I moved along and got locked down on his forward defensive line, but had enough troops to break through and capture his rear towns. His reinforcements were delayed in arriving and couldn't wrest control of anything back. He killed more of my units but I held more objectives. I had 32 VPs and he had 18, so Germans win with 14 VP; Major Victory.

It seems as though the French are destined to fight this battle with both arms tied behind their back. They simply don't have the forces to defend well and the Germans can crush them in detail. It is just a case of a little too late. Roll well for your reinforcements and you will probably have a decent chance at winning. Roll poorly and you will lose all the critical terrain before you get your final troops on board, like happened in this case.

It is a tense scenario, but only from the standpoint of the reinforcements...

As other players said this scenario was heavy unbalanced in favor of the Germans, we decided to change some things : the French had 2 hidden AT guns, and their reinforcements entered on the turn scheduled. This gives the German a more interesting challenge, I think.

Anyway, my opponent was too shy and too slow. Instead of rushing to the village before the french reinforcements arrive, he moved slowly and stayed blocked on the advanced and isolated town hexes north. Direct fire and assault wasn't effective at all, and we were asking us how to break & destroy enemy units ? This is something we still need to learn !

I really think that with this errata, the scenario is more playable for the French, and this why I gave him a 3. Maybe another opinion ?

En este escenario aproximadamente tres escuadrones de caballería francesa se enfrentan a un batallón de infantería alemana reforzado con artillería y dos pelotones y medio de blindados. La misión de la caballería francesa es desplegarse como pantalla defensiva para retrasar el avance alemán. Los franceses sólo despliegan inicialmente en el campo de batalla un escuadrón de caballería (desmontado); el resto de fuerzas llega como refuerzo aleatoriamente. El campo de batalla está cruzado de este a oeste por una carretera. Hay cuatro hexes de ciudad aislados repartidos por el campo de batalla y una ciudad de seis hexes (Poncelle) en la mitad occidental del mapa.

Como la carretera este-oeste es la principal vía de acceso de los alemanes, los franceses sitúan en ella un bloqueo (roadblock) para ralentizar el avance de los vehículos enemigos. Junto a él despliegan una batería AT y un pelotón de morteros de 60mm. Estas unidades constituyen las posiciones avanzadas del dispositivo galo. El resto de las fuerzas francesas se despliega en dos trincheras, situadas en zonas boscosas y próximas a la ciudad de seis hexes y en esta ciudad. Las ciudades de un hex quedan desguarnecidas.

Los alemanes entran por la carretera este-oeste llevando en vanguardia sus unidades blindadas (medio pelotón de PzIIIF, un pelotón de PzI y un pelotón de coches blindados SK232/8). No obstante, como han localizado la posición de la batería AT francesa, la evitan ocultándose en los bosques próximos. Al mismo tiempo, la infantería alemana desmonta de los camiones y avanza para despejar la carretera del bloqueo y de la batería AT enemiga. Ésta es pronto flanqueada por la infantería enemiga y se retira, al igual que el pelotón de morteros ligeros. Limpiada de obstáculos la carretera, los vehículos alemanes y parte de la infantería montada en camiones avanza a toda velocidad por ella hasta el límite oeste del campo de batalla. A continuación se producen los primeros asaltos sobre las trincheras enemigas y sobre la ciudad de seis hexes. Ésta no puede ser defendida en su totalidad por los franceses, por lo que las avanzadillas alemanas (un pelotón de MTC, un pelotón de infantería y otro de HMG en camiones) consiguen ocupar un hex sin encontrar resistencia.

Los enfrentamientos se generalizan y los alemanes imponen lentamente su mayor potencia de fuego y su número. Los refuerzos franceses tardan en llegar y cuando lo hacen la mayoría de hexes de ciudad están ya en poder de los alemanes o sometidos a feroces asaltos.

Al final del turno 12 el comandante francés se da por vencido y se retira con los supervivientes. Los alemanes obtienen una victoria mayor.

Author	Blackcloud6 (Germany)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Germany
Participants	treadasaurusrex (AAR)
Play Date	2021-09-07
Language	English
Scenario	FaoF003

This was actually a HtH play against a human opponent but is being posted as solo since the ability to record shared plays is not functioning.

