France '14 AAR Turning the flank !!

[Mr Grumpy]

Turn 3

French commander (Foul) turn 3 thoughts:
In the north i continue to press on the Harnes triangle hoping to squeeze Rick back over the river line, it is the security of the river line that i am after and the 250 vp's would be just be a bonus, however Rick is fighting much harder than i expected and the area is the scene of some wild cavalry actions with both Rick and myself taking heavy casualties. I have also sent a division of cavalry on a flanking move to the far north (see image below).

In the centre my two divisions continue to rumble forward, i am hoping that they can do some serious damage to Ricks cavalry defenders if they stand and fight, in this match up the Germans have an considerable advantage in that Rick has battalions of A quality Jaeger infantry attached to his cavalry divisions where my equivalent formations to the north do not, only my Dragoons have a soft attack rating of any value.

In the south i have secured the southern ridge although i expect that Rick may get a foothold in the next turn, having now set up my batteries of deadly "75's" i hope to tear some holes in his ranks.

German commander (RickyB) turn 3 thoughts:
Mainly a consolidation turn, pulling back slightly in a few areas to draw the French onto deployed machine guns, while moving up my reinforcing infantry units by rail. Otherwise, not a lot of action.

Additional note, after the fact. There were a large number of French troops moving forward all along the front. This led me to a cautious approach at this point, to try and buy time for more men to move up. As a result, any shift to the north as I originally planned was put on hold while trying to keep my front together.




*Note important high ground indicated by brown areas*

Observer (Volcano) turn 3 thoughts:
In the south I notice that the French have rushed forward of the Tilloy-les-Mofflaines ridge, pushing past it and towards the Germans beyond. It looks like the guns are going to setup on the ridge itself to the rear, but pushing the division beyond the ridge might allow the Germans, coming from Vis-en-Artois) to do more damage than they would if the 20e DI had elected to stack back at the base of the ridge with the guns right behind them. Only the coming turns will determine if the rush forward beyond the ridge pays off.

In the center, the French are approaching Fresnoy-en-Gohelle and Vitry –en-Artois. The Germans have wisely pulled away from these places, but it appears to be extremely vacant from the French side. The French may be able to rush forward and grab up some terrain to cost the Germans more time when they inevitably counter attack here towards Vimy Ridge.

In the Lens area it looks like all hell is breaking loose, every French cavalry unit within 15 km is rushing to one point around Harnes, and the north flank is also being left almost completely open just as it is on the German side. It is a wonder what would happen if the French diverted two more brigades to the north around the flank, rather than hammer into Harnes with them. The northern flank is hanging in the air but it seems that all eyes are fixed on the Lens area at the moment.