This game was played over Skype with regular opponent Wayne Baumber. It was chosen via our random system of choosing a game and I think what we actually played compared to what we first saw took us both by surprise. This is shown as a 1 board game but is in effect a 1/2 boarder, and yet on this 1/2 board will fight around 130 counters !! Add to this that about half of this 'half' board are town hexes, and we can now deduce that we are in for a hum-dinger of a town-battle. What followed were 4 sessions or so of hard core, in for the long-haul house to house fighting with up to 15 assaults on-going near the final stages. Add to that an abundance of artillery and the recipe is there for carnage, hard-graft and long drawn out melees ! Read on :-)

As senior officer in charge of the attack on Gembloux I was unhappy at what I was being asked to do even before the start of the attack. Gembloux presented a solid town front on a 2km width with no cover for us on the approaches. A simple scan through the binoculars showed that the French had defended this line with a skillful tactical knowledge. Their MG teams were well placed for maximum effect and cross-fires along the line whilst supporting their infantry. AT guns were placed in cunning protected locations making them very hard to get at and nullifying our tank support for fear of carnage. The French were also dug-in to the northern flank as well as manning railway embankments and roadblocks. Finally, minefields had been laid by the enemy on both their northern and southern flanks. I was being asked not just to break this line, but also to make large incursions into Gembloux itself, meaning house-to-house fighting was inevitable. And all this was apparently required to be achieved within a 6 hour time frame. Despite my protestations of the losses expected, the orders remained in place. I would be assigning my trusted Lt.Col Leonidas to lead the regimental attack. With a heavy heart, I bade him well.

Things did not begin very well at all for our troops. 0900 hours and the Stukas from our Luftwaffe’s attacks had proved absolutely ineffective. I therefore determined to group our MG units on our left flank (south). These were ordered to send in a heavy fire at selected locations so as to weaken resistance at these points and make our infantry’s approach less deadly to them. I knew of course that these MG units would come under severe artillery bombardment that the French possessed and therefore I placed in charge one of my best Hauptman’s to lead and inspire them. Meanwhile, about 500m to the front of Gembloux was a long wooded area. This would be the main jump off point for infantry at a later point, but for now, a main thrust would be directed to the southern part of the French-Moroccan line. By using some infantry to carry out feints and draw fire from the African lackies and mercenaries, our troops were slowly able to get close to the southern town edge, albeit still under fire. This was for the best as it made French artillery use far more conservative for fear of hitting their own. Engineers also accompanied to assist in the minefields but they suffered nasty casualties as the French artillery bombarded them during their work. By about 1000 hours, our troops were engaged in some close house-to-house fighting at these points and progress was slow. The same tactics were used further up the line and one by one, incursions were made into the outskirts of Gembloux. However, the French artillery, though not as effective as it may have been was still seriously hampering efforts by disrupting our infantry’s forward thrusts. But we had pierced the line in about 3 or 4 places by 1030 hours with surprisingly slim losses (4 steps).

The next stage of the battle between 1100-1230 was much more deadly for both sides. The French-Moroccan defenders were forced to shuffle their resources about the town in order to plug holes being created in the front line. This then finally allowed German panzers and men to probe newly vacated or thinned out parts of the line, especially where enemy AT had been demolished and again, small local battles were formed. A struggle for primacy on the whole perimeter of Gembloux had developed. Beyond the perimeter a German platoon or two had captured a road block at the southern end of the town and were trying to keep this open in order to let more of our troops pass through and beyond into Gembloux. Things were getting bloody here as both sides did whatever they could to cut down intruding enemies. More Germans had also made some progress at the northern end of the line near the railway embankments. This was more diversionary than it was a full-thrust and it managed to tie down some of the Frenchmen that could have been used elsewhere, though it also cost the Germans a few casualties too.

The main probe continued to be in the south and our men were now working their way through some blocks of the town. It was a very slow business and equally debilitating to both sides. The casualties by this time had risen to 19 steps each, and the Germans were struggling to find avenues that would allow them to quickly throw in much needed reinforcements into the important assaults. But Lt.Col Leonidas was at the vanguard of the German thrust, leading the front tip of the schwerpunckt as our troops toiled forward. Like his names-sake of Thermopalye, his leadership was what pushed our troops through the enemy when chance allowed. By 1215 hours the breaches in the French line were quite numerous but they kept finding troops that could plug them. Our leading elements were running out of steam too and more troops would be required for another thrust into the town. The more they had progressed, the thinner the schwerpunkt became. The Germans would need to plump up the head of the attack to give it back some punch. With two and half hours left in the allocated time frame, this is what the Germans would try to do before launching a final burst for their objectives. Between 1230-1300 hours, the Germans attempted exactly this. They slowly fed troops into the attritional town fighting attempting to gain a decisive numerical advantage. The ploy was working, but not at pace. However, the Moroccans were being wore down with the intensity of the town fighting. In no less than 13 blocks, assaults were in progress. Over this 45 minute period, French losses had started to mount, though the panzers had also suffered some hits to the troublesome 25mm AT guns.

Our troops were pushed to their final gasping limits to finally stretch that thinning French line, and stretch it did. At last, at 1330 hours, a platoon of PzIV’s finally burst through into the open and undefended suburbs of the town. Moving at speed through Gembloux, the French now tried to send a scratch force of troops to chase them down. Once this occurred, German efforts in various other sectors finally began to neutralize the enemy. Then, once a block was neutralized, this freed up more troops to help in the areas of resistance. We had sadly to lose some of our tanks in these final stages of the operation, but, against my feelings earlier that morning, our troops were finally getting the upper-hand. By 1345 hours, both sides were throwing their final efforts at their enemy but further French resistance was both pointless and ultimately fruitless.

At precisely 1400 hours, a white flag could be seen fluttering from the town hall. These Colonial troops had surrendered and this side of Gembloux had been invested by the Germans. At the time of surrender, casualties were French 36 steps (& 8 leaders) German 25 steps (and 2 leaders) though the doubling of AFV’s took German step-equivalents to 32 steps. Around 10-11 blocks were still being contested, but Germans controlled perhaps 8-10 blocks and the French perhaps 5 or 6. There was no strength remaining for a French counter-attack and the German win had certainly been hard won.

This has been my third Fall of France Battle and all three have involved high numbers of counters in what I would determine as real-toughie scenarios. How the Germans (despite winning here) managed to take France in 6 weeks if the French always fought like this is beyond me ? On the scenario itself, I rate it a '4'. It will stay long in my memory for the toughness of the initial advance through fire & shell, then breaching minefields and going into so many assaults and more than I have ever encountered before in one game. Truly memorable ! That said, I will concede that I don't think such a scenario would be everybodys cup of tea. There is little in the way of manouvre at all but rather getting your opponent to be brow-beaten down with the sheer intensity of the town fighting.