Early War: German vs French batrep

Richard and I are lucky enough to have some old EW armies from the FOW V3 days, therefore when we got an advanced copy of Blitzkrieg we arranged a meet up to get them on the table. At the same time I have been experimenting with using AI to make my kitchen table shots appear a bit more realistic, in essence using AI to replace a cardboard backdrop. I am interested to see what you think.

The Armies:

Mark – Germans

Always up for a challenge I chose the Germans, my first instinct was an armoured Force but settled on a defensive infantry force once I realised just how may FA4 tanks and guns the French can field.

Motorised Rifle Company

Hq 2 x SMG
7 x Rifle/Mg, Light Mortar and HMG
7 x Rifle/Mg, Light Mortar and HMG
4 x 8cm Mortars
3 x Pak36

Support

4 x Panzerjager I
3 x Heer 88
4 x Panzer38T
4 x Pak36

Richard – French

Somua S35 Combat Sqn

Hq Hotchkis H39
4 x Somua S35
3 x Somua S25

Chasseurs Company

Hq 2 x rifle teams
5 x MG team, 1 x VB Rifle team, 1 x HMG
5 x MG team, 1 x VB Rifle team, 1 x HMG

5 AMR 35
4 x 81mm Mortars
4 x 25mm guns
4 x 25mm guns

Support

3 x Panhards
4 x 75mm Artillery guns
Observer

Stance wise Richard went Manoeuvre and I went Defend and we rolled up Breakthrough. This is a bad outcome for my force as it means my infantry have to move to the obj and I have to get forces on one which will blatantly be placed away from my deployment zone; In essence Richard picked the perfect stance for his force.

Deployment

I picked the quarters to allow some objs to be near buildings although Richard cleverly avoided them. he knew that assaulting with Somuas was the reliable way to go. My Panzerjagers and 38Ts were in reserve with 4 guns in ambush (in retrospect I should have deployed the big platoon and ambushed the 3 strong platoon). I set up 1 x infantry platoon in a large building to block access and the other as close to the forward obj as I could supported by the Pak36s. The 88s were on a hill to provide overwatch.

Richard packed his large force into the small deployment zone ready to advance and placed 3 x Somua in flanking delayed reserve. I thought long and hard about putting the recce units in reserve to support but decided the game would likely be over before they arrived, and that they could influence the game more on the table – Richard

Turn 1

Richard advanced his infantry and guns and aggressively setting up a fire base in one of the houses, and occupying a central wood, he also moved up his Panhards and AMR35s to flank. His mortars ranged in on my 88s but they survived. although they remained pinned for my turn

In return my 88s lacking any other targets shot at the mortars without effect but my 38Ts arrived from reserve and took up position around the objs.

Turn 2

Richard moved his Somuas around a little but was in no rush to go anywhere with them until my guns were thinned out. He cant take the obj until turn 6 so was in no rush. His Panhards and AMRS continued to advance while his mortars killed 2 (!) 88s which was a bad omen. Napoleon once said he liked lucky generals !! – Richard

I revealed my ambush with my Pak36s appearing in the wood by the infantry in the building. I blitzed my 38Ts to gain more firepower on the FTs and also got the Panzerjagers from reserve to add 4 x AT8 shots to the equation. I moved a single team out of the building ready to assault any bailed tanks (you get a lot of bails with FP4+). This was as good of a situation as I could hope for, however in typical fashion I killed 1 and bailed 2 AMRs as well as a Panhard bail. My infantry stand went in but got killed by DF which managed 5 hits on 6 dice (3 of which were concealed). This meant my platoon was also pinned…pesky. Have we mentioned that my dice were very good throughout the game – Richard. I think drawing the ambush where I did and attracting Marks tanks slightly away from the objectives confirmed my plan about the recce infiltrating down the flank

Turn 3

Richard didn’t get reserves and backed his AMRs (1 remounted) off while the Panhards sat in front of my infantry gone to ground by the fence line. The Somuas started to advance but staying out of LOS of my guns. This was nuggetty as the mortars finished off my remaining 88(!) while the 75s started to range in on my infantry and guns.

My infantry in the building failed to unpin which was annoying as Richard has made a mistake and left the 2 x Panards close to me and I could have done a ‘sneaking up in tanks’ assault with no defensive fire.

I moved my vehicles away to deal with the imminent arrival of more Somuas and have them closer to the centre to protect my obj now that the 88s were gone. Meanwhile my Mortars arrived ready to fire next turn.

