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

All the maps are finally done, so 1940: The Fall of France should start shipping next week. To celebrate, here’s a preview of the last 10 scenarios in the game.

Scenario Forty-One
Counterattack at Dunkirk
25 May 1940, St-Georges, southeast of Gravelines

While the Germans were consolidating their bridgeheads across the Aa and resting after Hitler’s stop order, the French command at Dunkirk built up strong artillery support groups and ordered a counterattack against the small village of St-Georges to restore their lines.

Conclusion

The French counterattack started at 0900 hours and included artillery support and a handful of tanks. The unsupported German recon troops in the village were in no mood to trade shots with tanks, and left after calling in some artillery fire and air strikes that failed to stop the French. At noon the French infantry reached its main objective (the railway embankment dominating the surrounding landscape) and the Germans fell back to the bridge of St-Folquin. This small victory showed that the French High Command would keep defending Dunkirk to buy time for the Escape from the Continent.

Developer’s Commentary

Here a small French force attacks a German motorcycle battalion holding some bridges and a railroad line. The main problem for the French here is that they’re attacking a higher-morale German force that is much more mobile than they are. It will therefore be very hard for them to hold any territory they take, since the Germans can easily cut behind them and retake territory they vacated earlier. So I reduced German numbers and increased French off-board artillery to give them a shot at pinning the Germans down and consolidating whatever gains their tanks and infantry make.

Scenario Forty-Two
Iron Fist
29 May 1940, southwest of Abbeville, France

A successful Blitzkrieg in France required motorized divisions to screen the flanks of the panzer divisions forcing their way westward, followed by infantry to secure the flanks and rear areas. The latter would generally establish defensive positions behind rivers, and the River Somme was certainly a good choice. At Abbeville, however, the German 57th Infantry Division (an undistinguished reservist unit) had pushed beyond the Somme to establish a bridgehead in preparation for further attacks. Groupement A of French 7th Army issued orders to erase the German bridgehead and retake Abbeville, and gave the job to DeGaulle’s 4th Division Cuirasse. He attacked on May 28 and retook Huppy after a fierce battle, intending to wipe out the rest of the bridgehead on the following day.

Conclusion

The Germans deployed two 88mm guns named Cesar and Dora on the main road near Villers-sur-Mareuil, and another two named Anton and Berta on Mont Caubert (a long flat hill shaped like a whale running along the river). DeGaulle countered all this firepower with superior tactics, his tanks out-maneuvering and destroying Dora while forcing Cesar to flee. The B1-bis tanks reached Villers ahead of the French reservist infantry, which was advancing slowly from the south behind a formation of Renault 35 tanks. German machine guns wreaked havoc on the reservists and broke their morale, but then some overzealous German infantry charged the B1-bis tanks and were cut to pieces. That spread panic in the German ranks, and many German soldiers fled the field abandoning weapons and comrades. By noon the German bridgehead had been reduced by half, and the only substantial German strongpoint remaining was at an ancient Celtic fortification on Mont Caubert. Unfortunately, exhaustion, casualties and dwindling fuel kept the French from pressing their advantage to re-conquer Abbeville. The Germans would get the chance to regroup and prepare for a counterattack.

Developer’s Commentary

DeGaulle’s last gamble at Abbeville begins in circumstances that are at least not all bad: his 4th DCR’s morale level is equal to that of the German reservists he is attacking. But the Germans have nearly equal numbers to the French, whose infantry are low-firepower RES units. So, I had to give DeGaulle a more favorable setup, and lengthened the game to 30 turns to give him more time to wear the Germans down. I then skewed the VP schedule toward the French, giving them big points for taking town hexes north of the river and thus forcing the Germans to disperse their forces to guard the bridges.

Scenario Forty-Three
Back on the Attack
30 May 1940, southwest of Abbeville, France

The previous day’s panic forgotten, the Germans were on the move again in the reduced bridgehead after Manstein himself gave them some "encouragement." Meanwhile in the village of Villers-sur-Mareuil at the foot of Mont Caubert, the French troops of the 22nd Régiment d’Infanterie Coloniale received the order to renew the attack and deliver the final blow. But curiously, only 180 men and a small number of light tanks were committed to the French assault. Their first objective was the Bois de Villers, just on the other side of the road.

