France '14 AAR Turning the flank !!

[Mr Grumpy]

Turn 20

French commander (Foul) turn 20 thoughts:
In the North
I have decided to pull my cavalry back over the Haute Deule canal, the threat to Lens does not seem to serious at the moment and i am still transferring unit south to the centre of my position as that i where a breakthrough might come.

In the centre
Desperate fighting all along the line, a breakthrough is expected any time as Rick strives to gain a foothold on the Vimy ridge, most of my units are fatigued and disrupted. In the area to the south of Vimy ridge Rick's advance is taking heavy casualties from my batteries of 75's and his rate of advance is slowing with many more disrupted units and even the occasional broken one, i now have the 38e Bde in position to ensure there will be no breakthrough here today.

In the south
Heavy fighting on the north ridge as Rick captures a second hex, an attack on the south ridge seems to have been a failure with two units breaking under the fire of my 75's, i was very worried about how thin my line is here but each move that passes is closer to reinforcements arriving!

All in all not as bad as i expected, seeing the first glimmer that Rick's troops are starting to suffer from the need to push on so hard.

German commander (RickyB) turn 20 thoughts:
The bloody battle continues, with my troops worn out. A small attack is going in at the far south, and my cav is attacking in the far north, but I don't know if I have enough troops in good order to keep it going.

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Turn 21

French commander (Foul) turn 21 thoughts:
In the North
Things are still relatively stable in this area, i have withdrawn from the eastern side of the canal and Rick has taken the opportunity to chase my cavalry hard, not really sure why this did not happen sooner?

In the Centre
Huge fight going on all down the line at the foot of Vimy ridge, all of my forces are disrupted and heavily fatigued, however i am seeing signs that Rick's forces are suffering from this fighting also with broken battalions and cavalry leading the assault, now he has come close to my batteries of 75's he in finally taking serious casualties with 50/60 men falling per shot, the 38e Bde has also propped up the line at the southern end of Vimy ridge and i am very glad i took the chance to move them north before the crises hit.

In the South
Fighting continues for the procession of both ridges, the situation on the north ridge seems to have stabilized although my forces are shattered, to achieve this i have left the southern ridge very weakly held and finally Rick has pushed in this area, so a new area of concern has appeared at the very southern edge of the map, however i am about to receive reinforcements by rail that should be able to secure this area quickly and it was this fact that allowed me to make the call about the 38e Bde, once again Rick's move may have come just too late.

Nine moves to go and this could go either way still.............

German commander (RickyB) turn 21 thoughts:
I continue to edge forward, and am pushing a bit harder in the north. It took a couple of cavalry charges in the north to clear a path to the bridges - including the retreat of the French to a hex with the river at its back, so I hope to capture all of them. I also charged an MG unit guarding the bridge and succeeded so there is some room to maneuver in the north. I doubt I can advance much further in the center and south but will see, I do have a few fresh troops and think I can take at least one more objective.

[Mr Grumpy]

Turn 22

French commander (Foul) turn 22 thoughts:
In the North
Can you believe it! The most quiet area of the front almost becomes my undoing, a freak retreat by my cavalry to a side hex exposed the bridge and Rick managed to overrun a MG unit and get across, if i had not set some Cuirassiers north on a "just in case" mission my whole northern front might have been exposed?

In the Centre
Chaotic fighting all along the line, i lose the village of Vimy and a counterattack was beaten off, Rick is now at the foot of the ridge and once again had it not been for a detachment of Cuirassiers i had sent south this part of the line might have collapsed, to the south of the ridge his advance has ground to a crawl although i expect him to gain a foothold on Vimy ridge next turn.

In the South
I manage to hold my positions on the southern ridge although my 75's have been whittled down in the effort, this area will need to be reinforced first when my expected reinforcements turn up.

Night move next, yippee!!!

German commander (RickyB) turn 22 thoughts:
My attack in the north continues to pick up some steam - the French relief attempt for their trapped cavalry ended in disaster as I assaulted with deployed cavalry against the relief units, from which they automatically retreated - into the pocket trapped against the river line. I then launched another foot attack which caused heavy losses as the units couldn't retreat but tried so they lost half their strength. Then I launched numerous cavalry charges until the entire group was destroyed. I also advanced north of the river, disrupting 3 French cavalry units and pushing them back.

There were some minor advances elsewhere although most of my infantry is worn out so the attacks won't continue forever.



Observer (Volcano) thoughts:
Only an up close image of the northern flank is shown here because the rest of the front remains largely the same as night falls.

