Free France Campaign

[bru888]

Kufra is done.

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I should note that, aside from the usual Wikipedia sources, I got good information from a military figurines company with a product that deals with the Battle of Kufra - one of the links that you provided, ColonelY.

So here is the preview: Free France 1940-1945 (first 3 scenarios)


The campaign screen wrap up after Kufra:

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and now it's onward to Keren!

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[ColonelY]

Nice, it looks awesome!

(My feedback on 02Gabon should be ready for this weekend at the latest... )

[bru888]

Nice, it looks awesome!

(My feedback on 02Gabon should be ready for this weekend at the latest... )

By the way, I already caught where I was using "Coy" instead of "Cie" in the French Foreign Legion unit names. Also, above where l'Amiral Portier lapses back to "the colonel" when he had been referring to "le colonel" during his briefing. Also, "Cheren" is actually "Chéren." Quality, sir, is in the details!

[bru888]

Incidentally, I vote for "Cub-Cub" rather than "Kub-Kub." "Cub-Cub" matches the maps and I have had my fill of "k's" from my tour of duty in Finland.

I overrule myself. I see more references to "Kub-Kub" and "Kubkub" than "Cub-Cub." Reasons:
1) The latter reminds me of the Chicago Cubs whom, as a resident of New York (nearby at least), I am supposed to detest in support of the Mets. (Although I am actually a Yankees fan.)
2) Referring to the offspring of bears, "Cub-Cub" sounds like a play toy for tots. "Choo-Choo" may be next.
3) I have gotten over my aversion of "k's" to the point where I can think of Erik as Erik rather than Eric or Erique.

[bru888]

Incidentally, I vote for "Cub-Cub" rather than "Kub-Kub." "Cub-Cub" matches the maps and I have had my fill of "k's" from my tour of duty in Finland.

I overrule myself. I see more references to "Kub-Kub" and "Kubkub" than "Cub-Cub." Reasons:
1) The latter reminds me of the Chicago Cubs whom, as a resident of New York (nearby at least), I am supposed to detest in support of the Mets. (Although I am actually a Yankees fan.)
2) Referring to the offspring of bears, "Cub-Cub" sounds like a play toy for tots. "Choo-Choo" may be next.
3) I have gotten over my aversion of "k's" to the point where I can think of Erik as Erik rather than Eric or Erique.

But now I must stop and ask, what exactly are we talking about here? The Wikipedia article on the Battle of Keren contains this line: "After crossing the border into Eritrea on the Red Sea coast, Briggsforce had captured Karora and then moved south to take Kubkub." That makes sense on a map:

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But on this map, "Cub-Cub" is shown in two other areas and one of them seems to be not a location but a movement of Ethiopian forces?

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Are we talking about two different things? If anybody has any ideas, please let me know. I will continue to search but if I can't find any more information on "Cub-Cub," I am going to have to leave it out in favor of the geographical Kubkub.

[bru888]

Ok, ColonelY, here is an article on the web site from which you gathered some of your material: http://www.france-libre.net/la-brigade- ... derythree/

In French, obviously, but I was able to use Google Translate to decipher these passages:

"The Italians fell back on the defenses of Chéren (Keren), a position that had been prepared for a long time. This city is located on a plateau surrounded by mountains. This is the key to the road to Massaouah . . . The 7th Brigade, coming from the north, must support the attack on Chéren coming from the southwest. To reach Chéren it is essential to seize Cub-Cub, a solidly fortified position that the Italians have occupied since their withdrawal from Karora on the northern border of Eritrea."

This agrees with the Wikipedia article and the Google map. I guess "Cub-Cub" is the French version of "Kubkub" which is a location on the eastern side of the battle map, near Nak'fa and on the road from Kerora in the north to Keren in the south. So that Eritrea (Érythrée) Campaign map is extraneous now unless somebody can illuminate what the maker had in mind with his "Cub-Cub" markings.

[bru888]

Heh, as a matter of fact, that article has a map which confirms what I said:

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So there we go. Chalk it up to another instance of variable location names. The article calls it "Cub-Cub" and the map says "Kub-Kub." The article calls it "Chéren" and the map says "Keren." Forget about how many different ways that I have seen "Massaouah" spelled! It's a hazard of this trade of designing war game scenarios involving exotic places.

