M.Koch said:
ASLers...
We had a game with a lot of US half-tracks ( TAC48 "Trapped" ).
Two questions came up. When a passenger/crew unloads from a ht and scrounges a machine-gun from this ht, which counter is used? In our case:A 12.7 MG was scrounged by a squad. In my opinion a 12.7 ( .50cal ) MG from a ht becomes a 4 FP MG counter, because D6.631 says...The MG takes the form of a MG counter with the same or less FP as available to the vehicle...is that right?
Next question: When a squad unloads from a ht, how many weapons may it scrounge from this vehicle ? 1 or 2 (for example: a Baz AND a MG ) ?
Regards
MK
OLD MACDONALD AND CHAPTER H
Or
“Dad, I won’t need the Jeep tonight,
but can I take the .50 cal from it?”
© 2001 Ian Daglish
Ask most ASL players how familiar they are with Chapter H, and they will probably make some shamefaced apology. Yes, they know they ought to be more familiar with it, and they really do mean to check it out every time they play, but life is short, it's in a separate binder from their rules and sometimes you just don't have it with you, and most of what you need is on the back of the 5/8" counters, isn't it?
Let's put Chapter H in perspective. It is NOT the world's authority on Vehicles and Guns of WWII, and if anyone quotes it as a source of data, you should be very suspicious of the accuracy and extent of their research. It has far too many inaccuracies and generalisations. But it remains a good - nay, an excellent - compendium of general information, a start point for research if not a primary source.
And for game play, familiarity with Chapter H certainly separates the men from the boys.
At the 1997 BERSERK meeting, I was the Americans in KGP CGII: the Bridge at Cheneux. While planning my strategy, it seemed to me that my ill-equipped Parachute Infantry (82nd ALL AMERICAN, of course!) could do with some beefing up with better SW, so I started the Campaign with my full allowance of two Jeep sections: four Jeeps, each with a good chance of some heavy metal (to be exact: 27.8% chance for each Jeep to gain one 50 cal. HMG; or 30.6% for one MMG). Oh yes, the look on my opponent's face when I started running Concealed 5/8" counters across the map was worth a few CPPs as well.
Only when my Jeeps were revealed did my opponent spoil my fun. "You can't Remove those MGs from the Jeeps. D6.631 specifies half-tracks. You can only scrounge them for (British) LMGs. You see, Jeeps did not carry the mounts for those MGs."
Like a sucker, I just looked up Chapter D and let it go at that. Months later, I went back to Chapter H and found I had been right all along.
The key to this article is in the U.S. MULTI-APPLICABLE VEHICLE NOTES. Specifically, E, I, and O.
First: E & I
E and I apply to half-tracks, plus the M3A1 Scout Car.
Essentially, 'E' says that although the Vehicle has multiple MGs, only one (the MA, unless it is malfunctioned or disabled) may be manned by the inherent vehicle crew. You will need Passengers to fire the rest.
'I' tells you which MGs the AAMG factor actually represents. Plus, importantly, the 93(a) Annual added that "each MG may be Removed as this given type".
These points are important to the tactical use of Infantry vehicles and especially half-tracks. This subject has been well covered, especially by two articles, with very different emphases. In CRITICAL HIT! Issue No. 4, Cpt. Modarelli's article on ARMORED ASSAULT TACTICS gives a lot of ideas on how MG-armed half-tracks can aid Infantry mobility. By contrast, in The General Vol. 24 No. 4, Jon Mishcon's ARMS AND ARMORED HALFTRACKS suggests an 'abandon ship' ploy: how to hide vulnerable half-tracks out of harm's way while utilising their Removed wealth of MGs as Infantry SW.
Next: O
This is where we came in: Jeeps. Also DUKWs, various half-tracks, some scout cars, and the T8 Reconnaissance Vehicle. The Note simply enables the Vehicles listed to share the ability of half-tracks to have their crews Remove MGs (as per D6.631) as they abandon the Vehicle (D5.41). So, if a Jeep rolls low enough to gain an AAMG (strength 2 or 4), it gains an Inherent crew, a CS in place of its cs, and the ability of that crew to Abandon the Jeep taking with it the 2 or 4 strength MG as (respectively) a dm MMG or dm .50 cal. HMG.
Hereafter, things get complicated. The 93(b) Annual amended US Vehicle Note 30 (only) to say that Passengers may also Remove Secondary MMGs. What is more, 93(b) told us, when armament is Removable by a Passenger, that armament may be Removed as part of the normal D6.5 unloading cost, not the D5.4 Abandonment procedure! But do not get carried away: this applies only to Passengers in specified vehicles, such as the US M3 (MMG) and (HMG) half-tracks and the German half-tracks mentioned below. Otherwise, Removal of vehicular MGs remains strictly the province of vehicular crews!
As mentioned above, GERMAN VEHICLE NOTE 58 allows one of the two MGs of the SPW 250/smg and 251/smg (the 3 FP AAMG) to be Removed "by the crew or a Passenger" as a dm HMG. And BRITISH MULTI-APPLICABLE VEHICLE NOTE I is broadly similar to US note O, allowing those (and only those!) Vehicles' crews to Remove MGs when they Abandon their vehicles.
Appendices
US NOTE E & I
# 27 M2 ht
# 29 M3A1 ht
# 39 M3A1 sc
US NOTE E only
# 30 M3ht (MMG) & (HMG)
US NOTE O
# 31 M4 MC ht
# 32 M4A1 MC ht
# 33 M21 MC ht
# 35 T30 HMC ht
# 36 T19 HMC ht
# 40 M20 sc
# 41 T8 "sc"
# 52 DUKW
# 54 Jeep
BRITISH NOTE I
# 63 M5, M6, M5A1, and M9A1(a) ht
# 69 White(a) sc
# 75 DUKW
# 84 Jeep
Postscript:
Also on the subject of E, I, and O. I have been told that the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has a person who glories in the title of Electronic Information Engineering/Installations Officer. Guess what they call him at work!
