Panzer Grenadier: 1940 — The Fall of France
Developer’s Preview, Part Four
By Doug McNair
July 2009

As promised, here’s the fourth installment of my preview of the scenarios in Panzer Grenadier: 1940 — The Fall of France.

Scenario Thirty-One
Holding the Flank
19 May 1940, Chambry, Northeast of Laon

There was no road to Laon except the one that went through Chambry, so 25th Infantry Division had no choice but to renew their assault on the village later the same day. As for the French, De Gaulle’s attack was going nowhere and Chambry (the anchor of the French right flank) had to be held as long as possible so that to 4th Division Cuirassee could withdraw.

Conclusion

After some powerful preparatory fire from their self-propelled 88mm guns, the Germans renewed the attack on the eastern part of the village concentrating on the chateau and its park. Soon the chateau was on fire and the encircled chasseurs had no choice but to fight or surrender. After a valiant resistance that took many German lives, they finally surrendered around 1400. Frenchmen in the rest of the village were low on ammunition but kept on fighting until 1600, when a French motorcyclist arrived carrying the order to retreat. Fourth BCP retreated to Laon that evening.

Developer’s Commentary

This is basically a continuation of Scenario 30: Sidi Brahim Again. I modified French forces a bit to reflect damage taken earlier in the day, but the victory conditions are the same as in Scenario 30.

Scenario Thirty-Two
A Bridgehead Too Far
20 May 1940, Bouchain, France

Falling back in disarray from Maubeuge and the Mormal forest, French units tried to find some safety behind the Escaut (Schelde) river. This jibed with the French High Command’s plan to form a new line of defense between Denain and Cambrai and all around Arras. But gaining control of the scattered French forces was just wishful thinking at this point, and some bridges across the Escaut were simply left unguarded and swiftly occupied by the marauding Germans.

Conclusion

Third Battalion of 2nd Régiment de Tirailleurs Marocains just barely escaped from the inferno at Gembloux and then marched 140km in three days to arrive at Bouchain. They were immediately assigned to the defence of the Escaut river line, and on May 20th they were sent to retake the small bridge at Boucheneuil from the Germans. The Germans repulsed the initial attack, but that night the Moroccans attacked again with a Somua tank platoon in support. Pushing through mortar and heavy machinegun fire, they reached the bridge and the sappers mined it. But the demolition charges failed to destroy the bridge completely, and two Somuas were lost.

Developer’s Commentary

A small one-board scenario with two French companies trying retake and blow a bridge held by a German infantry company. If the French player successfully blows the bridge, the game ends immediately in a French victory. If the French player fails to blow the bridge by the end of play, the German player wins.

Scenario Thirty-Three
Night Sortie
21 May 1940, west of the Mormal Forest, France

By the third week of May the situation in the Mormal Forest was a disaster. Since Rommel’s raid through the French lines towards the Sambre River, French units were scattered everywhere and panzers were rushing about in an orgy of breakthroughs and encirclements. Though ordered to clear the forest of Germans, the French commanders there knew that to be impossible and tried for an orderly withdrawal instead. Colonel Mesny gathered the best forces he could and made his move in the middle of the night.

Conclusion

Colonel Mesny moved out with the lead French units at midnight and soon encountered enemy columns in the dark. Unexpected encounters with enemy minefields and anti-tank obstacles slowed his progress further, and the now-alerted 4th Panzer Division began to send infantry, engineers, tanks, artillery and even FlaK units to intercept the French move. At 0600 the avant-garde had reached the Escaut River with only minimal losses, but fighting at the rear had become horrible. A company of Moroccans was sent back to help their comrades but was blocked by 88mm and Panzer fire between Louvignies and Englefontaine. At 0745 the Tunisians and Moroccans decided to force their way through to the west, and assaulted the German defenses while singing a prayer for the dead. They must have known their fate, because their attack was crushed by panzers, machineguns and AA guns, and most of them were killed or captured. Only small, scattered groups eventually reached the Escaut during the night of May 21.

Developer’s Commentary

A large scenario with the elite North Africans entering on the east edge of a large board and trying to exit the west edge, while German units enter from random edges to try to stop them. The French score one VP for each German step eliminated and one VP for each French step that exits anywhere on the west edge by the end of play, while the Germans score one VP for each French step that fails to exit the west edge by the end of play for any reason, due to being eliminated or otherwise.

Scenario Thirty-Four
Fighting the Fire
23 May 1940, west of Stonne, France

A period of relative quiet came to Stonne after the two-day battle there, and the French set about reinforcing its western flank: the Mont Dieu woods line along the Ardennes canal. Reinforcements included the 1st Hussards, the 8th Chasseurs and two regiments of the 1st Brigade de Cavalerie. The expected German attack on the canal line finally arrived early on the foggy morning of May 23. The German objective was to encircle the Stonne position and force a Major French withdrawal. Two infantry regiments moved toward Hill 276 on a 2-kilometer front, attacking the 1st Hussards after a nasty initial bombardment.

