I've been pondering buying some more lead in the last couple of weeks. Fortunately I have not yet had to spend money as Heroics and Ros are 'on sabatical' while Andy recovers from surgery (which went well and he's doing nicely).
To continue on from my Austrian project, I have been thinking about adding to their opponents. I already have a collection of Czech models which are sufficient without being complete to Lukes army lists and so I was leaning towards Hungarians. While not having a complete list a general collection could be purchased to do the job while waiting for other information to come to light.
I have had a look at the Fire and Fury collection and;
A) Can't quite decipher them in terms of the number of models required as the numbers don't translate to reality sensibly.
B) I'm "quite" skeptical about some of the details. The East Germans did not have T62's in service to start with, and if there are obvious mistakes like that, then who knows whats lurking in the depths.
C) It has to be the most bizarre/arcane/unreadable/confusing way of constructing an army list. it takes 5 minutes just to locate what you are after.
Anyhoo, with all that out of the way, I thought I would start with a T55 tank regiment.
RHQ T55
3 battalions 7 T55.
recce coy
1 PT76
2 Fug
AA coy
1 ZSU 23/4
1 SA 9
Artillery battalion
AOP in fug
4 M1938 + tows
So far pretty straightforward. The artillery battalion is rather a moot point as depending on the sources it either didn't exist, or was just a battery etc. . For arguments sake lets just let it ride for the moment.
The other option would be to have 2 ZSU 57-2 in the AA company.
For infantry support there are some interesting possibilities. Hungary brought 350 BMP-1 in the 1970's which gives enough for about 9-10 battalions plus odds and ends. so 3 regiments in the front line units (5th TD, and the 4th and 8th MRD ). This doesn't leave enough for any sort of infantry support for any of the tank regiments, so possibly add a company (battalion?) of PSZH-IV.
Interestingly if you then purchase a company of BMP-1, A company of BTR-50 (which will have to do until H&R makes a proper OT62) and some D-30 122mm artillery, and you can use the unit for East Germans, Polish and Czechs, as well as 1960's Russians.
The Fire & Fury lists are based on their (weird) basing scheme of 2-3 vehicles per stand or a squad.
ReplyDeleteI reckon (at least) one of the FUGs in your recon Co should actually be a PSzH-F, and you can replace the PT-76 with BMP from 1980. And shouldn't the TD be the 11th, not the 5th? Regarding battalion BMPs, it's the 8th and 9th MRDs that got them starting from 1980; by 1987, only approximately two Regiments' worth of vehicles had been replaced. If you want the cheap option, you can go truck-borne with the resrve 15 MRD :-)
ReplyDeleteHmm I should not be using Information from teh 1980's then...
ReplyDeletePT 76 for a bit of colour, though i should look at doing some Naval troops. Wheeled troops for the tank units sounds interesting, except whe attaching through rough terrain.
My East Germans have been problematic. They have reasonably old hardware but at Warpac1 costs. My plans for massed Panzers didn't really take off as they have been infrequently used. However, a couple of ZSU 57-2s both look good and add interest.
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