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  • #130593
    Avatar photoTim G
    Participant

    Hello All,

    I was looking at creating French squads for Trench Hammer and am a little stumped. Two squads in a section were composed of:

    1 Corporal, 1-2 “Auto Rifle Gunner” (I assume Chauchat guns), 2 Ammo suppliers, and 3 Rifle Grenadiers.

    So my question is, rule-wise, would these count more as a Lewis Gun squad or a Rifle Grenade squad. Or a hybrid: Acts as a Lewis Gun unless it doesn’t move and then can fire as a Rifle Grenade but with 1d3 damage?

    I’m leaning towards the hybrid option, but would like to know what you all think

    Tim G.

    #130643
    Avatar photoJozisTinMan
    Participant

    Not that it gives me any authority, but I was one of the contributors to the rules.

    I also only have a rough notion of French small unit organization, but I think this is their 1918 TOE, correct?

    I would go with a hybrid, as the two Chauchat’s can keep up about the same amount of fire as a Lewis gun, and give them the Rifle Grenade stats as well, as the 3 VB launchers are about the same number as the 4 in a dedicated British Rifle Grenade Section from 1917.  I would do exactly as you suggest and let the player pick how they will fire if the unit is stationary, ie. if they are in a trench, I may want to fire my rifle grenades since they do not have overhead cover.

    I might reduce the number of hit points in the unit by one or something else to reflect the 1918 state of morale, or instead maybe reduce their effectiveness in assaults, to reflect their greater reliance on firepower.  Any thoughts from the group on this?  I’d love to hear from someone more knowledgeable.

     

    http://jozistinman.blogspot.com/

    #130700
    Avatar photoJozisTinMan
    Participant

    Let us know how your experience plays out.  French are on my to do list eventually, and I like FT-17’s a lot.

    http://jozistinman.blogspot.com/

    #130706
    Avatar photoTim G
    Participant

    JoziTinMan – Yes, I found a TOE online. I might go with reducing their assault value. When I found the TOE, my first thought was that French seemed to have given up on assaults and were emphasizing attacking the Germans from afar (not surprising given Verdun and the subsequent mutinies of ’17). And yes, I like the FT-17’s as well! I have a pair of 1/72 Hat/ArmourFast which is prime motivation (along with just seeing 1917).

    Thank you for your suggestions!

     

    #156531
    Avatar photoDaveH303
    Participant

    Personally I’d probably treat a mixed squad as a rifle grenadier squad as the chauchats were notoriously unreliable.

    The squad changed organisation over time what I have is as follows.

    April 1916 – October 1917

    CHQ
    4 x Platoons, each:
    PHQ
    Bombing squad (8 rifles)
    MG squad (1 chauchat, 6 rifles)
    2 x rifle squads (12 rifles ea incl 2 x VB gl)
    usually operated into two half platoons.

    Oct 1917 – Oct 1918

    CHQ
    4 x Inf Platoons each:
    PHQ
    2 x half platoons each:
    LMG/GL squad (7 men, 1 x Chauchat, 3 x VB gl)
    Rifle/bomber squad (7 men incl 2 bombers)

    Oct 1918 – ??

    CHQ
    4 x infantry platoons each:
    PHQ
    3 x ‘groupe de combat’ each:
    1 x bombing team (6 men with rifles, bombs & 1 x VB gl)
    1 x MG team (6 men with 1 x Chauchat & 5 rifles)

    Blogging about wargames at https://comment-deleted.blogspot.co.uk

    #156538
    Avatar photoJohn D Salt
    Participant

    Personally I’d probably treat a mixed squad as a rifle grenadier squad as the chauchats were notoriously unreliable.

    I think that would be rather unfair to the Chauchat. It did have problems with dodgy magazines, true — rather like the Sten, I’ve always thought, a rough-and-ready weapon with a reputation for unreliability that was not entirely deserved (presumably it was the nicer finish on the MP-38 and MP-40 that saved them from a Stennish reputation, despite similar problems). The Chauchat’s feed problems, which produce far the most horror stories of unrelaibility, were confined to the badly-made .30-06 versions; they were not shared with original 8mm Lebel version, nor the conversions to 7.65 and 7.92mm Mauser. The Americans used lots of the 8mm Lebel version in combat.

    The Chauchat might be quite a horrible gun (although I think the MG08/15 and the Breda 30 are probably both worse), but even a bad automatic weapon is still quite a step up in firepower from the crew’s equivalent in bolt-action rifles.

    All the best,

    John.

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