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Burning Empires Raiding with Regular Forces
by Mike Haught

Burning Empires covers many of the active raiding forces during the Mediterranean campaign; however there were lots of other units that did their fair share of raiding during the first few years of the war. Listed below are a few regular forces can be found in other Flames Of War books, which launched raids similar to those of the LRDG and SAS.

Read the Burning Empire Design Notes here...
Read the Raiding Aces Design Notes here...

To field these units as raiding forces use the following special rule when constructing your force:

Battlefront TV
Raiding
Mike takes a quick look at what you can expect to see in the Raiding lists covered by the new Early War book Burning Empires.

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Cry Havoc!
Raiders had to maintain a light fighting force so they could get in quick, complete their mission, and return to the safety of their lines before the enemy could react. While it may seem like a good idea to have heavy equipment, such as tanks and artillery, to support your raid, these were very difficult to sneak behind enemy lines without giving the mission away. Furthermore, headquarters would rather use these assets in major battles than let than risk them in a raid.

When building a raiding force, you may construct your force from Company HQ, Combat, and Weapons platoons. However, you cannot take Support Platoons.

Hellfire and Back Early War
British Armoured Car Squadron
(Hellfire and Back!, page 120)

When the war broke out in the desert, the Italians cautiously moved into Egypt and took up static positions. During the first few months the 11th Hussars launched raids behind the lines against Italian convoys and supply dumps. The armoured cars only temporarily retired from raiding to join Operation Crusader, the British counterattack, which overran the Italians and drove deep into Libya.

British Jock Column
(Hellfire & Back!, page 122)

Like the armoured cars, motor companies marauded behind Italian lines with combined arms ‘flying columns’. Thanks to the exploits of the famous Jock Campbell, the motor companies became known as ‘Jock Columns’ and conducted a harassing campaign against the Italians all of the way across the Libyan coastline.


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Below: An example of the British Jock Column.
An example of the British Jock Column
Mid War
German Fallschirmjägerkompanie-North Africa
(North Africa, page 42)
On several occasions Fallschirmjäger soldiers proved themselves to be excellent raiders. They didn’t launch raiding operations in the traditional sense. In most cases the paratroopers found themselves behind enemy lines after the front line had shifted as a result of battle. They then had to fight to get back to German lines, raiding, sabotaging, and stealing anything on the way.

British Motor Company-Africa
(North Africa, page 138)
Jock Columns continued to operate into the opening months of 1942, helping to harass the enemy as the British army regrouped from Rommel’s onslaught.

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North Africa
Below: British Armoured Cars.
British Armoured Cars
British Armoured Car Squadron-Africa
(North Africa, page 150)

When not participating in a major offensive, British armoured cars tended to operate independently and harass Axis forces wherever possible.

British Commandos-Tunisia & Italy
(North Africa, page 208)

The commandos were originally organised to launch raids against the enemy’s supply lines. Commando raids were generally larger than LRDG and SAS raids and usually supported army-sized operations.

British Parachute Company-Tunisia & Italy
(North Africa, page 213)

The British paratroopers landed in Tunisia to sabotage enemy airfields and ambush reinforcements, in addition to more traditional seize and hold missions.

Below: British Commandos.
British Commandos

American Ranger Battalion-Tunisia & Italy
(North Africa, page 250)

Like the British commandos, the American Rangers were originally intended to make hit-and-run raids behind enemy lines and offer firepower support to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

American Parachute Rifle Company-Tunisia & Italy
(North Africa, page 252)

Like the British, American paratroopers had the mission to cause as much havoc as possible behind enemy lines.

~ Mike.

Below: US Parachute Infantry.
US Parachute Infantry


Last Updated On Monday, December 12, 2011 by Blake at Battlefront