Review Book - Dragon Strike, (context for South China Seas conflict?)

Fictional accounts of Future conflict can provide a useful geo political context for gaming near future conflict without having to put much thought into the wider back ground, the best example of this that springs to mind is Hacketts the third World War, which I used primarily as a scene setter for most of my Cold War Games.  As such I have started looking for something similar for a future war in the Pacific and will be reviewing the books I have been reading, primarily from that perspective.

Written in 1997 and set in 2001 the book focuses more on the geo political than the military issues  of the conflict that is at the centre of the story. It is nevertheless an interesting read and provides useful context to one of the major regional flash points. 

At the time China's evolving military capabilities limited the scope of what could they could credibly achieve.  The concepts that are now starting to give them power A2AD, still need to be augmented to enable freedom of action in the face of potential US opposition. The dramatic restructuring seen since 2015 which has significantly changed the structure of the PLA and dramatically increased its ability to develop Joint Operational capability, expeditionary warfare, and levels of mechanisation had not arrived in 2001.  As such the action described may seem a little premature a setting in the 2030 - 2050 time frame would be more credible though predicting the technological and political evolution in those time frames are a lot more challenging.

The book written by Humphrey Hawksley and Simon Holberton two experienced journalists who have covered the region and china for the BBC and the Financial times respectively has a solid geo political base behind its story and as such provides excellent context for one of the potential major conflict flash points, the South China Sea. The novel specifically focuses on the possession of the Spratly Islands, associated energy reserves and protection of critical trade routes all precipitated by rising economic challenges in China.  The Novel jumps around a bit but illustrates how regional conflicts escalate and the complex interactions and interdependencies between nations and how these evolve in conflict situations.

The Political interaction between the participating nations sits at the heart of the novel rather than either the military action or the interplay between the main characters and as such makes it a challenging read in places.  Despite it's shortcomings as a pacy techno thriller in the Tom Callency mold it provides excellent context for future conflict around the South China Seas, and abely demonstrates how this could quickly escalate to a  Global problem. As we sit looking at a wold on the edge of recession and trade wars between the US and China the Geo Political context presented looks all to plausible.


Other Reviews:

Marine, Tom Clancy, 1997

Review Models - 1/285 GHQ, USMC M1 and LAV - 25

This post reviews the GHQ M1 and LAV 25, covering the general quality of the model, build issues, painting, stowage, markings and basing. Given the small size and the lack of kit building I thought I would do model reviews and builds either in groups or with conversion projects. This is the first group, I am building and painting these for inclusion into an ultra modern USMC force for games set in the present and near future focused on the Pacific Theatre.

The vehicles were ordered from Magister Millenium in the UK and were well packaged and arrived promptly.  The M1 and LAV 25 provide the mainstay of the mechanised/armoured elements of the Ground Combat Component of the Marine Expeditionary unit (MEU), which is the first of the US expeditionary warfare units I am building in 6mm.  

Vehicle Overviews

M1 The M1 entered Service in 1980 as a replacement for the US Army's M60A3, the M60 however soldiered on for some time with both the reserve forces and the USMC. The USMC retiring their M60A1s after Gulf War 1 in 1991 and the US Army reserve letting theirs go in 1997.  The M1 was upgraded to the M1A1 with the 105mm gun being replaced by a 120mm gun in 1986. Whilst the US Army is now running with the M1A2C moving to the M1A2D the Marines still have the M1A1. The Marine M1A1 has a number of differences from the Army vehicles to make it fit for operations near the sea. These include different Smoke Grenade Discharger Units and a deep wading kit - handy for getting off landing craft.

LAV 25 The LAV 25 serves with the Light Armoured Reconnaissance Battalions of the USMC, the vehicle entered service with the Marines in 1983. The LAV 25 A2 currently in service introduced a number of protection enhancements along with TI systems. Whilst the Marines have plans to introduce further upgrades through the LAV 25 A3 they have also just started looking for a replacement vehicle. As well as the base variant a variety of other versions of the vehicle are also in service with the Marines including: Command, Recovery, Logistic, Anti Tank, Mortar and EW.

Models

As you might expect from GHQ the vehicles are all precision moulded in white metal, cleanly cast and packed with fine detail.  Without exception all the vehicles purchased were excellent castings all with separate turrets and moulded barrels.

