ORBAT - 1980s British BG, Part 4 Recce Group

The first armoured Battle Group I am creating is based on an Infantry battalion in a Mechanised Brigade and has been allocated the following assets;

1 Squadron of Cheiftain

2 Rifle Companies in FV 432

1 Recce Troop with Scimitar

1 Milan Platoon,  3 Sections and Milan Mobile only, the other section was detached with the third Rifle company

1 Morter Platoon with 81mm Mortars in FV432

1 Artillery Tac Party

1 Air Op of two Gazelles for limited periods of time

1 Sniper section ( not all mechanised battalions would deploy snipers)

1 SF GPMG Section ( not all mechanised battalions would deploy SF GPMG teams)

1 Field Troop RE

1 Armoured Engineer Detachment, 1 AVRE, 2 AVLB

1 Battery of Guns in direct support, Up to 2 more batteries of guns occasionally

Within the battle group further grouping occurred at the direction of the commanding officer.  These ranged from very specific groupings for a particular phase of the battle or a particular mission to more enduring ones that tended to reflect a particular CO's preferences or a fashionable trend at a particular point in time. In this post I am looking at how Recce assets might have been grouped within the battle group outlined above.

I served in a Mechanised Infantry Battalion in BAOR from 1986 - 1988 and recall seeing Milan mobile equipped with the then new Milan Compact Turret task organised with the Recce Platoon quite frequently. In 1991 - 1992 I was at the British Army Training Unit Suffield in Canada and witnessed a number of interesting configurations of Recce either in the advance, in withdrawal or as a covering force in defence.  In the latter two cases the intent was to confuse the enemy about what they had encountered and in the advance to improve the ability of the Recce group to identify obstacles, engage the enemy with direct or indirect fire or deal with enemy armour.  The use of Recce groups is also documented in a number of books about Gulf War 1 which was heavily influenced by what was going on in the late 1980's but of it's own right created a level of innovation.

I am trying to chase down the dates for the introduction of Milan Mobile, which was probably around 1985 with spartans for transport this was probably one of the main drivers behind the creation of these more complex Recce groupings.  In the early 1980's I assume the groupings were probably simpler but interestingly more complex for other sub units, more of that in the next post.

The elements of the Battlegroup most likely to contribute to the Recce Group were as follows:

Recce Platoon. The Recce platoon consisted of 8 CVRT Scimeters organised into two sections each of two detachments of two Recce cars. The cars nearly always operated in pairs and tended to advance using one vehicle or pair of vehicles in over watch whilst the other advanced. They were equipped with dismount able thermal imagers OTIS and spyglass and laser binoculars, at least one of the thermal immagers could be deployed hand held from the turret. The limited armour protection of the vehicles together with the fact that the role required them to look and listen, meant that they tended to operate head out of the turret.

Milan Mobile. The Milan Mobile section was part of the Milan platoon and initially operated from Spartan, but in 1987 were issued with the Milan Compact Turret which saw service in Gulf war 1 but was eventually replaced by Warrior.  The Milan Compact Turret allowed the missiles to be fired from under armour but equally importantly provided a vehicle mounted thermal immager. The section comprised 4 CVRT MCT.  They tended to be available to infantry battle groups only.

Engineer Field Troop. The engineer field troop consisting of 3 sections each equipped with a 432, and a troop HQ consisting of Troop Commander, Troop Staff Seargent and Troop Recce Seargent each with a CVRT. The Recce Seargent routinely deployed with the Recce platoon in order to identify and report obstacles and could be reinforced by either the staff Seargent or the Troop Commander who might other wise provide advice, plan, control or sheppard engineer assets to tasks.

Forward Observation Officers.  Each battery in an Artillery regiment would provide a Tac party to a Battlegroup, these tended to be fairly static groupings in order to build relationships and foster understanding between commanders and their supporting Fire Controllers.  Each Tac party comprised a Battery Commander and three forward observation officers all mounted in FV 432 and equipped with enhanced Night Viewing devices and ground surveillance radars.  Their principal roles were advice, fire planning and fire control.  They would be grouped as required for the mission.

Mortar Fire Controllers. In addition to its 8 mortar tubes the mortar platoon deployed 3 MFCs and the Platoon commander in CVRTs again equipped with a range of hand held thermal viewing devices and laser binoculars.  In outline they provided similar functions to the Artillery Tac parties and would work in close cooperation with BCs and FOOs. They tended to be available to Infantry battle groups only.

