Bolt Action WWI

[Sergei S]

Can somebody point me to some beta rules for WWI Bolt Action (if they exist)? All I see for sale are WWI tanks (?) And nothing else. Thanks.

[Stuart Harrison]

Found this with a quick search:

http://www.gajominis.com/blog/scenarios/bolt_action_ww1.pdf

[Sergei S]

Thanks. Alas no Russians, but thats fixable.

[Robert]

The GAJO Games adaptations are a very good starting point for Bolt Action v2. The rules as published do not need significant changes to reflect World War One actions. Here are some additional comments and suggestions, FWIIW:

1. Air Support was divided into two broad categories:

a. Artillery fire control, typically controlled by aerial observers in aircraft and/or captive balloons. Normally this type of fire was directed at enemy forces identified off-table. Firing at enemy in close combat with friendly forces, which is what Bolt Action represents, was not encouraged because of the very high risk of blue-on-blue. That said, Bolt Action is about introducing a taste of some of these elements of battle. The variant, as described, is ok from this perspective bearing in mind that the Air Force Forward Observer would actually have been in the air in reality.

b. Strafing and low level bombing runs from ground attack aircraft. Fighters and dedicated fighter-bombers began operating this way in 1916.

2. The Chauchat LMG has been given a ‘jam’ Special Rule. All LMGs were prone to this in muddy conditions. There is a famous video of a German MG08/15 being set up and fired in a training exercise. It jams multiple times in the minute or so of the clip. The French army conducted a thorough review of all weapons systems, including the Chauchat, when Pétain took over in 1917. There were lots of positive reports about the Chauchat. The issue of maintaining cleanliness during battle was emphasised but this was not unique to the Chauchat. Furthermore, the Chauchat was highly prized by Stosstruppen, who would receive financial and other rewards for capturing these weapons for re-use in their units. I recommend not using this Special Rule.

3. ‘Infiltration Tactics’ are frequently referred to in relation to German Sturmtruppen. The term is used to imply that units could slip between frontline defences. The attacks on British Fifth Army during Operation Michael in March 1918 are often cited as an example. The ‘infiltration’ achieved by German attackers was not down to something inherent in the units themselves. It represented the very dispersed nature of the British defences. In other words, you would model this by spreading out the defender rather than apply a Special Rule to the attacker. Operation Mars was a complete failure because ‘Infiltration Tactics’ could not work against normal defences.

4. Mk V* (often referred to as Mark Five Star). Apply the same stats as the Mk V but add the ‘transporter’ Special Rule. It transported MMG teams. The A7V transported a wider range of assault troops.

5. Captured Weapons – also allow the Germans to swap for the Chauchat LMG. The Madsen LMG can also be used.

6. Stosstruppen, Elite Stormtrooper, and Assault Squads should not have different Special Rules from their British, Dominion, and French counterparts. German histories refer to these counterparts as ‘Sturmtruppen’, reflecting the similar nature of assault tactics across all major nations on the Western Front.

7. Granatwerfer should have 3 crew, mirroring the requirements for the 37mm Infantry Gun Team.

8. Americans and French should have the Schneider as an option: 1 x MMG on each side; 1 x light howitzer – otherwise same as Char St Chamond Tank. Note that French tank forces used pioneers to turn difficult terrain into ‘normal’ terrain.

9. All tanks can disembark MMG teams when bogged.

10. The French should have the equivalent of ‘elite’ assault troops, reflecting the dedicated assault teams and/or the use of colonial troops such as the Sengalese for this capability.

11. Bergmann SMGs were very rare. I would leave them out or make them much more expensive to include in a squad.

12. Flammenwerfer are better modelled as separate teams IMHO. The French and Americans should have an option to include dedicated flamethrower teams as well (French flamethrower teams were attached to the Americans, eg the Big Red One’s attack on Cantigny).