The M1s are supplied with two turret mounted MGs each which because of the fine nature of the casting and small size struggle to survive contact with the postal system despite the extensive packaging and looked challenging to straighten out and then fit.  The models themselves required minimal cleaning and little attention to barrel straightening. Close inspection for small amounts of flash is worthwhile as is identification of the mold injection points which nearly always carry small strings of metal from the casting process and are really annoying to discover during painting. 

In all cases I have glued the turrets in place keeping the barrels within the footprint of the hull and or hull and base depending on length, in order to reduce the risk of barrel bend during use. The Vehicles have then been mounted on MDF bases with the edges beveled to reduce their height as described in the post on my baseing philosophy.

Stowage and Markings

Siowage has always been part of what I love about the USMC and in fact the US Army, they have a remarkable affinity for strapping stuff all over the outside of their wagons. Offering the opportunity to create some quite unique models for the gaming table

As can be seen from the M1A1 pictures in the post this can cover a wide variety of equipment ranging from personal equipment to spare road wheels, shelters, defence stores lubricants and the ubiquitous air marker panels which can manifest in a number of different sizes and shapes

I always think the LAV 25 Crews take the whole stowage thing to a new level, primarily I suspect because of their size and the fact that they carry dismounts in addition to the vehicle crew.  Again a review of a range of images of vehicles on exercises and operations will give you an idea of what might be carried and where it is stowed. To the general list of external stowage can be added spare wheels cam nets and fuel cans which these vehicles always seem to be littered with.

Availability of stowage in this scale is a bit of a challenge although a number of companies offer scale accessories including Heroics and Ross and Perfect Six.  If you want to have a bash at making them yourself my post on Modelling - Stowing USMC Vehicles in 6mm provides a range of approaches to simply representing a wide range stowage items.

As a matter of course Marine vehicles do not seem to carry any tactical markings in the form of Identifying numbers or Symbols. A variety were apparent in the Gulf Wars other than chevrons most of the images I have seen these looked like they had been locally applied to no apparent regulation. I have therefore not applied any to my vehicles.

NATO/Israeli chevrons in white and black can be obtained from a number of sources. Magistere Milenium stock them in Black however the lack of contrast between the chevrons and the vehicle colour dissuade me from applying any. 

Painting

I have altered my painting style to accommodate the challenges of 6mm. It all Kicks off undercoating the model in white a change after many years undercoating 20mm in black. In this small scale the model and colours all benefit significantly from a white undercoat. I don't tend to dry brush on the vehicle at the end of the process as I find the effect on top of camouflaged vehicles makes the model look very busy in this scale. All Paints used unless otherwise stated are Vallejo Model Colour

Base Vehicle and Camouflage

• 70890 Reflective Green base colour
• 70846 Mahogany Sand
• 70860 Black Grey
• Citadel Nuln Oil Black Wash

A number of dilute coats of the base colour are applied and at least 1 black wash. I then continue to build up the base colour but aim to avoid it becoming too dark allowing the white undercoat and the translucent coats of paint to keep the model a light shade of the base colour. Over shooting this goal leads to highlighting with a mix of the base colour and buff on to the upper surfaces.

Keeping the base colour light enables the model detail to stand out, although I have discovered a number of challenges with this method.

• Ensuring good coverage of the model to block out the white undercoat needs to be worked at. if I am not looking at the model through a magnifying lens this won't be achieved
• Applying dilute coats of paint can cause the paint to separate and results in some unusual colours. To avoid this mix the paint immediately before applying and don't let the paint pool on the model, which basically comes down to controlling the amount of paint on the brush.

Once the base colour is sorted I then work on the camouflage pattern. For any particular vehicle I try to keep this consistent which saves thinking too much about the pattern for all the other vehicles  of the same type that you are going to paint and is generally in line with what military organisations do with one or two exceptions.  Researching the pattern can be a challenge particularly for shots of the top of the vehicle, larger scale models and their painting plans can be useful here.

