Airborne Recce Jeep / SAS Section - Deep Dive

Jeep Recce Troop / SAS Section (Plastic) (BBX73)

Airborne Recce Jeep / SAS Section - Deep Dive

By John Lee

With the Bulge British release, several new units have been added to the range including some new plastics. This box contains four Jeep sprues and the additional Airborne and SAS Jeep crew. The plastic Jeep sprue will look familiar to some people. This is because when Battlefront designed the sprue, they ensured it was future-proofed to satisfy multiple use cases.

The first of two units that this box is designed for is the Airborne Recce Jeep Patrol. You can run this unit either in Frost’s Parachute Company as a grey box optional unit or in its own formation found in the Command Cards – the Airborne Recce Squadron. The unit itself consists of two Jeeps for 2pts, four for 3pts, or eight for 6pts. So the optimal size unit to take here is four or eight.

LB222 Airborne Recce Troop

Looking at the stats for the Jeep itself, it is unarmoured and has a 4+ save. It’s armed with an MG that is forward-firing only. Very useful to take on enemy infantry and gun teams. Take eight Jeeps and you can put out 24 dice on the move – pin down the enemy! The Jeep is also relatively fast with a 12” tactical and terrain dash, 20” cross country dash, and impressive 48” road dash with a 4+ cross check.
Airborne Recce Troop
This unit has the Scout and Spearhead rules making it a cheap unit to get the rest of the Paras into assaulting early on where the mission allows. Even though it's Unarmoured and has a 4+ save, the unit itself is Fearless Veteran Careful with a Last Stand of 4+. Careful is the best armour in the game and you can move under cover with the Scout rule and still be treated as Gone-to-Ground making it harder to hit.

To take a formation of these units and create a light but hard-hitting force, consider the Airborne Recce Squadron which is comprised of:

  • 1 Airborne Recce Squadron HQ

  • 2-4 Jeep Airborne Recce Troop

  • 0-1 Frost’s 3-Inch Mortar Section

Airborne Recce Squadron

The HQ has two Jeeps and if you take the maximum eight Jeeps per troop across four troops you’ll have 34 Jeeps! That is a lot of machine guns! Add to that the 3-inch Mortar section of two or three mortars to provide some artillery support! 32pts for six maxed-out units and gives you the option to take them as a secondary formation or max out on other support units to provide the heavy-hitting power:

Jeep List

Quite a strong force with six units for the formation break as well as two templates (the Land Mattresses count as two weapons each), gritty Glider Pilot Flight with twelve teams ensuring they take eight hits before being pinned! Two units of AT15 Archilles to round out the force. Your opponent will need to choose what to target with 34 Jeeps running around.

LB205 SAS Section

The second unit that this box is designed for is the SAS Section. You can take either one or two sections as support units.

Each unit consists of three Jeeps for 3pts and is equipped with an MG as standard. For an additional +1pt for the unit, they can all be equipped with an AAMG as well, increasing ROF from three to four. Another option is to replace one of the Jeep's primary MG with a 0.5-inch MG for +1pt for heavier firepower. 

They have the same movement, cross stat, and the same Unarmoured 4+ save as the Airborne version. They are also Fearless Veteran Careful with the Last Stand of 4+ and have the Scout and Spearhead rules.

Jeeps and Infantry

There are also two Command Cards that can be paired with the SAS section. The first is called “Armoured SAS Jeeps” which allows you to upgrade the Jeeps with armour for +1pt. This gives each Jeep FA0 SA0 TA0 and can at least provide more protection than the Unarmoured 4+ save.

The second Command Card is titled “Behind Enemy Lines” for 2pts and is limited, meaning if you take two SAS sections, you can only apply this card to one of them. The card allows your SAS Section to arrive in your opponent’s deployment area in an ambush on a 5+ when rolling for reserves. Don’t deploy on the table and every turn roll a die, on a 5+ the unit can be placed using the Ambush rule in your opponent’s deployment area to cause some havoc and keep your opponent guessing!

Armoured SAS Jeeps Behind Enemy Lines

There you have it! Another great piece of multi-use kit that can add some flavour to your force. I hope this has been of some help. Enjoy!

John Lee

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