Silly After Action Report - Just Flakking About

Grim faced German soldiers checked their weapons one final time. Hard bitten assault engineers hefted demolition charges and checked flamethrowers. The air was filled with the sound of revving engines as tanks and fearsome looking halftracks mounting rapid fire flak guns moved into position.  And over it all a dreadful wailing unnerved all who heard it.

"Sir please," said Major von Kummerbund desperately, "the troops are ready to move out."  In between hysterical sobs Oberst von Kattelrussler attempted to burrow himself a little deeper into a foxhole he had apparently dug with his fingernails.
"We're doomed," wailed von Kattelrussler.  "Half tracks and flamethrowers, the gods are cruel this day!"
"Sir, it's all right," von Kummerbunds voice would have soothed a rabid dog. "The troubles with flamethrowers and half tracks are in the past.  Those were in your early days sir.  You have risen above them now.  Think of your Knight's Cross.  Think of your Order of St Dympna.  Would St Dympna quail at such a moment.  You are a hero, a standard bearer of Nazi Germany and the troops only await your inspiring presence."
"Really," von Kattelrussler's haunted eyes sought reassurance in von Kummerbund's face.
"Absolutely sir, the men won't go on without you."
One of the obert's hands scrabbled clawlike at his chest until it touched the peculiarly tasteless ribbon the Slovaks had given him.  Touching it seemed to soothe him.
"You're right, von Kummerbund.  The Fuhrer himself is relying on me."  Von Kattelrussler jerked to his feet so quickly that von Kummerbund almost fell over but the oberst didn't see him.  He was already striding from his tent bellowing his demand for a place on a half track.
Junior Officer watched him go then turned to von Kummerbund,
"Just out of idle curiosity Herr Major, are you trying to get the oberst killed?"
Von Kummerbund gave an evil smile, "No comment."

So this is Scenario BFP 126 Give 'Em Some Flak.  Here I shall command a mixed bunch of Germans supported by some inadequate tanks and some awesome but rather flimsy halftracks attempting to overrun a fortified Polish position.  I have three squads of assault engineers equipped with demo charges and a flamethrower.  I also have seven squads of first line troops to back them up with the usual complement of medium and light machine guns and a big 81mm mortar.  To assist with the overrunning I have four tanks (two PzIs and two PzIIs) and six unarmoured half tracks mounting 37mm and 20mm flak guns.  In addition to this assault force I also have the wreckage of the previous attempt to capture the position; seven second line squads and a pair of light machine guns.

Commanding the Poles Ivan has ten first line squads, four heavy machine guns, a 46mm mortar and a 100mm artillery piece which can only fire HE (although given the paucity of armour on my "armoured" vehicles that shouldn't be too much of a hindrance).  But the backbone of Ivan's forces are the fortifications; five pillboxes, eight trench counters and eight wire counters.  Coming late to the party he also has three more squads with a leader and an antitank rifle arriving on turn four.

Per SSR the second line squads have to set up around three designated hexes on the Polish side of the river. The remainder of my troops set up on the north side, the vehicles enter on Turn 1 or later.  Two fords are the only two practical ways of getting across said river.  To win I have to capture four of the five pillboxes while losing less than 28 CVP, a generous allotment you might say but those thin skinned vehicles add up to a lot rather quickly.

This is the set up.  Ivan cringes behind his defences as the storm approaches

In response to Ivan's defences I essentially split my force in two.  The assault engineers plus with the flamethrower and a couple of soak up squads would hit the west (left) backed up by a pair of PzI tanks while most of my first line squads would take the less impressive looking defensive position on the right backed up by the PzIIs.  My mortar was set up to dump smoke on his forward defenders in the building while my second line squads were to deal with his forward forces.  The halftracks I held back.  Their firepower is impressive but so is their vulnerability.  I decided to leave them off until I could figure out what to do with them.

It all went frighteningly well.  On the right Ivan's impressive looking stacks turned out to be dummies and my second liners surged forward through the trees leaving the designated assault force choking in their dust.  My 81mm obediently dropped a smoke round on his squad in the centre house and my first line troops sloshed across the ford and plunged into close combat (not without losses of course but goddammit this is war).  Of course I pushed my luck too far with the mortar, gaining rate on the smoke round I tried to drop another into the road to give myself some cover from the artillery piece which I figured had to be lurking in a convenient location. I ran out of smoke and that was the war over for the mortar.  On the left my second line troops managed to break his defenders and some (if I say so myself) slick manoeuvring with the assault engineers and my PzIs resulted in a crop of prisoners.

