| Tactics in 1940: The Fall of France
Scenario Thirteen: Lords of Steel, 14 May 1940
Part One: 0615-0745 Hours
By Doug McNair
February 2010
Playtester feedback is flowing in steadily now for August 1914, the first game in our brand new Infantry Attacks series. So while I sit here reading e-mails and tweaking rules, it’s a good a time as any to run a scenario from our newest Panzer Grenadier boxed game 1940: The Fall of France. As previously stated in my developer’s commentary, one of the most intriguing aspects of 1940 it is the widely varying troop quality of the French forces and how that affects game play.
One scenario where this plays a crucial role is Lords of Steel, in which a mixed French force of good size but dubious quality must try to take some small villages from a very small but elite German force and then hold them against a strong German counterattack later in the game. The Germans have lots of defensible terrain to work with, the French line of advance is restricted by the presence of a major river that has had all bridges across it blown, and two of the German units can even begin play hidden. The French will therefore likely get a bloody nose early on, but they’ve got no choice but to act aggressively since the Germans get to start rolling for reinforcements on Turn 8.
If the French are not in control of the villages, woods and high ground near the northern edge of the board by the time the German reinforcements arrive, there is little hope that the French will be able to hold their gains against the higher-morale German counterattackers.
Further complicating French efforts is the fact that the German reinforcements consist largely of ENG units which can cross to the west bank of the river after entering, move south and then cross back to the east bank to hit the French flank. The French (who have no ENG units and therefore cannot cross to the west side of the river due to the blown bridges) will need to keep the north-south road clear of German units so their tanks and HMG units can lay down fire on the German engineers to keep them at bay on the west bank should this occur.
With that, here begins a replay of Scenario Thirteen: Lords of Steel.
Setup
The French must all setup in the large village near the southern edge of the board while the initial German force sets up among the small villages to the north. The French force consists of well-armored but lightly-armed FCM36 tanks supported by a force of INF and HMG units plus a 25mm AT gun. The tanks have a morale of 7/6 which makes them average-quality, but all the other units are poor-quality with a morale of only 6/5. The tanks will therefore likely have to lead the effort of smoking-out the hidden German units to the north so that the latter do not surprise the French infantry at close quarters and lay waste to them. The French draw a mixed bag of leaders, with a superb Commandant to lead the force but a less than stellar group of junior officers.
The Germans begin play with very few units: one INF and one HMG from the elite Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland, plus a reduced-strength armored car platoon and two 37mm AT gun batteries. The Germans place their infantry in the villages near the base of the hill to the north and their thin-skinned armored car unit in the hilltop village where it can fire down on approaching Frenchmen and be protected from French tank fire. They go the historical route and set up their AT guns hidden. The French catch a break because the Germans draw relatively low-quality leaders (for Germans), neither of whom has a morale bonus.
Play may now begin.
Turn One: 0615 Hours
The French (who start with an initiative of 3) beat the Germans (who start with an initiative of 2) on the initiative roll by 9 to 5. That gives them two activations before the Germans can do anything, so the French Commandant and the tank leader in the same hex with him activate as part of a stack, meaning the entire French force can activate since they’re all adjacent to the Commandant and the tank leader. The slow French HMGs (movement allowance of only 1) lumber out of the southern village, keeping a small village between them and the German HMGs to the north. The French Commandant takes an INF unit into the small village ahead of the HMGs and gets to within spotting range of the German HMGs in the next village to the north, but the German HMGs hold their fire. Then a French tank unit races northward to reconnoiter the edge of the woods and hopefully discover one of the hidden French AT guns. It does, and an AT gun pops up in woods hex 0711 directly ahead of the tanks. The guns hold their fire since they have little chance of hurting the well-armored French tanks while they are moving targets, so the tanks pull back out of point-blank range to deny the AT guns a bonus against them later.
