Pass in Review: US Marine Corps Regular Infantry Fire Team

 

It's been almost a year since I posted my last Pass in Review of figures.  The reason is simple:  I haven't bought, or otherwise obtained, any new miniatures to make a post about.

A few weeks ago I visited my friend Dan, who gave me his small collection of Star Wars Miniatures and other assorted space gaming accessories. 

As an added bonus, he threw-in his copy of Dogs of War (DoW), rules for modern skirmish-level combat.  (Skirmish-level meaning one figure represents one individual).  He also gave me the USMC fireteam he painted:

 

 

Although Dan felt the color scheme on the figures' uniforms were a little off, I think he did a fantastic job painting them. 

 

The DoW rules along with the figures pictured above, were produced by Devil Dog Design.  Unfortunately, the company has been out of business for about five years.  I know I'm very late in announcing this news, but I own a small handful modern-era wargames and miniatures, so I'm not up-to-date on such happenings. 

 

It also came as a surprise that Devil Dog Design was headquartered near my hometown in upstate New York.  Had I known this earlier, I would have bought more of their products to "support the home team." 

 

I haven't read DoW yet, but for anyone else who owns the rules, or are at least familiar with them, here's some of the basic stats I gleaned from pages 65-66 of the Appendix--

Team Composition (250 points):

Fire Team Leader w/M16A2 and M203 grenade launcher (40 mm)
Rifleman w/M16A2 assault rifle (5.56 mm)
Machine Gunner w/M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW--5.56 mm)
Assistant Machine Gunner w/M16A2

Note:  DoW was published in 2003, so the assault rifles may be upgraded for scenarios beyond this year.

Standard Equipment for each Marine:

Kevlar helmet, body armor, gas mask, combat knife, bayonet, 2 x fragmentation grenades, 210 rounds of 5.56 ammo, 4 x 40mm grenades (carried by the team leader) and 400 extra rounds of 5.56 mm ammo.

Special Equipment Availability (for additional point purchases per item):

GPS (30), NVGs (30), laser designator (30), anti-personnel mines (25 for 2), shaped charge (20), C4 (25 per 1/4-lb. stick) and claymores (20).

Innate Abilities for each Marine:

Expert Rifleman, Disciplined, Go Faster and Line Trained.

Additional Ability Modifiers may also be available for each marine (for additional point purchases):

Dedicated Marksman (15), Gun Nut (5), Close Combat Expert (10), Gold's Gym Member (5), Hard Corps (10), OCS Candidate (5), Combat Engineer (30) and Mountaineering (30).

Typical Marine Abilities:

Weapon Proficiency (WP):  6
Weapon Knowledge (WK):  7
Close Quarter Combat (CQ):  5
Strength (ST):  5
Fortitude (FT):  5
Health (HP):  5
Armor Rating (AR--w/o body armor and w/body armor): 0/5
Morale (ML): 8
Command & Control (CC): 7/LOS (line of sight)

While DoW is out of print, Ambush Alley Games, in conjunction with Osprey Publishing, are still in the business of printing their skirmish-level rules Force on Force (FoF).

 

 

I have a copy of FoF, along with Classified: Special Operations, 1940--2010 and Bush Wars: Africa, 1967-2010 (all of them currently unread).

 

 

Using FoF, the USMC fireteam composition is nearly the same as in DoW, with the following exceptions:

 

1. The M203 is carried by a Grenadier and not the Team Leader.

2. The assault rifles are M16A4s (as of 2009 when these rules were printed).

 

Combat Stats for USMC Fireteam (from page 167 of the FoF rulebook):

 

Initiative Level:  D8 to D10

Confidence Level:  Confident to High

Supply Level: Normal

Body Armor: 1D

Troop Quality: D8 to D10

Troop Morale: D10 to D12

 

Now that I have a Marine Corps fireteam and a choice of rules, all I need now are two more fireteams to make a marine squad.  Oh!  And a support vehicle or three, not to mention a horde of bad guys for my marines to fight...