wanted to properly represent this cutting edge motorised division, I needed some rules for them.  So here's what I've come up with so far - it's a little like the EW rules in that you'd get a bunch of options but you have to choose 1 to be used once per game.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UAVs are Restricted and Unique.  Taking a UAV allows a player to employ it once per game.  When employed the player must roll a D6.  On a roll of 3+ they can then select one of the following UAV options to take: 

• When your opponent has rolled for reinforcements, you may choose the enemy units to be placed on the edge of the table
• Just before the first turn of the game, once both sides have  deployed you may change the aiming point of one of your Timed Barrages.
• For one turn the UAV acts as a Forward Observation and Lasing Team and may direct one Copperhead PGM round.
• Add +2 to your own side's counter-battery fire

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So that's my current thinking.  I'd be very interested in any additions or subtractions you make from these rule ideas and any feedback such as what you'd think this would be worth points wise.

Please note that I'm only really considering this for the 9th ID (Motorised) at the moment, so it's not like this will significantly shake up the game.

Thanks as always

Richard

US Army Europe and US Marine Corps Data Cards!

People started asking about US Data Cards years ago when I wasn't the one creating them and the creator at the time was doing it out of the goodness of his heart - and was probably focussed on the nations that excited him the most.  So the US Cards never ended up getting done.

Until today!

US Army Europe Data Cards

USMC Data Cards

Hopefully these will have the access issues sorted right from the start!  As always I'm happy for anyone to point out mistakes or concerns and am perfectly willing to change things where necessary.

A couple of vehicles are out of sync with their compatriots - i.e. on the wrong page, but you'll have to forgive me for that as moving the cards around is not that simple - so they are where they are!

The cards can also be access through the Cards Tab at the top of the page.

In other news, just for the sheer hell of it, I'm working on a 9th Infantry Division (Motorized) List and have already completed the majority of their Data Cards.

After that I'm going to look to doing Swedish and Finnish Army Lists.  Anyone who is happy to share useful information, documents, links etc would be gladly appreciated.  I'm always happy to give kudos to others.

I've also managed to get a bit of painting done so hopefully that will show up here soon as well.

That's all for now.

Thanks

Richard

A whole new bunch of AFV Data Cards!

So it's taken a while but today I've added a bunch of new AFV Data Cards for several NATO nations.  I've also updated the Dutch AFV Cards I added back in February - and updated the link in that post.  I'll add it again here for completeness sake.  Here's a little taster:

In addition to AFVs, I've also added the soft skin vehicles of each nation as I thought that might prove useful.  Any comments on that would be appreciated.

All the new cards (and the old UK, West Germany and Soviet ones) can be found in the Data Cards tab up above.  I'll also add them all here:

Belgium AFV Data Cards

Canada AFV Data Cards

Denmark AFV Data Cards

Netherlands AFV Data Cards

Norway AFV Data Cards

I've made an adjustment to the gun stats for the 76mm L23A1 found on the Scorpion tank, and other vehicles with the Scorpion tank turret such as the Canadian Cougar FSV.  Originally I had the L23A1 as only being able to fire HE rounds, which had an Armour Penetration of "3" - making it one of the worst performing guns in the game.  I decided this wasn't providing a fair representation of what this gun could achieve with its HESH round, so I gave it stats that were not quite as good as the 76mm gun on the Danish M41DK tank but better that the original 76mm gun from the M41.  I hope that makes sense, and helps give the Scorpion tank back a bit of punch.

Finally, as I was going through the each of the nation's original AFV data tables I found a few missing details, so I've tried to fix all those that I've come across.  Please let me know if you have any issues with decisions that I've made.

Posts like these never seem to garner any comments, but if you look at these and find any errors, please let me know so I can correct them.  Happy for any constructive positive or negative comments.  I think I failed to find 1 or maybe 2 decent side profile pics of vehicles on the cards.  I you have any that match these missing pics, please let me know.

USMC and USAEUR AFV Data Cards are next on the list.

Thanks

Richard

Updated Canadian Lists and more...

 I said I was going to do this a few weeks back and have finally gotten around to it.  Although I am working on a new Cold War game with a completely different way of building forces, I have made some minor changes and edits to both the Canadian 4CMBG and CAST Brigade lists for my totally unofficial variant of the WW2 Battlegroup game.  For completeness here, I've also included the AFV data table.

Here it all is

4CMBG Battlegroup List

CAST Brigade Battlegroup List

AFV Data

I will also update the links of the NATO lists Tab at the top of the page.

Someone posted this Youtube clip on the Canadian Division Reconnaissance Regiment up on Facebook today - I watched and enjoyed it and thought I'd put it here as well.

It's been a while since I've done this so I hope it works!

Thanks

Richard

My Unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War - UPDATE - New and Edited French Lists

Time for another update.  It's been a while I know but I've recently completed my revision of THREE French lists and I now feel they are in much better shape than they were when I first published the French Armoured Division Battlegroup list.

