This week - WWII action

This weeks game that I played at the SESWC on Thursday evening was a 20mm World War II action using the Rapidfire rules.



Recce troops sweeping forward



Colin Jack and I provided the troops. Colin devised the scenario - a fictional action set in the early days of Operation White. A motorised German force advancing to cut the Polish corridor having to take a small Polish town. The German force consisted of an advance guard of a motorcycle battalion supported by 2 companies of armoured cars and a main body of a tank battalion with a motorised infantry battalion. The Polish defenders had an infantry battalion, 2 squadrons of cavalry, armoured support comprised a company of TKS tankettes and a company of 7TP tanks.

In the game Hugh Wilson and I commanded the attacking Germans whilst Colin Jack and Dave Pearson commanded the Polish defenders.The German objective was to clear the town and cut the Polish corridor.

The surprisingly resilient Polsi tankettes

The Germans attacked with their MC troops advancing straight down the road to the town led by their armoured cars. They gained an early success driving the Polish tankettes from their flanking position. Unfortunately the armoured cars then suffered return hits from the Polish defenders and both units retired to cover.

PZIIs and MC troops move to outflank the defences

The German then developed an armoured attack with a company of Panzer IIs and a company of  PZ 38Ts. They engaged the 7TPs with a marked lack of success the Panzer II unit routing after 2 vehicles suffered heavy damage and the PZ 38Ts also failed their morale and retired to cover. A surprise charge by the Polish cavalry on a deployed AT gun was beaten off - another rare German success.



PZ 38Ts advance past burning armoured cars

To add to their misery the German column then came under air attack from a Polish reconnaissance aircaft. Due to logistical problems the Luftwaffe did not put in an appearance. A company of Panzer IVs then drove down the road but also suffered from the Polish fire and retired to cover. With this latest morale failure - the German armour having tested 6 times and failing 5 of the tests - the German players called it a day and withdrew.

Bold Polish air attack on confused German column