This scenario generator was developed by Christophe Massuyeau. All I have done was to clean up the translation If you like this, please e-mail Christophe (aka Prof. Erata) and tell him.. - Uncle Ted

Alone Against the Wehrmacht (May-June 1940)

Background: If French fighters were often victorious against Luftwaffe bomber formations, it was different for recon, observation and bombardment units. The two first, performed by mainly the Potez 63.11 (a plane less capable than those the Germans employed for the same missions - Do 17P and Hs 126) and too seldom the exceptional Bloch MB.174, had the difficult task of locating the advanced positions of the enemy, too often without a suitable escort. Bomber units, although equipped with some modern aircraft - Br.693 and LeO.451, and a little later the excellent American light bombers Douglas DB-7 and Martin M-167F - deployed generally in small groups, in level flight or at low altitude (particularly absurd for the medium LeO.451), with hardly any escort.

The enemy knew how to maintain effective aerial protection over its army and had a terrible AAA, the famous Flak, which devastated French bomber formations. 31 Br.693 and 19 LeO.451 as well as 49 Po.63.11 were shot down, not counting aircraft which were severly damaged.

In spite of many attacks, the Wehrmacht advance was not notably stopped, and often the information brought back by the aircraft of the Recon and Observation Groupes was hardly exploited by an inefficient command, increasingly prone to panic. Nevertheless, the crews addressed their task with courage and an admirable spirit of sacrifice, particularly the Groupes 18 and 19 which left 55 Br.693 destroyed (of the 127delivered) with 31 crewmen killed, 35 wounded and 22 prisoners in operations during this terrible campaign.

This mission generator enables you to recreate two types of typical tactical missions carried out by the Air Force during the Battle of France.

Recon Mission Orders:

Move towards the enemy lines and to carry out a reconnaissance of the positions of Wehrmacht, taking photographs as necessary. An escort is provided.

Attack Mission Orders:

Attack the motorized Wehrmacht columns. The objective is one of the two units of army. An escort is provided.

OMT Set-Up:

Special Rules:

1. The front lines are located between boxes 2 and 3. There is no (additional) light flak on the border, since the Wehrmacht is represented separately.
2. The German fighters can supply and rearm once during the game.
3. The German army counters each have two units of light Flak.
4. The French bases are not prepared; they are defended each one by a unit of light Flak.
5. The mission aircraft and their escort take off starting from the circle of the OMT since two different grounds.
6. The bombers and the recon aircraft and their escort cannot go further than box 3, including those appearing on the Encounter Tables. Roll again if an encounter result is not appropriate.
7. Recon Mission:
   • The recon aircraft are not loaded (with bombs).
   • The recon aircraft must remain through two operational turns in VL or LO band in box 3 to photograph the objectives (one of the two army counters). If the VL band has inclement weather, the recon aircraft must skim the ground (alt .1), but the objective is located only on a die roll of £ 3 . They cannot strafe German objectives.
   • Each objective photographed by aircraft that return to base earns 15 victory points for the French player. These points are earned only once per objective, even if two aircraft photograph it.
8. Bomber Mission:
   • The French bombers must fly permanently in VL band.
   • LeO.451 are loaded with 8x 100 kg bombs, 2x 100 + 1 x 50 / 64x 10 kg;
     Br.693 are loaded with 8x 50 kg. bombs.
   • Each bomber which successfully attacks an enemy objective earns the French player the following points: LeO.451=5, Br-693=3.
   • The escort fighters cannot strafe the enemy objectives.
9. Entering a box in enemy territory does not mean to fly over the objective(s) in the box (to be specified with the unfavourable player before an unspecified displacement, even if this one remains above the same box " enroute ").
10. The German player receives no AAA fire while crossing the border into box 2, unless obtained as a result on the Events Table.
11. French bombardment tactics:
    • LeO-451 must bomb their objective from 2,600 to 5,000 feet in level flight.
    • Br-693 attack as follows: starting on . Starting 14-May-40, they use . Tree-top level attacks area allowed as of 16-May-40, provided that the formation were composed only of one or two aircraft.

