| Tactics
in White Eagles
Scenario 23: Polish Armor
Part 2: 1000–1045
By Doug McNair
April 2008
1st Panzer Division’s drive against the Polish lines near Piotrkow continues in today’s episode of my White Eagles Scenario 23 replay. As Episode One came to a close, the German recon companies had cut behind the Polish left flank and were within one move of a weakly protected three-hex town behind Polish lines. This has had the desired effect of drawing Polish reserves leftward so that the main German drive against the Polish right and center can continue unimpeded. But the two German rifle battalions crossing the wide kill zone west of the towns are suffering from very accurate Polish direct and bombardment fire, and if that continues the German drive may lose much of its strength and cohesion before it reaches Polish lines. The German officers will need to wait for their newly unloaded mortars soften up Polish positions before sending their infantry in to assault the Polish lines.
The battle continues.
Turn Five: 1000 Hours
The Germans win initiative by one activation, and the recon companies drive straight for the three-hex town near the southeast corner. A motorcycle platoon immediately drives out of range of the HMGs in the swamp and makes for the road, then drives up the road and adjacent to the sole Polish INF platoon holding the town (since that’s the only way it can make it into the town this turn). The Poles open up with opportunity fire, and the Germans roll and 11 on their morale check and become demoralized! A second motorcycle platoon makes it through opportunity fire and to within two hexes of the town, but the Sergeant with it becomes disrupted. Then the two undisrupted SdKfz222 armored car platoons make for the town, and both Polish AT gun batteries in the swamp continue their abysmal performance and miss with opportunity fire (the Polish tanks can’t fire because the first hex the armored cars moved into is just beyond the plane of the woods and outside the tanks’ LOS). The disrupted armored car unit (the only target any Polish AT gun or tank has actually hit thus far) fails to recover morale. The Poles respond by assaulting the disrupted German Captain and the half-strength MTC platoon that failed to get by the Polish flank, but both sides pass all morale checks.
German offboard artillery fires at the AT gun in the northern woods (dead ahead of the northern German rifle battalion’s advance), but the Poles pass the morale check. Polish offboard artillery fire is also ineffective, and another German offboard artillery barrage on the same hex disrupts the Porucznik there but does nothing to the units! Polish mortar fire then disrupts the only good-order MTC unit remaining from the recon companies, leaving nothing but the two armored car platoons to challenge the Poles for the town next turn. This also negates any assault risk to the Polish tanks, so they split left and right and move adjacent to the disrupted armored car and the demoralized MTC (they’ll get point-blank fire bonuses next turn).
The southern rifle battalion activates and advances across the kill zone, while the battalion’s mortars hit the highly resilient Polish AT gun battery in the woods again but do no damage. A Polish tank platoon moves to a field hex at the Polish center where it will have a shot at the advancing Germans.
Fire from the northern battalion’s mortars is also ineffective against the AT guns, and the Poles send an INF unit out of the swamps to assist in the assault on the disrupted German Lieutenant and MTC unit at the south edge. The German offboard artillery battalion disgraces itself, with its last shot on the Polish AT guns rolling a 7 for no effect (an ENTIRE BATTALION plus mortars poured its fire into that hex and did nothing but rattle a Porucznik). A Porucznik then pulls a reserve INF unit back from the town at the south board edge and moves up behind the Polish tanks readying to attack the German recon companies. The Germans respond by sending their PzII and PzJrI tanks and tank destroyers in to support the flanking action.
The Major commanding the northern rifle battalion moves his three HMG platoons plus an INF platoon up to within firing range of the woods, and the Polish HMGs in the woods hold fire in case the German INF go in for a frontal assault. The Poles pass, and the rest of the northern battalion activates with two INF units moving up to the edge of the northern field and within spotting range of the northernmost Polish position in the woods. That draws opportunity fire, and the roll of 3 on the 11 column scores an M2 result, which demoralizes a German INF unit. More opportunity fire is ineffective, and return fire from German platoons along the line is also ineffective while a demoralized German INF unit fails to recover and flees into the field. The Poles pass again, and the PzIIIF tanks in the field take four shots at the now-spotted Polish tank platoon in the woods at the north end of the line (they’ve got Armor Efficiency so they get two shots each). Due to range and cover they only hit on a 12, and all four shots go wide. But the Germans now have a powerful firing line within range of the Polish right flank, with plenty of leaders who can combine stacks into fire teams.
