At only 12 turns Rich and I were able to finish this gem in less than two hours. This scenario features low counter density as well as plenty of interesting units, with 7 different AFV types in play. Perfect for a quick and interesting match. Despite an overwhelming French win (49-26 on VP) this scenario does not look that one-sided to me. My French set up had much of my armour played out across the treeline, about 8 hexes from the north edge, where the Germans would enter. Rich (German) concentrated his approach to the east portion of the map except, for reasons still unknown to me, his PzIV, which he sent in alone down the west edge of the map. Three of my first four shots resulted in armour step losses and a burning truck. I continued to rack up the points, successfully resisting assault and getting some pretty lucky counterattack rolls. By Turn#8 I reckoned I had it in the bag and just pulled back a bit to try not expose myself to any losses. Rich made an unexpected and successful run to the southernmost village hexes in the last couple of turns but, as is often the case, it was too little, too late. Key elements today: The French rolled so many 10+ on AT fire it wasn't funny. Conversely, the Germans rolled a 7 on his OBA six turns in a row. I think this scenario is a lot better balanced than this match would suggest and I expect we'll try it again, sometime.

Posting #1

This looks like a fun scenario to play and an interesting puzzle to solve for both sides. I used Ruin counters for my hidden units, as I couldn't remember where I had my homemade hidden counters. I find they are hidden from me.

I can't imagine that the Germans will use their trucks to come on board, with the French so close. I'll use the SPW251 APC's to bring units on board, as they at least have some protection.

Only 12 turns, I think the Germans will be in a rush!

Posting #2

This was a quick playing scenario, just what I needed. I don't feel like writing up a detailed AAR but this scenario hit the spot. I am not sure I played it correct on either side, as far as strategy goes but the French came away with a Major Victory. Victory points are scored for enemy steps eliminated and town hexes controlled. The French have the setup advantage, which carried them through the game.

This will be one of my brief AAR's, as it was a while back that it was played. (The date is a guess, as are all of my dates listed prior to 2011.) It was FtF, at Games Plus in Mount Prospect, IL. I was the French, my old high school chum the Germans. I made good use of limiting terrain and the firepower of my stronger tanks to stop the German advance, if not in its tracks, at least well short of victory. But it does seem to me like a pretty balanced scenario, deserving of the "4" rating...

Author	Schoenwulf
Method	Solo
Victor	Germany
Play Date	2021-10-23
Language	English
Scenario	FaoF014

Battle: The morning of May 14, 1940, marked the beginning of the German onslaught into Belgium. At 0930, elements from the German 4th Panzer Division moved south toward Gembloux and encountered some well-camouflaged units from the French 7th Division Légère Mechanique and the 8th Cuirassiers that were firing from the wooded areas on both sides of the main road through the Bois de Grand Leez. By 1015, the French H35 & S35 armor groups had destroyed Pz.II and Pz.IVa units and were in command of the battlefield, but also moving south to strengthen defenses in Grand-Leez. This latter move was in response to an attack by a Stuka squadron that had destroyed the 105mm artillery units there. The Germans moved south quickly on both flanks and were encroaching on the village within a half hour. By 1130, German units were in close assault on both the north and south edges of Grand-Leez, an advance made possible by the inaccuracy of French anti-tank fire. The French began to retreat shortly after noon concurrent with the increasing German advance.

Analysis: This scenario is a single map, 12-turn scenario with VP’s based on enemy unit elimination and town hex control. The French set up in the woods hexes on either side of the road with tanks spread across both sides and the foot units in the east woods. The 105mm gun was left in the main village in the southwest sector of the map, while the 75mm was in the east woods as well covering the main road for a flank shot. Trucks were carefully placed to allow evac of foot and artillery if needed. The Germans advanced across a broad front but left a gap in the middle until French units could be identified and subdued, which would allow better access to the road for the southern advance to the main village. Once again, this skirmish played out consistent with the history of the event, with the French taking control early. Then, they were eventually worn down by the overwhelming number of German units, and the step-loss count began to swing in the German’s favor. By game end, the French had lost 21 steps and occupied 4 town hexes; the Germans lost 15 steps and also held 4 town hexes. The Germans had 29 VP’s to 23 for the French resulting in a Minor Victory for the Germans.

