Crossfire: Steven's Naval Infantry Battalion
Russian Naval Infantry feature heavily in accounts of Stalingrad and Sevastopol, so I couldn't resist when BattleFront put out a pack. I painted them in two weeks which I now regret as it would have helped to have new glasses before I did it. Then it took a year before I finally found a flocking style to use.
Unit ID for Crossfire = "N" for Naval.
See also
- My Crossfire scenario 92nd Naval Infantry - The Sea Devils.
- Rifle Brigade; Oct 1941 - Mar 1942; TO 04/730-744 for the TO&E of the naval brigades in Crossfire.
- Operations of Russian Naval Infantry
Figures
I used a combination of Battle Front and Peter Pig for my Russian Naval Infantry. Battle Front only has one pack = a Naval Platoon. The Peter Pig figures are split between WW2 (SMG) and WW1 (Rifle and HMG). I also had to do a head swap on a few figures - the flame thrower guys and the 50mm mortar crews (perhaps others, but I've forgotten now). Peter Pig conveniently provide separate Naval Infantry heads.
Painting
I painted them following my Painting Guide for Russian Naval Infantry.They were flocked using a variation on my flocking with Flat Earth and Dry Brushing. I had already plastered the bases when I decided to use this approach to flocking. As a result I didn't bother gluing on sand and just painted the plaster. This is quite similar to how Roland Davis bases.
Unit ID for Crossfire = "N" for Naval.
The Full Array
For my own Naval Infantry I combined the two TO&E from Rifle Brigade; Oct 1941 - Mar 1942; TO 04/730-744 with the standard Crossfire Russian Rifle Battalion.
The result looks like this:
1 x Naval Infantry Battalion
1 x BC (+1)
1 x Machine Gun Company: 3 x HMG [4 guns each]
1 x Mortars and Artillery :1 x FO for off table 76mm field guns (12 FM) [4 guns each]
3 x FO for off table 82mm Mortar (12 FM) [4 tubes each]
3 x on-table 50mm Mortar (12 FM) [4 tubes each]1 x Specialist Company
1 x CC (+1)
1 x Infantry Reconnaissance Platoon: PC (+1/0), 4 x Rifles
1 x Assault Platoon: PC (+1/0), 4 x Assault Engineer Rifles (2 stands with Flamethrowers and 2 stands with LMG)
1 x SMG Platoon: PC (+1/0), 3 x SMG3 x Rifle Companies
1 x CC (+1)
1 x HMG
3 x Rifle Platoons: PC (+1/0), 4 x Rifle
This means I can field any of the following:
-
Naval Rifle Battalion
-
Naval Infantry Battalion
-
Rifle Battalion
-
Regimental Reconnaissance Company
-
An adhoc assault group as used at Stalingrad
The men in the rifle companies of the brigade actually had a higher proportion of SMG than their divisional counterparts, but this doesn't translate to SMG squads. The Platoon had 51 men with 10 SMG and 2 LMG, and presumably the rest with Rifles. I've based my Naval infantry with three stands with two rifles and one SMG and one squad with two rifles and one LMG, plus the PC .
Naval Rifle Battalion (Brigada morskoi strelkovy)
1 x Naval Rifle Battalion
1 x BC (+1)
1 x Infantry Reconnaissance Platoon: PC (+1/0), 4 x Rifles
1 x SMG Platoon: PC (+1/0), 3 x SMG
1 x Anti-tank Mortar Platoon: 2 x on-table 50mm Mortar (12 FM) [4 tubes each] *
0-1 x Anti-tank Rifle Platoon: 3 x Anti-tank Rifles which can be attached to any Rifle Squad. [8 AT-Rifles in total] **
1 x Machine Gun Company: 3 x HMG [4 guns each]3 x Rifle Companies
1 x CC (+1)
3 x Rifle Platoons: PC (+1/0), 4 x Rifle
* Actually 7 anti-tank mortars; presumably this is the "Ampulomet" which fired a globe shaped molotov cocktail, which I rate the same as a 50mm Mortar.
** Added to the TO&E on 17 Apr 1942.
Naval Infantry Battalion (Brigada morskoi pekhoty)
1 x Naval Infantry Battalion
1 x BC (+1)
1 x Infantry Reconnaissance Platoon: PC (+1/0), 4 x Rifles
1 x Flamethrower Platoon: PC (+1/0), 4 x Assault Engineer Rifles
1 x Machine Gun Company: 3 x HMG [4 guns each]
1 x Artillery Battery : 1 x FO for off table 76mm field guns (12 FM) [4 guns each]1 x Mortar Company
2 x FO for off table 82mm Mortar (12 FM) [4 tubes each]
2 x on-table 50mm Mortar (12 FM) [4 tubes each]3 x Rifle Companies
1 x CC (+1)
3 x Rifle Platoons: PC (+1/0), 4 x Rifle
Rifle Battalion
1 x Rifle Battalion
1 x BC (+1)
1 x Heavy Weapons Company:3 x HMG [4 guns each]
3 x FO for off table 82mm Mortar (12 FM) [4 tubes each]
1 x 45mm ATG with optional tow3 x Rifle Companies
1 x CC (+1)
1 x HMG
1 x on-table 50mm Mortar (12 FM) [4 tubes each]
3 x Rifle Platoons: PC (+1/0), 4 x Rifle
Regimental Reconnaissance Company
1 x CC (+1)
2 x Infantry Reconnaissance Platoon: PC (+1/0), 2 x Rifles
Using the CC from the Specialist Company, and 2 stands from each of the Infantry Reconnaissance Platoon and the Assault Platoon
An adhoc assault group as used at Stalingrad
1 x Assault Platoon: PC (+1/0), 4 x Assault Engineer Rifles (2 stands with Flamethrowers and 2 stands with LMG)
Sources
BattleFront: Brigada Morskoi Pekhoty
Rifle Brigade; Oct 1941 - Mar 1942; TO 04/730-744
Operations of Naval Infantry Brigades
Zaloga, S. J., and Ness, L. S. (2003). Red Army Handbook 1939-1945. Sutton.