"On The Wargame Table Are You Like Zapp Brannigan?" Topic
11 Posts
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GStupin  | 25 Apr 2018 8:09 a.m. PST |
SYW,French army,Royal Pologne Infanterie
link |
21eRegt  | 25 Apr 2018 8:12 a.m. PST |
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| Tango01 | 25 Apr 2018 10:13 p.m. PST |
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| saltflats1929 | 27 Apr 2018 9:22 p.m. PST |
How did the Germans allocate tripod mounted MG34/42 machine guns? Was it a platoon or company level asset? How many were there?
Thanks in advance. |
| kustenjaeger | 27 Apr 2018 11:44 p.m. PST |
Greetings In general in an infantry/grenadier battalion (there were a lot of variations) in an MG or Heavy company of a battalion with 2 6-gun platoons (Zug) but with some TOEs (KStN) formally allocating 2 per infantry/grenadier company. Regards Edward |
| donlowry | 28 Apr 2018 9:24 a.m. PST |
IIRC, in the early years at least, each rifle company had a support platoon that included 1 MMG (at least in the motorized infantry). And each rifle battalion had a weapons platoon with MMGs (2 or 3?) and 8cm mortars. |
| dragon6 | 28 Apr 2018 1:53 p.m. PST |
How did the Germans allocate tripod mounted MG34/42 machine guns You do know the only difference is the tripod? |
| zoneofcontrol | 28 Apr 2018 4:29 p.m. PST |
"You do know the only difference is the tripod?" No, there was a difference in effectiveness
(range and accuracy) as well as team size and their tasks. |
| Fred Cartwright | 28 Apr 2018 4:48 p.m. PST |
You do know the only difference is the tripod? Didn't the SF MG42's in the MG companies also have heavier barrels than the platoon weapons? |
| Walking Sailor | 28 Apr 2018 7:10 p.m. PST |
The MG 34 was the first General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG). It could be used as either a Light Machine Gun (LMG), or as a Sustained Fire Machine Gun (SFMG). The MG 42 was designed to the same specification but was cheaper to produce.
A leg infantry squad was issued one gun. A mech infantry squad should have two guns.
The battalion weapons company had 3 MG platoons with 4 guns each, AND 4 Lafette 34 or 42 tripods. If you goggle up a photo you will see that even on the tripod the MG still has the bipod folded back under the muzzle. It could be used either way. Towards the rear you will also see a telescopic sight sticking up to extend the effective range.
Now it gets interesting (aka confusing). At the start of the war there may only be 2 MG platoons (8 guns), as production ramps up to 3 MG platoons expect each of the 3 infantry companies to have 1 MG platoon attached, but that is flexible. Late war each infantry company got an MG section of 2 guns (GPMG w/ tripod option) and the weapons company was reduced to 1 MG platoon of 3 sections, 2 guns each.
To answer your specific question: it started as a battalion level asset and partially moved down to company level. I think Kustenjaeger said it easier. |
| saltflats1929 | 28 Apr 2018 8:12 p.m. PST |
Thanks! Thats what i was looking for. |
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