Pintle mounted Bren – bren carrier

[John Kersey]

Using bren carriers with pintle mounted Brens and infantry squads – you pay 10 points as an option. Assume this bren plus loader is crewed by the squad.

some queries:

– is this used just when the squad is carried and on the move? Can be used for flak also like other pintle mounted weapons?

– if the squad dismounts can this bren still be used by two members of the squad in the carrier? If so can the squad bren be used in addition?

[Nat]

The crew of a transport can use 1 weapon per order…any others need to be used by the tranported squads (note if the squad cant shoot such as medics then they cant use the transports weapons).

It doesnt matter which weapon the tranport crew use… and can change between orders..so yes they can use the pintel mounted bren for flack.. then if given a fire/advance order could use for example a fitted boys AT rifle

 

If the weapon is attached to the vehicle then its left with the vehicle when the squad dismounts… unless the vehicle has a special rule (I think one of the US M3 halftracks has a dismount rule… cant remember off top of my head)… some units (such as the soviet scouts in the budapest book) have the option of leaving guys behind on the transport to man the guns as well (they are perminantly removed from the squad)

[Master Chief]

Bolt Action rules 2nd Ed, page 104:

Pintle-mounted weapons.

Some vehicles carry one or more machine guns on a swivelling type of mount. These pintle-mounted weapons were commonly fitted to soft- skins such as jeeps and trucks, as well as to armoured carriers. They were also fitted on top of tank turrets for defence against low-level air attack; however, they were inevitably used against ground targets when the opportunity arose. Depending on where they are mounted, a pintle-mounted gun can cover anywhere from a single arc to 360° as noted in the vehicle’s description. If a pintle-mounted weapon is on a turret, it has a 360° arc of fire.

I wonder what is the firing arc of the Bren carrier’s added pintle LMG, as it is not stated in the vehicle’s description, and it is not mounted on a turret. 🤔

 

Perhaps it is the same as the WASP carrier, the flamethrower version of the vehicle (page 75 of Battleground Europe or page 8 of the FAQ), which states:

Upgrade to a Mk. IIC, adding a forward facing pintle-mounted LMG for +10pts.

[John Kersey]

Thanks for the replies so far – still wonder how to use especially with the team deployed. It seems there needs to be a special rule like the vehicles mentioned.

My current interpretation is:

– Team is in the Bren – can use the pintle mounting for firing as flak and whilst the squad are transported.

– When the squad the deployed then the pintle is not used as the whole squad is deployed including the Bren gunner and loader.

Does that sound right?

 

[Stuart Harrison]

You are restricting yourself more than the rules require.

When empty, you can fire one weapon – you nominate which you are firing that time when you declare targets, it isn’t pre-set, so you can choose to fire either the front arc LMG or the pintle MMG each time there is an opportunity to fire.

In order to fire both, you need a passenger to man the second weapon, and penalties on that second weapon will be based on the passenger (does he have pins, is he inexperienced).  A vehicle mounted weapon isn’t restricted by the team rule, so a loader doesn’t come into it, you just need one passenger per additional weapon.

[Author]

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