The Camouflage pattern is then applied in line with the reference imagery using a thicker consistency than the base coat in order to gain a level of coverage.  I then generally pin wash before proceeding with undercoating and painting the stowage items and the vehicle detail. The Pin wash is applied direct to the areas of detail rather than all over the vehicle, this can be quite effective if brown is used rather than black.

Stowage Colours

• 70887 Olive Drab undercoat for brown items
• 70880 Khaki Grey Packs, highlights + 70976 Buff
• 70988 Khaki, Tarpaulins, highlights + 70976 Buff
• 70976 Buff, Ration Boxes
• Dark Green undercoat for green items
• 70890 Reflective green, Ammo Boxes, highlights + 70976 Buff
• 70909 Vermillion for Marker Panels, Highlight 70911 Light Orange

I generally try to limit the number of colours I am working with which saves time and prevents the model becoming too Chaotic.  I undercoat most of the stowage in Olive Drab. This is then overpainted in the relevant colours allowing the undercoat to show through between items or to provide an illustration of folds or the boundary between the top of a pack and the body of a pack.  Items are then highlighted with the addition of Buff to the body colour so for Packs Khaki Grey and Tarpaulins Khaki.  Generally I am looking for high contrast between the vehicle and the stowage item. Air Marker Panels are painted with dabs of crimsen followed by dabs of orange allowing the olive drab and crimson to show through to mark folds.

Vehicle Detail

• 70860 Black Grey Tracks, Tyres, Weapons and Antena
• 70860 Black Grey + 70989 Sky Grey Tyre Walls
• Citadel Agryx Earthshade, wheel wash
• 70989 Sky Grey Head Lights,
• 70911 Light Orange Indicators
• 70909 Vermillion Brake Lights 

Weapons and Tracks are simply painted Black Grey and Tyers are painted black grey and then the tyre walls are painted in a lighter grey using a mix of sky grey and black grey, wheels are usually finished off with a Wash of Agryx Earth Shade. Finally I pick out the light clusters in light grey overpainting with Orange and Crimson where appropriate.

And their you have it. Not the quickest way to get the vehicles on the table but they look quite good when they get their, the quality of the GHQ models is excellent and I think worth the money.

Related Posts:

Modelling - A Baseing Philosophy for 6mm Figures and Vehicles
Modelling - Stowing USMC Vehicles in 6mm

References:

FAS.org M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank
FAS.org LAV and Variants

ORBAT - USMC Marine Rifle Battalion

This post is part of a series that will examine the constituent components of a Marine Expeditionary Unit how they might evolve in the near future and their representation on the wargames table.  The capabilities and organisation of each will be presented in separate posts and the series will conclude with a look at the overall task organisation of the MEU. A MEU is a Marine Air Ground Task Force, the concepts associated with which are covered here.

The Marine Rifle Battalion forms the core of a Battalion Landing Team which is the Ground Component of a Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Battalion is also a key building block of the Ground Component in a Marine Expeditionary Brigade. As such it is probably an excellent place to start exploring the capabilities of a MEU in detail.

 The Organisation of the unit is covered in a number of USMC publications:

• MCRP 1-10.1 Organisation of the United States Marine Corps, May 2019
• MCRP 3-10A.2 Infantry Company Operations, Feb 2018
• MCRP 3-10A.4 Marine Rifle Squad, Out of Date

MCRP 1-10.1 contains a High Level outline of the organisation with organisational charts that document the structure to section level but does not include detailed composition. Detailed Composition and Organisational patterns for the task organisation of both the rifle companies and weapons company are contained within MCRP 3-10A.2. I have not managed to find useful detail on the H&S company although there is broad information available on the web on the Scout/Sniper platoon. Whilst MCTP 3-10A covers the Infantry Battalion it is significantly out of date and does not appear to be maintained as is MCRP 3-10A.4 the Marine rifle squad.

All USMC Publications can be downloaded for free from the USMCs own website from the Publications Electronic Library which is worth a browse.

I am currently building my forces for present day to near future operations with a focus on the Pacific. I  use  the  Cold War Commander rule set with 6mm figures and vehicles.  There is an excellent review of the rules here if you are unfamiliar with them.

These rules can represent units at 1:1 or at a more abstract Platoon level for larger games. I have used  a single base and single vehicle for Infantry and tank platoon. For support weapons I have used a group of 3-4 weapons which is generally a section but in some case needs a bit of interpretation as the USMC uses a number of concepts including, squads, sections and teams to describe these groups.

