The Adventures of Kampfgruppe Klink

[Fenton]

Top batrep. Looks great

My only problem is that I keep transposing the name of the battle in my head and thinking

" That's a rude name for a battle"

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Another corker Jack, thanks for sharing!

[Techno]

Same here !
Cheers - Phil.

[bigjackmac]

Thanks fellas, you are far too kind 

"That's a rude name for a battle"
What's rude is how the Poles have been treating my kampfgruppe!  Very rude hosts 

We'll soon see if the French are any kinder to the bumbling troopers of KG Klink!

As an aside, I'm in a bind.  I was looking at my 1940 Allied armor, and here's what I have:
1 Char B
2 Somuas
3 H35/H39
1 Matilda II
1 Cruiser (I forget which mark)
2 Matilda Is
2 Vickers

In order to have large-ish (for me) tank fights, I'll need to field Brits and French on the same table opposite the KG (ahistorical), or buy more Allied tanks (lack of funds).  And if I buy more Allied armor, I'll probably want to buy more German armor, and I don't want to do that because it won't get used (the KG is heading to North Africa after France, not to Barbarossa).

Another consideration is that, given the relatively heavy armor of the allies (Char B, Matilda II, Cruiser, and two Somuas), maybe I don't really need more Allied armor, that the Germans will have hard enough time as it is.

And my last consideration is that, if I'm going to buy more German armor, I'd rather do some 're-organization' of the KG, and buy it for later periods (winter Russia 42-43, and/or more North Africa).

Decisions, decisions...

V/R,
Jack

[getagrip]

The way your Germans are performing I reckon the Char B could hold of a Panzer division; problem solved 

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

The Germans just ignored Char Bs and went round, it was easier!
There were join actions between British and French forces, but remember the Germans have Stukas and somewhere in the distance Rommel will be 'instructing' an 88 how to act as an anti-tank gun!

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

If you haven't read it, I would recommend 'Panzer Commander' by Von Luck at this point, he was involved in all the campaigns you mention.

[Ithoriel]

The Germans just ignored Char Bs and went round, it was easier!

Bilotte's "Eure" at Stonne

"... withdrew after attacking a German column and destroying two PanzerKampfwagen IV tanks, 11 PanzerKampfwagen IIIs and two PaK 36 anti-tank guns single-handedly."

France's equal of Wittman at Villers-Bocage!

[ronan]

The way your Germans are performing I reckon the Char B could hold of a Panzer division; problem solved 

Poor Jack ! 

[getagrip]

The way your Germans are performing I reckon the Char B could hold of a Panzer division; problem solved 

I badly need the modify button; can't believe I misspelt off!!!

[bigjackmac]

Getagrip - Hey, watch yourself buddy, I'm doing the best i can 

Lemmey - I think you're right, I don't need more than one Char B or Matilda II, do I?  And I'll definitely have to bust out the air support, and maybe an '88' (I have three, but one is Afrika Korps and the other two are dunkelgelb with crews wearing camo).  And I've read Von Luck, good stuff.  I just finished Panzer Aces I, and moved into Panzer Aces III, need to find the second book (got the other two cheap at a second-hand store).

Ithoriel - "France's equal of Wittman at Villers-Bocage!" Lord, please don't let me run into this guy...

Ronan - Hey buddy, glad you're here!  You need to post some more batreps 

Next fight coming right up.

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

It's 1400, 1 Sept 1939, and since this morning's victory there have been several marches and counter-marches, with the German forces attempting to keep the Poles bottled up in the Kutno pocket.  Orders come in from 4th Panzer Division headquarters via the wireless: "Achtung, Panzer," the Poles are attempting a breakout, sending an armored spearhead south across the river and immediately turning west.  KG Klink finds itself on the northern flank of this rupture, and is ordered to send all armor he can muster to contain it.

LtCol Klink personally leads a mixed force of armored cars and Panzer II, III, and IVs to meet the enemy tanks head on.


The opposing forces: The Germans, led by Col Klink, a Sdkfz 231 (Officer Cadet Distler), a Sdkfz 221 (Sgt Keck), two Pz Mk IVs (Officer Cadet Kleiber, Sgt Mangold), four Pz Mk IIIs (Company Commander 2nd Lt Loeb, Sgt Fahrmann, Sgt Grossman, and Sgt Friessler), and two Pz Mk IIs (Cpl Mayer, and Cpl Glucke).
The enemy force, with their CO, five medium tanks, two light tanks, one tankette, and two heavy armored cars.


Overview, north is up, Germans on the right (east), and Poles on the left (west).  A straight up tank brawl.  I hope it doesn't aggravate you too much, but I did something a little different with this game.  Usually I place a small puff of cotton to show where a gun or mortar fires, take my picture, then remove it.  For this game (for some reason) I decided to leave each puff on the board.  I kind of wanted a look at how many anti-tank shots it would take to have a tank fight.  So, by the end, there's a whole lot of cotton puffs on the board.