[ColonelY]

Nice, it looks awesome!

(My feedback on 02Gabon should be ready for this weekend at the latest... )

By the way, I already caught where I was using "Coy" instead of "Cie" in the French Foreign Legion unit names. Also, above where l'Amiral Portier lapses back to "the colonel" when he had been referring to "le colonel" during his briefing. Also, "Cheren" is actually "Chéren." Quality, sir, is in the details!

Fine, but of course same Coy/Cie consideration in 01Dakar, by the way!


02Gabon (version 2):

An excellent scenario , very well-balanced, with some very good actions and immersion (Masson, Renault/Hotchkiss, Leclerc/Koenig, among many others), etc., etc.
It's great, how it has been somehow splitted in two parts (interior vs landings) but together withtin the very same scenario.

So, it's time for some feedback of mine, isn't it?


-> Somewhere, add a flag with the name "River Ogooué"?
*******
-> Then, well, among the tons of things I've written, I've found again these events, probably still useful -> some events that can be added:
1. "New Governor of Gabon!" (as event title maybe?):

[...]EVENT [...]
Telegram from General de Gaulle to lieutenant-colonel Parant, at Lambaréné (that I have translated myself… hem… ):
“Brazzaville, 6th November 1940.
I embrace and congratulate you, Lieutenant-Colonel Parant, Governor of Gabon. Congratulations from me to all those under your command, especially to Commander Dio. Tell your troops they served well. It was for France that they fought and won at Sindara, Mitzic, N'Djole, Lambaréné. Now it's time to finish the job.”

(So, there was some promotions...)[...]

So, a historical event could be added (for the 6th November 1940!), and maybe with a text similar (perhaps replacing "and won at Sindara, Mitzic, N'Djole, Lambaréné" by "and won some good ground in the interior of Gabon" , just in case some of these locations aren't under control or something - no need to bother about checking hex owners here)...

For immersion, it will recall that General Charles de Gaulle isn't really far away, encourage the player to continue making good progress...

As picture? Well, maybe this one: https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 7307364785

And, well, this event could "target" an unit, the Panhard of Parant, precisely! (And we should/must of course forget the info that Parant is supposed to be then at Lambaréné as he may move around with his Panhard unit...)

(And this exains why there won't be any more mention of Parant later in this campaign, because he will be busy governing Gabon!)


2. "De Gaulle au Gabon!" (as title maybe?):
Just before ending the scenario (but "when", at which date, does it end, by the way? ), perhaps... OR RATHER as campaign event just after this scenario, as the very first campaign event before Koufra...

[...] EVENT: “Finally, Gabon joins Free France!” (just before ending the scenario)

“The General de Gaulle travels to Libreville on the 15th November, and to Port Gentil on the 16th. The dominant feeling of the population was the satisfaction of getting out of an absurd situation. At the hospital, our General visited the wounded on both sides who were being treated side by side. After this, he was introduced to the cadres of the Vichy units. Some elements then joined the Free French.”
[...]

I expect these two events to still enhance a little bit the immersion...
*******
-> About our air forces:
Nicely done and well-balanced... though, I'll have 3 suggestions:

1. Once air superiority has been achieved and the last of the enemy planes destroyed (or almost all of them at the very least), then we're left with up to 6 fighters (if we haven't lost any of them!) which then become actually... almost completely useless!
Well, of course the player can undeploy most of them and not bring them back over Gabon, but I think it will look "smoother", or "cleaner", if most of them are "exited" by triggers around the 24th turn (it should be absolutely okay already even before turn 20, but like this it's exactly half-way through the scenario! - and the obj "air superiority" can still be checked to see whether it has been achieved or not - of course, no fighter to remove if it's still - who knows? - a real mess!)...
By "most" of them, I suggest two of the three kinds of dogfighters, as we've three to start with (that's perfect!). So, MS 406, D 520 or Spitfire? Which of these planes should be left for the remaining of this scenario? Well, it's up to you, I guess!

