Organisation 1941 German & Russian Infantry Companies
Hi, I've been waiting for the 2nd Edition to come out before actually buying the rules but I have come to a convenient point in my painting "schedule" for me to paint and base a couple of infantry companies. I'm planning on three figures to a 30mm x 30mm stand but I'd like to know just what stands I need to model. Can someone give me the OOB for German & Russian infantry from early 1941? Thanks for your help, Malcolm

It generally follows the format of 16 stands and one company commander. 4 of the 16 are NCOs One of the platoons carries heavy weapons and generally has a 2 inch (or equivalent) mortar, MMG/HMG and an AT rifle or PIAT/equivalent depending on the year. The rest are rifles (9 stands), with the following allowances for LMGs: 39-42 Russians 1 in 6 stands Germans 1 in 4 stands 43-45 Russians 1 in 4 Germans 1 in 3

Hi Alex, My understanding was that a 1941 German Rifle Company was composed of three platoons of four rifle squads. Each 10 man squad had a CO, 6 riflemen, and a 3 man LMG team. The company HQ included a 5cm mortar team. I was under the impression that the MMG/HMG were transferred to the battalion Weapons Company in 1940. So does this seem reasonable? German Infantry Company: Company CO Stand (officer + 5cm mortar? - not sure if the rules provide for this) 1st Platoon 1x Platoon CO Stand 2x Rifle Stands 1x LMG Stand 2nd, 3rd & 4th Platoon - as above The Russian organisation was theoretically closer to what you suggest - does the following sound right? Soviet Infantry Company 1x Company HQ Stand 1st Platoon 1x Platoon CO Stand 2x Rifle Stands 1x 5cm Mortar Stand 2nd & 3rd Platoon - as above Weapons Platoon 1x Platoon CO stand 2x HMG stand 1x Anti-tank Rifle stand I presume the rules make some provision for poor Russian command and control?

Hi Littlearmies, The organisation I detailed is a copy of the 1ed book recommendations; Essentially they do provide you with 3 rifle platoon (though each 'platoon' has 3 bases of rifles, rather than the historical 4, and one NCO). Also only 2/3 of the rifle platoons substitute an LMG for one of their three rifles. Only after 1942 do you get an LMG in all of the platoons. The fourth 'squad' in any company consists of an NCO stand, AT element (this can even be a 37-50mm gun instead of an AT rifle or panzerfaust equivalent - for the Brits for instance, 2pdrs were detailed to infantry AT sections in the early war, and the french had 20mm Hotchkiss guns), also a light mortar (50mm for germans equates to the brit 2 inch and Russian 50-pm-39 or later marks), and an MMG (For Russians a Maxim, a .303 on tripod or .50 cal for the yanks, vickers for the brits/commonwealth, MG42 for the Axis). Generally LMGs for the Germans are modelled as MG34s with bipods, whereas the MMG will be an MG42 on tripod - in the 2e rules, German LMGs have the added benefit of sustained fire (which normally only MMGs can perform) but have higher chances of running out of ammo - when their ammo does expire they revert to rifle squads. So in a roundabout way; your proposed german company is correct for 'late war' (43 and on), but for early war you only get LMGs in 2 of the 3 squads. Russians (and brits) only get 1 LMG in 3 squads, and 2 later in the war (as per the early war germans). Remember that BG:PG doesn't quite follow '1 stand = 1 squad' - the LMG and NCO stands represent a collection of all of the LMGs and NCOs in an entire platoon - strictly speaking they should be evenly distributed among their stands, but it's just a function of the rules. WRT command and control - Russians have no 'initiative bonus' when it comes to rolling activations on any given turn - Germans get +2, the other allies +1 (although these change later in the war, and German bonuses drop). Air an artillery support availability also varies with year. The precise no. of HMGs will vary, as will sub machine guns (yes, the Russians do get more of these). You might also substitute a medium mortar in the HW platoon for the light mortar - Paratroopers and other elite troops also tend to throw normal organisational rules out of the window. The rules as written do not give you a 50mm mortar or equivalent in each squad, though this is quite possible (as are SMGs and PIATs for instance) in elite troops, because they were issued in much higher numbers. Of course they're only recommendations - you can vary them for your own gaming group :) ISTR the book states that for Russians especially, you will often have 'over strength' companies (ie. extra rifle platoons) - the russian bases are 'cheaper' in the points system; but you may also have them as inexperienced (lower morale on rallying).

LA, Example Russian and German platoons. The Russian platoon is leading the advance. This one has four sections, (one of which is an LMG) and a command section. The German platoon pic is taken from a Stalingrad game and has the platoon reinforced with an Assault Engineer section. There's a German Company command next to the Hanomag (251) to the rear. DB

Thanks DB, are those PP 15mm figures? I've been using BF figures that (I'm embarassed to admit) have been sitting in my "painting pile" since around 2003. Any date on when the new edition will be coming out? I see Caliver are discounting the 1st edition. Malcolm

M, Yes, most of my first wave of figures were OG and PP - however the second wave is mainly BF :shock: BF are slightly bigger 15's - which I prefer - and have some nice poses. BG-PG 2nd Edition is now at the printers, so a couple of weeks I guess. DB