Defenders of Jutland

Defenders of Jutland By John Lee NATO considered it vital to defend Denmark as a strategic part of their overall defence with the primary objective of blocking the Danish Straits to prevent the Soviet Baltic Fleet from breaking out to the North Sea.  LANDJUT was responsible for this defence of the peninsular and consisted of the Danish Jutland Division (Mechanised Infantry), West German 6th Panzergrenadier Division as well as various territorial commands from both nations.  The British 1st Infantry Brigade and US 9th Infantry Division would reinforce the peninsular.

When looking at ideas to build a Danish force for defending the peninsular, this gives us some interesting options to field potential historical allied formations to reflect the close cooperation between those nations on the battlefield.

The Jutland Division was equipped with Leopards and M113s, so we can choose either the Leopard 1 Tank Squadron or the M113 Mechanised Infantry Company.  The Centurions were issued to the Zeeland Division – which had the responsibility for defending the isles in the strait.

Whilst the Jutland Division is a mechanised infantry division, each of the three brigades making up the division has one Armoured Battalion in addition to the two Mechanised Infantry Battalions.  My focus will be on the Leopard 1 Tank Squadron.  At the division level, they also had Centurion Tank Hunters, so we will include them as well.  We will include a few West German units as they would operate together or represent Danish units that are not in the game.  The Danes did have their own air force and operated a mix of F-16s and F-35 Drakens but we only have access to West German Tornadoes and US Harriers.  We will take the Tornadoes to represent the Danish Air Force and PAHs to represent the TOW-armed AS350 L1 Écureuil Helicopters.  There was a West German Air Defence Regiment at the Corps level that had Gepards which we will add to the force.

The Leopard 1 Tank Squadron Formation itself consists of the following units: 1 Leopard 1 Tank Squadron HQ 2-3 Leopard 1 Tank Platoon 0-1 M113 Armoured Infantry Platoon 0-1 M113 TOW Platoon 0-1 M106 120mm Mortar Platoon 0-1 M109 SP Howitzer Battery This is how the list would look at 100pts:

The formation itself has seven units for the formation break and Leopards maxed out with an infantry platoon, TOWs, and artillery to round it out.  There is AA coverage with the Gepards and Redeyes.  Two units of Jeeps for spearhead and potential diversion if needed.  The Centurion Tank Hunters go after light tanks, recon, artillery etc.  PAHs and Tornadoes wreck enemy tanks once the enemy AA is taken care of.

I like the fact that we could represent a mix of nations in defence of Jutland by having our core Danish formation and adding an allied formation of either West German, British or US troops.

The West German 6th Panzergrenadier Division comprised mainly Leopard 1s and Marders which would enable us to take a Leopard 1 or Marder formation.  There are also some territorial command forces to support them to which we could use the West German Jager formation to represent them.  Adding a Jager formation adds some flavour to your force mixing up regulars and reservists.

The British 1st Infantry Brigade had wheeled Saxon APCs and Chieftains so we could represent this with either a FV432 Mech Infantry or Chieftain formation.  The British FV432 formation is solid and would add more versatility to the force.

The US 9th Infantry Division initially had Fast Attack Vehicles and then replaced with Humvees as well as being the test bed division for new equipment such as the RDF/LT Assault Guns.  The best formation to represent this would be the Light Attack Company Formation to get all those Humvees on the board!  As we are taking a US formation, we can take advantage of using the US Marine Harriers which would be supporting them.

The Light Attack Company Formation consists of the following units: 1 Light Attack Company HQ 2-3 HMMWV Light Attack Platoon 1-2 HMMWV Fire Support Platoon 0-1 RDF/LT Assault Gun Platoon 0-1 Light Motor Infantry Platoon 0-1 9th Motor HMMWV Scout Section Keeping the Leopard formation and most of the support but now adding in the Humvee formation, this is what we get for 100pts:

The Danish formation remains the same except for upgrading the M109s.  The allied US formation has seven units for the formation break and adds a second infantry platoon to use to defend the second objective if required and more TOWs to add anti-tank firepower.  Lots of fun to be had with this force with lots of Humvees running interference and causing your opponent a headache.

Some interesting force options to consider if taking the Danes – especially if you already own West German, British, or US forces.  Enjoy! ~ John