From Normandy to Poland

Paul Reynolds provides a series of four excellent battle reports that he and others from his group have played using the Scenario Generation System. Hopefully they will provide some inspirtation to others considering trying a game using the system.

Normandy Nightmare:

Rhys Batchelor and I had a trial game using the WWII Spearhead Scenario Generation System. For both of us it was our first game of Spearhead, as opposed the Modern Spearhead, in a couple of years. We put together a couple of scratch forces. Rhys based his on a 1944 Panzer Division while I used his 1944 British Armoured Division.

The Scenario Generation System will be used at the 2007 New Zealand Nationals with four hour rounds, including set up. Given we hadn't used the scenario system before or played the rules in years it was going to be interesting.

Terrain set up was fairly straight forward, doing it before knowing what sort of battle, the detail of your opponents force or which side of the table you would be fighting from was a strange feeling. We ended up with a number of small woods scattered all over the table. Looking at the table from what was to be the British side there was a medium sized hill on the far right corner of the near left sector, this ended up not being an objective. There was a village in the far left corner of the near centre sector. In the near right sector there was a large hill in the far left corner. In the far left sector there was a village in the middle near the centre of the table. In the far centre sector there was a large ridge in the centre of the sector and a two sector town in the near right corner. Finally in the right far sector there was a large ridge in the middle of the sector.

There was a limited amount of shifting of terrain, the British had rolled a one! The only issue we had with terrain set up was remembering to have the potential objectives far enough from the edge of the table. Objective selection was fairly straight forward with Rhys going first. Three objectives on the 'far' side of the table; village, town, ridge and two; village and hill on the 'near'. Again selecting these before knowing what you were doing left you having to double guess.

We rolled for tactical situation and the British got to attack, Rhys chose the side with three objectives and rolled low enough to keep his choice. After 20 minutes we were ready for Rhys to deploy his HQs. An infantry HQ in the village in the far left sector, a Panther HQ on the ridge in the far centre sector and another infantry HQ in a wood to the right of the town in the far centre sector.

The British plan was fairly simple. The Irish Guards would occupy the village on the left edge of the near centre sector and then defend it and a medium sized wood to its right. This would position them to support the Welsh Guards attack up the centre on the town. This attack took a slightly zigzag route to take advantage of cover provided by some woods. The Coldstream Guards would move onto the hill in the near right sector, clear the wood to the right of the town and move on to take the ridge in the far right sector. The armoured Coldstream battalion, only two squadrons, was in reserve at the centre of the table. All three battalions had a battery of 25pdrs attached and the Irish and Welsh had a battery of 17pdrs as well.

Rhys then deployed his forces, a weak Panzer Grenadier battalion in the village in the far left sector and a weak but veteran Panther battalion on the ridge in the far centre sector. The remaining battalion was strong with a company in the town, a company of anti-tank guns in the wood to its right and a company on the hills in the near and far right sectors. All of this battalion was dug in. Rhys used some of his Option A points to dig in the anti-tank guns.

After thirty minutes we were ready for the first turn of what looked to be a very interesting game.

The Irish advanced confidently towards the undefended village in the near left sector. The Welsh worked slowly forward in the centre and the Coldstreams advanced confidently up the hill on the right.

The Coldstreams came under fire from the German company on the hill and went in with the bayonet. Unfortunately one German platoon in particular fought exceptionally well winning close combat after close combat despite odds of 3:1. By turn 3 it was obvious they would need help as they had stalled badly on their first objective. The Coldstreams armoured battalion was committed from reserve. As the two lead platoons of Stuarts prepared to over run the lone German infantry platoon on the hill they detected the approach of TIGERS!, I mean Panthers. They were supported by the German infantry company from the hill in the far right sector.

The Shermans and two Fireflies sought cover as best they could in a nearby wood while the Stuarts reversed down the hill. The Coldstream infantry, close to a morale check, broke off into the same wood. Under long range fire from the antitank guns near the town and close range fire from the Panthers the Shermans suffered heavily, breaking on turn eight having destroyed only one Panther.

In the centre the Welsh made good use of the cover and were able to launch a well co-ordinated attack on the left flank of the town, the engineers and carrier platoon managed to get behind the town followed by D company. The attached 17pdrs were left in the wood facing the town trying to get into position to fire on the Panthers in support of the Coldstreams. With only one company holding the town the Germans were unable to hold the outskirts and were quickly overwhelmed by the Welsh in town sector combat. The fired up Welsh then attacked the anti-tank guns in the wood in the flank or rear. On turn 9 the German infantry battalion broke.