 From these assets the battle group would constitute a  Recce Group which routinely could include:

8 Scimeter

4 MCT

1 or 2 Engineer Recce

1 MFC

1 FOO

1 Sampson

Giving us 16 or 17 Vehicles, so at 1:3 at least 5 models, for my units I am currently intending to use:

2 Scimeter, 1 MCT, 1 Engr Recce, 1 FOO or MFC

This then was a fairly routine grouping of assets to form a Recce group, it would be unusual not to see some combination of these assets operating under the command of Recce platoon.  More immaginative commanders would consider other options to problems however such groupings were less frequent. The list of additional assets to be considered could include:

Milan Sections. There were 4 Milan sections in Milan Platoon each consting of a section commander, and two two post detachments the complete section being mounted in 3 FV 432s. In the Early 80's the section was mounted in 1 Ferrit Scout Car and 2 FV432.  It was reasonably common to Group SF Guns with Milan and as they had no dedicated transport gave them some ability to cut about the battlefield. The combination of the two allowed more effective engagement of enemy vehicles, with the milan destroying the vehicle and the SF GPMG the crews or dismounted infantry.  It was routine to group one Milan section with each rifle company allowing one to be held in reserve as a flank guard, or deployed with Recce to deceive the enemy as to our strengths and dispositions.

SF Sections, an SF section at this time consisted of 3 detachments of two guns and routinely could be allocated to the rifle companies or grouped with Milan or indeed some combination of both.  The receiving unit would provide transport, usually in platoon command wagons in the rifle companies or section command wagons in the Milan Sections as both carried less men routinely than other vehicles. 

Armoured Troops/Squadrons. Mixing Armour with Recce could be acheived in a number of ways.  The simplest was to detach a troop of tanks from one or more of the units squadrons, the second was to create a larger grouping of a squadron with Recce Group under the command of the squadron or some third party or indeed not to formalise the arrangement but merely to make the support of recce part of the squadrons mission.  

Snipers. Snipers if available, might be mixed in withn recce they were quite difficult to employ in armoured warfare, if there is significant mobility in the battle.  They have to be transported, deployed and extracted but can be very effective both as an observation and an engagement asset. They could also be grouped with Milan sections or rifle companies.

Air Observation Posts. For limited periods of time air observation posts of gazel helicopters could be tasked with Recce.  Air Ops could provide both observation and indirect fire control and there speed and ease of redeployment conferred a significant advantage. They were of course vulnerable to ground fire, but this was lessoned in the early nighties with the introduction of the roof mounted sight which meant that more of the helicopter was cancelled when observing.  Movement would be conducted making best use if available cover with the aircraft flying and hovering within meters of the ground. You don't need big flight stands for Recce choppers.

Creating mixed forces of heavy armour and Recce would be done in order to allow Recce to operate within the footprint of the direct fire envelope of MBTs, this might be done in order to counter a specific threat or to create a force mix that when encountered might look electronically and physically like the main force.

From the wargames perspective it should be apparent that the British Army of this period was extremely flexible in its ability to task organise forces to the mission. Some examples might serve to illustrate what was done and when.

For units preparing defences, it was usual to deploy some form of covering force. This might be layered such that the brigade might be sat behind a screen provided by Divisional Recce, but would deploy its own screen of armour this could be a single squadron, an armour heavy battle group or an infantry heavy battle group dependent on the nature of the terrain.

Within the battle groups preparing defences behind the screening forces, they could deploy there own forward screen. This might include a strong Recce group and a squadron, or a Recce group that included a mix of armour, the intent would be to buy time and confuse the enemy as to what had been found. The easiest way to impose delay being to force the enemy to deploy an attack against what he thought was a main force position.  The Soviet echelon system was designed to deal with this and maintain the momentum of an advance,

So if our battle group was to deploy such a screen, what might it look like? Clearly there was significant flexibility but an example might be as follows:

Recce Platoon 8 Scimeter

Milan Mobile 4 MCT

1 MFC, 1 Spartan

1 FOO, 1 FV432

1 Sampson

Given the mission the Engineer Recce would be of less use but there removal still leaves us with a group of 15 vehicles, so 5 models at 1:3.  In addition because of the mission additional force elements might be added to the mix including:

1 or more Snipers Pairs, 

1 Milan section with SF GPMG, 3 FV 432, 5 Milan , 2 SF GPMG

1 Troop of tanks, 3 MBTS

1 Air Op, 2 Gazells

Some obstacles: Minefields, dummy minefields, route cratering, 

So with my 1:3 representation, 2 Scimeter, 1 MCT, 1 MFC Spartan, 1 FV432 Foo, 1 FV 432 with 2 Milan and 1 SF, 1 MBT, 1 Gazell

In the advance the grouping might bring back the engineers, loose the Milan and snipers, add an extra troop or loose the troop of tanks. It could operate in close cooperation with tanks or if the country was close, woods or urban terrain be replaced by a company of infantry.