At the evening of the third day, it is good to see that the Germans are now attacking around the northern flank with cavalry, but unfortunately it seems like there isn't enough strength to spare in that movement make a huge difference, but some objectives will probably be taken by surprise.

[Mr Grumpy]

Turn 23

Night turn, no images.

French commander (Foul) turn 23 thoughts:
In the North
Up till now this had been a quiet sector, but some amazing back luck on my side has seen the cavalry trapped on the wrong side of the canal trapped twice in two moves despite having a safe retreat route, had i not moved backup forces to this area Rick might have exploited this lucky break to outflank my whole line to the north and it is possible that even Bethune might have been taken, although i have moved more troops to the area i see that Rick has sent all of his cavalry to this sector hoping to brake out in a decisive way? The big problem with the northern area is that my reinforcements cannot reach here quickly to react to another disaster.

In the Centre
To a large extent i am a passenger here with almost every unit disrupted, Rick is now at the foot of Vimy ridge but i can see the steam running out of his attack, this was the area i was most worried about but now seems to be stabilizing unless of course Rick has fresh forces i don't know about?

In the South
The line here will burst in the morning, if my reinforcements don't turn up in a timely manner i could lose Arras if luck goes against me, fingers crossed !!

German commander (RickyB) turn 23 thoughts:
Night has fallen. I am resting a lot of troops, although I did assault a few places that were important. Also working to shift more cav to the north to see what might break free there come the final daylight hours of the attack.

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Turn 24

Night turn, no images.

French commander (Foul) turn 24 thoughts:
Whole front, night move.
No movement worth noting although i have rushed more units to the far north of my line, i am hoping that my reinforcements arrive on time as it takes a whole move to detrain them to T mode.
It seems that Rick's push has run out of steam, i can afford to lose two or three VP hex's and still win as long as they aren't the 1500 city hex's, so with 6 moves to go i still hope to get a result.

German commander (RickyB) turn 24 thoughts:
The bloody battle continues into the night, I am sending all my cavalry forward in the north center trying to break Darran's lines. It didn't work, although his losses were high and one cav unit that wouldn't disrupt lost heavily - 100 men in 2 French cav units from one charge. I am just going to keep pushing and see what I can do at the end here.

[Mr Grumpy]

Turn 25

French commander (Foul) turn 25 thoughts:
In the North
I am worried about a possible major cavalry attack north of the canal and so i have moved more units to cover La Bassee, in this area and just to the south around Douvrin any repeat of the bad luck i had might just spring Rick's cavalry clear to pick up some easy points. After the heavy night cavalry action to the south of Lens i am fortunate to hold the ground to the south of the river and i rush units to reinforce this area, i am really worried about holding the city to the end of the scenario with the forces i have left.

In the Centre
Things in this area are very much out of my control with most of my units disrupted, Rick has not achieved a foothold on Vimy ridge but i expect him to do that any move now, the good news is that units from the 7e DC Cav Div have arrived by train to bolster my line so i might be able to hold Bailleul village at the southern tip of the ridge, to the south of there my line is holding and with more units of the 7e arriving i am hopeful of holding this line.

In the South
I an still holding parts of both ridges, once again units of the 7e will reinforce this area to prevent any sudden collapse.

I feel that Rick with nothing to lose will throw everything at me, the night cavalry attack showed he is growing desperate and a single gap in my line could spell disaster, so this scenario is still in the balance with lots of points within his reach.

German commander (RickyB) turn 25 thoughts:
Time is running out and the troops are tired. I wasn't able to do anything significant on the right or left flanks, or the left center. However, I continued the heavy cavalry assaults in the right center, punching a hole and overrunning 2 HQs deployed right behind the front - the HQs suffered very heavy losses and may have been destroyed, although it left my cav unit isolated in the upcoming turn. Thinking about it, I would have been better off to split the cav unit and charge with just one part, holding the penetration with the other.

[Mr Grumpy]

Turn 26

French commander (Foul) turn 26 thoughts:
In the north
All the action in the north revolves around Rick's cavalry charges which carry him to within one hex of Lens, unfortunately his lead unit is cut off by my ZOC and i disrupt the unit and capture 200 men, however it is a real possibility that Lens will fall before the end of the game, it is interesting that the area south of Lens was weakened by my bad luck further north when i had several units trapped and had to reinforce the area with units from the Lens area.

In the centre
It is obvious that Rick's forces have run out of steam and i actually recapture a hex this turn, the 7e DC units have detrained and i can commit them to holding the southern end of Vimy ridge.