The Poruzcnik in the hex where all the artillery went recovers morale, and the German Lieutenant in the assault hex at the south board edge also recovers but his reduced MTC unit does not (even after the Lieutenant’s +2 morale bonus). The AT gun that withstood the entire might of German artillery and mortar fire shoots at a PzIIIF platoon in the field and misses, and the turn ends on further recoveries and redeployments.
Turn Six: 1015 Hours
The Poles win initiative by one activation, and the Porucznik from the reserve leads his INF unit into the southeastern town to block the German armored cars from getting in.
German offboard artillery rains on the anti-tank gun battery in the swamp on the Polish left, but rolls a 7 and does nothing! The Chorazy commanding the Polish left (his Kapitan is busy in an assault hex) orders that AT battery to fire at the incoming PzIIs, but it misses. The Chorazy then orders the INF unit that left the swamp to jump into the assault hex and assist the Kapitan. Since the German MTC failed to recover morale, the assault goes in on the 18 column to the 5 column, and this time the Poles win with a roll of 5 to the Germans’ 2. The MTC unit is destroyed (1 Polish VP), and the Lieutenant just barely escapes capture and is displaced from the assault hex. He gets revenge by calling in offboard artillery on the adjacent Poles, and finally the artillery gets the range and scores an M2 result that disrupts the Kapitan and one of his INF platoons. There is no friendly fire on the Lieutenant. The Polish tank platoon on the road near the eastern town FINALLY hits an armored car unit, doing one step loss (1 Polish VP) but failing to shake the morale of the other step. The Sergeant tells the armored cars to go through the woods and behind the town to get out of the tanks’ and AT guns’ LOS, and prepare to help him assault the town once he and his MTC unit recover. Unfortunately, they don’t recover, sot he armored cars are on their own.
The INF units of the southern German rifle battalion advance northwest, heading for the fields at the center of the Polish line and staying out of range of the Polish units at the north end of the swamps. The lead platoons pass the morale checks resulting from opportunity fire from the fields. Polish offboard artillery fire and German mortar fire are both ineffective, but Polish mortar fire rolls a 2 on the 16 column for an M2 result that disrupts both lead INF platoons.
Then the elite captain of the northern rifle battalion uses his +2 combat bonus to combine the fire of 3 x HMG and 2 x PzIIIF in an attack on the hex with the Polish AT guns in the northern woods. He’s firing at long range at the woods, but rolls a 3 and scores an X result, destroying the AT gun’s wagon and doing a step loss to the HMG unit in the same hex with it (1 German VP). The HMG unit and the AT gun battery are both disrupted, but their Porucznik is still good-order. he Poles have to wait to see what the rest of the battalion does, so the unactivated Kapitan in the southeastern town takes his INF platoon on an assault of the demoralized MTC in the hex west of town. The Poles get a +3 column shift for assaulting a demoralized unit with a Polish leader present, but they only score an M2 result and the MTC makes its morale check! The northern battalion’s mortars then hit the Polish INF platoons at the south end of the woods, and one Polish INF unit is disrupted. The Polish AT gun battery at the north end of the swamps fires but misses the disrupted armored cars east of the swamps (it was hoping to free up the tanks there). Then the remaining good-order units of the northern rifle battalion rush the south end of the woods to force the Poles there to fire rather than recover morale. Every German unit but one makes it through point-blank opportunity fire unscathed, and the one less fortunate unit is only disrupted. The Germans prepare to assault the woods next turn.
The Polish tank platoon just east of the swamps destroys the disrupted armored car unit at point-blank range (1 Polish VP; it rolled badly but the +2 crossfire bonus after the fire from the AT gun in the swamps made the difference). The southern German battalion brings its HMG platoons forward, and a Kapitan leads two Polish INF units north from the swamps to join the Polish line in the fields. Two other Polish INF units and the HMG move up to the north end of the swamp. That makes the gap between the field and the swamps a point-blank kill zone. The Captain in the northern field tries to get the two demoralized German INF units there to recover, and one of them rolls a 2 and recovers to good-order immediately while the other fails (but doesn’t have to flee since it’s in a safe hex). The Polish tank unit in the field moves forward to support the line.
The PzJrI unit then takes two shots at the Polish tank unit that destroyed the armored cars, bouncing shells off the tanks but just barely failing to score a step loss. With their left flank effectively bypassed, the Polish HMG at the south end of the swamp begins to pull back, and the two PzII tank platoons charge by it in an attempt to reach the unoccupied town hex near the south edge next turn.
