Quote:
Originally Posted by PanzerBob
I'm willing to bet he's playing as the Germans and the hordes are the Poles.  The last time I played this one. To start, (2000 some odd points IIRC)I had a Coy of Recce, 2Coys of Motorized Infantry (trucks) and a Coy of Panzers with some AAA and 3 Bttys of 10.5cm Guns. Infantry and HE (through MG's, Tanks and Arty) are the key here. IMHO
Bob out  |
The Poles have the old WW1 type half-platoon sections. big lumps of grunts, which is their weakness. A section is a candidate for dispersal when 1/3 are left - so these will vanish when reduced to about 6 men. Each one pinned ties down 19 men too.
Best tactic is to gun them down in the open with arty, mortars and MMG fires. "Spread the joy" as well - go for making them all into retreat mode or worse, fire 2-3 shots at 2-3 teams and only worry about killing the squads when they are all broken.
If advancing against them in a meeting engagement, then form a line with your Germans and let the Poles come to you. You will tend to spot them a reasonable distance off if visibility is good, so set up a firing line when they are outside 500m and wait. I do not bother firing my riflemen at the large Polish lumps and usually leave them with all 6 shots for opportunity fire, positioned in rough ground or woods or other cover if possible. The accompanying armour and the company MMG teams pound the advancing AI infantry, and arty is called in on them too. Once they are all seen to be fleeing, then resume the advance. If some get "frisky", halt and shoot them up, while still maintaining fire on the runners to keep them doing so.
Don't try to tussle with them in woods or buildings because here the mega-sections are a strength in the close quarter battle. If you do have to 1) double your German sections up in the same hex and meet the advancing AI Poles stationary and 2) direct mortar fires 2-4 hexes out in front of your infantry line to break up his approach and 3) if possible, add a panzer 1 or 2 in the same hex as 2 rifle sections along the line too!. Don't advance into a wood/town against possible Polish infantry defences -
unless you have pounded the carp out of the intended approach path with as much arty as you can spare (at least 8 tubes worth over a 5/6 hex corridor), for 3-4 turns at least.
Make sure you have a mortar section or inf gun section per tank or infantry company fielded as a bare minimum when fighting 1939 Poles, and a reasonable amount of ammo supply. Add at least 1 battery of medium arty (on or off map) too. Each rifle company should bring an MMG section to the party.
Always precede your advances with scouts 2-3 hexes ahead of the infantry line (weapons set to range 1 so they don't give themselves away). That finds any nasty ATR teams (usually..). Keep the armour behind the infantry line - never lead with armour!. Keep a mortar section busy firing a belt of HE in front of your scouts planned advance by 4-6 hexes even if you cannot yet see anyone - once someone is spotted you can then quickly adjust the fire.
Panzer 1, 2 are good vs the Polish infantry,
once you have removed their tank threat with your main line armour. Once the Polish armour is removed, it is job done really. The Panzer 3e with all the AAMG is good too, as both a main line tank and grunt killer (extra MG can do no harm!). Any 75mm P4 you have should stand back and lob shells into any spotted infantry concentrations (remember the 75mm suppresses in the adjacent hex, like MMG sections and the P2s auto cannon do). Spread the fires from the 75mm cannon - go for any squads with plenty of "neighbours" to annoy over isolated ones.
As support those little armoured cars with
120 rounds of TMG ammo are good value as anti-grunt toys too. Use the 222 if you think you may have some tankettes to kill. Otherwise the 221 is about half the price. Just keep them away from any sort of AT weapon, including ATR. I usually allow 1 section of 2 of these little armoured cars per company HQ fielded, and I don't use them as scouts to trip over the enemy but held to the rear till the tanks are eliminated and they can then trundle up and support the infantry with MG fires from no closer than 3 or so hexes. However, once the Poles are in general retreat then they can charge into the pack of routed enemy, mow some down and hopefully get some surrenders from other retreaters in adjacent hexes.
Each main line tank platoon - 5 tanks - you can allow a section of Pz1/2 if you have the points. Use them to follow the MBT which will protect them from any nasty Polish armour. But ensure you are up to strength on indirect arty first before spending support points on these.
I don't use tank riders. I do use tanks to move infantry "administratively" in the advance but always ensure the troops are off and where they should be - on foot - before contact.
Mech infantry can be useful if used with caution. They are very vulnerable to AT weaponry. They are expensive, so points spent on these give the AI more points to buy toys with too. Players seem to like to "zoom about" with mech infantry - which tends to them finding unspotted enemy and getting a hand grenade deposited into the half track. If enemy infantry are likely, then keep speed down to maybe 3-4 hexes. Your spotting chance will be better!. Once the enemy tank threat is known to be eliminated they can join the support tanks in gunning down enemy grunts. Best held in deep reserve in the early battle and brought forward later to exploit onto the objectives when the Poles are in general retreat. Also good for running into packs of routed enemy and taking names in the end game. Don't go nuts with mech inf - a platoon or 2 acting alongside a tank coy tasked with deep penetration is probably enough.
Andy