My opponent decided to defend forward along the north-south wood line in the middle of Board 33 with his dismounted cavalry in line. His HMG was protecting the north flank on the NW Bd 33 hill while is ATG and mortar were ensconced in the woods on the western hill near the road also on Bd 33.

I attack with the infantry battalion straight at the enemy line while my motorcycle, armored car and Pz I platoon zipped around the north flank to grab as many town hexes as they could. This plan worked as I was able to decisively engage the French, break their line and gain all the town objective.

The first French reinforcements came at the large town held by my recon elements. The French got shot up doing so and then my infantry engaged them. But the French held out in the assault for a number of turns and this concerned me as it was delaying my infantry from getting to the towns to defend them when the larger French reinforcements arrive. But those got delayed and the French cavalry finally succumbed. My infantry got into the large town on board 31 and it was apparent the French had no chance any more.

This is a tough one for the French but they might have a chance by delaying the Germans and then retaking towns for points later in the game.

This was my second experience trying to learn how to play PG using the latest rules, as part of my recovery from a very unpleasant experience playing the muddled and incoherant rules in the 2nd edition of Infantry Attacks rules.

In this play-through, we attempted an experimental revised French Army setup to see if play balance would be better than previously experienced by my French opponent. As played, this scenario was a relative breeze for the Germans as the die roll gods clearly favored the 7th Panzer Regiment and accompanying infantry units.

It was fun to play, for the German side and seemed to me better balanced with the extra French units and meager OBA increments. Play was not interrupted by the dreaded fog of war rule as we did not use it this time. I give this scenario a provisional rating of 2.

The French were holding a line extending from the Ville in 0504 to 0706 and from there on to the Ville in 0713. The Roadblock was in 0709 and the Entrenchments were tied in along that defensive line. It held up rather well and only started to crack near the end of the scenario. The Germans didn't come near taking the amount of territory they needed to and the overall offensive was held up by the delaying action. ON the other hand..... the German attack was discombobulated, disjointed and caused the Colonel in change to be sacked!

German forces enter from the east.

Pz I hit by French AT-Gun! (2-0)

Germans advance…

…and assault the roadblock. The AT Gun crew is routed. (2-1)

The roadblock is overrun and French captain is captured. Germans take the western town. (2-3)

French HMG reduced the German motorcycle platoon near the central village (3-3)

French HMG demoralized and mortar eliminated. (3-4)

French HMG eliminated and Lt killed (3-5). French cavalry reinforcements appear in the south and enter near the southeast village

French cavalry charge but both sides waffle their attacks.

More French reinforcements arrive in the southeast. In the assault some cavalry are lost. (3-6).

The French infantry near the roadblock are finally defeated. (3-8)

In the west, the German armoured car spooks the French as German engineers and HMG platoon advance.

The first entrenchment is eliminated. French assault in the southeast forces the German AT Gun crews to rout, but more cavalry are lost (4-12).

Germans send reinforcements to the town. The position in both the town and entrenchment are looking dire!

Some more cavalry are eliminated while others are hit by off-board artillery while routing. (4-14).

The French Surrender!

GERMAN MAJOR VICTORY!!!

Aftermath

This battle was a bit of a disappointment after the first two of this series. The victory conditions seemed unbalanced with both the Germans and French having the same victory conditions, despite the Germans vastly outgunning, outnumbering and even out-morale-ing the French.

It finally came to a point where it seemed pointless playing out the last 4 turns, which would likely have seen the remaining entrenchment fall and the French cavalry driven back into the southeast woods.

