Fall Red, France, June 1940

Having spent plenty of time painting terrain and figures so far this year, it was high time to try and get a game in. After a bit of a ponder, I plumped for my favourite ruleset, namely BKCII. But what theatre, scenario etc? In the end it proved a fairly simple choice, based upon the following:

Certainly a mini-campaign that has sparked a lot of interest since its publication.

A superb book and on a sadly neglected part of the Invasion of France in 1940, given that it has so much to offer the gamer.

Seeing Norm Smith's excellent posts on using the 'Junction Jeopardy' campaign book set during the 1809 Danube campaign, I wanted to see how they might work in a more modern setting, given the increased movements, weapon ranges etc. A simple solution was to try and replicate the whole campaign map on my normal 6' x 4' table.

As for the theatre, I did consider the AVBCW, as it's been ages since these have seen action and are long overdue their moment in the sun. Normandy 1944 was considered, but then France 1940 popped into my head and especially the 'Fall Red' campaign, which just seemed right for the terrain as shown on Henry Hyde's maps. It was also a good excuse to get my new French BUA's onto the table!

Table Overview

So I spent a few hours today having a play, setting things up and tweaking them a bit. the results can be seenn below:

An overview of the table. North is on the right hand side and will be the German entry point, with the British coming in from the left.

One of the river crossings that will be an important objective. An earlier bombing run has missed its target.

The other bridge, but one that can only take light vehicles and tanks, but nothing heavier than that.

A weir on the original maps, but here I'm classing it as a ford, next to the marshy land. Crossable by any units, possibly with a movement penalty.

The view from the British table edge.

Likewise from the German one.

A large farm and outbuildings.

Windmill hill with vineyards at the bottom of it, which will really hamper movement for all units.

The vineyards.

The churchyard on the hill overlooking the main river crossing.

The results of the bombing run.

A view into the town from the German approach road.

Likewise from the British point of view.

The War memorial in the old centre of the town.

Francois le Fermier: "I'm going to need a bigger boat tractor!" as he surveys 'Big Bertha'.

The duckpond across from the marshy areas and the ford across the river.

A bomber's eye view of the town.

Just a few eye candy shots of the terrain, with the blue wall working well as the sky.

What Next?

Well of course, there's the actual game to play, but before that I need to work out some OOB for both sides. I have some ideas, but need to firm them up, but am rather tempted to have a small Fallschirmjager force drop near the bridge for a coup de main type operation. 

Alongside this, there is the issue of coming up with the actual scenario, which is pretty easy in terms of its objectives, namely the control of the bridges and river crossings. But how to implement will take some careful thought. Broadly the idea is to have some small recce forces moving forward, with the main forces following on. Luckily the 'Fall Red' book has plenty of info should I need some inspiration. 

Thanks for reading and hopefully you enjoyed the photos and by broad overview of how I plan to go about playing the game. As always, any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.