      Starting on	Br.693s attack...
      12-May-40	in horizontal flight at tree-top level.
      14-May-40	from a shallow dive starting at altitude 3,000 - 3,900 feet, with release near 1,000 feet.
      16-May-40	As above, but they can use tree-top level attacks if the formation is composed only of one or two aircraft.

12. Strafing Objectives: the German fighters can attack and strafe French bases by ending an operational movement phase in the square with the base at hedgehopping altitude (ASP! p.42). The attackers are prone to AAA attack per the rules, with the additional modifier of +2. The strafing is carried out during the Interception and Combat Phase on this formation's turn to act and counts as a deliberate encounter. Each aircraft spends half a die of ammunition and can attack an enemy aircraft on its base at a distance of 2 hexes using the usual rules of combat. The deflection modifier for an aircraft on the ground is x1. Several aircraft can attack the same target, or separate ones as desired.

Additional Rules:

1. National levels of Training:
   

   Armee de l'Air	Excellent
   Luftwaffe	Average for Bf 109 pilots Good for the Bf110C crews. In all the cases, consider a result of 1 (Recruit) as Green.

   [My own research shows that the AA had been rapidly expanding, so while the older pilots may have been excellent, they had been diluted by many newer recruits. But this was written by a Frenchman - Uncle Ted]

2. The Bf 109E-3 has Cockpit + 0 and W1/W2 ammo=4.

Variations:

• Larger Game: Use nine or even twelve bombers, allocating more escort fighters on the French side. Increase the number of German fighters by sending both types of fighters against the mission (Bf 109E-3 and Bf 110C-1) from two different bases in box 3.
• Smaller Game: Send only three bombers in all.
• The American bombers Douglas DB-7 and Martin M-167f (95 and 283 delivered respectively) were launched in the battle as of the end May, but did not have time to show their remarkable qualities. The DB-7 equipped two Groupes of Bombardment (I/19 and II/19), the M-167f equipped four (I/62, II/62, I/63 and II/63) of May 21 to June 14. You can use them in the bombardment mission if you have their ADCs. They will be loaded with 16 x 50 kg bombs, 64 x 10 kg or 8x 50 + 32 x 10 kg.
• You can start with Phony War (or Sitzkrieg or Drole de Guerre) as follows:
• The French player sends on mission recognition Potez 63.11 [More likely a Po.637; see French Light Bomber ADCs. - Uncle Ted]; however, it cannot further go that box 3. Add 6 to 12 of one type of fighter for the escort - MS.406 or H-75-1/2.
  • Neither the French nor the Germans can strafe enemy bases.
  • There are a medium Flak unit and a radar on the box of the enemy border.
  • The Germans cannot go further than box 2, but their base is in box 4; it is prepared.
  • There cannot be random encounters beyond boxes 1 and 3, with only fighters and recon aircraft on both sides.
  • During the autumn 1939, the Germans can use Bf 109D-1.
• As of June 5, to mitigate the lack of bombers, MS.406s were sent on a strafing mission against the German army. Replace the bombers of in teh Bombardment Mission by three to six MS.406; they can attack vehicles or the German infantry. This improvisation was expensive in hardware and pilots the Air Force...
• To add the RAF, add a Blenheim Mk.IV for the recon or the bombardment missions, or Battle Mk.IIIs for the bombing mission. Give them an escort of six Hurricane Mk.IAs. Level of training for the RAF: Good; same details as for the French.

Encounter Tables for the Armée de l'Air in the Battle of France

To select which variant of the Curtiss H-75A, roll a die:

You cannot ecounter fighters with the top of the box " enroute " of the OMT; ignore this result.

If a formation of bombersare met, they are loaded with bombs on a roll of die £ 4. One cannot meet bombers and recon aircraft beyond box 3; ignore this result. If you have the ADCs for the Douglas DB-7 and the Martin M.167F, you can add them to the French side of this table for the May 16 to June 15 column. You can also add the Hs126 to the German side.

ADCs

[Bloch MB.174, MB.152, Breguet Br.693, LeO.451, Martin M-167F and Potez Po.63.11 ADCs are available with the French aircraft from Uncle Ted's - Uncle Ted].

CONCEPTION: Christophe MASSUYEAU
Bar-le-Duc, FRANCE 1995-1997