Laurenz
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Joined: 5/29/2021
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In Depth: Defending France
So I am not an expert in defending France. Some people like to go all in on defending France, but first, I don’t really know how to do that, second my homebrew can’t afford spending a lot of British resources on a lost cause in Europe. So I decided to analyze the French situation from the ground up and devise the best defensive strategy I could come up with given this situation.
Before we get into operational planning, let's discuss the strategic limitations we have:
The British only send the BEF (+planes)
The engineer goes to Egypt
The corps on Tunis stays, because I do not want to be open to a paratrooper-fueled quick “The whole of France” play
The resources we have are:
.) 5 Armies
.) 9 Corps (1 from Syria)
.) Barely enough money to get an AT, an AA and reasonable reinforcement levels if the German attack starts in March
.) (1 HQ, 1 Fighter, 1 TB)
We start by analyzing the terrain we need to defend. First we identify the German goal, in this case obviously Paris (Blue). Then we think about the approaches the Axis could take taking Paris (Black Arrows). There are four routes the Germans could take.
I) Trough Lille
II) Straight through the Ardennes driving for Paris
III) Through the Ardennes but cutting of the Maginot troops first by pushing to Dijon
IV) Through the Maginot Line
Now we mark all defensive hexes (Yellow) along the way of those routes so we can see where defensive positions might be useful. Hexes that need to be always covered (the Maginot Line) are in Gray.
We are the defender, so we need to cover all possible German approaches, because the Germans need only a single way to Paris to win. We will ignore Route IV, as our Units on the Maginot Line need to be there and will be the strongpoint of our defense no matter what.
Before finding the optimal placements for our troops, a few additional limitations come to mind. We would like the BEF to survive at least partially, so they will deploy on the coast (as is normal for exactly that reason). Also, we would like to maintain a railroad from the Maginot Line to Paris if possible, so we can throw everything we have towards defending the capital once it becomes necessary.
After way to much time spent on it, this is the deployment I could come up with:
French units (in blue, except on Paris for visibility white):
.) 5 corps cover the Maginot Line
.) 1 army defends Paris
.) 4 armies defend the Ardennes and Châlons, since the Germans almost surely will try to break through there
.) 2 corps defend the rail line from the Maginot Line to Paris through Nacy. We could have put a corps on the field North-West of Nancy, but a corps there would have been very weak and be just begging for a paratrooper to Nancy
.) The AT gun defends Amiens, as this is the longest, and most open route, therefore most likely to see tank action. Also, it covers the retreat from the BEF, and is in good position to be annoying for a straight push for Paris
.) 1 corps guards Dijon as an emergency guard of the other rail lines connecting the Maginot Line and Paris, and make unsupported paradrops suicidal into 0 supply
.) The final corps on French soil defends Lyon, with the goal of slowing down the Italians should we hold that long
.) The AA gun is not placed yet, as it will arrive a turn late (end of March) ideally I would place it South-East of the AT gun, defending the 2 Armies defending the expected German main approach (the British units also have organic AA). I expect the Germans to break through the first two French armies in the first turn of their attack, so the secondary deployment position is one hex south providing anti-air fire to the remaining two forward armies, as well as just generally standing in the way towards Paris.
BEF (orange):
.) Deploys with the army in Lille, because this is the hex with the best defensive potential in the area, and the main local target of german attack
.) One corps on the mine on the front line, here is the more usual position of the army but i think, that while this hex has the weakest defensive potential, in turn 1 of the attack, the effective surface area is only 1 Hex, and the army’s ZOC is more annoying on Lille
.) On corps in the South-East of Lille. I also considered the more natural hex on step North, but this would leave the BEF to be cut off, if theGermans break through the weakened mine-hex. With this hex under control we practically guarantee that we can retreat the remaining BEF after the first turn of German attacks. This could give another hex on Lille, but I do not think this specific hex is that big of a deal.
This is our actual position after Turn 7:
do think that I likely would be better of having disbanded the bomber and used the MPPs to reinforce actually useful units…well next time.
To have a feeling for how good or bad we are doing I also mapped out how I would expect the fighting to go. In general, I expect a unit in defensive terrain to die if the German can get 3 hexes of surface area on it. For not-so-defensive terrain it is 2 hexes. Also I give the German 1.5 bonus hexes per turn to represent their airpower. Finally, I constrain where the German could get in a turn by gut feeling. The turns are color coded with the German turns in red getting darker by turn number, and the Allied turns in green getting darker by turn number. (I would be super happy for feedback on this way of presenting the dynamics, as I am not super certain if it is clear to readers.)
.) Attacker turn 1: the British and the two French armies at the frontline are shattered. The German pushes up, until meeting resistance, except the hex next to the AT as I suspect only a tank could go there (ZOCs), which he would likely not risk.
.) Defender turn 1: I place the AA in the N-W of Paris, and operate 2 Corps in from the S-E end of the Maginot Line. The 2 British corps retreat with the stronger one taking position at the river the other waiting for their transport ship.
.) Attacker turn 2: The AT, one of the operated corps, the AA and the army North of Châlons is destroyed. Quite possibly also a British corps, and/or the second corps operated in. The German pushes through the empty Maginot Line.
.) Defender turn 2: The Maginot Line is abandoned and the remaining French units form a defensive ring around Paris. The British units are shipped out or retreat towards the Bretagne.
.) Attacker turn 3: The ring around Paris is shattered
.) Attacker turn 4: Paris is captured (following an attack in March this would be June)
If we get lucky or the weather is bad twice, I think the Germans might lose a turn somewhere. Maybe even both and the French see their July turn, but I highly doubt that.
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Laurenz (Allies) vs. ToTheLastBullet/ Wahhim (Axis) You... - 
This would have saved quite a bit of badly needed MPP in China. 
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