Typical British Force Makeup

[Der Alte Fritz]

I would like details of two 3000 point British force, one infantry, the other armoured for mainly 43 Tunisia but also for late 42 Western Desert and 43 Italy. Also how they are used.

thank you

[Kingfish]

There are quite a few variations to these forces, not only because of the dates but the mission type.

For example, a 3000 pt infantry force set to defend, and having occupied the terrain for a period of time, would differ from one tasked to assault an enemy position.

The first would most likely include fixed fortifications, towed AT assets and maybe a battery of field arty to its OOB, while the latter would opt for a more mobile config - tanks and SPAT in support, along with a larger slice of arty, including Corp and Army assets if need be.

[Der Alte Fritz]

I was thinking along the lines of an infantry divsion force advancing down a road in Tunisia to attack German field defences or meeting German counter attack forces. Likewise an armoured division on the same mission.

Once I know a tyical force makeup, I will be able to see how it fits in with the TOE.

Not fixed on the points but 3000 seems a good round figure but it could change if need be.

thank you.

[Kingfish]

Generally speaking, for the infantry force I would go with a regular infantry battalion set at 80% to simulate LOB, but with its AT platoon removed. To this I would add a pair of 25pdr spotters (or one 25 and one 4.2"), two platoons of infantry tanks, maybe a TRP or three if points allowed, and a few Vickers w/ transport.

For the armored force, a motor company, a company of medium tanks, a few ACs, and a 25 pdr spotter. Whatever points I would have left over would go towards extra transport to make the entire force mobile.

[JonS]

Somewhere, back in the day, I wrote an article entitled something like "How to attack like the British". It was a sort-of compliment to some stuff JasonC had written about typical force mixes for the Germans.

You should be able to find it in the archives, possibly for CMBO. Search on my user number or the phrase "how to attack like". It's on about page 3 of a thread started by JasonC.

[Der Alte Fritz]

Hi JonS

I have been looking for your thread for ages and been unable to find it. However I did find a link in a previous thread that led me to it. As it was so hard, I have taken the liberty of posting it here again.

Excellent as far as it goes but how about the forces for Tunisia or Italy?

cheers

HOW TO ATTACK LIKE THE BRITISH

What follows is a very stereotyped, planned attack {1} by part of a British infantry division, using bog-standard formations, set sometime between June – October 1944. A similar attack profile could be conducted with the Canadians. After October the types of vehicles will change, and the ratio of Firefly to regular tanks moves from 1:3 to 2:2 {2} . Also, support vehicles such as Crocodiles and Wasps become more common.

Readers Health Warning: It should be noted that I haven’t tried this line-up as I tend not to play QBs. It is presented as a companion to JasonC’s pieces on “How To Attack Like The Americans”, and “… Like the Germans”

5000 Point Scenario (attacker gets 7500 Points), unrestricted force type.

Basic Force:

Inf Bn{3} w/MG plt (Reg) x1

25-pr. Spotter (Vet) x 6

5.5” Spotter (Reg) x 2

= 4215 Points

Armour Force (all Reg):

Churchills (9 x VII + 2 x VIII){4} = 1681 Points

OR Shermans (9 x V + 3 x VC){5} = 1557 Points

OR Cromwells (9 x CromVII + 3 x ShermVC + 2 x CromVIII){5} = 1760 Points

(Shermans and Cromwells work in troops of 4 vehicles; three of standard and one Firefly. Churchills in troops of three MkVII, plus a small troop of 2 MkVIII){6}

Attached Force:

4 x Wolverine (Reg){7} (SP AT Tp) = 408 Points

4 x 17-pr. + 4 x M5 Halftrack{8} (Reg) (Towed SP Tp) = 552 Points

6 x Universal Carriers{9} (Reg) (for bn. engr. pn. in half squads) = 204 Points

1 x Rifle Coy (Reg) (reinforcing coy) = 379 Points

13 x Kangaroos{10} (Reg) (enough to mount one coy) = 663 Points

4 x Sharpshooters (Vet) (one per coy){11} = 88 Points

2 x 25-pr. Spotter (Vet) = 442 Points

1 x 4.2” Mortar Spotter (Vet) = 111 Points

1 x 3” Mortar Spotter (Vet) = 141 Points

Take the Basic Force, one of the Armour Force choices, and as many of the Attached Force options as can be afforded and will suit your needs{12}. You will still have some points left over, so use those at your discretion.