Robert

[Robert]

Here is an example of a Warlord Games German Heer plastic infantry figure converted to a WW1 stormtrooper:

Robert

• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Robert.
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   Stormtrooper3.jpg
   

[Robert]

Phew, apologies for all the edits with the previous post but I was trying to create a link to an image elsewhere.

Robert

[invisible officer]

The open Magazine of the Chauchat was more prone to jamming than other LMG. The US army got it and the users did not write much good about it.

“highly prized by Stosstruppen, who would receive financial and other rewards for capturing these weapons for re-use in their Units” is only partly correct.
All German troops got rewards for taken MG of all types. I have a copy of the German Manual for Beute MG, captured ones got used in large numbers.
—–
That the A7V transported MG troops is a half myth. The Crew had a LMG 08/15 (300 rounds) and 6 K98 for dismounted use if the tank broke down.
Most vehicles had 1 Lt, 1 Ordonanz, 2 mechanics, 3 57mm gunners 12 MG men, 2 runners, a lightflash signalman and a man tending the doves. The spare MG crewman had no MG 08 to dismount, they helped serving the six fixed 08 of the tank. There was no room for any MG troops.

I was in the Munster A7V copy, cramped. Like in most WW I tanks a black hole of fumes, heat and in addition most had no seats, just ropes at the ceiling.
—–
The true Sturmbataillon men had a very different training from the ordinary assault troops, including the German ones. Not every man with handgrenades and kinfe / spade, going out of the trenches for raids, was a Sturmtrupper.
The Sturmbat. was trained to ignore the strongpoints and go deep into the defence line. Close coordination with artillery and with much firepower. And only used in the big offensives, not daily work.

——–
The 9, “all” is another problem with A7V. The 08 was fixed and had no base for outside use. To dismount them was a difficult job.
—–
Some 35.000 MP 18 Bergman are made before armistice, some 16.000 reached front Units. So……

• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by invisible officer.

[invisible officer]

A lot of work put into that Sturmtruppen man. Nice one.

To do it right, an awful amount of work. Very different helmet shape and all the details.
I must confess I doubt that it is worth the time. There are perfect ones available on the market.

It would be similar with the round WW I Brodie helmet. Some Museums made displays in the 100 years exhibitions with oval WW II ones. Brrrrr.
OK; I’m a nerd. 😉

[Robert]

Thanks, invisible officer.

You have made several important points, which I will respond to separately. Firstly, the issue of the Chauchat.

The open Magazine of the Chauchat was more prone to jamming than other LMG. The US army got it and the users did not write much good about it.

Pétain conducted a survey of French weapon systems in May 1917. Questionnaires were sent out to all French units. The weapons covered included: M1907 St-Etienne MG, M1914 Hotchkiss MG, M1915 Chauchat, Modèle 1917 RSC autoloading rifle, the V-B rifle grenade, hand grenades, and the 37mm Puteaux cannon. The responses on the Chauchat included:

“16th Infantry Regiment:
…The CSRGs have been used to defend conquered trenches and have made a major contribution in breaking counter-attacks; walking fire was not used.

Several guns functioned normally and gave excellent service; a few had stoppages what were nearly all caused by deformations of the magazines at the lips.”

“19th Infantry Regiment:
…The CSRG has been used in the offensive, where its handling is difficult, and in the defensive where it very effectively played the role of machine guns.

…Obtained results were very satisfactory, particularly in the defensive. Observed problems: when it is raining and the terrain is muddy, the CSRG becomes dirty and fouled and a certain number of these guns are put out of action.”

“34th and 49th Regiments:
…After having given excellent results during the actions of May 4 and 5, by intense flanking fire, these weapons were less effective because of stoppages, in spite of all the precautions. It is necessary that this weapon should be cleaned and oiled during combat…

Also, since the Assistant Gunners are overloaded, one of the riflemen should help transport the ammunition.”

“62nd Infantry Regiment:
The CSRG teams are overloaded; the men have difficulty keeping up. The Backpacks and the ammunition should be carried by carts or mules.

