France '40 Gold Team Game

[Mike Prucha]

Hello all.

The complete design notes are not yet available and will be posted at a later date on the WDS blog. Here are some excerpts  concerning objective hexes, the Dunkerque evacuations, national surrender, and some suggestions for PBEM or team play.

Objective Hexes and Victory Conditions

In all six variants of the campaign objective hexes and victory conditions are balanced in such a way that German player can achieve a minor victory through the conquest of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. This is to force the Allied player to intervene in the Low Countries – if he camps the French and British armies in France then he has all but ceded a minor victory to the German player. To win a major victory, the German player must make decisive gains in France. In version A1 and A2 (the two “short” versions) and B1 and B2 this means recreating the historic German sickle cut maneuver by breaching the Meuse River defenses, sweeping through northeastern France to the sea and capturing the Channel ports. Versions B3 and B4 provide additional objective hexes which provide the German player with multiple “paths” to a major victory:

1. Capture the Channel ports (Boulogne, Calais, Dunkerque)
2. Outflank the Maginot Line (Verdun, Metz, Nancy)
3. Capture Paris

When playing with version B3 or B4, the German player would be wise to select one of those options and pursue it alone. The German army realistically does not have the resources to accomplish all three of these goals simultaneously and frittering away forces in pursuit of Dunkerque, Paris, and Nancy is likely to end in defeat for the German player. The objective hexes are balanced in such a way that the German player is unlikely to achieve a major victory without pursuing one of these “paths” to its conclusion – almost capturing the channel ports and almost taking Paris probably won’t be enough. Though the historic operation was of course aimed at the Channel ports, the additional objective hexes in versions B3 and B4 impose upon the Allied player a very realistic sense of uncertainty. He will have to work to discern the German player’s intent and defend against a range of possibilities.

Dunkerque Evacuations

Allied exit hexes have been provided at the Dunkerque harbor and nearby beaches in the four long versions of the campaign (B1-B4). The Allied player may achieve objective points by removing units from the map out of the hexes. Given the quantity of objective points the Allied player would necessarily cede to the Germans in the Low Countries and northern France, simply evacuating the BEF and 1re armée would not result in an Allied major victory. The point of the exit hexes is not to provide the Allies with a means to win but rather to negate some German gains. An Allied player may be successful in depriving the German player of a major victory by evacuating. It strongly suggested that in PBEM play the Allied agree to abide by the following rules regarding the evacuation hexes:

1. Evacuations may only commence if a line of supply cannot be traced from Dunkerque to Paris OR the Germans control or are within 5 km of the objective hexes in Valenciennes, Arras, and Boulogne-sur-Mer.
2. British units may not evacuate prior to May 26th.
3. French units may not evacuate prior to May 31st.
4. Belgian units may not evacuate. (Exception: Belgian units separated from the Belgian Army in the vicinity of Dunkerque may evacuate with the British or French if there seems to be little or no possibility of them rejoining the Belgian Army in Belgium. They may not evacuate until the first British units have left)

National Surrender

A new feature to Panzer Campaigns is National Surrender. Some objective hexes are designated “surrender hexes” for a given nation. If a nation loses all its surrender hexes to the enemy, all its units are removed from the map. In the campaign games surrender hexes have been included for the Netherlands and Belgium and there is a possibility that these armies may surrender. Not all objective hexes are surrender hexes and therefore the Allied player does not need to defend every objective hex in the Netherlands or Belgium to keep those armies in the game nor does the German player need to capture every objective hex in the Netherlands or Belgium to effect the surrender of those nations. With Fog of War turned on, surrender hexes are displayed as normal objective hexes and neither the German or Allied player will know exactly which objectives to capture to cause the Belgians or Dutch to surrender. The Dutch Zeeland Command is exempt from national surrender and will remain on the map even if the rest of the Dutch army is removed.

Suggested Rules and “Opening Moves” for PBEM Play

A central factor in the Allied defeat in 1940 were the decisions taken by and lack of coordination between the various Allied commands. To recreate the predicament the Allied armies faced, players in a PBEM game may consider abiding by the following rules and restrictions:

