Historical Background:
Saumur – 19 June 1940. The Battle of France is lost; the Germans are now ready to cross the River Loire. The meagre French troops standing ready and lined up to defend it are the Officer Cadets from the Cavalry School at Saumur, reinforced with a Battalion of the Infantry School at St-Maixent and hodgepodge remnants of the French army. At the first sight of the enemy, they blow the bridges. Embarking on rafts, the Germans soon attempt to cross the river on the islands at Gennes and East of Saumur. The cadets, dug-in and with no real option for retreat, resist heroically, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. Their valiant efforts are not enough
however, and by 21 June, the Germans are already breaking through to the south-west. The following day, 22 June 1940, the French army capitulates: the armistice is signed at Rethondes, and takes effect on 25 June.
Briefing:
Axis 10 cards; move first. Allied 8 cards.
Conditions of Victory:
12 medals. Gennes and Saumur are Permanent Medal Objectives for the Axis forces.
Special Rules:
Allied player cannot play Air Power card: draw a replacement card instead.
Blitz rules (Actions 15).
German engineer units (Troops 4).
All German Infantry and Engineer units are equipped with Rafts (Actions 5).
French artillery unit with one figure is a mortar; it counts as a medal for Axis forces.
Allied forces may attempt to Blow Up Bridges, using Option 2 (Actions 2).
Pontoon Bridges (Terrain 33).
Another one of JDRommel’s excellent scenarios.
It’s big, but well worth the effort! We agreed that it was one of the best scenarios we have played. Game time was about two hours.
Here is the set up:
My opponent (Axis) was his usual cautious self, not committing to the attack, so it was much closer than it should have been (12:11 to the Germans).
I managed to blow a couple of bridges - not easy. And I got men up the church (bottom centre of the second photo) for a bit of forward spotting.
Highly recommended scenario.