It is already late afternoon on the 30th of May 1940 when French troops of the 4th Armoured Division prepare to once again strike a fatal blow to the German Abbeville bridgehead over the river Somme. The Germans await them in the centre woods with a 88mm AA battery right in front of them, threatening the outskirts of Bienfay.

The whole shebang starts with a fireworks show! A formation of French LeO 450 medium bombers smashes the 88mm emplacement to smithereens. The accompanying OBA kills the guardian Lt and his HMG troop at practically the same time. The Germans are dumbfounded by this sudden disaster and even the French are not sure what to do now. They have 3 objectives:

a) Do more damage b) Control more towns on the east side of the battlefield c) Drive all Germans from the central wood and Moyenneville in the west

So right from the get go the French have managed to break the stalemate and are now winning! And as such, the French attack is cancelled. The Germans seize the moment to occupy Moyenneville in a flanking move that doesn’t seem to bother the French at all. Meanwhile, the French OBA is murderous. Every German unit that the French can spot is turned into mincemeat. German casualties are through the roof. The second 88mm battery stands useless in Yonval, the town north of Bienfay, and it becomes pretty clear that the French will be dictating the proceedings from now on.

And as such, the Germans try to retake the initiative by launching their own attack at 17.00. Three battalions of the 57th Infantry Division head out of the woods, straight towards Bienfay. The 88mm in Yonval limbers up and repositions itself in a farmyard 600m closer to the front to have a better line of sight into Bienfay. The French surprise is short lived, immediately 2 platoons of Char B1bis tanks are ordered to take Mont Caubert, the ancient hill that has been a thorn in their side for the past few days. All the other armoured platoons are heading for the plateau in the west to confront the Germans coming from Moyenneville, and a lone Armored Car is send towards Yonval to recon for the whereabouts of the second 88mm. The infantry in Bienfay stay put, happily mowing down the assaulting German infantry.

At 17.15 the Germans make it into Bienfay but the assault fails miserably. The German Major escapes capture in the nick of time while his 2 units are butchered to the last man. Things are not going great for the Germans. The only positive for them is that the French AC finds the 88mm and pays the price. With the 88mm now deployed to cover Mont Caubert as well as Bienfay, the 2 platoons of Char B1bis change their objective and start to pummel the German infantry occupying the little hamlet just south of the hill. In the meantime, the German LtCol, a strapping specimen of Arian supremacy, rejuvenates the assault on Bienfay. However, the flanking troops are stopped dead cold by the 6 French tank platoons that start playing cat and mouse games with the PBIs.

An hour into the fighting for Bienfay, a ripple of morale checks spreads among the French lines when the French Major is mortally wounded. But all leaders manage to control the situation and the Capitaine simply takes over command. Some moments later a miracle happens! German OBA destroys 3 French tanks in the uneven struggle on the plateau between Bienfay and Moyenneville. Swiftly taking advantage of the French hesitation the German infantry launch a fierce assault on the Somua S35s. The tank crews mow them down mercilessly, killing a Lt and 2 formations in one fell swoop. That takes care of the flanking attempt, remnants of the German troop retreat back towards Moyenneville.

The German LtCol is in dire straits. He has already lost two thirds of his assaulting force and his right flank has just been shot to pieces. So he orders his last reserves from Yonval to move up. The column can hardly be called a force, comprising of 2 leaders, 2 infantry units and 2 batteries of 37mm. In doing so, they leave the town and their escape route unoccupied. The French tanks on the other hand, are having the time of their lives, scattering Germans all over the plateau. But the manhunt is cut short when the H39 platoons carelessly enters the sights of the 88mm. Scratch one full platoon of French armour!

At 21.00, the German position becomes hopeless. The Char B1bis finally break and take the hamlet at Mont Caubert, the Lt Col can’t budge the better morale troops in Bienfay and in the west, all German units are being demoralized when trying to fend off 5 full strength French armour formations. The French have the scenario as good as clinched and just when the Germans decide to make a last gasp surprise dash for the, so far unscathed, town of Villers sur Mareuil in the south east, a string of unforeseen things happens. First the French B1Bis tanks at Mont Caubert are not content with just taking the hamlet, so they pursue the demoralized Germans. This puts them in open country and immediately both formations get demoralized by German OBA. To make matters worse, a German 7-0-0 Cpt and his lone 81mm platoon slips up behind the tanks and swiftly and with style they reoccupy the hamlet. The French Capitaine can’t believe his own eyes and in an emotional state, he moves out of Villers to rectify the situation in person, taking with him all but one of his infantry units. At the same time, the German LtCol orders 2 of his remaining 3 units to exit the assault where they meet up with an already waiting Lt. When the German major then dashes for the road through the woods at the outskirts of Villers, the French Cpt realizes his mistake, but before he can counterorder his troops, he is taken out of action by incoming artillery. Since he was the only officer in Villers, this whole section of the battlefield is now without French leadership. Luckily, the Germans can only send 2 reduced infantry units with the Major before the P178s seal off the road through the woods. The lone French infantry unit left in Villers quickly redeploys to occupy the road entry into town. The other infantry units are unable to respond but fortunately one of the Char B1bis units has a miraculous recovery and is almost ready to join the fray. The leaderless French infantry have no other choice but to continue on and try to retake the hamlet at Mont Caubert. At Bienfay, the 2 reserve units position themselves to assault the other parts of the town, trying to deny the French from controlling them. When a 37mm gun positions itself in the woods, thus creating another problem for the French, suddenly the tables have turned.

Enter the end phase. At Villers, the German Major and his motley crew attack the lone infantry, resulting in a stalemate. The French however can reinforce them with the B1bis platoon, but those tankers have been in the thick of it for hours and their morale breaks once more. As such, the German’s presence in the town is secure. The hamlet at Mont Caubert is contested but the mortars can’t be ousted out. At Bienfay, half of the village also has German forces and thus this victory condition slips out of the hands of the French. They desperately need to hurt the lone HMG position within Moyenneville and also deal with the 37mm in the wood. So the French tank commander filters 2 platoons towards the wood where they succeed in running down the gun emplacement. It is now up to the 3 remaining tank units to simply disrupt the German HMG, but even from point blank and against all odds, all attacks miss. The French have only accomplished one of their three objectives and therefor the Germans can claim an unhoped for Minor Victory.

Debrief left the French player devastated. He entered the last session thinking he was in for an easy win and was robbed mercilessly. He claimed his hubris got him into unnecessary trouble. If he instead had stayed put in Villers and the hamlet, the result would probably have been very different. On the other hand, the German player, for once, never stopped believing and after pulling off the stone cold bluff of deserting Yonval, he was rewarded with an extremely lucky last minute victory. In the end, what looked like a possible sitzkrieg development, turned into a fiery cracker of a scenario!