Scenario Rating: Below Average, 2/5

Having read the previous AARs on this scenario, I was expecting this to be one sided. I had already earmarked to play this solo while my FtF buddy was on holiday as I though it would be a good intro to Fall of France. However it is too unbalanced to make an intresting game. I set up the French well away from the German entry hexes hoping to buy time for the reinforcements and trying to keep out of sight from the German off board artillery. The Germans poured onto the board bypassing the roadblock the German AFV wnet no where near the French A/T gun. By turn 6 the Germans had captured all the town hexes and were assaulting the two entrenchment hexes. The first French reinforcements came on at first opportunity but were hounded by the German artillery straight away and the survivors had to huddle in woods and could not assist thier dismounted colleagues. The entrenchments did slow the Germans down but on turn 12 both fell to the overwhelming strength of the Germans. With no sign of the second group of reinforcements I called the game two turns later. The Germans had lost one inf step the French had lost eight steps if inf/cav and the HMG,MTR and A/T gun. Could this scenario be fixed? Possibly using hidden units for the French and adding another A/T gun to the French OOB and having all the reinforcements come on at once. As it stands though this scenario should be avoided.

Started the French troops guarding the large town and one in the middle of board. I was hoping that they would be able to cause some casualties as the Germans closed on them. Started well taking out a truck and INF unit using op fire, But once dismounted and advancing there were just too many targets to keep them all a bay. The Germans used the off board artillery and 75 to soften up the entrenchment and towns while the German foot units pushed in to assault them. Once the ENGs and AFVs joined the fray (with a leader) they made short work of the French units. I was able to execute a cavalry charge on the MTC unit, sort of a changing of the guard as far as technology is concerned.

I modified the French reinforcement rule to add one to the dice roll for each turn after the initial opportunity to bring them in. I felt this was a better representation of units arriving after being ordered into the area, they might get delayed but they would still be moving toward the battle and arrive for sure within an hour of their first opportunity.

This is another historical pushover scenario. The French have little to no chance with a offensive minded German player. In my play after 8 turns the Germans were in a position to control the town and prevent the French reinforcements from not even making on the board. From a historical prespective, this was true, but from a game prespective it is very unbalanced in favor of the Germans.

In the late afternoon of May 10, 1940, German elements of the 69th Schützen Regiment & 7th Panzer Regiment and select reconnaissance units were spotted by units from the 5th Cuirassiers of the 2nd Division Legere de Cavalerie. The French cavalry quickly dismounted and were supported by both a 25mm and 60mm artillery platoon. The mortar group was forward on the hill covering a roadblock at the crossroads, while the 25mm unit was placed on the west central hill between two entrenchments on the north and south points of the same hill. The remaining French troops were in the southwest village. Both the mortar unit and the 25mm one were eliminated by German OBA early in the skirmish. A German motorcycle platoon and SK232/8 unit led the group west along the main road while towns on the east sector were being secured in German control. A roadblock at the crossroads was removed by German engineers at 1700, which cleared the way for the advance of the German forces. The north French entrenchment was captured at 1745, while German armor and infantry led by Major von Houten entered the southwest village. At 1800 hours, four French cavalry platoons arrived from the southeast, and the German assault on both the south entrenchment and southwest village began shortly thereafter. However, the French held out at both locations. Another wave of French cavalry and motorcycle units arrived at 1845 from the southeast and southwest respectively. While they bolstered the beleaguered French and harassed the Germans, they were only able to eliminate one German 37mm AT platoon. The battle ended at 2015 with the Germans claiming a major victory.

This scenario is another of those historically accurate, but unbalanced plays. The French have a handful of units to try and hold a large number of town and entrenchment hexes that are worth 2 VP’s each, while the Germans have extensive firepower, including 32 OBA, and mobility. Two factors made this particular playthrough more difficult for the French: they only had initiative on 2 of 16 turns, and the reinforcements were delayed by 1-2 turns from their potential arrival. Neither side did very well on their firing accuracy, since the Germans could not root out the French from an entrenchment or village hex, despite having a 2-3 column advantage and five turns to do so, and the French did little damage to those German forces or any other for that matter. The Germans ended up with 37 VP’s from 15 French steps lost, and control of one entrenchment and ten town hexes, while the French had 4 VP’s from 2 German steps eliminated and control of a single town hex. The result was a major German victory, despite FoW ending 7 of 16 turns prematurely.

