Warning!

This is an experimental list, and isn’t intended to be a balanced and flexible force like a generic infantry platoon. It’s radically different from most units you’d field in CoC and I think it’s interesting for that reason. Give it a go, your feedback would be much appreciated.

Originally derived from garrison units occupying concrete pillboxes, the Fortified Regions were reinvented after the German invasion as mobile defensive units. When Soviet troops stopped advancing the Fortified “Regions” would move into the line and allow the infantry and tank divisions to move to the rear and rest. Each regiment-sized Fortified Region could hold the same section of the line as an infantry division. They were essentially an economy-of-force measure.

In the hands of a determined crew the venerable Maxim could hold up a disproportionate number of the enemy.

Exceptionally lean on manpower, the main fighting units were the Machine Gun Battalions. Each Machine Gun platoon had only 13 men manning four machine guns, but the tiny unit could call on lots of heavy weaponry and the engineers provided them with well fortified positions. Their job was to tie up much larger numbers of attacking  troops until relief arrived. Their orders were to stand and die; they were allowed to advance if the enemy gave ground but not one inch of retreat was authorised.

While the machine gun battalions had no riflemen themselves, infantry regiments were often attached to Fortified Regions. You might find the support option of infantry and scout squads makes your defence much more flexible. Not to mention that adding a single infantry squad nearly doubles your manpower! The small machine gun teams have good firepower, but can be fragile. The option to upgrade your Maxim positions to bunkers will greatly increase their survivability, but pick their fields of fire carefully so you don’t get outmanoeuvred.

These tiny units had a high proportion of officers and NCOs, making them well-led. The elite option could represent a unit such as the 1st Guards Fortified Region.

You can download the full list with support options here:

Soviet Fortified Region Machine Gun Platoon

This list covers them from Early 1942 when they were established as mobile units, through to the end of the war, as the same platoon structure was kept throughout. That core platoon is pretty straightforward:

Machine Gun platoon

Platoon Force Rating:

Regular -4

Elite -1

Command Dice: 5

Platoon HQ:

Senior Leader with pistol.

Feedback

Do let me know if you try the list out. It’s a bit of an oddball list, I’d be interested to see if you thought it was fun to play with or against, or if it could use any tweaks to make it more playable. It’s not supposed to be particularly flexible, and the small size of the platoon means it can’t take a lot of punishment, so you’ll need to be crafty about how you play it. Good luck!

Miniatures

You should be able to get or make everything you need in 28mm at least. You can see my platoon plus pretty much all of the support options here:  http://tinyhordes.com/tag/mg-platoon/