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Campaigns & Commanders: The Polish Campaign - Matt W - 12-09-2012
So, I decided to try something a little different and worked my way through the September Campaign using the Leader Character rules in addition to the standard PG rules. Since PG-HQ doesn't have a real way to write up a true campaign AAR I wanted to give it a try here. I have AARs for each scenario (or will shortly!) of the September Campaign listed in scenarios 1-7 of C&CV1 but they don't really cover the arc as a whole and are relatively silent on the Leader Character changes during the campaign since those happen outside of the scenario play.
I ended the campaign with a rousing Polish victory (not that it would change the war but certainly the German 4th Light Division would have earned the title "battle tested"). Of the scenarios two were German victories, 4 were Polish victories and one was a draw (well a German victory by 1 victory point). A quick summary follows:
Leader Selection
My leader selections tended to favor the Germans. All three leaders received a morale modifier while with the Polish only one leader had any modifier and that was a combat modifier. For names I feel that I may have shown some bias. The Polish commanders (Rejewski, Zygalski and Rozycki) were three men integrally involved in breaking the Enigma machine. For the Germans their leaders (Ascher, Stresseman and Wels) were in one way or another opposed to the rise of the Nazis during the Weimar Republic and immediately after Hitler's rise.
Rozycki received the only skill that was to prove particularly decisive in play. He was an artillery specialist and his performance during scenario 3 had an impact on the campaign.
Scenario 1: The More Things Change
The German attack was initially rebuffed by Zygalski and Rozycki whose defense of the front town completely baffled the Germans until 3 1/2 hours in when they finally were able to end that resistance. By then over half of the German force was demoralized and required substantial recovery. The Polish dice (heralding the entire scenario arc) were tremendous and the Germans took 21 step losses plus two tanks. The Polish took 24 step losses and were decapitated but they had plenty of reserves to cause the Germans substantial losses if the attack was pressed. The German Colonoel decided to hold off until he had better prey.
Stresseman impressed the Colonel and was given a battlefield promotion to Captain. He would remain the best German leader throughout the campaign
Scenario 2: Thrust and Parry
Here the Polish get to be on the attack and proved that they are pretty darn capable. The mechanized cavalry force captured the entire board with the exception of the bridge and town surrounding it. Had they chose to press the issue that too probably would have fallen but with the victory points at 47-18 for the scenario, there seemed to be little benefit to such an assault given the readiness of the Germans and the large component of mounted cavalry in the Polish force.
Rozycki was able to lead several cavalry charges, one of which gave Ascher a light wound (disablingly so as it reduced his morale to 7 which hampered both him and the Germans for most of the rest of the campaign). Rozycki's performance earned him both a Cross of Valor and a promotion ot Captain.
Scenario 3: Blitzkrieg
This is the only scenario where the Poles have any significant artillery and although the Luftwaffe targeted the artillery from the first it remained capable and effective throughout the game.
The Poles were assisted early on by some tremendous artillery strikes by Rozycki's heavy guns and the AT guns up front. By turn 4, the Germans had lost 14 steps, 3 tank steps and had their force decapitated. This turned out to be a level of destruction which essentially stopped their advance. Rozycki's permance was certainly impressive in handling the artillery but he received no medals or leadership points whatsoever as he never saw the enemy that day. The Germans experienced the worst of WW I all over again. Total losses were Germans 48 step losses, 3 tank steps, 3 leaders. The Poles took 32 step losses and two leaders (unfortunately both Rejewski and Zygalski took serious wounds and would not be available for scenario 4). The losses and a bitter Polish defense of the front town resulted in a Polish victory 72-45.
Wels looked to be the star of the battle but a late demoralization and fleeing an assault hex destroyed his ability to advance.
Scenario 4: Clash of Armor
The name "tankette" is applied to many of the Italian vehicles and certainly the TK series in White Eagles qualifies but I would like to suggest that PzIs and PzIIs are effectively such. The Germans divide their vehicles, sending the PzIV and PzIII north of the woods to gain the ability to have a crossfire generated from the PzIIs and armored cars south of the woods. The Poles countered by sending some infantry to chase the more effective tanks and on turn 4 this tactic proved successful as the Poles moved after the Germans in turn 3 to become adjacent and gained the initiative in turn 4, assaulted the PzIIIs and eliminated the tanks. The assault was let by Rozycki. After that the battlefield tilted heavily in the Poles favor as the infantry kept the PzIV on the run and the Vickers B tanks were able to pick off the lightly armored PzIs and IIs south of the woods. The final VP tally was 45-18 in favor of the Poles.
