My Father's War

[racm32]

I want to build my fathers old unit for wargaming Cold War gone Hot but not sure what scale or rules to do it in.

Background:
My father was an armor officer in the 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment (First Regiment of Dragoons) of the 1st Armored Division. He was based in Schwabach, about 12 miles south of Nuremberg, from August of 1978 to August of 1981. Their Division HQ was in Ansbach, about the same distance away. He was platoon commander of 3rd platoon of A troop. They patrolled 123 km of the border between West Germany and Czechoslovakia from their border camp in Weiden. Their mission was to provide a screen along the border to determine and develop the enemy's thrust of attack into the division's area of responsibility and delay their advance to give the main body of the division time to deploy. The border surveillance mission was conducted by two platoons from Camp Pitman in Weiden.  One platoon would be in a training and maintenance posture for two weeks while the other platoon ran jeep patrols along the border and manned the Reaction Force (known to his troops as the Rat F--K).  After two weeks they switched roles.  The platoon leader of the platoon running the patrols would be the camp commander.  The camp would be augmented by ground surveillance radar sections from the armor and mechanized infantry battalions in the division.

So for engagement scale I'm thinking 1 to 2 platoons on the US side against a larger Soviet force.

Their Platoon composition changed mid assignment.
Initially composition:
1 x Command Sheridan light tank (one he would operate out of)
4 x Sheridan light tanks
2 x Scout crewed M113s
2 x 4.2" mortar M113s
1 x M109 or 119 tracked vehicle caring ammo for the mortars.

End composition:
1 x Command M113 (he operated out of)
4 x M60A1 tanks
2 x Scout crewed M113s
2 x TOW equipped M113s

[Golgotha]

I think this is a great idea and playing ones ancestors possible war experiences I think is a great potential aspect of the hobby - very keen to see more. Love the photo.

[SJWi]

Yes, nice idea.  For gaming I wouldn't go above 15mm, and for the size of game you want to play I would stick with either 15mm or 10/12mm.  I can recommend "Seven Days to the River Rhine" as giving a fast, fun game for small scale actions. We plan to use this for 15mm. For bigger games in 1/300 we have invested in Plastic Soldier Company's "Battlegroup NORTHAG" albeit it doesn't yet cover your Yanks.  Yet to play this due to Lockdown etc etc.

Regards,

[Splod]

Contrary to some of the other opinions, I'd say 1/72 or 20mm might just be the perfect scale! Assuming you've got the tablespace that is. There's a wide variety of fantastic 1/72 scale armour available, and Elhiem do suitable figures in 20mm.

If you're looking at skirmish games with the unit your father served with, you could feasibly leave the mortar tracks off table.

For opposition, your Soviets in GSFG would mainly be T64 and BMP1 for the period with BMP2 slowly introduced from 1980. If you run with East Germans or Czechs you'd be more likely to see T-72 and BMP1, with increased chance of T-62 or BTR/OT in second line units. Again, Elhiem do fantastic minis which would suit, and there's a wide range of plastic kits that could be used.

[SJWi]

Splod, I don’t necessarily disagree. Elhiem are superb figures and the kits are very nice. What you need to do is (a) work out what sort of engagement you are playing and (b) decide on rules. I have played Cold War in 20mm but at Company level the table looked like a supermarket car-park. I would game platoon level  “infantry heavy” engagements in 20mm.

[irishserb]

This is an infinitely cool idea!

Given the size of the unit, I would lean towards 15 or 20mm, going with the larger or smaller, depending on your table size and whether you have in mind to expand the scope of the games in time.  I think 6mm and 10/12mm would lend themselves to games of particularly greater scope. 

I don't believe that there are currently any 15mm US infantry figs that fit perfectly with OG107 uniforms and M1 helmets for Germany in the time-frame, though you can find Vietnam era figs that will, more or less, look the part.   

I game the period in 6mm and 15mm, and can offer that your should be able to find 15mm infantry and vehicles miniatures through a mix of manufacturers including, QRF, Old Glory, Peter Pig, and Team Yankee/Battlefront.

Best of luck with the project, and please share your progress.

[racm32]

Some really good feedback guys, thank you.

So considering what you all have said I'm looking at fielding 1 to 2 US platoons consisting of 9 vehicles each with no infantry. They would go up against twice as many Soviet armored and mechanized infantry platoons. I already have a few Eastern European buildings in 20mm I Could use but nothing in smaller scales. I'm thinking of going with 20-15mm as I don't think the 15mm will look too far off against the 1/72 & HO scale buildings (anyone have shots of 15mm minis and vehicles along side HO buildings?). There is a good chance I will expand the collection later on for larger scale games. Normally I am restricted to a 6x4 playing area, though occasionally I can manage 4x8.

As for rules I want something that is more focused on capturing the historical feel rather then creating balanced forces, so not tournament geared rules.

[SJWi]

My advice if you want say 18 US vehicles vs even more Soviet with an ambition to potentially expand later, plus the limitation of a 6 x 4 table, would be to look at 10 - 15mm scale.  If I was starting from scratch I would opt for 10mm. Pendraken and Timecast make nice ranges.

 Can’t comment on rules. I see a lot on Wargames Vault but not sure about most of them. I have bought “Seven Days to the River Rhine” but haven’t been able to use them since Covid 19 started.

[tomrommel1]

nice project

[Dr. Zombie]

I would go 6 or 10mm. Seven days on the Rhine is on my must try list. The rules look great, but I have yet to try them out in real life. Otherwise I can heartily recommend Cold War Commander. 

[commissarmoody]

All depends on what you want to game. Cold war is getting spoiled, for chooses. From 6mm micro, battalion, bigrade, or division. To some decent 28mm figs for squad/platoon skirmish or combo-Roleplaying/wargaming.