Motorized Rifle Regiment Reconaissance Company

Recon elements of the 68th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment in search of NATO forces in West Germany.  

I have finished making the assets for a Soviet Motorized Rifle Regiment Reconnaissance Company.  According to Field Manual (FM) 100-2-3, The Soviet Army, June 1991, both BTR and BMP regiments had an organic recon company that looked like this:

If it is in an Army Field Manual, it MUST be correct!

This was a tad challenging as Battlefront does not make a BRM-1, nor does it make a modern motorcycle section.  Luckily, the WW2 Soviet motorcycle looks very similar to the Cold War version, so I just used that and added a couple of more modern figures for the side car rider and the second seater on another bike.  Some sources list this section as armed with PKM LMGs, but FM 100-2-3 just lists them with RPKs.  I just used AK-74 figures and reasoned that will be good enough.

The recon company motorcycle motors down the autobahn.  

I used a plastic Soviet infantry figure for the sidecar.  

There's no card for any motorcycle section, regardless of the armament or whether all of the motorcycles had sidecars.  I will modify a jeep recon section from one of the other Team Yankee books (Oil Wars, perhaps), giving them speed and recon ability, but not much else.  There job is to ride hard and fast, and die gloriously.  I think they can do that.

Battlefront does not make a BRM-1 either, but luckily for me Skytrex does.  I ordered this one and a couple of other command vehicles to round out the force.  It took nine days to get across the Atlantic after I ordered them, which is not bad at all.  I constructed this one and used my standard Soviet painting techniques and colors.  It turned out fine, and as I don't think it will last much longer than the motorcycles, it is just right.  It is a nice model.  It is all metal, and the level of detail is decent, thought probably a shade less detailed than the Battlefront models.  I like the tools and tow cables on the hull; it makes it look less like the garrison force of the other BMPs. The vehicle commander is a bit smaller than the Battlefront figures, but this should be of little concern.

The Skytrex BRM-1 command vehicle.  It is a little shorter than the Battlefront BMPs, but it looks close enough.  Since I expect that it will belching fire by turn 2, this should not a problem.

Another view of  the BRM-1 with Battlefront BMP-2s in the background.  

There isn't a BRM-1 card either so I will use the BMP-1 stats except the BRM-1 does not have a Sagger ATGM, just a 73mm gun.

BRDM-2s in line.  They won't last much longer than the motorcycles.  

The Reconnaissance Platoon (wheeled).  

The Reconnaissance Platoon (tracked) with BMP-2s lines up with the company commander in his BMR-1 with the motorcycle section tries to look cool.  

With this done I can now field representative units from the Motorized Rifle Regiment. I can put out a recon company, a BMP-2 motorized rifle company, a tank company with T-64s, and a self propelled howitzer battery with 2S-1 Carnations.  This is a lot of Soviet firepower, and I haven't even gotten to the air power and helicopters yet. . .

More is better!  Ask any Soviet commander!