Author	Isra3lite (Germany)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Draw
Participants	treadasaurusrex (AAR)
Play Date	2025-06-25
Language	English
Scenario	FaoF006

This is my (Isra3lite's) 2nd chance at this scenario, first time as the attritting French and this time as the assaulting Germans. Familiarity with the VP conditions, the terrain, and the OOBs made this a much more successful assault against a much more veteran player, but because of the limitations of early armor, resulted in a draw.

The split German assault from the North edge, focused the main attack rapidly along the east edge of the map, started by road then through the open terrain just to the east of the small two-hex town. Given the lacking French covering force and their choice not to OpFire as platoon after platoon PzII's and PzIII's took the bocage areas and southern map central town and clearings. This was an early critical maneuver for the Germans as the French Hotchkiss H35's and heavy infantry concerned themselves with flushing the westernmost town of PzII light tanks. Though largely a feint attack, designed to pull units away from the eastern edge, some step losses and morale issues, pinned these French units to the western map edge and town for the remainder of the game.

Fortunately, by 2nd session, Luftwaffe Air command allowed a highly damaging Stuka strike along with a second successful air attack along the western edge wheatfields, reduced the French motorized units in strength and morale, pinning the French along the Western edge. Surprisingly, the Germans blockade of all approaches to the south stalled the French breakout entirely as several artillery and direct fire attacks broke the French units significantly and stalled any possibility of attacking the armor in the adjoining central towns.

Several French units 25mm AT infantry were very effective in a multitude of both assault and direct fire modes against the light armor and armored cars available to the Germans. A single French HMG was kept at bay along the western edge of the map, and was easily avoided.

Though some German units occupied key town and road hexes, the end of the game signaled that not enough firepower was available to knock out French motorized units and not enough AT capability to penetrate armor, so more effort was spent in mop-up operations of the demoralized French motorized units. At the tail end of the battgle, a heavily armored PzIII platoon captured a French truck in one of the highly contested western town hexes, but the VP count was not enough to matter, with 10 German towns vs. 9 French town hexes occupied. 10 German steps were lossed to 8 of the French steps, denying the French even a marginal victory and resulting in a draw by game end.

A highly mobile scenario with early war armor made for a very maneuver-friendly battle.