Author	TFGA73
Method	Solo
Victor	France
Play Date	2023-01-18
Language	English
Scenario	FaoF014

This was a neat little situation pitting superior French firepower against a mobile German force. It's a one-map battle with the Germans attempting to take the town. A critical feature is a special rule that says to treat the fields on the map as woods. This would make a big difference in the battle.

The French have a small infantry force backed up by some impressive firepower by 1940 standards: Some S35s, H35s, P178s and a couple 25mm AT guns. I set the infantry and one AT in the woods northeast of town, with the other AT and the tanks scattered around the town itself.

The Germans have numbers but lack anything that can go head to head with the French armor. They have a motley collection of PZ Is, Pz IIs, a PzIIIG and one PzIVA, which can hit hard but is fragile.

The Germans move down the map but the S35s and 25mm block the easy path into town, so the PzIIs swing to the left towards the east side of the map while everyone else heads to the west.

The S35s continue to maneuver the Germans into a pocket along the west edge and into the fields--er, make that woods (gotta remember those special rules that permeate FoF scenarios), slowing them down and tangling them up. Eventually the infantry dismounts from the trucks, and the PzIII and PzIV start heading up the hill towards town. They start knocking down the H35s but eventually a S35 gets a shot and knocks out a PzIIIG step. The infantry assaults two town spaces but cannot clear out either before the game ends.

Meanwhile the PzIIs get chewed up by P178s, losing two steps. One PzII successfully rushes the three town hexes to the south but can get no further.

In the end the Germans held 3 town hexes and eliminated 12 French steps, but the French held 5 and took out 16 respectively. Major French victory!

ANALYSIS: This is a tough one for the Germans as they are badly overpowered in anti-tank strength, and their units are all fragile. As long as the French can avoid letting the 25mms and S35s get into assault combat they should be fine. I felt like another key was having the French infantry start in a forward position. That helped stall out the Germans, and once they started swinging around the French were able to hop on trucks and scoot back into town first. A fun cat-and-mouse engagement.

You get the feeling when you open Fall of France that there must be something terribly wrong with the French counter mix. Their tanks are good, really good, especially in comparison to the German tanks on which armor appears to have been an afterthought. Then when you get into the scenarios you see why that doesn't matter. The French tanks are criminally unsupported by infantry (see the Soviets in 1941) and this gives the Germans the chance to destroy them in detail. In this case, however, the French were able to be just strong enough to frustrate the German assault.

Author	cjsiam (France)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	France
Participants	treadasaurusrex (AAR)
Play Date	2022-08-16
Language	English
Scenario	FaoF014

Le Boche are coming....we put a screen of Recce vehicles into the forest NE of the village... and some infantry and an AT in the forest directly north...the north end of the town has the other AT gun and the onboard Artillery...Tanks are mostly spread out along the lip of the hill, with a small group to the east to try and forestall any "crawl the east edge Boche infiltration...

They come on...the scurrying little tanks got too close, and I got lucky, disordering their advance to the south...I abandon the forest to the NE...losing a RECCE...and the other units damaged...the forest is then invested with infantry and armor by the Boche...

Brave German infantry step out from the forest and are promptly dispensed with between tanks and Artillery... The infantry in the north woods retreats into the town, abandoning the AT Gun, but it keeps the Germans at bay for a while...and then the Artillery OBA does what Artillery does to exposed AT Guns....wish we could Dig in while in woods....

The Raised Plain to the east of the town becomes a running caldron of Tanks and German infantry/Tanks and APCs.... Threats of German Infantry Assaults are avoided until the temptation of Moving infantry Adjacent is too great and the German Infantry succeeds in Assaulting---that square turns into a 3stack of French tanks and German infantry and tanks---refreshed with more tanks and more German assets...the game ends with all those units tied up, losses on both sides, but the germans seem to suffer more--though the demoralized units stack up...

The German Infantry separating from their commanders in their rush to try and get into the southern village results in delays as commanders are held up (no combat moves...) and tanks and vehicles try and avoid some AT fire---Until the Gran Melee in the middle sucks the vehicles in...

