Hi everyone;
Well our "African Wars" game next Monday will be pitting the Greys Scouts of Rhodesia, supported by the RLI against ZANLA or ZIPRA.

I thought we were gaming SADF against Angola till the man with the miniatures told me what he had.
So, I am trying to determine what a fireteam/stick/squad, in other words "Order of Battle" would be for both the Greys Scouts and Rhodesian Light Infantry.

Anyone have ideas?

I have found some web pages of both units but not down to this detail.
I have read that the Scouts would have 8 troopers in a stick.
I've also read that Rhodesian units would carry more FN Mags than European units.
Our scenario is coming into being...
A unit of Greys Scouts backed up by an RLI Fireforce and maybe some Armored Cars are tasked with searching a village and area for a ZANLA POI and some trucks with stolen weapons.
They have to either capture or kill the target person of interest and either capture and drive off or destroy on site the trucks with the wepons.
ZANLA has to get their man off the table to freedom as well as the trucks.
I can't wait.
Thanks for your help.
Joep

I would be interested in knowing what figures you will be using for the Greys Scouts as I would be keen to have a unit of these.

Peter Pig "Mounted Professionals" is what we're going to use. 15mm in scale...

http://www.peterpig.co.uk/range17.htm

Sounds cool I wish someone would do figures in for those wars in 28mm.

Im sure Joe will take pics to post of our game this monday... Now gotta get to work on a few huts...

I sure will take pictures of our engagement.
I'm looking forward to Stepman3's terrain board.

Orbat for Terrorists....
Reading through some material I have, it looks like ZANLA would have units of 10 men, each unit would have an RPG-7 or a light Mortar, plus a light machine gun and then the rest would have a combination of rifle types.
Joep

I was hoping for 20mm: darn!

I know Raventhorpe do some suitable figures but I think that they may be a bit larger than my Liberation Mininatures which make up the rest of my Rhodesians.

I'm working on "background" for a set of scenarios for this conflict. I haven't gotten very far...but I think that I can help you out with the RLI.

From the one book that I've almost finished (told you that I haven't gotte very far ), the RLI deployed in "sticks" of 5 men. One of them had a MG (I think it was the Belgian one MAG? what the Brits call the GPMG...yes, I realize that GPMG is more of a "functional" name...I'm just repeating what the authors said).

Anyway, the book is called Rhodisian War
ISBN-10: 184415694X
ISBN-13: 978-1844156948

I look fiorward to hearing how things go.

Oh, I game in 28mm...so I'm also hoping for some more figs in this scale for this era. I believe that Eureka has some "on the way"!

Cheers,

- Jim

_________________
I could agree with you...but then we'd BOTH be wrong.

Thanks for that info Jim;
I'm using an Osprey book for my info, will have to get the book you're talking about too.

We game AA in 15s, but do a lot of gaming in 28mm too.
And 1/72 scale plastics.
Good Gaming;
Joep

I think this is not correct. I did quite a bit of research on the Rhodesian Bush War a while back, all sources confirmed that the RLI deployed in sticks of four men, one of whom was armed with an FN MAG. The stick size was dictated by the limited capacity of their principal helicopter, the Alouette III. The Rhodesians eventually obtained a few UH-1s, but it was very late in the war.

The stick was comprised of :
1 team leader - FN FAL, grenades, radio
1 gunner - FN MAG, grenades
2 riflemen - FN FAL, grenades, medical gear

These guys were loaded for bear and carried what would be a double-basic load for most armies, but their airmobility allowed them to travel with a combat load and little other encumbrance.

The RLI were also paratroopers, they did not change TO&E for airborne ops though. Principal aircraft was the C-47 Dakota.

_________________
"When the enemy comes, welcome him. When he goes, send him on his way"

Thank You for the info. It will be put to use during our next game. Was each "stick" led by a NCO? What would have the rank structure have been? Thanks in advance...

Thanks Molonlabe;

I'm very interested in anything else you have learned about the RLI and any other Rhodesian force.
Did you check out my battle report/AAR

Joe

I'm not surprised that the info I had wasn't 100%. It came from a book that was primarily a history of the whole conflict...and was only 200 pages.

While it's a very dry read, I felt that it provided a good overview of the war. I didn't know anything about it before reading the book. Now I have some "context" for the next steps in my research.

BTW, the next book that I plan to read should give PLENTY of detail on the RLI. This book (Saints) is over 500 pages and comes with a DVD of more material!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1920143076/ref=oss_product

# ISBN-10: 1920143076
# ISBN-13: 978-1920143077

I did realize that the Alouette only carried a small number of troops...but I thought that it could carry 5.

_________________
I could agree with you...but then we'd BOTH be wrong.

Hey Jim;
Thanks for the info on the book/dvd at Amazon.
While looking through the sample pages, I found some great info, including the part about the 4-man battle group was called a "stick" and the reason it was changed from five men to four was to make room for the helicopter mg gun.

When I get some extra cash, I'll be getting this book.
Joep

I've asked one of my colleagues to speak to his dad, who was in the Rhodesian armed forces, and see if he can get any first-hand information. I'll post something here as and when I hear something.