All this depended on the composition of the battle group or the mission in hand, screens could be deployed forward or to a flank and both the Milan platoon and Recce Platoon could be employed in these roles, dRecce forward with Milan on a Flank. 

The British Armoured Battle Group in the late 1980s early 1990s was a very flexible beast offering a wide range of options to those with the imagination to conceive them and boldness to try them.  I was on the staff at BATUS or supported training evaluation there for 4 years between 1991 and 1996 and witnessed over twenty Medicine man exercises, for the imaginative and the bold, rule 1 applied..............there were no rules! But it had better work especially if it flew in the face of conventional wisdom.

References:

ORBAT 1980s British Battle Group, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
Rats' Tales: Staffordshire Regiment at War in the Gulf

Review - Model 1/72, S&S Gaz 66 Model

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The Gaz 66 was extensivly used by a wide variety of protagonists in the cold war from the Soviet Union and Warsaw pact through to third world nations in Asia and Africa.  It was a key vehicle within the VDV where it provide a significant amount of the gun tow/light truck capability within battalion and regimental support weapons elements.  So given that most wargamers love paras and few cold war players can resist the alure of the VDV that probably represented the zenith of mans acheivements in the arena of verticle envelopment,  in terms of scale and range of equipment deployed, it should be of little supprise that this particular vehicle should be in high demand.  As with many of Shauns offerings it is also dramaticaly under represented in the 20 mm modelling world with only Balaton and AER offering an alternative to my knowledge.  The both the Balaton and AER offerings are aimed at the modelling community rather than the wargaming being more complex, a little more pricey and potentially less robust. Having said that they do make some lovely models that are unavailable else where and give an easier route to a Gaz 66 B.

The model is moulded in white resin in two parts cab and truck body, and includes metal parts for the chasis axels and wheels.  The mouldings on my 6 copies were clean and required little preparation befor assembly being largely free of flash and air holes. Assembly is quite straight forward with the difficult bits of which axel goes where being driven by slightly different attachments to the Chasis. Care. Needs to be taken around the seating of Cab and truck bed in order to get the alighnment right.

As well as the cargo truck body Shaun also makes a great little box body version of this truck which works for HQs and signals intercept type units.  the cargo body is modelled without the seats and rails associated with the passenger carrying versions, my intent is to model these as detachable inserts with a variety of different crews and loads allowing me to exploit the potential of this truck for use by Angolans, Cubans, UNITA, Afgans and my Soviet VDV.  The selection of the Cargo body also allows the vehicle to be used as a technical for heavy MGs, ZU 23-2s and recoiless rifles.

I have finished mine in a generic Russian green paint scheme whith no specific markings which should allow me to operate it across the range of armies listed above, for those interested TL Modelblau produce a set of decals for soviet airborne, which whilst intended for a parade finish are seen in photos of Soviet vehicles in tha field.  These tend to be more frequently associated with armoured rather than soft skin vehicles.

I have given the vehicles lower body and wheels a fairly heavy weathering using washes of kaki and Khaki drab And based it for Europe or Africa, it will work in the green zone, Lebanon or Syria but would probably look odd in the Sinai. 

There are a few conversion options for the adventurous, a soft top version for the Soviet airborne would be a challenge they also used the cabed version. an attempt at the airportable M 1975 122mm MRL version is a more interesting proposition and is on the list of things to do for a rainy day. Having said that the open topped version does look attractive.

In summary a great wargames model, needing little preparation time that can be deployed in a wide variety of armies from the late 60s up until the present day.

Review - Model 1/72, S&S FV620 Stalwart

S&S's Stalwart is a very welcome addition to their range and a model which is otherwise difficult to come by.  The Model out of the box represents an early version with the trim vein still in use.  In the latter part of the vehicles service the requirement to swim was dropped and the trim veins removed.  The Model comes as a single casting for the hull and six metal wheels which fit into resesses in the hull ensuring simple assembly.  The quality of the casting was excellent requiring no clean up or filling.

