Way back in the summer of 1988, when I was researching Over The Top, I checked out a copy of Erwin Rommel's Attacks in the hopes of finding a scenario or two. In reading though his book, I found several possibilities, but none of his descriptions of the forces used by the Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion matched any German TO&E that I had been able to find. In the end, I discarded my idea of using his book for a scenario as I could not account for the makeup of his unit. For example, in all of Rommel's accounts, the Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion always had far too many medium machineguns in it for a German battalion. Since then I have found the answer to my problems. The Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion has its own unique TO&E, and is unlike any other mountain battalion in the German Army of WWI. Wurttemberg, which contributed the XIII Army Corps to the Imperial Army, was a semi-autonomous state within that German Empire. Though it usually followed the lead of Prussia, it had the right to maintain its own War Ministry and General Staff. As a result, when Wurttemberg was asked to form a mountain battalion late in 1915, the Wurttemberg General Staff designed its own formation. This had the following: Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion 1915-1918 Veteran, Morale: 10 Battalion Headquarters, with: 1 command stand 1 support stand 2 pack mule general supply stands 1 pack mule baggage stand 6 Infantry Companies, each with: 1 command mountain infantry stand 1 mountain infantry recon stand 1 mountain infantry stand 3 Machinegun Companies, each with: 1 command mountain infantry stand 3 machinegun stands (2 dice) Trench Mortar Company, with: 1 command mountain infantry stand 1 76 mortar stand (ds) 1 pack mule ammo stand Notes 1. All command infantry and infantry stands are ski trained. 2. The 76 mortar stand (ds) is considered as an HIW stand, and does not need a limber to move. 3. The Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion rarely fought as a single formation. Rather, it created detachments ranging in size from a single company up-tailored for the action that was to be fought. 4. The Wurttemburg Mountain Battalion was usually supported by a battalion of mountain artillery. 5. The mountain infantry stands fire as standard German infantry. As one can see, this "battalion" is almost a regiment in actual strength, and it has the firepower of a regiment. Looking back at Rommel's accounts, I can now see where he was getting his extra machineguns from, and why they were so useful to him. Bibliography Stormtroop Tactics, Innovation in the German Army, 1914-1918, Bruce I. Gudmundsson, Praeger, New York, 1989 ISBN 0275-93328-8. Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Quarterly # 5 To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by Greg Novak. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com