That puts them adjacent to the German HMGs, who take the surprising step of opening fire on the adjacent tanks with opportunity fire. Because of the German Lieutenant’s combat bonus of 1, the strength-10 Grossdeutschland HMGs fire on the base 11 column and get a +3 column modifier for opportunity fire at point-blank range. That gives them a 2 in 6 chance of scoring an X result or better which would mean an M morale check against the tanks, but they roll a 5 which just barely misses getting an X. That emboldens the French infantry, which rushes northward toward the Germans. The German HMGs let one INF unit come and wait to see if the second will come with a leader, but when it doesn’t they open fire on it and roll an 11 for an M2 result. But the INF rolls a 3 and holds morale. The German armored car in the hilltop village then fires at the same INF unit and rolls well for an M result, but again the INF holds morale. That means the armored car is now spotted, so if the French can get their AT gun within range of it they can try to take it out (the weakly-gunned tanks won’t have much luck against it in a town).
French tanks then charge the German HMG, forming a 3-high stack next to it for a fire team next turn. The remaining French forces move north, and the German armored car takes a shot at a second INF unit and again rolls very well, scoring an M result at long range. But the morale bonus of the Lieutenant with the INF saves it from disruption. With all their forces moved, the French then use their second activation to hit the German HMG unit in the village with offboard artillery fire, but the fire is ineffective. The German AT gun discovered by the tank recon fires and misses, and the turn ends with the remaining German units holding position.
Neither side has taken any step losses thus far, so the current score is based entirely on control of town hexes east of the river (2 VPs per town hex), meaning France: 12 (for the 5-hex town they started in plus the one-hex town they now occupy); Germany: 6 (for the 3 town hexes to the north that they occupy).
Turn Two: 0630 Hours
The French win initiative again, but only by one activation. The 3-high stack of French tanks opens fire on the German HMG unit point-blank, but they only roll a 6 and do no damage. The remaining French tank fires at the AT guns in the woods to the north but also does no damage. The Germans hold their fire, and the French hit the German HMGs with offboard artillery but once again do no damage. Again the Germans hold fire, and the Commandant activates all the infantry and begins a cautious, oblique advance on the HMG’s position, sending his troops eastward through and behind the woods to gain as much cover as possible from HMG fire. At the same time he brings the French HMGs into the village behind him so they can lay down fire on the Germans next turn.
The armored car on the hilltop fires at advancing French infantry that it can spot above the woods, rolling well again to score an M result that disrupts a French INF. A second shot from the armored car misses, and the German HMG holds its fire until all the French infantry is done moving. It then fires at the closest stack of French INF in the woods but does no damage. The French have activated all their units and pass, the German AT guns fire and miss, and the turn ends.
Turn Three: 0645 Hours
The French roll very well and beat the Germans by two activations again. Their HMGs fire at the German HMG but roll a 7 for no damage, and then the tanks fire point-blank on the HMG again. This time they roll very well, getting an 11 for an M2 result, but the German Lieutenant rolls a 3 and the HMG rolls a 4 on the morale check, and they both laugh it off. The remaining French tank and the German AT guns trade fire but both miss, and then the French Commandant keeps sending his troops through the woods northward, now moving around the HMG and toward the armored car on the hilltop while rallying the disrupted INF. The armored car keeps up its accurate fire at the approaching INF, scoring an M result which the Germans pass. The Commandant successfully rallies the disrupted INF, and fire traded between the German HMGs and French INF is ineffective.
Turn Four: 0700 Hours
The French beat the Germans by one activation, and French HMG fire continues to be ineffective. German AT guns fire and miss, point-blank tank fire against the HMGs is ineffective again and so is tank fire at the AT guns. The Germans keep holding fire while French offboard artillery fails to make a dent, and then when the French troops on point move to within two hexes of the armored car they run into the other German AT gun (which was hidden on the road just south of the hilltop village). The gun opens fire but does no damage, and the armored car is also unable to hurt the oncoming infantry. The French AT gun then moves out of the woods and up the board edge to unload within range of the armored car, and continued fire by the best French Lieutenant and two INF units at the HMGs in the southern village finally has some effect, scoring an M1 result that disrupts the German Lieutenant along with the HMG. But both recover morale.
Turn Five: 0715 Hours
The Germans beat the French by one activation, and the just-discovered AT guns fire at the French Lieutenant who discovered them but fail to do any damage. Then French HMG fire scores an M1 result on the German HMGs, disrupting both the German Lieutenant and his HMGs!
