Sorry About the Late Post This Time - US 5th Infantry Division in FFT 3!

So, first off, sorry about the late post this time. I meant to post late last week but between my day job and my second job with EpochXperience, it's been a busy time for this blogger. I still miss you guys and will do my best to get one to two posts a month out there. That said, let's get started.

One thing I am looking to do is put more Fistful of TOWs 3 orbats out there. I really want to make these available for folks as they seem to be rather popular with people. One thing I want to do now is to work on a formation near and dear to Twilight: 2000 fans, I'm going to do the 5th Infantry Division ca. 1997. Doing it in 2000 is a bit of guesswork based on "Death of a Division." It's doable, but I'd rather leave that to a later project, no?

Taken from the Free League Website

 The 5th Division, in real life, was assigned to US III Corps, and was supposed to be part of the US force designated to reinforce NORTHAG. The division had two active brigades, as well as a roundout brigade, the 256th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) of the Louisiana National Guard. The division in case of war, was supposed to fly over on civilian air transport (read: airliners), collect their pre-positioned equipment in Germany, and then go fight the Soviets presumably invading West Germany. 

 In Twilight: 2000, obviously things didn't go that way. The division according to the 1st Edition Army Vehicle Guide deployed by air and sea (um huh?) to West Germany in December of 1996. It went into action as part of III Corps but then was transferred to Panzergruppe Obendorf. Most Twilight: 2000 fans are pretty familiar with the rest of the division's war record. But suffice it to say, the 5th had an eclectic mix of gear as it was made up of active and reserve units.

Shoulder Patch of the 5th Infantry Division, Taken from Wikipedia

 Now, there's some good information on the 5th. We have three sources to figure out the TOE for the division. One is of course, the venerable US Army Vehicle Guide.

Ol' Reliable Itself - Taken from Amazon.com

  Another pair of items I have available are two books I am sure played a role in the research of the US Army Vehicle Guide. One is Armies of NATO's Central Front by David C. Isby and Charles Kemps. I was lucky to get a copy cheap, but I assure you, it's hard to find, but worth the price.

Taken from Abe Books.com

  Another complementary work is Gordon Rottman's work on the US Army in the 1980s, which had a very helpful battalion-level breakdown of the divisions and independent brigades of the US Army ca. 1987. Granted, I suspect some of the battalions would have realigned again sometime between then and the Twilight War, but hey, might as well go with it.  

 A final source is a friend of mine's. Chico and I did a lot of work for the late and lamented DC Working Group. I enjoyed the work we put out and one of those items was a battalion-level breakdown of the various battalions of EVERY division in the US Army at the beginning of the Twilight War. Our work can be found at the following links:

US Army Armored Divisions, Armored Cav Regiments, and Independent Brigades

US Army Infantry Divisions and Brigades

US Army Artillery Brigades

 We did a lot of research on these, so I am going to borrow from all three of these elements to come up with a 5th Division that well, works.

 So...without further ado...here's the 5th Division.

5th Infantry Division (Mechanized), December 1996

Quality: Good/Excellent

Artillery Accuracy and Response: 2+ for both

Combat Formations

4-12th Cavalry (Divisional Cavalry Squadron)

 

Base Troops: 

2 recon M3 Bradley CFV (NBC Recon Platoon)

2 Cav Troops, each with:

1 M-106 4.2" Mortar Carrier

4 recon M-3 Bradley CFV

2 Air Cav Troops, each with:

2 OH-58

1 AH-1V

Armored Battalions (1-70th, 3-70th, 2-77th, 3-77th, and 1-156th (LANG))

Base Troops:

1 recon M3 Bradley CFV (Scout Platoon)

1 M-106 4.2" Mortar Carrier

1 Stinger Base + HMMWV (ADA Platoon)

4 Tank Companies, each with:

3 M1A1 MBT

Mechanized Battalions (1-61st, 3-6th, 4-6th, 2-156th (LANG), and 3-156th (LANG))

Base Troops:

1 recon M-3 Bradley CFV

1 M-106 4.2" Mortar Carrier

1 Stinger Base + 1 HMMWV

AT Company:

3 M901 ITVs

 

4 Mechanized Infantry Companies, each with:

4 M2A2 Bradleys + 4 Infantry Stands with Javelin ATGM

Engineer Battalion (7th Combat Engineers)

1 M9 Dozer

2 M-60 AVLB

2 M-728 CEV

3 Medium Trucks with Bridge Sections

Attack Helicopter Battalion (1-5th)

6 AH-1V

3 OH-58

Artillery Support Groups

Tube Artillery Battalions (4-1st, 5-1st. and 1-141st Artillery (LANG))

6 M-109A3 SP 155mm How

 

MLRS Battery (C Battery, 21st Artillery Regiment)

2 M-270 MLRS

Well, that's it for now, We'll be back later with more Twilight: 2000 wargaming related content soon! 

