Unit Organization

United States Army

    The US Army underwent reorganization in 1943, and the following covers the later format. Since no one is going to know anyway, just go with the same info if you're planning on running a North African campaign. Note that where weapons are listed, M1 Carbines and M3 "grease guns" were not available until 1943; for the earlier campaigns, replace the carbine with an M1 Garand, and any listings for SMGs are Thompson's only in 1942, or either from '43 on. In later years a SMG may also replace a carbine, especially in the case of drivers who often favored M3 grease guns as personal weapons. By the end of the war carbine use was mainstream for even riflemen, so as a unit gets more combat experience expect weapons loadout to begin changing dramatically.
    Only some weapons and equipment have been noted - see the Weapons and Equipment page for further information on what equipment different GIs would normally carry.
    Note that the higher up on my organizational charts you get, the more incorrect they are - the Battalion HQ, for instance, would have countless assistants, radiomen, go-fers, drivers, etc. to help the staff, but I've left them off rather than try to give numbers for something that really should have no bearing on an RPG such as Weird War II.

Infantry Battalion

Rifle Squad Tactics
    In practice, the Rifle Squads were split up into Team Able, Baker and Charlie. Team Able contained the 2 scouts who would serve as point men, locating enemy targets. Team Baker was the BAR group, led by the Assistant Squad Leader, who would lay down suppressive fire on the enemy. Meanwhile, Team Charlie, composed of the Squad Leader and riflemen, would advance on the enemy position to neutralize it with their rifles and grenades.

The Bazooka Team
    Bazookas were assigned to a 2-man team; the "No.1" aimed and fired the weapon, while the "No.2" loaded it. In standard practice, the No.1 would begin aiming and prepare to fire the bazooka while the No.2 loaded the 2.36in. rocket into the rear of the tube, and attached it's firing wire to the terminal on the tube. Once loaded, he would tap the No.1 on the helmet and get away from the backblast. A skilled team performing in this manner can fire a shot every combat round as long as they move no more than 5 feet (in essence, each needs to take a Full Round action to pull this off successfully).
    If using mortar shell vests (poncho-style, hanging over one's shoulders down the front and back), each team member could carry 5 or 6 rockets, although not very comfortably nor with a backpack.
    At the Company level, Rifle Companies were often assigned Bazookas from the Battalion's Weapons Platoon, or were issued them as additional weapons for certain missions. If the Company HQ had enough "basics", they could be added to platoons in pairs armed with a Bazooka as an antitank team.
    Bazookas were first issued to troops as they traveled across the Atlantic towards North Africa, and so initial training in their use took place on the battlefield. As such, WMs running campaigns involving Operation Torch should take this into account by limiting ammunition to what could be carried without special equipment (no more than 3 or 4 rockets for the No.2, if that, and the No.1 likely didn't carry any beyond the one loaded into the bazooka), and taking initiative order into account when loading and firing the weapon (forcing characters to delay actions, etc.).

 

Combat Engineer Battalion

    Each Infantry Division had a single engineer battalion attached to it. Most vehicles are variations of the jeep - if not otherwise specified, consider this to be the case with any listed vehicles. Engineers were well trained and well armed, with between 24 and 192 flamethrowers per battalion and .50 cal machineguns mounted on many of the jeeps. Of course, mines, explosives and other materials were also available as needed.
    Information on engineer unit compositions is difficult to gather, and I'm assuming much of that is due to their being no "set organization" for combat engineers in general, as different units had different duties requiring different skills and weapons. With that said, here's the only "solid" info I could find on engineering battalions, but take it with a handful of salt.

Engineer Equipment
    Within each engineer squads, the indicated specialists were included, although all were trained in each of the various fields (carpentry, demolitions, etc.). Since an engineer squad was also an infantry squad, they carried weapons appropriate to their positions in addition to any required equipment for their mission - each member has weapons/equipment roughly equivalent to that of an infantry squad, including a BAR section and riflemen (plus scouts, but for practical purposes they'd be the same).

 

 

 

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