The Commander Series Forum

Hi

French Armies get the 'poor combined arms' rule that penalises issuing orders to mixed arms formations. However they also get the Penny-Packet rule, which pretty much makes such units obligatory.

Leadership is not ace to begin with, and Recce limited in availability.

What do other Frenchies do to boost the performances of their French?

On a slightly related topic - I have way too many Panhard 178's, and was going to use the 'Pay 20 Points less for them and use as ordinary units' rule. If I do, what would they class as? Armour? Would that come off my max of 12 tanks in a Battlegroup?

Pat

Stick 'em in defence and pray

I've been getting to grips with the French army and so far I've come up with the follow:

Always max out on recce

Always max out on Com 8 HQs

Try to do most of your fighting with your Com * HQs.

Don't attempt to be clever, in defense stand and shoot, in attack pick a point and plow forward.

Opportunity fire is your friend.

Towed anti-tank guns and Lorraine Carriers have similar mobility and survivability as your tanks without the -1 command penalty.

That being said so far I've only faced the Italians with them, so I might be talking out of my backside.

Well if they can beat the ITALIANS I should have no problem against the Germans.......

Pat

Just because a formation includes tanks doesn't mean that you have to order them in combination with the infantry -- the -1 is only when you do.

I might be wrong here, but the term Formation is used to describe the units that you are ordering but also the organization of your units into theoretical units.

So the French will have a couple of tanks attached to their infantry battalions ('Formations) but in the course of the game you might just want to order 3 infantry to move to the edge of cover -- that would not get you the -1, I think.

What the penny packet rule prohibits is the moving of a mass of tanks as a separate Formation.

Chris

Chris - I would definitely go with your definition of formation and its application to the rule.

I regard the penny packet rule as reflecting the arrival of French armour in dribs an drabs, taking into account break down or failure to comply with orders at a higher level etc, which historically had significant a impact on the French ability to use armour in a co-ordinated and concentrated manner.

the best way to use the french is to put your arms up and surender.

I've used French a lot under BKC1 (but not yet 2), usually in defence. I almost always use minefields, max out on artillery and mortars, keep my infantry in BUA, deep within woods or entrenched on reverse slopes, and put most good tanks under the CO turret-down until I can see the German line of attack, then move to hull-down. As already said above, maximise CV's by using recce and CP's. Massing the armour will be less easy with BKC2...

Of course one thing to remember with the French is that much of your equipment is better than your historical opponents. Certainly the French medium tanks are likely to best their German counter parts in a stand up fight, it's the maneuvering where they struggle. I think the bottom line with the French is keep it simple.

Historically most of the French armour was put under the command of the senior officer in a sector, who was usually infantry biased and trained to regard tanks as mobile pillboxes to support his infantry as a result of the way they were used successfully in WWI.

This combined with the lack of radios and inter-unit communications meant that in most engagements the French armour was overwhelmed in detail. The poor communications also contributed to the well known instances of units being destroyed by light German tanks when suprised as they were deploying or refueling.

After Dunkirk some of the more progressive officers were able to change this attitude a little (notably de Gaulle) and there were several instances where the French put together sizeable all armour formations, which if they had been designed to have a reliable track life of more than 40 miles could have caused significant problems.

In one instance 40+ Char B's attacked a German bridgehead, starting over 10 miles behind the French line to avoid the stuka's while they assembled, about 20 actually made it to the frontline mostly due to tracks failing on route.

The list was designed to reflect the way the French used their armour the majority of the time, but I would think Pete would agree that if you want to play a senario for one of the times they used armour more effectively then adjust the list accordingly.

Also try issuing orders to the armour and infantry separately, a risk of not getting part of the command to activate but a better chance of activation. Remember that if you do this you do not take the -1 previous orders penalty when you change the units you are issuing orders to.

There are lots of good comments above and although the first reply (by Pete) may have appeared a throw away one it is probably the best advice, although ebarrett, cleach and sanchopanzer add useful addendums to his advice.

My first ever game of BKC1 was Germans attacking French in defence and the French whooped me!

Defence and the tools of defence, good positioning, limited manouevre, good use of HE from Artillery [including IGs] and Mortars, and good positioning of infantry in defences or ambush to hold up enemy in positions where your artillery and mortars or IGs can get at em. The use of recce to compensate for poor CVs or the use of combined response / opportunity fire from defence to take out enemy units, or cause suppression to do it for you.

Much of same could be said for my many attempts to use early Russians, early Polish and early Belgians (all of which I have at army strength in my BKC locker - as you can see I love losers) - OOPS!!

So yes the other quality you need to be a Frenchman [or any fighting Germans in the early war] is a 'stoicism' that can see victory in defeat through knowing you did something in the game that worked... even if ultimately overwhelmed!!

Carl Luxford