Bicycle Infantry

[bobcat]

bikes make a lot of sense in a post TDM world. without regular supplies of petrol bikes are a cheap and reliable means of transportation for troops that need rapid transport over relatively short distances. they are also quiet enough to get fairly close to an enemy position before a raid.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by bobcat

Tthey are also quiet enough to get fairly close to an enemy position before a raid.

The problem is knowing where the enemy and especially their patrols and sentries actually are...
If your side is capable of moving, so are they, even if it's just sweeping the local area. In fact patrolling actually becomes MORE important when a unit is in defence.

[Olefin]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

The problem is knowing where the enemy and especially their patrols and sentries actually are...
If your side is capable of moving, so are they, even if it's just sweeping the local area. In fact patrolling actually becomes MORE important when a unit is in defence.

Cavalry do it all the time - thats why you send out scouts ahead of the main body - i.e. "you, you and you go ride point" - and hoping that the point you dont get is the point of the bullet hitting you when you ride into the ambush - unless you run into guys who are actually smart enough to let the point team go by without hitting them so they can hit the main body instead

[Legbreaker]

Cavalry send out scouts which actually dismount from time to time and creep up on foot to look over hilltops, around buildings, etc.
They also generally have better mobility than bikes and therefore can move quicker off road. Sure the average person can ride a bike, but how many can manage it where there aren't paths, especially with the basic sort of bikes likely to be in production post nuke?
Both though have their strengths and weaknesses compared to the other.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

And it's worth remembering that cavalry is typically trained in reconnaissance techniques so that rather then being purely a light skirmishing force, they are also information gatherers.
They train to be stealthier than the typical infantry unit so that they can not only get in and collect that intel, but get away with it without getting into a fight.

[Legbreaker]

Yes, "modern" cavalry are far from the shock troops of the 19th Century and before.
Sure, they can fight, but that's not their true role. Their combat ability is aimed more at enabling them to disengage and get the hell out of there.

[Raellus]

Recently, I learned that Sweden still had a few bicycle infantry battalions in its OOB into the late 1990s (this is particularly relevant for 4e), and Switzerland disbanded its last major bicycle unit in 2001. Apparently, there's a small but passionate community that collects mil-surp bicycles, and Swedish models are much sought after. A couple of Swedish companies still make civilian versions of the Mk42 military bicycle that dates back to WW2. It's reportedly simple, robust, and reliable.

[Homer]

The July-August issue of Armor had the below article on the use of mountain bikes in USMC LAR platoons.

https://www.moore.army.mil/armor/EAr...ust1998web.pdf (page 15)

It seems they were primarily used as stealthier or faster platforms than the current LAR TOE provided. It’s a similar hybrid concept to the initial plans to issue dirt bikes to Bradley scout platoons, with the advantage of it being quieter and safer but the disadvantage being the relatively slower rate of movement of bikes vs military motorcycles.

In T2K, I’m not sure you’d get the pedigreed level of bike with bespoke mods the marines were using, but the concept seems solid. Adding a couple of bikes to a group would let them halt well short of a village or other potential danger area to conduct a stealthier initial recon. Potentially, if the risk is worth the reward, you could even use the bikes to insert scouts directly into the area of interest for close observation.

If bicycles are common vehicles in the area, it will likely lower the signature of your observers, especially with appropriate clothing. If you’re really sneaky, elements of a field expedient antenna can be hidden in or on the bike. Combine with a small morse transmitter and receiver and you’re in business to send data back, or just exfil your observers in the normal flow of traffic.

[Targan]

Binfantry? Or Infancycle?

[castlebravo92]

Good chance that bicycle infantry would make a big comeback in some areas 1999 and later. Fairly easy to manufacture, and gives a mobility/speed advantage (at least on roads) over leg mobile infantry.

[Homer]

Moving anything you’d see in a light infantry or sapper platoon by bike wouldn’t be that hard- LBE with an engineer slung rifle or a couple LAWS or an LMG strapped to the frame wouldn’t be bad. I’m not sure about long distance movement with a ruck holding an approach march load- seems like it would be pretty unsafe and might need a baggage wagon.

81-82mm mortars, MMG/HMG, and atgm launchers might need a trailer or a dedicated cart. One other possibility is a “Dutch style” or tricycle style cargo bike for these items. USAFE and USAREUR used these in the Cold War for parts and stockage distribution in logistics nodes, so maybe there’s a source of supply there.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by Homer

The July-August issue of Armor had the below article on the use of mountain bikes in USMC LAR platoons.

Good find, Homer. Thanks.

To haul bulky, heavy equipment like light crew-served weapons, ammo and such, a trailer like the one pictured below would probably work. Here's a pic of a Swedish one, made by Husqvarna. I've also seen pics of a Swiss two-wheeled bike trailer.

[Homer]

You bet-

Looking at the weight capacities/space on the trailers and some old photos, it looks like you could probably fit a Mk19 or .50 cal on a group of three- one for the gun mounted in it’s pintle/cradle and maybe a spare barrel; one for the tripod, T&E, and sights; and one for ammo, plus a can or two on the other trailers. That gives you a three man gun team carrying a couple hundred rounds of ammo with a squad leader riding on a bike it hour a trailer to enable pulling ahead to scout emplacements. An AT team could be as easy as two bikes with a gunner carrying an Carl Gustaf/RPG or (gulp) Dragon and an ammo bearer carrying additional rounds in panniers or slung from the rider/frame; alternatively they could have a trailer(s) to carry additional rounds or resupply from the trains.


The below article is about e-bikes, but could be a prototype for regular cycle ops as well as long as your bear in mind the physical demands:

https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-elec.../31865559.html

[Homer]

I did some reading on the Viet Minh/NVA bicycle transport units. In most cases, the bikes were actually pushed by a pair of porters walking alongside while the frames themselves were modified to hold the weight of the load. Effectively this turned the bicycle into a form of cart. This more than doubled the load from just over a hundred pounds to over 400 pounds. Apparently most of the modification was done with saws and bamboo.

It’s not really cycle infantry, but I wonder if “pack bikes” like these may turn up as vehicles in a civilian caravan or be used for logistics in some resource poor cantonments?