Tsuba new Freikorps

[Andrew_McGuire]

That's a very pointed comment.

[Metternich]

No, it was her substitute he got (Sub Rosa).

[Andrew_McGuire]

Either way, a celebration seems called for:

[carlos marighela]

It seems that everything is coming up Rosas.

Of course Rosas never speak.

[Metternich]

Sounds like the War of the Rosas.

[huevans]

Are there useful ToE's for late WW One and early 1920's German infantry?

The WW1 rules "Mud and Blood" is pretty vague on this topic.

[Metternich]

Take a look at Pygmy Wars website for TO&Es from the Baltic wars:

http://pygmy-wars.50megs.com/pygmywars.com/military/militarypages.html

[huevans]

Take a look at Pygmy Wars website for TO&Es from the Baltic wars:

http://pygmy-wars.50megs.com/pygmywars.com/military/militarypages.html

Thinking more about platoon level skirmish games.

[Arlequín]

I believe it varied between different unit types, but one organisation I've seen has platoons with 2 rifle squads and 2 light machine gun squads, each of 9 men. The LMG squads had a single MG08/15.

The first platoon in a company also had a rifle-grenadier squad, also of 9 men. The third platoon had a hand grenade squad, likewise of 9 men.

There were four companies to a battalion, at which level there was also a machine gun company and a granatenwerfer platoon (4 launchers).

I would imagine, but do not know, that the extra grenadier squads were done away with after the war and the four squads in each platoon increased in size slightly. Five squads of nine doesn't look as good as four squads of an even number on a parade ground.

[Metternich]

Bruce Gudmundsson, in his seminal work Stormtroop Tactics, notes that in the 1917-18 period German company commanders had a great deal of autonomy in how they organized their companies.  One of the limiting factors was how many MG05/15s they had per company:  the initial allotment was two per infantry company.  Gudmundsson notes that it was soon increased to three and then four; by the end of 1917 some companies on the western front had six, while most companies on the eastern front had to make do with one or two.  Gudmundsson notes that as the number of light MGs increased, the company commanders found it necessary to parcel them out to their infantry platoons.  This led to the development of three types of squads within the platoon: light MG squad (authorized strength of 8: gunner and one or two assistants; four or five men with rifles/carbines and grenades); rifle squad; assault squad.  In some units starting in  the winter of 1917-18, the lt. MG squad developed into the Einheits Gruppe  (lt. MG team and 4-8 man rifle/grenadier team), which was capable of providing both its own covering fire and maneuver element.

How disparately organized German platoons could be in this (experimental) period is illustrated by Gudmundsson, who cites the very different 1918 TO&Es of two different companies in the same regiment (Bavarain Life Guards). Quoting Gudmundsson:

  One company is divided into five platoons - three identical "battle platoons," an "expansion platoon," and a reserve.  The battle platoons each have two Einheits Gruppen (see above) and an assault squad.  The reserve contains two specialist squads (no further information), a small recon squad, and a grenade launcher squad (this probably would be one or two granatenwerfer 16).  The expansion platoon contained four spare NCOs, 16 spare men, and the company armorer.

  The other company had four platoons (three "line" platoons and a Hqs platoon).  The three "line" platoons each have two rifle squads and two light MG squads.   In addition to these squads, one of the "line" platoons also has a granatenwerfer squad, and another of the "line" platoons has an assault squad (8 men).  The Hqs platoon also includes an assault squad (smaller, only 4 men) and a small recon squad.         

[FramFramson]

Fascinating!

The expansion platoon contained four spare NCOs, 16 spare men, and the company armorer.

I initially misread this as "and the company sorcerer." I blame LAF! 

[commissarmoody]

And those many a weird great war projects were inspired by this miss reading. 

Fascinating!
I initially misread this as "and the company sorcerer." I blame LAF! 

[huevans]

Appreciate the hard work and knowledge of the guys that supplied those platoon TO&E's!

The einheits squads are especially interesting, as they anticipate the mid 30's development of uniform sections containing both an lmg group and movement / assault group in all armies.

[Arlequín]

It wasn't a Mid-'30s development, the French were organised to do 'fire and movement' (or bounding overwatch if you prefer) within squads and doing it by 1918. Because France was seen as 'THE' Army of Europe and had 'won' the Great War, its tactics were studied and their ideas taken up by other armies in the '20s & '30s.

The 'square' platoon shown above, of two LMG sections and two maneouvre/rifle sections, or something like it, allowed fire and movement by squads. Britain's Army for one was still organised to fight in that manner into '37.

[Metternich]

  The Germans took lemons and made lemonade.  As the war progressed and casualties mounted, the number of riflemen in the battalions diminished too.  The German solution was to increase the number of machine guns (including light machine guns) assigned to the battalions, thereby actually increasing firepower even as manpower decreased.  Often German company commanders didn't have the luxury of separate organization for the light machine guns, and inadvertently that led to the Einheits Gruppe and greater tactical flexibility than could be displayed with the distinction between rifle and light machine gun squads.  This was, however, a period of make-do and tactical and organizational experimentation.  Heavy machine guns were also often delegated down to companies (vice being controlled at the battalion level - as they had been in the early phases of the war).
  And for both late war Germans and the Freikorps, casualties and losses of equipment meant "official" TO&Es were often aspirational and notional - they made do with what they had and reorganized in the field if required.   As a young infantry lieutenant in the 1970's, with men often out at schools, on leave and sick call, the normal practise in platoon field training was that if you had less than 4 men in a fire team then you often merged that fire team into the squad's other fire team.