Re: FIRE TEAMS IN SG II

Don M wrote:
> 
> It depends largely on the army your using. In WW2 the
> armies had vastly different MTO&Es ,SOPs and tactics.
> The Germans for example built the squad around the MG
> were it was used as the main offensive weapon with the
> riflemen in support. The US army had only a BAR auto-rifle
> in the squad all other heavy MGs were in the heavy weapons
> platoon detached to support the rifle squads at need. The
> one thing that is very different from today is that the squads
> were larger and tended to stay together and not brake into
> fire teams with the exception of the Germans where the
> riflemen could maneuver while the MG was in over watch.

Separate groups of Bren guns and rifles were pretty standard in
British WW2 practice, and remained so with the GPMG, and quite
possibly remain so today. The Bren gunner and assistant were
supposed to neutralise the target from a flank or rear position
while the riflemen went in with grenades and bayonets.

German doctrine (according to wargames sources) relied on
obliterating the target with close-range machinegun fire to the
exclusion of any other close quarters fighting (excluding
specialised SMG squads). Every German squad was supposed to have a
tripod for the machinegun, the machinegun was a three man team,
four including the squad leader who directed it out of a nominal
ten men (but in practice six to eight). Panzergrenadiers commonly
dismounted a second MG from their half-track, so could hardly have
had any "riflemen" at all.

-- 
David Brewer

"It is foolishness and endless trouble to cast a stone at every