2. Campaign variable: achieving the air superiority there is about to grant us a bonus of 1 star (2 pts) per future airplane... Errr, that's nice, but what about 1 star and a half (i.e. 3 pts) instead?
Well, one could say it doesn't change much and this would be perfectly correct. BUT there may be a "psychological" reason - if I may say so - about it, which is that: "1 star? Nice, but who cares? I've just to unlock the "Flight School" spec for that purpose..."
Wait, I know that the player won't probably have the "opportunity" to buy some plane by himself, which means that this spec will anyway be mostly useless to him... But at that time, the player shouldn't know it, so he might think he's been "scammed" and not win anything...
That's why I think that just a little bit more than a single star may be better... Anyway, why not?
(And so far all the planes appear already with 1 star, so...)

3. One suggestion related to the bombers at our disposal, based on this:

[...] AIR ACTIONS: Again some bombers Glenn-Martin, from Libreville, have helped from time to time the Vichy’s French (with few bombs); some bombers Bloch 200 from Brazzaville (Congo) have helped from time to time the Free French (with few bombs and leaflets) as well as some Lysander airplane… some air recon have helped the Free French too…
This "Groupe réservé de bombardement n° 1" (GRB1) will later have some Hawker Hurricane, Westland Lysander et Bristol Blenheim... It will take later the name of bomber group "Lorraine" and continue its actions and will cover Leclerc at Koufra on the 1st March 1941 and then the Eritrea campaign. -> Could/should become CORE at some point...

Well, well!

So, taking a little advance on History and giving us at least ONE new core unit in this scenario, what about spawning one "Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV", under the Free French flag, maybe at the start of the 24th turn, over the starting area of the Parant column (from Congo, we've said!), as core unit, perhaps even already with the name "Lorraine" (why not?)?

Now, about its XP... well, one could just check whether the "air superiority" has been achieved or not: 3 pts if yes (1 star and a half) versus 2 pts (1 star) if no. 1 star if no? YES, exactly like all our aux planes have started! And that's by the way another reason (good, I think) to support my second suggestion related to the campaign variable...

And as some Bristol Blenheim are known to have supported Leclerc's column towards Kufra, it's perfect and will allow us to use as well the very first core plane of this campaign...

=> 'Sounds good?

(And I was about to write that by using one core bomber, it means you will have to grant the player some ACPs from now on, which would be really good because it will allow the player to buy some recon plane once the spec "War Economy" has been unlocked... You remember, putting 0 ACPs kills this spec? Alas, the France/Free France factions have NO recon plane available! )
*******
-> Speaking of core units...
1. About the landings, instead of using these 4 aux "Infanterie Sénégalais", what about letting us instead using 4 of our 6 core "Infanterie Sénégalais FF" (by removing these 4 aux units and by unlocking for the FF 16 RPs... and perhaps even with your secret module preventing the player to deploy the core Panhard - but this last point may be not really worth it, I guess...)

2. I was first about to suggest putting one of the Hotchkiss tank units which has to land as core too, before changing my mind... Indeed, among others these tanks would have nothing to do in the Koufra scenario and with the bomber we'll have already one new core unit!
*******
Not real issues:

-> In one of the two playtests I've made, a Renault tank of the "Armoured Column S" has gone straight to reclaim Lambaréné, whereas the others move right against the nearby landed troops... Well, Lambaréné has been taken, no Free French troop have really moved westwards from Lambaréné (we've been warned - that's perfect!), but this French column had been a little bit bombed... Maybe that's why? On my second trial: Lambaréné was just about to be taken when my troops have started to land... and this entire French column went directly towards these beaches... So, that's not an issue but, just in case, I do mention it.

-> The famous Masson has been saved, even if his transport unit can be replenished (!).
*******
-> About the French sub "Poncelet": I've not seen the event "Walrus damages sub" in two playtests because this submarine was sunk before it could even be triggered... at the 5th turn, this sub (after a first torpedo attack) surfaces and moves next to some of my gunboats... So, this sub being spotted and with me concentrating my ships (for concentrated fire power!), well, all's said I think...
So, perhaps a "damage > 0" (instead of "> 1") in the trigger could do the trick... but then it may come too soon depending on how one plays this scenario... hem...
Another idea, that would be much better, I think, but I don't really know whether it's possible or not: to prevent this sub to be spotted by surfacing as it does (two times) for me, can we give to this sub more "battery" (like more "fuel" in the trigger "set unit state" or something)?!?!
('cause, I haven't checked but I don't think that the AI "aggressivity" of this sub is put to 100...)
*******
-> When I see on map the "Mont Bengoué", then I was somehow expecting "something"... like a cool side-story, perhaps... I made a little research but found nothing...