The tank battle in full swing.

KG Klink has held their sector of line, helping to keep two Polish armies trapped in the Kutno pocket.  For the whole batrep, please visit the blog:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/02/kg-klink-poland-game-14.html

More to follow.

V/R,
Jack

[getagrip]

Another cracking batrep; great thing about camcampaigns, you start to "believe" in the unit 

[bigjackmac]

Getagrip,

Thanks man, and you're absolutely right.  I'm ate up with following the characters, seeing what happens to them next.  That's really the fun of gaming for me, I can't play 'one-off' games.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Good report Jack, nice to see a different game that keeps the theme going and adds to the narrative.
One small point of 'rivet counting':
Sgt Keck's Sdkfz 221 (far right, blue bead to show low ammo). 221 only had machine guns, 222 had the 20mm cannon and machine gun.
From Wikipedia
Sd. Kfz. 221
Base model and first production series of light armoured car built on a standardized chassis for military use. The Sdkfz. 221 was armed with a single 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 13 machine gun (from 1938 a Maschinengewehr 34), manned by a two man crew, and had 4-wheel drive. Production ran from 1935 to 1940 with at least 339 vehicles produced for the army. Some Sd. Kfz 221 were rearmed with a 2.8 cm sPzB 41 "heavy anti-tank rifle" in a modified turret. Its full name was Leichter Panzerspähwagen (M.G.). It was only produced with Ausf. A chassis and a maximum frontal armour of 14.5 mm.

Sorry

[toxicpixie]

It's probably a 222, Polish just misidentified it. Just like all tanks in Normandy were TIIIIIIGEEEEERS! And no antitank or artillery guns were encountered except 88's

Good stuff Jack, keep 'em coming

[bigjackmac]

Lemmey - You're right man, I've been calling it a 221 but didn't realize the 221 only had an MG.  Keck's vehicle must have been one of those modified with an ATR, as he shot up an enemy armored car 

TP - The way things have been going, I believe I'll deploy m Tigers a bit early, i.e., France 1940 

Standby for next fight.

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

It's 1630, 18 Sept 1939, and fighting for the Kutno pocket has reached a fever pitch.  All day the Poles have waged desperate battles to break out of the Germans' noose, but the armored counter-thrust by 4th Panzer Division (to include KG Klink) appears to have decisively slammed the door shut.  Regarding the situation at hand, elements of KG Klink's Reconnaissance Company, reinforced with an 80mm mortar, a 37mm anti-tank gun, and two squads of assault engineers, has discovered a Polish infantry force in the village of Piotrowicz (fictional), serving as a bridgehead to hold a ford open (to the north, off table), which is allowing a trickle of Polish troops to escape the pocket on foot (albeit, without their heavy weapons).

2nd Lt Wehner, the acting Reconnaissance Company commander, radioed his findings to KG headquarters, where Lt Col Klink uttered a single word: "Attack!"


The Germans: led by Recon Co commander, 2nd Lt Wehner (sporting a Wound Badge), 2nd Motorcycle Platoon (led by acting PC Sgt Behrendt, LCpl Wilhelm's 1st Squad (filling in for Behrendt), Sgt Janke's (holder of the Iron Cross 2nd Class) 2nd Squad, and Cpl Zuckert's 3rd Squad), Officer Cadet Distler's Sdkfz 231 armored car (leader of the Armored Reconnaissance Platoon), Cpl Vogel's 80mm mortar team, Sgt Kallenbach's anti-tank gun, and two squads from the attached Assault Engineer Platoon (Sgt Albrecht's 3rd Squad and Sgt Klivens' 4th Squad).
The Poles: a CO, six rifle squads, one Maxim .30 caliber MG, one light armored car (MG only), and one light tank (spoiler alert: he's a real pain in my backside).


The enemy tank is on a tear: having destroyed the KG's anti-tank gun and mortar, he turns the corner and sets his sights on overrunning the German CO and an engineer squad.

To see how the whole report, please visit the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/02/kg-klink-poland-game-15.html

Good grief, another ass-whooper of a fight.  Fifteen games in (actually twenty, but fifteen in this campaign) and I still love the ebb and flow, back and forth, ups and downs these rules bring.  One minute you're grinning ear to ear, the next you've got tears in your eyes; I love it!  This is friction without being reduced to a spectator.

Having said that, I am supremely peeved that this was the second time an enemy armored beast has savaged my poor infantry.  It's not that the tank was overly powerful, it's just that I made a mistake in the initial deployment of my ATG, and never could fully recover from that.  So the rules handle armor vs infantry just fine, I just need to handle it a bit better   Tough lessons in the school of hard knocks...

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Another goody!

[getagrip]

I love this; it's like getting a copy of "Eagle" every two days