Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Russian cavalry list

Dr U-S has asked for a list for my Russian cavalry collection.

Its fairly simple, but I'll go through it anyway.

First up, when I write a list for an army that has a points modifier, I tend to multiply the base (in this case 650) by the modifier (0.9 for regular Russians) to give a total of 722.

As always we start with the DHQ (ie RHQ) stand mainly cos its compulsory (or should be) so thats 5 points plus the 2 SMG cavalry escorts @ 10 which adds to 15 pts.

Next up a cavalry regiment (battalion)
RHQ cavalry stand                                              5 pts
1 x recon SMG cavalry                                       5 pts
12 SMG cavalry stands @ 5                              60 pts
3 HMG (horse drawn) @ 6                                18 pts
2 x 81mm Mortar (horse drawn) @ 4                 8 pts
1 x 45/66 ATG (horse drawn) @ 8                     8 pts
1 x 76/16 IG (horse drawn) @ 6                        6 pts
                                                                          110 pts

Thats sod all so lets take 4 (a Guards division) which gives us 440 pts.
Running total is 455.

Next up the tanks.
RHQ T34C @ 20                                                20 pts
6 T34C @ 20                                                    120 pts
                                                                          140 pts
For variety you can use Lease-lend M4's as they cost the same. I would use this as a separate unit rather than splitting it up with the cavalry regiments, though others might have differing thoughts (combined arms and all that clap-trap).
Running total is 580 pts.

1 Horse artillery battalion
3 x 76/16 IG (horse drawn) @ 12                       36 pts
2 x 120mm Mortar (horse drawn) @ 6               12 pts
                                                                            48 pts
Running total 628 pts

Anti tank battalion (for all the good it will do).
3 x 45/66 ATG (horse drawn) @ 8                     24 pts

Running total 672 pts.

Divisional Recon company.
3 x recon SMG cavalry                                       15 pts

Running total 687 pts.

Engineering battalion.
3 Engineer cavalry stands @ 6                           18 pts

(The list has 3 engineer cavalry stands listed under divisional companys on the list, but I think that this is confused with the divisional battaion as its about the same size, and it makes no sense to have a company and a battalion of the same size in the division).
Running total 705 pt.

Last up a 37mm AA gun (the Russian version of the 40mm Bofors slightly modified) and truck (someone does get to travel in comfort) @ 6 pts.

So, with everything on the list taken, we get to 711 points, 11 points short. Add in a lone Katyusha (nothing ruins your day like being on the wrong end of an MRL strike) off table @ 7 and its 718 pts.

So, there we go, 109 stands (I was mistaken).
Take an option A with 2 Sturmovics with bombs, rockets or AT cannons (your choice) and another Katyusha off tabel and thats less than 50 points.

No idea about a defend list, I have not thought that far, but SMG's in defence can be nasty if they are in terrain or dug in.

There we go, No special bells and Whistles for this, just large units of cavalry moving at 9" through terrain and dismounting as SMG's. Whats not to love.....

5 comments:

  1. I think your math technique of just adding points to your grand total at the start is... right dodgy! Not so bad in this list, given you have so few things that are not getting the 0.9 modifier, but still...

    Did any of the guards cavalry divisions have the 66 calibre 45 mm ATG? My 1945 Czech 1st Corps has to do with the shorter model, which is naturally even worse on-table, albeit 1 point cheaper (the 1 point saved is in no way worth the loss of an AT factor).

    With just 6 fighting T-34Cs, the list is definitely going to struggle against heavy armour. A couple of Sturmoviks might not be up to rectifying this... Still, throw enough horses at the enemy, and they should eventually go down, is that the thinking?

    The lack of artillery I don't see as too much of a problem though - taking out eenemy infantry shouldn't be a problem with this list! What's the organization of the artillery "battalion" - mixed mortars and IGs isn't an ideal set-up. Can they be split up?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ahhh, the perils of using the Spearhead lists as written....
    From a search tonight there are a couple of variations on the make up of a cavalry division. All agree on the regiments makeup (but no comment on the length of the 45mm AT guns), but there are only 3 regiments in any divsion (even those promoted to Guards). The numbers of tanksavry as well (T-70's anyone?).
    There is also some information on the formation of a Cavalry corps, which is somewhat similar assets wise to a Mech corps from 1944, which makes sense somewhat as the cavaly corps tended to operate.
    I'll do some writing and publish the results in a few days.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, and there's not that much wrong with the maths....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Interesting list which intimidating especially from an infantry perspective.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It was a bit of a pain having to take tanks to make up the points.....

    ReplyDelete