On the left the Irish were in for a small surprise, three German platoons in hidden deployment in the village in the left near sector. Mention of a pub motivated the Irish and the village was rapidly cleared for slight loses. They then occupied the wood to the right of the village and awaited a possible counter attack from the Germans in the village in the far left sector.

The Panthers having destroyed the British armour and seen off the Coldstreams but now unsupported by infantry decided to try and break the Welsh in the British centre by charging their isolated anti-tank guns. With poor shooting from the 17pdrs and only ineffectual support from the 25pdr regiment the Panthers managed to over run all three 17pdrs attached to the Welsh. The Welsh were happy to occupy the town and control the centre of the table. The 25pdrs expended all their remaining ammunition trying to stop any of the Panthers and finally managed to destroy one!

Desperate efforts by the Irish and their attached 17pdrs, covered at one point by the Brigade commander slowed the Panthers in the central wood. Mean while the Coldstreams recovered from their break off and rapidly advanced over the two hills in the right sectors capturing both their objectives. The rest of the Irish contained a limited counter attack by the remaining German infantry battalion.

After 17 turns we had been going for 4 hours including set up so counted up victory points. The British held four objectives (8) and had lost one battalion (-2) for 6 VPs. The Germans held one objective (2), had lost one battalion (-2) and used Option “A” re-enforcements (-1) for –1 VPs.

Looking at the game there was no point playing any further and the Germans would have been very hard pressed to gain any more VPs.

Overall a very interesting game which could have gone either way. A couple more casualties on the Coldstream Guards infantry would have forced a morale check. If they failed, they wouldn’t have been able to take the 2 hill objectives (4VP) and the British would have lost another battalion (2VP) so it would have been British 0VP, Germans 3VP. If they had passed their moral check and captured the objectives it would have been British 4VP, Germans –1VP.

Both Rhys and I learnt quite a bit and were both very pleased with the size of the game and the speed at which it flowed. There were several times when we needed to check how the rules differed from MSH which slowed us down a little and neither of us were very familiar with the stats for the troops involved.

In summary a really great system! There are interesting decisions to make from selecting your forces through terrain set up and option selection. The terrain and scenario that was generated was interesting and challenging and I can see how the next game could be quite different.

Pushing Forward with the Guards:

For my second game using the Spearhead Scenario Generation System I played Peter Page while on the neighbouring table Rhys Bachelor and Pete Connor also played.

This was Peter’s first try at the system so he was getting a feel for the systems prior to planning for Nationals. We took about twenty minutes setting up the table and defining objectives. I will describe it from what was to be the British perspective. I will only describe the near half, as that is where all the action took place.

In the left of the left sector was a moderate size wood and in the far right corner a two sector town. In the centre of the centre sector was a small hill with a small wood to its left on the table edge. Behind this hill was a large wood that spread into the far centre sector. In roughly the middle of the right sector was a medium sized hill with a small wood to its left on the table edge. Behind and to the left of this hill was another large wood that extended into the far right sector. The objectives were the two sector town and the two hills. The other two objectives were villages in the far centre and far right sectors.

Peter was using a Panzer Grenadier regiment with a couple of companies of Panzer IV and a battalion of 105s attached. All I knew was I was facing elements of a Panzer Division. He deployed one battalion HQ in the wood behind the central hill as close to the 2 sector town as he could get. The other battalion HQ was in the wood behind the right hill. I was left to wonder what his up to two reserve battalions might be.

I was again using an attack force from Guards Armoured Division; the lorried brigade with a two squadron Sherman/Firefly regiment, 25pdr regiment and two batteries of 17pdrs attached. The British plan was for the Coldstreams Guards on the left to advance through the wood and attack the flank of the two sector town, one battery of 25pdrs attached. The Irish Guards, with one battery each of 25pdrs and 17pdrs attached, were to attack the central hill from the wood to its left and then advance on the wood behind it. This allowed them to support the Coldstreams if necessary. On the right the Welch Guards, also with one battery each of 25pdrs and 17pdrs attached, were to attack the right hill from the wood to its left. The Coldstreams armoured regiment was off table in the centre in reserve.