The fighting elements of the unit are contained within the 3 Rifle Companies and the Weapons Company. In addition there is a Headquaters and Supply Company which has some elements that are worth considering.

Headquaters and Supply Company.  The Wargames components of this organisation that need  representation are:

• Bn HQ
• Scout Sniper Platoon. 
• Medical Platoon

The Bn HQ and the Medical platoon are each represented by a single stand.  The Scout/Sniper Platoon is more of a challenge to tie down organisationally. MCRP 5-12D notes that it exists, MCRP 2-10A.6 Ground Reconnaissance Operations sets out its primary role to provide timely surveillance, tactical data and coordinate supporting arms and close air support whilst providing the Unit with Extended area observation underlining the reconnaissance aspects of the platoon.

A 1999 TOE identifies a small head quarters and 4 4 man scout/sniper teams each capable of deploying 2 Sniper Pairs. The platoon is generally commanded by the assistant intelligence officer and is part of the intelligence section.  A variety of insertion methods can be supported, from Rotary wing aircraft to small boats, or wheels. Vehicles are not organic to the platoon but are provided as needed from Battalion MT or Logistic Units.  The Platoon can be tasked directly by the battalion or task organised with the companies and other elements of the battalion.

In addition to providing a reconnaissance capability they can act as snipers in both the anti material or anti personnel role using any of the in service sniper rifles:

• M40A5 bolt action rifle being replaced by the Mk 13
• M107 Barrett anti materiel rifle
• Mk 13 Mod 7 Sniper Rifle

For game representation I am treating the sniper capability as a support weapon and will use them as two sections of 4 snipers.  I mount Support weapons on two figure bases and I am using two 2 man support weapons bases to represent the platoon and depending on scenario and task organisation will provide them 2 HMMWV for transport.

Marine Rifle Companies.  The Battalion has 3 Marine Rifle Companies each  organised as outlined below.

The Marine Rifle Company is essentially a light Infantry organisation. It can be task organised with a variety of transport assets provided by other units to enhance both its protection and mobility these include:

• AAVP 7 or ACV 1.2 from the Divisions Assault Amphibious Regiments
• MTVR from  the Transport & Support Companies of Combat Logistic Battalions
• Small Boats from Navel CORIVRON units, Ship RHIBs or Marine CRRC
• Rotary Wing inserted by Marine OV-22, CH53 or UH-1Y Venoms

I have represented the rifle platoon using a triple slota base carrying three bases of 4 figures, effectively representing each squad. This offers the flexibility to play at a lower level or use a smaller footprint to represent the platoon in denser terrain such as urban environments where I could reduce to a single 4 man base, and of course they look good. 

The weapons platoon can be task organized to the platoons or grouped centrally  depending on the mission need. I have represented each section with a single base of 2 figures and have them mounted in double slota bases with the company HQ primarily for ease of movement.  A Double slota bases is illustrated below.

Weapons Company.  The Weapons Company provides an HQ and 3 Support Weapons Platoons, Mortars, Machine Guns and Anti Tank. Some battalions also include the Scout Sniper Platoon within the weapons company.

The USMC have a number of standard patterns for task organising the Weapons Company outlined in MCRP 3-10A.2 these are:

Combined Anti Armour Platoon. This organisation combines the Anti Tank Platoon and The HMG platoon and creates a CAAT Platoon out of the HMG, AGL and TOW Sections.  The Platoon is made up of two Combined Anti Armour Teams. The CAAT organisation is flexible and can be evenly split between anti tank and HMG/AGL sections or biased to one capability or the other creating light and heavy versions of the CAAT Platoon. 

Mobile Assault Company. This task organised group converts a Mortar section into 2 HMMWV mounted maneuver squads each with 3 HMMWV. This can then be combined with an HMG/AGL Section and One or More TOW Squads to form a Mobile Assault Platoon. The Company can then be formed as Two Mobile Assault Platoons and a Fire Support Platoon of the remaining Mortar section.  This formation may be used when the Battalion needs a 4th maneuver company and is also useful for convoy escort.  Whilst vehicle mounted Scout/Sniper platoons are not covered in the Doctrine they would be an interesting addition to this concept.

