IABSM_-_The_September_War.pdf

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The
September
W ar
The German Invasion of Poland
September 1939
A Campaign & Scenario Booklet for
“I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum!”
By Robert Avery & Alexander Kawczynski
Part One
2
3
4
6
8
Introduction
The Invasion of Poland: A Brief Summary
Scenario Notes
Scenario Listing
Figures Required
The Scenarios
11 Battles at the Border
12 The Battle of Chojnice
18 The Bold at Mokra
24 Charge at Krojanty
30 Krowlewski Forest Skirmish
33 The Battle of Pszczyna
39 The Battle of Wegierska Gorka
45 The Polish Corridor
46 The Battle of Tuchole Forest
52 The Defence of Grudziadz
58 The Defence of Gdynia
64 Battle for the Oksywie Heights
70 Last Stand at Oksywie Heights
76 Thermopylae at Narew
77 The Narew Crossing
83 Holding the Line
89 Last Stand at Gora Strekowa
95 The Siege of Warsaw
96 Initial Clashes
103 Modlin Fortress
109 Praga Retaliates
115 Reinforcements from Bzura
121 All Out German Assault
218 Appendix A Campaign Background
231 Appendix B Short Biographies of Polish Commanders
128 Battle at Bzura
129 Flanking the German 8th Army
135 Polish Push Towards Lowicz
141 Encirclement & Breakout
147 The Black Brigade
148 Jordanow
154 Ambush in the Beskides Mountains
160 The Defence of Jaroslaw
166 Siege of Lwow
172 Tomaszów Lubelski
174 1st Battle of Tomaszow Lubelski
180 2nd Battle of Tomaszow Lubelski
186
Independent Operational Group Polesie
188 The Defence of Brzesc Fortress
194 The Defence of Kobryn
200 The Battle at Parczew
206 The Battle of Kock
212 The Battle of Kock II
1
The September War
The German invasion of Poland on 1st
September 1939 precipitated the greatest
conflict the world has ever known, ending
the lives of some 60 million people across
the
globe.
Poland
would
suffer
disproportionately, with military and civilian
deaths equalling some 17% of its pre-war
population: higher than any other country
save a couple from the Soviet bloc.
Although Nazi Germany led the invasion,
they were accompanied by a small
contingent of Slovaks, and would be joined
on September 17th by a much larger force
from the Soviet Union invading Poland from
the east. Germany and the Soviet Union
would end up partitioning Poland between
them after the Polish surrender in early
October. Appendix A, at the back of this
document, gives a much fuller account of
the political and military run up to the
invasion.
The invasion began at 4.45am on 1st
September 1939 when the Germans opened
fire on Polish positions in Danzig. It was
launched from two sides – Germany and East
Prussia – with the Germans quickly proving
their strategic superiority. The next section
of this document, The Invasion of Poland,
gives a very brief summary of the main four
phases of the campaign, which ended after
the battle of Kock, 2nd – 5th October 1939.
expanded for IABSM. A second scenario pack
for Poland 1939, based on the other half of
Alexander’s work, should follow later this
year.
Please note that this pack is not designed to
be printed out and read like a book. By all
means do so if you wish, but I would suggest
you read the introductory pages on screen,
then print out the pages for each scenario as
and when you are going to play them.
Army Lists
This supplement is designed to be used in
conjunction with the Poland 1939 army lists
for IABSM available as a free download from
www.vislardica.com.
You will find that the
OBs used in the scenarios more or less
exactly match the army lists. The lists also
contain rules for the use of armoured trains,
and a lot of additional background
information to the forces on all three sides.
Acknowledgements
As always, my thanks to Richard Clarke and
the rest of the Lardies for providing both
inspirational rules and inspirational gaming;
and to Derek Hodge and Mike Whitaker in
particular for their services as proof-
readers. Any mistakes that remain are mine
and mine alone. I’d also like to thank the
playtesting team: Dave, John and Bevan.
Finally, I love reading AARs from the
scenarios that I have written. Please do join
the TooFatLardies Yahoo group and/or the
TooFatLardies forum and post your battle
reports there for all to enjoy, and I’ll re-
post them to the
Vis Lardica
website, the
unofficial library of all IABSM AAR!