Conclusion

As soon as the French tanks began crossing the road the 88mm guns opened fire from the slopes of Mont Caubert. Two Renault 35 tanks were hit and lost, but the others kept moving.  Fire from tanks and supporting artillery eventually silenced the guns while the French infantry stumbled into their German counterpart in the woods. The fight then devolved into a confused stalemate, and by evening the French had only advanced 300 meters.

Developer’s Commentary

Instead of a continuation of the previous day’s attack, this small morning assault was just an odd footnote that did little to keep the Germans on the defensive. It takes place on the same board as Iron Fist but involves very few units. The French will have a tough time of it even with armor support because their RES infantry units are so weak, so I gave them an extra leader to improve their chances and cut the game to 16 turns because the battle will be won or lost by then anyway.

Scenario Forty-Four
Coup de Grace
30 May 1940, southwest of Abbeville, France

German reinforcements had arrived in the Abbeville area the night of the 29th and were now threatening the nearby villages of Moyenneville, Villers and Bienfay. The French were out of time; they had to strike the fatal blow at the Abbeville bridgehead. So after a short artillery bombardment late on the afternoon of the 30th, French tanks charged the German positions followed by all the forces DeGaulle could muster.

Conclusion

German 88mm gunfire smashed into the charging French tanks, destroying five of them in short order. But the German infantry was forced out of the "Bois des Anglais" and sent backwards to Yonval. More tanks moved towards Mont Caubert but kept taking hits from Flak guns, and by the time an unexpected minefield stopped the French tanks more than half of them had been lost. The German infantry (who had received the order “Bis zum letzen,” meaning “Fight to the last man”) then made a stand at the Mésnil-Trois-Fétus farm, stopping the French infantry so that the German anti-tank guns there could kill more French tanks. Then at 8 p.m. the Germans in Cambron launched a counterattack that drove the French left flank all the way back to Moyenneville. By the end of the day the entire operation had ended in disarray for the French. The 4th DCR was spent, and the Battle of Abbeville was lost.

Developer’s Commentary

I expanded the map westward to give the larger forces on both sides more room to maneuver. The original scenario design had French numbers roughly equal to the Germans and the Germans outgunning the French. That would give DeGaulle no chance, so I gave him an extra off-board artillery factor and upped the morale of his ESC infantry units to 8/6. Even with those improvements, eliminating the German bridgehead at Abbeville will be very tough for the French since much of it consists of town terrain. So I started the game four turns earlier and gave the French extra off-board artillery during those turns to simulate the initial bombardment, and then extended the scenario until it is pitch dark on turn 2315. On the other hand, DeGaulle has got to score a convincing victory or it’s all for naught, so I made victory conditions tough on the French.

Scenario Forty-Five
Road to Dunkirk
3 June 1940, south of Dunkirk, France

The last British troops were evacuated from Dunkirk the night of June 2nd, and on the morning of the 3rd the French were making a desperate effort to hold the lines while evacuating as many of their own troops as possible. Few men and weapons were available for the last-ditch defense, but courageous volunteers from 7th Groupement de Reconnaissance and 224th Infantry Regiment were determined to give their lives for their brothers in arms.

Conclusion

South of Dunkirk on the road to Bergues, French forces held fast at the Sept-Planètes crossroads and bridge. German casualties were heavy, and around 1100 their attack slowed as no German trooper wanted to be the last man killed before final victory. Trading ground for time, the heroic French soldiers held back the German tide until nightfall. Sadly, they did their job too well: they held the line until after the last boat left Dunkirk, and most of them were captured the next day in the nearly deserted city.

Developer’s Commentary

One of the last high-morale forces the French will field in 1940 tries to hold a river line against a strong German infantry attack. The French score victory points for killing German steps and holding bridges, and also for preventing German units from crossing the river. The Germans score VPs for killing French steps, taking bridges and exiting units off the north edge after crossing the river.