In the south
The battle swings to and fro on both ridges, again with fresh units arriving i am not expecting serious trouble here.

My great frustration at this point is not being able to reinforce the Lens area as i have no roads running south to north, if i try to move to Lens the scenario will end before my fresh units will come into play, i also received the Elite 45 DI Div this turn, however again they will not come into play before scenario end.

German commander (Ricky B) turn 26 thoughts:
My forces continue to grind their way forward, moving slowly toward draw territory, but time will run out before I achieve it. A very attritional battle. I may take a couple of objectives here at the end, and knock around the French a bit, but my units are exhausted.

[Mr Grumpy]

Turn 27

French commander (Foul) turn 27 thoughts:
In the North
Things are looking bleak now with Rick calling my bluff in an area that i have been draining of units to prop up other parts of my line, there are a lot of VP locations up here in addition to the big prize of Lens which may be cut off in the next couple of moves.

In the Centre
I still grimly hang onto the front of Vimy ridge, but again here things are desperate.

In the South
I have used the 7e DC as a fire brigade unit to prop up several points in the line and i have sent one brigade to try to save Farbus in the centre of Vimy ridge, i plan to used my fresh 45e Div to try to take back the 250 vp location on the ridge south of Arras, but i don't know if they can arrive in time to complete that mission?

With 3000 points within easy reach this scenario is going to have an exciting end to it and will be a long 4 moves for myself.

German commander (RickyB) turn 27 thoughts:
As the game winds down, I am finding myself further along than expected. I am adjacent to the 1500 point objective in the north - I may have one chance to launch a cavalry charge at the end of the game to try and take the objective. Advances continue in some areas, others I am having to pull back. All in all, although I am still fairly sure it will be a loss but it has still been a good battle, just a poor choice of strategy I guess.

[Mr Grumpy]

Turn 28

French commander (Foul) turn 28 thoughts:
In the north
A mass of Rick's cavalry can be seen making for my flank north of Lens, my line here will burst for sure but he only has
three turns left so the end of the scenario may come to my aid here, Lens itself must expect some desperate assaults in
the next three moves and i don't expect to hold the city and the 1500 VP's if Rick can bring a lot of units to bear in multiple assaults.

In the centre
To a large extent i am not really in control of events here, most of my units are disrupted and for the first time Rick
gained a foothold on Vimy ridge by taking Farbus, this was frustrating as fresh units of the 7e DC were only one hex away!!

Further south i did get fresh units into Balleul and so i may hold that important hex and Arras is now obviously beyond Rick's reach.

In the south
Although i have lost both VP hex's i hope i might have a chance of retaking the northernmost hex with the elite 45e DI div that is
rushing in from the west.

Still everything is in the air as it is possible that Rick could take thousands of points in the last couple of moves.

German commander (RickyB) turn 28 thoughts:
2 turns left at the end of my turn, so time is running out. I have made some progress in areas, but the key area to try and reach a draw is Lens, where I didn't accomplish too much. I do have a lot of cav massed for the final 2 turns, formed up to charge if the opportunity presents itself.
Lens is very unlikely to fall, as it is too well protected and the river line blocks most lines of advance. I may take 1-2 other objectives, but even with Lens' unlikely fall, would be short of a draw by a small amount.
But I will push on and see what I can do.

[Mr Grumpy]

Turn 29

French commander (Foul) turn 29 thoughts:
In the North
With two turns to play Rick has the chance of taking a possible five VP locations in this area with a combined value of 2550 points, so plenty to play for, i expect the attack on Lens to start this turn and consist of multiple assaults over two turns, i have no idea if the garrison can hold out?

In the centre
Chaos reigns in this part of my line i have no control over events it all comes down to how much damage Rick can do, here he has a chance at three VP locations worth 800 points.

In the South
Despite the 45e DI Div not being able to come into action i did manage to retake both VP hex's on the north & south ridges, it will be a pyrrhic victory as i can see that Rick has multiple undistrupted units in the shelter of the ridge, so i expect to lose those 500 points next turn.

So just under 4000 points still in play and two CP moves to go!!

German commander (RickyB) turn 29 thoughts:
It was nice to have relatively fresh reserves deployed behind the crest of the hill, my Wellington defense, outside of my needing to advance rather than take objectives back. I chewed up the French forces that had advanced on the objectives, using MGs just behind the crest, and assaulted back onto the crest, in the southern area. Up north, my German cavalry continued their successes, isolating a large group of French cav, but the objective in that area appears secure from my last turn attack. I deployed my forces for the final surge, to see what level I can reach.

