North Africa Infantry Basing

[wolfman]

I just started GHQ and WWII gaming with Micro Armor rules. Starting with North Africa since table is easy.

The research I have done leads me to believe each British infantry stand should have a Bren gunner in addition to riflemen. Did I understand this correctly?

It looks as though the Boys might be this way too. I intend on a seperate Boys stand or addiing the Boys to the "Infantry Support" i.e Vickers MG stands.

This seems to be the case with German infantry as well (Lt. MG not Bren minus the Boys).

Can some one help me on this.

Does it make sense to base infantry using FOW rules - should be playable in either system for future flexibility (scale adjusted of course).

[Whistle Beek]

In MATG, one stand represents a platoon, so all organic firepower in a platoon was calculated into the firepower factors: all the small arms, including the squad light machine gun is included in the "HE" firepower stat. Similarly, any standardly organic AT weapons are included in the "AT" firepower stat. That's why early war infantry have a lower "AT" stat than later war (or post-war) infantry. The early war stat would include sticky bombs, ATRs, etc. - where the late war includes bazookas, Panzerfausts / PanzerSchrecks, etc.

When I mount my infantry, I sprinkle those weapons around. Not every stand gets a LMG, nor an ATR. But all have the firepower as if they did.

[Mk 1]

I just started GHQ ...

Welcome to our little corner of the web. And welcome to the the realm of LTT-Addiction.*

Does it make sense to base infantry using FOW rules - should be playable in either system for future flexibility (scale adjusted of course).

I don't play either ruleset, so can not reply on the speicific point.

But I play several other rulesets, and have played more than a half-dozen more over the years. Based on that, I would offer the observation that if you base your infantry on the most detailed set you may play, you will find that you can almost always use them for the more abstracted rulesets.

For example in years gone by much of my infantry was based for fire-team level infantry rules. In these types of rulesets, each stand represents a 3-5 man fire team, or even a 2-3 man weapons teams. So a squad might be comprised of 2 fire teams and an LMG team, with or without an AT launcher team attached.

When I played squad-based rules, I used a 4-man fire-team base to represent a 9 - 12 man squad. That level of abstraction is common -- no one I know actually places 9 - 12 figures per base to represent a squad. So I could move between rulesets without worrying about re-basing my infantry -- with squad based rules I simply had twice as many platoons (and a bunch of left-over weapons teams), as with fire-team based rules.

More recently I have settled on squad-based rules, and no longer worry too much about fire-team basing. But the dual-use approach served me for many years.

Hope that helps.



*Note: LTT = Little Toy Tanks

[wolfman]

Thanks for the help!

I have been making 15mm Am Rev soldiers for awhile and needed a break. I really like painting the GHQ tanks but the infantry is a little daunting at times at 6mm. I will post some pics when I get a coiple more batches done.

I will sprinkle the Boys and Brens about.

[dougeagle]

Wolfman..this is how I base my British for North Africa as well as Europe.

1st stand (1" x1")
- 1 SMG
- 1 Bren Gunner
- 2 Riflemen (either advancing or with 1 throwing grenade)

2nd and 3rd stands (1" x1")
- 1 Bren Gunner
- 3 Riflemen (2 advancing, 1 throwing grenade)

If the scale of the game is 1 stand = 1 platoon, then the Boys AT would not be used at they were issued out at platoon level, so the stats for that weapon would be included. If the rules you are using are 1 stand = 1 squad, then the Boys AT could be based separately.
Since I play skirmish sized battles (1= squad) as well as battalion sized battles (1=platoon) I have AT weapons such as Panzerschreks, PIATs based on smaller separate bases. Then that way, if I choose to play either way, I can always add stands to increase the unit size.

Hope that helps

[ferret701]

I base my infantry for platoon-scale games. I used 1/2" by 3/4" metal bases from Wargames accessories, which nicely hold three figures. For a typical rifle company, one stand will have a officer figure and two riflemen/SMG gunners, and represent the HQ. The other two will have two riflemen or grenade throwers, plus one light support weapons such as the Bren. This makes it easy to ID the HQ stand on the table, though this is not necessary with all rules.

Pat Callahan
www.microarmormayhem.com