Panzer Grenadier: Iron Wolves
Developer’s Preview, Part One
By Doug McNair
August 2010

Iron Wolves is now here with REAL die-cut-and-mounted counters representing the units and leaders for the Lithuanian Army, Lithuanian Defense Force and Polish Home Army in the Panzer Grenadier system. All come in their own national or service branch colors, and they include three brand new tank types never before seen in PG: the V4t, LTL and T22, plus the L181 armored car. There are also plenty of Lithuanian INF, HMG and CAV units that get to fight alongside the Germans in one scenario and against them in others, and which fight against the Poles and Soviets as well.

Iron Wolves can also act as a boot camp for German, Polish and Soviet Leader Characters before they embark on the grand campaigns of Campaigns and Commanders: War in the East. Almost all Iron Wolves scenarios involving Polish forces take place in September 1939 or earlier, and all those involving Soviet forces take place in or before June 1941. So, players can create new Leader Characters using the Campaigns and Commanders rules and then insert them into Iron Wolves scenarios. This will allow them to gain experience, skills and promotions that will give them a head start on the enemy when the “real” war breaks out.

With that, here’s a preview of the first five scenarios in Iron Wolves with commentary by me:

Scenario One
Over the Nieman
March 1939

Lithuania seized the Baltic port of Memel (Klaipeda in Lithuanian) from League of Nations control in 1923, and incorporated it into the republic as an autonomous region. The repressive regime of Antanas Smetona in Lithuania alienated many inhabitants of the area, even ethnic Lithuanians. In early 1939 Adolf Hitler began agitating for the territory's return to Germany, threatening the use of force if he did not get his way.

Note: This scenario uses boards and pieces from Eastern Front, boards from Road to Berlin and pieces from White Eagles.

Conclusion

Lithuania did not, in fact, resist Hitler's demands and hoped the acquiesence would buy them their freedom. But trapped between two brutal dictators, their own little dictatorship could not long remain independent. Had the Lithuanians chosen to fight, the first line of resistance would have been the Nieman River. The new German panzer force was not yet the powerful iron fist that would crush army after army, and the 4th Panzer Brigade was a pure tank force that would later be divided between the ad-hoc Kempf and 10th Panzer Divisions for the invasion of Poland.

Developer’s Commentary

Here is a VERY early scenario in which a force of German tanks and infantry tries to force its way across a major river defended by the Lithuanian 1st Infantry Division. The Germans have superior morale and armor on their side, but their tankers have not been trained in combined-arms tactics yet so they cannot perform combat movement together with infantry per rule 5.45. This will slow the progress of German assaults on the bridges, making effective use of German off-board artillery plus fire teams formed by leaders with combat bonuses all the more important.

Scenario Two
Memel Land
March 1939

Grossly outnumbered by the total strength of the German Wehrmacht, Lithuania's three infantry divisions could have made a stand against the limited forces the Germans could have deployed from East Prussia. German troops still had to be detailed to watch the French and Czech frontiers, and British and French naval power could have interdicted sea communications with the rest of Germany. In that situation, Lithuania’s general reserve — a single brigade of cavalry with some tank support — would have to seal off any breakthrough.

Note: This scenario uses boards from Road to Berlin and pieces from Eastern Front and White Eagles.

Conclusion

Lithuania, like Poland, had a long cavalry tradition and, like the Poles, had gained a great deal of battlefield experience in their 1919 war against the Soviet Union. Still, the Lithuanian cavalry was well-regarded and likely would have given a good account of itself had it been allowed to fight for its country.

Developer’s Commentary

Here a Lithuanian cavalry brigade comes to the rescue of Lithuanian infantry holding a roadblock against a German cavalry breakthrough. A quick and fast-moving scenario in which the Germans will use heavy forest terrain to screen themselves from Lithuanian cavalry charges, while the Lithuanians try to slow the Germans and keep them from exiting the east edge.