Peter then deployed his forces. His battalion on my left had a company in the right hand sector of the two sector town, the other sector was out of command range. Another company on the centre hill and the third in reserve in the open between the town and the wood behind the centre hill. His battalion on my right had a company on the right hill and another in the large wood behind and to the left of it. The third company was in reserve behind the hill. Each battalion had a company of 3 Panzer IV platoons attached and a platoon was parcelled out to each company. To quote Peter, "I’m trying a French trick".

On the right the Welch moved to the edge of the wood, helpfully 6" from their entry point, and spotted a platoon of Panzer IVs on the right hill. They proceeded to bring up their anti-tank guns and by turn three had cleared the Panzer IVs off the hill. They then resumed their advance onto the hill. The Panzer IVs in the wood provide some long range fire support but attracted the attention of two troops of 17pdrs and were promptly dealt with. Casualties mounted in the heavy and confused fighting on the hill. The Germans threw in their reserve company and the attached Panzer IVs caused some real concern.

In the centre the Irish advanced through the wood and as they approached the hill they were fired upon by German infantry and Panzer IVs. Fortunately initial casualties were moderate. A regimental shoot by the 25pdrs dealt with most of the infantry and the attached anti-tank guns deployed on the edge of the wood and dealt with the Panzer IVs on the hill and also those in reserve. The Irish then moved over the centre hill and advanced towards the wood behind it. This fortunately put them in a good position to assist in blocking the German battalion that was counter attacking past this wood towards the town.

On the left the Coldstreams advanced through the wood to the left of the town and wheeled right to attack its flank. They moved unopposed into the left hand half of the town and the pioneers and carriers moved behind the town. In a well coordinated attack one platoon attacked the platoon of Panzer IVs that was covering the outskirts of the town from a frontal attack while almost two companies poured into the remaining half of the town. The German tanks were destroyed or driven off, unfortunately the same could not be said about their infantry. Only a few disorganised and wounded men returned from the main attack, nearly half the battalions riflemen gone for no gain.

With another battalion of panzer grenadiers rapidly approaching and the morale of the Germans in the town holding despite heavy loses particularly against the Irish the Coldstreams were in trouble (Peter rolled a 6 for morale). The Coldstreams managed to establish a defensive line beyond the town while screening the company still in the town. This objective was destined to remain contested.

Back on the right the Welch were still fighting hard for the right hand hill. The Coldstreams armoured regiment was committed, attacking between the two woods on the right and hopefully rushing through both villages on the far side of the table. The combined efforts of the two units caused heavy casualties to the Germans but still their morale held (Peter only rolled a five this time). With enemy infantry still in the wood and on the hill the armoured regiment was unwilling to advance (I wasn’t going to let them snipe at my flanks) and so began the slow process of moping up.

Peter generously conceded at this point and we worked out that allowing for lunch and the 25 minutes or so organising the troops and 20 minutes setup we had played almost 4 hours. The British held one objective for 2 Victory points. Two objectives were contested. The Germans held two objectives for 4 VPs but had two battalions forced to take morale tests –4 VPs so ended on 0 VPs. Another close and interesting game.

For my third battle using the the Scenario Generation System German paratroopers had launched a limited counter attack. The lorried brigade of Guards Armoured Division supported by two squadrons of Shermans from Coldstream Guards and a battery of 17pdrs has been ordered to contain the attack. Having played several attacking scenarios with the Guards Rhys and I agreed that I would get to defend this time. All three battalions were low on infantry, two platoons down, and the support platoons had been stripped to provide more rifles. The Welsh had a mortar and 6pdr platoon, the others only 6pdrs to fit within the 450 point limit.

Set up, including selecting objectives took 15 minutes with the defence taking a further 15 minutes to deploy. Looking at the table from the British perspective, in the far left corner was a large wood running diagonally in from the corner between two villages. The nearer village ended up an objective. In the far centre there was a small wood near the table edge and a large irregular field leading from the table edge to almost the middle of the table on the right of the sector. A village just in from the wood ended up as an objective. The far right sector had a hill in the left near corner and a wood beyond it. The near left corner had a village (objective) in the centre surrounded by a large field, there were also three small woods scattered around the sector. The near centre had a hill (objective) in the far left corner and a large wood along the right side and rear of the sector. The near right sector had a hill (objective) near the left edge of the sector and three small woods scattered around the rest of the sector.