The CSRGs magazine is not solid enough and often malfunctions.”

“64th Infantry Regiment:
Very effective in the defensive, for flanking and direct fire.

In the offensive, walking fire is used in approaching the position.

The weapon has given entire satisfaction; several thousand rounds have been fired between April 19 and 30, 1917.

The following two problems have been observed: the lips of the magazine become deformed, giving feeding stoppages, and the cartridge guide rod breaks at its rear extremity.”

“65th Infantry Regiment
…The magazine spring often fails… A protection system is needed to keep dirt out of the radiator ventilation holes on the barrel housing.
The current gun cover does not protect the gun sufficiently against rain and dust.”

“93rd Infantry Regiment
Excellent weapon in the hands of well-trained men. Nevertheless the magazines need to be improved, for the lips are too weak and are the source of stoppages.”

“98th Infantry Regiment
It has been used by the assault companies during the April 13 attack. A company that progressed through the hamlet of La Biette brought down a lot of the enemy while firing on the walk…”

“105th Infantry Regiment:
These weapons gave full satisfaction. Only the magazines are defective.”

“116th Infantry Regiment:
They are only exceptionally to be used as offensive weapons, but present considerable advantages for the stabilization of new lines that have just been conquered.

Too many stoppages during walking fire.

Carrying the CSRG and its Backpack are the source of much suffering by the men…”

“137th Infantry Regiment:
The CSRGs expand the action of the machinegun sections; they must be pushed forward as much as possible. Their deployment in combination with groups of V-B rifle and hand grenadiers, which provide them with cover, have given excellent results. From the material viewpoint, necessity of great care and cleanliness and of oiling after 5 or 6 magazines.”

“9th Infantry Division:
Results: the CSRG has excelled in all circumstances of combat.

Disadvantages: becomes fouled and prone to stoppages in contact with mud and dirt projections.”

“12th Infantry Division:
Excellent results were obtained. The fire of the CSRGs during the night counter-attack of May 5-6 has contributed to a large degree to the failure of the German assault.

All were convinved after repeatedly seeing whole enemy ranks brought down in front of our trenches by the fire of the CSRGs.”

Forgive me for not quoting more. The other quotes are very similar. French General Headquarters sent the summary reports to the War Ministry. The following problems were addressed: magazine quality; protection against mud; standardization of the flash hider; equipment for walking fire; overloading of the Gunner and Carriers; and standardization of ammunition, which was fitted with stiffer, crimped-in primers to prevent ‘popped’ primers on automatic fire.

Robert

[Robert]

There was a version of the Chauchat where the Americans attempted to re-chamber the munitions. This did not work well.

With respect to American use of standard Chauchats, the following was collated together by Demaison and Buffetaut. The latter is particularly well known for his work on French military history:

“There is an interesting contrast between the routine disparagement of the Chauchat rifle in modern times and the dearth of negative comment in vintage American military literature.

There are very many Chauchat rifle references sprinkled through virtually all World War I US Divisional Histories, and in veterans’ memoirs. However, in none of these is to be found a reference derogatory to the 8mm Chauchat.

To the combat veteran writing his memoirs in the postwar 1920s or 30s, the Chauchat was a familiar fixture that helped him to get the job done.

Naturally, when the BAR appeared in limited numbers during September, 1918 it was preferred by the few who used it. Nevertheless, the 8mm M1915 ‘Chau-Chau’, as the Doughboys called it, was a familiar presence everywhere in the AEF Infantry and Marine divisions in France, during 12 months of warfare.

The following excerpts are quoted from the History of the 26th Division:

..April 29, near Secheprey: McMahon, an automatic rifleman, stood off many attempts at the wire on his front. When he finally ran out of ammunition the wire was hung with dead Boches… Ryan fed an automatic rifle till every other man of the team had been killed, and then fought out his own way to the Company…

..June 1918, near Chateau Thierry: Alfred Hall, of Hingham, armed with an automatic rifle, stood on the railway track. He was a fair mark for the Boche snipers on the hill and their bullets kept singing around him, but they never got him. As the Boches ran out of the railway station, Hall would line them up as on running rabbits. His automatic rifle would briefly remark ‘pup-pup-pup’ and Mr Boche would go down.