Author	treadasaurusrex (France)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Germany, Germany
Participants	Blackcloud6 (AAR)
Play Date	2021-09-07
Language	English
Scenario	FaoF003

Unless you are a hopeless masochist, and enjoy extended and unremitting misery, this is a scenario to avoid playing as the French side. This scenario is a critically unbalanced example in which the French are indeed doomed to fight without a helmet, and as others have observed, with both arms tied behind their back. However, it does provide a splendid opportunity to develop your own methodical and piercing attacks as the Germans. In my case, newbie that I am, I had the luck to play against a skilled and experienced PG player who put on a stunning display of near-flawless maneuver, excellent use of terrain, flexibility in approach and effective use of available force. With the Germans having considerable advantages in firepower, mobility, sheer numbers, OBA and better morale than the French – the addition of inspired leadership was truly lethal.

The French side does not have an adequate mix of units to mount a decent general defense. As noted by others in their AARs, the Germans are able to crush the French in detail with relatively little difficulty, and virtually no casualties, seemingly no matter how the dice are thrown. The French have a handful of units to try and hold 12 town hexes and 2 entrenchment hexes that are worth 2 VP’s each, while the Germans have massive firepower, including 32 OBA, and far superior mobility.

The German infantry battalion flowed on to the southeast side of map 33 board in a methodical, combined arms left flank attack. They bypassed what turned out to be, my poorly deployed roadblock and forward defense. Wisely, no German tank or AFV went anywhere near the only French towed AT gun. By turn 7 the Germans had captured all the town hexes and were close-assaulting the two French-held entrenchment hexes.

In just one example of how incredibly unbalanced and frustrating this scenario is: if one rolls well for the arrival of French reinforcements, there is a very slight chance of the French at least obtaining a draw. If you roll poorly, the Germans will occupy all the critical terrain, and the 12 crucial town hexes before the meager reinforcements called for in the scenario arrive on the south edge of map 31.

The first French reinforcements did not arrive on time and when they did arrive, they were mightily suppressed by German heavy artillery almost immediately. The hapless surviving cavalry men were initially forced to shelter in woods and ended up providing minimal assistance to their dismounted colleagues. As the Germans came into the open on the southern half of Map 31 they were valiantly assaulted by the French cavalry, who were able to briefly create a fair amount of havoc for a company of German combat engineers, before their inevitable destruction.

The Germans ended up with 16 VP’s from 8 French steps lost, and control of one entrenchment and all twelve town hexes, while the French had a measly 2 VP’s from holding one entrenchment for the entire scenario. Needless to say, the final result was a major German victory!

Among a number of possible fixes for this scenario, I offer these possibilites: 1) Allow at least 4-6 hidden French units at initial setup, 2) Add another, or at least two more French 25mm AT guns with associated wagon counters and an additional junior leader, or alternately, provide 2 pairs of 25mm AT Portees which would be a much better substitute for the towed AT guns, 3) Perhaps add a pair of 8-strength, or a single 14-strength OB artillery factor that are available on every even-numbered turn beginning on turn 2, 4) Add at least one additional French entrenchment on Map 31, and 5) All French reinforcements enter at the same time on Turn 5 on either the South or the East edge on Map 31.

I agree with others commentators, that as published, this scenario is best avoided in favor of more balanced examples that come with the game. The German player has overwhelming strength, mobility and numbers in his or her favor, which results in uninteresting game play and an inevitable French rout.

Historically accurate for May 1940, but no fun to play and with minimal opportunity for learning and improving one’s gameplay!

Author	treadasaurusrex (France)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Germany
Participants	Blackcloud6 (AAR)
Play Date	2021-09-07
Language	English
Scenario	FaoF003

Unless you are a hopeless masochist, and enjoy extended and unremitting misery, this is a scenario to avoid playing as the French side. This scenario is a critically unbalanced example in which the French are indeed doomed to fight without a helmet, and as others have observed, with both arms tied behind their back. However, it does provide a splendid opportunity to develop your own methodical and piercing attacks as the Germans. In my case, newbie that I am, I had the luck to play against a skilled and experienced PG player who put on a stunning display of near-flawless maneuver, excellent use of terrain, flexibility in approach and effective use of available force. With the Germans having considerable advantages in firepower, mobility, sheer numbers, OBA and better morale than the French – the addition of inspired leadership was truly lethal.

