mullet69
Private
Need advice about recommended airsoft weapon from the German selection
Posts: 41
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Post by mullet69 on Jun 29, 2015 16:27:07 GMT -5
So I wanted to ask if any groups had tried actual MG squad tactics using the available airsoft models (MG34/42),am curious to know how it went considering they appear to have a similar rate of fire.i know those guns are expensive but I'd like to start a group based around that weapon if possible
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Post by aldrich on Jun 29, 2015 16:45:47 GMT -5
We have one that uses a polar star gas system that we mount to an AA tripod (more swivel than a lafette). When emplaced in the right position it can be pretty hard to assault without doing some serious flanking.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jun 29, 2015 17:26:06 GMT -5
For realism, all German small units should be built around a MG. For the German military riflemens role was support for the machine gun which was the primary offensive and defensive weapon. This is exactly the opposite of the US military where the machine gun was a platoon asset deployed in SUPPORT of the riflemen who were the primary offensive and defensive weapons. The German MG was far far more prevalent within the organizational structure than MGs in US units.
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mullet69
Private
Need advice about recommended airsoft weapon from the German selection
Posts: 41
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Post by mullet69 on Jun 29, 2015 17:51:18 GMT -5
For realism, all German small units should be built around a MG. For the German military riflemens role was support for the machine gun which was the primary offensive and defensive weapon. This is exactly the opposite of the US military where the machine gun was a platoon asset deployed in SUPPORT of the riflemen who were the primary offensive and defensive weapons. The German MG was far far more prevalent within the organizational structure than MGs in US units. That's exactly how I'd like to build or train a German group,around the MG.in time if the team pitched in we could get one I'm sure,my problem I fear is finding enough players down in Texas
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Post by huxy on Jun 29, 2015 19:32:22 GMT -5
We're going to try this with our MG42 on a 24-hour game in september. Can't wait
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mullet69
Private
Need advice about recommended airsoft weapon from the German selection
Posts: 41
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Post by mullet69 on Jun 29, 2015 21:03:52 GMT -5
We're going to try this with our MG42 on a 24-hour game in september. Can't wait great,please post results
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Jerry-ADK
Private 1st Class
Unteroffizier, Heeresgruppe Nord-Ost
Posts: 418
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Post by Jerry-ADK on Jun 30, 2015 10:10:00 GMT -5
We have one of the Matrix MG42's for our unit. It never seems to work very good. Parts break and feeding issues with ours. The owner hasn't done any upgrades yet. Although the $500 MG42 looks cool, it's not robust and out of the box kinda sucks. When ours is working it is fun and is hard to advance against. Another local FJ unit seriously upgraded everything they could on there's and I was quite impressed with its performance. Everything included motor, barrel, hop, gears, piston, lypo battery and spring. It was truly a BB hose when it was done. It had increased range, FPS, and rate of fire. We used it one day in training and it was nearly impossible for the Ami's to advance in the open and even flanking us was difficult because the riflemen were doing their job well. So in my opinion and expieirience the gun can perform its job well and fill its roll as the main weapon if it is upgraded at a bit of a extra monetary cost. I would expect to put another $150 at least in upgrade parts in it to get it up to snuff.
I have not heard anything good about the RWA MG34. One guy on the forum bought it and said they had malfunctions and feeding issues right out of the box. Beautiful gun , but way too expensive. And still needs upgrades and work even after paying $1400 for it. that's a rip off.
Also having a 2000 round mag is kinda not fair.. Especially since we don't have to do barrel changes or reload every 50-100 rounds. But I guess this is airsoft and if the Ami's have high caps too may be it all works out.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jun 30, 2015 10:21:21 GMT -5
In properly run WW2 airsoft events the MG should be a dominent force on the airsoft field. This happens if most players are restricted to semi auto and there are magazine and ammo restrictions employed. If everyone has equal power and all are firing on full auto the sheer weight and length of the machinegun becomes a liability rather than an advantage. especially if bipods and tripods are used. to further the gap in weapns sub machine guns should be limited in terms of FPS or eliminate using hop up. (This restriction is not commonly employed at events but hopefully the day is coming!)
With the MG as a dominent weapon it also becomes a key target. With its critical tactical advantage it must be employed well to be effective and survivability is vital. When a team goes in together to buy one it becomes quite reasonable and should the gunner get hit another player taking it over is not an issue.
Locating the gun is huge. During the attack if possible it should be employed in pairs with one firing while the other moves. The two machine guns just like individual riflemen should leapfrog forward. The length of these leapfrog movements is dramatically shorter than real world due to airsofts abbreviated range. also for mutual support these guns would deploy in closer proximity to one another than on a WW2 battlefield.
