Some questions about France '40

[jonnymacbrown]

"While we are at it, I'd like to ask why the Gross Deutschland outfit is rated A considering this was its 1st campaign and also why the North African divisions are rated mostly C & D while the same outfits are A & B in 1914?" Thanks jonny
:rolleyes:


"Simply because those outfits were not utterly overrun in 1914. ;)

[i]"No, but really: most of the quality drop is supposed to represent the complete difference in doctrine, tactics and relatively low morale associated with the fact that they did not desire another war; French units were certainly not on the same footing in regards to morale as they were in 1914 at least. So, you get at least a -1 or -2 step loss for that alone, or so I remember from the original F40 design rationale."

Didn't the French armies that advanced into Belgium do pretty well? It seems to me that the French in 1940 were outmaneuvered and defeated strategically. The same thing happened in 1914 but Joffre' was able to respond because everyone was on foot; von Moltke didn't have tanks. In 1940 there was one man in the whole world, Guderian, who understood what was happening with the breakthrough at Sedan and willed the German Army to victory over the wishes of his nominal superiors. I just don't think the historical situation warrants the French Army as a whole to have such low morale when it was the 2nd line or militia divisions at Sedan that were defeated and overrun with the French high command unable to react to the situation. Even the German high command didn't understand the situation excepting Guderian. You recently said you rated units not on the basis of how the campaign turned out but apparently that's not true from what you are saying here. The 1940 Campaign was actually, like Waterloo, a close run thing that turned into a disaster for the French; but that doesn't mean the units in that army fundamentally couldn't fight.

"Whether the GD should be A or B (I wouldn't say it should be C though) is a matter of debate. Certainly Somme_Alt was balanced around the fact that it is A quality, so I am reluctant to change it because of that (Somme_Alt) was carefully balanced."

Personally I don't understand how an outfit that has never seen combat should be rated A? Those North African divisions had more combat experience and greater unit cohesion due to the fact that they were operating in very harsh conditions in North Africa and were often engaged in combat-like operations as a normal part of their training. They got outmaneuvered not out fought.


"I suppose the question is: has the F40 campaign ever been won by the allies (either stock or _Alt), if no then perhaps the French could use a +1 morale shift. BUT, according to the scenario db, 0510_02: The Allies Cast the Die_Alt has been won as major victory by both sides (played twice), so it sounds pretty balanced so far.":)

I just looked at that scenario and it's been played 20 times with two draws and 17 Axis victories and 1 Axis loss. Me, I just think F 40 could be a much more popular title if the French units had some decent morale and lower high command ratings to reflect the situation that actually happened. Given the historical deployments I think the Germans would win anyway if more French units were rated B because the armoured thrust through the Ardennes is probably unstoppable but the game would be more fun as the French if the French player had some decent units.

jonny :smoke: