Hi All
I have been a long time table-top gaming enthusiast but have never really collected until recently. Something that I have never done due to time, talent and direction is painted. I suppose for me the collecting went hand in hand with the painting and as I could not paint, I did not collect and therefore I did not game.
Well last year I decided to try my hand at painting. While I continue to learn a lot and my efforts are not the best I am a lot more confident that if I try I may be able to get a 'table-top' standard I am happy with.
Anyway last year I began to paint some German Gebirgsjagers, however I noticed that there is no list in Chain of Command for them yet. They are quite similar to regular German infantry so with a bit of research and CoCulator help I settled on the below - Comments appreciated.
Germany
Heer Gebirgsjager Rifle Platoon (Pre 1942)
Introduction
The German
Gebirgsjager (mountain infantry) of World War Two found its origins in the Alpenkorps of both the Royal Bavarian
Army and the Austrian Alpenkorps
of the Great War, where they were used to defend the mountain passes from their
Italian equivalent, the Alpini.
They were trained to operate in mountainous terrain and cold weather. The
Austrian Alpenkorps chose the edelweiss
flower as their symbol in 1907 and this eventually became the universal
emblem worn by all mountain troops. The flower only grows at higher altitudes
and means "noble purity." Men from the Germanic tribes of
pre-Christian Europe would bring these blossoms down from the mountains for
their betrothed.
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| Gebirgsjagers in frigid conditions - Image Courtesy of pintrest |
That
somewhat romantic notion endured through the political turbulence of the 1920’s
and the Nazi dictatorship that followed. Both Austria and Germany chose to grow
their mountain infantry units in the 1930’s. When Germany annexed Austria in
1938, the Deutsches Gebirgsjager Divisions were formed. There were 11 divisions
of Das Heer (the regular army);
some were mixed Austrian and German, some were exclusively German and 8
divisions of Waffen SS— with
the exception of the 6th SS Gebirgsjager Division Nord, the SS divisions were
raised from the local populations of the Balkan countries and primarily
assigned to anti-partisan, rear guard duty.
Gebirgsjager
divisions were used in virtually every theatre of World War Two: including the
invasions of Poland in 1939, Norway in 1940, Africa, Crete, the Balkans in
1941, Soviet Russia in 1941, the defence of Italy in 1943-45 and against the
allies in the west. Throughout the war they were primarily concentrated in the
mountainous areas on the Russian Front, in the Norwegian/Finnish/Lapland region
to the north, the Caucasus region to the south and the mountainous parts of
Italy. As the Allies forced Germany to withdraw from its conquered territory,
Gebirgsjagers often fell into the same lines with regular infantry. In the
final months of the war, when the quality of new conscripts was poor,
Gebirgsjagers were often deployed at strategically critical areas. For this
reason, it seems that they did not survive the war in great numbers.
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| Image Courtesy of ww2incolor |
Gebirgsjagers wore
essentially the same core uniform as regular infantry with some important
exceptions—mountain boots (Bergstieffel),
the short-brimmed mountain cap (Bergmutz),
and a reversible Windbluse
(anorak) are the most visible differences. In addition to the core field gear
(canteens, mess kits, etc.), Gebirgsjager sometimes carried climbing equipment,
skis and snow shoes. Due to the conditions they fought in, like their comrades
in the Kriegsmarine
(navy), Gebirgsjager uniquely often wore short beards. This was tolerated
even among their generals.
| Bearded Gebirgsjager with Fallschirjagers - Image Courtesy of theminimaturepage.com |
Weaponry
included the K98 Mauser rifle, MP40 submachine gun, MG34 and MG42 machine guns,
like their regular army counterparts. A shorter-barrelled K98, called the
Gewehr 33/40 was also issued, more suited for carrying into the mountains. It
was not unusual to see the Russian PPsH 41 carried by GJs who served in the
East. These were issued to those troops because of their superior performance
in freezing temperatures. Mortars, howitzers and flak guns were issued in
varying numbers. A typical division numbered about 14,000 men, 1,400
vehicles and about 6,000 pack animals, ranging from horses of varying
breeds to camels.
