Tatou! Tatou! – All for One and One for All – Part Three – by David Hunter
From Olympus Pass To Forty-Second Street, Greece and Crete, April to May 1941
Continuing Davids look into the history and early actions of the 28 from part 1 and part 2, we now look at how you can represent the 28 (Maori) Battalion in your games of Bolt Action with the following, unofficial, list:
Using 8th Army to represent the 28 (Maori) Battalion
As part of 5 Brigade of the New Zealand Division, the Maori sometimes fought alongside men of other New Zealand Division infantry battalions and these should be represented as Veterans.
Artillery support in Greece was drawn from the New Zealand 4 Field Regiment; on Crete the 5 Field Bn provided support with scavenged weapons, all its original guns having been abandoned in Greece. Both Bns are best represented as Regular at this time.
The only available armoured vehicles were Bren Carriers, from the Maori Battalion’s own Carrier Platoon (Veterans)
Tows should be Regular. Note that not much transport was used by the infantry during the fighting in Greece and Crete.
On Crete the Maori often fought intermingled not only with men from other 5 Brigade units but alongside men from the Greek army and Cretan civilians. Many of these latter were motivated by a fierce hatred of the Germans, a Cretan-raised Greek Battalion having been badly handled in the mainland campaign.
Captured German Weapons from the plastic German Weapons sprue.
A British & Commonwealth Maori Battalion force for the Greece and Crete campaign must comprise one or more Reinforced Platoons picked from the following Theatre Selector. Each Reinforced Platoon is made up as follows:
Olympus Pass To Forty-Second Street Reinforced Platoon
1 Maori Platoon Officer or Pākehā Platoon Officer – Lieutenant or 2nd Lieutenant
2 Maori Infantry Sections
plus:
Headquarters
0-1 Maori Captain or Major or Pākehā Captain or Major
Infantry
0-4 units from: Maori Infantry Sections, New Zealand Division Infantry Section, up to 1 squad of Cretan Auxiliaries (Crete only).
0-1 Maori Machine Gun Team
0-1 Maori Mortar Team (light or medium)
0-1 Maori Anti-tank Team: ATR Team
Artillery
0-1 gun from:
4 NZ Field Artillery Regiment 25-pdr Light Artillery (Greece only)
5 NZ Field Artillery Regiment 3.7” or 75mm Light Artillery (Crete only)
Armoured Cars
0-1 Armoured Car or Recce Vehicle from: Maori Battalion Recce Carrier (Greece only)
Transports and Tows
0-1 Tow per Artillery unit in the Reinforced Platoon from:
Regular Quad Tractor*
* See Armies of Great Britain for unit details.
Tatou! Tatou! Force Characteristics
A British force based on the Tatou! Tatou! Selector has the following Force Characteristic which replaces all of the British National Characteristics found in the Armies of Great Britain supplement:
• Hesistant Higher Command. – Any unit left in Reserve (including Outflank) suffers an additional -1 to its Orders Tests to enter play. All units with a Damage Value of 7+ must begin the game in Reserve if possible and may not Outflank.
All Maori infantry units have the following special rules:
• Captured Spandau. – The Maori used large numbers of captured automatic weapons, the MG34 or ‘Spandau’ being a particular favourite. A Captured Spandau shoots with +1 dice compared to a regular LMG – 4 dice instead of 3. This option should only be used in Crete, not in Greece.
• Gladly to the Fight. – Maori Regular infantry have a morale of 10.
• Ka Mate! - A Maori unit that initiates an assault against an enemy unit counts as Fanatics from the moment the assault order is successfully declared until the end of any consolidation move.
Any orders test required for such an assault is taken ignoring pins.
• Tough Fighter. – Each model in a unit with this rule has two attacks in assault against infantry and artillery.
The Maori Battalion had a few Pākehā officers so an option for them is provided. The Pākehā showed all the tenacity of their Maori counterparts while perhaps not sharing quite their ferocious enthusiasm for close combat, they have the Stubborn special rule instead of Ka Mate! Most platoon and company officers at this time were Maori, however. Pākehā officers also have the Gladly to the Fight special rule.
Units marked as ‘Greece Only’ should only be used by forces fighting in Greece and those as ‘Crete Only’ by those on Crete (obviously . . 😉
Infantry Squads and Teams
Maori Officer
Cost:
• Regular Second Lieutenant 52 points
• Regular Lieutenant 77 points
• Regular Captain 112 points
• Regular Major 152 points
Team:1 officer and up to 2 further men
Weapons: Pistol, submachine gun or rifle as depicted on the models
Options:
• The officer may be accompanied by up to 2 additional Maori Regulars at +12 points each.
Special Rules:
• Ka Mate!
• Gladly to the Fight.
• Tough Fighters.
Pākehā Officer
Cost:
• Regular Second Lieutenant 52 points
• Regular Lieutenant 77 points
• Regular Captain 112 points
• Regular Major 152 points
Team:1 officer and up to 2 further men
Weapons: Pistol, submachine gun or rifle as depicted on the models
Options:
• The officer may be accompanied by up to 2 additional Regulars at +12 points each.
Special Rules:
• Gladly to the Fight.
• Stubborn.
Maori Infantry Section
Cost: Regular Infantry 60 points
Composition: 1 NCO and 4 men
Weapons: Rifles
Options:
• Add up to 4 additional men with rifles at +12 points each.
• The NCO and up to 3 men can have submachine guns instead of rifles for +3 points each.
• Up to 2 men can have a light machine gun for +20 points. Another soldier acts as loader.
