River crossing battle tactics

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by Imp

Wait till you get to modern times a good scout vehicle & passenger can cost you 300 points & may get caught out but can be worth every point.

Well - the BTR battalion would not be completely expendable - 3 companies allows for the rush, to take casualties (esp in the first 2 that will take and hold the pocket).
3rd company as I stated above - reserve following behind in case of problems. If it is not needed, then you have a spare formation to use.

The battered first BTR coy will likely have its infantry left as guardians of the initial salient. Any surviving BTR-60 of the company woud take up duties as passenger ferries for follow-on leg grunt formations.

2nd company would hopefully not be too battered - any depleted platoons could act as for Coy 1. Any whole ones could aid the exploitation (the APC maybe acting as ferries for a while).

And as I said in a later post - the BTR rush is probably something I would consider in a battle generator game. In other words, where you have a free pick of all your forces.

Andys rush is I think based on BTRs capabilities as in fast both on land & in the water one of the reasons I said Russia is a good side to try a modern crossing with.

Yep. fast on land, so they get to the crossing site quickly. Fast on water as well, so they don't take too long to cross over. Some armour and armament, and some night vision (later models). And reasonably cheap. The PB model is quite dangerous to USA/UK with its 14.5 and IR searchlight in the M113/FV432 era (60s and 70s). Can also be stuffed with a few extra small RPG teams over and above the platoon troops, especially the open or flat-topped early models (114 or 112 lift capability).

The BTR50 is just too slow, and not well armed. Would be useful as a passenger ferry here once it got to the river if the early P model with 120 capacity - half a platoon.

Cheers
Andy