Following the debacle in Battle 02, as the German Recce Company was ambushed by a Polish force with anti-tank guns in prepared positions, Oberst Heller conducts a field "interview without coffee" and gets his Recce Coy Commander to try again, this time with at least some idea of what he is facing...
The terrain is the same as in the last battle, my recreation of the original game. The forces remain the same as last time too, the Germans are assumed to be using some reinforcements from other sub-units to make up the numbers...
The Forces:
The Germans:
Recce Coy Comd: 1 x Armoured Car
Recce Pl: 2 x SdKfz 221, 1 x SdKfz 231
Recce Pl: 4 x m/c sections (Rifles + Belft-fed LMG - 1 is the Pl Comd Section)*
Tank Pl: 2 x PzIIII
Rifle Pl: 3 x Rifle + Belt-fed LMG sections (1 is the Pl Comd Section), 3 x Trucks
The Polish:
Coy Comd: 1 x Coy Comd (Rifles), 1 x Truck
Rifle Pl: 4 x Rifle + BAR sections (1 is the Pl Comd)
Support Pl; 2 x HMG, 1 x 82mm mortar
Anti-Tank Pl: 3 x 37mm anti-tank guns
German morale is higher '3' than the Polish '2'
* I couldn't find enough m/c+sidecar combo models, so I have used some Kubelwagens too.
The Battle:
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| The motorcycle platoon leads the way, but this time breaks left to try and do a wider encirclement of the Polish position (they didn't really discover its full extent last time...) |
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| The armoured car platoon follows up the road but behind the woods, as the motorcyle platoon goes left flanking... |
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| A Polish infantry section, which spots the movement but is not seen itself, redeploys to face the new threat direction (top-left) |
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| A wider shot, with the motorcyle platoon approaching the outskirts of the village (left); the Polish have remained static and silent (top-right) |
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| As the Germans cross the road, a Polish HMG opens up - the German platoon commander has made it across, but the rest of his troops are pinned on the far side, having taken a few casaulties... |
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| Meanwhile, the main German thrust goes right-flanking; only the German tanks can be seen by the Poles, whereas the Germans cam see nothing |
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| The German armoured cars move forward, also going left flanking, to try this route and help out the motorcycle troops: if they are only facing a machinegun, this might work |
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| However, the German main attack gets into trouble very quickly: the 37mm anti-tank guns in the bunkers destroy the two Panzer IIIs in short order (the second bunker (top) had been placed so its arc of fire also just covered the debouchment between the woods that the Panzers used. The Panzer IIIs gun was pretty useless against the bunker. |
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| Shortly afterwards, the Polish mortar opens up on the German infantry (who revelaed themselves by trying to suppress the anti-tank bunker) |
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| A combination of mortar, machinegun and rifle fire causes devastating casualties amongst the German infantry, who only inflict minor annoyance in return |
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| The Germans pack up |
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| The motorcycle platoon, although it did eventually manage to get most of its troops across the road, beat a hasty retreat, not wanting to try and re-cross under fire; one German motorcycle section is so heavily beaten-up it has to be abandoned |
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| Position at the end of the battle. |
Game Notes:
This time, Oberst Heller was forced to admit what he had suspected after the previous action: the enemy here was too strong, too entrenched and too well-hidden, with inter-locking fire and without either a great superiority in numbers or strong fire support, he was going to get nowhere. He gave Kapt Koller (Recce Coy Commander) a stiff brandy, then went for an urgent conference with HQ 4 Panzer Div...
German losses amounted to some 2 tanks, 2 motorbike and sidecar combos, 13 KIA, 24 WIA (inc. 3 POW) and 6 unwounded POWs (+ another abandoned motorbike and sidecar). Polish losses were again trifling: 4 WIA.
This game reinforced the lessons of the last one: towed anti-tank guns are a menace due to the spotting rules, good entrenched positions need powerful HE to shift them, interlocking arcs of weapons on 'watch-and-shoot' are very difficult/impossible to break through. That said, the tactics were faulty: the Germans should have picked one flank and focused on that, rather than try both. If the German tanks had supported the motorbikes, they may have managed to get around that Polish right flank, which wasn't too strong once the village road was crossed. At the very least, the German infantry and armour attack should have been delayed until the armoured cars at least had tried the flanking route also. But that still feels like the Germans had to do a lot more right than the Poles...#moreartillery would have been simpler!!
Models a mixture of Baccus (German infantry), H&R (German vehicles), Scotia (Polish infantry and vehicles) and H&R (Polish vehicles). The bunkers are from Timecast I think, buildings a mixture of Leven and Battlescale.
Incidentally, at the time of writing, I think Scotia are probably the best deal in 6mm micro-armour, especially for infantry, for starting on a budget.
# more artillery indeed. Or smoke. Or both! Good game again and post game thoughts too. I imagine now the Germans would try and bypass this strong defensive postion by probing for a weak gap or suchlike, which they could push through and flank the position, leaving it to the PBI to sort out.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Steve. Hold that thought during the next couple of fights as "what they should have done"...
DeleteVery interesting. Different rules but similar results. The Polish position is looking formidable given the attacking force available..
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty formidable. Like in other things, so much depends on how you calibrate the rules; where observation is easier, then direct fire weapons and manouvre become more important and some things become possible...
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