16th of May 1940
Turn 4
Initiative goes to the Germans again.
Ample supplies arrive but no replacements for Germans.
The Ardennes Canal is a focus of maneuver elements and divisions converge and consolidate, adding loss absorbing infantry regiments. A partially successful attack expands the breach near Vouzier. With only one rail bridge secured the Germans are beginning to bog down in their efforts to cross the Meuse. The Arty of the 7th Panzer goes into reserve. Germany forgets to place certain units in reserve.
In the North, 9th crosses near the Herenstal area. The SS, eases its way out of trouble with Belgians trying to surround and delay it.
In the Netherlands the final Supply shuttling goes on as does further shuttling forward from areas near the German Border. Infantry
regiments deepen their penetration and envelopment of the area near Liege.
The 7 th Panzer situated South of Liege begins to attack key forces at railheads West of Liege.
The Allied Turn
5 step losses in turn 3.
French become more aggressive this turn. The commanders of 2A, 3A and 4A confer and launch a stinging counter attack after a massive barrage. The 2/11 5 th Panzer & Kliest MG Bn @ Vouzier fall to their attack. 40 (3AR)v 5(3AR) attack. The French had a 27% chance of taking losses and skated!
Arty fires during the Exploit phase place 5th Pzr out of of action and DG many other units along the Ardennes Canal.
Turn 5
18th of May 1940
Germany wins initiative again.
In the South the 71st and 33rd Divisions attack around Eseh-sur near Petange, in an effort to surround and clear out French forces who are inching forward thru heavily wooded hills and valleys. CAC HQ in Virton for the French is now surrounded along with most of the Cavalry in the area.
1st Panzer overruns units in the rear of 5th Panzer clearing a route to Stenay. The 29th Motorized push towards Fumay, if all attacks are conducts this series will shrink supplies!
More are rapidly force up the winding roads. Unfortunately Air results across the board are bad. All the Stuka attacks fail and one squadron of them are reduced by AA.
The 7th Pzr continue moving up towards rail junctions, near Liege. Huyrive. Germany changes tack and flies several air missions deep into France hitting French in Strategic movement mode, rushing to the front. This is a costly exercise however as 3 squadrons of Dornier and Heinkels are lost.
3rd Panzer strikes hard shifting the focal point of the attack from encirclement of Liege to a breach of the defenses at the outskirts of Antwerp. The hastily dug in forces in Mechelen are no match for the Panzers onslaught. The rest of 3rd Pzr along with SS: V & T plus most of 4th Panzer run the 2-3 mile gap. HQ’ and enemy units are disrupted by the sudden change of focus.
13th Motorized in the Ardennes clears the passes and makes follow up attacks on 5 th and 6th Pzrs rear areas providing much needed breathing room.
Allied Turn
The French resort to a few smaller attacks, as the odds were not in their favor. With just a 19% chance of killing a Pzr Battalion and a corresponding 60+% chance of taking losses the French in the South resort to heavy shelling which has the desired effect. 2 Armoured car Bns are caught in the open.
Due to the maneuver of the Germans CAC near Veriton retreats and pulls its forces back. The somewhat sturdy French Cavalry look for ways to intervene and interfere with supply.
First Panzer is caught trying to weave thru the edge of the forest and pays a price for next turn. DG’ed.
Further North The French and Belgian forces slow down the breakthrough with Arty fire. Killing an Bn, and disrupting the entire force of SS and Panzer Divisions! Along the front prime targets are sought attempting to traverse the Canal or move into assault position, the GD regiment is once again hit hard:
Despite fight to the best of its ability the hapless Belgians are forced to surrender wholesale, as their breakout attempt fails.
This frees nearly a dozen Divisions to assault Liege, or reorient to deepen the wedge at Antwerp.
Neither side has been able to capitalize on successes. The German forces we imagine are striving but only able to create breaches with barely enough force to maintain them. Meanwhile The French are able to selectively target, but are not able to provide significant death blows.
Both side in Turn 4 and 5 used a lot of supply. Now the ability to move that supply to where it is needed will play an important role.
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- GBII 5.2 26th of Oct. (meshtime.com)
I would not say I’m an OCS guru, but it sure seems like the French are way too comfy with small stacks in the open near your Pz divisions. You should be able to overrun a few of them per turn in each movement phase, especially in move mode. Remember, yellow tanks vs regular inf is doubled in clear. Also your tracked ignore ZOCs for movement. And you can overrun more than once, if you survive.
If you are uncomfortable expanding your bridgehead, just run out, smash a few stacks, then scurry back home. Move mode can help give you more attacks. Then the French need to worry about filling in these holes in the line.
This could also help with the pesky artillery. If you run out and DG the stack, they will be much less formidable, if not dead. If you make them retreat, it could take time for them to get back in range.
good points. right now the German player is concerned about progress against the clock…times awasting! This is no2 year scenario, just a few short weeks. Good point about the stacks of FR. The German player is looking for a bold stroke…. The French are pretty happy, lots of those small stacks a have 18-2-3 under the top unit. Those things mess u up!
They might be a bit less happy if they had to spin off a breakdown to keep the line full of units.
Another advantage of overruns is that Arty doesn’t have the chance to DG you first.
I’m glad that it looks like this isn’t a walkover for the Germans – but even if you aren’t ready to bust out the Jerries can give the French something to think about while they wait. Surround that 18-2-3 and he will be back home buttering croissants on the Seine sooner rather than later.