Romanian Cavalry MkIII - Decisions

I've made the decision to go with 1:4 rather than 1 stand = 1 platoon as I felt that was a better way to do organise things. So that now means the TO&E I posted last time is slightly different as each cavalry squadron now has 2 infantry stands rather than 3. I also decided to drop the battalion HQ's as because of the small size of the squadron the regiment really ought to be the manoeuvre unit, this now gives the Brigade 3 main manoeuvre units each of which can be strengthened by attaching out the brigade level support squadrons.

I have also completed BKCII lists for most of the rest of the units that made up the Romanian 3rd Army which has made for quite an interesting research project, I just have the Infantry Division list to do and that's everything for the 3rd Army. Unfortunately the Cavalry Corps had no Corps level support units so is rather a week formation really (and in reality is really only a division in size).

As for actual models I have completed 2 cavalry regiments (which admittedly were already painted) but would have to spend some hard earned cash with Heroics and Ros to enable me to complete the rest of the brigade. I suspect that if I do complete the brigade I would add 2 more cavalry regiments - 1 motorised, 1 as horsed cavalry - to enable me to field a semi-motorised or a horsed cavalry brigade. The only difference in the brigade support squadrons appears to be the number of "tanks" in the Mechanised Recon Squadron (4 real tanks for the horsed cavalry and 6 for the semi-motorised cavalry which I would do as 1 and 2 models respectively just to make the differences in the two units more apparent on the table top), other than that there are no other differences.

I have another solo BKCII game involving a June 1941 clash between the Russian 3rd Tank Regiment (2nd Tank Division, 12th Mechanised Corps) and Panzer Regiment 1 (1st Panzer Division) scheduled in for Wednesday evening. This is a semi-historical encounter as the Panzer Regiment was in reality the 11th equipped with Pzkpfw 35(t)'s rather than the 1st equipped with Pzkpfw IIIG's but it was in the same area at that time. How well the Germans will deal with the 4 KV-1's and 2 KV-2's the Russians will field I don't know, but they will definitely fare better than a unit equipped with Pzkpfw 35(t)'s! The 1st Panzer was one of the few units with 50mm armed Pzkpfw III's so is somewhat better off than the 37mm armed Pzkpfw 35(t)'s fielded by Panzer Regiment 11. Report to follow later in the week.

Romanian Cavalry MkII

I've done quite a bit more research on the Romanian cavalry formations and have amended the organisation of my BKCII Romanians as follows:


Romanian 1st, 7th and 9th Cavalry Brigades June-July 1941

Brigade Headquarters:
HQ: 1x CO (CV8) (Mounted)

3 Horse Cavalry Regiments, each with:
Regimental HQ:
1x HQ (CV7) (Mounted)
1 Cavalry Battalion:
Battalion HQ:
1x HQ (CV7) (Mounted)
2 Mounted Squadrons, each with:
3x Infantry Units (Regulars*), 3x Transport Units (Horses, Cavalry)
1 Cavalry Battalion:
Battalion HQ:
1x HQ (CV7) (Mounted)
1 Mounted Squadron:
3x Infantry Units (Regulars*), 3x Transport Units (Horses, Cavalry)
1 Mounted LMG Squadron:
3x Infantry Units (Regulars), 3x Transport Units (Horses, Cavalry)

1 Horse Artillery Regiment:
2 Horse Artillery Battalions, each with:
2 Batteries, each with:
1x Artillery Unit (75-76mm)

1 Mortar Squadron:
2x Support Units (Mortar, 81mm), 2x Transport Units (Trucks)

1 Anti-Tank/AA Squadron:
3x Support Units (ATG, 37mm), 3x Air Defence Units (13.2mm), 6x Transport Units (Trucks)

1 MMG Squadron:
4x Support Units (MG, ZB-53), 4x Transport Units (Trucks)

1 Pioneer Squadron:
3x Engineer Units (Pioneers), 3x Transport Units (Trucks)

1 Mechanised Recon Squadron:
1x Recce Unit (R-1), 1x Recce Unit (Infantry), 1x Transport Unit (Truck), 1x Recce Unit (Infantry), 1x Transport Unit (Motorcycles)

Notes:

1. One of the cavalry regiments was to have been motorised but the outbreak of war in 1941 prevented this.
2. Infantry Units (Regulars*) - these infantry units have half the number of LMG's per squadron (12 instead of 24), reduce AP attacks to 2/30.
3. Horse artillery guns are 75mm Krupp Model 1904/1912 Field Guns. Guns are available as scheduled assets only.
4. Brigade support squadrons are to be attached out to the cavalry battalions.

To field one of the Semi-Motorised Brigades (5th, 6th and 8th Brigades) I would need to swap one of the cavalry regiments for:


1 Motorised Cavalry Regiment:
Regimental HQ:
1x HQ (CV7) (in truck)
1 Motorised Cavalry Battalion:
Battalion HQ:
1x HQ (CV7) (in truck)
2 Motorised Squadrons, each with:
3x Infantry Units (Regulars), 3x Transport Units (Trucks)
1 Motorised Cavalry Battalion:
Battalion HQ:
1x HQ (CV7) (in truck)
1 Motorised Squadron:
3x Infantry Units (Regulars), 3x Transport Units (Trucks)
1 Motorised Heavy Weapons Squadron:
2x Support Units (MG, ZB-53), 1x Air Defence Unit (13.2mm), 1x Support Unit (ATG, 37mm), 4x Transport Units (Trucks)

An extra Recce Unit (R-1) should be added to the Mechanised Recon Squadron as the Motorised Brigades had more of these "tanks" than the normal Cavalry Brigades.

I'm still debating whether to keep to 1 stand = 1 platoon or to scale the vehicles at 1:4 and the infantry/cavalry at 1:40. This would create smaller units but I could have more off them.

First BKCII Unit

Having discovered 28 spare cavalry bases this afternoon I decided, as they were already painted as WW2 era Romanians, that I would make them the first unit I'd put together for BKCII. In BKC terms the unit consists of the following (I haven't had chance to upload any pictures yet):

1st Cavalry Brigade 1941:

1st Rosiori Regiment General Corp de Armata Alexandru Averescu:

1x CO (CV8)
Engineer Troop: 3x Engineer Unit (Pioneers), 3x Transport Unit (Horses, Cavalry)
MG Troop: 3x Support Unit (MG, ZB53), 3x Transport Unit (Horses, Cavalry)
1st Squadron: 
1x HQ (CV7)
1st Troop: 3x Infantry Units (Regulars), 3x Transport Unit (Horses, Cavalry)
2nd Troop: 3x Infantry Units (Regulars), 3x Transport Unit (Horses, Cavalry)
2nd Squadron: 
1x HQ (CV7)
3rd Troop: 3x Infantry Units (Regulars), 3x Transport Unit (Horses, Cavalry)
4th Troop: 3x Infantry Units (Regulars), 3x Transport Unit (Horses, Cavalry)

Each command unit consists of 2 mounted figures, each MMG consists of 1 cavalryman and 2 pack horses carrying the MMG's, and each infantry and engineer stand consists of 3 cavalrymen. All figures are mounted on 30mm square bases and are from Heroics and Ros (pack SR4 Soviet Cavalry).

The Brigade has 3 of these regiments, an Artillery Regiment and an assortment of motorised supporting Squadrons (Anti-tank, Recon, Mortar, Pioneer and MMG). This Brigade fought on the Eastern Front in 1941 taking part in the Battle of Odessa as part of the Romanian 5th Corps (15th Infantry Divison and 1st Armoured Division).