Well, in any case it can accommodate a nasty MG-foxhole, can't it?

One could add an event once this Mont becomes in sight, and targetting this hex of course, maybe something like this:

Event: "Mont Bengoué!"
Text: "Mont Bengoué is Gabon’s highest point, with 3,510 feet (1,070 metres), and is located in the northeastern part of this country or, more precisely, in the Ogooué-Ivindo Province."
Base for picture: https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 7313463272

('Could make a little wink to the "River Ogooué"... )

During my little research, I've found that "Bengoué has a savannah climate with a dry winter (Aw) according to the Köppen-Geiger classification. Rainfall in Bengoué is much higher in summer than in winter. Over the year, the average temperature in Bengoué is 24.4°C and the average rainfall is 1251.3 mm."
Ok, nice. But basically we don't really care. Wait... rain!

-> 'Could add one or two turns of rain at one or two occasions, couldn't we?

But would it be plausible? Well, a little search gives us: "Gabon has an equatorial climate with a long rainy season and a short dry season. Temperatures are stable throughout the year (27° to 32°) and rainfall is abundant (2,500 mm per year) ... October and November are the wettest months." Ohaa, it is precisely during this period that our scenario takes place... So, plausible to have some rain? Definitely, yes!
*******
Cool title event for the Manganese mine...
Single suggestion there: maybe add a 5 Supply Output on the mine directly (they could have stored some stuff in there, right? ), otherwise they are really likely to be completely outsupplied once trying to defend the mine...
*******
By the way, better not irate Winston Churchill, otherwise he may have such words!

[ColonelY]

Campaign event (after 02Gabon): "The Allies"...

In the text, what about adding just two little words there: "[...] does not reduce his personal status or, above all, that of France."

[bru888]

Colonel, I am working on Gabon revisions; more to come tomorrow. Meanwhile, your mentioning of the telegram from Brazzaville reminded me to mention that Brazzaville was a symbolic capital of Free France for a couple of years. So I put this event message in the campaign screen between Dakar and Gabon, after the "Chad Leads The Way" and "Flight Delay" messages shown earlier in this thread:

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Where did you see a reference to that telegram? I cannot find anything about it. Parant was promoted to lieutenant colonel but also governor of Gabon in this telegram?

[Edit: Okay I see where he was acting Governor-Delegate of Gabon from 14 November 1940 to 15 March 1941 but there is no congratulatory telegram mentioned anywhere that I have looked.]

[Edit 2: Also, where did you get "The General de Gaulle travels to Libreville on the 15th November, and to Port Gentil on the 16th . . ." I am not questioning that you saw these things. I do want to check out the sources, though.]

[Edit 3: Rather than a popup message during Gabon, which will be difficult to pin down, I will wrap up Gabon with a campaign message after that scenario and before Kufra as you suggested that mention's Parant's promotion and elevation to governor . . . and his tragic death the following March.]

[bru888]

Colonel, upon subsequent reflection, never mind about the Brazzaville telegram and the de Gaulle visits to Libreville and Port-Gentil. We have a lot of historical stuff packed into this campaign, which is good, but we don't want to turn this into a history book. We'll go with this transition between Gabon and Kufra, wrapping up Gabon and transitioning to Libya:

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[ColonelY]

I really like the event related to Brazzaville, the Free French capital for a while!

Where did you see a reference to that telegram? I cannot find anything about it. Parant was promoted to lieutenant colonel but also governor of Gabon in this telegram?

[Edit: Okay I see where he was acting Governor-Delegate of Gabon from 14 November 1940 to 15 March 1941 but there is no congratulatory telegram mentioned anywhere that I have looked.]

[Edit 2: Also, where did you get "The General de Gaulle travels to Libreville on the 15th November, and to Port Gentil on the 16th . . ." I am not questioning that you saw these things. I do want to check out the sources, though.]

