February 16, 2016 by dignity
Today we're diving back into Bolt Action from Warlord Games to look at the snappy cold winter squad of the German Grenadiers.
John thinks these would be best for an oval base but I'm behind the thought of keeping them individual.
How would you base your Grenadiers?
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Aesthetically, I’d go with John. I can understand Justin’s point, but it would only be a problem as far as I know if the MG team were the first casualty in the squad. Otherwise there would be an easy replacement to hand. For late-war they look pretty good, but not sure about the Stg44s for mid-war.
I’d put them on one base and use extra models to model them if either of them is down.
Essentially this would give me a ‘team moving’ and ‘team in position’ set.
The only advantage to having them separate would be better placement on terrain.
The single base option allows for a better visual theme as you could have the mg resting on the shoulder as opposed to having it hang there in mid air ..
According to the rules, the loader is basically the closest man to the gunner at the time, as long as one of the rifles doesn’t fire an LMG in a squad fires at full effect. Essentially the whole squad is an LMG team, as long as there are 2 models to fire it they don’t suffer the -1, this includes panzerfausts, assault rifles and even the NCO, as long as they’re loading and not firing their own weapon. So justin has a point, but only for the relativity rare circumstances of being able to pick off a specific model, in which case I’d just use a wounded marker as John said, or replace the team with a spare rifleman.
I’m with John.
So much more fun to base and paint if their together.
Though not the best way to steady a gun I’m sure, it still looks very cool on the table top.
Even if it gets into dire straits and I have no loaders, or the MG42 guy is sniped, I’d just swap some miniatures on and off the field. We have also hung a red loon band around the injured party’s neck to make it clear who is who and how many dice are being thrown next time they activate.
I would do it like @johnlyons said. One base and use a wound marker. And if there were casulties earlier just replace the team with one of the first casulties.
One remark: The assault rifle (or German Sturmgewehr) Justin is referring to is the Stg44. It was first called MP43 because Hitler did not like the idea of an assault rifle. So it was called MP (Maschinenpistole) and it was said it would be a “better” MP40. But in service it proofed to be so good that Hitle got to know about a new Sturmgewehr and he asked what the **** his men were talking about. Then the Stg44 was revealed and renamed.
But I wouldn’t take this kit for midwar because of the Stg44. They were very rare in ’43 as well as ’44. Towards the end of the war more and more came into service. So late war would suit them more.
Sort of, It was originally called Maschinenkarabiner 1942, or Mkb 42, the story goes as it had “karabiner” or carbine in the name someone high up(usually this is attributed to Hitler, but I don’t think its proven) put the kibosh on it because they already had enough rifles and wanted more submachine guns, showing a fundemental misunderstanding of the role the Mkb was destined to fill.
Around 30 mkb42s were supposedly air dropped to German forces trapped after the battle of Moscow in April or May 1942, and at a 28mm scale the difference is negligible between an mp43/44 and the mkb, so there’s just enough truthiness to allow that one model in a mid war army, even if he counts as a regular rifle or SMG since the rules don’t allow for assault rifles then(he’s either conserving ammo or unfamiliar with the gun).
Common usage is MP44 or StG44. At the end of the day, it’s communication that counts. You say to a gamer or a historian or a re-enactor or even a casual history buff: StG44 and people will know what you mean. Maybe 50% will know recognize MP44. MP43 or Mkb 42 may be technically correct, but most people won’t get it.
It’s like calling a Tiger I an SdKfz 182. That’s the technical correct name . . . but really?
Sorry Justin, I’m also with John on this. My bolt action Germans have 2 LMGs per squad (I’m going for realism not gaming firepower) and I have a spare rifleman ready to swap for the gunner if he gets taken out, if not I simply take out a rifle man from the squad to replace the fallen loader. That’s exactly what would have happened in real life.
Again, I’d have to agree with John. As the Germans you would have to have extra chaps for when the panzerfausts fire anyway, so it’s no biggy to just pop a standard rifleman down once the MG has been hit. Really like these chaps, though, and you could probably get away with claiming the StG44’s were just MkB42’s (the prototypes) for mid-war, if you felt so inclined.
I bought two boxes of them and had the oval base in both. Yours must have been a mispacked one..
Considering their equipment (MG42, Panzerfausts, StG44) I’d definitely would say Late War rather than Mid War 😉
In any case a great set of figures.
Some of mine:
http://www.beastsofwar.com/groups/historical-games/forum/topic/german-grenadiers-winter/
Agree with @suetoniuspaullinus and @setesch . Once you see an StG44 . . . automatic “Late War.”
Not only the Stg. The Panzerfausts are also crying out LATE 😉
@setesch – This is also very true. 🙂
i would mount them on one base, i think if there are model as a team then mount it as a team.
Basing LMG teams for me just depends on what looks best for each sculpt. Some I put on the same base some on individual bases but who am I to fly in the face of “When Justin’s right he’s right” 🙂
Going to be different and go with Justin on this one! I prefer to have my minis as individuals, I dont like the bigger bases unless its for a gun crew, my next mortar im considering doing it all on separate bases
If a base is included on the box art I’d expect it to be included in the box. Whether I’d use it or two individual ones I don’t really care, both looks good.