End of German turn 1

 My tanks rolled forward and on the left a PzI discovered a boresighted location for one of Ivan's hmgs fortunately without damage.  Having covered most of the distance in the first turn the next four would involve nervous attempts to cross the remaining distance between myself and Ivan's defences.  On the right I had a "success" of sorts.  Cheerfully sacrificing my second line troops on the altar of Mars I tied up his machine guns and then managed to run a squad around the left hand pillbox and into CC with its defenders. My shout of delight when I rolled a four died away when Ivan responded by rolling a three.  Both squads died but as the previous owner Ivan still technically held the title deeds to the pillbox.  The casualties to the rest of my force there left me temporarily without a right flank.  In backplay the CC for the centre building raged on despite my reinforcing it so I had two squads and a leader against Ivan's lone squad.  On the left I eased incrementally forward, Ivan for the most part choosing to remain beneath concealment counters.  I got very bold with my tanks though, too bold.  One rolled into the teeth of his hmg fire and with heavy calibre bullets pinging off its none too secure armour managed to drop some vehicular smoke allowing my troops.  The other ripped some useful holes in his barbed wire and circled in an attempt to reach the rear of Ivan's position. In fact it just got adjacent to his 100mm and was promptly reduced to scrap.  On the right I sent one around to the right to support my suddenly non existent right flank while the other had plans to go left.  I also brought on some halftracks so I didn't forget them but left them well out of danger.  My right hand assault troops moved up to take over flank duties from my shattered second liners (they're hiding under halftracks in the picture below, von Kattelrussler would be so proud).

Things don't look bad but the casualty count is climbing

I changed my mind in the next turn.  I decided to leave the right hand pillboxes to my surviving second liners, surely some would rally (nope) and the newly arrived squads.  I turned both PzIIs around and sent them straight up against the 100mm pausing only to break a squad on the way.  With not one but two tanks breathing down his neck Ivan had no choice but to shoot and hope for the best.  His first shot immobilised a PzII (fortunately the crew remained in the vehicle) but an intensive fire shot broke the gun.  Then he boxcarred a morale check for the crew.  Dead gun, dead crew.  On the far left I was inching forward at a speed normally associated with arthritic slugs but in the centre I managed to pull the vehicle smoke trick again (this has never worked for me before, now its happened twice in the same scenario truly the gods are fickle).  This permitted me to ease my flamethrower team into what would be a useful position once the smoke cleared.  An attempt to move a half squad with a demo charge into a useful position simply resulted in its death but the smoke allowed me to move a squad in, pick up the DC and charge forward.  Or at least it would have done if I hadn't rolled a 6 on the pick up dr.  Not to worry, there was a second squad nearby so it moved in to try its luck, another 6.  I may have indulged in a little profanity at this point.  At least I'm pretty sure I heard one of Ivan's kids in the background saying "Daddy, what does 'motherfucker' mean?"

On the right I moved troops towards the empty pillbox and (very temporarily) occupied it.  In response Ivan abandoned the right most pillbox and chased them out again, and by "chased out" I mean "killed".  Oh and I finally managed to kill his squad in the centre which had been holding up two squads and a leader in CC.

The right is still a problem but the left is looking better by the moment

The pieces were more or less in position on the left now and some searing bursts of flame cleaned out a pillbox and some defenders in a trench.  It wasn't quite that simple of course.  A 20+1 shot slaughter broken prisoners and ELR'ed their guards but the general progress was forward and Ivan now simply didn't have the troops to stop me. I swarmed into CC with his remaining troops while my surviving tanks and half tracks rolled over his position to deny rout to his broken units.  On the right I managed to break his surviving squad and looked forward to retaking the pillbox for the third time.  Ivan's reinforcements arrived in time to hold a requiem mass for the departed.  He pushed them up the far right hand side of the board and managed to occupy the pillbox there but with literally no other troops left on the board they

had little chance of rescuing the situation.  Ivan resigned at this point.  When I first saw the scenario I thought it would be tough on the Germans but the sheer number of squads and tanks they possess make it hard for the Poles to win I think.  If the Poles are to stand a chance I think they need to have a forward defence and try and hammer the fords and open ground to the north but there are still those second line German squads to consider.

There's still a CC on the left but this is all that's left of Ivan's at start force

 

Major von Kummerbund stood staring at the wreckage of the Polish position.  The few surviving defenders were being hustled towards the rear.  Junior Officer approached him and saluted but the major wasn't looking.  Instead he gazed fixedly at Oberst von Kattelrussler who was pirouetting on the top of a half track clutching a flamethrower as if it was a dance partner.

"On the positive side," said Junior Officer hesitantly, "that actually went rather well."

"Yes," von Kummerbund ground the word out from between clenched teeth.  "Another triumph for Oberst von Kattelrussler.  Do you want to get started on the victory celebrations or shall I?"