Today Mark takes a look at some potential USMC lists that you can construct with Stripes
2nd Marine Division Lists
This article will be taking the Formations for the Marines and putting together a few possible lists for them, one for each type.
A little disclaimer; I don’t play for historical accuracy, nor do I play to destroy all before me. I prefer to play with a list I think looks good and can deal with most threats, even if it’s not the most optimised it could be. So remember when reading this; “Rule of Cool”.
There are three lists from which to choose from:
- Marine Tank Company
- Marine Rifle Company
- Marine Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) Company
These lists will also be made up to the more compact, quick, and personally more fun, 85pts. This is a standard we use in most tournaments up here in Scotland. Naturally it’s easy to find 15pts sitting around to go into a list from support options.
Marine Tank Company
Armed with the M60 Patton, which wields the same M68 105mm gun as the Abrams, the Marine Tank Company is a medium tank company that can pack quite the punch. However, being the earlier model, the M60 doesn’t come with all the new packages installed, meaning it doesn’t get a Laser Rangfinder, nor does it get Thermal Imaging. This means it needs to get in close with the enemy to really deal the damage.
This list is intended to get the Marine Tanks right up and personal with the enemy from the start. Taking advantage of the Humvee Scout ‘Spearhead’ to get your tanks up close and on a flank with those AT-20 guns. Usually Soviet players like to play aggressively (their army lists are built for it); but throwing tanks their way from the start, and really taking advantage of the big gun on a smaller tank, is the way to go here.
The added option of switching out the AAVP7 Landing Craft for Hueys allows for rapid redeployment of your Marines. Or even holding them off table until the main threats have been dealt with, before dropping them to hold objectives.
The VADS and Chapparal are there to deal with Soviet Air threat, with the Chapparal hiding in a wood, or behind a hill, whilst the VADS can turn to counter BMP/BTR-60 roles in a pinch.
Marine Rifle Company
The Marine Rifle Platoons are much larger than their M113 mounted brethren in the army. They boast a basic platoon of 6 stands (two of which can be excahnged for LMG teams), which can pop up to 9, before adding in anything special such as Dragon Missiles, 60mm Mortars, and the SMAW (shoulder-launched, multi-purpose assault weapon), the US equivalent of the British Infantry’s Carl Gustav team from Iron Maiden, to keep those pesky T-tanks back.
With the ability to switch out their reasonably armoured AAVP7 landing craft for UH-1 Hueys (similar to the rifle platoon supporting the Marine Tanks, above). The Marine Rifle Company is very adaptable, and with their decent courage and rally numbers, will stay fighting for a reasonable amount of time.
In the reverse of what the Tank Company is supposed to do, the Marine Rifles presented above are the exact opposite. They’re made to sit back, cover the objective, maybe risk sending a platoon of Riflemen forward to sneak onto the flank, whilst the others cover, and when the time is right counterattack with the Tank Platoon. The M109s can lay down a decent minefield to prevent angles of attack.
One could mistake the list above for an 82nd Airborne List, but the truth is, I just love helicopters. The AAVP7s are lovely models, but nothing beats blasting Ride of the Valkyries as the choppers swoop into position.
LAV (Light Armoured Vehicle) Company
The LAV Company operates in a similar role to the British Recce Squadron. Lightly armoured vehicles scouting out ahead and using their smaller guns to deal with other scouts such as BMPs, and infantry. In the same way as the British Recce though, the LAV Company works best as a smaller Formation coupled to a heavier hitting Formation.
As you can see, drawing from the earlier M60 Tank Company, the LAV company fits well into a supporting role. It’s not a company that can operate itself. It just doesn’t have the staying power, hitting power or numbers to go up against much, even at full strength. Maybe putting two Companies of LAVs on the table may spook some mechanised opponents with the amount of shots these little tracks can put out.
Conclusions
No doubt some players are going to be a little upset that the US Marines are not as skilled as some regular armies, and argue that they should have better stats other than Rally and Courage. But we’re here to talk about the toys they can take.
In my own opinion, the Marines can serve as a very aggressive force if they want to be, or dismount their infantry to sit on an objective, covering with the addition of the SMAW to their ranks.
I also love the M-60 Patton as a tank, even though the Marines only get the early model without the bells and whistles. I’d still happily field a strong company of these, sure the armour won’t help much, but the return fire will put the fear into anything smaller than a T-64.