As promised, I'll will be wielding the axe on our memberlist sometime soon. I don't propose kicking people out of Hohenstaufen but what I will do is remove peoples' access to this private forum. People whom we haven't seen at games or training days will be getting their access removed. I'm not going to ponce about pm'ing them, explaining the reasons why, when they know the reasons why. If you're an "inactive" (ie, you're not coming to CiA games (Gunmans' fantasy games DO NOT count!), training days, or contributing to this forum) member and are reading this, wanting to keep your access, you need to be in touch with myself, telling me why you we haven't seen you this last few months.
When I want your opinion - I'll tell you what it is!
I have removed Timber1 from the list of people with access to this forum. I would like to hear from Pimms, Nelz and Wingnut, regarding why they should keep their access to this forum.
When I want your opinion - I'll tell you what it is!
Ah the fabled putsch at last ....wield the long knives in the night ! 
once the dust has settled, and we have a new list of active troops, an idea could be to have an rough orbat list, maybe if people say what they are keen on doing and try to find 1 or 2 roles
ie Mg gunner/ assisant , grenadier , medic, rifleman etc
i dont mind doing anything at all,
im just thinking if people have a "role" for operation lightning, it may help
of course this may be a bollox idea, anyone have any veiws, good or bad???? 
"Take that you rotton helping of strawberry flan!"
Joseph Porta to "strawberrys and cream", in the sven hassel book ,ogpu prison
Good idea, I think Anthony.
MG assistant
Grenadier with SMG
Squad leader (if asked!)
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
I think its a pretty good idea. We all know what sort of playing style we tend to have ourselves and letting each other know can be useful when forming squads & developing tactics.
I'd say I'm am;
Rifleman
Reconnaissance/sabotage
MG/heavy weapons assistant (not done much of it yet but happy to try)
Agreed. We should all be prepared to play any role so that nobody gets stuck doing the same thing all the time. It can't hurt to say what your preferred role is however should you have one. In fact I think I view it not as my preferences as such as I like changing things around but more as the style in which I naturally play that dictates the type of role I tend to fit.
On the subject of the MGs I gave my opinion after Autumn mist which says essentially the same as you're thinking; share the load, not just in using but in carrying them and supplying ammo so we can ge the most benefit from them. Provided the owners agree of course.
The MG support role should also be responsible for guarding against enemy attempting to outflank the MG.
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
Andy we're talking about the squad as providing assistance to the MG crew rather than the MG assistants specific role (although you are of coaurse correct). Basically so we're all trained to take over the MG should both the crew get hit, can help carry equiptment when on the move (so the crew don't die of exhaustion) and help supply ammo in the field, as well as maybe contributing to the ammo cost for MGs overall.
I go into more detail in this (taken from the Autumn mist thread);
As CW said we should have made more use of the MGs. I think it may be something we need to focus on. Maybe we should all train to use them properly so that we can each take a turn at using them and share the burden. It would also mean if the gunner goes down someone else can take over right away and keep up the fire. I also think we do need a dedicated No2 at all times to watch the gunner's back, provide support and take over when necessary.
I also see no reason why we can't carry spare ammo for the MG so that we can use them to their full potential. As riflemen we have a 600 round limit but theres no rule that says we have use it ourselves. When I use my Tanaka I doubt I've ever used over 100 rounds a life so I was thinking why not make the other 500 available for the MG? Semi-auto users can probably also spare 2-300 rounds and auto users perhaps 100, depending upon what gun/mags they use.
Since we would all be using the MGs and we all benefit from their effects it might be a good idea to club together to buy a bulk load of ammo for it- what ever Del & Pete deam most suitable. The ammo can be kept seperately from our own (as we all have are own preferences), stored in an ammo tin at the CP and we restock our MG ammo from it as required.
Given the nature of the forthcoming Op lightning game working as a team around the MGs would be a key feature. Learning to protect them and keep them running at all costs should be the main focus of our training for that game. The lack of AEGs will limit our individual firepower but shouldn't necessarily limit the squad's.
Personally, I have to reign myself in quite a bit! My preferred role is as a sniper or recce, as I performed both these jobs for real in the army. However, for airsoft, I don't mind being squad leader or doing any other job to be honest, including "hold out until the last round" to help the team. My ego isn't so big that I expect to be squad leader all of the time though, especially as I can't be at 100% of the games.
When I want your opinion - I'll tell you what it is!
I have no problem with other members using my MG-42 - once I sort out a couple of issues with it.
I think that we all need to be able to fill certain roles as and when they come up. Let's face it - things change as a game pans out, folks getting killed, out of ammo etc.
What we need to ensure is working and communicating together, knowing where your fellow members are when in the field etc.