So, for example, you could buy the following:

Basic + Churchills + Wolverines + Kangaroos + Carriers + Sharpshooters = 7317 Points, leaving 183 ‘spare’ for a few more Sharpshooters, PIATs, etc{13}, or to upgrade the quality of some part of your force.

The Bn comes with four rifle companies, and the basic attack formation is ‘two up’, with two companies in reserve. Each of the leading companies also goes ‘two up’, with one platoon in reserve. Each platoon again goes ‘two up’, with one section in reserve. Each of the lead companies gets one of the troops of tanks in support. The other support elements are held in reserve or cover the flanks as required. Instead of having two companies in reserve, one could be used to conduct a feint, or attack a minor objective.

Prior to the attack carefully choose an axis of advance that you will be attacking along. The attack will be conducted with the two attack companies side by side, on a frontage of approx 120-160m (30-40m per leading platoon). The artillery will flatten this attack route ahead of the infantry with a rolling barrage.

Pick a line roughly 2-300m ahead of your where your lead platoons are set up along the Start Line. On Turn 1 target all six 25-pr. Spotters along this line, at a spacing of approx 30-40m, to give an artillery-frontage of 150-200m. Don’t go too wide, or there will be ‘gaps’ between the beaten zones of adjacent spotters. Once the rounds start to fall, advance the infantry up behind the barrage{14}. When they start getting too close, jump the line forward approx 100m and repeat. With the dispersion of the falling rounds you should get complete coverage at each line of a zone 200m broad by 100m deep, and as the barrage advances this coverage will be extended over the entire area of the attack corridor.

As an alternative to stepping forward by 100m every 3 minutes or so, you could sneak the fire forward a little bit every turn, to avoid the long delay involved in retargeting.

This barrage probably won’t destroy too much, but it should cause sufficient suppression to allow the infantry to continue moving forward, as long as they stay fairly close behind the barrage. It is important to keep the barrage jumping forward, and not dwelling too long on any line. Each of the Spotters has enough rounds for about 10 minutes of fire, and you need to have the infantry on the objective within that time limit. The total depth of the assault covered by the barrage will be on the order of 3-500m, which is another factor to consider when planning your attack.

The other indirect spotters (the battalion 3” Spotter and the two 5.5” Spotters, and any others you bought) can be used to engage any stubborn positions, to smoke the flanks of the corridor, or to engage targets off to the flanks. As a enhancement, you can change the two flank spotters of the barrage to smoke for the turn before they step forward so that the infantry advance between two lines of smoke (sort-of).

During the advance the tanks will be supporting it with direct fire{15}, and the engineers can be used to clear any minefields that appear.

Once the objective is taken, get the reserve companies up to secure and defend it supported by the battalion 6-pr. AT guns, along with any other stray elements. What were the lead companies can go back into reserve, and/or secure the flanks of the assault corridor.

This type of attack telegraphs your intentions to the German player fairly early, but as long as you keep moving forward and stay in a fairly tight fist you ‘should’ be ok. A particular concern is that all your units are moving along a single corridor, and are therefore vulnerable to German off-board artillery. Also, units on the flanks are largely ignored, so you may get a lot of flanking fire. Smoke along the edges of the assault corridor may help alleviate both problems.

For ‘assault’ scenarios you will have 8750 points available. Use these extra points to buy another 6 x 25-pr. Spotters (Vet) (to give 12 total) as part of the Basic Force. Use the extra spotters to form a parallel barrage line behind the first, to give a total beaten zone of 200m x 200m. When the infantry approaches the first barrage line, leapfrog it over the second, and so on. This extra line will give a much more effective barrage.

There will be less leftover points once the Armour Force has been purchased, and these can be used on items from the Attached Force list, and/or more engineer platoons, and/or another troop of armour, or possibly a pair of engineers tanks – Crocodiles or A.Vs.R.E.