• Up to 1 light machine gun may be upgraded to a Captured Spandau (see below) for +5 points.
Special Rules:
• Captured Spandau.
• Ka Mate!
• Gladly to the Fight.
• Tough Fighters.
New Zealand Division Infantry Section
Cost: Regular Infantry 55 points
Composition: 1 NCO and 4 men
Weapons: Rifles
Options:
• Add up to 4 additional men with rifles at +11 points each.
• The NCO and up to 1 man can have submachine guns instead of rifles for +3 points each.
• Up to 1 man can have a light machine gun for +20 points. Another soldier acts as loader.
Special Rules:
• As Good as Any Other Bloke. If this unit initiates an assault, enemy models are reduced to 1 attack/man regardless of their weapons or special rules (e.g. Assault or Tough Fighters).
Cretan Auxiliaries (Crete Only)
Cost: Regular Infantry 55 points
Composition: 1 NCO and 4 men
Weapons: Rifles
Options:
• Add up to 6 additional men with rifles at +11 points each.
• Downgrade the whole unit to Inexperienced at -3/man
• Replace all of an Inexperienced squads rifles with Improvised Weapons at -1 point/man, representing villagers spontaneously arriving to the fight.
Special Rules:
• Fieldcraft
• Hatred. An Inexperienced unit with Improvised Weapons may be upgraded to Fanatics for +2/man.
• Improvised Weapons. These represent a mixture of pistols, shotguns and obsolete firearms as well as pitchforks, knives, etc. All models in a unit so equipped get one shot each with a range of 12” and fight in assault with one attack as normal.
• Stubborn
Maori Machine Gun Team
Cost: Regular Infantry 56 points
Composition: 3 men Weapons: 1 MMG
Special Rules:
• Team Weapon
• Fixed
• Ka Mate!
• Gladly to the Fight.
• Tough Fighters.
Maori Boys Anti-tank Rifle Team
Cost: Regular Infantry 34 points
Composition: 2 men
Weapon: 1 anti-tank rifle
Special Rules:
• Team Weapon
• Ka Mate!
• Gladly to the Fight.
• Tough Fighters
Maori Light Mortar Team
Cost: Regular Infantry 39 points
Composition: 2 men
Weapons: light mortar
Special Rules:
• Team Weapon
• Indirect Fire
• HE (D3 hits, +1 Pen, 1 pin)
• Ka Mate!
• Gladly to the Fight.
• Tough Fighters.
Maori Medium Mortar Team
Cost: Regular Infantry 56 points
Composition: 3 men
Weapons: 1 medium mortar
Options:
• May add Spotter for +10 points
Special Rules:
• Team Weapon
• Fixed
• Indirect Fire
• HE (D6hits, +2 Pen, d2 pins)
• Ka Mate!
• Gladly to the Fight.
• Tough Fighters.
Artillery
4 NZ Field Regiment 25-pdr Light Artillery (Greece Only)
Cost: 55 points (Regular)
Team: 3 men
Weapons: 1 light howitzer
Options:
• May add Spotter for +10 points
Special Rules:
• Fixed
• Gun Shield
• HE (d6 hits, +2 Pen, d2 pins)
• Howitzer
• Team Weapon
• 25-pdr AT shell
5 NZ Field Regiment Old or Captured 3.7”, 75mm and 77mm Light Artillery (Crete Only)
Cost: 45 points (Regular)
Team: 3 men
Weapons: 1 light howitzer
Options:
• May add Spotter for +10 points
Special Rules:
• Fixed
• Gun Shield
• Improvised Sights. These guns lacked proper sights and replacements were rigged using sticks and chewing gum. As a consequence they count as firing at long range if the target is more than 12” away.
• HE (d6 hits, +2 Pen, d2 pins)
• Howitzer
• Team Weapon
Armoured Cars
Maori Battalion Recce Carrier
Cost: 75 points (Regular)
Weapons:
• Forward facing hull-mounted LMG
• Pintle-mounted LMG
Damage Value: 7+ (Armoured Carrier)
Options:
• Replace forward-facing LMG with a Boys Anti-tank Rifle for +10pts
Special Rules:
• Flak (pintle LMG only)
• Gladly to the Fight
• Open-topped
• Tracked
• Turn on the Spot. The unit may turn 180 degrees before making a Run or Advance move but no further turning is allowed.
• Recon Vehicle. This unit may react to enemy fire or assault by executing an Advance with no firing allowed. So far as is possible this move should be away from visible enemy units, or to get out of their line of sight. An orders test must be passed to execute this special Advance move and at the end of the move the unit must go Down. This is otherwise a normal reaction to fire or assault. This unit detects hidden enemies at 12” distance.
We hope you’ve enjoyed Davids History of the 28 (Maori) Battalion – Tatou! Tatou! – All for One and One for All, and of course this excellent unofficial army selector. A great way to bring the battles of Olympus Pass and Forty-Second Street, Greece and Crete, April to May 1941 into your games of Bolt Action.
Re read Parts 1 and 2:
Build your army
Take a look below at some options to build this early period army or dive on over to the store and start your army today:
And whilst your building your army let us know your thoughts and show us your games over on the Warlord forum and Facebook pages.
Build your 28 Maori Battalion in 1941 by using our 8th army force:
Duel In The Sun
Re-fight battles with this unofficial list in scenarios such as Tempe Gorge and Maleme Airfield included in the Bolt Action campaign book Duel In The Sun, complete with FREE Sydney ‘Digger’ Robinson figure:
Dan Hewitson
Tom Mecredy
Craig Nixon