Updated France Campaign with Strategies

[jonnymacbrown]

[Ricky B]

I don't know if David has any experience with testing the initial version of the scenario, which did not have the new Belgian deployments in it. However, 4 of us have had a team gaming going for awhile using that initial version, and currently the result is a minor German loss. There is a lot of time to go and the Germans are slowly pushing up the score and I feel have a lock on a draw if not more.

I am not sure how your comments apply to this version and not the shipping version either - in a game of the regular campaign, my Allied opponent has pulled back, given up the Belgians for lost, and is sitting back waiting to strike with the bulk of his forces. That game is not as far along as this team game though, so I can't say how things will play out, but it is showing the exact method of playing you mention above.

Anyway, I would say this allows the players for both sides to make choices that will give the game a very different complexion, but I would also expect it to be a difficult play for the Germans. A major German win will require a deep drive, an Allied major win should require stopping or pushing back the Germans. So all in all, it does what we planned on in setting it up, there is no way to eliminate the Allied player foreknowledge, unless playing the scenario that has the forces committed and fixed as historically, which already exists, or playing a subset as with the one you mention.

Rick

[Tortue Agile]

For the positions of the Belgian Army I used some material coming directly from the Belgian Army Archives that was made in 1971. (the scan is 45 Mo zipped). It is precise to the company level for all Belgium. It's a wonderful work! So now we have the historical positions.

Now, for the Strategies. I don't think it will be that easy to win for eather side. :kill:

If the French make the decision to switch the 1st Army with the 9th, they will have a stronger defense of course but Belgium will be weak. And if the German decide to play the attack by the north the French will have to come and face them at some point.
So nothing is given I think, many factors will help to decide the outcome.

Of course I understand you point of view regarding the outcome of the campaign, it is a simulation of a battle, but it doesn't mean that it will be an certain victory for the German nor the French. Strategicals decisions and tacticals behaviors will determine the outcome of the campaign. In the original campaign, I have heard often that the Germans were winning (with victory level) without reaching the sea. Now that should not happen.
The new Campaign scenario is a what-if, using probable situations so no historical outcome is expected.

[Dog Soldier]

I know this has been mentioned before, but if your a fan of this game you really deserve to treat yourself to the book "The Blitzkrieg Legend" by Karl-Heinz Frieser.

His thesis, that the French high command lost the battle more than the German high command won it is very intriguing. No player will make the mistakes of the French command. No player will will attempt to rein in the panzers so the infantry can share the glory as the German commanders tried to do. Rommel's disobeying orders contributed to that not happening.

I was flabbergasted to find that Manstein was sidelined in eastern Germany during this campaign. The breakthrough at Sedan and the exploitation afterwards has his finger prints all over it. If you read the book you find out why he was exiled and his disciple Guderian had to carry his theory into practice. A great read to go with the game.

This variation allows the players to try a lot of new ideas since the strategies affect the at start positions. Thus it can be at least a day, (or longer for the crafty German player) before the Allied player figures out what is up. If the German player then presses an advantage gained, this game will turn into the free for all it should be.

Hanging back as the French has its advantages, but it also has disadvantages. The one that come to mind is if the Germans are allowed to concentrate their panzers at one point without harassment from forward Allied elements, then the French will be hard pressed to hold against a break out. Finally, do not discount the German air power. It is a great equalizer when the front begins to become static.

Dog Soldier

[Tortue Agile]

Yes, when I worked on the game I used this book as my principal source, unfortunately at the time it wasn't available in English so Glenn couldn't cheer my enthousiasm for that book.

The description of the differents attack (Sedan etc...) are very interesting. We see how Guderian was able to apply the plan and understand that the best thing to do after breaking the front at Sedan wasn't to go south and Paris but continue to the sea. ;)

[Gasbag]

Can't seem to download this scenario. When I go to the page where it's located & click on Download, nothing happens.:hissy: Is there something that I'm missing/not doing right?:conf:

[Ricky B]

Someone else wrote me having problems getting it to download, but then it worked. He didn't tell me how he resolved the issue. If you are using IE, it may be that your security settings are too high, preventing the download from happening. You could try right clicking on the download link and save the target.

If not using IE, then I have no ideas. But if you can't get it, I can email it to you, just let me know.

Rick

[Gasbag]

Thanks. Your suggestion did the trick.

[Ricky B]

Good to hear, glad that a WAG worked this time around.

Rick

[Elxaime]

Hi -

I am looking to advertise for a German opponent for your new revised F40 campaign.

But before starting such a lenghty game, I wanted to check to see if you were planning to revise the scenario any more in the near future, or if the current version is pretty much final (for now). Nothing like starting a new game, then finding out there are many changes coming soon!

Thanks and let us know,

James aka Tolbukhin