"Representing mounted/motorized infantry" Topic

At the lowest command level, motorized and mechanized infantry squads are generally represented on the table by a truck or AFV. A stand of infantry figures is placed on the table beside the vehicle when the infantry dismount.
My questions relate to games with the next highest command level, where a stand represents an entire platoon. All the rules I am familiar with still represent mechanized platoons using separate stands for infantry and their transport. This means that I, as the commander, am making decisions about when troops mount and dismount. That makes sense if I am simulating the role of company commander. Does it still make sense if I am a battalion commander? What if I am regiment or brigade commander? Who actually decides when an infantry platoon dismounts?
At what command level does it begin to be more realistic for a game to represent motorized or mechanized troops as an integrated stand that has a higher movement allowance when not in close proximity to the enemy?

I would say at the battalion level. While platoons will, and companies may, come under unexpected enemy direct fire (and thus the mounted/dismounted status of the infantry is of direct relevance to the wargame), IMHO it would be rare for an entire mounted motorized/armored/mechanized battalion to be engaged against the commander's wishes. For one thing, the battalion commander in most armies has separate reconnaissance assets; for another, the physical length of road columns means that enemy direct fire would be unlikely to be able to hit more than one company on a given road. Finally, while the infantry might become separated from their vehicles by several hundred meters (the company commander's "attention radius"), in my experience they're unlikely to be separated by more than a few kilometers (the battalion commander's zone of interest).

Spearhead and Modern Spearhead have the stands integrated. Dismounting is available for special missions… and units may not remount without scenario rules.

This level is really brigade level… the platoons in these games are abstracted to some degree.

So, to answer your question… I think dismounting depends on the mission.

Joe Collins

It depends on the rules. Some rules require the element to be clearly mounted or dismounted, in other cases the rules don't care if its mounted or dismounted. I use some rules where I need both the mount and the infantry and swap them as required. Other rules I use do not require this and I must admit it did initial confuse me as I was so used to the former, but if the rules support it then it works rather good.

As a general rule the lower the scale is, the more you need separate bases, the higher the scale the more likely the rules will not require separate mounts and infantry elements.

At platoon, or even in some cases company level, most rules require seperate elements. At higher level, which is rare as there are very few rules, no need.

For brigade level and up, I don't bother with seperate transport stands. The players still need to say whether they are operating mounted or dismounted though, it makes quite a big difference to their mobility and vulnerability :)

For brigade level and up, I don't bother with seperate transport stands.

Same here, I have the separate figures but its annoying to replace them and keep them at hand. I do notice there is a psychological effect as you need to keep on remembering those trucks are actually infantry on foot, or the infantry on foot are actually in trucks.

But when I use a set of rules which does not require separate bases, I do like having trucks on the playing area as it given me a chance to use all the trucks I have purchased over the years. I have a lot of trucks for some reason.

My own experience of high level command games is that the space taken up by the elements is creitical. A coloumm of vehicles takes a lot of space proably 20 to 60m spacing per the vehicle and more between platoons and even more between companies. So its not what you depeict it with but what space you take up that makes it realistic at the higher levels. even an infantry platoon will typically dominate a 500m front in defence about 1/4 of a decent tank range even today.

Also once "on foot" its rate of progress will be much slower so somehow you need to have a way of recording that, thats where having dismounted figures is one option. There may for operational reasons the infantry have to leave their vehicles behined due to terrain or enemy activity or perhapds they are a distant firebase. Again you need to work out how to deal with these issues.

Failure to do so leads like many games, down the path to pure fantasy.