Less is more: my thoughts on small recon platoons

I had a very busy weekend and so have been slow on writing my next post. This weekend was the 8th of March. As an American, I never celebrated, acknowledged or even knew about International Women's Day.

My wife is Romanian, however, and that means that she expects flowers, dinners, etc. Basically another Valentines (but the reservations are FAR easier to get). For the first five or so years we were married, I forgot each and every year. I mean, it's just another day in March right? Now I go all out and make the day all about her. It is wonderful couple time, but terrible for blog writing.

Russian women snipers

As I work on my next large post, I thought I would throw up some pictures of a U.S. cavalry recon platoon that I complete awhile back. These guys are wonderful recon consisting of a single armoured car and two jeeps. One of the jeeps even have a light mortar with great firepower.

I'm increasingly liking the idea of super cheap, super small recon in my armies. When I have larger platoons of recon (especially infantry), I tend to use them like another line infantry platoon as opposed to a dedicated recon platoon. For example, I'm a very big fan of the German late war grenadier scout platoon. It is either 3 bases at 70 points or 5 bases at 115 points. The command team can be upgraded to a panzerfaust SMG team for 15 points if you feel the need to upgun against tanks. However, the recon platoon has another option that proves all too tempting: for 15 points a team you can give them assault rifles. With 3 shots on the move with an 8 inch range, you can have your recon become extremely scary.

Your recon should not look like this in a grenadier company.

I keep finding myself tempted by the assault rifle upgrade and panzerfaust. They would be a fantastic assault unit. However, more and more I feel that's a trap. I should be paying 70 points for 3 bases and using them as recon. I have tons of infantry in my grenadier army. I don't have a ton of recon.

Pumas have the same issue. You pay the points for a decent gun and mobility, but you also lose your recon spots to something that won't be lifting gone to ground, benefiting from cautious movement or acting as recon generally. Why not take 2 8-rads, save the points for something else useful and rest easy knowing your recon won't tempt you into using them as glorified tanks?

Hiding in plain sight

The cavalry recon platoon is brilliant in this regard. No one is going to go all John Wayne with a single armoured car. They are small, easy to hide but come with big enough guns to protect themselves if need be.

They are similar in this way to some of my other favourite units: 8-rads, 222s, BA-64s and the aforementioned 3 base grenadier scout platoon.

Remember, use your recon as recon. They aren't tanks or assault infantry. They multiply force, not create it. Using recon for combat is a great way to lose these generally weak platoons, make life harder on your other units due to lack of eyes and ears, and risk the enemy being able to actively use their recon and recon while you lack similar light units to harass and suppress.