Welcome back to the 3rd part of my little series covering the US Rangers.
Let’s look at how a Ranger Platoon actually operated at the tactical level and how we can translate this into an Army List for Chain of Command - of course tailored for the 1943 Mediterranean Theater our group prefers.
This list including the available Supports will be ready next week to upload it on this Blog.
Darby’s Rangers: Table of Organization & Equipment (1942–1943)
Patterned after the British Commandos but utilizing American equipment, the Ranger organization evolved rapidly between the landing in North Africa (Operation Torch) and the fighting in Sicily (Operation Husky).
High-Level Organization: Force X and the Battalion
In Sicily, specifically for the Gela landings, Colonel William O. Darby commanded a provisional grouping known as Force X.
This was a reinforced task force consisting of:
- 1st Ranger Battalion
- 4th Ranger Battalions
- three companies of the **83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion** (armed with 4.2-inch mortars)
- 1st Battalion, 39th Engineers
Ranger Battalion
For us wargamers, a Ranger Battalion is kind of a unique beast.
Unlike a standard US Infantry Battalion, which carried heavy logistical weight, the Rangers were a lean "all-killer, no-filler" force designed for shock action and night infiltration consisting of:
- Headquarters Company
- six line companies (Able through Fox)
The total authorized strength was approximately 26–31 officers and 434–473 enlisted men each.
The Ranger Company
(useful for games like Big Chain of Command, O-Group etc.)
The company was the primary tactical building block.
By the time just after the North African campaign, the structure had been refined to move heavy equipment out of the platoons to keep them as mobile as possible - real Light Infantry!
Company Headquarters (Command Section)
- Company Commander (Captain)
- First Sergeant
- Clerk
- Messenger/Orderly (often armed with a submachine gun)
Two Rifle Platoons (for their organisation see down below)
Company Support
Following a reorganization in July 1942, the 60mm mortars were centralized at the company level. This section included two mortar squads, each with:
One 60mm M2 mortar and a 5-man crew (Sergeant, Gunner, Asst. Gunner, and 2 Ammunition Bearers)
Authorized Strength: 3 Officers and 63–67 Enlisted Men.
The Ranger Platoon
In CoC terms, a Ranger Platoon is compact, aggressive and packs a surprising amount of firepower at close range, though of course it lacks the raw manpower of a standard US Rifle Platoon.
A historical platoon numbered only about 25 to 30 men and consisted of:
Platoon Headquarters
- Platoon Leader: 1st or 2nd Lieutenant (Senior Leader)
- Platoon Sergeant: Staff Sergeant (Senior Leader).
- Messenger: Private/PFC (Armed with an M1 Thompson SMG)
- Sniper: T/5 or Private (Armed with an M1903A4 Springfield with telescope)
Two Rifle Sections, each with
- led by a Sergeant (Superior Junior Leader)
- an Assistant Section Leader (Corporal, just another Rifleman regarding the list and member of the BAR Team).
- Scout Team: 2 Scouts (one armed with an M1 Thompson, one with an M1 Garand).
- BAR Team: 1 Gunner (M1918A2 BAR) and 1 Assistant BAR man (M1 Garand)
- Rifle Team: 5 Riflemen (M1 Garand rifles - one rifleman is equipped with an M2 Rifle Grenade launcher)
Authorized Strength: 1 Officer and 25–31 Enlisted Men.
Support Weapons Pool
Darby had what his executive officer called a "fetish for firepower".
While the platoons were light, the battalion maintained a weapons pool in the HHC to be distributed as needed:
- M1919A4 .30 Cal Machine Guns: Initially 1 per section, these were pooled at the battalion level after July 1942 to keep the assault sections fast. They were issued back out for defensive missions.
- Bazookas: Each battalion was issued approximately 14–20 of them. These replaced the British .55 cal Boys Anti-Tank Rifles the Rangers had used in training.
- 60mm Mortars
- 81mm Mortars: Sometimes used to replace 60mm mortars for heavy-duty beach assaults (e.g., Arzew).
- Large supplies of "sticky" grenades, thermite grenades (White Phosphor grenades) and Bangalore torpedoes for demolition work but used against tanks in the fightings in and around Gela
Darby’s Cannon Company (The "Aces")
Following the armor threats at Gela, Darby permanently integrated mobile heavy support, formed August 1943 at Corleone, Sicily:
- 4 M3A1 GMC (Gun Motor Carriage) - M3-Half-tracks armed with 75mm guns
They were named after the card suits: Ace of Hearts, Ace of Diamonds, Ace of Clubs, and Ace of Spades and were used as aggressive, mobile direct-fire artillery and for anti-tank defense.
One of the M3A1 GMC of the Ranger Cannon Company (looks loke it´s the Ace of Diamonds)
Special Rules
Some special rules for Darby´s Rangers I´m thinking about to include in the upcoming Army List:
- Rangers are Aggressive
- "Rangers Lead the Way!": Rangers ignore the first point of Shock received when moving in the open, and they treat rough/broken terrain as normal terrain when executing a *Run* action.
What do you think? Too much special rules or would they be appropiate to portrait the characteristics of these men?
See you next week when I will upload the finished Army List for the Rangers!
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