rules question: infantry support stands

lead_and_brush · Post by **lead_and_brush** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 11:05 am

Where the rules provide for "infantry support" along with infantry, does that just mean you put three machineguns on it, or what?

dougeagle · Post by **dougeagle** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 12:13 pm

I assume that you are talking about the GHQ rules?

If so then lets use the GHQ WW2 rules as the example and this is how I did my infantry.
The Germans for 1939-40, Infantry company shows 3 Infantry, 1 Infantry Support.
What I did here was 3 stands of Infantry, and 1 Infantry support stand which was the small 2 man mortar team that are laying down on the field. That was my Infantry support stand. The stands for the Infantry Support Company, where it says 1x Infantry Support, 1x 80mm Mortar (3), I used 1 or 2 HMG miniatures for the Infantry Support Stand and the normal Mortar miniature for the mortar stand.

Hope that helps.

lead_and_brush · Post by **lead_and_brush** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:33 pm

Thanks, it does. So you picked what kind of support it was? What about a heavy machine gun platoon for either German or Americans? Would that be right, too? What about an infantry gun or small AA gun for the Germans? I know those are covered separately, but the rules don't really make it clear what "infantry support" for individual companies are or what their limits are.

This comes down to not only rules, but mounting, since I had assumed a platoon stand would include a machine gun or two along with rifle men.

dougeagle · Post by **dougeagle** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:23 pm

So you picked what kind of support it was?

Yes I did. I had also asked before when I was first getting into GHQ's rules and was having the same problem. But I also play Spearhead and went by what the game recommended for support stands. They of coarse omit the Infantry Companies Support stand, meaning there is no 50mm mortar stand with an Infantry Company, but they do utilize the Machinegun Company, which comprises of 2 MG and 81mm mortar. This would be the same as a Grenadier Support Company on pg 54 of the GHQ-WW2 rules.

What about a heavy machine gun platoon for either German or Americans? Would that be right, too?

It would be as I stated above about SH and their MG companies. It can be done the same way. How I based my Germans for the Infantry Support Company was 2x MG32 mini's on 1 stand and 1x 81mm mortar mini on 1 stand. The MG32 stands are the Infantry Support. For the Americans, you probably could use the .50 cal mini as the Infantry Support.

What about an infantry gun or small AA gun for the Germans? I know those are covered separately, but the rules don't really make it clear what "infantry support" for individual companies are or what their limits are.

Hmmm...not sure what you are trying to get at here.

This comes down to not only rules, but mounting, since I had assumed a platoon stand would include a machine gun or two along with rifle men.

I based all of my infantry and so forth on the 1"x1" square basing. For my German Infantry, each base included an LMG (dude lying down with MG) and 3 riflemen, either firing or combo of both firing and grenade thrower. Just to help with each company ID, the first companies LMG is on the left side of the base, 2nd company the middle and the 3rd company on the right. Plus I have them labeled with an ID tag as well.

I hope that helps out some more for you.

dnichols · Post by **dnichols** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:55 am

I try to make each of my infantry stands mini dioramas. Infantry stands have different numbers of figures, I add rocks, bushes etc.

For support stands, I generally use heavy machine guns on the stand, usually two.

Since the Infantry support stands represent the company level support weapons, for some nations, small caliber mortars they would be appropriate for support stand.

---Daryl

lead_and_brush · Post by **lead_and_brush** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 11:16 am

I guess whatever it is, it is still going to give you a firepower 5 HE attack out to 10 inches

so you could put a Roman catapult on it

8ball · Post by **8ball** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 7:03 am

The motorcycle infantry in German Recce units were support types. They were originally equipped with 50cm mortars and MGs. Their purpose was to suppress the enemy positions while the armored cars forced a breakthrough.

Also, soon after the invasion of Russian and the beginning of the Afrika campaign, many German Recce units swapped their motorcycles for Kubelwagens and command cars. The MCs were horrible in sand and mud.

So if you are using the GHQ rules, you might want to change your Recce Battalions' MC/infantry platoons to support platoons, and use a Kubbelwagon, command car, or even a MC stand as transport.