Thanks to some mistaken targeting my guns double bailed a Panhard forcing it to be destroyed and killed another AMR.So the first bit of my plan had worked, I had needed to clear out the 88s before I could get anywhere near the objective,the 75mm is an excellent tool for this getting the re-roll misses for quick fire,even if this time they weren’t needed thanks to good mortar dice , did I mention my dice were very good – Richard

Turn 4

With the 88s gone and the artillery ranged in Richard sensed blood in the water and started to push the obj. His infantry went wide in a limited assault to get a Pak36 while limiting return DF. The Somuas advanced and got ready to assault as well. Panards nipped around my blocking force in the building and the Somuas arrived from reserve machine gunning my 3 of my mortars (so well that they couldn’t assault). Shooting too successful really has to be something that comes back in future versions – Richard. The 75mm guns repeated their bombardment and pinned both my infantry and guns while the mortars dropped smoke to protect the assault and reduce DF.

The assault with the infantry went in and I didn’t get enough hits to stop it so I lost a gun. Luckily I counter attacked and killed his teams allowing me to consolidate my force and re-orientate the guns and infantry. This also meant the Somuas weren’t within 4 inches to assault.

In my turn I dug in but didn’t unpin, my Pak36s stayed GtG the odds are too poor vs FA4 and I need them for DF. My mortar stayed pinned so couldn’t fire. Again with a blitz i bought my mobile firepower to bear on the Somuas from reserve achieving a whole 1 dead tank (sigh). My Pak36s in the wood rotated and moved to engage the other Somuas with no effect.

Turn 5

Richard’s infantry in the woods failed to unpin but he advanced up his 25mm guns and Panhards while getting his Somuas ready to assault. His artillery dealt with 1 x Pak36 and thinned out my infantry. While his Panhards bagged a Panzerjager and his Somuas took a 38T. His assault was nasty and went back and forth for a few rounds. I had to drive him back and buy time. Unfortunately despite a heroic counter by a single stand I lost and was now pushed back off the obj.

I had to get to the obj but failed a blitz onto with the Panzjagers and was limited to 3 shots with +1 to hit. My HQ and remaining inf stand failed to unpin. The 38Ts went to contest but only 1 passed its cross check (should have used cross here!). I also got my intact infantry out of the building to assault the Somuas and has nice shots from my Pak36s.

My shooting bailed 1 Somua (with a Panzerjager) but I got my assault off even bailing a Somua, but they counterattacked and beat me back consolidating around the obj.

Turn 6

All I had on the obj was 1 tank and I was also close to a company break. All Richard had to kill was 1 x Mortar and 2 x HQ stands (not dug in). Ultimately the 38T on the obj died and it was game. 8:1 to the French

Summing up

Richard fought a great game (thank you, the dice helped – Richard) with a fantastic list and just the right stance. The Somuas are a beast and they are a huge headache to get rid off at FA4. Pak36s at AT6 just cant do it and are dicey in DF when pinned. I was unlucky with the 88s going so fast. I could have left them in reserve and ambushed on the hill turn 2 (I couldn’t risk his reserves coming on turn 3 and negating placement of the large guns). I do think the Bunkerflak for 10pts is a better idea than a large 88 pltn. Just look at my sample British list in my previous article, it has 3 x 18pdr batteries. The French list gives a very nice balance , good strong tanks, the Somua was good in v3 and now loses “overworked” so is even better, two templates including the fast firing 75s , two decent infantry platoons with HMG support, and two recce units. I think the French will really give the Germans a run for their money, a Bunkerflak would certainly have changed things in terms of my approach. Mark’s dice were below average and mine were above average and that turned what would have been a close game into a blow out. – Richard.

My shooting was dreadful so I do have an alibi there but also shows how many more bails you get. The lack of integrated AT really hurts. Even a bazooka or Piat allows you to keep in the fight a bit but EW doesn’t have them. Yes you can take a single shot AT4 At rifle, but it wont help!On the Anti-Tank Rifle I think what it does is keep recce honest, and gives you some defence against light armour, whether it’s worth the points remains to be seen . It’s integral for my British Infantry, and not an option for my French so time will tell – Richard

If I did the list again it would look like this and be Fearless Aggressive Trained SS.

Hq 2 x SMG 1pt
5 x Rifle MG, 1 x Light mortar, 1 x HMG 7
5 x Rifle MG and 1 x Light Mortar, 5
5 x Rifle MG and 1 x Light Mortar 5
3 x Pak36 6
4 x Mortars 4

2 x Bunkerflak 20
4 x panzerjager 16
4 x Panzerjager 16
4 x Panzer38(t) 20

This means on table I would have had 3 x platoons, the same 3 x Pak36s but my ambush would have been mobile Panzerjagers. On top of that I have the more survivable Bunker Flaks which cant be pinned and unlikely to die to a AT1 or 2 bombardment. They go towards the back out of range of enemy tanks (who in EW are lucky with range 24). Overall it also means I am less static. Alternatively drop a Bunkerflak and boost the infantry platoons to medium size and give platoon 2 + 3 a HMG (or make all 3 platoons large ones). Have to see where the meta goes for that decision.,Mark.