Dragon Trap Fall of France 1 #47 |
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(Attacker) Germany | vs | France (Defender) |
Formations Involved | ||
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Germany | 3rd Panzer Division |
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Overall Rating, 11 votes |
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3.27
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Scenario Rank: 580 of 940 |
Parent Game | Fall of France 1 |
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Historicity | Historical |
Date | 1940-06-16 |
Start Time | 16:00 |
Turn Count | 12 |
Visibility | Day |
Counters | 34 |
Net Morale | 0 |
Net Initiative | 1 |
Maps | 2: 26, 31 |
Layout Dimensions | 56 x 43 cm 22 x 17 in |
Play Bounty | 93 |
AAR Bounty | 159 |
Total Plays | 11 |
Total AARs | 3 |
Battle Types |
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Exit the Battle Area |
Rural Assault |
Conditions |
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Off-board Artillery |
Reinforcements |
Terrain Mods |
Scenario Requirements & Playability | |
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Fall of France 1 | Base Game |
Introduction |
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By mid-June the German armored spearheads had struck deep into French interior. The French 2nd and 4th Armies had disintegrated, and in the Boutgogne region some small groups were fighting their way toward the Loire River as best they could. One such group included paratroopers from the 14th Regiment de Dragon Parachutistes plus some of the brand new Hotchkiss tanks from the 8th Dragons. On 16 they made a break for freedom through an area was crawling with Germans. |
Conclusion |
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Following trials and back roads, the French column advanced cautiously and bypassed the main towns in the area. But then they ran into a roadblock formed by abandoned trucks, behind which was a strong detachment of the 3rd Panzer Division. The French tanks opened fire destroyed the German regimental command tank along with some others. But then some powerfully-armed into a trap of their own making since the narrow road left them no room to maneuver. One by one the French tanks were picked off by German anti-tank fire, and most of the survivors were eventually captured. The 4th Escadron of the 14th Regiment de Dragon Parachutistes and the 8th Dragons ceased to exist. |
AFV Rules Pertaining to this Scenario's Order of Battle |
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1 Errata Item | |
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The reduced direct fire value of the Heer HMG became 5-5 starting with Fall of France. (plloyd1010
on 2015 Jul 31)
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1940, The Fall of France, scenario #47: Dragon Trap | ||||||||||||
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Kind of a very fun puzzle of scenario! The French receive points for exiting units and eliminating German units, while the Germans receive point for stopping the French units from exiting in anyway. The Germans start with half their force on the map, deciding where are the best possible way to cover the main exit points; roads, flat terrain and so on, over a pretty large area and they get to roll for reinforcements starting on turn 5. The French entry is on the east edge and must exit on the west edge, deciding which route will be easiest to both avoid Germans and bad terrain types. In this scenario the Germans also get to place one hidden roadblock and since I played this solo, I decided to place two markers representing two possible areas the road block might be and when the first French unit did enter one of these markers, I rolled a dice, if the results were a 4-6 it is the roadblock location, if it is a 1-3 the other marker is the roadblock location. The French also get an extra truck in this scenario for some reason, as there are only 3 foot infantry units and the forth is a motorcycle type but there are four truck units, so I used the forth as a scouting unit for the roadblocks. When I first set this scenario up, the Germans were spread out pretty thin and I wondered how well they would cover the two maps until and if their reinforcements got there. The Germans and French both have and odd mix of units. The Germans have: PzI, PzII, PzIVD SK222, MTC, HMG, 37MM AT and Trucks in their first group and PzI, PzII, PzIIIF, 37mm AT and Trucks in their second group. The French have: ESC, DRG, H39, R40 and Trucks in the battle group. The scenario is only 12 turns and the Germans have a small dose of off board artillery. The French entered the map at a point they thought the weakest defended and the easiest to exit from. The Germans reacted and the French had to keep shifting to the south each time. Shot were exchange with a little damaged to each side until everything bottlenecked into the very southwest of the map and I thought the French were about a turn away from blow this game out but at the last minute the German reinforcements finally showed up on turn eight to plug the holes. Now I thought the French were finished but I hung in there to finish this out and low and behold, they manage to pull out of the assaults the Germans had created in a few areas, exchange some good AT Fire in their favor with the dice rolls and opened up a couple of small holes right at the edge of the map and poured out to create a Major French Victory. And to think I was going to throw in the towel as the French about 4 turns earlier but with most of the surviving units only one or two hexes from victory, I had to push and it worked. Another note, The French also had to unload from their trucks about a third of the way into the map, to avoid AT Fire but this was good thing to ditch the trucks early, on about turn 2 or 3. It was a tense scenario that went back and forth with a lot of options for both sides. I believe it will play out differently each play. In combat the Germans lost 10 steps and the French lost 6 steps but exited 16 steps. A very enjoyable quick scenario. |
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0 Comments |
Dragons Trapped | ||||||||||||||
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My very first ftf Panzer Grenadier, played at the Heat of Battle IV game convention held at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. The French earn points for destroying Germans, and for exiting units off the west edge; the Germans earn points for preventing the French from exiting. The Germans set up in woods and villages along the roads. The French infantry and trucks hung back while the tanks attempted to open a hole for them. The German reinforcements were very late in arriving (turn 9 or 10), and the on-board tanks were unable to do much damage to the French armor. The French tanks were also unable to do much to the panzers, leaving them in place to block the French trucks. Eventually, several of the French tanks were able to bull their way past the German tanks and exit off the west edge just before the German reinforcements arrived. The French infantry and trucks were unable to make it past the German reinforcements and the Germans earned a minor victory. |
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0 Comments |
Traversez la carte, mes braves! | ||||||||||||||
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This was a 2-session play-through of a semi-balanced, but flawed, Fall of France scenario, with a relentless and wily opponent playing the defending German side. We used the consolidation, excess initiative and smoke optional rules. We and skipped the FOW rule. I led the attacking French in what proved to be a near-hopeless enterprise, that oddly ended well for the bad-dice-rolling French side. The French were tasked with exiting units accross the map board and eliminating as many Boche steps as possible. The German invaders score by delaying, or outright halting the the advancing French in what amounts to a meeting engagement, with a substantial number of German units already in place on the battle map. The rest came in as reinforcements on the west edge, after they began rolling for their reinforcements starting on turn 5. Unfortunately for the Boche, they did not show up until turn 9. This play-through was a see saw scenario that went back-and-forth during play that ended in a frustrating draw. Had the German reinforcements arrived on time, they would surely have truimphed in this one. |
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0 Comments |