I used mine to provide an ammunition supply truck for my artillery battery and a platform for the Unit Based Refuelling Equipment (UBRE) for the Battle Group supply echelon.  I scratch built the UBRE from card stock but if you don't fancy that challenge BW models also produce one.

In addition to the UBRE, green suff hessian rolls were added and the commanders search light, which came out of the spares box, Decals came from the TS Modelblau's British set and from a set of hazard markers available from the Hobby den

The second vehicle I built as a more general supply wagon, and am using it as the resupply vehicle for an artillery battery.  It has a tarpaulin made out of Masking tape coated with Mr Surfacer, the rolled back edge being produced out of green stuff.

An excellent Wargames model with a wide variety of possibilities.  Shaun also produces a version for the Artillery ammunition carrier with Mechanical Handling Equipment (MHE) or a crane.

The vehicles are painted up in my standard British Camouflage scheme and marked using the Hobby Den and TL Modelblau decal sets.

Review - Model 1/72, Britannia FV432

The choice for modelling FV 432s in 20mm is somewhat limited, Cromwell do a very nice little version in 1/76 which includes variants for the gulf wars, and up armoured versions as deployed in Iraq and they produce the only variant with the Peak GPMG turret.  in 1/72 Britannia make one either with the Mortar hatches open for use as an 81mm Mortar or 120mm Wombat variant or with the mortar hatches closed for a standard infantry models which of course can provide the basis for a range of conversion opportunities.

Other useful supplies to consider include BW models range of highly useful stowage items ranging from, weapons and ammo boxes through to chieftain stowage bins which were regularly added to FV 432s for additional stowage.

Decal sets, useful for cold war British can be found in TL Modelblau's 1/87 military range and BW models decal range.

The Model

The model is a single piece casting which is instantly recognisable as the FV432. The exhaust system on the right hand side of the vehicle marks the vehicle as a Mk 2, the petrol driven Mk1s had the exhaust mounted on the roof.  The exhaust is well represented as are the mortar hatches on the top of the vehicle although these are quite thick.  The commanders cupola can be modelled with the hatch open or shut but the drivers hatch is fixed open. On the left side of the vehicle the hatches that give access to the NBC pack are represented and on the front the engine access hatch and light clusters are well done.  The smoke grenade discharger units are of the wrong type. The Rear door and stowage bins are good however the fire extinguishers mounted on the rear door are very basic.

The models surface usually contains a number of bubble defects but most of these can be rectified with filler, the worst damage any of mine have arrived with is a broken driver figure which is part of the resin casting, it requires a reasonable amount of effort to clean up and replace.

Variants

For my 1980's battle group I have built some 432s with the Peak GPMG turret which I scratch built from card stock.

Those I am using as Milan vehicles I have just stowed.

The one which I use for an FOO I have represented a NOD B Christmas tree.

The Battlegroup HQ wagon will be represented with the framework for the rear "penthouse" extension welded in place.  Jez on the guild has produced a rather nifty version with a Cymbline mortar locating radar on top.  Other challenging projects could include a FV438 Swingfire launcher, Ranger anti personal mine layer, FV 432 with Fox armoured car turret (S&S models do a Fox)

Painting

The vehicles are undercoated black, then painted with Vajjello Russian Uniform, this is then liberally washed with GWs badab black, the panels are then picked out and the the Camouflage pattern painted on.

British vehicles of this period were spray painted generally but frequently touched up by hand, patterns could have both a hard and soft edge. The panels on the black painted areas are brought out using Vajello black grey.

The detail is then painted, light clusters primarily before all detail areas were pin washed with badab black then dry brushed using a mix of Russia uniform and Buff or Iraqi sand.

Tracks are initial painted in a Red Brown then dry brushed with a light grey, and track pads are painted in in black grey.

Decals were then applied and fixed using gloss and mat varnish before the weathering was applied which included washes of Khaki, Khaki drab and a dry brush of either colour mixed with Iraqi sand.

The model represents the character and look and feel of the vehicle well and is a robust rendition of this key British vehicle that provides a critical component of any 1980's UK force.

Since this post was written S&S models have released an FV432 and a Peak turret, the Peak turret is sold separately so could be used in conjunction with the Britania FV432s which are modelled with the floatation screens removed.

