Federal Republic of Gambusia Infantry Battalion

I finally completed the Federal Republic of Gambusia's infantry battalion, more or less.  All of the infantry is from Heroics & Ros new 80s British infantry. At first, I was going to go with GHQ's Bushfire Warriors (TW8 & 9), but I didn't want them to be armed with AK-47s. Then, I considered their 3rd World Regulars (TW12 & 13). They are armed with HK G3 rifles and sport US WW2 M1 helmets. The FRG gets most of its equipment from England and France, plus they are all armed with RPG-7s for their anti-tank weapon, so I rejected them.

When H&R came out with their 80s British Infantry, I knew that those were a perfect fit. These guys are a big improvement over older H&R infantry, not that I mind the old ones. Besides their British kit, what attracted me to them is the variety and options you can choose from. In addition to rifle armed infantry, they have troops firing a Carl Gustav, a light LAW, machines guns mounted on both bipods and tripods, snipers, scouts armed with submachine guns, light and medium mortars....you get the idea.

I follow Fist Full of TOWs 2 for making up the TO&Es. Each stand represents a platoon. On paper, the battalion is supposed to have three anti-tank platoons, being made up of either the PV-1110 recoilless rifle, or the Milan ATGM. I only managed to make one RR stand. Also, there should be a third 81mm mortar stand, but I can't seem to find the third one. Here is the group shot of the 3rd Mechanized battalion:

 APCs or transport is interchangeable. The 3rd MI uses the Alvis Saracen APC for its infantry platoons. All other support stands either uses trucks, or a RG-31 Nyala to pull the RR.

Infantry

1st Platoon; company command

Another shot of the first platon. The Carl Gustav can be better seen

The first platoon of each company is considered to be the command platoon. It's not a big deal in FFT rules, but it is for Cold War Commander, if I chose to use them. The command platoon has a 84mm Carl Gustav RR for it's anti-tank weapon. The other platoons have the M72 LAW.

Remaining platoons in each company

Besides the lighter M72 LAWs, the remaining platoons of each company has a man armed with a Bren Gun. The Bren gunner can be seen in prone position in the middle of the stand.


Heavy Weapons

Each company has a heavy weapons platoon. It is armed with a L7 GPMG medium machine gun, and a light mortar. Presumably, it also has an M72 LAW. They also make a L7 GPMG on a tripod, but I opted for the bipod. It seemed to go better with the dude firing the light mortar. Older versions of FFT had specific rules for light mortars, but in the 3rd edition, they seem to have disappeared.


Anti-tank Units

PV-1110 RR with RG-31 to tow it.

As I said above, the anti-tank platoons vary as far as what they are armed with.  Going over my TO&E, I noticed that some infantry battalions have the 120mm Wombat RR mounted on a jeep. This battalion happens to be armed with the PV-1110 RR. Why the PV-1110? Why not? According to Wikipedia, the Swedes made 1,600 of them, so it's conceivable that some have found their way to the FRG. I am not sure if the RG-31 would be used to carry the RR and its crew, but I figured it might as well as a truck seemed too big. Whereas the gunner as the spotter are H&R figures, the recoilless rifle and the RG-31 are from Scotia-Gendel. Scotia makes several different sized generic RRs. The PV-1110 is only a 90mm weapon, but it has a rather long barrel so their large RR fit best. When I get around to it, I will paint up and base the H&R Milan team. 

Battalion-level Artillery

Each battalion has a company of 81mm mortars stands. The third stand is probably buried somewhere under all my junk on my work bench. I should have taken a picture of, but I also had a GHQ Soviet 82mm mortar team that I was working on. The size difference is really noticeable. The GHQ mortar looks like a 120mm mortar compared to the H&R's 81mm mortar. 

Air Defence

Blowpipe MANPAD

The most pressing enemy that the FRG currently has to face is various rebel groups that persist on the borders with the two Chalupistans. Therefore, air defense is not a big priority. Nonetheless, they are reasonably prepared. The battalion HQ has a Blowpipe team, and a 40mm Bofors AA gun platoon. I plan to make a Blowpipe team based, but I see so many pictures of MANPADS being fired out of tanks and APCs that I couldn't resist mounting one on the back of the Saracen. I can't remember who makes the Bofors, but I don't think its from H&R, maybe CinC. Also, this stand is intended to be also used by Southern Chalupastan, so it's gunners are not painted the same colors as the Gambusian troops. 

The Gambusian are pretty much ready to go. Next up is to add to my rebel army. I do have some units, but they are vastly overwhelmed by the Gambusians, or everyone else for that matter. I recently primed some of GHQs Sub-Saharan Irregulars (TW14), and plan to pain them up.