Machine Gun Squad

They might have Heat rays, mind controlled slaves, black dust, acid bombs, and 200 foot tall killing machines, but we have the maxim gun.

Few weapons have had as great an effect on warfare as the Machine gun. Already on their way out after the introduction of breach loading, rapid fire rifles, the old tactics of warfare were utterly destroyed by the Maxim gun and its descendants. In our timeline, they brought about trench warfare and millions of men would fall to their deadly hails of bullets. Few sounds are more iconic to industrial warfare than the rhythmic chatter of the Maxim gun.

In the AQMF universe, Maxim style guns are just as integral to the forces in the field of battle as the were in our own. Their shear volume of fire is even able to finish off wounded tripods, and the terrifying effectiveness against man sized foes can make even the most hardened soldier feel a shred of pity for the victims down range. The standard machine gun of the U.S. military is the Colt Vickers machine gun, a domestically produced copy of the iconic Vickers gun. The Colt Vickers is water cooled for sustained fire and shoots a .30 Springfield cartridges at a rate of fire of roughly 450 rounds per minute from 250 round cloth belts. The weapon is serviced by a crew of three, one ammo carrier, one assistant gunner, and one actual gunner.

Of course the march of progress continues, even in the face of the alien tides. Rumors from the Army's Ordinance branch of a new machine gun developed by renowned gunsmith John Moses Browning with a caliber of .50 inches. The future of this design is uncertain, but initial reports are promising ...

In All Quiet on the Martian Front

The heavy machine gun squad is an excellent supporting option for your dough boys.

Limited to a movement speed of only 4 inches, these machine gun teams will be very restricted in the area of the battlefield that they can control with their range of 20 inches. Commanders should keep this in mind when deploying forces. Speaking of deployment, with the standard infantry defense of 5 and armor of 4, you must make use of cover and concealment to give the weapon a chance of surviving the dreaded heat rays.

But that stuff is not why you picked a machine gun squad. Each of your 3 machine guns has rapid fire 3, which mean each gun rolls three dice to hit for a grand total of 9. With +1 power, the Colt Vickers can even deal with tripods with enough dice boosting your chance to hit something important. Where the machine gun excels though is dealing with the nightmarish lobototons and the scuttling martian drones. While more powerful weapons stand a decent chance of killing one of the advancing sections, they will swiftly be over run by the onrushing hoards of scything talons and diminutive heat rays while the Colt Vickers will just mow down wave after wave.

One squad of Machine guns will cost you 40 points to include in your force. There are two models to choose from if you want to pick one up. One is the standard Doughboy with Brodie helmet and gas mask, and the other is part of the US Marine Landing force offered from Miniaturemarket.