The Poles placed the MLR on the ridge to the north end of the map. The Poles had an advantage as I forgot German air the first six turns. However, upon remembering and deploying German air, it was telling. The combination of German arty, mortars and air ground up the Poles. The Germans advanced in two pincers, taking the Poles on their flanks. The center was hammered relentlessly, with the strongpoints being destroyed. The Poles barely managed to keep remnants in two entrenchments on the last turn. Minor German victory.

This was my first introduction to the PzG system that has led me to purchase nearly every part of the game.

This scenario is a well balanced game where the attacker has sufficient mass and firepower to dislodge a fortified defender. If the defender sets up right in a close and integrated defense, he should be able to deny the German attacker victory by either preventing clearance of the road or the destruction of all the strong points.

In this play I was the Germans. The Germans attacked with two major kampfgruppes: 1 up the main avenue of approach and one on the eastern side of the maps. The Polish setup with a company (HMG, 2 x INF) on the southern hill, a dug-in HMG defensive line on the base of the main hill, and the remaining forces around the key defensive terrain of the town on the ridgeline.

The Germans quickly dispatched the forward Polish company and proceeded to advance north. The 75mm guns were set up in the towns along the main road while the main body then advanced to set up massed HMGs and fix forces in the town while the second force advanced to flank strong points. Polish HMGs were able to pin my advance for awhile until airpower kicked in.

The Germans were able to win the game be destroying all enemy strong points and clear the road.

Polish observations: 1. Mass you defenses, do not split your forces. The Germans are too massive and can bypass or overwhelm piecemeal defenses. 2. Distribute your strongpoints as best as you can. 3. The hill is key terrain - fortify the town,the Left and right flanks. Minefields should not be dispersed but laid as either a turning obstacle or an obstacle in front of the town to fix German forces or disrupt their advance by forcing their formation to another direction. 4. Do not expose the 40mm AA gun or HMGs too early or they will be targets for indirect fire and aircraft. 5. There is no need to expose the Poles too early as they will be able to observe 15+ hexes for their small indirect fire assets. Polish in direct fire should look to target German artillery in order to make the best of bombardment column shifts.

German Observations: 1. Clearly defined chains of command are essential to maintaining tempo. 2. Expect to lay down massive fire by using your HMGs as a mobile fire support group/

Overall this was a very good tactical challenge and an excellent introductory game. To date this remains my favorite scenario.

This is my second time playing this scenario. Refer to my other AAR for some observations and comments. The Polish victory was helped by some stellar draws on both minefields and strong points to increase combat power, as well as a very strong Polish Major. I will keep this AAR condensed to what worked well for the Polish.

1. It is about denying the Germans the ability to clear the road. Consider placing at least one entrenchment in the valley and retrograde polish forces along the road and dig-in at every opportunity.
2. Use the ON reinforcements to create a second defensive line on the road, while the main body generally dies in place to hold off the Germans as long as possible.
3. Do not risk exposing your AA gun to German OBA and long range fires. Place it centrally where it can cover and give a -1 column shift against aircraft for nearly your entire force.
4. Distribute strong points as far apart as possible and out of sight of the germans as possible to delay their destruction and deny German advantages in long range HMG/IG fire and OBA.
5. Try to place Poles on ridge lines and in hidden terrain/hill hexes where they force Germans to have to assault uphill and do not expose them until they must be spotted at 3 hexes.
6. I suggest placing all minefields in a single area in the hexes in front of the town and along the main road to deny enemy easy access to the town and deny high speed avenues of approach. They will get hung up on the mines or have to split forces to go around the mine fields.

Introduction

Sept 1, 1939. Germany invades Poland. German force begin to sweep into Poland, driving the defenders before. In most cases, the Polish generally frowned upon the French concept of fortresses. But not always.

Here, elements of the Berezwecz Border Battalion and 151st Fortress Company fought hard against elements of the German 7th infantry division. As the battle was being fought, reinforcements from the Zyweic National Guard Battalion arrived.