The Company can also task organise CAAT Teams or AT Squads and HMG/AGL Sections with the rifle companies depending on mission need. The Javelin Squads tend to be task organised with the Companies as a matter of course. 

As can be seen the task organisation of the battalion is highly flexible allowing a wide variety of task organised mission groups to be created from the baseline organisation.

For the Wargames representation of the Weapons company I have stuck with the idea that 4 weapons represent a section as such I have represented the platoons as follows

•  HMG Platoon with two 2 fig bases and 2 HMMWV, 
• AT Platoon 
• Javelin section as two 2 fig bases 
• TOW section as two TOW Armed HMMWV, I have yet to find a dismounted TOW
• Mortar Platoon as two 2 fig Mortar Bases and a 2 Figure OP Base and 3 HMMWV. (4 HMMWV if MAPs are created)

At this level both the Mobile assault company and the CAAT Platoon can be represented.

Future Developments:  I have been looking at the future development programs that impact the battalion and will deliver in the near future as I want to game using near future scenarios.  Of these programs it's a case of picking the ones that make an impact at a gaming level the following are of interest:

• New Company and Squad Organisation, Equipment & Weapons.  The USMC are working through the restructuring of the Rifle Company and the squad this has yet to settle down in terms of numbers but has clear direction in terms of capability for both the company and the squad  and includes:
• Operations and Intelligence Section in Company HQ
• Systems Operators for Robotic Systems at Company and Squad Level,
• New Equipment at Squad level including Quad Copters, Range Finders, Upgraded Night Vision, Ruggedised Tablets
• New personal equipment Body armour and communications
• New Weapon Systems, M27 Rifles, M3 MAAWS, UGLs, Designated Marksman Rifle

• J- ATV. The Introduction of J-ATV to replace a proportion of the HMMWV fleet.  The hot question is, which bit? I am playing with a couple of assumptions, the first will be everything in the battalion and the second will be HMG and TOW only.

• Robotics. The restructuring of the Marine Rifle Squad to 15 Men to include a Systems Operator and additional Systems operator roles in the Company HQ point to the increasing importance of  Robotics with UAV, Counter UAV and UGV being considered.  Of these the UGV will be difficult to represent as concepts are immature. UGV roles include heavy weapons, observation, load carriers, and sentries.  The Rheinmetall defence mission master platform below is an interesting example.

• Anti Armour Restructuring. Phasing out of TOW Sabre and replacement with Javelin. This ones quite easy, the question mark here is how they will employ the Javelin teams mounted with a vehicle mount system or dismounted, I think I will go with the additional teams mounted on J-ATV.
• More Electronic and Networked Functions moving further forward. an example of this is grouping EW Teams with Sniper teams.  Whilst the article discussed use with Scout/Sniper Platoons it would also work with Force Recon or the Recon Battalion. Game concepts would need to be developed but this typifies the way that different capabilities might be task organised in the future.
• Representation of Network Centric Capability. Networked Sensors and precision guided munitions have proliferated dramatically in the early part of the 21st Century. The challenge really sits with up-dateing game rules and mechanisms to accommodate the technology.  This is fairly critical for the light weight force who will be relying heavily on the effects this can deliver.

There are a lot more forward looking program efforts and experiments being pursued by the Marines and I will be reviewing more as I examine the other capability areas.

Figures and Vehicles. Everything needed for a USMC battalion is available from the major 6mm manufacturers. I have built this unit from GHQ figures using a mix of their current and cold war infantry packs. The only things that I have yet to find are:

• Dismounted TOW (not a significant issue) 
• 60mm Mortar (so my 81mm Mortars and 60mm Mortars all look the same)
• SMAW figure, I am using a chinese infantry man carrying a PF89 on his back

The bulk of the modelling challenges come with pushing the unit into the near future such as creating UGVs and the specifics of TOW mounts on J-ATVs for example but I have yet to get stuck into that.

