I created the BricksKrieg models and simple rules to allow anyone to have some fun building models and get a tabletop battle going in a handful of minutes. My love of the ww2 gaming period however has deeper roots. Ever since I interviewed a D-Day veteran as part of my GCSE coursework (if you don’t know what GCSE’s are…ask you parents). I have been intrigued by the Second World War and it’s generation defining revolution of technology, warfare, intelligence and politics.
For me then I love the accessibility of the models and rules for BricksKrieg because they enable me to focus on the bits of wargaming that I find really interesting. That is the tactics, strategies and decisions that drove world changing victories and losses. As the name suggests, the creation and implementation of the German ‘Blitzkrieg’ (Lightning War) set the standard for the duration of the Second World War and I wanted to have a go at understanding it better through playing a couple of early war games. My hope is to put together a little early war campaign with a handful of key battles to explore just how the invasion of France could have changed the history of the world were it for a few small changes. This is my first battle and one of the most influential in the early war (in my humble opinion).
Background
The Allies were prepared for the German invasion and were certain that the Germans would only be able to launch a full blooded ground assault through Belgium. This (misplaced) confidence meant that the majority of the French army (30 divisions) and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had all planned to advance into Belgium and assume strong defensive positions along the river Dyle. They believed that the German army could not possibly advance through the heavily fortified Maginot Line or the dense and impassable Ardennes forest.
The Germans did attack through Belgium with a smaller army and the allies rushed into position. Hitler however had been convinced that the main attack of Army Group A should be through the Ardennes forest. So Colonel General Guderian, the father of German tank warfare commanded the over 800 tanks of Army Group A through the Ardennes. This meant they emerged into France at an area just north of the town of Sedan which was lightly defended and entirely unprepared. The Allies were already in Belgium so even though the French and British forces were more than a match for the invading forces with heavier armour and the heavy guns of the French Char B, they were slow and now a long way away from the thrust of the German assault.
Key Points
When creating a scenario like this I like to understand what the key points of the actual battle were. I then can try and include these in the ‘structure’ of the battle to make sure it reflects the initial battle at least in terms of those significant players.
1. German Speed – The German army was so fast to assault that the French and BEF were entirely unable to suitably reinforce their positions – This will be shown by the Germans having rolling reserves (more troops every turn without the need to roll) and a victory condition of exiting the table on the allied side.
2. River Crossing – The bridge had been destroyed so the French believed they had all the time they needed to bring up reserves. The German Engineers however used a combination of inflatable and temporary bridges to cross the river Meuse in days. – To reflect this we will allow German units to cross the river at any point on a roll of 3+ for infantry or light vehicles or 4+ for armour. This should replicate the feeling of shock that the allies experienced when the German forces seemingly ‘walked on water’.
3. Secondary River Crossing – The Germans had also crossed the river to the North/West. – We will add German reinforcements from the West (left edge) allied side of the river from turn 3. We will use a decreasing roll (turn 3 = 5+, turn 4 = 4+, turn 5 = 3+ … etc)
4. Artillery v Aircraft – One distinct difference in French v German tactics on the early stages of the war was that the French still relied on slow positioning of heavy artillery to clear a path for a ground assault. This meant the assault could only be as fast as the artillery (which is not fast). The Germans however relied on aircraft (particularly the Stuka dive bomber) to provide fast and targeted destruction. – We will give the french some off table artillery but with a delayed firing rule (explained later). The German Army will have no artillery but will have 3 dive bombers using our simple aircraft rules.
What If’s
As well as reflecting the actual battle, it is also interesting to imagine what might have been different. What if the allied tanks had got to sedan sooner, or the weather had prevented German air cover? What if the German troops had failed to cross the river so quickly?
To generate these variances we tend to use dice rolls. I have also added a number of reinforcement rules to represent some of these possible variations.
Reinforcements:
Germans
Rolling Reinforcements – Each turn the Germans will receive 200 points of reinforcements fro their end (North) of the table.
Western Reinforcements – From Turn 3 the Germans will receive reinforcements (200 points) on a roll of 5+, 4+, 3+ etc each turn. There is only 200 points of reinforcements total, the roll will establish when they arrive.
French Reinforcements
The French will receive reinforcements from their side of the table (South) on a roll of 6+, this reduces by 1 each turn (5+, 4+…) The French will also roll 2 dice with each dice being worth 200 points of reinforcements. If they want to use the points for armour, they must roll another dice and score a 4+.
BEF Reinforcements
The allied player can also get BEF reinforcements (200) points from the western edge of the table, allied side of the river using the same rules as the German player (from turn 3).
Armies
This battle should start with small armies and is all about the reinforcements. The French Army will start with 400 points on the table and no armour. The Germans will start with 200 points on the table and will receive their first reinforcements (200) on their first turn. To represent the surprise of their attack the German player will go first. They will deploy within 12” of their Northern table edge.
The French forces can deploy anywhere on their side of the river (Southern Side) and they will deploy after the German Player.
The only additional rules are that the Germans may not have any artillery and all models should be suitable for an early war battle.
Rules
We will use the simple rules including the aircraft rules. As early war equipment was generally lightly armed and armoured compared to later war, we will use the same table (light -1, medium 0, heavy +1) but we will change the allocations. This will mean Matilda/Char will be heavy armour and the 75mm howitzer on the Char will be heavy gun. It will also allow some of the lighter 50mm cannons to play a role as medium guns.
Delayed Artillery
To reflect the heavy artillery bombardments that the French relied on as a relic of the 1st world war, we will use delayed artillery bombardments. This means that the French player will place 6 artillery range markers, the following turn they roll 1D6 to see which of these markers the artillery hit. The rules for hit and damage are as per the existing simple artillery rules for heavy guns. These markers must be at least 6” apart.
This should replicate the slow and inaccurate nature of having removed command posts and poor communication.
Next Steps…
So the next thing for me is to add to my collection to create my battlefield. I will be ordering some more houses, bunkers, dive bombers and possibly a river! Once I have a battle report, you will be the first to know!
This look great - I love early war. Can't wait to see a battle report.