Low Ammo OOB

[Cross]

Hi Greybeard,

I have a good source that US Paratroops were originally going to drop on June 6th carrying even more rounds than you have suggested:

Per weapon/man:

Rifle: 145
Garand: 136
Carbine: 175
Thompson: 300
M1919 Browning LMG: 1250 (on 2 men)

50% of the men in each coy were also supposed to carry one 250 round belt.
US Paratroops didn’t start using BARs until Dec 1944, apparently.

The document also goes into mortar rounds, rockets and grenades, and says this was the maximum load they could carry away from the field. On the day, I’m not sure if they managed to climb inside the aircraft with this lot.

Compare the above list to US Army load-outs:

Rifle: 100
Garand: 80
Carbine: 45
Thompson: 180
BAR: 640

And USMC:

Rifle: 100
Garand: 80
Carbine: 75
Thompson: 180
BAR: 500

I think the June 6th load-outs, whatever they ended up being, were an extraordinary circumstance, perhaps better replicated in SP by a scenario with special ammo allotments; as it wasn’t a typical US Paratroop ammo load-out. And the scenario better change the US Para movement allowance from 6 to 4 ;)

I agree that in some cases an infantry SP ammo load of 80 is warranted. In SP, 1 SP ammo unit equals 1 rifle round (times the number of rifles in the squad).

The US rifle load was 100,
The Germans carried 60 rounds per rifle
The British 50 rounds per rifle
The Russians 30 to 60 per rifle

I’ve read that the Soviets were supposed to get 60 but it was more often 30. I’ve also read that they could get 30 and 2 grenades or 60 and 1 grenade. Knowing the Soviet army, the reality was probably inconsistent.

For realistic Rifle ammo in SP we might allocate:

US: 100
German: 60
British: 50
Russian: 45
Generic or Average: 55