Historically, a platoon consisted of 3x squads (the platoon commander was also leader of one of the squads) and at company level there were 3x SA-7 Grail MANPADS launchers and their gunners which were cascaded down, one to each platoon.
There was also a separate section of 2-3x AGS-17 Plamyas
each with a 2 man crew at the battalion level.
Each squad was made up of an RPG-16 gunner
a PKM light machine gunner
and 5 men with AK-74's
Each squad also had the fire support of the BTR-60PB
or BMP-1
that transported it.
One of the squads would also have had an SVD sniper rifle
in place of an AK-74, but I'll overlook that. O8 casts their PKM with a 2 man crew, so I'd have to fudge reality a bit and make each stand 5x AK-74 gunners, 1x PKM and crew, and 1x RPG. That's about as accurate as I can conveniently get. For each platoon, I'd also have to do a stand of 1x SA-7. Oh, and there was also an additional combat squad at company level made up from the HQ personnel.
So, all that would mean an awful LOT of little squad stands littering the table during a game. In an effort to keep that problem under as much control as possible, I'm going to do larger platoon stands. 9x AK-74 figures, 3x PKM's, 3x RPG-16's, and 1x SA-7. The stands are, after all, just a graphic representation of a platoon, and not a real platoon. As the AGS-17's are a battalion asset, they'll have to stay on a single, separate stand.
The only difference between a Soviet company and those of other Warsaw Pact countries was that the Soviets had a dedicated machine gun platoon at company level (an additional 6x PKM's and 2x BTR-60PB's) and the other countries did not. So if and when I actually do Soviets, I'll have to change things around a bit.
If any of this sounds like I've missed something or misinterpreted anything, I'd appreciate your input. Stand by to see platoon stands next weekend. Today I ordered a pack of Soviet infantry heavy weapons from Picoarmor, along with a few other goodies! See you soon!
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