Scenario 4 - Piatek
Overview
Mission Briefing:
This type of mission (a defensive mission in 1939 is part of why I was so excited to play the Grand Campaign DLC in Panzer Corps. In the regular campaign, you actually don't get to play a defensive scenario until much later in the war. With more missions per year, the developers were able to throw some of the smaller operations at me and include this Polish counter attack at Piatek. The initial intelligence given during this mission briefing has been pretty accurate so far, so I should expect wave attacks from the Poles, probably with Cavalry since that was their thing. With the Bzura River between me and the enemy, I should have the opportunity to set up a strong defensive line. I entered the mission and was told that I've been awarded a second SE infantry group as a reward for my decisive victory at Lodz. The limit on SE units is 2 in the 1939 campaign, so I'm set on these for now. The main benefit of these units is that they do not count against my deployment numbers. Essentially they are a free unit.
Mission Strategy
As the deploy phase opened, I was pleased to see that the Bzura River makes a pretty large bend in the area that I'm supposed to defend. The effect of having my forces placed on the end side of the bend is that I will be able to set up a defensive position that benefits from having interior lines. The advance of technology in our modern warfare age has reduced the benefit of interior supply lines to some degree, but even now they are important. In 1939, having interior lines is incredibly important. With interior lines, I will be able to place small forces to guard each bridgehead because I know I can have reinforcements to any trouble areas within a turn or two. I've been tasked with defending 3 cities (Ozorkow, Piatek, and Lowicz) and 4 additional bridges over the Bzura River against the enemy advance. At the deploy phase, I was only able to place one unit at each bridge head, but the majority of my forces were only allowed to deploy in nearby Osse and Glowno, which means I will have to move artillery support forward rapidly. I will also withdraw my troops at the bridges to an adjacent hex on my side of the river. I want them to be able to cover the bridge so that enemy units cannot cross it without fighting, but I don't actually want them on the bridge. River and bridge hexes are much less defensible for a brigade sized unit and any unit placed in them at the end of the turn is extremely vulnerable to attack. By pulling my troops off the bridges themselves, I will force the enemy to move into the dangerous river hex before we fight. In order to win a minor victory, I only need to hold one Victory hex, and Ozorkow seems like a prime candidate because the objective hex is actually in a city overlooking 2 bridges. My infantry in this hex will receive the benefit of entrenchment while also being able to guard two bridge crossings. In order to win a decisive victory, I must hold all 7 victory hexes at the end of the battle. My plan is to let the enemy attack and hold the vulnerable bridge hexes all they want until near the very end of the battle. In turn 19 or 20 I'll counter attack and knock them out in order to attempt to win decisive victory.
Starting from west to east, I will describe my defensive plans for each objective:
Ozorkow- This is the most easily defensible victory hex as it is placed in a city overlooking a bend in the Bzura River. I only placed a single unit here to guard the bridge, but it was one of my SE infantry units. In addition to my core forces, I was provided with some aux forces to aid in defense and most of them start out far South of me in Lodz. These aux reinforcements consist of 3 x 37mm AT guns and a 75mm artillery piece, all with truck transport. I will rush all 3 forward in order to help my SE infantry guard this most vital position. If I end up not needing the extra AT guns I'll move them down the to another position
Bzura Bridge #1 - I placed one of my groups of Mountain infantry here, because there is an adjacent mountain hex that I will move them into as a defensive position for guarding this bridge. In turn 1, I will bring forward the closest 105mm artillery piece from my core group to provide artillery support. If the defense of Ozorkow looks stout, I will likely move one of the aux AT guns up here as well.
Piatek - I placed my most experienced Wehrmacht troops at this location, and I will move a 105mm artillery piece forward to back them during turn 1
Bzura Bridges #2 and #3 - Due to the proximity of these bridges, I will be able to set my infantry up to guard both bridges while being covered by a single artillery piece. I deployed 2 Wehrmacht infantry units here and will move my last 105mm gun forward in turn 1 to provide artillery support.
Lowicz and Bridge #4 - Again, due to the proximity of these objectives, I should be able to cover both bridges with 2 units and then have a single artillery unit provide support for both. I was given 2 aux units, a 37mm AT gun and a 75mm artillery piece already deployed in this area. I added my 2nd SE infantry unit to the mix and am confident these 3 units should be able to stop any attacks on that flank for long enough for reinforcements to arrive. In addition they are very close to one of my airfields, and will benefit from stuka support if necessary.
Fire Group: With all of the cities/bridges guarded by infantry backed with artillery, I deployed a fire group of 3 Panzer 38t tanks to function as reinforcements for the bridge/city defense. If there are any areas of heavy enemy assaults or breakthroughs, I'll be able to move these tanks forward and throw the enemy back across the river.
Recon Group: If I notice any opportunities for a counter attack, I will send my recon group of 2 SDKFZ armored cars and Reel's Brigade of fast infantry across the bridge in order to scout enemy movements, seize additional enemy cities to gain prestige, and possibly just cause trouble for any vulnerable units like artillery that I might find.
Air Force: Since I haven't encountered any polish air force since scenario 1 and I only have 3 units remaining, I chose to leave the BF109 at home. I deployed the BF110 fighter/bomber and 2 JU87 Stukas. This should be more than enough to add considerable weight to the defense of any trouble area. there are only 2 friendly airfields on the map, one near Lowicz and one near Lodz. This will somewhat limit my ability to help in the middle of the map with my air force:
Summary of Deployed Forces:
Defense of 7 objectives:
Core Forces:
3 x Wehrmacht infantry
2 x SE infantry
1 x Gebirgsjager infantry
3 x 105mm towed artillery
Aux Forces:
4 x 37mm AT guns
2 x 75mm towed artillery
Fire Group:
3 x Panzer 38t tanks
Recon Group:
2 x SDKFZ armored cars
1 x Reel's Brigade
Air Force:
2 x JU87 Stuka Dive Bombers
1 x BF110 fighter bomber
Here is some info on @
Reel's Brigade for anyone who is interested in following his progress. He's an elite alpine infantry unit with +3 movement and +3 Initiatve, which gives him a movement range of 6 with an alpine modifier that allows him to move faster than normal units through any mountainous terrain. Basically Reel's Brigade is fast enough to keep up with my tanks on foot and not have to worry about getting bogged down by truck transport logistics.