 |
| A jager climbing with full kit - Image Courtesy of Valka |
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| 5th Mountain Division - Austrian Tirol |
Early Basic Heer Gebirgsjager Rifle Platoon
Force Rating: -1 Regular, +1 Experienced Regular, +4 Elite
Command Dice: 5
Platoon Headquarters
Leutnant, Senior Leader, Karabiner 98k or MP38/40
Obergefreiter, MP38/40
Jager. Karabiner 98k
Gebirgsjager Sections 1 to 3
Gefreiter, Junior Leader, MP38/40
LMG Team
MG34, two crew
1 Jager, Karabiner 98k
Rifle Team
1 Oberjager, MP38/40
5 Jagers, Karabiner 98k
 |
| 2nd Mountain Division - Carinthia, Upper Austria, Tirol and Vorarlberg |
Early Valley Heer Gebirgsjager Platoon
Force Rating: -1 Regular, +2 Experienced Regular, +4 Elite
Command Dice: 5
Platoon Headquarters
Leutnant, Senior Leader, Karabiner 98k
Obergefreiter, MP38/40
Jager. Karabiner 98k
Anti-Tank Rifle Team
Panzerbuchse 38/39, 2 crew
Gebirgsjager Sections 1 to 3
Gefreiter, Junior Leader, MP38/40
LMG Team
MG34, two crew
1 Jager, Karabiner 98k
Rifle Team
1 Oberjager, MP38/40
5 Jagers, Karabiner 98k
 |
| 6th Mountain Division - Bavaria |
Early Alpine Heer Gebirgsjager Platoon
Force Rating: +/-0 Regular, +2 Experienced Regular, +4 Elite
Command Dice: 5
Platoon Headquarters
Leutnant, Senior Leader, Karabiner 98k
Obergefreiter, MP38/40
Jager. Karabiner 98k
5cm Mortar Team
Le.Grw36.5cm Mortar, 3 crew
Gebirgsjager Sections 1 to 3
Gefreiter, Junior Leader, MP38/40
LMG Team
MG34, two crew
1 Jager, Karabiner 98k
Rifle Team
1 Oberjager, MP38/40
5 Jagers, Karabiner 98k
Gebirgsjager Support List
List One
Satchel Charge
Medical Orderly
Gebirgsjager/Pioneer Mine Clearance Team, 3 men
Gebirgsjager/Pioneer Wire Cutting Team, 3 men
Gebirgsjager/Pioneer Demolition Team, 3 men
Adjutant
Minefiled
Barbed Wire
Entrenchements for one team
List Two
Road Block (Valley or Basic Only)
Le.GrW36.5cm Mortar, 3 crew
Pre-Game Barrage
Mule Team
Panzerbuchse 38/39, 2 crew
Senior Leader
List Three
Sniper Team
MG34 on tripod mount, 3 crew
List Four
PaK36, 5 crew including Junior Leader
Regular Jager Section with Junior Leader
Le.GebIG18. 5 crew including Junior Leader
Forward Observer with Mortar Battery
Panzerjager I including Junior Leader (Valley or Basic Only)
List Five
Gebirgsgeschutze 36, 5 crew including Junior Leader
PaK36(t), 5 crew including Junior Leader
List Six
STuG III A-E with Junior Leader (Valley or Basic Only)
Support List Explanation
Senior Leader
Only one Senior Leader may be selected.
Le.GrW36 5cm Mortar
The Le.GrW36
5cm Mortar has no smoke ammunition, only firing HE rounds. It has a minimum
range of 12”, but closer than that the crew may use their rifles.
Satchel Charge
The satchel
charge is shown on Table Seven, Hand-Held Anti-Tank Weapons. The charge may be
used once by any section n the table when commanded by a Senior Leader, we
assume, carrying it with him up to that point.
How the
charge works is detailed in Section 9.3.4, Tank Hunters. A maximum of two
satchel charges may be selected by a German force.
Mule Team
A Mule team
consists of 1 mule and two crew. The Mule team is considered a medical orderly
in every way for rule purposes. The mule team must move together and may never
be split up or shoot.
If fired
upon the mule team does not take shock but hits and casualties are applied as
normal for firing at a team. When the final crew member is killed (the mule
does not count, only the 2 crew) the team is removed and your opponent must
roll on their force morale table as per the medical orderly rules. You must
also roll on the ‘Bad Things Happen Table for a ‘team wiped out’.
In addition
to a medical orderly a mule team may act as a mobile ammunition resupply point
(i.e. friendly jump off point). A team or section, are permitted to resupply,
must have at least one member within 1” of the mule team and when the team or
section is activated must spend its whole phase resupplying. To resupply
the team or section roll a D6. On a roll of 1 or 2, no fresh supplies are
available. On a roll of 3 to 6 a further three rounds are available.
Platoon Headquarters Squad
The Platoon Headquarters
Squad is treated as a Leader would be treated. Therefore it does not take
shock, does not break and may include its fire when firing with another
section, or activate independently to fire.
When the
squad is hit, calculate shots as you normally would against a section or team
(like a leader, if attached it cannot be allocated any hits separately). If not attached
and casualties for the squad are taken, roll a D3 rather than a D6 to determine
if the Senior Leader is hit or
another model is taken as a casualty. If attached and a leader would normally
be hit by firing, roll a D3 to determine if the leader or another member of the
squad is hit. If the Senior Leader is killed, any remaining
members of the squad are also removed at this time. If another member of the
squad is removed as a casualty no roll on the morale table is made.
Command
range is measured from the Senior Leader
only and not other members of the squad.
(Optional) Gebirgsjager Special Rules
Difficult Terrain Masters
Gebirgjagers
may make a move with one patrol marker with the normal restrictions after the
deployment of the patrol markers but prior to the patrol marker movement. This
move is in addition to any allowed by a scenario and occurs before any
opponents additional moves and always occurs first, regardless of force morale.
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