Robert Avery, March 2017
Structure
This scenario pack contains thirty-three
scenarios designed for IABSM but usable for
any system that covers company-strength
actions in World War Two. It is hugely based
on the first half of
Poland in Flames,
Alexander
Kawczynski’s
excellent
supplement for another rule system, but
with each scenario wholly adapted and
2
The course of the September War can be
divided into roughly four parts, with each
part being approximately one week long.
Part Three: September 15-21st
The Beginning of the End
With no relief from the outside world, many
Polish armies have already been encircled
and destroyed. Those remaining fall back to
the next line of defence, or organise
themselves into improvised operational
groups comprising the remnants of various
armies and units.
Even as late as September 17th, the day of
the Soviet invasion from the east, Polish
trains ship troops west to reinforce the
frontlines facing the Germans.
Bzura, the largest battle of the campaign
lasts nine days before ending with the
defeat of the Polish “Poznan” and
“Pomorze” armies.
The Soviet invasion on the 17th changes
everything.
Part One: September 1-7th
Battles at the border
Initial battles take place near the Polish-
German border. The Germans begin a series
of pincer movements designed to encircle
and destroy Polish formations.
France and the UK declare war on Germany
on the 3rd, giving hope to the Polish,
temporarily boosting their hopes of an allied
intervention.
The main beacon of morale-bolstering
resistance, the actions of the Polish garrison
at Westerplatte, is extinguished on the 7th.
The 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade fights a
series of successful delaying battles even as
the “Krakow” army started to crumble on
their flanks.
Part Four: Sep.21st – Oct.5th
Part Two: September 8th-14th
The Romanian bridgehead
The Poles count on making a last stand near
the Romanian border that would last to the
winter, hopefully long enough for their allies
to arrive and relieve them. This plan is
shattered with the Soviet invasion from the
east.
Instead, units are ordered to evacuate
towards the Romanian bridgehead and get
out of Poland, mainly through Romania and
Hungary.
In the end about 80,000 Polish troops cross
the borders, and make their way to France
and eventually the UK to continue their
fight.
Tightening the noose
Having broken through Polish lines, German
armies race towards set objectives in the
Polish heartland, the main objective being
Warsaw.
The siege of the capital and the many
battles around it lasts from 8th to 28th of
September.
Shielding the Polish retreat, prepared Polish
positions at Wizna delay the advance of the
German army from the 7th to 10th
September in a battle that would later be
known as the “Polish Thermopylae”.
3
CAMPAIGN VICTORY POINTS
Rather than being presented in strictly
chronological order, the scenarios in this
booklet are grouped into eight mini-
campaigns covering the entire duration of
the war.
Scenarios can thus be played as one-offs, as
part of a mini-campaign or, for the most
dedicated amongst you, one big campaign
split into eight mini-campaigns.
Each scenario awards the winner (and
sometimes the loser) of the battle with a
number of campaign victory points or CVP.
If playing through a campaign or mini-
campaign, tot up the CVP earned by each
player over the course of the relevant
scenarios. The player with the highest CVP
total has won the campaign.
Reinforcements for one side, for example,
might arrive on the fifth appearance of the
Turn Card, no matter how many times the
Tea Break card has been turned.
Objective Markers
Many of the scenarios call for objective
markers. These can be anything you want: a
piece of terrain, a damaged vehicle, a
Chain
of Command
jump-off point etc.
Layout
Each scenario is presented in the same way.
First there is the Game Briefing that
contains all the information that the Umpire
needs to run the scenario. Then there are
individual briefings for both commanders.
The Umpire needs to read all three briefings
as there is occasionally some information on
the players’ briefing sheets that is not
duplicated on his own. Players should only
read their own briefing sheet. All Umpires
need to do is print off the players’ briefing
sheets and hand them over: players require
no additional information.
In general, an objective is held by the side
with friendly troops with at least one Action
within 4” of the marker, provided that there
are no enemy troops with at least one Action
also within 4” of the marker.
Big Men & Aces
All Big Men for both sides are named. The
names are mostly fictional, and those who
have read my other scenario booklets will
recognise many of them. Any historical Big
Men are marked with an asterisk*.
Where the same units appear on the table,
the same Big Men are used, allowing the
rules for Aces to be used if the scenarios in
this booklet are being played as part of a
campaign.
Any one Big Man on each side who survives a
scenario may be carried over to the next
scenario as a Junior Ace. If he survives this
Turn Card
When required by a scenario, you may need
to include a Turn Card in the pack. This is
distinct from the Tea Break card and governs
when certain scenario events happen.
4

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