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brian brian -> RE: Witness to World War 2. (1/22/2019 3:24:05 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: rkr1958
I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, but this is what the French line looks like after the first allied impulse and at the beginning of the axis impulse.
[image]local://upfiles/31901/8833CD85093C4CA18269E863D6A91FD1.jpg[/image]
Hi Ronnie, I am bored out of my mind this month, totally idled by this "shutdown" deal you might have heard of. So I thought I would pass along some ways you can improve playing both the French, and the Germans.
In the above picture, the French had a big advantage, both tactically, and strategically - moving first for the turn. I rarely take that opportunity, preferring to save all chances at getting the initiative for a potential desperate situation on the Don River in September, 1941.
EDIT: I used the wrong picture. Back in a jiffy.
This will take a little following-along, using the picture now from almost 2 turns ago.
The battle for France is a pretty simple one, and a classic bit of wargaming on a hexagonal map. Coming off the Brussels hex row, the Germans have to do a basic thing, and do it four times. They must crack into the next hex-row, and do so from 2 hexes generally. In this game, the Parachute attack into Belgium accomplished the first of these necessities, and did so superbly. The way to use PARAs like that, against the chance that the Allies decline the notional and hang the PARA out to dry on a counter-attack, is to carefully position multiple strong ART and HQ units (in separate hexes, so the RAF flying in from England can't get too lucky) behind the PARAs, with excellent air cover left over as well, so the Allies have no easy job of tightening up that hex row and scratching such an expensive, randomly useful unit from the map.
When the Germans have 3 hexes to attack from, they are going to beat the French a solid majority of the time. The only real question is whether they get half-disorganized, or all units are disorganized, but they are almost always going to take the French hex. Once they have the first hex in the new row, they can easily eliminate the other French units in the row, because they have 3 hexes on them.
When they have only a 2 hex front, France has a good chance to stop them, if they concentrate their best units in the most critical hexes. Maybe only a 40-60 or 30-70 chance, but still better than 90-10 in Germany's favor, from 3 hexes. If the French hold a hex like that in the new hex-row, Germany either has to repeat the same attack (often with a bit lesser of an attack) or try another approach; either way they have lost time, and time is what counts in WiF, not units.
So France should concentrate their best units in the 2 hexes the Germans will most likely pick to break into the next hex-row - the ones on the direct path to Paris, ultimately allowing an attack on Paris from 3 non-river hexes.
On that just played first French impulse, I would not have evacuated the empty hex in Belgium. If it is held, Germany only has one place (other than Lille, a tough Assault which can't be Blitzed, and is the perfect place for an expanded BEF to anchor the French flank) to attempt to break into the next hex row - the hex 2 hexes due east of Paris, now holding the 6-4 INF. Accordingly, I would place the 6-4 there, the 7-6 ARM, and the 3 factor Anti-Tank - a quite stout defense against the oncoming Panzer Army - at best a 2:1 basic attack with a -3 on the French side, before air results are considered. A German in a hurry would have to choose to attack that hex, or give up on the idea of cracking the next hex row for another impulse, when they could pick the weakest of 3 hexes. Now, their path into the next hex row is a simple choice, and an easy battle to win, with other potential dangers to the French position as well.
What unit would be best to sacrifice, there in Belgium? The Paris MIL would be perfect if it could have navigated the German ZoC locks. It would be destroyed, certainly. Along the way it would likely cost the Germans an impulse in the center, their priority real estate here, and/or divert some attack assets to a flank somewhere, unless they are up for that difficult 2:1 against the French armored reserve. But it would also appear in Paris again at the start of S/O, ready to march out and repeat the process - being the designated loss unit somewhere, in hopes that Paris holds till Nov/Dec, when it can appear in Paris yet again, right at the front.
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