The Coldstream Guards deployed in the wood in the far left sector with BHQ and 2 platoons in the near village (objective). The left flank was refused and the right flank was in the end of the wood to cover the approaches to the central village. The Welsh Guards, with the 17pdrs attached, occupied the village in the far centre sector and dug-in in two small woods slightly back from the village to its left and right. The Irish Guards occupied the end of the large wood in the central sector and a small wood to the immediate left of the objective hill in the near right sector. The armoured reserved was held off table behind the right side of the central sector. The plan was to hold a line from the far left corner to the near right corner and hopefully mount an armoured counter attack on the right. The Germans had other ideas.

Battle was soon joined. A veteran parachute battalion attacked the Coldstreams in the wood on the left making steady progress despite heavy suppressive fire from the Coldstreams. (Firing at –1 or –2, once the Germans were in the woods, the British got numerous suppressions but couldn’t convert them to kills, particularly with the veteran Germans rallying quickly.) A company from the neighbouring German battalion joined in and casualties mounted and on turn 7 the Coldstreams broke. The veteran German battalion then occupied its objective not having suffered a single casualty.

This wasn’t the only German activity on the left on turn two a deep flank march of paratroops supported by a company of Stugs and a troop of 88s arrived and rapidly advanced on the undefended village (objective) in the near left sector.

Fortunately this move was spotted by the Coldstreams in the village in the far left sector. The tanks of the Colstreams weren’t going to be counter attacking on the right, they had to rush to the left to contain this worrying German move. Fortunately the Welsh Guards to the left of the central village were in a position to delay the German advance and had also spotted them. The two infantry platoons and 17pdr troop bravely pivoted in the wood preparing to take as many Germans with them as they could.

The German reached the village but as casualties mounted, particularly from accurate 17pdr fire, and the Shermans of the Coldstreams approached the Germans decided to break off (turn 6). The Shermans followed up and managed to inflict enough casualties to break the German battalion (turn 8). (Because the Shermans were a small battalion, only 9 platoons, they couldn’t retake the objective but at least it was no longer German held.)

While this heavy fighting was taking place on the left the Germans were applying steady pressure against the centre village with a veteran battalion, less one company, and a regular battalion supported by a company of Stugs and another troop of 88s. The Welsh in the village itself were unmolested but those in the wood to the right of the village came under concentrated attack preceded by a barrage by Nebelwefers.

The Irish Guards provided some supporting fire against the right most German battalion attacking the Welsh while harassed by Nebelwefer fire. On turn nine they launched a limited counter attack against the German flank. This combined with casualties from 17pdrs and even PIAT fire from the Welsh broke the right German battalion on turn eleven.

The Shermans of the Coldstreams were rapidly advancing from the near left sector to the far centre to support the beleaguered Welsh. One squadron halted and provided covering fire, harassing the enemy attacking the left of the village, this squadron lost one troop to, of all things, mortar fire. (Three attempts at 11-12 to suppress, failed to rally, and he does it again!)

Meanwhile the Welsh Guards had successfully repulsed an assault on the central village, unfortunately as the smoke cleared the frightful toll became clear and the battalion broke (turn eleven). The German battalion then rushed to occupy the village before the Shermans arrived.

The Shermans bypassed the village and attacked the rest of the battalion in the woods just beyond the village. This drew harassing fire from their rear from the Germans who had occupied the village outskirts. The rapid approach of the Irish Guards forced the Germans to consolidate their defences in the village. The Irish reached the village and overwhelmed the defenders. Again the casualties suffered forced a morale check which the Irish failed. Their veteran German opponents were also forced to check morale, but for the only time this game, passed.

After a particularly bloody battle the Shermans of the Coldstreams were the only intact British unit. The Germans had one veteran battalion untouched and holding its objective and another reduced to 1/3 hiding in a wood. After 4 hours, including setup, and 16 turns the game had reached a natural end point. The British held the far centre village, near centre hill and near right hill for 6 VPs. Three battalions had had to take morale tests (all failed) for –6 VPs, so ended on 0 VPs. The Germans held the far left village for 2 VPs. Three battalions had had to take morale tests (one passed) for –6 VPs and they had taken their option A reinforcement –1 VP, so ended on -5 VPs. The near left village was contested, as the small British battalion had been unable to retake it on its own. An interesting and very hard fought game.

I tried to ensure that the defence wasn’t too dispersed and that the battalions were able to support each other. This worked to some extent but the Coldstreams on the left were still to spread out in the wood and were unsupported by the Welsh because of the distances between terrain. I probably should have dug the Welsh in further forward to better support the troops in the village and the Coldstreams in the wood. The Irish could then have been deployed more to the left better supporting the Welsh. This would have meant leaving the near right hill (objective) totally undefended. And given the Nebelweferes a better initial target.

