The Polish M17 tank is a relic of the First World War. It has only a 4-4 DF and a 1-3 AT capability. It doesn't move well and it is quite vulnerable to AT fire with only a "0" armor rating. Plus, like any tank, each step counts as 2 towards lowering initiative, etc. It does, however, take up space and if destroyed in a town hex, it can pretty much clog up the town to other vehicles. Nifty that the scenario includes rules for scuttling them if you so desire.

Turns out that they actually performed well by combining their DF to cause some losses through opportunity fire and then ripping through some Pz IIs before being involuntarily turned into wreck markers. As a matter of fact, the picture in the White Eagles booklet of two M17s destroyed in a gate at Brest was quite evocative of my mapboard. I had three wrecks in one hex of a town directly next to another two, which sat next to a third hex with one wreck in it (the train). These wrecks then focused the flow of the German attack and resulted in additional shot up Pz Is and IIs as the train's 3-5 AT factor came into play.

The Poles set up with a cordon of AT guns supported by National Guardsmen with their real strength in the towns. A very strong line was established in a choke point at the first town on Board 17 along the railroad, with some reserves in the second town as a stopgap should the first town fall. The Germans entered along the railroad, established LOS to the southernmost AT gun, subdued it with OBA and then used the town on Board 4 itslef as cover for the thin skinned tanks. The motorcycle troops continued to establish LOS to the AT guns and the German OBA rolled up the cordon exposing the first town. The German force then closed in to finish the job in combined arms assaults and close in DF fire.

The Poles fought furiously and were only evicted from the last town hex on the last turn of the scenario. Losses were 38 steps of Poles and 21 steps of Germans (with tanks and trains counting as 2 each), so if the Germans were not able to kill off the last Poles the scenario would have been a draw. Die rolls slightly favored the Poles but not enough to change the basic results. I give this one a "4" in any play venue, ftf, solo, etc. It is a fussy scenario with lots of activations but well worth the fuss.