One of the first platoons I painted up for my US Riflemen was the Weapons platoon, because I figured every US force needed this kind of thing. Turns out I was fooling myself. I used it for two games and it didn't do anything at all, really.
The platoon is divided up into two sections: light machine guns and light mortars. You always get three 60mm mortars, which could be useful in a direct fire mode or to pin the enemy, but if you have other artillery, you're better off using that as the 60mm has a lousy fire power rating. When it comes to the LMGs, you get 1 section (two teams) for the standard 85 point platoon, and can expand this to 2 sections (four teams) for an additional 35 points, making the full platoon (minus Jeep) come in at 130 points. This is way too much, in my opinion. The mortars aren't good enough to warrant the price, and the LMGs are all but useless, unless you're playing against an infantry horde who's about to assault you. You get ROF 5 FP 6, which is fairly ok, but the range of 40cm makes the LMGs rank in among the worst in the game for infantry MGs.
I have been meaning to put the platoon in again, attaching the LMGs to my rifle platoons and keeping the mortars in a platoon of their own, but I always find I have a better use for 130 points. For larger games I tend to go with a machine gun platoon, giving you ROF 6 range 60cm weapons that you can attach out, and a mortar platoon giving you the much more useful 81mm mortars (which are capable of firing smoke).
I don't know if I'm "doing it wrong", but I just find the weapons platoon to be next to useless. I would appreciate being called dumb and shown how to use them by any veteran US players out there.
I have never played a U.S. company but I would say that all these should be attached to units which are dug in and defending. the mortars and the LMG would help pin assaulting Inf but for the most part I think your right and they really aren't worth taking unless you have the points open with nothing better to spend them on
SvaraRaderaIt is true: the Weapons platoon is mainly there only to counter enemy infantry formations. But aside from just being historically accurate, here is what I will sometimes use them for:
SvaraRadera60mms pin anything unarmored.
LMGs protect against assaults and outflanking infantry (such as might be found in a Breakthrough scenario.)
60mms can counter enemy gun teams (not dug in) if close enough.
I'll usually leave the platoon, along with a few attached bazookas, on an objective to babysit it, acting as a "jack of all trades" unit.
Failing all the above, I combat attach out the teams to give the rifles a bit more firepower. It's only 85 points, so usually I have nothing better to put in their place for the price.
Thanks for the comments, guys. It's about as I figured it. Anyone else want to shed some light on how to use the Weapons platoon? Seem rather extremely situational to me.
SvaraRadera