The few assets which make it to the southern town are confronted by redeployed french infantry/Leader and a very effective Artillery fire from on board HE...Insufficient forces to displace the French, and the Germans cannot get around them--but can make the hexes "in dispute".....

The German IIIf was able to take one town in the middle of the large village---had the game gone on longer, this would have been a significant problem--but they arrived on only the last turn, with their last movement point (taking out two trucks stacked there)...

Some amazing 2 and 12 rolls, just when the french needed them...hurting tanks (the best use of a 12...or 11...) also a 2x on an Arty was handy at the end.

I agree with my patient opponent that more turns would make this a hard one for the french---they have some advantages...but careful infiltration by the germans, taking more time, would be hard to counter with the few infantry assets available---and Armor opposing infantry by itself is--prone to bad things happening... I gave it a 3...a puzzle for the defense and attacker...

Here is another scenario where the German player has to come across open ground to get to the objective. Besides that, the objective village has a band of woods that must be fought through before a attacker can even get to the village. As the axis armor started across the open ground it got shot to pieces. Step losses and Demorilazations. By the end of turn one Axis iniative had been reduced by two. To make matters worse on the next turn the Axis best armored units the PzIII and the PzIV could not enter do to failing their activation roll. In the mean time the Axis infantry were making some progress in the woods knocking out one of the Allies best ATG batterys. Over the next few turns the Axis finally got their two best armored platoons on the board and advancing when the Pz IV platoon was knocked out completly loosing both steps. The fight in the woods had bogged down also. Several more turns passed with the same situation except that the Axis had taken two more armored step losses and a infantry step. With only one hour left and the Axis having lost 14 steps to ONE the Axis retreated. This was not a very good scenario. Half the Axis armor are armed with MGs only and cannot engage the Allied armor. Crossing open ground under fire and then having to fight their way through a band of woods just to GET to the main objective is a very tall order. Even with good die rolls the Axis would be hard pressed to win this one.

An enjoyable game with Wayne Baumber defending with the French to my German attack. When I look at this as the Germans I saw a bunch of issues with the attack that would not be easy to overcome. Short game, just 12 turns, Germans entering the board, with no cover, light tanks versus the French S35's defending a town. But the Germans have mobility and the initiative to start at least. As for the other aspects the Germans have more infantry with an ENG as well as one airplane and some OBA. The French have the setup and are defending a town, making it even more hard for the Germans.

As for the setup the French are in the woods outside the town of Gembloux covering the open terrain to the north of the town. They have strong positions with tanks, armored cars and AT Guns. The Germans must brave the fire just to get on board and establish themselves. I have the Germans strung out in a skirmish line to minimize casualties as well as the tanks following behind to fire on the tanks as they are discovered. It will be a tough first few turns.

To begin, my infantry move on and move toward the woods to the east and west of the north-south road. This hopes to draw fire from the defending French, and it does with highly accurate fire from the tanks in the western wood. A German platoon takes a hit as it moves across the open terrain. Not a good omen for the attack. French AT guns fire at the German armor moving on the board and scores a step loss against a PzI. French S35's fire taking out another PzII step, before the Germans can get moving.

The German Major pushes the men forward and get to the treeline of the eastern woods, triggering the French to pack up and move back to the defense in the town. To the west the Germans recover from the tank machinegun fire and have the PzII's try to flank the woods, but another S35 fires destroying another step of armor. German AT guns step up and are able to knock out a armored car before it can fire on the recovering German troops. But a German Captain pushes his troops forward is caught in a French assault and destroyed before he can get away. But this buys time for a another platoon to assault the French armor. After several assaults and flees by the French tanks they are destroyed by the German infantry.

French AT fire is still very accurate and knocks out another PzII before it can get out of the way as well as good fire direction from the French leaders for their artillery. The German casualties now drive the initiative down to zero, but the Germans keep pushing on the French defenses and are able to drive south on the eastern edge of the board. The bulk of the remaining German armor plus some infantry push but fire of the the French defenders kill another step of infantry, leaving the tanks to press on alone. The make it down to the southern edge looking to kill other French armored cars and take some of the town, but another pesky 25mm AT gun stands in their way. OBA and the lone German Ju88 try to knock them out but don't do it until late in the game. At this point they have been reinforced making it harder to take the town. But a lone PzII dashes forward to brave the French fire only to be hit by AT fire from the armored cars.

