Rangers – How to use them

[Anonymous]

moin, moin,

I`m planing to build an US army, because I got it nearly for peanuts, I would like to include 2 or 3 ranger quads und use them for stopping the enemy infantry as soon as possible, therefore they can use their special rule and they will be armed with 3 smgs and 2 bars per quad, each quad will be 6 or 7 men strong, all other units can do their job behind them and give support, I hope to stop enemy attacks in this way or to go with enough pressure for the victory points,

what do you think, is it possible to use rangers in this role ?

greetings Thomas

[Jacob Carter]

One thing you need to know is that Rangers are only allowed 1 BAR from the armies of the US book.  They are allowed to bring 1 LMG with them unlike most other US infantry squads.  The only other unit that can bring LMGs are paratrooper squads, which can bring 2 if they’re late war.

One of the tactics I’m experimenting with is building squads with designated roles of either “assault” or “base of fire” (I tend to play Germans but the US could imitate this). The assault squads are built up like how you’re wanting to use the Rangers, with mainly SMGs and assault rifles(BAR in your case) to push objectives and constantly move position to outflank enemy units.

The BoF squads job is to provide longrange support for the assault squad.  It will consist of 1 or 2 LMGs and rifles, though the rifles are for if an enemy gets too close.  I try to keep them just outside of 24” and stationary while they lay down fire into a unit that is the most threat to the assault teams.  I’d recommend making 1 of these with your Rangers as well since they could get into a really good position before the game has started.

I’d also be extremely careful with your “assault” Rangers if you start them beyond 6” at the start of any scenario with first wave mechanics.  In those scenarios the only units that start on the board are snipers, spotters, observers, and the Rangers.  What can happen if you go past 6” is your unit of Rangers is on the board with virtually no targets, but when your opponent gets to activate a unit they can enter the board and target the Rangers with LMGs right out of the gate.  I’ve actually done this to someone who got greedy with their first activation.  He ran 12” with paratroopers, and I countered with two LMG squads that I only moved 5” onto the table.  20 dice can cause some damage even when rolling on 6’s (long range, move, soft cover) and he suffered 3 dead within the first 3 activations and couldn’t use any of his infantry to target my LMGs.  His unit failed their order check next turn too.

[Anonymous]

hello Jacob,

thank you for your answer, you are right-only one bar, my mistake, I overread, that rangers can take one lmg with them , I will look where I can get some for the planed quads-maybe Ill take them from the halftrucks, you are absolutely right that I should be carefull and not too offensiv, Ive never played an us army or played against one, some games will be nessesary to build a solid army,

thanks Thomas

[Jacob Carter]

To make LMG teams for the US you should pick up a sprue or 2 of US late war Airborne.  It actually has an MG as a part of the sprue so you can make plastic MMGs or LMGs and it shouldn’t be to hard to kitbash to make Ranger LMGs.  Here’s a batch photo of some Airborne teams that have almost all been kitbashed or modified to some degree if you’re looking for ideas.

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[Master Chief]

One of the tactics I’m experimenting with is building squads with designated roles of either “assault” or “base of fire”

Good tactic as it is also used in real life. I am wondering whether taking an LMG is worth the points.

A 5-man ranger squad with a BAR is 75 points with 6 shots. A 5-man ranger squad with an LMG is 90 points with 7 shots (as the loader cannot fire) up to 24 inches. That’s 15 points more for an additional 1 shot, although 4 shots could go up to 36 inches vs 2 shots for the BAR going up to only 30 inches.

For firebases you can also consider using MMG (50 points) or HMG (70 points) teams. That’s 5 and 3 shots up to 36 inches respectively, although less mobile because of the “Fixed” rule. The MMG has 2 shots fewer but is 40 points cheaper than a ranger squad with an LMG.

 

Enemy infantry should not be able to get “too close” to your firebases if you position them properly e.g. on top of a hill. The enemy will likely be too busy engaging your “assault” squads instead.

[Jacob Carter]

I disagree, I think using a BAR instead of an LMG seriously reduces the effectiveness of a BOF squad since they need the highest number of shots at the longest possible range.  The BoF squads’ main purpose is to slow your enemy through either pins or area denial; and LMGs have a much larger board control than a BAR, while putting more shots on most infantry targets without being threatened with return fire.  Though I wouldn’t hold it against anyone to have a BAR and a LMG in the same squad lol!

On a bare bones level I also believe LMGs are better than MMGs due to the increased health, mobility, platoon selections, reduced effectiveness of exceptional damage, and more shots within 24”.  Add to that, a potential first activation ambush to a well positioned Ranger LMG that could threaten about half the board and I’m mighty tempted to make some of those for myself.  You wouldn’t be able to do that with an MMG since the first turn would have to be taken to set it up.

I prefer playing 1st wave scenarios where nothing but snipers, spotters, and observers start on the board, so that heavily influences my preference for a mobile army.  In a scenario where most of the army starts on the board, I’ll admit that an MMG could be better since it’s cheap.

[Anonymous]

dear Jacop,

taking the lmgs from the para kit is a good idea, I will see to find some other guy using them, thanks for the photo,

the question if to take the mmg or the lmg ive decided in this way: I take both ;-) , in adition I use both type of quads-the assault quad and the support of fire quad, in this way Im able to act and react in most situations on the battlefield, BA is infantry based and I´ve never played with less than 1000 points, that is enough to take enough quads and some heavier support, I dont waste my points in too heavy tanks and dont use quads in full strenth ( apart from the russian free quad and the russian penalty quads ), for the us army I´m still testing-it´s completly new for me, the next thing to care about is the air observer with his double feature…

greetings Thomas

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