The main objectives: 1. Hold/Capture the Fortress 2. Eliminate the enemy

Note: Score will be denoted by (x-y), where x=number of German steps lost, y=number of Polish steps lost.

0530 (visibility=normal, 12 hexes)

The morning stillness is shattered by the screams of a Bf109 flying overhead. The Polish defenders frantically prepare for the oncoming German onslaught.

0545

As the Germans advance against the fortress, Polish artillery eliminates a 37mm AT gun battery being towed by some wagons. (1-0)

0600

The advance continues. German HS129 bombs a Polish AT Gun, eliminating it. (1-1) Polish artillery responds and another wagon with a 75mm Infantry Gun is lost (2-1)

In 3 columns the German 7th infantry advances

0615

Germans advance on the flanks, while the centre column waits for the HMG platoons to catch up.

0630

German infantry sights the first two entrenchments. Polish gunfire is ineffective.

0645

The Germans throw everything they have at the entrenchment, including HMGs, artillery strikes and a Ju87 dive bomber. Nothing shakes the defenders!

The first bunker is spotted in the southeast – it is unoccupied. (2-2)

0700

While concentrated machine gun fire tries to suppress the Polish forces in the centre, their infantry races up the sides of Fortress Poland. Polish artillery disrupts some of the HMG crews.

In the west the infantry discovers 2 minefields and an empty bunker (2-3)

In the east the German Lt. Col. Discovers a Polish Bunker.

0715

Reserves from the Polish National Guard arrive to the north as the Germans advance toward the fortress from either side. The National Guard is hit en masse by a Ju87 and German artillery. Two platoons are quickly lost. (2-7)

On the west hill, German infantry assaults the entrenchment from the minefield.

The NW strongpoint is discovered unoccupied. (2-8)

On the east hill, some infantry are lost entering the southern minefield. (3-8)

The Polish sound a withdrawal order. Units able to are allowed to flee.

0730

The Polish fire from their entrenchments into the minefield and two half platoons are lost. The German Lt deserts. (5-8)

German heavy artillery continues to pound the Polish reserves and another one and a half platoons of ON are lost. (5-11). The remaining ON flee.

Polish artillery eliminates the last Germans in the Southeast minefield. (6-11). AA Gunfire reduces another German platoon (7-11)

0745

Heavy artillery eliminates a Polish infantry platoon in the front entrenchment. (7-13) But the Polish Major quickly sends in some reinforcements in to the front entrenchemtn.

Meanwhile, the Germans swarm against both flanks.

Polish artillery eliminates half a German infantry platoon (8-13).

0800

As the Germans Infantry companies assault the flanks, another frontal advance is beaten back.

0815

Combined HMG fire eliminates some Polish infantry in the frontal entrenchments. (8-15)

0830

German artillery reduces and demoralizes the Polish HMG in the southeastern entrenchment. Two German infantry platoons rush in to assault and the HMG is eliminated and the porucznik flees. (8-17)

The first entrenchment is captured!

0845

With only two hours and thirty minutes to go, the Germans begin to assault hard.

Germans and Polish trade off casualties in the town (9-18) but the Polish Porucznik flees. Upon being strafed by a He129, the Polish officer deserts.

0900

The Polish front continues to be the object of much German attention. HMGs disrupt the defenders and half an infantry platoon is hit by artillery (9-19). The Germans attempt to advance again.

The German Lt Col captures the northeastern entrenchment. The Polish infantry is lost trying to flee. (9-21)

0915

Germans advance toward the entrenchment as the HMG defenders are occupied.

0930

There is a lull in the fighting as Germans fear their own friendly fire and their forces rally.

0945

German Lt Col assaults the Polish Major in the centre of the fortress. 1 German infantry is eliminated (11-21).

All Polish forces are currently being assaulted. German HMG advance to join in close assault…

1000

…but it was a feint! German forces flee the front entrenchment so HMGs surrounding the entrenchment can attack! After withdrawing most of their forces they bombard the entrenchment. Half a Polish platoon is lost (11-22). The German platoon still present in the assault is eliminated by friendly fire (13-22).