1. All units of the French 7e armée, 1re armée, IIe CA, and XIe CA released prior to May 15th (except any fortress troops) and at least six divisions of the BEF must enter the Low Countries as soon as they are released for the purpose of defending Belgian objective hexes and establishing a link between the Belgian and Dutch armies. These elements may not retreat from the Low Countries prior to May 16th.
2. Upon release, the 1re DCR is to move to Charleroi, 1re DINA to Maubeuge, and the 43e DI to Belgium behind the 1re armée.
3. The Dutch 5th & 6th Divisions and Light Division must be sent north of the Linge River immediately after they are released. (Exception: The 2nd Motorcycle Hussar Regiment may remain behind as a reserve for Peel Divisie.)
4. The Belgian Ardennes Chasseurs, cavalry, and all other elements deployed in the Ardennes must retreat north and west of the Meuse River as soon as they are released (individual companies may stand and fight if they are in immediate contact with German units or must do so to facilitate the withdrawal of other units from the Ardennes).
5. Belgian units may not enter the Netherlands. (Exception: Belgian units may enter Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (the region west of Antwerp and south of the Scheldt) if the Dutch field army has surrendered).
6. Belgian units may not enter France for the expressed purpose of defending French objective hexes or conducting offensive operations. Belgian units may retreat through France and may fight on French soil if necessary, but an effort must made to return these to Belgium as soon as is practicable.
7. Polish Divisions must be held in reserve unless German units are spotted as far south as the Verdun fortresses. (Note: Independent Polish AT companies may be deployed freely).


Opponents are encouraged to discuss whether these conditions should be imposed upon the Allied player and are free to adopt or disregard any or all of them.

Suggestions for Team Play

The size of campaign game lends itself well to team play. There are several ways in which commands could be divvied up between players. In a four-player game, it could perhaps make the most sense divide the commands geographically:

Player 1: German Heeresgruppe B
Player 2: German Heeresgruppe A and Heeresgruppe C
Player 3: French GA 1, 7e armée, Belgian and Dutch armies
Player 4: French GA 2 & GA 3.

The drawback to this arrangement is that “Player 4” may not have much to do early in the game because GA 3 arrives as reinforcements and most of GA 2 starts fixed on the Maginot Line. To give this player something more to do, he may be assigned to command the French 2nd or 2nd and 9th armies as these are geographically separated from the rest of GA 1 by the Meuse and Sambre rivers (and 2e armée was later assigned to GA 2).

In a game with more than four players, a compelling way to assign Allied commands may be by nation. Liaison between the various armies was poor and during the course of the campaign disagreement arose regarding the employment of the British and Belgian armies. Assigning a different commander to the armies of France, Britain, Belgium, and the Netherlands may create some realistic tension or disagreement between the Allies. To further this, players adopt some “national objectives” for the different nations:

French and German victory conditions are as defined in the victory dialogue.

British victory conditions are as defined in the victory dialogue, but one level is subtracted for every three British divisions destroyed (for instance, an Allied minor victory in which three BEF divisions are destroyed is only a draw for British player. An Allied major victory in which the entirety of the BEF is destroyed is a major defeat for the British player). A division is considered "destroyed" if it has lost a sufficient portion of its strength that is of no practical offensive or defensive value (this is intentionally vague and is somewhat depending upon players' judgement and common sense.) Divisions evacuated through the Dunkerque exit hexes are not considered destroyed.

Dutch victory conditions:

Dutch Major Victory: Allies control 14,000 objective points in the Netherlands
Dutch Minor Victory: Allies control 10,000 objective points in the Netherlands
Dutch Minor Defeat: Allies control less than 8,000 objective points in the Netherlands
Dutch Major Defeat: The Dutch Army surrenders

For every three Dutch divisions destroyed, reduce the Dutch victory level by one. (Territorial commands do not count as divisions, only the 1-8th Divisions, Light Division, and Peel Division)

Belgian victory:

Belgian Major Victory: Allies control 16,000 objective points in Belgium
Belgian Minor Victory: Allies control 10,000 objective points in Belgium
Belgian Minor Defeat: Allies control less than 5,000 objective points in Belgium
Belgian Major Defeat: The Belgian army surrenders.

For every three Belgian divisions destroyed, reduce the Belgian victory level by one.


The Belgian and Dutch players are therefore concerned principally with the defense of their own countries and the preservation of at least a portion of their own armies. The British player’s objectives broadly align with those of the French but the British player will not pursue them to the point that his own army is destroyed.

If commands are assigned by nation, Allied players will have to make arrangements concerning who controls divisions assigned to the command of a foreign army. For instance, the 51st Highland Division is initially assigned to the French Colonial Corps – should it be under French or British command? Should the British player have the right to remove it from French command if he sees fit?

The drawback to assigning commands by nation is that there would necessarily need to be quite a few players (which potentially means slower turn speed) and whichever player  takes the Dutch may be in for a much shorter game – some provision may need to be made to include him on some other command should the Dutch army be defeated swiftly.