Flames of War V4 Early War After Action Report. by Max Steiner

 

Hello, this is my first after action report to appear on this blog.  This report covers a fight between French and German tank formations of the 3^rd Light Mechanized and 3^rd Panzer divisions somewhere in Belgium in May 1940.  The point value was almost 850 for both sides.  This is an early war battle on a 4 foot by 4 foot table.  The Germans had Panzer II and Panzer III tanks, while the French had Somua 35  and Hotchkiss 38 tanks.  The mission and played it is called annihilation in which the objective or both sides is to eliminate the other.  This can be achieved by eliminating core units of your army.  

The first turn was uneventful. The second turn the first blood went to the French as the German formation commander lost his tank.  He was able to climb into the second in command’s that tank.

French tanks at their starting point.

The Panzer II tanks were not able to cross into the woods. The Hotchkiss tanks moved up and fired on them.  Only the commander of that platoon was able to escape.  The other two tanks were bailed out and never recovered. The commander failed the last stand test.   The events looked bad for the Germans.  The French tanks and the German tanks went head to head against each other.  In the end, the German commander in his tiny Panzer forced one of the French tanks to bail out.  The French tank commander bailed out and was never able to get back in. This forced the French tank formation to quit the battlefield. This gave the Germans their victory of the day. 

The fight was on until the bitter end.