So here are the revised and new lists for the French:

French Armoured Division Battlegroup

French Infantry Division Battlegroup

French Rapid Reaction Force Battlegroup

I believe with these lists you should be able to replicate almost any French force from the mid to late 1980's - even possibly the first Gulf War.

The French have some awesome kit - certainly the best Armoured Cars (like the AMX-10RC) of any of the other lists, and also some pretty old and funky stuff (like the AMX-13).  I just need access to a complete range of French infantry options and then this is on my "to complete" list as I've already been putting away the odd bit of French kit for years.

Anyway - I think I have the Czechs still to do and then I'm largely calling the Army Lists complete.  Also as Battlegroup NORTHAG is coming closer - and will not be compatible with any of my stuff I won't be doing any more on this project.

As NORTHAG has gone in a slightly different direction I've decided to take the work I have done and work it into something different again, with my take on a Cold War game.

More of that in the future.

Thanks

Richard

My Unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War - UPDATED - New AFV Data Tables

Hi Everyone

Another quick update - this time with four new AFV Data Tables for the Norwegians, Belgian, Polish and East Germans.  The Norwegian table has been updated to match the new version of the army list while the Belgian, Polish and East German AFV Data tables are brand new, and should (hopefully) cover everything in each of those nationalities lists.

If you can spot any problems with the tables, please let me know.

Here they are

Norwegian AFV Data

Belgian AFV Data

Polish AFV Data

East German AFV Data

Thanks

Richard

My Unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War - French Armoured Division Battlegroup List

Finally.....

Its been a long time coming and involved a fair amount of effort, but today I'm pleased to post up a French Armoured Division Battlegroup List:

French Armoured Division Battlegroup

Many, many thanks to Paul Cziganj and Jerome Bons without whom this list would either not exist or if it did, it would be seriously wrong!  It seems even the French find French Army TO&Es a little confusing!

I'd appreciate any feedback including errors etc.  Any mistakes in the list are purely mine, not Jerome or Paul's.

You'll note that there is a new French specific Special Rule re: Rifle Grenades as part of the list.  I am trying to show the heavy, doctrinal use of rifle grenades by the French Army.  Any better ideas for dealing with this would be appreciated.

So in the next month or so, I hope to add 2 more French lists (which will be much easier now this list is done) and I'll work on the French Vehicle Data and Weapons information.

It's been a fairly bad year hobby-wise as we planned to be moving overseas about now.  That has all been put on hold for a while so hopefully next year will be rather different and a bit more time for painting soldiers and playing games.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.

Thanks for your support

Richard

My Unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War - West German Panzer Battlegroup List Updated

Just a very quick note to let you know the West German Panzer Division list has been updated.  The links at the top and side of the page have both been updated.  Mostly simple changes and corrections based on feedback.  Most dramatically Leopard 2 units are no longer veterans and are now a little cheaper points-wise.

Thanks

Richard

My Unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War - Polish Airborne Brigade Battlegroup List

So finally I'm able to publish the last Polish list - the 6th Pomeranian Airborne Brigade.  This is another useful list if you want to game out the Battle for Denmark.

So here is the list

Polish Airborne Brigade Battlegroup

Still had no real feedback on these lists - so if you're interested in the Poles and you've had a look at the lists, please point out any errors or areas where we've missed something out.

As I said this will be the last list for the Poles - now we'll be moving to some French lists for a change.

Thanks

Richard

My Unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War - Polish Naval Landing Brigade Battlegroup List

So today I'm posting up the third of the four Polish Lists that we have planned.  This list can be used to create a force from the 7th Luzycka Naval Landing Brigade - a very useful list if like me you'd like to play out a Battle for Denmark Campaign.

So here is the list

Polish Naval Landing Brigade Battlegroup

We haven't really had any feedback on the Polish lists so far, so please have a look at them and let me know what you think.

Thanks

Richard

My Unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War - Polish Armoured Division Battlegroup List

Sorry - I had to pull the list and sort out a couple of small errors.  That is all now fixed

So here is the next Polish list - their Armoured Division list.  Not really that much different to the Motorised Rifle list - but now with T-72s!

Here it is:

Polish Armoured Division Battlegroup

As always - please let me know what you think - good or bad...

Thanks

Richard

My Unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War - Polish Motorised Rifle Division Battlegroup List

Well this has been some time in coming, but I'm very pleased to be posting up today the newest list for my unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War.  This time around it's the first Polish list - focussed on the Polish Motorised Rilfe Divisions of the Pomeranian Military District - the ones that would be primarily involved in heading towards Denmark (with the 15. MRD being assigned the role of the main force to come ashore on Zeeland as the follow-on force to Soviet and Polish Naval Infantry.

