NVA Rifle Company - Force Composition

Knowing which figures were available from the various suppliers and using Barrie Lovell's organisation charts, I calculated how I was going to construct the various elements of the NVA forces. I wanted to minimise as much as possible the purchase of figures over and above what was absolutely necessary.

Rifle Company

• Company Command Group (1 x command figure, 2 x AK-47 figures and 1 x crew figure)
• Cadre (1 x command figure)
• Reconnaissance Squad (8 x AK-47 figures)

This group consists of four stands, for a total of 13 figures.

Rifle Platoon

Although the NVA rifle platoon has seven elements, it was only necessary for me to work out the composition of three of these; the platoon HQ, a rifle squad and an RPG team. Since the composition of the rifle squads and the RPG teams was to be the same, I simply needed to multiply the number of figures in each of these by three to obtain the total number and type of figures I required.

• Platoon Command Group (1 x command figure, 1 x AK-47 figure and 1 x crew figure)
• 3 x Rifle Squad (each of 2 fire teams, each of 4 figures; each squad contains 1 x RPD LMG figure and 7 x AK-47 figures)
• 3 x RPG Teams (1 team of 2 figs attached to each rifle squad; each team contains 1 x crew figure and 1 x RPG figure)

There are three of these platoons in the NVA rifle company. Each platoon consists of 10 stands, for a total of 33 figures. This adds a further 30 stands to the company and 99 figures.

Company Combat Support Platoon

The company combat support platoon is a mix of heavy weapons and contains a platoon HQ, three weapons squads (HMG, 60mm mortar and 57mm recoilless rifle) and a mortar forward observer.

• Platoon Command Group (1 x command figure and 2 x crew figures)
• HMG (1 HMG and 3 x crew figures)
• 60mm Mortar (1 Mortar and 2 x crew figures) and Forward Observer (1 x crew figure)*
• 57mm RCL (1 Recoilless Rifle and 3 x crew figures)

The platoon consists of five stands, for a total of 12 figures and 3 weapons.

* Note that I am using crews of only two figures for the 60mm Mortar in the Combat Support platoon. For the 82mm Mortars in the battalion Combat Support Company I will use 3 crewmen.

Figures Required

Total NVA Figures required to build a Company are as follows;

• Command figures = 6
• Separate Crew figures = 24
• AK-47 figures = 76
• RPD figures = 9
• RPG figures = 9
• Mortar = 1
• 57mm RR = 1
• HMG = 1

There were a number of points that needed to be addressed as a result of this calculation. Some manufacturersThe 'Men of Company B' range does not list HMGs for the NVA/VC and, given the large number of separate crew figures required, how were these to be obtained without having a lot of redundant heavy weapons?

Fortunately, Martin at Peter Pig provided solutions on both counts. The HMGs, in this case 12.7mm DShKs, can be supplied from Peter Pig's Modern African Wars range (Range 17) known as 'AK-47' (3 weapons per pack, crew must be purchased separately and I have added these into the total number of separate crew figures required above) and Martin was also happy to provide individual crew figures, without their associated heavy weapons, in packs of 8 figures.

Total number of packs required for the Company = 19

At the time of writing, packs of 15mm figures average about £1.50 and on this basis the total cost for the Company (excluding p&p) was going to be about £28.50

On these calculations, a full battalion is going to cost about £100.00 excluding p&p. The catalogue offers 'free postage' on orders over £40.00 so if you can afford to do it you will be better off purchasing in bulk, say two full companies and then the third company plus the sapper and Recon platoons as well as the battalion Combat Support Company.

Expanding the Battalion

In order to build a battalion you will need to follow the steps outlined below;

• Add the 2nd Company
• Add the Battalion Command Group (5 figures)
• Add the Battalion Sapper Platoon (27 figures)
• Command Group
• 3 Squads
• Add the Battalion Recon Platoon (27 figures)
• Command Group
• 3 Squads
• Add the 3rd Rifle Company
• Add the Battalion Combat Support Company (64 figures)
• Command Group (4 figures)
• 6 Platoons, each
• 1 x 82mm Mortar (3 crew) and Forward Observer
• 1 x HMG (3 crew)
• 1 x 57 or 75mm RCL (3 crew)