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

As promised, here’s a preview of the latter five scenarios in Panzer Grenadier: Iron Wolves, with commentary by me. Click here for the first batch.

Scenario Six
Back to Memel
September 1939

Polish arrogance between the wars cost them a number of potential alliances, chiefly with Czechoslovakia. Returning Vilnius to Lithuania would have cleared the way to restore the close association dating back over four centuries as seen as recently as the Polish-Soviet War, when Lithuanian soldiers fought for Poland well after Lithuania made peace with the Soviet Union. Just as the Poles tried to divert the Germans by invading East Prussia, so the Lithuanians faced an inviting target in the recently-lost Klaipeda/Memel.

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

Conclusion

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was at one time the largest nation in Europe, but in 1939 the two culturally-related states had become bitter enemies. A diversionary attack would have done little to alter the strategic situation even if successful, but Lithuania would have had a chance to strike a blow against Nazism and perhaps awaken the Western Allies to the fact that a shooting war was under way.

Developer’s Commentary

Here a full-strength Lithuanian infantry regiment attacks a river line held by a German infantry battalion. The river is Major with relatively tough crossing numbers, so this one will be all about the Lithuanians taking the bridges. They do not have superior morale or armor support, so it will be a tough job even though they outnumber the Germans by 3 to 1.

Scenario Seven
Kaunas Stampede
June 1940

Lithuanian dictator Antanas Smetona wanted to resist the Soviet occupation in June 1940, but his political and military leaders refused to go along. Had the Lithuanians made the brave but futile gesture, the Soviet invasion would have been spearheaded by V.I. Kuznetsov's Third "Vitebsk" Army. The Red Army came well-equipped with tanks and guns, but its dismal performance in Finland had weakened its reputation.

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

Conclusion

Soviet tank brigades were not balanced forces, lacking enough infantry to really support their armored element. They were converted into better-organized tank divisions during 1940 and 1941, following the experiences of the Nomonhan campaign against the Japanese in the fall of 1939. The Lithuanians were not well-equipped with anti-tank guns in 1939, but would have had the chance to learn from the Polish campaign by the time the Soviets struck.

Developer’s Commentary

Here a Lithuanian infantry force gets to defend against a very early version of a Soviet tank brigade. As noted above, the Soviet tanks far outnumber their own infantry, so they will come to grief if they participate in town assaults. I therefore structured the scenario as a Red Army breakthrough attempt, with the Soviets entering on the east edge of the map and scoring victory points for exiting units off the west edge. But there is plenty of forest and swamp terrain in the way, so the Soviets will have to work hard to keep their forces moving while not getting bogged down in assaults.

Scenario Eight
Bet Lietuvis Neprazus
June 1940

Lithuania only managed to hold onto Vilnius for just over eight months. Had they chosen to resist the Soviet invasion, the ancient capital would not have been given up without a fight. The Lithuanian infantry was reasonably well-armed, but lacking in artillery and anti-tank weapons. The Soviets were themselves lacking in confidence following the Winter War, but had plenty of modern weapons.

Note: This scenario uses boards and pieces from Eastern Front and Road to Berlin. Only use Soviet leaders from Eastern Front.

Conclusion

The Red Army's overwhelming superiority in manpower and material would have eventually been brought to bear on the Lithuanians just as it had been on the Finns a few months before. Coming in the wake of the bloody Winter War, fearsome Lithuanian resistance might have brought rational Soviet leaders to the bargaining table. How Great Stalin would respond, however, one can only guess.

Developer’s Commentary

Here an entrenched force of approximately two Lithuanian infantry battalions defends the capital against an assault by two full-strength Soviet infantry regiments. The Soviets score victory points for taking town hexes, which are present on all six maps that make up the board. Covering all that urban terrain will stretch the Lithuanians badly, and Soviet air support will make their job even tougher. But a big factor working against the Soviets is an endemic problem the Red Army faced early in the war: too few officers with insufficient experience. The Soviets do not have superior morale or armor support, so their main means of getting the all-important positive column shifts in town assaults is by having leaders in those assaults. With only the thirteen leaders (plus two Kommissars) from the Eastern Front counter mix leading such a huge force, it will be very tough to maintain forward momentum.

Scenario Nine
Iron Wolves
June 1941

Like those of other Eastern European nations, the Lithuanian army tried to upgrade its weaponry by buying modern tanks from the Czech Skoda Works. Had the Lithuanians managed to complete their upgrade plans, they would have had a formidable armored force to send into battle alongside the Germans in 1941. Just like the Germans, they would have found their "modern" tanks badly outclassed by the Red Army's secret weapons.

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

Conclusion

Fifth Tank Division stood on Lithuanian soil when the German attack took place; it had 50 new T-34 tanks and a large number of older light tanks but proved no obstacle to the rampaging panzers. Against a Lithuanian armored formation, the story might have been different. The Lithuanians certainly wanted tanks, and Albert Goering, Skoda's chief of sales in eastern and southern Europe, wanted to sell them to them. But his brother's patronage only kicked in periodically, and the Lithuanian order for LTL tanks was not filled before the Soviet takeover and the tanks went to Slovakia instead.

Developer’s Commentary

I agonized over this scenario for a long time. The Lithuanians field a tank force that is quite respectable for the day, but is badly outclassed by the Hammer of the Proletariat. Rather than just reducing the number of T-34s the Soviets get (which would only delay the inevitable), I redid the maps so that the Lithuanians can gain VPs early by grabbing town hexes. They will then have to hunker down there against counterattacks by the Soviet tanks, hoping that cover provided by the towns will help them survive. They’ll also have to use their off-board artillery effectively to wear-down the Soviet infantry so that the Lithuanian infantry can make a last-minute break across the river to take a town on the far side.

Scenario Ten
Tyranny and Mutation
13-14 May 1944

As Germany began to lose the Second World War, occupied lands were called on to provide manpower for the German war effort — factory and agricultural workers, for the most part, but also second-line troops for use against partisans. When members of one of these formations, the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force, were implicated in the mass murder of Polish civilians in the province of Volhynia, the Polish Home Army planned a strike against one of the larger Lithuanian units in the area.

Note: This scenario uses a board from Battle of the Bulge.

Conclusion

The Battle of Murowana Oszmianka took place outside pre-war Lithuanian territory, and the unwilling "volunteers" had no desire to fight for Nazi Germany. The Poles practically wiped out the Lithuanian battalion, taking over 300 prisoners who were disarmed and allowed to march back to Lithuanian Defense Force headquarters wearing only their underwear and steel helmets. Large numbers of Lithuanian troops began to desert, and the day after the underwear-clad survivors returned the Germans massacred about 100 of them.

Developer’s Commentary

Here’s a quick end-of-war scenario to round out the module. An entrenched but low-morale Lithuanian Defense Force battalion tries to hold a town against a night assault by Polish Home Army. The Poles have numbers on their side but their morale is mediocre and they have no armor or artillery support. Taking towns and trenches from the Lithuanians will be difficult, but their one advantage is the fact that they are led by regular Polish Army leaders (who are generally quite high-quality).

That covers it for Iron Wolves. Stay tuned to the website for more expansion modules!

This piece originally appeared in December 2008.

Iron Wolves is available now — click here to order!