Anyway - here it is:

Polish Motorised Rifle Division Battlegropup 1.1

Once again the speed by which this list appeared and most of the heavy lifting is all down to Paul Cziganj whose immense help has meant you are getting this now, not 3 years from now when I could have gotten around to it by myself!  So thanks Paul, once again.

So please have a look for yourself.  Download, let me know of any errors or omissions etc and I'll be happy to go back in a revise.

Oh yes - I'll now also be adding the Belgian list to the side bar for easy access.

Thanks

Richard

My Unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War - Belgian Mechanised Infantry - Armoured Battlegroup List

Sorry it's been a while - but "Real Life" is raging pretty hard at the moment and after completing a bunch of painting commissions all my gear has been packed away.  So the only thing I have to work on, is army lists.

So today I've finished a draft Belgian List.  I think it's reasonable accurate, but will be updating it once I get any feedback.  So here it is:

Belgian Mechanised Infantry - Armoured Battlegroup

So please have a look and let me know what you think

Thanks

Richard

My Unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War - East German Paramilitary Battlegroup List

So it's taken a while to get here, and rather than jump on the Polish lists like I thought, instead we've completed an East German Paramilitary Battlegroup list as something a wee bit different.  Once again this  would not have been possible except for the extensive research efforts and help provided by Paul Cziganj (as known as Kirill_GV001 on the Battlegroup forum). 

The primary idea behind this list is to provide opportunities for players who want to run some games set in Berlin to have access to some of the units that would have been at the forefront of the battles - excluding frontline NVA or Soviet troops.

So the list includes units from Wachregiment "Feliks Dzerzhinsky" of the Stasi, the Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse or "Combat Groups of the Working Class" and Grenztruppen (or Border Troops) - all of which had a role in Operation Stoss - the planned capture of West Berlin.

So here is the East German Paramilitary List:

East German Paramilitary Battlegroup

I still have to finalise the East German AFV data.....  

Sadly for the Poles they are getting put off yet again, so the current plan is to deal with the Belgians next.  So we'll see what actually turns up!

Let me know if you have any questions, comments, suggestions etc - here or on the Battlegroup forum.

Thanks

Richard

My Unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War - East German Motorised Rifle Division List

Well it's taken a long time, but finally I can upload a Warsaw Pact nation list other than the Soviet Union!  I can honestly say it would not have been possible but for the extensive research efforts and help provided by Paul Cziganj (as known as Kirill_GV001 on the Battlegroup forum).  Paul and I will be collaborating together to produce a number of other WARPAC lists over the next few months, so look forward to more East German lists followed by several Polish lists and then who knows what will come next.

Anyway - here is the first East German List

East German Motorised Rifle Division

Hopefully the East German Panzer Division list will be up sometime next week (I hope) along with the East German AFV Data Table.

So please have a look at the list and if you have any questions or comments, please let me know

Thanks

Richard

My Unofficial Battlegroup: Cold War - Some new rules and BAOR AFV Data Cards

Morning everyone

Over the past few weeks I have been looking at the feedback I have been getting from players on their Battlegroup: Cold War games.  Everyone seems to be really enjoying their games - which I'm very chuffed with - but there seem to be a couple of points that some questions have been raised about.  These points reinforce some of my own concerns that have come up in our games.

1.  Soviet Orders
Many people feel like the Soviets have far too many orders - especially when you are playing larger games and take a company of Tanks and/or Motorised Infantry.  Each company gives you 4 officers, so before you roll any dice for orders you can automatically have 8+ free orders.  If you are then adding 3D6, and using Stal! Stal! Stal! you can get a whole lot done.  All the orders mean that Soviet units don't have to really act like Soviet units - which doesn't quite give the right feel to the game.

2. NATO Shooting
Quite a few people - generally NATO players - have commented on how crappy their shooting has been - especially when trying to take out Soviet tanks at long range.  In an age of stabilised guns and all sorts of fire control wizardly this does not sit well.  Some have called for all NATO units to always be +1 to hit.  I've long felt that this is a swing too much in the other direction, especially when you are using top of the line NATO tanks, which often have +1 to observe, +1 to hit and ignore a number of other die modifiers.

Anyway - I've been thinking about this for a long time and think I may have come up with some rules to better reflect both, give the game a bit more flavour and hopefully strengthen the game-balance and feel.

So please have a look at these new orders rules and new special rules and let me know what you think.

New Orders Rules and Special Rules

Without going and editing all the lists (at this stage) I suggest the following.  Soviet Officers only count for orders if they come from the Forward HQ section of the list or are Company Commanders elsewhere in the list.

NATO units with the Proficient Crew special rule are any unit rate Regular or better.

Finally I have just received the next set of AFV Cards from Greg (Chairborne) and again he has done a really lovely job and I appreciate him letting me post them up here.

BAOR AFV Cards

 I'll be printing these off and using them soon.  More will follow soon, I'm sure.

So thanks everyone and I look forward to your thoughts on the new rules.

Richard