LandMarine47 wrote:Ok my new PC will be around in a few weeks so for right now I want EVERYONE to throw more ideas into the bunch. As in more Battles units order of combat etc...
And to do a SP or MP first
Here are advantages and disadvantages.
Germans
Good: Air support and strong Tanks and arty. As well as Naval Support at Danzig. Well balanced forces and fast response and movement
Bad: Communication between Tanks and Infanrty are poor. As well as fire support. Weak Air Defence. No On Map Artillery and men and officers have a hard time coordinating combined assaults and units often get isolated.
Polish
Good: Good defence with MGs Mortars and AT as well as minefields. Strong Fortifications as well as a fair AA defence
Bad: Units are dispirted by the rapid advance of the Germans. Constantly "shell shocked" strongpoints are isolated from main defence lines. And communication between High Command and the Frontilne is poor. RAF is ineffective against German troops and are always engaging in dogfights. Officers are often absent caring to the wounded leaving troops to fend for themselves as they attempt to evacuate their fallen allies. Tanks are inferior to the German Panzers
i think you are mixing up the May 1940 German Army with the September 1939 German Army. Most of the German tanks were panzer 1s and 2s.
And It's sounds like you are more accurately describing the French Army in May/June 1940 and/or the Soviet Army in Barbarossa, than you are the Polish Army in September/October 1939-1945.
"Officers are often absent caring to the wounded leaving troops to fend for themselves as they attempt to evacuate their fallen allies." Where did you get this from? Officers often absent? The Polish Officer Corps was one the most professional and competent officer corps of the European Armies.
"Units are dispirted by the rapid advance of the Germans."???? Well the German advance really wasn't all that rapid. Most (or a very large part) of the German infantry still walked everywhere. Most of the artillery was horse drawn. And many German infantry units still used/had to use organic cavalry units for recon and scouting. As for "dispirited" (having lost enthusiasm and hope)... nothing could be farther from the truth. The Poles fought tooth and nail through to the very last days of the invasion, and then, even though they had lost their country, enough of them escaped from the Germans and Soviets and made thier way to Britain and France (and then back to Britian again) to still be the 4th largest Allied army in WW2. Way more than the Free French. That's not an act of being "dispirited", it's the exact opposite.
Here's a list of the last 4 (of 15 or 16) Polish cavalry charges in the 39 German/Soviet invasion of Poland. Notice that the last 4 are 21-27 days after the invasion started. Also notice that they are successful. You can't mount a cavalry charge if you're "dispirited".
September 21 - Battle of Kamionka Strumiłowa - 3rd squadron of the 1st Mounted Detachment (improvised) charged through German infantry who were preparing to assault the Polish positions. The preparations were paralysed and the Germans withdrew.[4]
September 23 - Krasnobród - 1st squadron of the 25th Wielkopolska Uhlan Regiment charged towards the town of Krasnobród. After heavy casualties, they reached the hilltop on which the town was located. A unit of German organic cavalry from the German 8th Infantry Division countercharged from the hill, but was repelled and the Poles captured the town and took the HQ[4] of the division, together with its commander and about 100 German soldiers. 40 Polish combatants previously taken prisoner by the Germans were also freed.
September 24 - Husynne - reserve squadron of the 14th Jazlowiec Uhlan Regiment (some 500 sabres), reinforced with an improvised cavalry unit of police and some remnants of divisional organic cavalry, was ordered to break through the Soviet infantry surrounding the Polish positions in the village of Husynne. The charge was led by the mounted police, and the Soviet forces withdrew in panic.[4] However, the attack was soon halted by a strong Soviet tank unit. Casualties were similar on both sides.
September 26 - Morańce - 27th Uhlan Regiment twice charged an entrenched German infantry battalion in the village of Morańce. Both charges were repelled with heavy casualties (the Poles lost 20 KIA and about 50 wounded, German losses are unknown). After the second charge the Germans sent out a soldier with a white flag and, after a short discussion with the Polish commander of the Nowogródek Cavalry Brigade, the Germans withdrew.[4]
The Polish Armed Forces didn't become "dispirited" until the war ended and it was clear that Britain, France, and USA were not going to keep their promises and that Poland had been sold out and given to Stalin and the Soviets.
It's ironic that the Western Allies declared war and eventually crushed Germany for invading Poland, but rewarded the Soviets for doing the exact same thing, by letting them keep all the Polish territory they took in 1939, and by giving them free reign over whatever was left of Poland after 1945.
Cheers,
Thomas