Our Thursday Game - March Madness Scenario MM53 Muranowska 6.

Well...Grumble Jones is not a site comfortable with controversy or controversial subjects. I shy away from them for the most part. But tonight's post and AAR will deal with a controversial scenario based upon its historical inspiration. When ASL players think of controversy it usually involves either the playing of Mila 18 or the use of black SS Counters. Tonight's AAR is Muranowska 6, which covers an action of the April 1943 uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto. Fully a year before the Warsaw Uprising, the Jewish Ghetto rose up against it's Nazi overseers to fight back as the Germans prepared to move those remaining in the Ghetto to the death camps. 

No student of the Second World should gloss over the Holocaust. Knowledge and remembrance of the Holocaust or the Shoah is honestly a duty we all should carry within us. It is of course a very uncomfortable subject and elicits painful memories among all the people involved. The industrial murder of over twelve million people, over half of which were Jewish is a staggering thing. As many readers know, I attended a semester of college in Germany and had much contact with the World War II generation as well as the university age Germans with whom I lived and attended classes. Young Germans had divorced themselves (quite understandably) from the horrific Nazi past of their parents and grand-parents. Forty years had passed, but the effects of that war were still very visible in 1985 Germany. On one of my trips to Munich, I made a visit to Dachau, which was both a camp for German political prisoners and Jewish citizens. While not a death camp on the scale of Auschwitz,  it was nevertheless a place of both great evil and unspeakable horror. Truly, an experience I don't want to have again. But I would stress that seeing the camps whether it is Dachau, Treblinka, Auschwitz or any one of the hundreds throughout Europe, is something we must witness and remember. We live in an age where history is distorted...altered...rewritten to the point of denying historical fact. We must not allow the Holocaust to be denied or to be forgotten. 

https://www.facebook.com/yadvashem/ I highly recommend a visit to this site. 

I also highly recommend Dan Kurzman's outstanding recounting of the 28 days of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. As a teenager, I had seen the uprising portrayed in the Holocaust mini-series and the courage that it took to stand up to the Germans always stayed with me. For a long time, I had thought that the Jewish people had not fought back. But after a bit of study, I realized that was not the case, The Jewish People fought back frequently, but often operated in areas that were already historically hostile to them. So the Germans were often tipped off as to the location of Jewish resistance fighters hiding in the forests of Eastern Europe. One of the saddest truths is that the Germans had many helpers during the Holocaust. 

Ok...thanks for bearing with me. I just have a couple more points to make and then we can have a respectful AAR for this scenario. Many of you are fans of Mark Pitcavage's excellent site, Desperation Morale. Many of you also know that Mark is very active in helping to identify and eliminate hate groups. A very noble labor in my opinion. On his site, Mark did a review of the March Madness Pack for 2019 which contains this scenario and expressed disappointment that Muranowska 6 was included. For many good reasons, Mark does not believe the events of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising belong in a wargame. I certainly would entertain no argument to Mark's stance on this subject. It is certainly a reasonable stance to take. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was a doomed affair from start to finish. Poorly equipped, starving Jewish civilians  led by Mordechai Anielewicz fought for 28 days to strike back at their oppressors with no hope of success. The Germans led by SS General Juergen Stroop brutally put down the uprising. And I believe the one-sidedness of the struggle of civilians against Stroop's SS Polizei is a central reason why Mark and others find fault with scenarios such as this one and Mila 18. Again, no argument from me. 

All that said (exhaustingly I know), I will play this scenario and blog the AAR for it. Let's all of us remember the bravery and sacrifice of the Jews who took up arms in April of 1943 in the Warsaw Ghetto. We honor them by remembering them. If nothing else, playing scenarios like Mila 18 and Muranowska 6 give us the chance to learn about, remember and hopefully share with others what we have learned about those who stood up to evil during the Holocaust.

Mira Fuchrer, ZOB Fighter                                                               

Tova Altman

Eliezer Geller, ZOB Commander

Zivia Lubetkin, ZOB Commander


A look at some of the people who participated in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In addition to Kurzman's book, I recommend getting a copy of Uprising.



It's actually a very good movie that provides a good bit of detail not seen in other depictions of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Monument to Mordechai Anielewicz and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

The scenario covers actions in the Ghetto on April 27th, 1943. It was the ninth day of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. The Jewish Military Organization or ZZW by Hebrew acronym had planned for a retreat out of the Ghetto after the uprising. Two ZZW tunnels led outside the ghetto and were used to smuggle weapons in. During the uprising, groups of ghetto fighters had exited the ghetto via the tunnel to building Muranowska 6 and then made their way to the Michalin Forest. The first group had been successful. A second group made their way through the tunnel and hid in Muranowska 6, waiting to go to the forest. The Germans had received an anonymous tip of the presence of Jewish partisans in the building. The Germans quickly surrounded the block and assaulted the building.

In the scenario, the ZZW Player is trapped and must hold out in Building Q10. This scenario uses Bounding Fire Production maps DW-7a and DW-7b. The German Player wins immediately upon controlling Building Q10 and inflicting 10 or more CVP on the ZZW Fighters. 

Cellars, sewers and 3 third level buildings would also be in play. Nothing like to trying to clear a 3 story building with fortified cellars...yeah...not my kind of fun.

