Scenario #46 Replay

You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless.”

Charles De Gaulle

Starting French Forces

Situation

On 18 May 1940, during the three-day struggle for Stonne, the B1-Bis “Eure” was commanded by Captain Pierre Billotte. He was also in command of the 1er Compagnie, 41e BCC. Although underpowered for its weight and somewhat prone to breakdown, the B1-Bis, nonetheless, had formidable armor for 1940. It was able to resist the majority German anti-tank fire, as the Germans discovered on that day.

That morning, Captain Billotte and his unit raced towards Stonne in an effort to recapture the ruined village. A German panzer company was stationed there and soon a fierce battle ensued. The Germans shot desperately at the French tanks, only to see their rounds bounced off the B1-Bis tanks. Captain Billotte pushed forward until reaching Stonne. When the smoke cleared, Billotte and his unit claimed 13 German tank kills before retreating due to lack of support.

Being the Solitaire system-controlled side, the Germans are on Flexible Defensive the entire game. The Good news for the Germans is that…uhmmm…they’re winning everywhere else?

The French are just attacking and trying to clear the village of Stonne.

Each side gets Victory points for enemy units killed. The side that controls Stonne gets an additional 270 VPs. Again, the only hope the Germans have of winning is holding onto Stonne with a crap -ton of Infantry.

Map:

The French Armor enters on Turn 1 anywhere on the French Edges. The Infantry company enters on Turn 4 anywhere along the French edges.

One last important activation rule is that when determining the type of units activated in the Village of Stonne itself, you apply a -10 to the die roll which means you are more likely to find infantry in the Village.

French Pre-Game Strategy

The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.”

Ferdinand Foch

So, this is not what I would consider a very balanced scenario. Quite frankly, the Germans have nothing to penetrate the armor of the Char B1-Bis and the French have 7 (!) of them. All the French really need to do is to a) Charge with the B1-Bis destroying any pesky Germans in their way and b) Ensure that your infantry company arrives basically intact at Stonne which is pretty easy as the B1-Bis’s should clear out any Germans before you get there.

Another thing to keep in mind is this; since the tanks enter on turn 1, you have three complete turns to try and activate as many German Hidden units as you can before the Infantry comes in on turn 4. That way, you’ll know exactly what you’re dealing with.

Even though the Germans are defending in pretty good terrain, I think the only way the French could lose this scenario is if the Germans activation rolls a LOT of Infantry in the Village of Stonne because any German Tank or gun will probably just get demolished by the B1-Bis.

A simple strategy to remember for the French is this: The Char B1-Bis tanks are like the Hulk. Just do a “HULK Smash!” and you should be fine

As for entry, there are two routes you can take to get into Stonne. The Northern Route (in Blue below) and the Southern Route (in Red below).

The Northern Route (Blue) is more direct but puts the French under fire almost the whole way to Stonne. Meanwhile, the Southern Route (Red) hides you from Most of the German hidden units as you’re at a lower elevation and hidden by the hills.

For this scenario I will send the B1-Bis tanks along the Blue Route while the infantry Company will stay somewhat hidden and take the Red Route.

---

“Henri, did I hear the Captain correctly? We’re just going to drive straight into Stonne? No maneuver, no smoke, nothing? Just drive in a straight line?”

“Yeah, that’s what I heard.”

“Doesn’t that strike you as kind of World War One-ish.”

“Well Pierre we ARE in HEAVY tanks.”

“I know but we can’t even maneuver, just a bit?

“Wait a sec Pierre. You want to maneuver in a B1-Bis? You realize you could walk faster than our tank, right?”

“Oh yeah…sorry. Forgot what I was driving for a second there.”

-Overheard from two French Privates.

---

German Pre-Game Strategy

Uhmm, it’s Solitaire so there’s one and only one Objective for the Germans…Roll low!!!

Turn #1

Spotting

None as it’s the start of the game and no one is in LOS of an enemy.

Command Phase

No German Commands yet. All French Tanks will have move commands.

Initiative Phase

French Initiative = 21 – 20 = 1

German Initiative Roll = 58

Germans win Initiative.

Combat Phase

None as the French have yet to enter range of any German unit.

Movement Phase

French – Just slowly moving up the road.

German – None.

Counter #13 fires as the Main Enemy Units which, for this game, is a 37mm ATG.

To see if you roll for Activation on Hidden Unit #13, you have to first determine if the French tanks can see the Hidden unit.  Since all Hidden units are considered to be 37mm ATG’s in this scenario, you try to spot them on Spotting Ranges chart.

Guns use the L column above and all spotting starts on the zero row. So, a Gun can be spotted at a range of 15 hexes or lower. However, in this case there are some modifiers that apply to this. The Gun is located in Light Cover so that move the chart down to the -1 Row. However, the Unit just fired which takes it up 3 rows to the +2 Row. This means that you can spot this gun out to 35 hexes. Since the lead French tanks are only at 9 hexes from the Unit, they spot Hidden Unit #13.

Now you roll for activation.

The Hidden Unit counter is removed.

The rest of the Tanks just follow the leader.

Speaking of the leader, you’ll notice that I kept my Command tank in the rear. You should always do this in Panzer, because if you somehow lose the command vehicle, every units within command range will have to take a morale check which is never good.

2nd Air Phase

None.

Adjustment Phase

None.

Situation at the end of Turn #1.

End of Turn one French Comment: It’s a beautiful day for a drive. I think the Germans may have fired on us but quite frankly all I heard was a slight ‘plink” sound and that could have been someone dropping a can in the tank.

End of Turn one German Comment: Hah! Our frontline troops have reported destroying over 12 French tanks. We will be in Paris inside of a week.

