SQLA Scenario WG304

"THE MYTH OF KROJANTY"

©2007 A Squad Leader Academy Scenario; Scenario Design by Bill Sosnicki;  Updated 070208;

PLAYTEST STATUS: This scenario is currently in playtest (Beta Release).  Please contact Squad Leader Academy to join this effort.

September 1, 1939, in Pomerania Province, near the village of Krojanty, Poland:  Polish forces on the left (northern) flank were engaged in battle against elements of the German 76th Infantry Regiment, 20th Motorized Division,  XIX Panzer Corps under the command of Gen. Heinz Guderian.  Early in the battle Polish cavalry had intercepted German infantry moving towards Gdansk and managed to slow their progress.  However, the Germans broke through the units of the Polish Border Guard south of the Polish cavalry, which forced Polish forces in the area to start a retreat towards a secondary line of defense at the Brda River.  The 18th Pomeranian Uhlans Regiment was ordered to cover the retreat.  While the Polish cavalry units were moving into position as ordered they came across large group of German infantry resting in a woods near the village of Krojanty.  Colonel Mastalerz decided to take the enemy by surprise, pulled out his saber and immediately ordered a cavalry charge towards the resting soldiers... 

VICTORY CONDITIONS: The Poles win at games end by eliminating all German units which initially started on the board and exiting all remaining non-broken units off the opposite board edge from which they originally entered the game from without losing more than half of their own initial forces.  The German wins by avoiding the Polish Victory Conditions.

BOARD CONFIGURATION:

GERMAN FORCES: 

• AT START: Resting elements of the German 76th Infantry Regiment set up on or within 4 hexes of hex P5 on board 4 with no more than 1 squad per hex and not adjacent to another squad.  There is no restriction on the number of Leaders or support weapons which may stack with any 1 squad:

                1x8-1;  1x8-0;  6x4-6-7;  3xLMG;  

• TURN 4: Nearby Elements of the German 20th Motorized Division - beginning on Turn 4 units may enter by rolling 1 die and if the result is < the current turn number they may then enter from either board edge in which the Poles did not enter from nor have to exit off of:

     1x8-0;  3x4-6-7;  3xLMG;  3xSPW251/1;  

   

POLISH FORCES:

• At Start: Elements of Polish Border Defense Corps (KOP) – enter from any board edge:

                1x9-2;  1x8-1;  1x8-0;  15x4-5-8;  6xLMG; 15xHorses

SPECIAL SCENARIO RULES:

• SSR WG304.1:  TERRAIN:  All buildings are single story and made of wooden construction.   Despite the date, wheatfields do not exist.  Treat all Orchard hexes as Open Ground.  Ponds do not exist.  Treat all Marsh and Brush as Woods.  The Path in hex 37T9 does not exist.  Treat the Path leading from 37Y1 to 37Z4 as Road hexes, which connect to the east-west road in 37Z4.  VSQL players may opt to use customized Board 37z which can be downloaded from the SQLA website.

• SSR WG304.2:  During Turn 1 all German units must first pass a normal morale check before they are allowed to fire.

AFTERMATH:  Although the tactic of a cavalry charge was not used as their main weapon, it none-the-less took the Germans by complete surprise and the German infantry unit was quickly dispersed, and the Poles occupied the woods.  The sounds of the battle alerted crews of the APCs stationed nearby, and soon the Polish unit came under heavy machine gun fire.  According to Heinz Guderian's memoirs, the Polish cavalry charge impressed the Germans so much so that it caused widespread panic among the soldiers and the staff of the German 20th Motorized Infantry Division, delayed their offensive, and even forced the staff to consider a tactical retreat.  This was however prevented by personal intervention of Gen. Guderian himself and it took several hours for the Germans to reorganize and continue their advance.  .  However, the German advance was stopped long enough to allow the withdrawal of the Polish 1st Rifle Battalion, Czersk National Defense Battalion, and the Czersk Operational Group from the area around Chojnice to withdraw southwards unopposed.  On September 2, 1939, Gen. Grzmot-Skotnicki, the commander of the Czersk Operational Group, decorated the 18th Pomeranian Uhlans Regiment with his own Virtuti Militari medal for valour shown in this engagement.  That same day German war correspondents were brought to the battlefield together with two journalists from Italy.  They were shown the battlefield; the corpses of Polish Cavalrymen and their horses, as well as German tanks that arrived to the place after the battle.  One Italian correspondent sent home an article, in which he described the bravery and heroism of Polish soldiers, who charged German tanks with sabers and lances.  Although such a charge did not happen and there were no tanks used during the combat, the myth was used by German propaganda during the war.

PLAYTEST STATUS: This scenario has not yet been playtested and is currently seeking Playtesters; please contact Squad Leader Academy to join in this effort.