ORBAT - 1980s British BG - Part 3 Equipment Change

In creating a realistic British 1980s battle group, other than understanding the limits imposed by the parent brigade composition and the concept of mission orientated task organised groups the other key element to reconcile is the rate of change of equipment that was experienced over the decade.  The cold war peak military strength probably occurred around 1989 - 1990 and started to decline rapidly thereafter based on an increasingly stringent series of defence reviews.

In The late 70s armoured and mechanised units were equipped with Chieftain, Wombat, Fv432 and the CVRT family.  All were starting to be seriously challenged by the latest generation of Soviet equipment and the pace of change in the soviet arsenal. In addition the British Army still had larkspure radios, SLRs, Charlie Gs and the new camouflage was still shiny.

By the end of the decade they were equipped with Challenger 1 including the Thermal Observation and Gunnery system, Warrior, Milan with its MIRA thermal immageing sight, MLRS, new webbing, helmets, boots, SA 80, and 94 mm LAW, some tank regiments had significantly reduced the numbers of tanks fielded and the army had shrunk in size by a margin.

The 1980s were a decade of significant change and representing realistic formations over this period has a number of challenges.  Whilst the rate of introduction of new equipments was rapid, they were not introduced to all units simultainiously and it took 5 or 6 years to complete major equipment revisions such as the introduction of Challenger 1. in addition scalings of equipment varied between different types of unit and within brigades. Whilst this gives a wide variety of equipment and organisational options for the wargamer some of them are very time sensitive.

The key equipment changes

MBTs

• Chieftain upgrades, laser range finder and IFCS were added pre 1980,  Stillbrew armour 1986, TOGS 1988 - 1989, 
• Challenger 1 introduction 1983 - 1989, TOGS upgrade 1985 - 1987.  Whilst the early mark 1 tanks had the TOGs barbet fitted the thermal imagers were not fitted until 1985.
• Add on armour packs as used during Gulf War 1 were available from 1990

The Challenger 1 roll out program was as follows;

• 1983 -1984 7 Armoured Brigade, 2 Regiments, 
• 1985 -1986 4 Armoured Brigade 2 regiments, 
• 1987-1988 20 Armoured Brigade 2 Regiments, 
• 1989, 22 Armoured Brigade 1 Regiment. 

So none of the "Mechanised brigades" 6th, 11th, 12th  and 33rd ever received Challenger 1. The Original plan called for 9 Type 43 regiments. So it is reasonable to assume that regiments were type 43 until post gulf war 1, it's not clear if options for change in 1990 impacted on the plan to deploy 9 Regiments most sources state that the last unit was converted in 1989.

Infantry Systems

• Warrior introduction 1988 - 1994
• Add on armour packs as used in Gulf War 1 were available from 1990, It seems likely that they would have been deployed in subsequent conflicts.
• Warrior for Milan Platoons 1990. In 1991 a further 100 Warriors were bought to provide a scaling for all Milan platoons.  These vehicles allowed the missile to be fired from a mount on the turret.

• Milan introduction 1980, MIRA upgrade post 1982 probably 1985,  improved warhead upgrade 1984, tandem warhead 1993
• Milan Compact Turret introduction, probably  around 1987 withdrawn from service when Warrior replaced FV 432 for Milan Platoons? The 1986 edition of the modern British Army notes it was planned to come into service.  Prior to MCTs introduction mobile sections used Spartan.
• Saxon introduction 1983 - 1985, 19 Inf Brigade, not clear if TA Brigades received them for regular and TA Battalions.
• Spyglass introduction 1987 - 1988?
• OTIS Introduction 1987 - 1988?
• IWS Introduction ? 
• SA 80/LSW introduction 1985 -1990?
• 94mm LAW 1988 - 1990? 
• Clansman Radios 1976 - 1984

The Warrior roll out progrram was as follows;

Throughout the roll out period infantry battalions equipped with Warrior were referred to as Armoured Infantry, those equipped with FV432 were known as Mechanised Tracked, and those with Saxon as Mechanised wheeled.

