Maschinengewehr

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eatU4myT
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Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2018 9:57 am

Maschinengewehr

Post by eatU4myT »

Can a Senior Leader use this National Characteristic on a tripod MMG?
Len Tracey
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Re: Maschinengewehr

Post by Len Tracey »

Interesting question. The German LMG and MMG are both the same weapon but on different mounts.
By my reading, the national rule would seem to apply only to the squad LMG. This makes tactical sense as it reflects a leader (JL or SL) giving precise fire orders in the midst of battle to maximize the effectiveness of this weapon in an immediate tactical situation. The deployment of MMG is a lot more deliberate. They are normally given detailed fire orders that cover their role in the battle when deployed and so would not benefit from sudden detailed directions. An MMG's role in the fire support plan is clearly laid out prior to the battle as they are an important weapon system.
Therefore I don't think the national characteristic should apply to MMG on tactical grounds. Game wise, giving one nation's 10 dice weapon and additional 2 or 3 dice would be quite powerful.
Just my thoughts.
Archdukek
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Re: Maschinengewehr

Post by Archdukek »

eatU4myT wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 11:25 pm Can a Senior Leader use this National Characteristic on a tripod MMG?
No, the Maschinegewehr section specifically refers to the direction of the squad LMG in the first sentence which explains the purpose of the rule. A tripod MMG is not a squad LMG even though it may be the same physical weapon. It’s role is different as Len has explained.

John
eatU4myT
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Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2018 9:57 am

Re: Maschinengewehr

Post by eatU4myT »

Len Tracey wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 11:40 pm This makes tactical sense as it reflects a leader (JL or SL) giving precise fire orders in the midst of battle to maximize the effectiveness of this weapon in an immediate tactical situation. The deployment of MMG is a lot more deliberate. They are normally given detailed fire orders that cover their role in the battle when deployed and so would not benefit from sudden detailed directions. An MMG's role in the fire support plan is clearly laid out prior to the battle as they are an important weapon system.
Thanks, that's helpful. It's an unfortunate limiting factor of Rich's rules philosophy - playing the period not the rules only works if you know everything about the period! Without a full understanding of what you have explained above, you are left with a rule that says "when a leader is attached to a machine gun team", which is not specific enough to say either way.
Kustenjaeger
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Re: Maschinengewehr

Post by Kustenjaeger »

The full text of Maschinengewehr is:

“The Germans placed much emphasis on the Squad machine gun as the weapon of firepower, with the squad leader instructed that in any fight his place was with the LMG directing its fire.

When a Leader is attached to a machine gun team and uses two or more Command Initiatives to direct their fire, he may add that many D6 to the Team's Firepower dice.”

I think the context is clear that it’s the squad LMG being referred to.

If your group were to want to house rule it to apply to a support sMG34/42 then you could do so, but as the MMG team does not have its own JL then the leader would have to be [assuming a generic German infantry platoon in the rule book] the platoon SL which, as he has to be attached to the MMG, reduces his ability to exercise command over his platoon.

Edward
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