Scenario Three
Holy Vilnius
September 1939

Despite fighting together against the Reds in their first years of independence, friendship between Poland and Lithuania proved impossible once Poland seized Lithuania's ancient capital, Vilnius, in 1922. In 1939, the Germans urged Lithuania to join them in their attack on Poland and regain Vilnius. Many in the army and government wanted to follow through.

Note: This scenario uses boards from Road to Berlin, a board and pieces from Eastern Front, and pieces from White Eagles.

Conclusion

Lithuania's refusal to assault Vilnius in September 1939 spared them from having to face the 1st Infantry Division, Pilsudski's Legion, one of the toughest units in the Polish army. At the end of September the Germans made a deal with the Soviets placing Lithuania in the Soviet sphere of influence, and the Soviets allowed them to occupy Vilnius unopposed on 9 October. They would not enjoy their conquest for long.

Developer’s Commentary

A very large scenario in which a combined force of Lithuanian tanks and infantry tries to defeat an elite Polish infantry division and retake the traditional Lithuanian capital. The Lithuanians have numbers and armor on their side and I gave them a bit of Luftwaffe air support as well, because the higher-morale Poles will be hard to dislodge.

Scenario Four
Common Cause
September 1939

Fearing security leaks, the Germans did not approach the Lithuanians until after their attack on Poland was under way. Therefore, as with their Slovak allies on Poland's southern border there was no joint planning before the attack. But Lithuania did have a mobile formation that would have been useful if joined with the German Army's similar brigade.

Note: This scenario uses boards from Road to Berlin and pieces from Eastern Front and White Eagles.

Conclusion

Lithuania decided against aligning itself with Germany, leading to occupation by the Soviet Union and loss of the nation's independence. But personal freedom had already been lost, and after 1926 the only question was the language of oppression. The German cavalry brigade was simply not as good as its Lithuanian or Polish counterparts.

Developer’s Commentary

Another short cavalry engagement in which Lithuanian and German cavalry are fighting side by side against elite Polish cavalry. But the Lithuanians and Germans have made no joint battle plans, so their leaders can’t activate each other’s units or give morale or combat bonuses to each other. This will make things very tough on the Lithuanians if their lower-quality German co-belligerents crumble in the face of Polish cavalry charges.

Scenario Five
Staggered Assault
September 1939

The tough Polish 1st Infantry Division moved away from Vilnius by rail soon after the start of the German invasion, leaving defense of the area to the hastily-mobilized 35th Reserve Division. Made up mostly of KOP border guards, the 35th was not nearly as formidable an opponent as the Pilsudski Legion. And as Lithuania was not fully mobilized on September 1st, some weeks would have gone by before the Iron Wolves crossed the border.

Note: This scenario uses boards from Road to Berlin and pieces from White Eagles.

Conclusion

It's difficult to judge the potential performance of an army that fought no battles. The Lithuanians had nationalist spirit on their side, with the desire to recover their old capital of Vilnius, but the Poles considered Wilno a truly Polish city as almost the entire population spoke Polish. The Polish reserve divisions crumbled under German attack, but the Lithuanians had no practical air power, their artillery was just as weak as that of the Poles and they did not have the crushing numerical superiority enjoyed by the Germans.

Developer’s Commentary

Here a numerically superior Lithuanian infantry force attacks a Polish National Guard unit. The Poles have plenty of defensible terrain on their side while the Lithuanians do not have the benefit of higher morale. The Lithuanians will therefore need to utilize their ancient FT17 tanks very carefully to get the combined-arms assault bonuses that will be essential to driving the Poles out of the towns.

That’s all for today! Tune in next time for a preview of the remaining five Iron Wolves scenarios, in which the Lithuanians get a crack at young and untried Red Army units in 1940, and try to defend against avenging Polish Home Army units in 1944.

Click here for Part Two.

This piece originally appeared in December 2008.

Iron Wolves is available now — click here to order!