Myself and Christoph played our first game of Battlegroup and wanted a game with a minimal number of models rather than jumping in at the deep end. I think you’d agree that too much to do the first-time results in data overload and no fun.
So, I suggested Orlick’s Cockroach from BlitzKrieg,
German Forces
2 Panzer 35(t)s
1 Panzer IV Ausf B.
BR Total: 7
Polish Forces
1 20mm armed TKS Tankette commanded by Lieutenant Roman Orlik (Officer, Scout)
2 MG armed TKS Tankettes
BR total:6 (Officer)
Scenario Special rules
TKS Ace Lt. Orlik +1 to hit on aimed fire.
Cockroach as the TKSs are so small an additional penalty of -1 was applied to all spotting rolls if the TKS was in cover. This low profile meant they were rarely spotted.
Difficult Terrain, the Panzer had an off-road penalty of -1d6 movement.
Deployed as per first pictures with a Polish start. The Pz IV is on table, behind the Pz 35(t)s. I’d not assembled the Pz IV so with the use of a temporal warp a newer skirted version was deployed, the upgrades were ignored as we wished to avoid temporal distortion.
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| Setup |
Polish TKS lined up in the woods
German forces entering the woods.
Turn 1
The first move saw the Poles advance to the forest edge near the crossroads, one TKS (MG) crossing the road to the other quarter of the woods the Germans advanced up the road in column to the crossroads.
The off-road penalty heavily influenced the German player who stayed in column on the road. The penalty didn’t apply to the TKSs as they were so small. The 20mm armed TKS was in the middle flanked by the others.
Turn 2
In the second turn Lt. Orlick fired on the lead Pz 35(t), it was a glancing blow, and the morale test was passed. The TKS (MG) on the left moved forwards and fired suppressing fire at the flank of the same Pz 35(t) on reading we realised the TKS (MG) needed to stay still and fire twice and roll a 6 if it was to stand a chance of suppressing a tank.
The German player Moved the Pz 35(t)s to each side of the road one failed to spot the TKS (MG) on the left of the picture. The other moved to its right, spotted and fired at Lt Orlik’s TKS 20mm. Luckily for Lt Orlick it was a glancing blow, the morale test result was a 6, and as his ‘Beyond the Call of Duty’ act Lt Orlick fired back destroying the Pz 35(t) a BR token was taken, (2pts). The Pz IV moved forwards and failed to spot Lt Orlick. In all the failed spots, it was the Cockroach rule that made the difference.
Turn 3
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| End of Turn 3 |
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| End of Turn 4 |
Turn 5
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| Final photo end of game after Polish turn 6 |
