Le Vue D'Ensemble

Here are some shots I took of other parts of the battlefield. I've really got no idea what is going on in the pics but it does show the bigger picture of The Toy Battle of France.

Is that German armour?

Yes!

French Armour v German Armour

Look at all those tanks! Surely France is saved now?

Megablitz is fun! Try a game at your earliest opportunity.

Une Bataille Perdue? Partie 3e

After this action and retirement into Valenciennes my memory gets a little hazy. I'm fairly sure I received orders that I was now in command of the troops near Douai. The divisional designation? No idea. I also received reinforcements from Bob's Lorries (or 5th Motorised Division as they were more correctly known) which had been in action to the east. The battle had become VERY fluid by this point.

The Panzers disentangled themselves from the Valenciennes fighting and moved off to the west as per their original orders. The agony of 18ID didn't end there though. A rather hefty German infantry division arrived and prepared to engage and destroy my gallant band. While the Boche infantry sorted themselves out I took the opportunity to move my assigned infantry into Douai itself where the concentrated on digging in in peace as Panzertruppen drove around and past them. The lorried infantry made good progress along the road towards Valenciennes; my fevered brain, this was now Day 3 of 3 in game terms, imagined some kind of fighting relief column. Yeah.

Here we can see an entire Pz Div being terrorised by a man on a bike.

Vive Le Recce de 18eID!

Bottom right are the troops I was given. 

I moved them into Douai, just out of shot bottom RH corner. 

They remained there for the rest of the battle before surrendering.

18ID is just out of shot left centre.

German Panzers encounter a BEF counter-attack. 

The gallant brown-jobs did their best but the Panzer machine wasn't unduly troubled.

The reinforcements from 5th Motorised Division arrive and are ordered to attack the Panzer division which had just left the fighting around Fortress Valenciennes. As I flipped over the order chit I overheard a German Panzer general mutter: 'You'll have to attack'. I let them sort themselves out and then promptly surrendered.

And what of 18ID's stand at Valenciennes? With no orders or re-supply from GHQ, the town in flames, ammunition all but exhausted and faced by an overwhelming force of German artillery, infantry and StuGs they too laid down their arms. No photographs commemorate this sad event. 

Well now, first I would like to thank Tim Gow for organising the whole game, Tom and Keira for organising the room, tables and food; my French comrades and German opponents and last but not least Chris Kemp who did a sterling job as Air Umpire but also gave me a Schneider armoured car model before the game began. Thank you all!

All the best!

Une Bataille Perdue? Partie 2e

Surely some mistake in this withdrawal order from French GHQ? Apparently not. So, no sooner were we in place than both 18ID & 23ID were upping sticks and retiring. It was at this point that all communications between the two divisions was also severed: 18ID was in its own......

The German panzers were by now advancing towards us. 18ID Recce managed to counter-recce against the Boche and thus slow them down enough for half of 18ID to move towards Valenciennes. In the next move German heavy recce attacked my still emplaced A/T Battalion. Strength points were checked; dice counted out and exchanged; combat rolls made............German recce shot up good and proper for no casualties to my gallant anti-tankers. The withdrawal of 18ID then continued without further ado.

In this picture you can see 18ID dug in at Valenciennes. Also present was a regiment from another infantry division. The CO of which handed them over to my command. A copy of Fall Gelb was recovered by the extreme LH battalion in the picture. It was forwarded as MOST URGENT to French GHQ. I did smile at their lack of security and how this incident mirrored the historical discovery of a briefcase with the German OOB which was passed to General Alan Brooke in the real campaign.

As was apparent from the opening moves the Boche had been ordered to avoid combat and BUAs. But, for whatever reason, the first of two Panzer divisions decided that 18ID had to be dealt with. A second order then arrived from GHQ: Attack! So, after a moment's delay I did my duty and out we came. 'You're not attacking are you?' Queried one of the Fritzers. My reply of 'Oui' drew goggle-eyed consternation from my opponents.

As you may imagine the combat was heavily weighted in favour of the Panzer division. I lost my artillery regiment, my A/T battalion and one of my infantry regiments. But they did not destroy 18ID! Combat results are kept secret in MB but judging by the Germans' faces my brave poilus had done their lead units some harm. And they also forgot their orders to avoid combat and BUAs. My recollection may be a little fuzzy but I'm pretty sure that another Panzer division then tried to sneak past what was already known as Fortress Valenciennes. You can see the sneaky Boche in the top of the picture. There was some confusion over whether my extreme RH infantry regiment had already moved that turn. They hadn't and so were able to swing through 90° to assault the Recce battalions. Which promptly ran away!

The next move saw my depleted, but still full of fight, command retiring back into Fortress Valenciennes and drawing at least one Panzer division with it. During the fighting I had made at least two requests for bombing sorties. A huge boom and then a pillar of smoke explained why L'Armée de L'Aire were absent. The airfield at Douai to our rear had been overrun by Panzers following orders:

So, the gallant reservists of 18ID were now almost alone but not quite cut-off as orders from GHQ still came through as did overnight supplies. Thus far my brave poilus had delayed the best of the Boche for the best part of a game day (17th May 1940). Would we be able to hold out and allow the line to stabilise? Well..............

UATH!

Une Bataille Perdue? Partie 1er

Written in a POW camp somewhere in Germany....

As this was my first ever Megablitz game I was both excited and a little anxious. I needn't have worried, I was partnered with a rather splendid fellow called Chris Agar who showed me the ropes. As has been said elsewhere you can pick up the game quickly and they were right.