2000 Point Scenario (attacker gets 3000 Points), unrestricted force type.

Basic Force:

In Coy (Reg) x2

3-in. mortar Spotter (Reg) x 1

6-pr. (Reg) x 2

Vickers MMG (Reg) x2

Universal Carriers (for Vickers and 6-pr.) (Reg) x4

Pioneer Pn (Reg) x1

25-pr. Spotter (Vet) x 4

= 2163 Points

Armour Force (all Reg):

Churchills (3 x VII + 1 x VIII) = 608 Points

OR Shermans (3 x V + 1 x VC) = 519 Points

OR Cromwells (3 x CromVII + 1 x ShermVC) = 510 Points

Attached Force:

2 x 6-pr. + 2 x Universal Carrier(Reg) (Towed SP Section) = 174 Points

1 x Rifle Pn (Reg) (reinforcing pn) = 127 Points

4 x M5 Halftracks (Reg) (enough to mount one pn) = 168 Points

2 x Sharpshooters (Vet) (one per coy) = 44 Points

Same mix and match as before. Same basic tactics, except on a narrower front, with one company up, and one in reserve.

For smaller battles, and you will have to forgo the barrage, as there simply won’t be enough spotters to make it worthwhile. Keep the 3-in. Spotter, and 2 x 25-pr. Spotters. Try to keep to the format of the Basic Force, centred on infantry with artillery and Armour Force support, fleshed out with Attachments.

For tactics, keep half to a-third of your force as reserve, and use what artillery you have in concentrations on identified targets.

Regards

JonS

Edit: Not surprisingly, John Salt took me to task on this , so I've included his comments:

{1} A nice Anglo-Canadian variation might be a night infiltration attack, either with armour (as per Ken Tout’s adventures on “Fly-by-Night”), or infantry alone (such as the KSLI’s night infiltration during “Bluecoat”). Unfortunately, CM:BO handles night combat poorly. I assume that we are dealing only with the formal attack or advance in contact here, hence the lack of recce vehicles; otherwise, there should be all sorts of light armour swanning around – and, as we’ll see, you can always use more carriers.

{2} Comet, obviously, has no 17-pounder or CS tanks mixed in.

{3} The CM:BO British infantry battalion as given is deficient in carriers, having only 10. 6 are needed to two the 6-pounders; 6 are needed for the mortar platoon, although these can be neglected as the 3-inch mortars are “off-table”; and the carrier platoon is authorised 13 of the things. The carrier platoon should have some 2-in mortars and PIATs of its own, as well, say 1 each per section of 3 carriers.

{4} This is an excessive proportion of CS tanks. There should only be 2 at SHQ, so 2 per 17 or so gun tanks. I don’t know what proportions of Mk VI to Mk VII are reasonable, but all VIIs is evidently a bit luxurious. I find it handy to mix VIs and VIIs to meet a particular pojnts value. An amusing game can be had trying to attack the AI with a “pure” Churchill squadron; at regular quality, 6 Mk VIIs, 8 Mk VIs and 2 Mk VIIIs make a full-strength squadron on almnost exactly 2250 points, which is what you get for a 1500 attack.

{5} If you have the points, you might buy all 4 sabre troops of a squadron, and the guns tanks from SHQ, which seem to be missing.

{6} Yes and no. Fireflies are normally mixed into the troops, but some regiments ran a centralised Firefly troop. CS tanks were nominally on the strength of SHQ, although “Villers Bocage Through the Lens” shows that the Sharpshooters dished out CS tanks to sabre troops. Cromwells from squadrons of an armoured division’s armoured recce regiment should not have Firleflies (though I believe they should have Challenger when it appears); Shermans representing DD squadrons should not have Fireflies either.

{7} For shame! Make them higher quality just for being Gunners!

{8} Could also use a truck representing the Morris 30cwt.

{9} I am not aware of sappers being transported in carriers as a regular thing. Trucks would seem more likely to me.

{10} The other APC that one might see is the M5 halftrack, used by the motor battalion of an armoured division or “swinger” armoured brigade. Each company of a motor bn at full strength should have three rifle platoons each in 4 M5s, a scout platoon with 11 carriers, and Coy HQ with 2 carriers and 3 scout cars. They should not appear in the same battle as Churchills, which were found only in the independent tank brigades.

