Westerplatte Peninsula,
FREE CITY OF DANZIG, POLAND, 1 September 1939: In 1925 the League of Nations allowed
Poland to keep only 88 soldiers in their positions on the Westerplatte
peninsula. Secretly, however, the garrison was slowly expanded
to 176 men and six officers. The position was separated from Danzig
by the harbour channel, and only a small pier connected them to
the mainland. The Polish-held part of the Westerplatte was separated
from the territory of Danzig by a brick wall. Fortifications built
at Westerplatte were in fact not very impressive: there were no
real bunkers or underground tunnels, there were only five small
concrete outposts (guardhouses) hidden in the peninsula's forest;
and a large barracks prepared for defense, supported by a network
of field fortifications such as trenches and barricades. Cellars
of outposts were fit to fire heavy-machine guns from within them.
In case of war, the defenders were expected to withstand a sustained
attack for 12 hours. Beginning on September 1, 1939, German naval
forces and soldiers launched World War two with their attack on
the Polish Military Transit Depot (Wojskowa Skladnica Tranzytowa,
WST) on the peninsula of Westerplatte. Despite estimates of their
ability to hold out, the Polish garrison held on for seven days
in the face of a German onslaught that included Stuka dive bomber
attacks. The defense of Westerplatte served as an inspiration
for the Polish Army and people in the face of the debut of the
Blitzkreig amidst German Case White. Their struggle is still regarded
as a symbol of resistance to the Nazi invasion that plunged the
world into war.
This is WESTERPLATTE:
FIRST SHOTS OF WORLD WAR II, a long overdue module taken into
submission from designer Morten Lundsteen some time ago. Sorry
Mort! And we're happy to get your labor of love into print timed
with SEALED FATE. Timing is everything and with the Poles getting
their own color counters ... it's a natural to provide the first-ever
historical module covering action from September 1939. And cover
it we will, with new counters for 1939 German Naval troops, and
all the combat counters you need to play the enclosed scenarios
and Campaign Game. Plus color rules in 3-hole format, scenarios
in color format, and a hefty map of the entire peninsula position.
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
WITH EACH COPY:
- >> A colorful
printed map of the peninsula battlefield.
- >> Scenarios
in color format.
- >> Campaign
Game.
- >> Color
folio style wrap
- >> Combat
counters needed to play the scenarios.