The Adventures of Kampfgruppe Klink

[toxicpixie]

Breathe, Lemmey, breathe!!!

The next write-up is not gonna happen tonight, the wife and kids want to watch a movie, I'm sure it's something with princesses and cuddly animals...  I've tried in the past to get away with typing, or even prepping minis, but it didn't go over very well.

I hope to get two or three games in this weekend, we'll see how it works out, and I'll post as soon as I can.

V/R,
Jack

I hear that! I sometimes try to do something useful and usually get told "you're not paying attention". From the woman glued to her phone asking me what's going on in the film

Either that or little toddler fingers are reaching for the open paint/delicate brush tips/wet figures

[bigjackmac]

All,

It's 1400, 14 Sept 1939, and, following its success in repelling a local Polish penetration on 12 September, the KG has been busy shoring up its cordon and patrolling aggressively to determin enemy strength, dispositions, and intentions.  10th Army HQ iterated several threats to 4th Pz Div that never really materialized, and then patrols determined the enemy had seized the town of Lokoshawo (fictional); Col Klink was determined to get there the 'firstest with the mostest' (i.e., a hasty attack using forces immediately to hand, as opposed to a deliberate assault), and so he launched a detachment to clean the enemy out of the town, dispatching the bulk of the 2nd and 3rd Grenadier Platoons, along with two tanks of 4th Panzer Platoon, let by the Schutzen Company commander, 1Lt Freitag (wearer of the Iron Cross 2nd Class).


The opposing forces: a small infantry force armed with several anti-tank rifles supported by a single medium tank, versus a largely German infantry force backed by a pair of tanks.  The Germans have 1st Lt Freitag commanding, Sgt Mangold's Pz Mk IV, Cpl Graebner's Pz Mk II, and LCpl Steinkamp's MG34 supporting three squads of 2nd Lt Tausch's 3rd Platoon (Sgt Schlesssinger, Cpl Nader, and Cpl Hauer), and three 2nd Platoon Squads (Sgt Aust, Sgt Haas, holder of the Iron Cross 2nd Class, and LCpl Axthelm).  The Poles have CO, 7TP medium tank (which looks suspiciously like a Soviet T-26, though they actually do look quite similar), six rifle squads, and four ATRs (which are not separate units, but attached to the rifle squads).


Overview, north is up, Poles on the left (west, still on blinds, AKA poker chips), and Germans on the right (east).  The Germans have 2nd Plt with the Pz II in the north, and the CO, 3rd Plt, the MG, and the Pz IV in the south.  For this fight I rolled up 'urban' for the terrain, but it became a little more urban than I intended.  No matter.


Heavy fighting broke out in the park, where Sgt Mangold's Pz Mk IV destroyed the enemy tank, but then was itself driven off by accurate fire from numerous Polish anti-tank rifles.  Aside from that, the German Landser easily brushed aside the small Polish force.  For the whole fight, please visit the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/01/kg-klink-poland-game-10.html

Standby, the next fight was absolutely incredible!  You won't believe what happened; at least I didn't.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Nice report. YOU WON! But wouldn't you win either way. 

[ronan]

" but I didn't mean to set it up as a damned city, it just sort of happened."

Bad maps ? 

And you won despite bad dice ?  Could you teach me please ? 

good AAR as usual Jack !
Thanks

[bigjackmac]

Lemmey - "But wouldn't you win either way." Aw, come on, you've seen me get my butt kicked too many times to say that 
I'm a solo gamer, yes, but not of the "just play both sides to the best of your ability" types.  I am definitely on one side, playing against the other, using dice to help the other side make decisions.

Ronan - Definitely bad maps 
"And you won despite bad dice ?  Could you teach me please ?"
The enemy rolled bad too 

Thanks fellas, I'm glad you're liking them.

V/R,
Jack

[toxicpixie]

Victory goes to he who makes the last but one error

[bigjackmac]

I find that if I make enough errors they assume a life and synergy all their own, and if only I'm willing to push the envelope, make one more error, then i can pull out the win 

I got games 12, 13, and 14 this past weekend, and I should be ready to post game 11 tomorrow night, so stay tuned.

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

It's 1000, 16 Sept 1939, and the KG is spread thin, manning a line of pickets attempting to identify the Poles' main axis of attack, and to contain it.  The morning finds an outpost manned by 2nd Lt Klugmann's (wearer of the Iron Cross, 1st AND 2nd Class) 2nd Grenadier Platoon under attack; Major Schultz, the kampfgruppe's executive officer, assembles a hasty force and moves off smartly to relieve them.


The opposing forces: two relatively small forces, both with limited tank support, though the German force is split into an outpost force and a relief force.

