Fall Red, France, June 1940 - Scenario & OOB

The past few days have been spent re-reading various part of Forcyk's superb 'Case Red' book, to come up with a scenario for BKCII and a setting for the action, which can be found below:

Background Fluff

France, 6th June, 1940 and the 10e Armee under Altmeyer has been ordered by Weygand to form a defensive line behind the Andelle river, to block the approaches to Rouen. Unfortunately this river is little more than a stream, so will not make for a great defensive position, so Altmeyer instead proposes to make a counter-attack into the exposed flank of Hoth's XV ArmeeKorps. Weygand overules him, and also Evans of the British 1st Armoured Division, who says he doesn't have the forces required to achieve the orders given.

Weygand replied: "If he cannot stop the enemy with tanks, then he must do so with his bare hands and bite him like a dog."

So Altmeyer and Evans order the British GlosForce to advance towards Fleury-sur-Andelle to try and delay the Germans for as long as possible. Unbeknown to them Kampfgruppe von Speck from 5th Pz Division is also closing in on Fleury-su-Andelle, but with orders to bypass any resistance and push on towards Rouen, leaving follow on troops to take the town.

British OOB - GlosForce

1 x CO (CV8)

1 x FAO (CV6)

Recce

1 x HQ (CV8)

1 x Vickers Mk VI 

1 x CS9 A/C

1 x Daimler Dingo

1 x Scout Carrier & Infantry (with ATR)

Infantry Battalion

3 x HQ (CV7)

9 x Infantry (Regulars with 3 x ATR upgrade)

1 x MG

1 x 3" Mortar

1 x 25mm ATG + tow

1 x 18pdr Artillery Unit +tow

Armoured Squadrons

1 x HQ (CV7)

2 x Vickers Mk VI

2 x A13 Cruisers

2 x Matilda II (attached to the Infantry Battalion)

Off Table Support

1 x Hurricane Ground Attack 

1 x 18pdr Battery

German OOB - Kampfgruppe von Speck

1 x CO (CV10)

1 x FAO (CV8)

1 x FAC (CV8)

Recce

1 x HQ (CV9)

1 x Sdkfz 221

1 x Sdkfz 222

1 x Sdkfz 232

Infantry Battalion

3 x HQ (CV9)

9 x Infantry (Heer with 3 x ATR upgrades)

3 x MG

3 x 81mm Mortars

2 x Pak 35/36 ATGs + tows

1 x 75mm IG, le.IG-18 + tows

1 x 150mm IG, s.IG-33 + tows

Leichte Pz Kompanie

1 x HQ (CV9)

3 x Pz III 37mm

2 x Pz II

Schwere Pz Kompanie

1 x HQ (CV9)

2 x Pz IV 75mm kurz

2 x Pz II

Off Table Support

1 x 10.5cm le.FH-18 Artillery Unit

1 x 15cm s.FH-36 Artillery Unit

1 x Me-109

1 x Ju-87B Stuka

Scenario Details

• British Objective - to take and hold Fleury-sur-Andelle and its environs for as long as possible, but keep open a route for retreat towards Rouen.
• German Objective - to push past Fleury-sur-Andelle as quickly as possible, with minimal losses, so as to advance towards Rouen.
• Maximum 12 Turns
• Turns 1-2 Dawn with mist, visibility is a maximum of 50cm and with a -1 command penalty. No Air Support is available in these Turns.
• British Recce troops arrive on Turn 1.
• German Recce Troops arrive on Turn 1.
• Main British force arrives on Turn 3.
• Main German force arrives on Turn 4.
• All troops arriving on table do so using Mobile Deployment, but Flank Deployment may not be used.
• To replicate the paucity of British Air support, the Hurricane Ground Attack arrives for one Turn only on a roll of 10+ on 2D6.

What Next?

I'm hoping to roughly set the forces up tonight, so I can get a fresh view on the various dispositions in the morning. So with a bit of luck, the game will get played to a conclusion over the next few days. I'm certainly looking forward to it!

Reading the 'Case Red' book has certainly re-kindled my interest in this oft neglected part of the French campaign, so much so that I've ordered some French air support models for use in future games. I have a desire to once gain make a small French force, maybe a reinforced Company, as there as so many actions described in the book that just scream out to be played as part of a mini-campaign. Afterall, who could not have their interest piqued by French Ft-17 tanks capturing some German troops?! Oh and of course you have all of those great tanks and camo schemes. So much for trying to maintain focus on core forces this year😉.

As always, thanks for reading and hopefully the above might be of interest and even use, for your own games in the future. Any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.