Dan (the scenario designer by the way) would command the men and women of the Jewish ZZW Fighters. This force would consist of 3 x 3-3-7's and 3 x 3-(1)-7's  led by an 8-1 and 9-0. 18 concealment counters would help conceal the small force in a very urban environment. The counters used for the ZZW fighters are the Chinese from the Korea pack. So these Partisans don't break...they stripe...oh man would they be tough to fight in this scenario.

As the scenario attacker, I would command the men of the Trawniki-man" Auxiliary Battalion (ELR 1) consisting of 6 x 3-4-7's led by a 7-0 and 6+1.  

Additionally, I would command elements of the 22nd SS Police Regiments (ELR 2).  This force would consist of 2 x 5-4-8's and 5 x 4-4-7's led by a 9-1 and 8-0 with an LMG. 

Not really interested in saying more about this force. It's rare that I feel like I'm commanding bad guys in a scenario....but this was definitely one of those times...where I really didn't want to command my side. My objective was also pretty awful...I would have to take control of Q10 building while inflicting at least 10 CVP on the ZZW fighters. Essentially, I had to wipe them out.


And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

“When designing this scenario I wanted to give some homage to the brutal fighting in the Warsaw Ghetto.  When the Korea War ASL came out the early war Chinese squads and grenadier squads give good representation to the Jewish ghetto fighters.  This battle was where a German leader won the Iron Cross and had to be a hard fight against a determined foe.  The Partisans have two choices they can defend the building or make an escape run.  If they attempt to escape they have to hold out a turn then make the run.  I chose to make a fight for the building.  At each staircase I will put a unit in the cellar and one at first level.  When the Germans or their allies enter the Partisan can enter into CC concealed.  They are stealthy and with concealment have -3 on the ambush roll.  With the 8-1 leader they gain another -1.  If they win CC they will battle harden with the weapons they capture.  Then they can fade back into the building and gain concealment via an SSR that makes them gain as if it were bocage.  Hopefully in early CC the Partisans can inflict enough damage to keep the Germans from being able to clear the building.”

After a lot of discussion....back and forth, Dan and I agreed that we would only show the final picture of the action. This scenario is much different than I had anticipated. I honestly was not at all looking forward to playing it. I felt like, I was just going to send SS Police Units into a buidling to slaughter Partisan squads...like something out of Schindler's List. I just wasn't onboard for that experience. 

Thankfully, this scenario is entirely different than that. In fact, at many points in this game, my SS Police were fighting for their survival in a building that was well controlled by the ZZW fighters. I elected to come at Dan from all directions and even had squads set up in the open square and move into the building from a direction I was hoping he would not expect. Overall that approach worked. I was in the Q10 building on Turn 1 and moving to engage the ZZW fighters therein. 

Now this scenario is part of the March Madness Close Combat Pack and I can't recall a scenario with more close combat. Dan's ZZW fighters ambushed me repeatedly from multiple levels and inflicted heavy losses on my force. By game end, I had lost 9 of 13 squads and only 1 of the Ukranian Auxiliary squads had survived. In the final close combat of the game, I would roll snake eyes and take down Dan's 8-1, who had inflicted heavy losses on my forces throughout the game. Hand to hand combat with stealthy Partisans is not fun.

For his part, Dan is the master of Partisans. He plays them better than anyone else I know. Partisans are Dan's thing and he likes to create those kinds of scenarios and to play them. While successful in ambushes, Dan was completely unsuccessful in rolling for molotovs. He never got one despite many attempts. This had a profound effect and kept my forces safer than they should have been in this game.

So final thoughts...is this a scenario that you or anyone should play?? Yes and no....is my answer and I base that on individual choice. So people will be completely put off by Warsaw Ghetto Uprising scenarios, while others aren't bothered by that at all. Is is good ASL experience. The answer is yes. It played well and for all of its 5 turns, the issue was in doubt and could have gone either way. It's designed to create a lot of close combat and it definitely did that. Tactically, it lacks sublety...this is a blunt force endeavor on the part of the Germans with no guarantee of surviing contact with the ZZW fighters. 

At the end of the day, this is another scenario that covers a single piece of the giant tapesty that is the Second World War. The reality is that all war is horror and we should not forget the human costs associated with. Thank goodness only cardboard is at risk in the world of ASL and my counters have been regenerating after every fight for over 4 decades!!!




And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:
"The plan did not work.  The first two CC actions were very successful and defended the P11 staircase where two Partisan squads battle hardened and remained concealed.  But at the Q9 stair two squads were lost after only killing a German HS despite having ambush.  The Germans moved into the upper levels and could close with all the Partisan units.  In the end the Partisans were wiped out by Turn 4.  But the Germans had lost 9 of 13 attacking squads.  Good game and well played by Grumble Jones.  Congrats on the hard fought victory.  Close Combat is always a gamble and this time it did not pay off for the stealthy defenders.  My thanks to Grumble Jones for a great game. 



The battle comes from Flags over the Warsaw Ghetto by Moshe Arens (former Defense Minister of Israel).  It's a good book."














Ok..that's a wrap on this scenario. Again, probably not something that will find its way to many playlists, but if you are interested in the events of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and want to see the underdog win the battle. Well, then you may well find that nicely captured in this scenario.