In the north, the Polish Bunker is finally eliminated. (13-23)

1015

A HMG Company opens fire against the frontal entrenchment, but can’t break it.

A massive assault in the centre of the town sees both sides lose a full infantry platoon (15 – 25)!

1030

Germans win the initiative and the front Polish HMG nest is finally broken by concentrated fire from HMGs and adjacent infantry! The German Col. Leads 2 HMG platoons and an infantry platoon, but they fail. gamenote: They rolled a “1” for a “M2” result on their assault! Polish HMG passed the morale check!

The Polish HMG begins to rally.

1045

Only 45 minutes to go and 5 assaults are still on.

The German Colonel again fails in his assault (rolls another “1”!!!) and the Polish HMG completely recovers!

The Polish Major is not so fortunate as his HMG platoon is eliminated by the Lt Col. (15-27)

German Captain chases the Polish infantry out of the northeast entrenchment as the Polish AA crew holds their ground. The Polish troops are cut down and blown up by direct fire and off-board artillery. sniff (15-29)

1100

German HMGs advance to clear out the town, as the Super Polish HMG continues to hold the frontal entrenchment!

1115

The final town quarter is held by a Polish Mortar and Infantry Platoon. An assault by 2 HMG platoons and some infantry has no effect!

The Polish AA Gun also holds their entrenchment.

German infantry in close assault eliminate half the Polish platoon in the northwest entrenchment (15-30) but can’t drive them out.

And the Col. can’t take the Polish HMG nest in the frontal entrenchment.

The Germans, desperately trying to obtain one of their victory conditions targets the half Polish platoon in the northwest entrenchment. The Polish are demoralised by the first artillery strike and failing to rally flee the entrenchment and are eliminated (15-31). gamenote: the friendly fire roll had little effect

Further artillery strikes eliminate the Polish mortar crews in the city, but the infantry stays strong (15-32) German troops again are unaffected by the friendly fire.

The battle is over.

Aftermath

The Germans obtain a minor victory by eliminating all strongholds and capturing 3 entrenchments.

They failed their major victory condition which requires them to clear the road and all adjacent hexes.

At the battle’s end. Only 3 Polish platoons remained on the map. One Inf, one HMG and one AA.

Notes

1. The frontal Polish HMG was very lucky to survive the continuous German attacks (particularly the assault). This entrenchment also contained a Polish Porucznik with a morale of 11, combat rating 1 and morale rating of 2. His strong influence was continuously displayed.

Scenario Rating 4/5: Overall, this scenario was a blast to play. I am finding the White Eagles scenarios a bit of fresh air from the Eastern Front series I am running through. Most scenarios I’ve looked at have a good variety of situations and special rules to make them more interesting than “here is another combined force attacking some poor defenders”.

It is Day 1 of Fall Weiss when elements of the German 7th Division cross the Czechoslovakian border to invade Poland. They almost immediately stumble upon an unfinished fortified zone. The polish defenses hastily deployed a border battalion, trying desperately to man all the strongpoints and entrenchments. Others dug in deep and anxiously awaited the German onslaught whilst word was sent to the hinterland, hoping that reinforcements might arrive ASAP.

After a barrage of tremendous proportions, the Germans started their assaults. Largely outnumbering the defenders, they approached the fortified line through a line of minefields. This line proved murderous! Quickly, the Germans adopted different routes of approach and started to assault the strongpoints, whilst avoiding those dreaded minefields. Most of the strongpoints turned out to be unfinished, and as such they fell with ease in German hands.

At that moment, the Poles received a boost of morale: reinforcements arrived! Some National Guard units entered the battlefield, but failing to grasp the tactical situation, they immediately made a bad decision by failing to occupy an unmanned entrenchment. This proved a fatal error when that trench fell into surprised German hands without a shot fired.