On the same battlefield, Lawrence Stallings’ Doughboys also describes the actions of Colonel McAlexander’s 38th Regiment, 3rd Division, which gained the name ‘Rock of the Marne’ by successfully defending the river crossing at Mezy, east of Chateau Thierry, on July 15, 1918:
..Corporal Connors with his squad of two Chauchat teams and their buddies from three companies killed twenty boatloads of the boys in the new leather belts before all but Connors were killed or wounded. Connors had no more clips for his hiccupping Chauchats, but there were still some grenades…

Several further Chauchat testimonies can be found in Fixed Bayonets, written in 1925 by US Marine Captain W J Thomason Jr. The longest one recalls an event which took place near Belleau Wood in July, 1918:
..One lieutenant found himself behind a woodpile with a big auto rifleman. Just across from them, very near, a German machine gun behind another woodpile, was searching for them. He picked up the Chauchat [when the gunner was killed]… laid the gun across the woodpile and sighted three Boches… He gave them the whole clip and they appeared to wilt.

Incidents quoted from the History of the 42nd Division…
July 16, 1918: Pvt Michael Toody, automatic gunner, shot down an enemy plane later that afternoon.

Eight of the enemy approached a post which was occupied by Private Thomas Mead, who was alone. They approached with their hands up. Seeing that Mead was alone, one of the enemy reached for and threw a potato-masher [grenade] which overshot its mark. Mead opened up with his Chauchat and cleaned out the lot.

July 28: My attention was attacted by the reports of rapid fire on the left flank. It was one of C Company boys with a French chau-chau who had tumbled a German with a light Maxim…

Another quote, this time from the 28th Division:
July 28, 1918 near Sergy, north of Chateau Thierry: After an unsuccessful attack on Bois des Grimpettes, Mechanic Beer went out alone in front of our line, in plain view of the enemy, under heavy machinegun fire from the front and flank, and gathered up the Chauchat rifles and Musette Bags of ammunition that been abandoned by the men. He made several trips, distributing the badly needed equipment to the advanced elements of our line.

Other examples, from the 3rd Division, are reported by Colonel Butts in his famous account The Keypoint at the Marne. In July, 1918,
…Lieutenant Savage, a man among men, who had in an unusual degree the desire to serve his country, died at one end of the bridge, firing a Chauchat rifle after the Gunners were killed.

…The automatic rifle squads were making their Chauchats rattle like machineguns. Gunner Parson, when he could no longer see the enemy from the trench, climbed up on the parapet and fired his heavy Chauchat from his shoulder.

…On our side it was strictly rifles and Chauchat fire; machineguns were used by the Germans…”

Robert

[Robert]

And for anyone not familiar with the ‘pup-pup-pup’ sound, check out this video:

Link

Robert

[invisible officer]

A good collection of voices from the trenches. Good research, well done.

The French in general claim it to be great in defense. But a LMG has to work well outside too. And there we often find: ” Disadvantages: becomes fouled and prone to stoppages in contact with mud and dirt projections.”
None of the WW I LMG was really good.

I guess you found in the French reports „la gifle“.

I must confess that the vintage American military literature made me smile. It is typical for the storytelling style of US war literature. Like: ”As the Boches ran out of the railway station, Hall would line them up as on running rabbits. His automatic rifle would briefly remark ‘pup-pup-pup’ and Mr Boche would go down.”
Yes, they went down. And up “Sprungauf marsch”. And down. Closing. “He was a fair mark for the Boche snipers on the hill and their bullets kept singing around him, but they never got him..” That he stood on the railway track like a god of war ………. I know that Americans love these stories. In German dime novels we have a similar style, but not in history books. Band of……

It’s not lying or just boasting but a way of telling entertaining stories. Few American authors wasted time by cross checking with sources in German archives. Distance (that small bit of water) is one of the reasons. I rarely met US historians in European archives. So we often read of body counts that even exceed the start number of Germans present. Fortunately normally enough survived to tell the “other story”.

