World War III: British: Scorpion/Scimitar Platoon

Scorpion or Scimitar Troop (TBBX03)
includes four Scorpion / Scimitar plastic sprues, one Tank Commander sprue, one Decal sheet & four Unit cards.

The British Army Of the Rhine had three tracked reconnaissance regiments. The recce troops of the first two were equipped entirely with Scimitar reconnaissance vehicles, while the recce troops of the third mixed Scimitars and Scorpions together.

The Scorpion

As divisional troops, the medium recce squadron’s main role is to be a trip line to detect Soviet thrusts and identify the main effort ahead of the divisions main line of resistance, while denying Soviet reconnaissance troops the opportunity to identify where the British defences lie. A secondary role is to act as a mobile force to eliminate light Soviet forces airlanded behind the front line.

The Scimitar

The main difference between the Scorpion and the Scimitar is their main armament. The Scimitar mounts a 30mm L21 Rarden automatic gun with a high rate of fire, while the Scorpion mounts a 76mm L23 gun with a slower rate of fire, but a deadly HESH (High Explosive Squash Head) round that demolishes light armoured vehicles, buildings, and infantry bunkers with equal ease.

Being small and light, the Scorpion and Scimitar are exceedingly quick. However, that small size is achieved at the cost of having the commander load the main gun making it difficult to coordinate fire and movement.