WEAPONS & ARMOUR

MELEE In night-time raids on enemy trenches, surprise is often paramount and and clubs are effective methods of dealing with sentries before the bombing and destruction begins. Once in the trench the rife becomes a liability, even more so with the long fitted. Using a or its attached bayonet within the confines of most trenches incurs a DM -2, as does the improvised listed below, the steel 5’ picket.

Hand weapons, many improvised in the trenches or in the rear, fill the gap – giving the raiders the tools they need to fight at very close quarters.

MELEE WEAPONS OF WORLD WAR ONE Weapon Range Damage Heft Wgt Fist and Kick Personal 1D6 0 - Knuckledusters Personal 1D6+1 0 0.1 Knuckledusters with Spike Personal 1D6+3 0 0.2 Folding (PR) Personal 1D6+2 0 0.1 Personal 2D6+1 0 0.25 (PR) Personal 2D6+1 0 0.25 Fascine Knife (Billhook) Close 2D6+2 0 1 Bayonet without Rifle (PR) Personal 2D6 0 0.5 Bayonet Attached to Rifle (2H) Close 3D6 0 0.25 Rifle Butt (2H) Close 1D6+2 0 var Entrenching Tool (2H) Close 2D6 1 1.2 Club, Wooden Close 1D6+1 0 0.5 Club, Weighted Close 1D6+2 0 1 Club, Spiked Close 1D6+3 0 1 Club, Steel-Spring Close 1D6+3 0 1 Hand Axe Personal 2D6+1 0 1 Steel 5’ Picket (2H) Close 1D6+3 2 1.5 Steel Helmet Personal 1D6+2 0 1.2 Sample file

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WEAPON DESCRIPTIONS

Knuckledusters – knuckle weights. Knuckledusters with Spike – Brass knuckle weights with an attached spike for more lethal punches. Folding Knife – An army clasp knife, a general purpose tool. French Nail – A single piece of iron, sharpened at one end and bent over into a handle at the other to form a crude grip. Trench Knife – A heavy-weight . Fascine Knife – Agricultural bill-hooks used to prepare ‘fascines’ (rough bundles of brushwood that strengthened trench walls). Bayonet – A long, -like combat blade that can also be attached to a rifle turning it into a short spear with more killing potential and reach. Its length meant it was rarely used on its own, and combat knives and fighting were used in its place. German ‘butcher blades’ had a serrated edge, as did the of the British Royal Engineers. Rifle Butt – Swift and silent, the rifle butt makes an impromptu club. Entrenching Tool – A portable spade, sometimes with a sharpened blade enabling it to be used as a hand axe. Club, Wooden – A crude, wooden club, sometimes just the handle from an entrenching tool. Club, Weighted – A wooden club (sometimes the handle of an entrenching tool) given metal studs, or an iron cog or other metal weight at the striking end. Club, Spiked – A wooden club fitted with nasty metal spikes at the striking end. Club, Steel-Spring – Ingenious club with a section of weighted spring mounted on a handle. The spring increased the striking force of the metal weight. Steel 5’ Picket – Carried across No Man’s Land by wiring parties, these long iron poles could be used as a weapon in an emergency. Steel Helmet – A desperate soldier might use a steel helmet as a weapon, it is better than being unarmed, but a little ungainly.

Sample file

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Sample file

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BRITISH Nations of the , , Great Britain, , , and New Zealand, all used similar uniforms, equipment and weaponry.

Rifle: Lee-Enfield SMLE No.1 Mk III, Ross Mk III M1910 (Canada)* : Webley Mk IV or Mk V : Mills No 5 Machine Guns: Vickers , Lewis Machine Gun *Most soldiers replaced the Ross with an SMLE

LEE ENFIELD SMLE Mk III RIFLE Issued to most British Empire and Commonwealth troops throughout the war, this is a robust, accurate and popular rifle that saw service far beyond the Great War. Its ten round .303 is fed by two 5 round stripper clips, fed into the top of the rifle.

Lee Enfield SMLE Mk III Rifle [.303] Dmg Range Base Auto UR Length Req. Str Wgt Mag Wt. Rds Band Range (cm) (kg) 3d6 Long 125 - 5+ 113 5+ 3.7 0.2 10

Sample file

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ROSS Mk III RIFLE Issued to Canadian Expeditionary Force early in the war. It was bad rifle, unable to cope with the conditions on the western front, it was soon replaced by the more reliable Lee-Enfield rifle. However despite all this, due to its good accuracy it saw use as a rifle by the Canadians.

Ross MK III Rifle (.303) Dmg Range Base Auto UR Length Req. Str Wgt Mag Rds Band Range (cm) (kg) Wt. 3d6 Long 125 - 8+ 128 5+ 4.48 0.1 5

WEBLEY MARK V Standard issue British Empire sidearm, used by many such as officers, artillery men, airmen and trench raider for example. This was solid and reliable enough to cope with the adverse conditions of . It even had a few accessories for such as a bayonet attachment, a 6 round speed loader and a to convert it into a .

Webley Mark VI Revolver (.455) Dmg Range Base Auto UR Length Req. Str Wgt Mag Rds Band Range (cm) (kg) Wt. 2d6+1 Short 12m - 5+ 28 6+ 1.1 0.1 6

Sample file

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LEWIS LIGHT MACHINEGUN A , more portable that the Vickers. It was air cooled via an aluminium heat sink covered by a protective cowl. Its .303 ammunition is contained in the distinctive pan shaped magazine on top. The reduces required Strength by 2.

Lewis Machinegun (.303) Dmg Range Base Auto UR Length Req. Str Wgt Mag Rds Band Range (cm) (kg) Wt. 3d6 Long 200 4 5+ 128 8/9/10 11 2 47

VICKERS HEAVY MACHINEGUN A heavy water-cooled tripod mounted machine gun, the Vickers was a very reliable and solid design. A Vickers required a crew of six to eight men, one to fire it, one to feed the ammunition and the rest to carry spares and ammo. Rounds where fed into the gun via a canvas , normally holding 250 .303 rounds.

Vickers Mk1 Machinegun (.303)

Dmg Range Base Auto UR Length Req. Str Wgt Mag Rds Band Range (cm) (kg) Wt.

3d6 Long 220 4 7+ 112 Tripod 35 3 250

Sample file

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GERMAN FIREARMS

Rifle: , Karabiner 98az Sidearm: , Luger PO8 : M1917 and M1915 Kugelhandgranate SMG: Bergman M1918 Machine Guns: MG 08, MG 08/15 Other: T-Gewehr M1918, Wechselapparat ‘Wex’

MAUSER GEWEHR 98 RIFLE Robust, accurate and well made, the Gewehr 98 or Gew98 was the standard of the German army and saw use well into the mid-1930s. A 5- round stripper feeds the magazine, that is loaded from the top of the rifle.

Mauser Gewehr 98 (7.92mm) Dmg Range Base Auto UR Length Req. Str Wgt Mag Rds Band Range (cm) (kg) Wt. 4d6 Long 125 - 5+ 125 9+ 4.1 0.1 5

Rare large capacity magazines hold 20 rds, but have UR 9+, weight 0.5kg. Sample file

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