Silly After Action Report Part 1 Polish Panzerjagers

By the 2nd of September 1939 the Polish high command had come to the conclusion that yesterdays invasion wasn't just an elaborate practical joke on the part of their wacky German neighbours and had started to take serious countermeasures.  Down Krakow way things were getting increasingly awkward as the Germans demonstrated the benefits of a heavy manufacturing base.  Chunks of self propelled steel rolled inexorably forward as dramatic music played over scratchy black and white newsreels.

The Polish general in command turned to his aide,
"Fetch me panzerjagers!"
"No problem," replied the aide, "I think I've got a couple of bottles out back."
"I said panzerjagers you idiot!"
"Sorry, you confused me by speaking German."
"Have you seen the Polish word for panzerjagers?  It's fifteen syllables long.  What have we got in the way of reserves?"
"A bunch of guns and mortars and some vehicles that look like scaled up dinky toys."
"Fine, get them and tell them they're now panzerjagers."

So, this is Scenario BFP110; Polish Panzerjagers.  Here I command a large, well equipped German force trying to prove that the first day of blitzkrieg wasn't just a fluke.  I have twenty first line squads, four squads of elite assault engineers, seven officers, a clutch of machine guns and antitank rifles, two small mortars, two big mortars, a 37mm anti tank gun, three trucks, some motorcycles plus artillery and air support.  Oh yes, I also have sixteen AFVs ranging from open topped armoured cars to a pair of PzIVs.  What more could I want?  How about a few less Poles?

To counter my panzerkeil in miniature Ivan Kent has an eclectic but seriously formidable Polish force.  Six green squads, six first line squads and five elite squads kitted out with a wide array of antitank rifles and heavy and medium machine guns.  Supporting this force are two small mortars, one really big mortar, two 37mm anti tank guns and three 76mm artillery pieces.  As if this isn't enough he gets his own armour support on turn three in the shape of five modestly sized but not unimpressive Polish tanks.

The battlefield is a village in a bowl surrounded by high hills on three sides.  All of this territory is under Ivan's control at the start.  Two win I have to amass 85 victory points.  VPs are awarded for territory taken; specifically each level 3 hex is worth three VP, each single hex building on board DW5 is worth one and each multihex building is worth five.  My forces enter on the south-west corner and immediately have to decide whether to plough through woods and gullys (slow) or open ground (deadly).  Ivan's set up wasn't particularly helpful to me as his most deadly weapons are all hidden.

I decided on a staggered approach, I would bring on a small (expendable) force to probe his defences and draw some fire while holding back my main forces until things were a bit clearer.  So my initial attack force consisted of a handful of squads and halfsquads plus a few expendable AFVs (armoured cars and PzIs).  I had already decided that my main point of attack would be down the south to capture the southern hill mass and launch an assault into the village from there.  Diversionary forces would occupy his troops in the centre and north.

Naturally my campaign opened with a disaster.  Ivan had two concealed stacks in the southern woods that I needed to clear in order to move forward.  One was rapidly revealed as a dummy but the other was a full strength green squad which proceeded to cover themselves with glory.  Firstly they killed the half squad I sent to strip their concealment, fair enough, but then I advanced a squad into CC (and bypass sleazed them with a PzI command tank).  Naturally they killed my squad and I had to go through the entire process again taking two turns before I finally wiped them out.  Along the way the PzI broke its MA and a failed repair roll sent it slinking to the rear.  Not bad for a single green squad.

A somewhat circumspect advance but I'm capturing lots of forest

Across the open ground I sent an armoured car to reveal another of his squads and he responded with fire so effective that that car fled for the rear as well.  There are going to be some drumhead courts martial when I'm finished here.  Still I pressed forward, essentially advancing until he shot me in the face whereupon I came to a halt.  My air support astonished me by being useful, breaking one of his squads and giving him nervous moments before they went home for breakfast.  In the north a small group pressed forward, mainly to occupy the attention of his troops there but also to start guarding the entrance points for his armour.

The first couple of turns were quite slow, possibly I should have risked the casualties and brought on more troops but instead I brought on a batch more with some more tanks (PzIIs) in the second turn and bulked up on the south.  He held me for a turn there and inflicted some nasty casualties from positions up in the hills including a 76mm gun but then my artillery pounded him off and I was able to ease forward.  In the centre he took out a tank with an atr but return fire finally had its effect and I broke his forward crust.  Along the way I tripped over a 37mm gun he had hidden in the forest and just for once killed the crew in CC.  At least that's one less thing to worry about.

Starting to move

In the centre I pushed down the road between the two recently cleared hills towards his next defensive position in the woods.  In the north what I mostly pushed was my luck resulting in another armoured car getting killed but my infantry trotted forward, angling south to catch his position in the woods between two fires while I brought on a pair of PzIIs up there to give any reinforcing Polish tanks something to think about.

Artillery has broken his position on the hill in the south.  Things are a little more ambiguous elsewhere.

The next couple of turns were, I think, ones of missed opportunity.  I held back the rest of my force in turn three rather than bring it on, a mistake in retrospect, bringing it on in turn four put me behind schedule.   Also Ivan revealed another 76mm gun on the northeastern hill mass and nailed one of my precious PzIVs before it could fire a shot although the crew hopped out providing me with a little more expendable infantry.  The other, flanked by a pair of PzIs has sidled up behind the southern hill mass to give my intended assault a little more punch.  Ivan also revealed his 81mm mortar, likewise on the northeastern hills which is started to cause serious concerns for my infantry.  On the plus side I've captured one of his 76mm guns and I  blundered into his second 37mm whose crew I also killed.  A combination of bypass and firepower has neutralised his position in the centre woods (although a CC still rages and I fear for my squad despite the fact that its only facing a half squad) and my infantry are now starting to move towards the village from the west as well.  My artillery has been a bit silent since its early moment of glory but now I really need to get back in touch with the battery to shoot my troops forward.

Ivan's tanks have rolled on (my northern PzIIs weren't quite in a position to stop them).  One pair of his tanks are sitting on the other side of a hill from aforementioned PzIIs and both seem quite happy to let the war be decided without them for the time being.  The other three are rolling down deep in the east, no doubt looking to cause my southern troops embarrassment should they ever get into position to assault the village.

I think I'm about a turn behind and I have to suffer another turn of pounding from Ivan's big guns before I can move forward.  I'm hoping he rolls a lot of boxcars.  Hoping Ivan rolls boxcars has been my most successful tactic so far.