After having butted into the defences around Mokra then been comprehensively rebutted, KG Heller is facing an armoured Polish counter-attack! The Polish brigadier wants to exploit local success, although it is being done in a pretty crude and unco-ordinated way. Although still in some disorder after their recent drubbings, KG Heller is ordered to put in an immediate counter-attack ("Christ, not us again" mutters Oberst Heller...).
This is the battle from Just Jack's original KG Klink campaign here.
The Forces:
The Germans:
KG Comd: 1 x Armoured Car, 1 x Command group
Tank Pl: 3 x PzII, 2 x PzI
Rifle Coy Comd: 1 x SMG + Belt-fed LMG (Comd section)
#1 Rifle Pl: 2 x Rifle + Belt-fed LMG sections (1 is the Pl Comd Section)
#2 Rifle Pl: 2 x Rifle + Belt-fed LMG sections (1 is the Pl Comd Section)
The Polish:
Coy Comd: 1 x Coy Comd (Rifles), 1 x Truck
1st Cavalry Pl: 3 x Rifle + BAR sections (1 is the Pl Comd)
1st Tank Pl: 5 x 7TP-jw
2nd Tank Pl: 2 x Vickers-jw
3rd Tank Pl: 2 x Vickers-dw
German morale is higher '3' than the Polish '2'
Eagle-eyed observers will note that the armoured orders of battle are slightly different from the original, with the Germans having PzII and PzI rather than PzIII available, whilst the Poles have actual Polish tanks rather than the T-26, Matildas and so on that were used in the original. For what JustJack described as tankettes he used Vickers tanks - I have gone with the content rather than the form and retained them as machinegun tanks rather than actual tankettes, but I could have used a couple of TKs instead...
Set-Up:
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Germans attacking from the West (left), Poles from the East (right)
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The very weak German infantry company wends its way through the woods.
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The German tank platoon in its wedge formation
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The two Vickers tank platoons behind the treeline
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The 7TP platoon divided into two sections; the Polish company commander vaguely wondering if the lorry he is riding in is really suitable for being at the front of the impending armoured battle...
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A Polish Cavalry Pl in the woods
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The Battle:
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The German Panzer Platoon breaks left
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A wider view; note that one of the 7TP sections has advanced, screened by the treeline (centre-right); both the German infantry and Polish cavalry are advancing (bottom)
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| First blood to the Poles! One of the 7TPs knocks out a Panzer I (top-left); mostly firing on the move is a waste of time for everyone though |
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Note the Vickers-dw on the road at the top - they need to get out of there!
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The German infantry and Polish cavalry continue to advance
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| Then, suddenly, the battle was won! One of the Vickers-dw did manage to knock out the Panzer I with its HMG*, although the other Vickers-dw was then knocked out; then another Panzer II was knocked out by a 7TP... |
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Followed by another Panzer II, again by a 7TP!
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The 7TPs who have done such great work (bottom-right)
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The Polish cavalry and German infantry bump into each other at the edge of the wood
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A wider view at this stage of the battle
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Close-range fighting begins at the edge of the wood...two German squads go down in the first minute...
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One of the Polish cavalry sections is then eliminated by German counter-fire...the Germans at least manage to pin down the Polish cavalry platoon
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The game is of course up for the Germans - the last remaining vehicles escape, avoiding the Polish 'seeing them off' fire
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The remnants of the German infantry join them...
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The scene at the end of the battle
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Game Notes:
Another very fun game using these rules I am playtesting. This was the first armoured clash and it all seemed to go pretty well I think. There is a little complexity in what vehicles can do what and how they respond, but it is pretty easy to understand and gives a little richness to the game - it somewhat recalls the modes in the second edition of WRG 1925-1950 but it is easier to understand, whilst also giving more flexibility.
Although we have all been brought up on tales of German armour superiority in the early war, in this clash the Germans were both out-numbered and outclassed: the 7TP with the 37mm and the Vickers with the 3pdr are just straightforwardly better than the 20mm armed Panzer IIs. So nice to get some of that Polish armour on the table! The to hit/to penetrates mechanisms are simple but easily capture both the relative qualities of the weapons and armour, but also the effects of fire: it, really easily, with hardly any extra 'weight' in the rules, tells you if the hit didn't penetrate, was close enough to get the enemy's attention or missed so badly they didn't even really notice...and which shots hit, but you were saved because you were hit with a 20mm rather than a 2pdr...
The cavalry vs infantry fight was more random - the cavalry were just in a slightly better position, and 50m or less is when you want to bring a BAR against MG34 armed opposition!
For losses, the Germans lost 2 PzII, 2 Pz I, 14 KIA and 22 WIA (16 of whom were POW also). The Poles lost a single tank (a Vickers-dw), 5 KIA and 9 WIA.
Another interesting BatRep. With your success on the table, it is a wonder how the Poles lost this campaign. Good stuff!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan. To be fair, the Poles won the battle this series of actions is based on IRL too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mokra The test for the scenarios and the rules I guess is whether the Poles are winning for roughly the same reasons as they did historically.
Delete#Even More Artillery! Another great game and Mokra did show up the glaring deficiences in the German armour and their tactics too. At this rate WWII never happened and so most of my collection is useless unless you want to play some 'what if's?' ;)!
ReplyDeleteHahaha! Thanks Steve. Don't worry, the next battle will get WW2 back on the road...
DeleteIirc it was John who commented on the lack of any indirect fire support in these scenarios? They were originally designed for 5Core CC, which heavily abstracts indirect fire, but I wondered what had happened to the German infantry 50mm platoon mortars? Or are light mortars factored in, in some way?
ReplyDeleteOh did he? Wise bird, that John. So far I have been relatively strictly following the orders of battle in the KG Klink scenarios, but I think that I may need to redesign the OOBs to match historical structures more closely, to give more delegated weapon support to the infantry platoons in particular (they aren't factored in abstractly, that stops at section MGs). Plus, I need to get some anti-tank rifles on the table. I think John might send me the infantry orgs he uses in the next update, but until then I will adapt the WRG ones.
DeleteI checked the 4th Panzer KstN and their infantry had 50mm mortar sections in the platoons, a company level MG section, and the usual assortment of panzergrenadier support weapons in the heavy company - 3 x 37mm AT, 6 x 81mm mortars and 2 x 75mm infantry guns. So plenty of stuff to support individual companies. 4th Panzers artillery was very weak though, just two battalions of 105mm guns (24 tubes in total).
DeleteThe company MG platoons had 4 weapons each, but Nazfigers totals for the infantry guns don't add up. He says just two guns in each battalion, but the Regimental total is eight guns in September 1939. All 75mm, no 150s. Well, I imagine one of those numbers is right!
DeleteThat’s great Martin, thanks very much; will look to incorporate some of this into the later battles. WRT the infantry guns, might there have been a section at Regimental level?
DeleteThere would have been. The sIG-33 150mm guns at regimental level and the leIG-18 75mm guns at battalion.
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