However, the other Polish fortifications proved to be made of much better stuff. Turn after turn, German assaults failed to even hurt the entrenched defenders. German planes ruled the skies, but apparently they hadn’t been trained for ground assaults. During the whole scenario, only a single Ju88 unit managed to do some damage! Other heroics were being performed by a lone polish mortar platoon that defended a part of the town. They managed to beat off assault after assault for more than 2.5 hours!

But heroics alone don’t win wars. German numbers proved too hard to resist endlessly and one by one the defended positions started to crumble. The Germans achieved their minor victory conditions in turn 21 and during the last turn of play (t24), the last surviving Polish troops were driven of the battlefield. Only 2 demoralized Polish units and a disheartened Major could escape the carnage to warn HQ that the forts didn’t hold the line.

A last turn major victory for the Germans!

I played this scenario over the course of 3 weeks with Tony Reynolds (Bangla on this site), performing a turn per day until completion. This was a full-on German assault on hillside Polish Town, protected by Entrenchments, Strongholds and minefields, however, the Poles are lacking in available forces, with only 6 ON units in a reinforcement pool. To achieve a major victory, the Germans need to occupy 3 of the 4 entrenchments, destroy the strong-points and control the road.

The Polish units all setup on the hill, either in the town, entrenchments or dug-in close by. A single Porucznik with an HMG was stationed in the small clump of woods southwest of the hills. The entrenchments were setup along the southern edge of the hill and the mines were place along the road just south of the hill. The Germans were split into 3 separate attack groups, a group on the west and east to move around the forests while a center force with most of the machine guns would move down the road.

Moving along the 3-pronged route, the Germans made some good headway on the east and center routes, with the leaders calling in artillery strikes to soften the defenses on the hill while the Luftwaffe provided some air support and made some critical strikes. The Porucznik and HMG in the woods on the western route proved to be somewhat troublesome as he was able to call in several well-placed Polish artillery that disrupted and demoralized several of the key units, forcing several leaders to stay behind to rally and the others to try and eliminate the Porucznik.

By turn 6, the eastern force had reached the bottom of the hill and forced their way into the Entrenchment there for an assault. ALso, the units on the west were able to finally lock down the Porucznik and HMG in an assault in the woods as well. The center continued to move down the road towards the mines while taking artillery fire as well. Several quick turns due to FOW occurred afterwards and it wasn't until Turn 11 that the eastern and central forces were on the hill and had taken 1 entrenchment and had forced a second one into an assault. The western force was still locked in assault with the HMG/Porucznik and wouldn't actually finish that assault until turn 15.

The Germans on the hill, after taking the two eastern strong-points, had cleared enough to provide an approach that was covered by the hilltop and the move was made to swiftly get into range for assaulting from the east. the central force skirted the minefield but a brave INF and LT made the trek through the mines on the road and survived crossing the field and taking artillery fire. However, they were held up by an HMG in an entrenchment and it took several more turns of artillery bombardment and an overwhelming direct fire attack by several HMGs and INF units to finally clear the way. The ON reinforcemets showed up and attempted to eliminate the few Germans skirting the western portion of the hill but as more Germans moved from the west and came over the hill from the East, the assaults were on and the final Polish unit in the town was destroyed on turn 22, effectively ending the battle with a German major vitory.

This was an interesting scenario as the German player as there were several things to work through to try and obtain the objectives. The Polish player also had the chance to steal a victory by inflicting 12 step losses, however, he would have had to have less step losses than the Germans. I think that the Polish player can make this a very challenging scenario for the Germans - Tony and i spoke about it afterwards and I mentioned that the only different thing I might have done was to place the Entrenchments around the town instead of along the hillside so that they could provide fire support for each other and the strong-points.

An enjoyable scenario to play - rated a 4.