References:

Marine, Tom Clancy, 1997
MCRP 5-12D Organisation of the United States Marine Corps, Feb 2018
MCRP 3-10A.2 Infantry Company Operations, Feb 2018

MCRP 3-10A.4 Marine Rifle Squad, Feb 2019
MCRP 3-10A.6 Ground Reconnaissance Operations
MCWP 3-10 MAGTF Ground Operations
MCRP 3-30.1 Raid Operations
Amphibious Ready Group and Marine Expeditionary Unit
22nd Annual Expeditionary Conference
Cold War Commander Rules

ORBAT - USMC MAGTF

The purpose of this post was really to understand how the MAGTF concept worked at the high level and the overall forces that would be drawn from to bring that capability together before examining in detail the structure and composition of a Marine Expeditionary Unit in a later post.  The post looks at:

• The MAGTF concept including the air and ground units that supply combat elements
• Sealift and Naval support 
• Aspects of the operational challenge in the Pacific
• High level view of model scale and availability for Gaming

MAGTF Concept. The United States Marine Corps organises for Combat into Marine Air Ground Task Forces (MAGTF). whilst the MAGTF is built around USMC components and can stretch from a Platoon to a Joint USMC/Army Force or a Coalition force essentially it is described at three different organisational levels:

• Marine Expeditionary Unit where a Marine Rifle Battalion is the lead component of a task organised combined arms Battalion Landing Team that forms the core
• Marine Expeditionary Brigade where a Marine Rifle Regiment is the lead component of a task organised  combined arms Brigade Landing Team that forms the core 
• Marine Expeditionary Force where a Marine Division is the lead component of a task organised joint combined arms or coalition ground force that forms the core.

Task organised Combined Arms forces include attached elements to the core units from other arms such as Armour, Armoured Recce, Combat Engineer, Artillery, and Assault amphibian.  Joint forces include other Services such as an Army Stryker Brigade, Coalition Forces include elements of allied nations forces.

MAGTFs are task organised from components held within the Marine division and Marine Air Wings, whilst these can vary, generally they comprise:

• Marine Division

• Marine Air Wing

Regardless of the unit or formation it is based on the MAGTF is an integrated expeditionary combined arms force and is formed of four task organised force components.

• Command Element
• Ground Combat Element
• Aviation Combat Element
• Logistic Combat Element

The MAGTFs Components fulfil the following functions:

Command Element. Is the MAGTFs HQ it organises a holistic battle involving the integration of all three components to achieve the mission aim. It will plan and execute missions based  on the USMCs doctrine which is essentially manouverist and will therefore tend to focus on the destruction of the enemy rather than taking and holding ground.

Ground Combat Element.  Is a task organised force that provides the capability to undertake Ground combined arms manoeuvre. It works as an integrated component of the MAGTF not a separate entity. It covers amphibious, offensive, defensive and stabilisation operations. Its key capabilities are:

• Ground and Amphibious Reconnaissance, 
• Combined Arms Ground Manoeuvre and security
• Massed Firepower
• Close Combat
• Seizing and Holding Key Terrain

Aviation Combat Element. Provides all 6 functions of USMC Aviation and varies in size from an aircraft detachment to multiple Marine Air Wings.  It works as an integrated component of the MAGTF. The 6 Functions provided are:

• Offensive Air Support
• Anti Air Warfare
• Assault Support
• Air Reconnaissance
• Electronic Warfare
• Control of Aircraft and Missiles

Logistic Combat Element.  Provides the Combat Service Support Function it can vary in size from a platoon to multiple logistic groups and covers;

• Supply 
• Maintenance, 
• Transportation, 
• General engineering, 
• Health services 

The MAGTF strikes me as one of the most tightly coupled joint forces in existence, with dedicated land and Air components in a single unified command, that the level of task organisation and the potential to model a variety of Naval assets is what really grabs my imagination.  

Sealift and Naval Support.   The Sea lift and Naval support assets provide a degree of context during the game and selected elements of the Naval engagement could be played out. Like air landing operations these need to be controlled if the main event is to happen.  Although there are a variety of deployment options with varying components of sea lift I am primarily interested in over the beach operations. At the battalion level the Sea Lift component of this is an Amphibious Ready Group comprising:

• An Amphibious Assault Ship LHA/LHD
• An Amphibious Transport Dock LPD
• A Dock Landing Ship LSD
• Its embarked MEU

This can be task organised with a Surface Action Group and or a Littoral Combat Group to form an Expeditionary Strike Group which in turn can work under an umbrella provided by a Carrier strike group.  When working in conjunction with a Carrier Strike Group you would expect that a greater component of the MAGTFs embarked air assets could focus on the ground mission whilst the CSG focuses on the Air Superiority and Force protection aspects.