In Quality US sources one gets a slightly different picture. In the official “History of the Third division, United States army, in the world war : for the period, December 1, 1917, to January 1, 1919” the Mezy story sounds a bit different. There the US artillery played a big role in stopping the crossing. Only in part of the report the MG played a bigger role, all types of MG.

“Another regiment, after three attempts had been made, gave up the plan of crossing opposite the 38th infantry, due to our heavy artillery and machine gun fire and moved to the east where crossing was finally effected…..” A look in the unit report shows, There was nothing like 20 boat loads / (120-180) kia. And esp. not by LMG alone.

The German 36. ID was forced back next day by counter attacks from two US and one French divisions. The “Rock of the Marne” sounds good. But one should not ignore that the 36.ID was weak in numbers and that the Mézy-Moullin crossing was a “Scheinangriff”, a demonstration, the main attack was on right flank of 7. Armee.

German wartime reports prefer the Lewis. And even the 08/15. Many Chauchats being badly made, causing jams. Esp. those by Gladiator. (French and US amo ones)

“Beute” was used by all. 8. May 1917 at Fresnoy I. Bat Königlich Bayerisches 19. Infanterie-Regiment „König Viktor Emanuel III. von Italien“ took 15 Lewis and 2 MG 08 (!) . Used by the Tommies. The type of the 4 “Minenwerfer” captured is not stated. German or Stokes?
The unit in that action is called in some books a Sturmbataillon but was nothing like that. Just an ordinary IR unit. Typical for the confusion about Sturmtruppen.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by invisible officer.

[Robert]

Another video link, this time to original French footage from 1915. The Fusil Mitrailleur Modele 1915 CSRG was being used in semi-auto mode:

Link

Robert

[Robert]

That the A7V transported MG troops is a half myth. The Crew had a LMG 08/15 (300 rounds) and 6 K98 for dismounted use if the tank broke down

My specific reference to transporting MG troops related to the British MkV*. I was more careful in my wording related to the A7V:

The A7V transported a wider range of assault troops

A7V crews trained with Sturmbataillon Nr. 5 (Rohr). They were trained in Sturmtaktiken and could/did dismount from A7Vs during action to engage enemy troops that were under fire from the tank itself. Hand grenades were used but in at least one case (A7V Nr. 501 ‘Gretchen’) Flammenwerfer were carried in the tank and dismounted for use during battle. ‘Gretchen’ had a different layout, being a ‘female’ A7V without the 57mm gun.

Robert

[invisible officer]

Yes, A7V of I. Abteilung trained with the Pioniere of 5. Sturm-Bataillon Rohr. Like all A7V Crews. To train the vehicle crew, not the foot.
It was planned to have a Wex flamethrower in each A7V. But mostly left at base. There was enough risk without a fire bomb.

Gretchen was for some time the only “Girl”, no cannon but two MG in Bow. But later converted in 1918 with cannon.
There was an order that the female A7V should have two of the older Kleif flamethrowers. But there is no report that any was carried in action.

“The A7V transported a wider range of assault troops” is surely caused by some books that claim that, the authors misread the German source or just copy texts of the man that read it wrong. The six No 2 O8 MG men are no Stoßtrupp. The short training was just a basic front one.
The authors read “trained by Sturmpionier” and thought that meant Sturm tactics. In fact Rohr was chosen because it had spare time.

The men from Kraftfahrtruppe had no idea how to act under fire. Mostly “Etappenschweine” that had served away fom the trenches.

Some even claim infantry, it was no APC, there was no spare room. The only Infantry that rode on A7V was on the roof, hitching a ride away from the front.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by invisible officer.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by invisible officer.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by invisible officer.

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