Easy Riders: Assembling & Fielding American Tank Riders & Escorts with Mike Haught Bridge At Remagen introduces two new concepts for US tank armies: Tank Riders and Tank Escorts. Both offer US tank commanders some new tools to use as they take to the Autobahn and charge into the German heartland. Learn more about Bridge At Remagen here...

Tank Riders For the infantryman, riding on the back of a tank is all about getting from point A to point B and not having to go through the trouble of walking there. From a strategic point of view, it allows an armoured division commander to move two combat companies on the same piece of road at the same time. It frees up transport vehicles to move supplies and ammunition while delivering two combat forces to the same battlefield at the same time and ready for action. In Flames Of War, this means that your Armored Rifle Platoons can leave their M3 half-tracks behind and mount up on their task force’s tanks, effectively doubling their speed to get to their destination a turn ahead of schedule. When the enemy starts shooting, the experienced tank riders dismount and fight on foot, creating two independent combat platoons for a company commander to use. Use this tactical ability to quickly move your armoured rifles into position. Think of it as moving at the double, with far less risk of casualties. This will pay off especially when you can exploit a gap in your opponent’s deployment, or up a flank that the enemy cannot easily counterattack.

Tank Escorts Tank escorts were relatively unique within the US Army to the armoured forces. They have a different mission than the tank riders, though both types were typically drawn from armoured rifle battalions. They are assigned directly to each tank to deal with enemy threats that the tank cannot get at, like infantry in buildings or Panzerfaust ambushes. The US Army did not have official tank escorts, like Soviet or German tank units. Rather, these grew out of experience stemming all the way back to the hedgerow battles of Normandy. Typically about a half-dozen armoured riflemen were permanently assigned to each tank crew. Together they would fight as a single force. One such crew from the 3rd Armored Division went from a 76mm Sherman to the new T26E4 Super Pershing. According to gunner John Irwin’s memoirs, these escorts were nicknamed, Ugly, Mildew, Scrunch, Mad Dog, Pisser, S&#thead, Squawky, and Lobes. The riflemen made the tank their home. In one battle, Scrunch and Squawky shot craps on the rear deck of the tank while moving into action. In Flames Of War, Tank Escorts double a tank’s assault capability. This means that your tanks can clear the enemy more quickly in their first rounds of combat, greatly reducing what the enemy can throw back at you. They are also vital for engaging the enemy in terrain that a tank would not normally go, such as into buildings, woods, and other types of terrain that could potentially disable a tank.

Modelling Tank Escorts To model tank escorts, use the USO191 Tank Escorts pack. This comes with twenty figures, which should be enough to cover five to six tanks, depending on how many troops you want on your tank’s top deck. Since they are a permanent part of the tank, it’s a good idea to fix these directly to the tank. Check out the Tank Escorts in the online store here...

Below: The contains of Tanks Escort (USO191) pack.

Modelling Tank Riders To model tank riders, you can simply place the teams being carried near the tank they are riding. Alternatively, you can place just the infantry command team next to the tanks to remind all players that the platoon is aboard. Another method is to model removable tokens to place on the back of the tanks. See the article from my personal blog on how to model tank rider tokens. Modelling Tank Rider Tokens... ~ Mike.

Modelling Examples Of Tank Escorts

Below: Examples of tank escorts mounted on a M4A3E8 Easy Eight.

Below: Examples of tank escorts mounted on a M4A3 (Late).

Below: Examples of tank escorts mounted on a M4A3E2 Jumbo.

Below: Examples of tank escorts mounted on a M26 Pershing.

Below: Examples of tank escorts mounted on a T26E4 Super Pershing.