Battle 6 in Just Jack's 'Kampfgruppe von Klink' campaign (and, confusingly enough the
seventh action in my re-fight...) is the last action around Mokra - this time, my own Kampfgruppe, KG Heller, has been ordered to make another armoured push to clear the area...
As ever in this series, I am playtesting John D Salt's Gummipanzergrenadier rules.
Forces:
The Germans:
KG Command: 1 armoured car, 1 command group (SMG)
Attached FOO: 1 PzI
Panzer Coy HQ: 1 PzIIIA
Panzer Platoon: 3 PzIVB, 2 PZIIB
1 Rifle Platoon: 3 sections (belt-fed LMG, bolt-action rifles), 1 50mm mortar, 1 ATR, 3 trucks
2 Rifle Platoon: 3 sections (belt-fed LMG, bolt-action rifles), 1 50mm mortar, 1 ATR, 3 trucks
The Poles:
Company Command: 1 Command section (bolt-action rifles and BAR), 1 truck
Anti-tank battery: 4 37mm anti-tank guns, 1 rifle section (bolt-action rifles and BAR, treated as a command section), 1 MMG
1 Rifle Platoon: 1 Command section, 3 rifle sections (bolt-action rifles and BAR), 1 MMG, 2 ATR, 2 47mm mortars
The Set-Up:
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KG Heller approaching from the West (left)
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The Panzer Platoon and 2 Rifle Platoon are on the German left (above the road), 1 Rifle Platoon is on the road
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Another angle
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Elements of the Polish 1 Platoon are spread between the woods (left) and the trenches (top-right); there are two 37mm anti-tank guns in support
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The other pair of 37mm anti-tank guns each side of the road, dug-in; one of the anti-tank guns is supported by a Polish MMG; there should have been another infantry section in the forward trenches (bottom) but they have disappeared from view!!! Full marks for cam-and-concealment...
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The Battle:
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The German plan is to go three-pronged, hoping to find some kind of gap in the Polish line...
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The lead PzII advances close to the woods...
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...but beats a hasty retreat when contact is made!
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The German rifle platoon breaks off the road and uses the woods to shield their advance - the 37mm anti-tank gun has them in sight, but the low probability of hitting but certainty of giving away the location inclines the crew to hold their fire...when suddenly some loud explosions from the middle of the field indicate a 37mm anti-tank round has found its mark (it is actually from the anti-tank gun in the far corner (top-right))
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The German FOO noticed the anti-tank gun and calls in the 105mm battery on its position...
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Some very effective shooting knocks out the anti-tank gun in short order (and unknown to the Germans, eliminates one of the Polish MMGs in the trenches too!)
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The other German rifle platoon has dismounted and is working its way through the woods...
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Everyone's camouflage is working a bit too well but, as Oberst Heller tries to catch up with his infantry platoon, he comes under fire from an anti-tank gun...
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Happily for him it missed, but he quickly retreats back into the cover of the woods (left) - note the position of the FOO's Panzer I at the other edge of the same wood
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It is quite difficult to see unfortunately, but the Poles have retreated to the far side of the wood to get away from the two Panzers
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Probably, just in time, since the Panzers are on the move again
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The second German rifle platoon is advancing somewhat gingerly through the woods
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Meanwhile, the missing Polish infantry section puts in an appearance in the forward trench ;-) (centre)
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A wider shot - note that the Panzers in the centre have resumed their advance, going past the smoking hulk of the lead Panzer
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Meanwhile, the last unrevealed anti-tank gun fires - and knocks out another Panzer II
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And yet another German tank is knocked out in the centre, this time by an anti-tank rifle crew in the central woods (towards top)
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The Polish anti-tank gun by the road joins in too (right), knocking out the other German tank in the centre (red smoke)
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The German platoon moving through the woods comes under quite intensive fire from the Poles in the trenches as soon as they come into view...
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The last German tank on the flank attacks! It causes quite widespread panic amongst the Poles
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The German tank gets in position to enfilade the trench (it is poking out behind one of the smoke plumes! I should have taken the smoke markers off - the barrage had stopped a while ago - but in the heat of battle, I forgot...)
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The German infantry at the edge of the woods is suffering heavy casualties, caught as it is between close range BAR and rifle fire from the trenches (centre) with the MMG by the anti-tank gun (right)
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Another German squad goes hors de combat...
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The Polish infantry in the trenches finally succumb...
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Meanwhile, the other German infantry platoon has got into the woods on the other flank - they start engaging the remaining Polish infantry there - the German Panzer Company commander is following up the other surviving German tank (right)
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Although the enfilading German panzer killed or scattered most of the Polish defenders, the Polish anti-tank rifle team in the woods claims its second kill, as the panzer goes up in smoke!
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The German infantry has won its firefight in the top wood, clearing out the Poles (except an anti-tank rile team, keeping very quiet at the back!)
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The Panzer Company commander charges in, killing and scattering the remainder of the Poles in this sector!
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Finally, the German FOO gets the artillery firing on the other Polish 37mm....
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At least one German sub-unit has managed to achieve its objectives efficiently today!
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The last German panzer (the Company commander) outflanks the few remaining Polish defenders, who run off!
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Game Notes:
Somehow Oberst Heller managed to pull that off, despite two of his three platoons being more-or-less wiped out: the Germans lost 3 Panzer IV, 2 Panzer II, 14 KIA and 25 WIA. The Poles lost rather more: 26 KIA, 44 WIA (mostly now prisoners) and all four of the anti-tank guns. The keys to the German victory were #1: the artillery support and #2: having enough tanks to take losses but still get just enough close to the Poles to cause the panic which led to victory.
The rules worked really well; the artillery support mechanism is so good! It gives some uncertainty as to how long a given fire mission will take, but it is far from entirely random - so for instance in this game, the FOO was able to get fire onto the first anti-tank gun it destroyed very quickly, but it seemed to take an age to get it onto the final anti-tank gun. The mechnics also really show the importance of why FOOs in tanks were so widely used in WW2!
Models are a mixture of H&R, Baccus and Scotia
That was a great battle, and nice to see both the revised OBs and more of a combined arms approach. Tha 'tank panic' thing is the complete opposite of Command Decision though, where unsupported tanks close to infantry are the ones panicking! I guess the latter is more grand tactical (it represents buttoning up etc), whereas gummiepanzergren is more tactical.
ReplyDeleteYes, although there are some rules for buttoning up in Gummi... too (primarily affecting observation and fire). The ideas seem somewhat similar to the negative modifiers in WRG 1925-1950, although the calibration of effects seem to make it more potent. Thus far anyway, John may change it a bit (or - not unlikely! - I slightly fluffed the mechanism...)
DeleteGreat report. Always good when a plan (the German one) comes together and they score a win.
ReplyDeleteThanks Shaun. It is good when they come off! As a matter of fact, I have been more or less trying to follow Just Jack's plans as an initial scheme of manoeuvre, although I think that the different emphases of the rulesets sometimes hit the plans in these games, especially the Germans. In particular, spotting and suprise works so differently in Gummi... compared to 5-Core, so it isn't surprising that the game's dynamics end up being quite different.
Delete