Machine Gun Platoon

This article is fucking 'Murican. Expect copious amounts of Freedom with an infrequent side of Awesome.

The American Machine Gun platoon is a unit availble in flames of war. They are armed with the Browning M1919 .30 calibre machine gun. It was a ubiquitous and reliable firearm that saw service in dozens of countries throughtout the rest of the century. It still sees service in NATO countries, though rechambered for newer rounds.

IRL

World War I was an intense time of military innovation, and this was no less understood than the United States. Of particular effectiveness on the defense was the Machine gun, which earned a feared reputation. John Browning had already gifted the world the M1911, M2, and B.A.R., and he wasn't about to stop there. Taking an older water cooled design, his own M1917 heavy machine gun (old school heavy with static rifle caliber that is, not the M2 style huge bullet heavy that pretty much replaced the static rifle caliber one except for surplus use) he tweaked it to be air cooled instead.

What spawned from this project went on to be one of the most successful medium machine guns of the 20th century: the M1919 medium machine gun. The design was solid, rugged, reliable, and could carry over 200 .30-06 rounds of pure American freedom. The design saw use on everything from fighters and bombers to tanks and warships for primarily anti-personnel/anti-aircraft duty. Some of the most recognized vehicles equipped with the M1919 were the Jeep and the Sherman, the latter of which had two of the things in addition to an M2.

While the M1919 was far outclassed compared to the MG34/42, it was a far better crew mounted weapon than the Japanese equivalents, making it a particularly ruthless opponent for Japanese soldiers, who often favored madly charging at their enemies when they ran out of ammo. The Italian equivalent MMG was also an outdated piece of shit, and the Vickers, while solid, didn't quite compare due to it being water cooled and heavier, in fact after the war the Vickers was replaced in it's tactical role by a Mortar of all things. Later variants were so light that they could awkwardly, but feasibly hip fired by a single man, though contrary to the movies, this was not as common as you'd expect.

That being said, troops looking for a proper portable machine gun sometimes took matters into their own hands and made modified versions; the most famous example was the so-called “Stinger” variant, an AN/M2 salvaged from aircraft with an M1 Garand buttstock, a BAR bipod and carry handle, and an insanely high rate of fire. Six of these were built for the battle of Iwo Jima, with one user posthumously given the Medal of Honor for his frankly insane but effective use of this frankengun in combat. Ultimately the army decided that stealing the MG34 designs was a better investment of their time.

During the war, MMG platoons were organized initially in 8 man teams led by a Corporal. Following were a driver, Gunner, assistant gunner, and 4 ammo carriers. One of the ammo carriers was eventually replaced by the driver, and the assigned vehicle eventually became a Jeep with a trailer in order to maximize mobility with the fewest resources possible. The Marines retained the original 8 man structure throughout the war, and were assigned hand carts due to a limit in the amount of vehicles that could be transported by ship.