If deploying a Marine Expeditionary Force, it seems likely that  the fleet elements would need to be supplemented with components provided by the Maritime Pre Positioning Force from the various MPSRONs. The numbers of LHA/D required to put a MEB over the beach being 50% of the current fleet of 8 LHDs and 2 soon to be 3 LHAs this fleet would seem to give a potential maximum deployment capacity of 2 MEBs. Given the number of permanently deployed MEUs and maintenance cycles this would be interesting to achieve and would take planing and time. If the division has more than two Brigade Landing Teams then it seems likely that the 3rd would have to call upon an MPSRON, the pre conditions for that would be a degree of security or a port I suppose. The alternatives are getting imaginative around Ships Taken Up From Trade in a manner similar to Op Corporate.

The US Navy is currently aiming to have a fleet of 36 Amphibious ships by 2021, with a number of 38 being identifies as that required to land 2 MEBs and allow for maintenance, whilst 50+ is the number talked about to land an MEF with 3 Brigade Landing Teams.

Operational Challenges Of course concentrating this level of force in order to undertake landing operations forms what many would call a large target. Given China's evolving Anti Access Area Denial (A2/AD) capabilities covering the South and East China Seas which include;

• Island Bases
• Land based Ballistic Anti Ship missile capabilities, 
• Missile Attack boats
• Expanding Diesel Attack Submarine fleet
• Land Based Aircraft

These A2/AD capabilities pose increased challenges to landing operations in contested littoral environments around these areas, however like the Cold War ATGW threat the balance of capability and advantage will probably see saw around this one for a while.

The Map below illustrates the challenge quite nicely. Traditional Landing operations are conducted from upto 12 Miles offshore, concepts for high speed ship to objective maneuver talk to 100 miles neither of which really tackles the issues illustrated which suggest a need to:

• Target and engage the land based assets effectively with either Kinetic effects or disruptive attacks such as EW.
• Provide adequate defence of the landing platforms. 
• Increase the stand off and dispersion.

Wargames Goal  So my goal is to create a  6mm 1/300 force focused on a MEU MAGTF but that could stretch to a MEB at a more representational level, 1 Vehicle represents a platoon, 1 Ship a group of ships. Currently I am looking to build out the;

• Ground Combat Element, 
• Air Combat Element 
• Naval support Elements probably to the level of the ESG, although a Carrier strike group would be nice, it might be a step to far and pose a major storage challenge.

This force will be used for current and near future games set in the Pacific with the Chinese initially providing the principal opposition. Over time I fancy it could open up to include US Army and Coalition partners of which the most interesting are the Australians although I have yet to really examine any of the other coalition partner options in the region. 

Model Availability

I think of the scale as around 1/300 as to get full coverage of the force components I am looking at:

• Ground forces 1/285 (Primarily GHQ)
• Air Forces 1/350 (Primarily Trumpeter)
• Naval Forces 1/350 (Primarily Trumpeter)

The aspiration on the Naval side would be something that looks like the image below from Jeff Heads 1/350 Scale Model Building and Defence Youtube Channel but waterlined, I will need to work out how they play into the game other than as a sea base and potentially some novel ideas for submarines.

The next articles in this series will examine the composition of a Marine Division and a Marine Air Wing in a little more detail in order to understand the range of components that could be task organised for a USMC MEU, before looking at a representative MEU in detail.

References:

MCRP 1-10.1 Organisation of the United States Marine Corps
MCWP 3 -10 MAGTF Ground Operations
MCWP 3 - 20 MAGTF Aviation Operations
MCPT 13-10D Maritime Prepositioning Force Operations

Amphibious Ready Group and Marine Expeditionary Unit

Expeditionary Strike Force a Practical Solution in The Littoral Domain

LCS CONOPS
Littoral Operations In Contested Environments
Set up to Fail, Marines dont have enough amphibious ships to train