[Edit 3: Rather than a popup message during Gabon, which will be difficult to pin down, I will wrap up Gabon with a campaign message after that scenario and before Kufra as you suggested that mention's Parant's promotion and elevation to governor . . . and his tragic death the following March.]

The sources, or where does it come from? Sure, well, from the three books "Mémoires de guerre" written by Charles de Gaulle; At the end of each one of these books, the reader can find a copy of all the letters, telegrams and so one that have been sent or received...
(Or at least of the most relevant of them, perhaps... I think it's an exhaustive list, but who knows for sure? )
And there as well (still in the first book for now), it's mentionned about the 15th and 16th November...

There is a link talking a little about these books here, but I'm sorry it's only in French (but we've nice translator Tools, I know you use them too and, even if they aren't perfect, they still give a really good idea about what's the meaning of it): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9moires_de_guerre

Colonel, upon subsequent reflection, never mind about the Brazzaville telegram and the de Gaulle visits to Libreville and Port-Gentil. We have a lot of historical stuff packed into this campaign, which is good, but we don't want to turn this into a history book. We'll go with this transition between Gabon and Kufra, wrapping up Gabon and transitioning to Libya:[...]

Yes, you're perfectly right. And like this, there is already a new event ("The New Governor")... and a little "above all" which does count, which is relatively important! Thanks

[bru888]

Well, you certainly do your homework, Colonel. I am impressed. French Wikipedia article translation:

Mémoires de guerre is a work written by Charles de Gaulle, which includes three volumes. Each corresponds to a specific stage of the Second World War (the title of the work, the period to which it refers, the date of composition): L'Appel, 1940-1942 (1954), L'Unité, 1942-1944 (1956) and Le Salut, 1944-1946 (1959).

Charles de Gaulle exposes in this book the history of Free France during the Second World War and describes its development with great detail. He adds, to support his remarks, many documents in the appendix (and not within the book as for example did Winston Churchill in The Second World War), such as maps, telegrams, letters, transcriptions speeches or interviews. He presents himself as a defender of traditional French values, a patriot fighting for the greatness of his country, and the first sentences of these Memoirs already reflect his national pride and his vision of France1:

“All my life, I have had a certain idea of France. Feeling inspires me as well as reason. What is effective in me naturally imagines France, such as the princess of fairy tales or the Madonna with the frescoes on the walls, as doomed to an eminent and exceptional destiny. I have instinctively the impression that Providence created it for successful successes or exemplary misfortunes. If it happens that mediocrity marks, however, his actions and gestures, I experience the sensation of an absurd anomaly, attributable to the faults of the French, not to the genius of the country. But also, the positive side of my mind convinces me that France itself is really only in the front row; that, only, vast enterprises are capable of compensating for the ferments of dispersion that its people carry within themselves; that our country, as it is, among others, as they are, must, under pain of mortal danger, aim high and stand tall. In short, in my opinion, France cannot be France without greatness."

Written during his crossing of the desert, between his resignation from the government on January 20, 1946 and his recall in 1958, the War Memoirs allow Charles de Gaulle to clarify the historical facts associated with the fight for the liberation of France.

The somewhat dubious translation of de Gaulle's prologue, provided by Google Translate, demonstrates the difficulty that a non-French speaker would have in delving through those volumes. As I mentioned above, I couldn't make it all the way through de Gaulle's biography in English! (I was like a stunned duck facing those decades of post-war French politics, no offense intended. )

Which makes me glad that you are "on the team" for this project. You have provided much of the inspiration required to cover such a vast story in the confines of a computer game. The Brazzaville connection is an example; I would have neglected that otherwise.

[bru888]

As you saw, "above all" was inserted in "The Allies" campaign message.

Added Rivière Ogooué label in four places (it's a long river), plus Forêt de Wonga Wongue (I like the name). Extended and labeled the Montagnes de Cristal and named a couple of other mountain ranges: Massif du Chaillu (which may be a little out of place but I like these mountains where they are and the name fits) and Montagnes Belinga. I also added Lac M'Bogòssé to Dakar although it's barely on the map.