At this point the German Major regroups his troops in the western woods which the French had abandoned. He looks to press for the town hexes on the hills edge with his remaining company of troops. Pressing forward they get close to the town but OP fire from the French has them pinned down to end the game. A major French victory for holding the town and killing the Germans.

I found this scenario heavy weighted to the French and in need of some balancing for a interesting FtF game. The Germans will take causalities right away and will need to keep their forcing going to even get close to the towns, both of which are hard to do in the game. You will either need to recover or move not both, so a recommendation would be for four more turns to allow sometime for the Germans to recover. Second, morale is even both sides are 8/7, this will make it hard for the German infantry to assault any of the French units including the tanks. A possible lowering of the French morale to 7/6 could be a balancing point.

Played against young Alan Sawyer. This was a short scenario, when Alan and I play one player chooses a scenario the other player picks which side he wants to play. I chose this one and expected to be playing the Germans as even a quick glance at the OOB will seem to indicate the scenario will favour the French. But Alan ever up for a challenge went for the Germans. In brief the Germsn's have to take more town hexes and kill more steps than the French to help them they have lots of armour though most of it poor quality, light OBDA and outnumber the French by 3-1. But, and it is a big but, the French have good armour, hidden units and good defensive ground. They also have only 12 turns to hold the Boche off. The German's have to advance across open ground and the French open fire with Tanks, INF and artillery, my first shot was double one (you just know its going to be a good day when that happens), and German losses mounted throughout the first couple of turns, quickly bringing down their advantage in initiative. However Alan pressed on and forced me out of the covering woods to the east and I retreated those unit back to the high ground. The middle game was fairly even with the Germans pushing through the western woods and assaulting some unsupported French tanks. By 1200 though the Germans had failed to take any of the village and were behind in steps losses. A final push by the desperate Germans did succeed in taking a couple of hexes but accurate fire from ATG and A/Cars had stopped the Panzer's cold. A major French victory was the final result. This scenario is unbalanced and as it is a German player will need luck and elan to win this game. Extending the game turns by 4 would help balance this one out a little I think.

Author	treadasaurusrex (Germany)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	France
Participants	cjsiam (AAR)
Play Date	2022-08-16
Language	English
Scenario	FaoF014

This was a 4-session play-through with the always hilarious and doughty, cjsiam, as the French Commander holding the town of Grand Leez and adjacent hilly and wooded areas (Le Bois de Grand Leez) on Map 27. Victory conditions for both sides required town hex occupation and inflicting step losses. We played without the FOW optional rule, but with the smoke, excess initiative and extended assault rules. I played the Germans tasked with an exposed movement-to-contact straight down the battle map in what proved to be a costly and fruitless effort.

In the first session (game turns 1-3) the French were quick to rack up 3 German steps and lost 5 of their own in the early going. Surprisingly, a company of Somua S35 tanks charged north out of their hiding places in hopes of securing AT crossfire opportunities against the attacking Boche. Two half-strength French armored cars platoons in the eastern wood fled after sustaining 2 step losses, and abandoned another half-strength a/c unit to its fate in a German close assault. Other German AFV’s scurried south into the woods as fast as possible.

The 2nd session (game turns 4-6) featured considerable maneuver by both sides in an effort to gain better firing & assault jump-off positions on the margins of Le Bois de Grand Leez. The French Somua tanks fled back to the south to fend off a pending right flank probe on the 20-meter hill. The lone German air strike failed miserably at 1045 and that side’s over eager Captain was captured by a bold French tank platoon. In all, one additional step loss was recorded on both sides by the end of game turn 6.The victory points at this point were already indicating the trend toward a likely French victory by a score of at least 18 to 4.