Advent Crown - A Module Suitability Review.

M-2 Bradley from 2-156th Infantry, 256th Infantry Brigade (LANG), 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized), in the suburbs of Katowice,  May 12th, 1997 (AP)

It's been a long time since we wrote one of these. Chico of the T2K forum and DC Working Group fame has written something that's been missing from canon for some time. A history of the 1997 NATO offensive into Poland. Operation Advent Crown is available as a free PDF from Chico's website, and it has links to accompanying maps!

In short, it's a great companion to anyone running adventures in the pre-nuclear exchange phase of the war. There's enough detail to clearly follow the action, and the sidebars are informative, and there's a good breakdown of Polish internal forces and how they work (including how the ORMO really fit into the Polish paramilitary structure.)

But, here's the thing, how does this work for miniature gaming fodder? Quite well, especially for larger games like Fistful of Tows and Command Decision. This document is chock full of ideas and scenario fodder.

Some of the ideas I can pick out are:

Smaller Games:

• Urban fighting in Opole and Czestochowa against determined defenders, especially the Polish airborne in Czestochowa (see Black Madonna for further details on Czestochowa).
• The "shadow war" between special operations units and MPs/rear area protection units in both sides rear areas (this especially lends itself well to Force on Force and Black Ops).
• The bitter fighting of the Battle of Sulechow between the Soviet 35th Airborne Brigade and the US 36th Infantry Division (this is bitter fighting between US National Guardsmen in their first engagement and Soviet desantniki who have nothing to lose).
• Linked scenarios of the fight of 17th Jager Bn, 1st Panzer Division to cut off the Hel Peninsula vs. a force of OTK, NJW, and Polish Navy. Jagers will eventually be reinforced by US 6th MEB. 
• Raid by US 4th Ranger Btn and German 25th, 26th, and 27th FJ Brigades against Soviet rear.
• US XI Corps elements versus Polish scratch forces in the Carpathians.

Larger Games:

• The breakthrough at Wroclaw (Soviet 3rd Guards Motor Rifle Division and Polish 2nd Mechanized Division versus US 11th ACR and German 27th FJ Brigade).
• The amphibious landing at Kolobrzeg (Danish Jutland Division, plus elements of British and US Marines vs. elements of 22nd Soviet Army).
• Battle of Poznan (Officer Cadets, OTK, WOW, ORMO, ZOMO, Polish Army support elements, along with remnants of 9th Mechanized Division versus VI German Corps).
• Battle of Tuchol Forest (US 2nd AD holding off counterattack by Polish 4th Army, being reinforced by Soviet 20th TD. Americans are reinforced by counterattack from US 3rd ACR).
• Lodz Breakout (WOW Brigade, TF of Polish 11th AD, Polish 9th Border Guards Brigade, scratch force of OTK, ORMO, and stragglers vs. US V Corps consisting of 8th ID (M), 1st AD, 1st Canadian Division and 11th ACR). 
• Warsaw  Counterattack by Soviet 11th Guards Army vs. PzGruppe Westhaven (specifically 217th Pzgdr Brigade with heavy NATO air and artillery support)
• Rearguard action by 49th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment versus German VI Corps near the Wisla.
• 116th ACRs crossing of the Wisla vs. Soviet 3rd GMRD.
• US XI Corps vs. Polish 2nd and 3rd Army on the outskirts of Warsaw.
• Soviet 4th Guards Tank Army counterattacks against German 1st Gerbigsjager Division, later 3rd Panzer Division, 240th FJ Brigade, and Danish Jutland Division east of Warsaw.
• German III Corps versus the defenders of Gydnia and Gdansk.
• US VII Corps versus Soviet 1st Shock Army near the Soviet border.