This is a major development as it puts the Germans at risk of being demoralized by point-blank tank fire next segment, but if they use their activation to recover morale now two companies of French infantry will rush up to an assault position against them unmolested. The Germans decide they can handle an assault against the poor-morale French and successfully recover morale, and point-blank fire from the French tanks against the HMGs is ineffective but the remaining tank disrupts the German AT gun to the north. The gun recovers morale, and then the Commandant activates and sends the Lieutenant who discovered the AT gun on the hill in to assault it. Meanwhile, the Commandant takes an INF company north to an assault position on the armored car in the town and sends another west to join the Lieutenant and rush the HMG in the village. Point-blank fire from the armored car demoralizes an incoming INF unit but has no effect on a second, and the assault on the AT gun goes nowhere. All the French INF units move into assault positions on the two eastern villages, and the French AT gun unlimbers so it can fire at the armored car next turn.
Turn Six: 0730 Hours
The French beat the Germans by one activation. They know that their lower-morale troops will have a very hard time against a Grossdeutschland HMG unit in a town assault, so they take a risk and have their tanks fire point-blank on the HMGs to soften them up for the assault. The gamble pays off — the tanks roll an 11 for an M2 result that demoralizes both the Lieutenant and the German HMG!
If the Germans get assaulted while demoralized they’re dead, so they try to recover morale. The Lieutenant rolls an 11, fails and flees north, but the HMG succeeds and becomes disrupted.
With their assault position on the now leaderless HMGs assured, the French keep up the momentum and assault the German armored car in the northern village (seeing as it is a reduced unit and therefore only has a morale of 7). Both sides roll on the 3 column and the French roll a 5 for an M result that demoralizes the armored car!!! Unfortunately, demoralized INF unit outside the village fails morale and flees. The armored car must try to recover morale and fails, fleeing the village and giving the French a free shot at it, but the M1 result fails to demoralize it again and it exits the hex successfully. The French take the town hex for +2 French VPs and -2 German VPs.
The German AT guns continue to have no luck, and then the assault against the leaderless, disrupted HMG in the southern village goes in while another INF unit joins the assault on the AT gun on the road to the north. Both sides roll on the 5 column in the southern village and both sides get an M1 result. The HMG just barely passes, and two French INF units and their Lieutenant also pass while a third becomes demoralized. In the other assault, both sides get an M result and the AT gun becomes disrupted and its wagon demoralized while the French Lieutenant also becomes disrupted. The German AT gun recovers morale and the wagon proves to be a Wagon of Doom, rolling a 2 to recover all the way to good order. The turn then ends with the French HMGs advancing northward.
The score now stands at France 14, Germany 4.
Turn Seven: 0745 Hours
The French beat the Germans by one activation and assault the disrupted HMGs in the southern village again before they can recover. Neither side does any damage, and the demoralized French INF in the town flees the hex. The demoralized German armored car to the north tries to recover morale before the French can assault it, but it fails and flees. The French tanks then activate and one of them moves into the town assault against the HMG, another moves north to assist the assault against the northern AT gun and two more tanks move to a point-blank firing position on the other AT gun. The leaderless, disrupted German HMG fails to recover morale (a HUGE break for the French), but the assault on the northern AT gun goes nowhere. German AT fire at the adjacent tanks has no effect, and the turn ends on redeployments and recoveries with the demoralized German Lieutenant recovering morale and the Commandant sending a lone INF unit northward to block the road in case German reinforcements arrive next turn.
So at the end of the “reinforcement-free” period, the French have taken one town hex and are likely to take another soon, but they have failed to kill any German units. The Germans haven’t killed any French units either but have demoralized a couple, and the French do have a decent defensive line forming up. But their low morale is severely hindering their assault efforts against the Germans, and when the German reinforcements arrive the French had better be in a strong tactical position or they will be in trouble.
The score still stands at France 14, Germany 4. That’s enough for a French Major Victory, but there’s still a long way to go. Can the French hold their lead? Tune in next time and find out!
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