Scenario Forty-Six
The Phoenix
9 June 1940, between Saint-Just-en-Chaussée and Clermont,
south of Amiens, France

Like the phoenix, 1st Division Cuirassée rose from its own ashes. Having been nearly wiped out in Belgium, it was rebuilt in the first days of June and sent to defend France from the German armies moving southward after the fall of Dunkirk. On June 9, 1st DCR was ordered to take a westward-facing position on the Arré River line to screen the rear of troops retreating behind the river. Unfortunately, some of the approaching German forces had already crossed the river at points farther north and were ready to outflank the French position. The day would be a hot one for the reborn French armor.

Conclusion

The tanks of 34th Bataillon de Chars de Combat took serious punishment around Lieuvillers and the La Folie farm, and mechanical problems and traffic jams delayed the arrival of French armored reinforcements. Individual tank companies began arriving one by one mid-morning, and soon the village of Erquinvillers became the centre of combat between German anti-tank guns and the Renault tanks. At 1115 the encounter was all but over with the 34th BCC having lost 22 of its tanks, while at Lieuvillers the town was on fire but the German advance had been slowed. Meanwhile to the north at St-Just en Chaussée the R-35s and B1-bis tanks skirmished with the Germans, putting about 10 enemy tanks out of action. They pulled back at 1130 having accomplished their mission. At Clermont to the south, reinforcements arrived in time to support the defenders, and 1st DCR had saved the day (but at a high price).

Developer’s Commentary

In the original scenario design, the German attack was under-strength and the French reinforcements arrived far sooner than the Conclusion above would indicate (note the references to traffic jams and dispersed tank companies). So instead, I had the French reinforcements arrive in small, die-roll-dependent groups. I tried to avoid making town hexes a source of victory points because there are so many of them, but any other basis for victory would lead to gamey behavior in this situation. So I said that players score one VP for each enemy step eliminated, one VP for each town hex east of the river that is under friendly control at the end of play and three VPs for each bridge hex under friendly control at the end of play.

Scenario Forty-Seven
Dragon Trap
16 June 1940, near Saulieu, France

By mid-June the German armored spearheads had struck deep into the French interior. The French 2nd and 4th Armies had disintegrated, and in the Bourgogne 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 the 16th they made a break for freedom through an area that was crawling with Germans.

Conclusion

Following trails 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 and destroyed German regimental command tank along with some others. But then some powerfully-armed PzIV tanks arrived, and the French realized they’d fallen into a trap of their own making since the narrow road they were on 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.

Developer’s Commentary

This is a small, simple, get-off-the-west-edge scenario. Since the intro and conclusion say the French were taking narrow back roads I said treat all roads as trails. I also let the Germans place a hidden roadblock before play begins to keep the French guessing.

Scenario Forty-Eight
Le Deluge
18 June 1940, north of Luxeuil, northeast of Vesoul, Vosges Mountains, France

On June 16 the 1st and 2nd Panzer divisions were pushing southward toward the Saône River while the 20th Motorized Division screened their northern flank and fought its way eastward toward the Swiss border. The trapped French 8th Army was their obvious target, and it could do nothing but wait for the hammer blow to fall. Even worse, the French didn’t know where to deploy their forces since the Germans could also strike at them from the east by crossing the Rhine or even by cutting through Switzerland (they did cross the Rhine on June 15). So the 8th Army opted to cover all its flanks and spread its forces thinly, ordering Groupement Duluc (named after its commander) to deploy on the French west flank on a front more than 70 kilometers long. Having lost many of the units under his command in a previous battle with 20th Motorized, he deployed what troops he could muster around small cities that had been fortified in a last effort to stem the tide.

Conclusion

The motley force defending Luxeuil was poorly-balanced, with more artillery than infantry. In addition, their scattered troops were set up to defend a line of villages along a river instead of defending the roads the Germans would have to use in their attack. Some ancient FT17 tanks completed the picture of a lost cause, and the French positions were overwhelmed by the Germans who then advanced to the northeast to complete the encirclement of 8th Army.