Conclusion

Defending the canal line was particularly difficult given the marshy ground and poor visibility. To the north, the Landrevie Escadron group held firm on the heights of the Mont-Dieu woods, cutting down more than 130 German soldiers advancing on their position. But the 1st Hussards were cut in two by the sheer weight of the assault, and another French group to the south was overrun. Elsewhere along the river and around Tannay, small French groups continued to defend the bridges and tried to hold the line in advance of a hoped-for counterattack.

Developer’s Commentary

Here a French cavalry force tries to prevent a larger German infantry force from exiting the east edge of the map. The Germans score one VP for each French step eliminated and one VP for each German step that exits anywhere on the east edge by the end of play, while the French score one VP for each German step that fails to exit the east edge by the end of play for any reason, due to being eliminated or otherwise.

Scenario Thirty-Five
Always Ready
23 May 1940, Thulin, between Mons and Valenciennes, Belgium

The forward elements of the retreating Groupement André forced their way through Blaregnies, but the rest of the column got stuck there. The forward elements continued on toward Condé-sur-Escaut, but soon ran into units from the 260th and 269th Infantry Divisions. These were second- and fourth-wave units of relatively poor quality (for Germans).

Conclusion

The firing started when the French reached the outskirts of the village of Thulin. French commanding officer Lt-Col Puccinelli immediately pushed forward and took the village along with several German prisoners. The French then moved on to the railway 600 meters north of Thulin where German troops had formed a defensive line. The French attacked with fixed bayonets and gained the upper hand, but then German reinforcements arrived along with artillery support. The courageous French troops kept fighting but were soon overwhelmed, and Puccinelli was wounded two times and captured.

Developer’s Commentary

A medium-size scenario in which the French have seven or more turns to get across the board and grab town hexes from a small German garrison before lots of low-quality Germans arrive to try to push them back eastward. Players score one VP for each enemy step eliminated and two VPs for each town hex under friendly control at the end of play.

Scenario Thirty-Six
The End of Groupement André
23 May 1940, Blaregnies, French border south of Mons, Belgium

Colonel André commanded 12th Régiment d’Artillerie Divisionnaire, and as the highest-ranking officer in Mauberge Sector he became overall commander there as the French units around him started disintegrating. His artillery batteries did their best to hold back the German advance so others could escape, but slowly Groupement André was forced to retreat as well. Abandonging the Boussois fort to its fate, he tried to get his troops across the Escaut River to relative safety. Unfortunately, the first leg of the way out was northward toward the Belgian border, and there he met the Germans again.

Conclusion

While entering Blaregnies the head of the French column encountered a German outpost, and with desperate energy the French pushed back the opposition and took the village. That night, Colonel André gave the order to escape to the west. Unfortunately, the German 1st Infantry had encircled Blaregnies in the darkness, and when the French encountered them Col. André ordered them to break out to the north and south. It was to no avail; Col. André was killed in the initial encounter with the Germans, and by 0600 the Germans were ready to counterattack. four hours later, with no ammunition left, the remaining French troops launched a bayonet charge in an attempt to exit the pocket to Valenciennes. The stunned Germans gave way at first, but with German reinforcements on the way it didn’t matter. Only small groups of French troops escaped.

Developer’s Commentary

This is a tough one for the French since they’re outnumbered and most of their units are of below-average morale. So, I let them setup second and made the VP threshold for victory relatively low for a scenario this size. A player who scores three to six more victory points (VPs) than his opponent scores a Minor Victory, and a player who scores at least seven more VPs than his opponent scores a Major Victory. Any other result is a draw. The French score one VP for each German step eliminated and one VP for each French step that exits anywhere on the west edge by the end of play. The Germans score one VP for each French step that fails to exit the west edge by the end of play for any reason, due to being eliminated or otherwise.

Scenario Thirty-Seven
Hill 276
23 May 1940, East of Tannay, France

The Germans made a breakthrough on the morning of the 23rd and took control of Hill 276 just east of Tannay. That gave them a jumping-off point from which to complete the encirclement of the French forces at Stonne, so the French threw in their last available reserves to drive the Germans off the hill. The hastily-planned initial attack was understrength and went nowhere, with the French losing most of their armored cars to German AT gunfire. But then at 1500 hours some twenty H39 tanks arrived, and the assault could begin in earnest.

Conclusion

French armor made the difference and the Germans soon began falling back. Losses were heavy for both sides, but the French had control of Hill 276 again by evening.

