Battlegroup Rules Question

[hayeswauford]

Battlegroup question - if a US Squad is made up of an infantry team and BAR team, is this 2 separate units for activation purposes? Or is the squad the unit? Thanks!

[SJWi]

Hi, from my reading both activate separately. In the BG lists they always list the squad's number of figures and then separate teams and/or squads.  I've looked at the lists for BG "Overlord" and "Fall of the Reich" and I see different squad organisations . Overlord has separate rifle and BAR units, by Fall of the Reich they operate as one. I think the authors do this to reflect the problems of command  and control for certain armies that makes you burn-through orders trying to get them all to activate.       

[Admiral Hawke]

I don't have Fall of the Reich, but in both Torch and Overlord the 12-man US infantry squad is broken into a 7-man rifle squad and a 5-man BAR squad. So they need an order each, much like the rifle squads and MG squads in a German infantry platoon. There is no equivalent to the British Bren team rule.

That makes them harder to move, needing more orders, but less easily pinned.

[hayeswauford]

Thanks a lot guys!

[V]

Each 'fire team' is a unit for game purposes.

Thus varies from unit to unit, so the US Infantry operate as two fire teams - Rifle & BAR - each requires an 'order'.

US Armoured Infantry operate as a single 12 man unit needing one order to act.

Each way has advantages and disadvantages and partly reflects how different units tended to act.

[hayeswauford]

Thanks.

One more follow up. Vehicles (say in a platoon of US M4 Shermans) activate as single vehicles correct?

[V]

Yep... pretty much the only thing that's activates together are artillery batterys when firing.

[hayeswauford]

Thanks!