• January 1988, 7 Armoured Brigade, Grenadier Guards, 
• September 1988, 4 Armoured Brigade ,1 Staffords, 
• January 1989, 6 Armoured (Mechanised) Brigade, Royal Scots,
• September 1989, 6 Armoured (Mechanised) Brigade, 1 RRF, 
• January 1990, 22 Armoured Brigade, 2 R Anglian. 
• September 1990, 20 Armoured Brigade, 2 R IRISH. Assumed on the bases of the only unconverted armoured brigade
• January 1991, 33 Armoured Brigade, 3 LI. Assumed, 3 LI converted after arrival in Paderborn in Feb 1990
• September 1991, 33 Armoured Brigade, QO Highlanders, Assumed on the basis that the 3LI conversion is known to have occurred

The program was scheduled to continue until 1994 converting 2 battalions per year, but was overtaken by the 1992 impact of options for change which left the army with  only 8 Armoured Infantry battalions. This was followed by the reorganisation of the Germany and UK based forces in 1994.  11th Armoured (Mechanised) Brigade in 1st Armoured division and 12th Armoured (Mechanised) Brigade in 4th Armoured division did not therefore appear to convert.  3rd Armoured Division was the only all Warrior formation.

Artillery Systems

• MLRS introduction, 1 regiment in 1990, 1 regiment in 1992
• Javelin air defence missile introduction from 1984
• Warrior OPV 1990
• MSTAR introduced in 1991
• Tracked Rapier from 1984
• AS 90 1993 - 1995

Summary

The key points seem to me to be:

• Only armoured brigades fielded Challenger 1, 
• Early deployment of Warrior was restricted to armoured brigades that probably fielded type 43 regiments, It was unlikely that infantry companies from different battalions in the same brigade would field FV 432 and Warrior. 
• Mechanised Brigade battle groups can not be fielded with Warrior before 1989. 
• Post 1990 all Armoured Brigades were equipped with Warrior.   
• A Brigade with a mixed Challenger Cheiftain fleet did not exist before 1989 and then only as an Armoured Brigade. This does make a Challenger, Chieftain battle group a feasible option.
• Prior to 1990 Milan and FOOs were mounted in FV 432 , which means they would probably only be seen in Warrior with add on armour packs. 
• Thermal immageing was not really available before 1985 and not in Cheiftain before 1988.

In addition to all that, AS 90 just scrapes in but was immediatly rolled into the 1994 brigade reorganisations and Challenger 2 didn't make it. For those that want to what if the what if and ultimately Cold War Hot on the central front is a work of fantasy, then these systems either introduced into the pre 1993 divisional and brigade structures, if the Berlin wall is still up or in the post 1993 divisional and brigade structures if it came down and then went back up might provide some entertaining scenarios.

The next post in this series is 1980s British Battle Group - Part 4 Recce Group.

References:

• ORBAT 1980s British Battle Group, Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
• Encyclopaedia of the Modern British Army
• The British Army in Germany: An Organizational History 1947-2004
• Modern British TOEs
• Challenger Main Battle Tank 1982 - 1997, Osprey
• Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965 - 2003, Osprey
• Scorpion Reconnaissance vehicle 1972 - 1994, Osprey
• Warrior Mechanised Combat Vehicle 1987 - 1994, Osprey
• The British Army in the 1980s, Osprey
• The Encyclopedia of Tanks and AFVs
• Jane's Armoured Personel Carriers
• Jane's World Armoured Fighting vehicles

Painting - British Army, DPM

This is my attempt at the difficult part of a cold war British Army, painting figures in British Army DPM uniforms, I spent some time working a plan to put them all in NBC suits to avoid the issue but eventually bit the bullet.  To my mind the colour pallet is a key component, the Green in DPM is very bright and yellow whilst the beige elements tend to have a strong ochre tone.

For the Uniform the base colour I have used is Vallejo Sand Yellow 70916, buff is a reasonable alternative. For the Green I have used either Vallejo Green, 967 or Golden Olive 857 or a mix, brown is Vallejo Mahogany Sand 846, and as they say black is black. 

For the equipment the webbing is field grey higlighted with green grey, packs and respirator cases are reflective green, the helmet is bronze green, with scrim in english uniform, russian uniform and dessert yellow, facial cam is german cam black brown.

The process for generating the pattern is fairly straight forward first paint the figure in the base colour for the uniform which is sand yellow or buff. Then add the brown using a swirl pattern and introduce some forked ends.

Then paint the green with some overlap over the brown and ensuring that some areas of the base colour continue to show through.

All the equipment should be blocked in before giving the whole figure a liberal wash with badab black.  The various colours can then be highlighted if requiered using the original pallet.

Finally I add the black Ys and Hs that complete the effect.