Kampfgruppe Heller: Battle 06, Poland

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:

 

KG Heller approaching from the West (left)

The Panzer Platoon and 2 Rifle Platoon are on the German left (above the road), 1 Rifle Platoon is on the road

Another angle

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

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...

The Battle:

The German plan is to go three-pronged, hoping to find some kind of gap in the Polish line...

The lead PzII advances close to the woods...

...but beats a hasty retreat when contact is made!

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))

The German FOO noticed the anti-tank gun and calls in the 105mm battery on its position...

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!)

The other German rifle platoon has dismounted and is working its way through the woods...

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...

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

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

Probably, just in time, since the Panzers are on the move again

The second German rifle platoon is advancing somewhat gingerly through the woods

Meanwhile, the missing Polish infantry section puts in an appearance in the forward trench ;-) (centre)

A wider shot - note that the Panzers in the centre have resumed their advance, going past the smoking hulk of the lead Panzer

Meanwhile, the last unrevealed anti-tank gun fires - and knocks out another Panzer II

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)

The Polish anti-tank gun by the road joins in too (right), knocking out the other German tank in the centre (red smoke)

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...

The last German tank on the flank attacks! It causes quite widespread panic amongst the Poles

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...)

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)

Another German squad goes hors de combat...

The Polish infantry in the trenches finally succumb...

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)

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!

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!)

The Panzer Company commander charges in, killing and scattering the remainder of the Poles in this sector!

Finally, the German FOO gets the artillery firing on the other Polish 37mm....

At least one German sub-unit has managed to achieve its objectives efficiently today!

The last German panzer (the Company commander) outflanks the few remaining Polish defenders, who run off!

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

Kampfgruppe Heller: Battle 05, Poland

Okay, the next battle is the sixth in this series following Just Jack's awesome original 'Kampfgruppe von Klink' campaign, and is taken from this original game. The premise is that the successful Polish armoured counter-attack has petered out due to logistic and co-ordination constraints, and this engagement takes place whilst 4 Panzer Division is regrouping for its counter-counter-attack, with infantry elements from both sides bumping into each other during that regrouping process...

As with the other games in this series, I am using a set of rules in the playtest stage called Gummipanzergrenadier, written by John D Salt.

The Forces:

The Germans:

Company Command: command Squad (SMG + Belt-fed LMG), armoured car

2 x Infantry Platoons: 3 squads (Rifle + Belt-fed LMG), 1 attached MMG

The Poles:

Company command section (Rifles)

3 x Dismounted cavalry platoons, each of 3 sections (Rifle + BAR)

1 x Mounted cavalry platoon, 3 sections (Rifle + BAR)

I played this before receiving some of the feedback about including more of the platoon and company weapons available to both sides - I will include more in some of the upcoming games.

 

The Germans are advancing from the West, the Poles from the East (right).

The German company commander is at the corner of the abandoned village, whilst his two platoons to each flank catch-up (bottom-left and top-left)

The Polish company, with three infantry platoons (actually dismounted cavalry) and a mounted cavalry platoon (top)

The last Polish infantry platoon is somewhat off to the South, on the Polish Left (right)

The Battle:

The German platoon reaches the abandoned village

The other German platoon advances towards the wooded hill, as are their Polish opponents

The Germans get into the woods just before the Poles - German fire at quite close quarters halts the Polish advance; the Polish cavalry platoon has cleared through the top-end of the woods (top-left)

the last Polish platoon is brought to a halt by intense fire in the woods by the village

The German platoon in the woods has, after a few rounds of fighting, has eliminated the Polish platoon that was caught on the hill on front of it, and has switched its fire to the other Polish platoon, caught in the field (centre-right); but the Polish Cavalry platoon is patrolling back through the woods behind the Germans in the woods (top, hard to spot!)

A final burst of very accurate rifle and machine gun fire finishes off most of the second Polish platoon which had been caught in the field; the armoured car has helped (a little!)

After suffering devastating casualties, the third dismounted Polish platoon pulls back

The Polish cavalry attack entirely miscarried! Their fire serving mainly just to alert the Germans to their presence, only suppressing a couple of the Germans, the German platoon simply turned around and decimated the Poles(!)

The Polish company commander is trapped; attempting to escape means almost certain death...unless the Germans pull back, he and his staff must be made PoW...

Position at the end of the battle

Game Notes:

Well, that was a considerable turnaround in fortunes! Apologies for the quite quick wrapping up of this game, quite a few of the phots didn't turn out well at all, so some of the back-and-forth firefights have been summarized as if they were quick, when in fact they took several turns.  The Polish company was absolutely devastated, loosing 29 KIA and 73 WIA, most of whom who were made prisoners, as were 5 unwounded Poles.  The Germans suffered only 2 KIA and 5 WIA: a truly lop-sided result.  Every marginal thing seemed to go the Germans way - in particular, the miscarriage of the Polish attack from the rear was pretty miserable - the Polish commander might well think himself hard done by, as that should have worked. Oberst Heller on the other hand is smiling once again, this victory putting him back in OKH's good books...

The other ace the Germans had - their possession of heavy weapons, even in very small quantities - wasn't quite as important as their outrageous luck, but it was important, particularly in the destruction of the middle of the dismounted Polish platoon, which found itself stuck, unable to advance or retire, and waiting for the inevitable lucky throw to deliver the coup de grace. Even on the matter of winning the first action on key turns, luck was with the Germans - everytime it mattered they won the roll.

As previously, models a mixture of Baccus, H&R, Scotia, Leven, Battlescale and Timecast.

Kampfgruppe Heller: Battle 04, Poland

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:

Germans attacking from the West (left), Poles from the East (right)

The very weak German infantry company wends its way through the woods.

The German tank platoon in its wedge formation

The two Vickers tank platoons behind the treeline

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...

A Polish Cavalry Pl in the woods

The Battle:

The German Panzer Platoon breaks left

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)

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

Note the Vickers-dw on the road at the top - they need to get out of there!

The German infantry and Polish cavalry continue to advance

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...

Followed by another Panzer II, again by a 7TP!

The 7TPs who have done such great work (bottom-right)

The Polish cavalry and German infantry bump into each other at the edge of the wood

A wider view at this stage of the battle

Close-range fighting begins at the edge of the wood...two German squads go down in the first minute...

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

The game is of course up for the Germans - the last remaining vehicles escape, avoiding the Polish 'seeing them off' fire

The remnants of the German infantry join them...

The scene at the end of the battle

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.