[Mr Grumpy]

Turn 30

French commander (Foul) turn 30 thoughts:
In the North
All my forces north of the Canal d Aire have now been surrounded, this has exposed La Bassee to a last turn attack, but will Rick destroy my trapped men or go for the VP hex?

In the Centre
The expected assault on Lens did not materialise as i expected; maybe there will be a last turn attack, further south my forces are disintegrating fast with broken units everywhere. Rick has the chance to take Balleul on the front edge of Vimy ridge and also a possibility of the 300 VP hex on the ridge itself. In this part of my line excessive losses due to broken units causing overstacking may give a Rick a unexpected bonus also.

In the South
As expected i lost both the VP hex's on the ridges i gained last turn, Rick still has some offensive power in this area, the 45e DI turn up just one turn to late to attempt a counter attack!

Each turn is now becoming more painful as the command and control of my forces breaks down, it is very fortunate that this is the last turn; i will have to wait and see what the final points tally is?

German commander (RickyB) turn 30 thoughts:
Here is the end, I reached the outskirts of my target up near Lens, but couldn’t take it as I didn’t have anything able to assault the objective although I was able to move a few units next to it. I ignored Lens as it was hard to reach and too well defended, I was concentrating on weaker areas instead. I did see a few prospects if the game went a few more turns, but even then probably not to the point of reaching a draw that soon.

Good battle Foul., that last turn was definitely my worst on you, but your troops held up everywhere important.

Neutral Observer (Volcano Man) end of game thoughts:
The final rounded off tally of losses is:

Allied Powers
27,500 men and 100 guns

Central Powers
22,000 men and 12 guns



A very bloody four day battle indeed. The difference in losses provided the Germans 600 VPs, but unfortunately the battle was not close enough to the degree that it mattered.

In hindsight, an interesting German strategy might have been to, on day two, gradually relieve HKK.2 (which is then currently south of Lens) with 1.bayer.RD then have a less aggressive push towards Vimy Ridge in that area (the center). HKK.2, which numbers, at start, 10,463 men and 29 guns (which is over twice the size of HKK.1), could then push around the flank with force, hopefully making Lens untenable by a concentric advance from the northeast. This would be a more historical plan too, but naturally it would come at a sacrifice of a less determined advance on Vimy Ridge in the center. Having said that though, the key to the scenario definitely revolves around the need for the Germans to threaten the northern flank of the French line, but as was the case here (and most often the case with any scenario) the attack usually follows the path of least resistance at the start. In this case, the center withdrew and the Germans pursued, and then the main battle degenerated into a slugging match at the foot of Vimy Ridge.

In the end though, the German commander realized that the north should be better threatened and he shifted forces there which put some strain on the French commander to react. Unfortunately for the Germans, this decision came too late to provide a real benefit. As is often the case in the FWWC series (and in WW1 in general), once an attack develops, it is very difficult to shift its focus in time to really deviate from the opening plan and moves. If the attack in the north had developed 5 turns earlier (or if there were 5 more turns in the scenario), then it is possible that La Bassee (300), Haisnes (250), Vermelles(250), Benifontaine (250) and even Bethune (1500) could all have been threatened, providing, at best, over 2,500 VPs, which would have resulted in a draw, just 300 points from a German minor victory.

Regardless, both commanders fought well. Rick pushed forward with determination and Darran did well to fiend off the attacks in the most desperate areas. In the end, as mentioned, Rick adjusted his plan to flank in the north but it was only a few turns too late to make a difference.

NOTE: In a France ‘14 update, the VP levels in this scenario were fined tuned – they were lowered by –1000 across the board. Taking the result of this battle into account with the VP level change, the result would have been the same, but any sort of German attack around the north (as discussed above, resulting in the capture of Bethune) then the result in that case would have been a German minor victory, not a draw.

[Mr Grumpy]

Many thanks to my opponent Ricky B and the neutral observer Volcano Man for your time and efforts, VM's images were an excellent addition as well.

Following up on VM's comments i was also mighty relieved that Rick did not try to turn my northern flank which was held only by a weak and fatigued French Cavalry Division, from my POV the other major event in this game was my decision to sneak away at night the 38e Brigade (see turns 14 to 18) from behind the southern most ridge to reinforce Vimy ridge just to the north of Arras, without this move i believe Rick would have reached Arras through the gap to the south of the ridge, at the time i felt that this might have led to the collapse of my line to the far south, but i hoped Rick would not push here and so it turned out.

I hope this AAR will encourage players to try France '14 out as by using a modified PzC engine the First World War series has given us a fantastic new period of history to play out.