{11} Assuming for a moment that these represent snipers who’ve done the course and got the ghillie jacket, AIUI British sniper doctrine has always stressed operating in pairs. This is certainly the case now, and I believe it has remained unchanged for a very long time. It is also currently the case that snipers are authorised by the Bn CO, up to 8 pairs. They would probably not be affiliated to any particular company while sniping. If these do not represent proper “ghillie-jacketed” snipers, I don’t know what they represent, as I doubt anyone else could get hold of a scope on their G1098.

{12} This seems to me to be a good scheme that reflects the way British commanders handle “atts and dets”. You might also have a “funnies” add-on, including AVsRE and Crocs; unfortunately Crocodiles are so expensive that one is unlikely to see the advised minimum of a half-squadron, say 6 vehicles.

{13} I always buy PIATs and 2-in mortars as “makeweights” with left-over points. This strikes me as reasonable because quite o few of these weapons were authorised for people like the admin, AA, ATk and carrier platoons who might well be induced to “lend” them to the rifle companies.

{14} CM:BO’s artillery mechanisms don’t really let you do barrages terribly well. If you have a nice long battle and a big map, though, you might be able to advance down one flank and then turn through a right angle to attack across the table. I’ve done it a couple of times against the AI. The beaten zones then give a more barrage-like feel, and, if you have to fight to clear your start line, well, sometimes people did.

{15} Tanks might be in intimate support actually mixed in with or leading the infantry, or, especially if they’re not “I” tanks, jockeying along crest lines and shooting HE from up to 2000 yards away – as if ever see a 2000-yard LOS in CM:BO.

And similar comments for the smaller battles.

Lots of 25 pounder FOs, perhaps a squadron of tanks (15) for every infantry battalion, or a troop (4) of tanks for every infantry company? The tanks would be Sherman III or V, with every fourth one a Firefly (or 2 out of 4 being Fireflies late in the war).

After Normandy, throw in some WASP flamethrowers liberally.

[JonS]

Originally posted by Der Alte Fritz:

I have been looking for your thread for ages and been unable to find it. However I did find a link in a previous thread that led me to it. As it was so hard, I have taken the liberty of posting it here again.

Well done Last time someone asked this question I had the same problem, which is why I didn't just link to it myself

Excellent as far as it goes but how about the forces for Tunisia or Italy?

Well, it was written for CMBO. Basically, for Tunisia, it's the same, except

1) there are AT-Rifles instead of PIATs,

2) the allocation of medium artillery (4.5-in, 5.5-in) is much lower,

3) 4.2-in mortars aren't available,

4) the vehicle mix is quite different. Some Shermans, no Fireflies, some early Churchills, some Crusaders, Valentines, and Grant/Lees, etc.

5) 17-prs are available, but very rare. 6-prs are available, but about the same as 17-pr in my article. 2-prs are about as common as the 6-prs in my article (ie, everything steps down a level).

For Italy (pre-June 44):

as for Tunisia, except

1) 4.2-in mortars available

2) changing mix of vehicles

3) A-Tk guns moving from mostly 2- and 6-pr with a few 17-pr to 6- and 17-pr with few-to-no 2-pr.

For Italy (post June 44)

As for pre-June-44 except

1) no 2-pr

2) further changes in the veh mix

3) infantry bns often tend to being only three rifle coys, not four (due to losses and limited replacements).

The core idea of a basic force, plus an armoured force and attachments remains valid throughout. Basic doctrine remains pretty much the same too.

Regards

Jon

[Der Alte Fritz]

Does the force from an Armoured Division look pretty much the same only a company of infantry for every company of tanks?

[John D Salt]

Originally posted by Der Alte Fritz:

Does the force from an Armoured Division look pretty much the same only a company of infantry for every company of tanks?

Depends on which brigade. The battalions in the lorried infantry brigade are pretty much like those in the infantry brigades in infantry divisions, but the motor battalion is quite different, mounted in half-tracks and carriers.

The armoured squadrons in the armoured brigade have the normal complement of Fireflies, but if the armoured recce regiment is being used as a fourth armoured regiment, it might not have Fireflies.

Expect to see recce corps units (mounted in Humber LRCs and carriers) and I believe Archers in infantry divs only.

All the best,

John.