Developer’s Commentary

The original scenario design started the game much earlier in the day, and included the initial attack mentioned in the introduction. That attack is doomed due to huge German numerical superiority at the time, so I started the scenario later in the day when all French reinforcements have arrived. Even so, taking the hill will still be a tough job due to strong German off-board artillery support, so I skewed the VP schedule toward the French.

Scenario Thirty-Eight
Before the Stop Order
24 May 1940, along the Aa Canal, southeast of Dunkirk

The trapped British and French troops at Dunkirk were preparing their evacuation behind whatever thin lines of defense they could muster. But the Panzer divisions in the sector were exhausted and their supply lines badly overextended, so they could not hope to to strike the final blow. The Germans therefore released 1st Panzer Division from its task of reducing the defences at Calais and sent it eastward toward the canalized Aa River. At St-Nicolas and La Bistade (south of Gravelines) the canal was undefended except at the bridges, which were held by a collection of cavalry, infantry and old anti-aircraft trucks. Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland (attached to 1st Panzer Division) had the task of establishing and consolidating a bridgehead on the Aa River. The first firefights erupted the night before Hitler’s order to stop the German attack on Dunkirk.

Conclusion

At dawn, the Germans attacked all along the canal line, which was the last big obstacle before Dunkirk itself. Some Germans attacked the bridges while others crossed the canal on small boats and hit the French in the flanks near St-Nicolas and La Bistade. The bridge-defenders had no reserves to call on, but their mortars and autocannon slowed the Germans enough to allow for an orderly retreat despite heavy losses.

Developer’s Commentary

This one was unwinnable for the French in the original scenario design, because Grossdeutschland outnumbered them 3 to 1 and outgunned them by an even worse margin. So I cut German numbers and put the burden of victory on the Germans, saying they win if at the end of play both bridges are under German control and there are no undemoralized French units anywhere within three hexes of either bridge. Any other result is a French victory.

Scenario Thirty-Nine
Swamp Struggle, Day One
24 May 1940, Bouchain, France

The Germans had begun infiltrating the marshy areas west of the Escaut River line near Roeulx and Bouchain. So on May 21st, the French 4th Infantry Division took over the Bouchain sector and began security operations. French observers spotted the Roeulx incursion from a high slag heap and stopped the Germans with mortar fire, but the swamps and woods around Bouchain afforded the Germans much more cover. So, the French infantry would have to go in and root them out.

Conclusion

Two German infantry companies had crossed the river in the morning mist, near the cement works bridge north of Bouchain. French and German patrols clashed shortly thereafter, with the French taking the worst of it and retreating. But German artillery support was poorly-coordinated, so once the French regrouped they were able to renew their assault and prevent the Germans from expanding their bridgehead at Bouchain. The situation was similar in the swamps to the south, with the German 28th Infantry Division establishing a bridgehead but unable to expand it due to French resistance. When substantial French reinforcements arrived around noon, the Germans suspended their assault and made plans to continue it the next day.

Developer’s Commentary

A very nice change of pace, with the French trying to prevent German infiltration of a board covered largely by swamp and forest. The Germans have higher morale but no armor support and weak offboard artillery, while the French have nearly equal numbers to the Germans and lots of defensible terrain to work with. It’ll be a long battle of attrition, so I had to keep it at the full 40-turn length.

Scenario Forty
Swamp Struggle, Day Two
25 May 1940, Bouchain, France

Route Nationale 43 was the main road to the sea, and it ran straight through Bouchain.  German 8th Army Korps decided to crush French resistance there, so it sent in 43rd Infantry Regiment during the night to replace the exhausted 28th south of the town. With the artillery support problems finally resolved and some air support garnered as well, 84th Infantry Regiment renewed the attack in the morning with the 43rd following behind.

Conclusion

South of the city, the German infantry made good progress through the marshes and had pushed as far as Marquette by 1300 hours. The French committed their reserves at that point, and after hard fighting and heavy losses on both sides the Germans had to fall back. To the north, French troops held out all day long on the Boucheneuil-Roeulx road near Mastaing, and elsewhere they prevented German engineers from bringing artillery across the river. On that day at least, the French held the field.

Developer’s Commentary

In one of those cases where the sequel is better than the original, here the Germans have brought in much better artillery support but the French have brought in many more troops and now outnumber them. The Germans do get a bit of air support, so they’ll need to use that and their powerful artillery to break the French forward defenses early on and infiltrate as far west as they can before the substantial French reinforcements arrive and halt their advance.

That does it for the next-to-last set of 10 scenarios in the game. Tune in next time for my preview of the last 10 scenarios in 1940: The Fall of France, which cover the desperate efforts to hold the line at Dunkirk, the Battle of Abbeville where DeGaulle’s 4th DCR made its last gamble, and the brave stands of scattered French units as the Germans swept south from Dunkirk to grab all the territory they could before the armistice took hold.

1940: The Fall of France will arrive soon, so order your copy now!