The slightly-delayed 3rd session (game turns 7-9) included some incredible swings of bad & good luck for both sides delivered by the whimsical PG fates. The German strategy at this point was to try and spread out the French defenders as far as possible on both flanks, with the bulk of the infantry on the left flank penetration. This was severely hampered by the lack of sufficient leaders, and also by effective shifts of the French mobile reserve who took maximum advantage of their excellent interior lines of communication. German OBA was finally able to eliminate the pesky AT platoon in the woods (Hex 0605). However, the other French AT platoon managed to score on two very long-range shots, which reduced two enemy tank platoons to half-strength. Steps lost this session were: 9 for the Germans, and 5 for the French side.

The 4th session (game turns 10-12) ended in a well-deserved, French victory and a near-rout for the invading Huns. This session began with a near-complete run of luck for the French in both combat and morale checks, as opposed to a long string of negative die roll results for the invading Germans. There were several unique individual combats including a wild charge by a company of French tanks that was fended off with – of all things – a counter charge of German APCs and light tanks in an extended assault that eliminated a section of French H-35 light tanks and demoralized an entire stack of defending armor. Bitter fighting on the eastern margins of the southernmost town discombobulated the attacking German column, but did result in two contested town hexes at game end. The lone German Pz-III platoon was ultimately able to capture a couple of truck units and a single town hex in Gran Leez.

At the end, German steps lost were 16; and the defending French came away with only 9 steps lost in combat. The final victory point totals were: 11 for the German side, and 30 for the French, resulting in a major victory for the French defenders.

This was a substantially unbalanced scenario in favor of the defending French who benefited from relatively good ground to defend; high speed interior lines; an abundance of high quality armor; and a satisfactory counter mix with plenty of motor transport. Not to mention, the low quality and limited number of opposing tanks and APCs; the meager German OBA; and the very large expanse of open ground that they must cross to be able to come to grips with the defenders. One may be able to pull off a win for the Germans in this scenario, but only if the whimsy of the fates allow sufficient favorable die rolls for the Nazis and very poor ones for the French.

On the upside, this is a rare opportunity for the French to end up on the winning side in the otherwise, mostly dismal, set of 1940: Fall of France scenarios that nearly always favors the invaders. Lengthening the scenario by about 4 turns would likely result in a more balanced play-through by allowing more time for the attacking side to better deploy as they cross the map. I give this one 2, but recommend it for solo play only.

Pertinent House Rules: Fast Mech, Efficient AT/AA, Hill Crests, Double-Blind

The Battle: The basic problem is that the Germans have to go between 2 wooded areas to get to the villages, our try to quickly clear one flank. This means choosing between caught in a crossfire or potentially bogged down in the woods. Seeing OPs bracketing the center clearing, I as the German, weight the attack to my left, and scout the woods.

This is a good choice. The French have their armored cars screening the front of the woods and an AT is covering the clearing. There are French tanks covering the right to complete the crossfire. Clearing out the armored cars is expensive, but the AT gun succumbs quickly to artillery. In the end the PzIV, the ENG, 2 steps of INF, and 1 ½track are lost. The road is cleared. The French tanks, and some infantry move out of the right-side woods, into the village.

In the mean time another OP has appeared on the long ridge of the hill. Scouting shows there are 2 dug in S35 waiting. The French tank obviously did not stop in the village. A brief glimpse shows the H35s moving into the village, in the center of the board. German infantry pins down the S35s, one pops out. The German armor tries to avoid a gun dual (-2 & -3 shots vs +1 shots are bad odds).

The second AT turns up in the end of the village, near the woods. It is charged by PzIs after it fires at the PzII. An infantry force if infantry in ½tracks runs around the S35s (being assaulted by other infantry). They make it to the village on the 40-meter hill (which is on the reverse side of the ridge). The H35s are in the cener of that village. PzIIs and the PzIII race to the back of the big village.

The game ends as the H35s kill one more ½track. The 3rd S35 is discovered in the center of the big village. The German infantry assaults the H35s. The free S35 makes it to the village next to the AT gun. The game ends with 2 contested town hexes, 2 German controlled hexes, the rest are French controlled. The score is 13 to 24.

Conclusion: Without fast mech, the German armor would have been shot to pieces in the open. As it was, it was the only thing that allowed them to gain control of any town hexes. French infantry was spread thin, but was never seriously engaged. French tanks have very thick armor and the Germans have only one decent gun. The Germans are not going to win the tank battle, and infantry cannot advance against French covering fire.