POLISH AFVs FOR THE GEAR KRIEG TACTICAL WARGAME

This rare vehicle (only 10 were ever produced for the Polish Army) saw exciting and effective service in the first days of the invasion of Poland that belied its obsolete configuration and low-powered main armament.

Most of the "Ursus" cars were organized into the Armored Car Squadron of the 11th Armoured Battalion. As the war erupted, their primary duty was reconnaissance, but as Polish losses mounted they were more commonly used to delay the Germans and secure the rear of retreating Polish columns.

The "Ursus" was incapable of moving in reverse like an ordinary tank or armored car. Instead, it had a forward-driver and a backward-driver that would trade control duties as required. The 7.92mm machinegun mentioned above was technically mounted in the rear of the vehicle, but effectively became a forward armament when the backward-driver was in control.

(Designer's Note: Historically, the "Ursus" also mounted another 7.92 mm machinegun in the turret, in an incredibly awkward position 120 degrees off the axis of the main gun. The commander of the tank could not operate both at once. For this reason and for its general awkwardness, it has been left out of the template above.)

These armored cars were the most common type found in Polish service. More than 80 wz.34 models were in active service at the outbreak of hostilities in 1939.

The wz.34 was an upgraded version of the wz.28, which had been built on chassis purchased from France in the late 1920s.

Several hundred of these lightly-armored little tanks were constructed before the Second World War. The TK series of "tankettes" was domestically built (based on an improvement of a Vickers design bought from the British in 1928). The stats presented here are an abstracted version of several TK models, and the armament carried is a domestically-produced 20mm automatic cannon that was found superior to foreign models during tests conducted in the late 1930s. TK Tankettes armed in this fashion achieved several notable small-unit victories over early German Panzers in September, 1939.

Conceived as a "mobile strongpoint" to anchor an infantry or cavalry front, the ponderous, massive Motofort was a unique Polish design. Only two Motoforts were constructed in time to see action against the Germans.

The forward section of the Motofort was a heavily-armored bunkhouse in which two gunners and a forward observer were housed. One gunner manipulated a machinegun in the center of the forward hull. The second gunner loaded and operated the 37mm cannon from a standing position, and had the option of bending down to man another machinegun with a fixed forward arc of fire.

In the heart of the Motofort the two drivers sat in a partially reclined position, directing the vehicle with help from the forward observer and an unwieldy optical system.

The Motofort sported a lightly-armored machinegun turret set six feet above the top of the hull on a small tower. Although intended for use in an anti-aircraft role, the tower could traverse 360 degrees via hand crank to engage ground targets on all sides.

The rear section of the Motofort was the engine housing, tended by two on-board mechanics. The "Gray Bear," as it was nicknamed, was extremely prone to mechanical problems and overheating, and the crew mechanics generally had their work cut out for them.

Despite its cramped confines and somewhat crude construction, the Motofort had interior bunks for six crew members and room for four infantrymen, who could use firing ports placed all over the vehicle. There were seven hatches for entry and egress, and a simple lightboard based on the "christmas tree" display found on submarines was used to tell the crew which hatches were secured.

The Motofort's drive was an unusual and awkward design, whereby the engines could power the wheels in the rear or the tracks up front, but not both at the same time. Thus, the mobile fortress could push or pull itself into position, moving at a top speed of about five kilometers per hour thanks to its tremendous weight.

Despite the drawbacks of their slow steel goliaths, the Motofort crews had a very high esprit de corps, and they decorated the interiors of the two fortresses with pirate banners and nautical accessories. Although vulnerable to fast-moving Panzers and walkers, the Motoforts were quite a frightening sight when first encountered by German infantry and scout units. Effective and bloody Polish resistance developed around the Motoforts between September 6-9, temporarily halting several German regiments.

German records captured after the war indicate that the Motoforts were finally destroyed by Stuka dive-bomber sorties sometime in the afternoon of September 13. The shattered remains of one fort were placed on a train and sent to Germany, where it was put on display. Its eventual fate is unknown, but it was probably melted down for scrap in 1944 or 1945.

Special Tactical Notes

Changing the facing of a Motofort requires 2 MP, meaning two turns.

Motoforts cannot enter even shallow water or go up a slope.

If both players consent, the massive size of a Motofort may be further simulated by allowing the first attack that would destroy a Motofort to be reduced to Heavy Damage instead.

The vehicles presented here are intended to be neither complete nor wholly accurate in a historical sense. They are playable abstractions designed to allow a GK player to field a force of mostly inferior armored units different in character from those possessed by any of the major powers early in the war. What I felt was most important in the process of transcribing these vehicles to GK statistics was to preserve their unique flavor, their flair.

In that respect, I can make no claims about the validity of the TV ratings given. The current GK threat-value calculation formula is not publicly known, and modifying the Heavy Gear/Jovian Chronicles systems (as I did) is only useful to a certain point. Suffice to say that if you disagree with the numbers assigned, that's great, because I disagree with them myself and lack the tools to do better.

The Motofort is, of course, a fiction of my own invention designed to give the Polish Army a bit of that alternate universe flair.