Dusty's PrairieCon XLIV After Action Report Part 3 - "Bolt Action" - Defense of the Polish Post Office Danzig, 1 September 1939

On Sunday morning I ran a Bolt Action scenario from the 'Germany Strikes' campaign book, specifically the defence of the Polish Post Office in Danzig on 1 September 1939. This it the third time I have run this scenario, and each time the results have been very different. In preparation for the game I painted up for 2' x 2' MDF boards that had urban grey on one side and desert brown on the other to maximize utility. It gave me an opportunity to deploy my Polish Post Office building that I constructed in 2020 along with the brick and wrought iron fencing I built a few years ago for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.

Set up at PrairieCon

The Polish defenders consisted of six 4-man rifle sections, three 2-man BAR section, an anti-tank rifle section, and Lieutenant Guderski
 

Polish defenders

 The German attackers consisted of three waves with a mix of light and medium howitzers, a pair of armoured cars, two sections of Ordanzpolizei, three sections of SS Heimwehr Danzig, a section of SA, a MMG, and a small engineer detachment. 

The 3 waves of German attackers

 I had three players participate in the game, so there was a single Polish commander and two German commanders. While the Germans have a definite advantage in numbers and weapons, the Polish troop quality is higher, and they have the 'No Where To Run' special rule allowing them to re-roll failed morale checks. Most of the German infantry units were inexperienced which gave them a negative modifier when shooting.

After the Poles were positioned in the various rooms of the post office, the Germans deployed their first wave at the rear of the building, despite being informed that the only entrance was at the front. With more Polish die in the cup than German at this point, the attackers suffered major casualties as the Poles had the opportunity to shoot before the Germans had a chance to move. 

 

Initial Polish deployment in an off-board grid
representing the rooms of the post office,

Initial German deployment

The Germans learning a hard lesson of deploying in the open

On the third turn the German second wave came on and a focused attack on one end of the building commenced.

SS Heimwehr Danzig going into action

 The German assault pioneers were able to plant their satchel charge against the building as further assets came on the board on turn 4. 

SS Steyr ADGZ armoured car advancing

 

A squad of SA advancing on the left

 

Unfortunately for the Germans the first die out of the bag at the beginning of turn 5 was a Polish one, and the defenders wasted no time in cutting down the remaining assault pioneers before they could set off the satchel charge. With the front entrance now the only means of assaulting the building the German attackers were out of position to capture any rooms before time ran out, and we called the game after 2½ hours of play.

Despite their loss, even the German players had fun

Thus concluded my third game of the weekend. I had an enjoyable time, and I hope circumstance will let me attend again next year. Thanks for reading.

HALT!
Gefahr! Es wird
scharf geschossen.