In !940 The Germans attacked Holland, Belgium and France (Fall Gelb). The main goal was France. Heeresgruppe A made the first attack: Holland and Flanders/ Liege.
The German plan was to distract the French and British forces which worked out well. French and British troups rallied from Northern France north to support the Belgian forces in the north of Belgium. The Ardennes where hardly protected and the north of France had less troups to defend them. Near Sedan the French Maginot line ended and Sedan was a relatively weak spot in the defense of France. Heeresgruppe B, equipped with complete panzer divisions rushed through the forests and minefields of the Ardennes in two days and attacked Sedan. After heavy fights crossing the river Meuse, Sedan fell and wave after wave the German panzer divisions rolled into France. Von Manstein was the main brain behind this strategy. Guderian and Rommel were panzerleaders, these two just wanted to rush forwards to the English Channel in order to encircle the Allied forces. The German upper command halted them several times because the infantry and support troups could't keep up with the panzers and the flanks of the panzer divisions became vulnerable. Often Guderian and Rommel switched of their radio's and roared on. Guderian's quote "Klotzen nicht Kleckern" means something like: "Rush on, don't mind the details!
| French | German | |
| Division 1 |
7 Squad Bases |
4 Squad Bases 1x |
| Division 2 |
3 Sherman Tank |
2 Squad Bases 4 Panzer IV Tank |
| Strategy Decks | Artillery 2 Morale 1 |
American Air Support 1 Command 1 |
| Starting Strategy Cards | 1 | 1 |
| Operations Cards | - Desperate Defenders - Lay Razor Wire - Lay Smoke |
- Merciless Assualt - Camouflage - Clear Mines |
| Deployment Zone | Div. 1: light green hexes. Div. 2: dark green hex. |
Div. 1: light grey hexes. Div. 2: dark grey hexes (only on a hex free of mines) |
| Starting Initiative |  |
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| Objective | Main German objectives: take the bridges and break through the defensive line. Main French objectives: hold the line and throw them back. Major German victory: Germany controls both bridges and the complete road that leads from map 11B, through map 4A to map 3A. Minor German victory: Germanycontrols both bridges. Major French victory: There are no German troups on the maps 3A, 4A, 6A, 7A. Minor French victory: There are no German troups on the southside of the river or in the river itself. (the 'river' includes the forest tile where the river starts and the bridges). When none of these victory's is achieved, the player with the most victorypoints wins. |
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| Rounds | 10 | |
| Actions per turn | 4 | 4 |
| Reinforcements | The reinforcements of both sides can enter the field in the statusfase after the first minefield has been cleared. A hex has the normal stacking limit, so the reinforcements come in with waves. The German reinforments enter the field on the drak grey hexes, the French enter the field on the dark green hex. |
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| Special Rules | Both sides can clear tank traps. On each blue hex is an antitankgun. (use american or british guns from Days of the Fox (DoF) or something acceptable out of your household). The specifics for the AT guns are: armor: 2; range and firepower infantry 5 and 4; range and firepower vehicles 7 and 9. You can find the rules for AT guns in DoF (website Fantasy Flight Games or Boardgamegeek.com). The only exception of the rules is: squads that activate an AT gun can be entrenched in an entrenchment (but not an pillbox). The German panzers are a bit less strong (it's 1940 not 1944). They are Panzer 4 ausf. F. There specifics: Movement: 6; armor: 3; range and firepower infantry 5 and 6; range and firepower vehicles 6 and 7. The French tanks are Somua 35 (use Shermans): Movement: 7; armor: 4; range and firepower infantry 5 and 4; range and firepower vehicles: 6 and 7. Hills are at a higher level then forests and buildings. You can find a handy LOS table at boardgamegeek.com, Tide of Iron, files, TOI-LOS table made by 'whatambush'. |
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| Terrain Features | The river is deep. | |
Medic
Engineer
Flamethrower
Concealed