The Germans: CO (Major Schultz, leading the relief column comprised of 2nd Lt Weider's 1st Motorcycle Platoon (his HQ section plus the squads of Sgt Sachs and Sgt Gradl), with Sgt Jurgens' Pz Mk IV and Sgt Pichler's Sdkfz 221 in support.  The 'outpost force' is led by 2nd Lt Klugmann, with Sgt Aust and Sgt Haas' (wearer of the Iron Cross 2nd Class) squads and Cpl Osswald's 80mm mortar in support.

The Poles: CO, 7TP medium tank, and five rifle squads (four with anti-tank rifles).


Overview, north is up.  The German 2nd Plt outpost is in the top left (northwest) corner, with a Polish rifle platoon just south of them (at the wall).  The German relief force has entered at bottom right, and the Poles have a tank and two rifle squads coming on board by crossing the ford at bottom left.


The 2nd Platoon at the outpost (top left) is able to stave off the Polish assault (bottom left) long enough for reinforcements to arrive (top right), and together they beat the Poles back to the ford in some very intense fighting.


And the whole thing comes down to the KG XO, Major Schultz, personally leading Sgt Gradl's dismounted Motorcycle Squad into close assault on the enemy tank.

This was by far the wildest game I've ever played.  To see the batrep, please visit the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/01/kg-klink-poland-game-11.html

Absolutely insane, I hope you enjoy it!  This past weekend I played games 12, 13, and 14, just need to get them written up.  I've decided the Poland campaign will wrap after game 18, so I'm looking to be done this coming weekend, or, more likely, the one after.  Then I figure I'll mess with some other stuff for a bit, then pick the KG back up for France 1940.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Oh!
Is there anyway of modifying the activation roll!

[Techno]

Nice report again, Jack !
Cheers - Phil

[bigjackmac]

Lemmey,

Sure you could modify the activation roll.  The rules are pretty simple and straightforward, meaning you can modify stuff and it's pretty easy to determine any issues with the relationship between what you changed and the rest of the rules.

What are you thinking?  Me, I'm good; I love the activation roll, it's one of the big draws of the game.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

If you overall orders were a mobile attack -1 so a scurry is more likely. If you are static defenders, +1 so you are more likely to firefight, or switch to 56 firefight and keep 1 as the scurry.

But if your happy, then that's cool bud!

[bigjackmac]

Lemmey,

Ahhhh, I gotcha!  Sorry man, I can be a bit slow 

When you asked that question I couldn't see what you were getting at, but that makes perfect sense.  I'd say that you could do that and it wouldn't negatively affect any other mechanism, and certainly would make sense.  Personally, I don't think I'll do it as I'm quite happy with how it works as is: I love when things don't go the way you planned, when something goes awry and you've got to make the best of two bad decisions, but that's just me.  Yes, probably a bit strange 

I could see myself doing it in a very specific scenario though, i.e., still having the chance for a scurry, but 'upping' firefight to 5+ for an ambusher, at least on his first activation roll.

V/R,
Jack

[nikharwood]

That's a cracking town layout 

[bigjackmac]

All,

It's 1700, 17 Sept 1939, and the kampfgruppe has lost contact with the 4th Panzer Division's 35th Panzer Regiment on its right flank.  LtCol Klink immediately dispatches a task group under 1st Lt Freitag, consisting of his 3rd and 4th Grenadier Platoons and a couple tanks from 2nd Panzer Platoon, to reestablish contact there.  They are moving quickly in the failing light, hoping to meet friendly forces before the sun goes down.  Unbeknownst to the Germans, the Poles have moved quickly to exploit the gap, and a small force of harried, exhausted Poles sit astride Lt Freitag's route.  Unfortunately for the Polish defenders, one of its anti-tank riflemen is a bit overeager, and so a single 14.5mm shot rings out, alerting the now-veteran German troops to the pending danger.


The opposing forces: a small force of infantry supported by two tanks each.  Aside from the Polish anti-tank rifles, neither side has any heavy weapons.

The Germans: CO, 1st Lt Freitag, Cpl Mayer and LCpl Otjen's Pz Mk II tanks, 2nd Lt Tausch's 3rd Plt (Sgt Schlessinger, Cpl Nader, and Cpl Hauer), and Office Cadet Vetter's 4th Plt (Sgt Mader, wearer of the Iron Cross 2nd Class, Sgt Lehmkuhl, and Cpl Imhofe). The Poles: CO, two Tankettes with 20mm anti-tank rifles, and five rifle squads, two with ATRs attached.


Overview, north is up, Germans are in column on the road from center to bottom right, Poles are still on blinds.


A helluva melee breaks out in the center, and Cpl Hauer's 3rd Squad (bottom left, practically atop a Polish casualty figure) is cleaning up.

For the full report, check the blog at
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/01/kg-klink-poland-game-12.html

Another solid win for the Kampgruppe moving on.  I've got two more fights to write up, but so far haven't found the discipline to sit down and do it

V/R,
Jack