Turn #2

Spotting

Nobody is spotted since none of the German Units can see the French Tanks.

Command Phase

French Commands – Move commands for our lovely tanks taking a stroll down a beautiful country lane.

German Commands – Per the Solitaire rules, you will role on the command table for every revealed unit as well as any hidden unit within a certain number of hexes (which varies per scenario. This one is 12 hexes). Normally I tend to fudge this just a little bit. Sometimes an Entrench command is given to an already entrenched unit so I instead have them go Full Cover. Or sometimes, with Move commands, I will carry over the move command to the next turn automatically as I don’t think a unit would head to a VP hex and then just stop in the middle of the road. However, for this game, since it’s going to be a learning replay, I will not fudge the commands.

Initiative Phase

French Initiative – 38 – 20 = 18

German Initiative Roll – 38

Germans Win Initiative.

1st Air Phase

None.

Combat Phase

None.

Movement Phase

The French first stack of tanks will just move up the road without a care in the world.

Hidden Unit #14 fires as the Main Enemy Units which, for this game, is a 37mm ATG.

#14 is spotted so roll for Activation.

---

“Henri, there it is again. Did you hear it?”

“Was it like a small Clinking sound?.”

“Yes. Where is it coming from?”

“Did you check the smoke alarm? I thought you replaced the batteries.”

“Henri, what the hell is a smoke alarm?”

–Overhear from two French Tank Crewmen.

---

Board after French Move.

When a hidden unit moves there is a table to roll on to see where it heads and the Route it takes to get there. Sometimes the route will be completely unrealistic and if it is I will ignore it and just take the route I would normally take to get to the objective.

So, German unit #15 will head towards the Highest Value VP hex (in this case it will be a French Char B1-Bis) by the Fastest Route.

Neutral Commentator: From now on we will not show what we rolled as it will just take up too much space and instead will just move any German unit.

2nd Air Phase

None

Adjustment Phase

None.

Board at End of Turn #2:

Turn #3

Spotting

None.

Command Phase

French – All moves

German commands

Initiative Phase

French Initiative – 42 – 10 = 32

German Roll – 51

Germans win Initiative.

1st Air Phase

None

Combat Phase

None

Movement Phase

French Move First

Hidden Unit #16 fires as the Main Enemy Units which, for this game, is a 37mm ATG.

#16 is spotted so roll for Activation.

Hidden Unit #17 fires as the Main Enemy Units which, for this game, is a 37mm ATG.

#17 is spotted so roll for Activation.

---

“OK, I’m pretty sure those Clicking noises are the Germans firing on us.”

“Really? Are they using Peashooters?

“I’m not sure. They might be. Hey wait a minute!”

“What?”

“It looks like the Germans are ONLY firing at our tank. They’re ignoring anyone else.”

“Uhmm, I wonder why they would do that? You know, it doesn’t really matter.”

“What did you do Henri? Oh wait, did you paint our French Roundel on our tank?”

“Maybe.”

“Well just how big is it?”

“Well I am proud of our…”

“HOW BIG?”

“Maybe two meters by two meters.”

“So, let me see if I got this straight. You painted a 2 x 2-meter French Roundel on the front of our tank? The rondel that looks like a target?”

“Oops.”

–Same two French Tankers

---

Hidden Unit #18 fires as the Main Enemy Units which, for this game, is a 37mm ATG.

#18 is spotted (-1 Light Terrain But +3 for firing = +2 column or 45 hexes) so roll for Activation.

The French tanks keep moving.

Hidden Unit #4 fires as the Main Enemy Units which, for this game, is a 37mm ATG.

#4 is spotted so roll for Activation.

Neutral Commentary: You’ll notice every shot is being fired at Char B1-Bis #6. Believe it or not, this was a random roll each time.

---

“OK Henri since you painted a TARGET on our tank you get out there and get rid of it!”

“Fine. But can we at least slow down?

“Slow down? We’re barely moving faster than you can walk.”

–Same two French Tankers

---

Hidden Unit #5 fires as the Main Enemy Units which, for this game, is a 37mm ATG.

#5 is spotted so roll for Activation.

Now the German Moves.

#9 is spotted as it rolls out of its more than comfortable stone building, ironically located in the Village of Stonne. Roll for Activation.

#12 moves back while #20 Moves into the stone building. #20 is spotted as it’s a +2 because they are moving and a -3 due to the Heavy cover for a total of -1. That means they are spotted from 7 hexes of less (remember, they are considered to be a 37mm ATG) and the French tanks are at 6 hexes away.

Neutral Commentary: I felt I had to step in here and say something. For the types of units located in the Village of Stonne, per scenario rules, you take a -10 to the type of unit activation. Ok, that’s fine. It means you need to roll a 99 or 100 to get a PzIIC. Not impossible but only a 2% chance.. Which leads me to why I HATE the Vassal die roller. We rolled a 100, followed by a 99 followed by a 100! Of course, since we live in Reno, NV we stopped the game immediately and headed to the Craps table at the Silver Legacy casino where we promptly lost $200. Thanks Vassal.

Hidden unit #3 moved into the open.

2nd Air Phase

None

Adjustment Phase

None.

German Notes – Well, the turn was interesting if nothing else. They were some wild die rolls. I had to fudge the last activation die roll. I rolled a 95, a 95 and a 92. That means my last 7 die rolls were 100, 99, 100, 68, 95, 95 and 92! Below is the invulnerable Char B1-Bis #6.

---

Next Article:

Panzer Expansion #4 Solitaire Scenario #46 Replay Part 2 — Turns 4-5