'Strange Defeat': Clarifications, Errata
and Alternative Victory Conditions
By Doug McNair
September 2006

We’ve received questions and comments from several Strange Defeat players since the game was released. Below are some clarifications which should take care of most future questions, plus alternative victory conditions that level the playing field a bit from the Allied perspective:

Errata and Clarifications

Counters

Ignore the 5-5 unit values on the British air unit counter. The +1 air support value is correct. The reverse side is correct, or you can download a replacement here.

Terrain Effects Chart

The Fortress Holland hexes are the setup zone for the Dutch corps with the FH setup code. Fortress Holland symbols have no effect on combat or movement.

Rules

5.3: Units in ALL Major and Minor Fortress hexes are always in supply (not just Maginot Line fortress hexes).

10.11: Replace the third and fourth sentences with: “On a result of 1 the paratrooper unit rolled-for is eliminated. On any other result it is unaffected.”

10.24: The last sentence should say: “If a leader is moving with any of the units that he can assist in combat (see rule 10.21), he adds one movement point to each of their movement allowances in both the Movement and Exploitation phases.” Leaders DO NOT add to the movement allowances of units they can’t assist in combat.

11.2: If the roll indicates that German aircraft are reduced, then they will be reduced on turns THREE (IV May) through Seven (IV June).

Variant Rules

I and other Strange Defeat players have noted that the Allies have a tough time winning the game. This should come as no surprise, given the strategic situation in France in May 1940. At game start, the French are deployed heavily where they are least likely to be attacked, and most French units can’t move on Turn 1 due to poor preparedness. This makes the lightly-guarded route through neutral Holland and Belgium a red carpet into France for the Germans.

In addition, the Germans have some key advantages in air support and replacements. The Germans get four or five air support factors each turn while the Allies get zero, one or two. The Germans also get six replacement points during the game while the French only get two. Since the Germans can send their air support and replacements anywhere they like, they have a distinct advantage over the French when it comes to bolstering attacks to breach enemy lines.

A third issue is overall force strength. The French and British have 40 units altogether, with a total combat strength of 150 and an average per-unit combat strength of 3.6. But while the Germans are just barely outnumbered at 38 units, their per-unit combat strength is greater at 4.4, their total infantry and cavalry strength comes close to the Allies’ total at 139, and their armor gives them an additional 27. Since German armor hits on a 5 or 6 (twice as often as any Allied units), the Germans effectively beat the Allies in combat strength by 193 to 150.

Finally, on the tactical level, the Germans have a distinct advantage in mobility. German armor is faster than Allied armor, and German motorized units can advance farther than Allied units after combat. Also, all German motorized units get three movement points every German Exploitation Phase. But only British units get to move in the Allied Exploitation Phase, and each British unit gets only 1 MP. French armor gets no exploitation movement at all. So, 10 out of the 38 German units can exploit breaches in the Allied lines and encircle Allied units with ease, putting them Out of Supply and immediately halving their combat strengths and movement allowances.

The Allies can’t just leave breaches in their lines open lest the Germans pour through to take Paris and other key areas. So, the Allies will spend much of their time falling back and reforming their lines rather than hitting the Germans and racking up political points. This gives the Germans the momentum, especially later in the game. As the Allied lines thin out, the Germans can sit back while the French retreat, then maneuver their forces to hit them again for maximum damage and Political Points, with little fear of retaliation.

So, while historical accuracy dictates that the Allies should have a hard time of it, I believe the current victory conditions are guilty of unnecessary roughness toward them. The Allies get Political Points for eliminating German units and keeping control of key cities, but they don’t get points for the things they have the best chances of doing: stopping German advances, putting German units Out of Supply, and evacuating Allied armies to safety.

The Germans will likely destroy the Allied armies before the game is over, but the outclassed Allies should be able to score a political victory (thus gaining the international support they’ll need for D-Day later) if they do well on the battlefield and show that the Germans can be stopped.

To give the Allied player a fairer shot at victory, I offer these variant Political Point Tables and Victory Conditions:

14.0 Alternative Victory Conditions

14.1 Political Point Tables

Allied Combat and Territorial Losses

• Each French or Polish unit eliminated: –2
• Each British unit eliminated: –3
• First time a French Major Fortress falls under German control: –2
• Every other French Major Fortress that falls under German control: –1 (one time only per fortress)
• Paris declared an Open City (11.4): –2
• Paris has not been declared an Open City and the Germans take control of both hexes of Paris: –3 (one time only)
• At least Four German units exit the south map edge in France: –3

German Combat Losses and Setbacks

• Each German Para/Motorized unit eliminated: +4
• Each other German unit eliminated: +3
• Each German Motorized unit that is Out of Supply on any German Organization Phase: +2
• Each German Foot unit that is Out of Supply on any German Organization Phase: +1
• Each German Organization Phase when the Allies control Paris (starting IV May): +2
• Each German Organization Phase when the Germans do not control at least 3 Allied ports (starting IV May): +1
• Paris has not been declared an Open City, and Allied forces retake one hex of Paris from German control: +1 (unlimited times)
• Paris has not been declared an Open City, and Allied forces retake both hexes of Paris from German control: +3 (unlimited times)

Anglo-French Alliance

• French request additional RAF Support: See 11.2
• Each British/French Cooperation Failure (11.3): –1
• No Combined British/French Attack on II May (11.3): –3

Operation Dynamo (11.5)
(Note: An unlimited number of French and British units can evacuate).

• Allied player declares that naval evacuations will begin: –5
• Each French infantry or cavalry unit evacuated: +1
• Each French armored unit evacuated: +2
• Each British infantry unit evacuated: +2
• British RAC armored unit evacuated: +3

Minor Allies

• Dutch Surrender: –1
• Sanctuary for Queen Wilhelmina: See 10.33
• Each German Organization Phase when Amsterdam is not under German control (starting III May): +1
• Belgian Surrender: –2
• Sanctuary for King Leopold: See 10.33
• Each German Organization Phase when Brussels is not under German control (starting IV May): +2

14.2 Victory Conditions

Axis Major Victory: At the end of play the Political Point Total is -20 or less.

Axis Minor Victory: At the end of play the Political Point Total is anywhere from -10 to -19.

Allied Minor Victory: At the end of play the Political Point Total is anywhere from -1 to -9.

Allied Major Victory: At the end of play the Political Point Total is 0 or more.