EW Polish R-35 tank company vs Germans x3

Last weekend I tried out my Polish R-35 company against a mixed bag of Germans.
Fallschirmjäger with engineers and Stuka Schwerpunkt, Czech Panzerkompanie with Priority air support and 88's, then a horde of light tanks in a Leichte Panzerkompanie backed up by engineers and infantry.

This was a perfect opportunity to try out several things. Such as the R-35 company and its combat capabilities. RoF3 for SA18 guns when standing still. And too see how slow tanks with one man turret and short gun range fared against various enemy units.

As with any new force it was hard to get a grip on the play style at first, and I soon realized that I need the 4th platoon of R-35 tanks to actually have a chance against other tanks. I had brought with me Engineers but never go to use them - despite facing minefields in two of my three games! I also got pounded by enemy Air support, so next time I will bring some AA-mg teams instead of a 3rd infantry platoon in my Piechoty company. The saved points should also be enough for some infantry support weapons.

I have made all Anti tank rifles (regardless of nation) AT4 FP5+ instead of FP6+. It's simply ridiculous how inefficient they were with their RoF 1 which meant you never hit anything and when you hit you almost always fail to penetrate the armour , and then fail the firepower test if you do. I don't think FP5+ will make a killer weapon, but it will make them just a tiny bit more worth the 20 points that they cost.

Some conclusions made based upon each of my games.

21st Light tank Battalion kompani (R35)      (FEARLESS/TRAINED)

Company HQ: 60 points

Combat platoons
3x R35 tank platoon 450 points

Weapon platoons
Sapper platoon with 2 sections and Engineer supply truck 220 points

Motorcycle platoon with 2squads 140 points

Divisional Support
Piechoty company ( 3 platoons + HMG platoon, no AT rifles/Light mortars) 640 points

___________
1510 points


Renault R-35 tank
Fully tracked, One man turret, Co-Ax MG, Slow tank 
 Armour 3/3/1
37mm SA18 gun:  16”/40cm,   RoF3 AT4 FP4+



R-35 vs Fallschirmsjäger.
Against infantry I have little to worry about with my R-35 tanks, however enemy Air Support is a huge threat to my tiny tank platoons. David also had some AT9 guns with the same range that my main guns had (16") so it would have been suicide to "bum rush" his positions with my tanks. You don't really feel that superior with R-35 main guns vs infantry either as they are RoF1 +1 to hit penalty on the move, and even when standing still veteran infantry that is gone to ground in their foxholes is impossible to hit. Luckily I had some scouts that helped lift gone to ground, but even then I was hitting very few enemy teams and destroying even less. They have infantry saves after all.

R-35 vs Czech Panzers
This was a quick game. The mission was Dust-up, which I must say I don't like as it feels very "gamey" compared to missions such as Fighting Withdrawal and Hold the Line..

My opponent had 2 platoons of Pz38t,1 platoon of PzII's, 2x88's and Priority air support. We played on the same table as I had played against David - and the setup of terrain was almost impossible. Huge open field that allowed the 88's to shoot at anything trying to move out of my tight deployment zone, and Stuka bombers dropping their payload on me if I stayed. Tried to force the river, and made it with a couple of tanks, but I could move nowhere because of the 88's. It was in game terms completely impossible.

Pz38t tanks proved to be a tough nut to crack with their Armour 2 as they should be, this was the first game where I fully enjoyed some armour 3 saves though. And despite me failing to destroy any enemy tanks it took Patrik a dozen of dice to knock out a single tank. I was fairly lucky in my armour and morale save, while he rolled below average on firepower. At one point I think he rolled some 20 dice of Pz38t and PzII's firing at my company commander and just kept scoring "bailed out" - and I kept evading death by successfully passing morale tests! In the end it was no real match as Patrik snatched the objective on my half while keeping me locked down with his 88's.

R-35 against Leichte Panzerkompanie
The game where I had most fun and against a tank force that I could have a fair chance of winning. Thomas played his horde of Pz I's and Pz II's backed up by air support, engineers, MG infantry. Again a minefield was deployed by the enemy in a great spot and covered in a way that made approach from my own engineers very difficult. I had more infantry so I hoped to somehow flank with infantry on one side and 2 R-35 platoons and some infantry on the side with the minefield. But as the minefield proved to be very well defended and my tanks failed to destroy the defending infantry - my engineers ended up being shot to pieces by enemy tanks that arrived from reserve. Enemy tank projectiles bounced harmlessly off my R-35 armour on the flank where I had most tanks. On my "infantry flank" however a few lucky PzII shots destroyed 2 tanks and an airplane destroyed the last tank in that platoon.

It came down to a tank battle between the hill and the village. 2 platoons of R-35 fighting 8-rads, PzI's and a column of PzII's. It was a wonderfully bizarre battle. The enemy fired at me but my armour was proving to be a tough nut to crack, I fired back but my guns were weak as shit. And while I kept destroying a few tanks per turn, the Germans had more tanks, and every lost tank for me was a hard blow. We did regretfully not get to finish the game as Thomas had to leave, but I really look forward to playing against the Leichte Panzerkompanie, I just love facing that tank company because it is made up of a ton of tiny tanks with mixed combat qualities that are actually not too weak nor too powerful against Polish infantry or tank companies. There is a great balance between both sides.

Game 2

Game 3