USMC 2nd Lieutenant and Medic

This is my 2^nd Lieutenant and his runner. Also in this picture a medic carrying a stretcher.

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USMC 2nd Lt and Medic

I usually run the leader of my army as a 2^nd LT in games up to 1000 points. The 2^nd Lt is a mandatory unit in a single reinforced platoon and gives a +1 bonus to all units within 6” on their morale tests. In larger games when you have more points to spare it can be useful to make him a 1^st Lt. so that he gives a +2 bonus instead.

The Medic is a cheap unit that can heal wounded soldiers within 6”. To do this you have to roll a result of a 6 on a D6 so there’s only a 1 in 6 chance of your medic actually saving a soldier. Not great odds but since the medic is so cheap to take I do this because you get a cheap Order Dice that can help swing the odds in your favor. After all you want as many Order Dice in the bag as you can get.

Because the Lieutenant and the Medic both only work if they are within 6” of a unit they usually run side by side behind my forward moving Rifle Squads boosting their morale and trying to save lives.

USMC 2nd Lieutenant Role

Second Lieutenant is the entry-level commissioned officer rank in the United States Marine Corps. A Second Lieutenant generally commands a platoon consisting of 16 to 44 Marines, including two or more squads lead by a senior non-commissioned officer (NCO’s).

USMC Corpsmen (Medic) Role

The Marines have a saying, Every Marine is a Rifleman, and that extends to Navy Corpsmen serving in Marine units , corpsmen have to learn to carry a rifle and how to use it as well. Marines need qualified medical personnel on the battlefield and that’s why the Field Medical Service School exists. For a Corpsman to be effective he has to earn the right to be regarded as a fellow Marine, and that can be an eye opening experience to many Navy Corpsmen unfamiliar with Marine Corps ways. For a Corpsman to be effective in a Marine Corps unit he has to be someone that the other Marines know and trust. He has to be able to lay down cover fire, dig a hole, or do whatever other Marines in his unit are doing toward accomplishing the mission.

The top priority for a FMSS corpsman is to learn to save Marine Corps lives, but they have to be accepted by the unit in which they work. They learn to look like Marines, act like and function just as other Marine Corps personnel function, despite in reality being Navy Corpsmen assigned to a Marine Corps Unit. Much of this need to be a Marine is not understood by those who have not experienced it, but it is vital to the success and cohesiveness of the unit.

(Source: www.USMilitary.com)

Cheers,

Seb