Breaking the Welsh off might have saved them from breaking but would have left them exposed in the open for a turn or two. It would also have given the Germans a chance to better prepare for the Irish and the Shermans.

Post game discussion raised the need to ensure you stay as positive as possible in a competition, i.e. end up with a positive score or close to it each game. The obvious way of doing this is to conserve units. Breaking off the Welsh and not counter attacking with the Irish may have avoided those two units taking morale tests, saving 2 or 4 VPs. It would have cost the British 2 VPs as they would have given up the far centre village. Overall this would have left the British on 0 VPs or possibly lifted them to +2 VPs. It would have definitely lifted the Germans by 2 VPs, the village, and probably by 4 VPs, one less morale test. So they would have been on –3 or –1 VPs.

I can see there are going to be some interesting decisions to make in competitions. Do you conserve your troops or go for the knock out?

For his fourth game using the Scenario Generation System Paul takes command of his recently painted Poles on the Eastern Front. The Poles ended up, not surprisingly, attacking.

December 1944 somewhere in the Poland the 1st Korpusu Pancernego LWP (a 'Russian' Tank Corps) is pushing west . Air recce indicates that German panzer grenadiers are defending the next river. 1st Motorised Rifle Brigade takes the lead supported by 3rd Tank Brigade and 15th Engineer Battalion. This was to be my first outing with my new Polish Army against Peter Page's Panzer Grenadiers.

Describing the table from what ended up the Polish side, a river flowed from the left side, near the middle to almost two thirds of the way along the near long edge. Why I picked a river when I was likely to attack I'm not sure. It was crossed by two bridges; one in the centre of the near left sector next to a village on the far side of the river, the other bridge almost at the table edge in the centre sector. The near left sector was bare of any other terrain. The near centre sector had a village in the centre with a wood beyond it and on its left and right. The near right sector had a village in the far left corner and a medium sized wood running diagonally from the far centre to the right centre of the sector. The far left sector was dominated by a large hill in the near centre with woods on its left and right sides. A third small wood was near the far table edge beyond the hill. The far centre sector had two woods on the left and in the far right corner. In the right centre was a village. The far right sector had a large ridge running almost parallel with the long table edges just this side of the centre of the sector.

The objectives were the villages in the near left, near centre and far centre sectors plus the hill in the far left and ridge in the far right sectors. Peter chose to defend the side with three objectives and made the roll. He then deployed three headquarters; a recce battalion HQ in the wood to the right of the hill in the far right sector, an infantry battalion HQ in the left wood in the far centre sector, and finally an infantry battalion HQ on the ridge in the far right sector. It looked as though the Germans had decided not to defend the river line. Given the limited cover near the river this made a lot of sense. To the left the battlefield is illustarted part way through the game. The Poles are on the right and foreground while the Germans are on the left.

The Polish plan was to attack the village in the near left sector with 1st Motorised Rifle battalion supported by the mortar battalion and a company of engineers. They were then to move on in a left hook to take the wood on the left of the hill in the far left sector before storming the hill. 2nd MR battalion, supported by the Artillery battalion and the other company of engineers, having crossed the river further east was to attack the village in the near centre sector then attack the village and wood in the far centre sector. 3rd MR battalion, supported by the SMG and Recon companies, was to move into the wood to the right of the village in the near centre sector and then attack the ridge in the far right sector. 3rd Tank Brigade, operating as one large battalion, was held in reserve behind the right corner of the centre sector.

The initial advance went well with 1st and 2nd MR battalions occupying their initial objectives unopposed. 1st MR battalion was delayed and somewhat strung out by having to cross the bridge. As 2nd MR battalion advanced out of the wood just beyond their initial objective (turn 5) they came under ineffectual mortar and AA fire from the wood on the left of the village which was their next objective. Attempts to call in artillery support met with mixed success for the remainder of the battle. 3rd MR battalion had mean while moved into the wood and had set out towards the ridge on the far right.

The lead elements of 1st MR battalion were about half way to the wood when the trucks carrying the 120mm Mortars followed by the trucks towing the antitank guns crossed the bridge. These vehicles were the first indication that the German recce battalion had that enemy troops were in the area. The Germans decided on a counter attack to secure the hill in the far left sector and recapture the village in the near left sector. (The command arrow was drawn through the centre of the hill on the way to the village meaning the recce battalion would move in a right hook.)

