A bit of minecraft

No!! Not that kind!! This kind:

As a follow-on to my two recent posts about engineers (March 8 & 28, 2015), I've added some minelaying and removal capability for my East German pioneers. 

As with most modern military forces, WarPac doctrine assigned the responsibility for sowing and removing landmines to the engineers. Though this capability was actually a divisional asset, it was often parceled out to the division's various regiments. As such, in 1981, an East German pioneer company assigned to an armored regiment would have had two GMZ-2 tracked minelayers:

As well as a couple of UR-67 mine clearing line charge vehicles:

The more modern UR-77:

had entered service only in 1979, and so, in 1981, would have been in Soviet units only. 

If you're not familiar with removing mines via line charge, the short explanation is that a small rocket is attached to a long cloth tube filled with explosives and it is then fired out over a minefield:

It lands on the far side (hopefully - tubes come in lengths up to 200 meters/approx 650 feet) leaving the cloth tube lying in and across the field. The explosives in the tube are then detonated:

and the sudden massive over-pressure causes sympathetic detonation of any mines within approx. 4 meters (13 feet) on each side of the tube (It's pretty much the identical method used during WWII, except then it was with Bangalore torpedoes). Of course, there are types of mines that are over-pressure-proof for just this reason, but that's another story. 

Pioneers assigned to a motor rifle regiment would have been equipped with the UR-67s, as well as two PMR-3 towed minelayers:

which could be towed behind any medium or heavy truck in the WarPac inventory. As you see in the above photo, racks of mines were loaded into the truck and a crew had to hand-feed them into the minelayer's chute:

Many armored units had only the PMRs, as there were never enough GMZs to go around.

Both the GMZ and the PMR were primarily for sowing antitank mines, specifically the TM-62:

which could be laid on the surface for snowy conditions or sub-surface using the layer's integral plow, which then replaced the sod after depositing the mines. Both the GMZ and the PMR sowed mines at a pre-set distance of 5.5 meters (18 feet) apart. 

And here are my GMZ-2 and UR-67 stands:

As well as a PMR-2 stand:

I had a few ZIL-157 trucks handy:

and with no other burning need for them, they were nominated.

That's the end of the long holiday weekend, but more painting is on the way for the next post.

More engineering goodness

My 1981 East German pioneer company is now complete. My previous post, "Bridging the gap" (March 8, 2015) was the beginning of this unit, showing a TMM-3 bridging platoon:

The other platoons of the company consisted of BAT-M bulldozers:

MTU-20 AVLBs:

A twin-treadway, cantilever-launched, box girder bridge 65.5 feet in length (20 meters) and capable of supporting 50 tons, all mounted on a modified T-55 chassis. 

MDK-2M trench diggers:

Actually, East German engineers in 1981 were more likely to be using the MDK-2Ms predecessor, the BTM:

But I'll have to use what Marcin has provided. I'll just consider my engineers to be extremely well equipped. 

Also IMR obstacle clearing vehicles:

Forgive the last two photos

Photos of the real IMR in action seem to be nonexistent.

IRM "Zhuk" (meaning "beetle" in Russian) engineer reconnaissance vehicles:

Which were specifically designed to reconnoiter riverbeds for suitable sites for bridging:

but also for detecting mines, either on land or on the riverbed, the underwater mining of potential river crossing points being common on modern battlefields:

The engineers themselves were generally mounted in obsolete APCs cast off by the infantry. As my company is to be attached to a motor rifle regiment, the APCs would be wheeled, so I'm using BTR-60Ps:

although BTR-152s or even BTR-40s would be possible for engineers in a reserve or training unit. For a company attached to an armored unit, BTR-50PKs would be the most likely. 

Each divisional pioneer company had its own reconnaissance platoon of BRDM-2s (or possibly BRDM-1s) for scouting and screening:

which for my purpose, is more usefully cascaded down to the regimental level, which is how I represent it.

And finally, the commander of a pioneer company required only a single radio for contact with higher command and so was usually mounted in a 4WD. I chose a UAZ-469:

But other similar vehicles were just as likely. 

And now here is my company:

Engineers, even more so than other types of support units, were prone to have a whole gaggle of various sizes of trucks accompanying them, so to represent that, I added a URAL-375D and a KrAZ-255B to the transport vehicle stands. 

Not a bad weekend's work. Now on to the next project!

Bridging the gap

Over the past couple of months, O8 has been busy churning out Soviet engineering vehicles, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to do a regimental pioneer company for my East Germans. 

When I was in the US Army a thousand years ago, engineers were one of two varieties: combat engineers and civil engineers. The civil type stayed in the rear areas and built/repaired roads, bridges, airports, dams, etc, for the use of the military, as well as for the friendlies in that country, the "IPs" (Indigenous Personnel - I won't go into the less flattering acronyms that we used to refer to the locals). Civils have no offensive capability and only limited defenses, generally geared towards anti-aircraft. Combat engineers on the other hand are expected to do their work in an actively hostile environment and they have full combat capability, both offensive and defensive. They are required to be able to defend themselves toe-to-toe against frontline combat troops and even to be able to go on the offensive, unsupported for short periods. 

Soviet/WarPac pioneers were something of a hybrid in comparison to their western counterparts, somewhat less offensive/defensive capability than combat engineers, relying more heavily on the line unit that they were attached to, but with considerably more fighting ability than civil engineers. 

In the early 1980s, the exact composition of a WarPac pioneer company varied depending on whether it was attached to an armored or motor rifle unit. I've opted for the later.  So, as the first part of my East German pioneers, I've finished a bridging platoon equipped with TMM-3 truck-launched bridges:

Each specially modified KrAZ-255B truck carried a single scissor bridge, 10.5 meters (approx 34 feet) in length and capable of supporting vehicles of up to 50 tons. Any number of the bridges could be connected end-to-end, providing a bridge of unlimited length. Variable height struts supported each bridge to depths of up to 3.2 meters (10.5 feet):

A platoon attached to a motor rifle unit was normally four trucks and bridges, capable of spanning a river or ditch of 40 meters (131 feet). In the 1990's, the TMM-4 went into service, with an upgraded bridge capable of supporting 60 tons. 

And here's my platoon:

More engineering goodness (amongst other things) next time!