I like a challenge and had volunteered to be a French general. The French briefing  was short and to the point; it reflected the rather fluid nature of the battle and how we French generals were expected to deal with what was happening.

I was assigned 18th Infantry Division a Series A formation staffed with younger reservists. Along with 23rd Infantry (General Agar) division our initial positions were in the north on the line Avesnes - Mauberge; top LH table in this pic:

You can see the Germans huddling at the top of the picture. 

No doubt they are concocting some form of shabby Nahzee trick.

The next photos show the gallant toys of 23rd ID occupying Avesnes and covering the airfield. 18ID occupy the forest to the left of the airfield. 18ID recce was moved up the road towards Mauberge. Then we waited.

My homemade battlebox from a tin of French biscuits

Worm's eye view of 18ID. 

In the distance can be seen the lead elements of the German invasion forces.

So, 18ID & 23ID are in position; feeling confident we can stop the invader; recce in position; guns sited; airfield covered. All is well. Then came the order to withdraw.........

UATH!

In Maginot We Trust Part 4

Today's offering is a couple of cars I picked up last weekend plus a reminder of how le DLM is looking. I got the cars at a flea market which is held in Birmingham's Custard Factory every three months. It was nice day out and also the last sunny day until today.

The first car was a black and silver Rolls Royce. It's nice and big as befits the commander of a French armoured division. Rubbed down, washed and painted. Weathered and based as per normal.

The second car started as a strangely coloured Model T. Same production process as the RR. This time I added a couple of figures because this car belongs to the CO of a French infantry division. He is accompanied by that cutting edge of communications technology: a bugler.

Château Generalship goes mobile

A vos ordres, mon General!

La Division jusqu'à  présent.

UATH!

In Maginot We Trust Part 3

I've been very slow lately on the painting & modelling front. This is due to doing a lot of vegetable growing, preparing beds & planting out. I've also constructed a flower garden in tubs and pots for my flat roof: most pleasant to sit out there with a G&T now that The Sun has got his hat on. Even the cat has started speaking to me again.

I've also been doing a lot of swing-dancing. Last weekend has left a very healthy impression upon me in that I worked a lot, learnt a lot & improved a lot. So much so my Wednesday night teachers, who were unable to attend JATW, commented on how much my dancing had changed since they last saw me: i.e. in just seven days! Swing-dancing remains the best fun ever.

Today I have finished the two R-35 (S-Models) tank battalions of le DLM. They'll form the 'Heavies' of the DLM whilst the FT-17s will be the 'Lights'. Next will be the HQ, staff, divisional artillery, A/T & AA. All of which will still be happening in slow time. TBH I can feel the pull of FLW again; I'm  not at all surprised; I did say my wargaming interests go in cycles. So, the Matilda II will be built and painted at the same time as my Big Bag of 54mm Bits gets taken out and rooted through.

Here's some pictures of the R-35 toys in their uncaptured livery:

On A Road....

........Somewhere......

.......In France.

UATH!

In Maginot We Trust Part 2

One for my friend Virginia here. She claimed the Renault FT-17s featured in this post were like little ducks with big eyes. I fear these will get the same girly treatment.

A couple of Renault R-35s which I picked up at Salute and got around to building last night. They are a really fast build, each one took about ten minutes. From a Japanese manufacturer (S-Models) and with two toys per box a nice addition to the burgeoning DLM. Looking forward to some bright camo schemes on these two after all that German grey.

Eagle eyed readers will note that the box claims the toys are captured examples.

I say PAH!

I did one with a dome top and one with a flat top

I particularly liked the track arrangement on these toys. They come as a single piece but the are quite flexible. Careful with that cutting out, Eugene, but the effect is nice. The kits also came with the short barrel 37mm gun which will come in handy elsewhere. Also included were some brass parts, for example metal covers for the exhausts and lugs various. Needless to say these are being left off as extraneous matter. If anyone wants them drop me a line.

Off to Jumpin' At The Woodside and the forecast is GOOOOOOOD!

PS S-Models are available from PSC

In Maginot We Trust Part 1

History tells us this was a misplaced trust and those tricksy PanzerHobbitzes went round the Maginot Line and very nearly won the war. I'm reading 'Pillar of Fire' by Ronald Atkin at the moment. I've only got as far as the Allied advance to the Dyle but am enjoying the first person narratives from veterans. Compared to what came later in WW2 the Battle of France reads like a war from another century and possibly another planet. My interest in the period 1939-1942 is being further stimulated by reading Evelyn Waugh's 'Sword of Honour' and Len Deighton's 'Blitzkrieg'. 

Anyway, not being one to slouch about where toys are concerned here's the latest output from Fabrique National Champfroid de Suttone. It's the beginnings of my version of a Division Légère Mécanique (DLM) which means I'll use what toys I have available; look in my Terms of Reference, it says I can do this.

Thus far we have a Radio Truck, Regiment of Dragones Portes, 2 Battalions of FT-17 Tanks, POL & LOG columns. Most of the vehicles are from the cheap Lledo stall in Birmingham's Rag Market. The motorised infantry ride in a converted brewery truck. The POL column was a frying oil delivery bowser. The FT-17s are from Armourfast.

Radio Truck

LOG & POL Columns

Le División 

(quite well equipped going by some of the horror stories I'm reading)

Les Dragons Portes

Brigade des Chars de Combates

Au revoir!