In the 1940s and 50s Australian army, MMG and medium mortars were typically company (sometimes battalion) assets, deployed in support as missions required. Given how lean the Communist Chinese were in everything except soldiers, I suspect these heavier support weapons were also managed by Co. HQ (or higher). I have completed an MMG and medium mortar, the last of my initial wave of Chinese Volunteers for Bolt Action Korea. I now have enough for a small game with what I hope is a balanced force.
I like medium machine guns despite being mostly ineffective in Bolt Action games. They are historic, commanding far more respect and consideration on actual battlefields.
A topic of much discussion among Bolt Action players, perhaps a topic for another post.
Now to get a game or two in, even as I start on some reinforcements, two more squads on the paint-table.
Turns out my local library has a good military history section, so I’m also continuing my reading. I suspect by the end of this lot I’ll have had my fill of Korean War history for the moment.,
I’ll let you know if any are worth picking up.
D.
Coming along well, Dave! I’ll be looking forward to seeing your first game! Not sure why Bolt Action doesn’t like MMGs (unfamiliar with the rules) unless it’s because the game is skirmish/mobility oriented and MMGs are more suited to providing long range fire support and suppression (and even indirect fire to sweep areas and limit movement). I seem to remember reading the Max Hastings book and enjoying it, since I didn’t really know much about the war.
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Thanks John. I’m looking forward to a game too. I think you’re onto something with your observation on suppression fire. I suspect this is part of the solution. I notice a few other books quote Hastings, but recent books also use archive files opened since he wrote, so I am interested to see where interpretations differ.
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Looks great and I would not worry too much about Bolt action. They are a fun set of rules but not great at modeling reality that well at times with things like MMG and HMGs
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I quite agree- BA is more Hollywood or comic book action in someways, which in perhaps just adds to the fun.
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We do BA in 15mm. That to me that at least gets around some of the worse aspects of ground to figure scale issues.
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I can see the appeal of using 15mm Mellis1644.
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Looks good to me. The Chinese would be fortunate to have all that support.
The Hastings book is pretty good as I remember btw.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Hi Dave looking great. while not a period for me I like the figures and the opportunity to use a lot of late war vehicles. I am enjoying the WW2 period with lots of great rules out there. Love what a tanker for tank games, Chain of Command and FUBAR for platoon level, and Combat HQ for larger 20mm scale games. I have finally collected my Early war French motorised army but is still a few projects away from painting. May catch up at Davercon on the 16th.
Dave
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will be ace to catch up and talk shop
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