The French side does not have an adequate mix of units to mount a decent general defense. As noted by others in their AARs, the Germans are able to crush the French in detail with relatively little difficulty, and virtually no casualties, seemingly no matter how the dice are thrown. The French have a handful of units to try and hold 12 town hexes and 2 entrenchment hexes that are worth 2 VP’s each, while the Germans have massive firepower, including 32 OBA, and far superior mobility.

The German infantry battalion flowed on to the southeast side of map 33 board in a methodical, combined arms left flank attack. They bypassed what turned out to be, my poorly deployed roadblock and forward defense. Wisely, no German tank or AFV went anywhere near the only French towed AT gun. By turn 7 the Germans had captured all the town hexes and were close-assaulting the two French-held entrenchment hexes.

In just one example of how incredibly unbalanced and frustrating this scenario is: if one rolls well for the arrival of French reinforcements, there is a very slight chance of the French at least obtaining a draw. If you roll poorly, the Germans will occupy all the critical terrain, and the 12 crucial town hexes before the meager reinforcements called for in the scenario arrive on the south edge of map 31.

The first French reinforcements did not arrive on time and when they did arrive, they were mightily suppressed by German heavy artillery almost immediately. The hapless surviving cavalry men were initially forced to shelter in woods and ended up providing minimal assistance to their dismounted colleagues. As the Germans came into the open on the southern half of Map 31 they were valiantly assaulted by the French cavalry, who were able to briefly create a fair amount of havoc for a company of German combat engineers, before their inevitable destruction.

The Germans ended up with 16 VP’s from 8 French steps lost, and control of one entrenchment and all twelve town hexes, while the French had a measly 2 VP’s from holding one entrenchment for the entire scenario. Needless to say, the final result was a major German victory!

Among a number of possible fixes for this scenario, I offer these possibilites: 1) Allow at least 4-6 hidden French units at initial setup, 2) Add another, or at least two more French 25mm AT guns with associated wagon counters and an additional junior leader, or alternately, provide 2 pairs of 25mm AT Portees which would be a much better substitute for the towed AT guns, 3) Perhaps add a pair of 8-strength, or a single 14-strength OB artillery factor that are available on every even-numbered turn beginning on turn 2, 4) Add at least one additional French entrenchment on Map 31, and 5) All French reinforcements enter at the same time on Turn 5 on either the South or the East edge on Map 31.

I agree with others commentators, that as published, this scenario is best avoided in favor of more balanced examples that come with the game. The German player has overwhelming strength, mobility and numbers in his or her favor, which results in uninteresting game play and an inevitable French rout.

Historically accurate for May 1940, but no fun to play and with minimal opportunity for learning and improving one’s gameplay!

Author	treadasaurusrex (France)
Method	Face to Face
Victor	Germany
Participants	Chaco (AAR)
Play Date	2021-09-07
Language	English
Scenario	FaoF003

Having read the several AARs about this scenario, and playing it as the French on my first effort, I was expecting this scenario to be unbalanced and to get clobbered, no matter what the Germans did. This time, I made a number of additions and subsitutions to the French counter mix as suggested in my previous AAR. Sorry to report that even with a significantly improved French initial setup focused on the large town on Map 31 (Poncelle?) and the hills just north of the town, the clever and opportunistic German Commander was able to herd the rapidly diminishing French troops into a smaller and smaller area of the map by turn 10.

This time around, there were substantially more German steps lost, and the 2 French reinforcement contingents arrived on time to replenish earlier, heavy losses (4 steps of Cavalry, a single reduced strength HMG, and 6 more steps of weak French INF). In this face-to-face play-through, the Germans lost their armored car platoon to AT fire and 4 steps of infantry to French cavalry assaults. Having better French OBA artillery (2 increments of 8 - French 75s) helped force the Germans to spread out as they approached Poncelle over open ground. Confining use of the Germans AFVs to the north half of the two map boards made for a less impressive right flank attack, but it eventually provided a fine base of overwatch firepower to hold the French in place while German infantry and engineers steadily ground down the town's, badly outnumbered defenders.

Yes, it was an unrealistic to change the French force so radically, but the enhancements made to the counter mix did make for way better gameplay in my humble opinion. Even with the revisions, this one deserves a rating of 1.