F 14 Campaign scenario observations

[Volcano Man]

Historically, the 1.Armee did move around the BEF's flank in a way. HKK.2 swung around that way, and the II.AK was definitely on the flank doing just that through the entire advance to the Marne (see the Cambrai scenario). You might be surprised just how far the 1.Armee advanced west actually, and the formation of the French 6e Armee around Arras is what helped push it back to its neighbor, amongst other things (ie. the Battle of Guise). However, if you are proposing to shift the *entire* 1.Armee west to bypass the BEF, well, I don't think it will work as good as you might think but you never know. Perhaps I should have been a little more liberal with the wired bridges out in that direction, but I guess time will tell if I need to make an adjustment there. Don't forget though, a human can (and should) indeed take the BEF 2nd, 3rd, and 5th cavalry brigades over there on the far flank if he suspects that something sinister is going on, so its not as if the allies only have the two territorial divisions over there to conduct a delaying action.

So, I would say, sure, go ahead and try that approach against another human (I am not sure how the AI would react -- ie. how challenging it would be -- as the cannot be given conditional behavior. The AI won't know to move the three cavalry brigades out to the west flank as mentioned above as it essentially follows a script). It is really not a matter that the 1.Armee cannot do the maneuver you suggest, its more to do with the fact that doing so would put a huge army sized gap between it and its neighbor, the 2.Armee. So if you can manage to make a run that way while minimizing the effect of a huge gap then by all means try it. Otherwise you have a problem with your two main armies being separated, which is exactly what caused the Marne debacle in the first place (how the 1.Armee was pulled away from its neighbor).

I can see if you try to go around the BEF then the BEF and French might be able to put a beating on the German 2.Armee, thereby holding up the process of the whole center at the expense of your 1.Armee going west where there are no VP objectives. So there is definitely an incentive there for going the historical route (straight at the BEF), not to mention the BEF cannot stand and hold indefinitely (the BEF receives no replacements or recovery so what they lose is gone for good), so hammering away at them will indeed get a gradual effect. At the very least you don't want them at 100% effectiveness by the time you get to the Marne. Also, getting around behind the BEF might only hasten the destruction of the 1.Armee if the allies react quickly enough or at the very least hold up the entire advance everywhere else. So, in other words, there is no clear cut answer to what you propose, it comes with its own pros and cons. :)