For airsoft to protect the MG and allow it to provide suppressive fire. The airsoft MG should usually be placing fire on the enemy from MAXIMUM range. Thus it should be firing angled, plunging fire on the enemy with the supporting riflemen closer to the enemy. This is somewhat unrealistic but not really as usually during offensive deployment the machine gun team usually is firing blind upon the enemy defenses anyway with few aimed, individual shots. They will rack up many eliminations they don't even know about and pin the enemy down while the riflemen close and perform direct, aimed eliminations by flanking the defenses.
On defense, MGs should also be paired (if possible) with interlocking fires. a great tactic that was commonplace in WW2 but is seldom seen in airsoft is placing MGs (and other fighting positions) so there is a berm or large, rock or stump to their immediate front and fire on an axis to the side (or sides) of this obstacle. In this way the machine gun is not exposed to the entire front but can only be engaged or seen once the enemy has crossed this line of fire. Most attackers focus to their immediate front as they advance and typically won't see this weapon until its too late. For this to work defenders must mutually support one another and stay with their target lanes of responsibility. Though seldom employed in airsoft this is highly effective. It however breaks down over time due primarily to regen players learning through eliminations wehere the vulnerabilities are so in a static defense a plan should go into place to shift positions or lanes of responsibility. once again the machine guns cone of fire should include the concept of plunging fire to optimize their range and with the idea of taking out the enemy as far away as possible. For German doctrine the machine gun was used at any target seen. For us tactics the MG on defense was not fired until it was absolutely needed as they didn't want the position exposed. Riflemen and BAR gunners with their higher rate of fire made this practical where German bolt action rifles would quickly be overwhealmed without their machine guns.
The Germans quick change barrel was a huge advantage over our fixed barrels as other than water cooled guns our machine guns could not sustain full auto fire very long and had to employ short bursts to keep firing. the Germans could thus do longer bursts and the simple act of changing belts was often enough recovery time to keep the gun "up". the higher sustained rate of fire however meant that German machine guns quickly ran out of ammunition. A proper Machine gun crew (even for airsoft) should consist of a crew of three.
For Long Winter we did gun crew drills between action phases and this was actually quite fun. The teams practiced relocating tactically and reloading. My machine guns have a detached ammo box which also houses the battery so it cannot be fired while being moved. The tripod is placed in the ground by the assist gunner. The gunner mounts the gun and the ammo bearer places the box and attaches the wires which are housed in the ammo belt. Without practice this is a time consuming process but with drill and rehearsal it goes quite quickly.
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Jerry-ADK
Private 1st Class
Unteroffizier, Heeresgruppe Nord-Ost
Posts: 418
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Post by Jerry-ADK on Jun 30, 2015 11:17:55 GMT -5
At our D-day event last year. We used one of the tactics you referee to with our MG. it was the one with a obstacle in front of the MG to block the view of the Ami's of our emplacement as they were advancing. We had a large shrub to our front. As the Ami's came around it on either side we are able to mow them down. Our rifle men were positioned around the MG and also racked up a lot of kills. We are able to hold the Ami's off for over a hour. They were not able to locate our MG because it was we camoflauged. The MG is very deadly when well placed for defensive, as far as assaulting, that's hit or miss. Depends on how good your cover is. And if the assaulting riflemen do a good job distracting the enemies attention away from the MG. also tactical smoke really helps for assault. It provides extra cover for both the MG and riflemen. Smoke should be placed by the squad leader close to the position being assaulted and with wind direction I mind or it will work against you. We have yet to try the two MG's leap frogging which would be cool to try for assault. But expect nothing to go as planned in the real world.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jun 30, 2015 11:56:55 GMT -5
Defense by its nature is easier to conduct effectively. Offensive operations are far far more complex and difficult to pull off and require training and rehearsal which is seldom included in Airsft games. All of my events dedicate some time to it and the participants enjoy applying what they learned during tactical phases. Another consideration for the use of MGs is if you are using them properly on offense and they are engaging from maximum range often they can't see where their Bbs are impacting or fully appreciate their effectiveness. whistles, horns or shouted commands need to be used by the unit leader to direct their fire. For example a single whistle can indicate commence firing. A long long whistle can indicate cease fire. (To the machine gun crew). two short whistles can indicate shift right, three short whistles can indicate shift left. Some tangible object like a pronounced stump or terrain object should be referenced as the limit of this shift. (fire to the left of this...) These shifts of fire can allow assaulting elements to safely close on the objective and provide cover as the assault consolidates on the objective or competes their mission. (Capture a prisoner, blow up a bunker, destroy obstacles, take a hill etc.). Flares can also be used for signalling. these signals are for the machine gun crews not the assualting riflemen who have their oen assigned tasks and are directly reacting to opportunities as they present themselves. knowing that your MG is hosing the area to the left the assaulting force can concentrate their attention and fire away from the area being suppressed which dramatically increases their effectiveness,
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