There’s a very interesting thread on The Miniatures Page regarding the ability to re-crew guns with personnel other than trained gunners in the rules set The Sword And The Flame. Since I’m a big fan of these rules I planned on replying with my $0.02 and decided to post it here as well in case the discussion comes up again in the future. I think I’ll post other TSATF rules questions, issues, house rules, mods, etc on my blog as well as time permits and questions arise.
Here’s the post on TMP in the 19th Century page under The Sword And The Flame section:
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=560054
Here’s my reply.
What a great TSATF topic. I like the varied responses. First off, all the answers are right if that’s the way you want to play! Larry always said to play them as we want to.
There is a rule that covers the gun crews.
Section VIII: The Fire Phase
Subsection: B5, Pg 27
Gun Crews: It takes at least two figures to fire an artillery piece or machine gun. At least one of the figures must be a crewman for that type of weapon.
Obviously this infers that figures other than gunners can re-crew an artillery piece as long as there is one gunner left for that type of artillery piece.
Here’s how I do it, as long as there is one original gun crewman left unwounded.
If the re-crew is Navy or Marine personnel they still roll 3 die per gunner. Any other imperial personnel only roll 2 die per gunner. I rationalize it as many Navy and Marine personnel were trained as gunners as well to serve aboard ship while most other branches did not undertake this additional training.
If the crew served weapon is an MG that normally rolls 1D6 for jamb each turn and more than half the crew is untrained, they roll the standard 1D6 trying to avoid a 5 or 6 rather than the usual 6 for a jamb. But that’s just how I do it.
I also make different rules or judgments, most of them scenario specific for the troops involved in that battle or campaign.
But like Larry said, play them how you want to!
Here a few Gun Crews in action for your viewing pleasure.
Egyptian gunners, by
Old Glory 25mm Miniatures , serving a Houston Ships 75mm gun on the bow of one of
Last Stand Dan awesome handmade gunboats! Figs, Gun, and Boat all built and painted by my buddy Dan.
British gunners, by Old Glory, painted by Last Stand Dan man a 75mm gun on one of his handmade gunboats in one of the many Sudan scenarios he’s run across the country at various cons.
German Seabatallion gunners, converted from Old Glory German Marines, painted by me, man a bow gun on one of Last Stand Dan’s gunboats in the scenario, The Hun, The Frog & The Lion. This incredible scenario was designed by my friend Patrick from
The Virtual Armchair General. He sells all sorts of cool products for gaming as well as the excellent
Game Card Decks for my favorite rules,
The Sword And The Flame.
German Seabattalion crew man upper deck Machine Guns.
Figures are the defunct Lead Boiler Suite Co and Old Glory German Marines, serving MG’s aboard the Cite de LaMeers custom made by Last Stand Dan during the large TSATF game The Hun, The Frog, and The Lion designed by my friend Patrick of
TVAG - The Virtual Armchair General.
Dervish Gun crew I painted and converted from Old Glory Ansar and an Askari Minis Arab laborer. I made and painted these for my buddy Last Stand Dan. The terrain is made by Bill Daniels of Gamers Garage.
Another Dervish / Ansar gun crew, mfg by Cannon Fodder Miniatures, serving a Foundry cannon, undercover of a Bill’s Basement custom terrain gun pit. The figs represent captured Egyptians in chains commanded by a large Ansar wielding a whip. This is another crew I painted.
Old Glory Sikh gun crew with a
Castaway Arts Miniaturesbaggage camel.
Gripping Beast WWI French Hotchkiss MG crew with Legionaries heads which I painted as a 1900 French Marine MG crew.
Wargames Foundry Regular Afghan Gun crew supported by Afghan Regular Infantry. The infantry & gun painted by my friend Nick Stern. The crew loads grape shot to stop a charge of Cossacks in the battle for the village of Terakh Mir, NWF 1890, ongoing NWF Campaign.
French Naval Gun Crews mfg by
Askari Miniatures, painted by me, serving MG’s aboard another custom made gunboat by Last Stand Dan. Askari Minis has all manner of French colonial troops as well as many other nations and some of the best artillery pieces in 25mm. Photo from the Scenario, Kaiser’s Revenge, The Horn of Africa, 1903.
painted by my friend Mark Coolidge. He also made all the terrain for this awesome Spanish American War game he ran for us at our
SMG -Club House - Das Krieg Haus in Fort Lauderdale Florida.
German Marine MG Crew, unknown mfg painted by my friend John Murk, fighting my French Marines in an exciting TSIA game run at an
HMGS-South Convention run by my buddy Dr. Dwight Jones, who also made all the terrain for this game.
Here is an American Gun Crew from the same game and collection above, Mark Coolidge.
painted by me. This gun and crew were destroyed in a recent NWF game ran by me at Das Krieg Haus as part of our Epic
LAF - Epic NWF Campaign - Never Trust Anyone on the Frontier. The gun and crew were taken out by Russian counter battery fire at the battle for the village of Terakh Mir. Artillery hit marker made by my friend Bud at
Bud’s Blast Markers. He’s got an array of all sorts of amazing blast markers!
