Marine Engineer Assault Section
(US776)
includes Command Pioneer Rifle team, three Pioneer Rifle teams, three Flame-thrower teams, two Bazooka teams, one small three-hole base, three medium four-hour bases & five small two-hole bases.
When the Marine rifle companies began launching attacks into Japanese-held territory they found the defenders unwilling to give up without a fight to the death. Complicated systems of interconnected bunkers and caves faced the Marines, and to help them overcome these obstacles specialised weapons could be added to each platoon as required.
Flame-throwers, although volatile, were perfect for flushing stubborn defenders out of bunkers, while the pioneers were experienced with the explosives used to destroy cave openings. The bazookas were useful to help stop counterattacking Japanese tanks and could also be fired at other targets such as artillery pieces and field defences.
There are two ways to field the contents of this blister pack:
The Assault Section (page 14 of Gung-Ho) is a Weapons Platoon option, consisting of either one or two Assault Squads, each with a Bazooka team, a Pioneer Rifle team, and a Flame-thrower team.
An Assault Section must make Combat Attachments to Marine Rifle Platoons with all of their Assault Squads. Teams may be distributed among any of the Marine Rifle Platoons in any numbers or attached to a single platoon (as an exception to the normal Combat Attachment rules on page 260 of the rulebook).
Alternatively, the Marine Engineer Assault Section (page 32 of Gung-Ho) is a Divisional Support Platoon option.
It may still make Combat Attachments to Marine Rifle Platoons, or you may choose to field it as a separate platoon of its own.
In addition to the Marine Battalion's Assault Platoon, other specialist combat engineers could be on call from the divisional engineer battalions, and before mid-1944 the engineer regiments. These troops were often allocated out to Marine rifle platoons to provide flame-thrower teams and explosives experts for use against Japanese bunkers, tunnels and fortified cave systems.
Marine Engineer Assault Sections may make Combat Attachments to Marine Rifle Platoons.
Gung-Ho
Around 1900 the Chinese described Marines in China as gung-ho. In Chinese, gung-ho means working together, as that is what the Chinese saw the American Marines always doing. Gung-ho conveys the Marines’ willingness to tackle any task and their commitment to the Corps.
Marine platoons use the German Mission Tactics special rule (see page 242 of the rulebook).
Semper Fi
Semper fidelis (often shortened to Semper fi) is the motto of the United States Marine Corps. It is a Latin phrase that means ‘always faithful’ or ‘always loyal’.
When Marine platoons test their Motivation to Counterattack in Assaults, you may re-roll the die and apply the re-rolled result to all Marine platoons that failed on the original roll.
Automatic Rifles
The US Army (and Marine Corps) are equipped with the M1 Garand self-loading rifle, M1 Carbine, and the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), giving their infantry intense short-range firepower and allowing them to maintain their rate of fire while moving.
Rifle and Carbine teams do not suffer the usual +1 to hit penalty for firing a ROF 1 weapon while moving or Pinned Down.
When not Pinned Down, Rifle and Carbine teams re-roll all failed rolls to hit in Defensive Fire during assaults.
Contents of the Marine Engineer Assault Section blister pack
1x Officer gesturing with right arm.
1x Crouching NCO.
2x NCO gesturing with left arm.
1x Kneeling NCO.
1x Rifleman kneeling firing.
1x Rifleman running.
2x Standing firing rifleman.
1x Rifleman standing.
2x Rifleman standing.
3x Marine pioneer with pole charge.
3x Marine pioneer with satchel charge.
2x Bazooka loader kneeling.
2x Marine firing Bazooka.
2x Marine standing with flame-thrower.
1x Marine advancing with flame-thrower.
5x Small Two-hole Bases.
1x Small Three-hole Base.
3x Medium Four-hole Base.
15mm, metal
Battlefront MIniatures