The turn then ends with the demoralized MTC unit in the assault hex by the southeastern town recovering morale, and German light tanks redeploying northward toward the main action.
Turn Seven: 1030 Hours
The Germans have lost six steps so their initiative drops to 3, but they win initiative by one activation anyway. The assault on the Polish line in the northern woods goes in. Three German INF platoons plus two leaders assault the reduced, disrupted HMG, the disrupted AT gun and the Porucznik leading them. But the Poles benefit from the woods terrain and having a leader, so the assault is only on the 13 column vs. the 5 column. Both sides roll poorly, and the Poles make their morale check while the Germans suffer no ill effects. Then in the hex just to the south, two leaderless German INF platoons assault two leaderless Polish INF platoons, one of which is currently disrupted. Both roll on the 5 column, but the Germans roll a 6 to the Poles’ 1 and demoralize the already-disrupted Polish INF. So the assault starts off with less than good results, but it does pin down much of the Polish right flank.
The Polish reserve INF unit holding the southeastern town assaults the armored cars attempting to enter the town from behind. Neither side does any damage, but the assault effectively pins down the armored cars so they can’t enter the town. The PzII tanks that bypassed the Polish flank respond by rushing the empty town hex at the south edge of the board, but opportunity fire from the Polish tanks just to the north scores a hit and kills a German tank step (2 Polish VPs). But the other step makes its morale check, and the three remaining tank steps make it past opportunity fire from the AT gun and into the town (-3 Polish VPs, +5 German VPs).
The Poles and Germans exchange mortar and offboard artillery fire, but all target units make their morale checks. The Polish AT gun at the north end of the swamps misses the PzJrIs with a long-range shot, and more German mortar fire is ineffective. The Polish tank unit near the southeastern town dives into the assault hex, and the German MTC unit becomes demoralized again. The turn then ends abruptly on a Fog of War roll, with the southern battalion having not advanced due to lousy German artillery and mortar fire.
Turn Eight: 1045 Hours
The Poles win initiative by one activation, and the HMG and AT units in the northern woods assault try to recover morale. The AT platoon does but the HMG doesn’t, and the Germans try to finish the assault. They roll a 6 to the Poles’ 2, and destroy the AT battery (1 German VP) but do not shake the morale of the HMG or the Porucznik. The demoralized Polish unit in the other assault hex tries to recover morale and succeeds, and the resulting German assault does no damage to either side. The Polish line is holding, and a Porucznik from the north end of the line sends an INF platoon south to support the defense.
German offboard artillery takes yet another shot at the Polish center, and the Kapitan in the exposed hex gets disrupted but his two INF units do not. Polish offboard artillery is ineffective, and an M2 result from a second German OBA barrage does not shake Polish morale. Polish mortar fire disrupts the German Colonel but not any of his units. German mortar fire fails to shake Polish morale, and the Poles once again fail to finish off the demoralized MTC unit by the southeastern town. The Germans respond by sending one of the PzII units in the town at the southern edge of the board up the road to the town near the southeastern edge, taking control of all three town hexes there (-9 Polish VPs, +15 German VPs). The Polish infantry assaulting the armored cars northeast of town rolls a 5 and is able to use its AT rifles, and this time they score an M2 result that disrupts one of the armored car units. The Poles then roll a modified 12 on the AT roll and destroy one step of the just-disrupted armored car unit (1 Polish VP) and demoralize the other!
With no help from the German artillery, the southern rifle battalion has no choice but to rush the Polish center. They head northwest again to try to infiltrate between the northern woods and the field while the northern Polish units are pinned down in the assault. Opportunity fire from the fields demoralizes one German INF unit and disrupts another. The turn then ends on another Fog of War roll!
So after the second hour of combat, the light tanks that followed the recon companies around the Polish left have had tremendous success, making it through Polish AT and tank fire to take control of four town hexes. The VP score is now Poland 27, Germany 32. But with the German recon companies mostly pinned down in assaults and Polish reinforcements arriving there, those gains won’t last unless the main German force can break the Polish center. That is in doubt, as mediocre German artillery and mortar performance has been no match for great Polish courage under fire. Polish lines remain strong, and the northern German rifle battalion is bogged down in the woods assault while the southern battalion is advancing but starting to lose its cohesion under fire. Unless their artillery gets its act together, the Germans will have no choice but to commit all their tanks to the attack and hope that some can break through the Polish center or circumvent the right flank without being destroyed by enemy tank fire.
Can they do it? Tune in next time and find out! Click
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