The German recce battalion rushed out of the wood on the left of the centre sector, the majority pushing up the hill. One company of armoured cars, reacting to the trucks by the village in the near left sector, moved directly towards the village. The Polish battalion commander was faced with a dilemma. His orders were to move into the wood to the left of the hill then attack the hill, this would mean abandoning the village he had already captured and would leave his infantry exposed to being over run in the open by the German armoured cars and half track infantry.

He rushed his battalion into the limited protection of the woods while ordering the antitank 'company' to defend the village (the one support platoon of 57/73 anti-tank guns being 'dropped-off' outside command zone to provide supporting fire). The antitank 'company' desperately unlimbered in the outskirts and managed to suppress and then destroy one armoured car platoon before the remainder of the company overran them from behind (turn12). The Germans had recaptured the village!

The remainder of the battalion was holding it's own against the remainder of the German recce battalion inflicting some casualties on any panzer grenadiers who strayed close enough to the woods. However they were unable to continue the attack on the hill without being over run in the open by the armoured cars and halftracks, they were close enough to be contesting the objective.

In the centre 2nd MR battalion continued to advance and soon came to grips with the Germans in the wood. The Poles managed to kill many Germans in hand to hand fighting but casualties were mounting. 3rd MR battalion reacted to the fire on 2nd MR battalion from the village in the far centre sector by committing a company of infantry and the machine gun company against the village. The Recon company was committed to cover the right flank of this company and drew fire from the 88s and Pak 40s on the ridge (turn nine).

Confident that they had located all the enemy forces the Poles committed 3rd Tank Brigade (turn ten). It was to move round the end of the wood in the near right sector and attack the right end of the ridge in the far right sector. Once the ridge was cleared it was to attack the village in the far centre sector if not already occupied.

2nd MR battalion continued its slow advance in the centre, the attached engineers doing particularly well in the close combat and also using their flame-throwers to good effect against AA vehicles. The company from 3rd MR assaulted the Germans defending the outskirts of the village. These assaults was too much for the Germans and the combined casualties forced a morale test that they failed (turn 11). The survivors of 2nd MR battalion (only two stands off a morale test) occupied the village and the nearby wood. 3rd MR battalion regrouped ready to reluctantly frontally assault the ridge in far right sector (moving very slowly in reaction to the spotted elements on the ridge).

Before this attack was launched they received orders (on the second attempt) to rush to the village in the near left sector. This had two aims. One, to secure the village in the near centre sector from further counter attack by the German recce battalion. Two, to force the German armoured cars to remain in the village in the near left sector reducing the pressure on 1st MR battalion on the hill.

3rd Tank Brigade came in range of the ridge and exchanged fire with the Pak40s defending the right end. Once the anti-tank guns were destroyed the brigade closed in on the dug in infantry. They were making good progress but had been committed too late. Time was called at the end of turn 14.

The Germans held the village in the near left sector, 2 VPs, the hill in the far left sector and the ridge in the far right sector were both being contested, 0 VPs. They had one battalion forced to take a morale test, -2 VPs, and had used their Option A reinforcements, -1 VP. So ended up on -1 VPs. The Poles had captured the near and far centre villages with no battalions taking morale tests so ended on 4 VPs.

Another interesting and fun game and a successful first outing for the Poles.

There were two things the Poles could have done better. 1st MR battalion should have had the artillery battalion in support rather than the 2nd MR battalion. They were facing the 'armoured' German battalion even though they were only recce. The armoured car company would have had a much more difficult time against three stands of 76/41 field guns and the one stand of 57/73 anti-tank guns than the one stand of anti-tank guns. In fact I don't think Peter would have tried attacking the village if it had been defended by that Pak front. The mortars would have been slightly more effective against the infantry in the centre.

The tanks should have been committed sooner. I really wanted to commit them in a right hook against the ridge in the far right sector but I needed to spot something up there before I really could. It took me a while to realise that Peter would probably fire on my recon jeeps if I pushed them towards the ridge and losing one or two of them was worth it to unleash the T-34s.

The Germans may have done better if they had counter attacked sooner with the recce battalion against the Polish attack in the centre. They could have caught most of that battalion in the open and over run them. It might have been costly but would have saved the centre German battalion and the objective in the far centre sector.