It's been quite a while since we played this scenario, but I remember it well ... at least the feeling of impending doom from about halfway through the battle. My German opponent was able to pick off my entrenchments, and my placement of the mines in front of the town and on the road was bypassed very easily. The first part of the battle saw the Germans advancing steadily in the centre and north; in the south they were held up only slightly by a forward placement of an infantry platoon and Porucznik. The infantry were probably a mere annoyance, but the Porucznik did direct artillery which disrupted the advance somewhat. The Porucnik did manage to get back to Polish lines, albeit by the time the action was almost over, but the platoon didn't.

Meanwhile, as the huns approached the hill, fire rained down on the entrenched troops. Another Porucznik in particular was heroic, taking most of the fire for over an hour and making sure his troops stayed in their positions. They were only ousted by overwhelming odds once the other positions had largely been overrun.

This was an early scenario in my recent PG career. Looking back, I would definitely have positioned the troops on the hill better, ready to support each other when the assaults came, rather than being a hex or two apart. Also, I would have placed the mines in such a way as to funnel the German centre directly towards the town, where the prepared positions should have been placed and ready for them.

This is an excellent scenario which I'd be happy to play again.

Played solo in 4 sessions (7 hours total).

I didn't think the Poles stood much of a chance in this scenario when I first read it and a quick look at PG-HQ confirmed my suspicion; the Germans were leading 6 to 1 with 1 draw.

The Poles set up the minefields in a long contiguous line to force the Germans to either risk losses or flank them. The AA gun was placed centrally to provide some protection against the German airplanes (the Germans receive 1 airplane every turn).

The German's plan was to use the road to march north quickly and then divide into 3 groups. One small group with 4 HMG and 2 INF would would stay on the road, south of the town, to prevent a Polish sortie. A second group with a dozen or so units would climb the undefended hills west of the town; their goal was to start the assault in town and deny easy access to the town to the ON reinforcements. The last group was to climb the heavily defended hills east of town and take the entrenchment positions via assaults (after first weakening the positions via bombardment whenever possible).

The Germans managed to get into assault position fairly easily but the assaults were quite ineffective. The German INFs are simply not strong enough to dislodge the Poles.

After 12 turns, the casualties were 3 steps on each side.

The Germans give up on the idea of a major victory and send the group defending the road to join the assaults.

After 18 turns, just when it looks like the scenario is likely to end in a draw, disaster struck the Poles. The Germans assault two more entrenchment positions and every pole failed their morale check badly. The Poles do not even have a chance to recover as the Germans rolled fog-of-war in the same activation.

The Germans won the initiative by 2 the following turn and eliminate 5 Polish steps. The Poles lose heart for the most part and except for a small pocket of resistance, their casualties mount very quickly.

The only question remaining is whether the Germans would be able to destroy the last strongpoint, which they did on turn 22.

German minor victory.

I rated the scenario a "3". It's a good study of assaulting fortified positions without combined arms. I did not rate it higher however as the pace suffers from lack of combined arms.

Author	waynebaumber (Germany)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Germany
Participants	unknown
Play Date	2024-02-02
Language	English
Scenario	WhEa002

In this scenario a German Infantry assault force backed up by large artillery support and the Luftwaffe have to attack a Polish fortified area. The Poles have strongpoint's, mines and entrenchments and reasonable morale to help them stem the hordes. The Germans enter on GT1 and the first few turns are mainly advancing to contact, with the Ger OBDA hitting those few Pole's not in entrenchments. Once the first attacks go in it really is just a matter of playing the assaults out. There is little for each player to think about but there is lots of tension as any double 1 or double 6 may spell doom for one of the players. The Germans slowly ground down the defense capturing all the strongpoints, which were unoccupied for the most part, and getting two entrenchments under control with about 6 turns left. To get a minor win the German had to capture on further entrenchment, could the Poles hold out. Actually what happened a Germ attack led to all their forces being DEM which induced the Polish player to counter attack which resulted in all his units also being DEM. This was the opening the Germans needed and quickly reinforcing the assault hex took the 3rd Entrenchment needed with some style. Result a German minor win. This is a solid scenario for a solitaire player as a two player game once the Pole has set up he has few options. I would expect to see a German win 75% of the time.