Developer’s Commentary

I added rain and mud rules, and since visibility is bad in the early going I let the French set up their roadblock hidden. The French are scraping the bottom of the barrel here, so I put the full burden of victory on the Germans. The German player wins if at the end of play at least one of the two north-south roads and all town and bridge hexes it runs through is free of undemoralized French combat units. Any other result is a French victory.

Scenario Forty-Nine
We Will Not Surrender!
18 June 1940, Xertigny, southwest of Epinal, France

Word was out that France had requested an armistice. For the Germans in the field, that meant the race was on to conquer as much territory as possible before the guns fell silent. Sixth Panzer Division sent two kampfgruppen toward Epinal on the Moselle River near Switzerland. On his way there Oberstleutnant Koll sought to pass through the little town of Xertigny, but discovered that a French squadron was defending it and determined to make a stand.

Conclusion

Kamfgruppe Koll took its first casualties when 75mm shells erupted from the town just as the first panzers and motorcycles reached it. The Germans screeched to a halt but two PzII tanks and some motorcycles were quickly lost. Koll sent everything he had against the town, from panzers to self-propelled guns to artillery, but the dismounted French cavalrymen fought bravely behind their barricades and strongpoints. “We will not surrender!” was the final order of the French commander, de Saint-Cernin (who has a street named after him there today). They did not surrender until the town was on fire and most of their officers lay dead among the ruins. Koll lost 12 men killed and 26 wounded, and one day’s advance. In his report he called the “a surprisingly tough defense.”

Developer’s Commentary

This is a simple small town assault so I cut the map down to one board. The Germans have overwhelming numbers and firepower, so I cut the game to 12 turns and made victory conditions all or nothing: The German player wins if at the end of play all town hexes are under German control. Any other result is a French victory.

Scenario Fifty
Valley of Death
23 June 1940, Voreppe, north of Grenoble, France

Reaching Grenoble was a key objective for the Germans on the Alpine Front, because there they could link up with their new Italian allies (who had declared war on France on June 21). Colonel Von Funk decided to take the city via a nighttime surprise attack, but the phone lines were still working and the French were able to get word of the attack to their forces in Voreppe (a town in the narrow Isere Valley). Infantry, engineers, Marine gunners, a few 75mm guns, some 47mm antitank guns and two huge 194mm tracked self-propelled guns were deployed along the valley, and when a German column entered the valley on the morning of the 23rd, several of its tanks were quickly destroyed. A second frontal assault achieved similar results, so the attackers fell back to prepare a more careful battle plan.

Conclusion

The Germans gathered all the artillery they could and began bombarding French positions late in the afternoon. They then sent in an infantry assault but it was stopped by the French artillery, which benefited from excellent spotting by officers positioned on the nearby mountain tops of the Vercors plateau. Several German tanks opened fire on French positions at long-range, but French anti-tank fire responded and killed two more German tanks. The Germans abandoned all hope of taking Voreppe with a frontal assault, and planned to envelop the French the next day by moving through the mountains to the east. But by then the French had brought in even more artillery, and all further German efforts met with a similar fate.

Developer’s Commentary

A very interesting scenario on which to end the game, this one uses the Mountain terrain rules from our recently-published Cassino ’44. I changed French off-board artillery to 1 x 30 since they’ve got a couple of 195mm SP guns, and got rid of the rainstorm rules that were in the original scenario design because the French will lose if visibility drops and they can’t spot for the rail guns. I lengthened the game to 24 turns due to the long distance the Germans have to cover in order to win, but skewed the VP schedule slightly toward the French because the Germans have big advantages in numbers and firepower.

That does it for 1940: The Fall of France. I just finished the rules re-write for Panzer Grenadier’s new sister series Infantry Attacks, so pretty soon now Panzer Grenadier fans will get a whole new war to sink their teeth into.

1940: The Fall of France will be here before you know it! Order yours TODAY!