Inspiration for a mercenary company?

[DoctorMonkey]

I saw this and thought you might all appreciate a story about a real life unit that might resemble the "best" mercenary type force of BattleTech


https://www.quora.com/What-was-the-coolest-military-unit-of-all-time?srid=wkw


American 83rd Infantry Division in World War II.
[/size]During the advance toward the River Elbe about 50 miles west of Berlin in 1945, the resourceful commander of the Division, Maj. Gen. Robert C. Macon gave the order to commandeer any German vehicle that moved, usually at gunpoint, no questions asked. As a result, the 83rd Infantry Division had an unbelievable collection of vehicles of different kinds, including everything from German military staff car, half-track, Stug III self-propelled gun, Panther tank, Tiger tank, King Tiger tank, … to civilian motor bikes, buses and ‘two cherished fire engines’. Every newly acquired vehicle got a quick coat of olive-green paint and a U.S. star slapped on its side; then it joined the 83rd.[/color]
[/size]A German King Tiger in service with the American 83rd Infantry Division (notice the presence of the stars in stead of swastikas)[/color]
[/size]This Stug III had stars too.[/color]
[/size]From the air, its columns showed no resemblance to either an armored or an infantry division and war correspondents began to nickname this division “The Rag-Tag Circus”. But who cared? The division’s wildly assorted collection of vehicles helped it to advance as fast as its competitor - the 2nd Armored “Hell on Wheels” Division. When leading elements the two divisions reached the River Weser at the same time on April 5, 1945, both divisions wanted to be the first to cross. Eventually, a compromise was reached: the divisions crossed together, by sandwiching their units.[/color]
[/size]At one point, the 83rd managed to capture an intact Me-109 fighter plane and even more impressively, found someone to fly it. When one seasoned soldier of another division saw obviously a German aircraft approaching his column, he yelled to his buddies “Me-109” then quickly ducked for cover. But to his surprise, the aircraft didn’t open fire, the soldier raised his head and saw that the plane was painted a blotchy olive-green and had the words “83rd Inf. Div.” under its wings. It was a prank of the 83rd to instill fear and confusion in its neighboring units.[/color]
[/size]The Germans were even more confused and surprises by the 83rd’s vehicles. Cornelius Ryan’s book “The Last Battle” told the following interesting story: One day as the 83rd was rolling along, a German Mercedes staff car was weaving in and out of the column, passing other vehicles. No one in the division really paid attention to it because, well, they had commandeered plenty of German staff cars the days before. But this driver kept honking his horn insistently, demanding other vehicles to make way for his so one American soldier took a second look and saw that the car was carrying a full load of German officers, including one general who was obviously in a hurry. The Germans had mistaken the 83rd’s column as a retreating German column! The Mercedes staff car was promptly stopped and the bewildered German officers were taken prisoners. Then the Mercedes, in top condition, received the usual hurried paint job and joined the 83rd.[/color]

[Dave Talley]

Ooooh the ideas for a Bolt Action army......


 [drool]

[Kidd]

pretty much Battletech in 3025

[Sir Chaos]

pretty much Battletech in 3025

No kidding... "Mismatched collection of salvaged military equipment" describes roughly 99% of all military units in that era.

[cawest]

No kidding... "Mismatched collection of salvaged military equipment" describes roughly 99% of all military units in that era.

It would be infesting to see if can find an order of battle, try to match it to 3025.. IE King Tiger would be an Atlas or an Awesome I think.

[Lamont-Cranston]

How'd an infantry division get the fuel and maintenance for all that?

[nerd]

How'd an infantry division get the fuel and maintenance for all that?

US Army had over 2000 vehicles on TO&E in infantry divisions by the end of the war, almost as many as a German Armored division.