10. Brygada Kawalerii v. LSSAH

Along the Carpathian Mountains elements of the German Army pushed Polish forces away from the boarder hopping to isolate and destroy the boarder units.  These German forces included the LSSAH regiment of the SS. Facing them was a screen thrown out by the Black Brigade, the 10. Brygada Kawalerii. This motorized cavalry unit was both well trained and motivated for the contest along the roads and fields of southern Poland in 1939.

A Nice Shot

This Chain of Command scenario tests two very unlikely units from World War II. The Polish 10^th Cavalry Brigade was motorized and trained to the highest standards of any similar unit in the inter-war period. Facing off in a quasi-historical scenario is the LSSAH regiment of the SS, attached to an infantry division. The LSSAH was not up to the level of training found in 1944 but was motived nonetheless.

In this Chain of Command scenario we have a platoon on both sides with the Germans having a pre-game barrage and four armoured cars (2 of Sdkfz.222 and 2 Sdkfz.13) and the Poles an anti-tank gun. While the Germans do have numbers on their side the Poles had quality.

Was it worth it?

The Germans advanced on a wide front sending the armoured cars down the road with two sections on the right and one on the left to protect the flank. One note, the table was set up for the first von Luck scenario. A distant firefight happened with the Germans losing three men from their two sections causing only shock to the Poles.

The Poles deployed two of their sections on their right putting pressure on the two German jump off markers. The use of the Polish copied BAR in a march step was found to be effective on the advance and in a withdrawal. At this point the Germans tried to capture one of the Polish jump off markers on the Polish left. After a furious fight in the country fields, including a close assault that the Poles beat back, the German held on their right and tried to turn the Poles advancing on the German jump off markers.

Getting ready for the charge.

With armoured cars in support the Germans attacked across the fields for the loss of a Sdkfz.222 and one disabled and a rifle section routed the German looked at their current moral, only a 2 compared to the Polish 5 and decided they needed to regroup. I think a wise move. Infantry losses were heavy on the German side 17 to 10 but both sides lost a high proportion of their junior leaders.

Now I was playing the part with the Germans as an SS unit so tanks were not allowed. I will give this another go with a different selection of support options. It was fun and look forward to putting the table to use real soon.

 

Fritz - next time we need to bring tanks.