Rozycki's performance earned him his second Cross of Valor, he also obtained a morale modifier. On the German side, only Ascher was involved in any significant fighting and his morale failures (3 disruptions) balanced off his improvements and left him unseen by those higher up.
Secnario 5: Home Guard
I really enjoy river crossing scenarios but emough about me. This was a head on brawl where the Germans were able to pull out a victory by effectively using mobility, weight of force and guile. The Poles were overmatched but fought courageously to hold the river. The Germans were unable to exploit their victory due to the late development of their attack but earned enough to have a victory 28-23.
Rejewski was again wounded seriously and both Zygalski and Rozycki fought hard but had sufficient morale failures to counteract their performance. Stresseman received an Infantry Assault Badge while Wels and Ascher were able to have positive days from a Leadership Point accrual standpoint.
Scenario 6: Gates of Warsaw
The Germans were desperate to acheive some kind of victory. After all, they were winning the war but you couldn't tell it from the 4th Light Division's performance. They pushed incredibly hard in this scenario and were able to capture a lot of town hexes which ultimately won the game for them. The Poles held on to their entrenchments with incredible tenacity and forced the Germans to bypass several, which they did, winning the victory 95-64, a solid but not overwhelming win.
Stresseman appeared to be on his way to a substantial personal day when a light wound late in the day stopped all that. Zygalski received a serious wound and is done for the campaign. His AT skill contributed to at least two tank kills. Rozycki's performance was laudable as he led survivors from the front lines to safety in the second line. Ascher performed well rallying troops and sending them back into the fight.
Scenario 7: A Break for Freedom
The campaign outcome was assured to be a Polish victory even before this one started. On the other hand, it would be interesting to see the play. The Germans have only two companies of infantry to try to stop almost two battalions of Poles from running to exile and participation in Carpathian Brigade, Cassino and ultimately Polish Steel (not to mention participation in the First Airborne Army and Second Canadian Army, which have yet to be developed for PG, hint, hint). The play is at night which reduces the effectiveness of the German firepower.
The Poles send their entire force down the eastern side of the board forcing the Germans to abandone some of their prepared positions, mount into trucks and come running. They Polish cyclists separate from the main group and run through the German lines before they can be set. When the main body arrives the Germans have set up a defense. The Poles assault, roll a bunch of sixes, break all but one of the defenders and walk to freedom. The final score of this scenario was 36-11 in favor of the Poles.
The only significant event from a Leader Character perspective was that Ascher who had just improved his personal morale to 8 and become effective again, was killed.
Summary
The campaign was a smashing success for the Poles with a total of 328 victory points (10 for having a captain) to 257 (ditto) for the Germans. Some notes on the Leader Character mechanisms follow:
1. There is a LOT of record keeping and fussiness with the system.
2. That is counterbalanced by having some neat and potentially significant skills in your leaders.
3. By making some leaders more than just their rank they become targets and some protection might be in order for this. The Germans don't know that is Rozycki after all.
4. The characters do become "real" to the player and you look for ways to use their individual skills. This enhances play.
I give the system a qualified thumbs up. It will not be for everyone but it is fun. At some point I will try these same scenarios wtihout the leaders and see if I can determine the impact of the Leader Characters on the play. On the whole I think it helps the defense more than the offense (thus bolstering the Poles more than the Germans) but that is a "feel" based opinion only. The Poles had very good dice in this play and that can't be factored out of consideration.
RE: Campaigns & Commanders: The Polish Campaign - JayTownsend - 12-15-2012
No Russian Leaders for their small part?
RE: Campaigns & Commanders: The Polish Campaign - Matt W - 12-16-2012
No scenarios in the September campaign (in C&C1) cover combat between the Poles and Soviets. You could make one from some of the scenarios in White Eagles though