[bru888]

Agree about the useless fighters in the Gabon scenario once air superiority has been established. That is one thing that I try to avoid: Having to move around, or put to sleep, units that no longer have any purpose. Your idea to have them exit is good, but I made it so that the fighters exit once the last enemy air unit has been destroyed. You know how bloodthirsty our gaming friends are here; if we exit the fighters based on turns or dates, there will be unhappiness.

So, the objective-completed message now says, "Our pilots have gained valuable experience which will be evident later in the war. These valiant flyers will remain on the job until every enemy aircraft has been destroyed, then return to their bases in Douala and Pointe-Noire" and there is a trigger to quietly remove the fighters when the last enemy plane is destroyed. [Reversed - see posts below.]

I am glad that you brought up the Air Supremacy campaign variable. For one thing, the mission references "core units" which I don't use any more now (see comments someplace above where I made this decision because the campaign is too vast and the Free French units too limited for normal core use).

But regarding this, and because I am not using core units, I have a schedule that I created to plan the experience level of Allied (and Axis) units according to the progression of the war:

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What I meant by the campaign variable is that +1 star would be added to any scheduled experience level for air units in future scenarios. The bad news is, now it's 1/2 star! The reason is, I want to use this award again and, as you can see from the schedule, by late in the war, only one additional star will be meaningful as air units will already be starting scenarios with 4 stars of experience.

Now the "Establish air superiority over Gabon" mission is "Destroy a combination of at least 6 fighters and bombers. This success will be reflected in greater experience of air units in future scenarios. (An extra half-star of experience will be added to all air units above what they would have otherwise.)"

[bru888]

But now, once again you have opened a can of worms! (Americanism? It means "a complex or difficult problem.")

There will be no opportunity for the player to purchase units in this campaign. Everything will be provided for him as auxiliary units, for the reasons explained earlier.

What, then, is the value of the four "school" specialisations that provide an extra star to purchased units? How will the specialisation tree look, and how will it be "funded" with specialisation points, if the already meager specialisation choices for Free France are whittled down even further?

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Thinking cap back on. If you or anybody else have any comments or suggestions, I would appreciate them. I have an idea already, though, in which each of the remaining specialisations will be very prized prizes indeed.

But this is yet another demonstration of the difficulty of designing a campaign for a faction which has not received much developmental attention; e.g., Free France. Which is understandable, considering the dynamics of the game. The big factions, U.S., Britain, Germany, Japan, Russia, are mightily developed. Everybody else has been thrown in for a bit of flavor, with just enough uniqueness to suit the needs of the campaigns featuring the biggies.

[Mascarenhas]

Facing such brilliant discussion, I humbly note that fighters in large maps such as Gabon are also useful for recon purposes and eventually to finish opportunity targets, both roles I found very useful in those circumstances. In spite of the almost in-utility of French planes, compared to the Spits, I'd be happier to may count on them in the whole scenario, instead of having to appeal to the trick of letting, at least for some time, some crippled enemy air unit alive just to have the fighters on my side.

[bru888]

Hmmm. That's a good point, Masca.

In the back of my mind was that fighters really don't have much effect on ground targets and I left the recon British seaplane alone, so why not get rid of the fighters at some point? But you make a good argument; perhaps the player would prefer to hold onto the planes for the reasons that you state.

Colonel, based on this afterthought, I will leave it up to the customer to "land" his own planes and not recall them if he finds them of no further use.

[bru888]

Whuff, I just read this: "the spec "War Economy" ... You remember, putting 0 ACPs kills this spec?" I had not remembered. There goes another specialisation.

Well, let me finish up Gabon.

First, Colonel, any speculation about core units is out now, so I am bypassing your otherwise good suggestions about the core "Lorraine" bomber and using core "Infanterie Sénégalais FF" units. The core idea died hard, believe me, but rather than repeat my reasons, I will ask you to scan previous posts in this thread as to the reasons why it's all aux now.

That sounds fine about "a Renault tank of the "Armoured Column S" has gone straight to reclaim Lambaréné, whereas the others move right against the nearby landed troops." As you know, those armoured columns will attack eastward if the colonial troops get too close to them (despite the warning). Otherwise they attack westward when the Free French landings occur. Yet, we have seen where the AI overrules its orders for "targets of opportunity." If Lambaréné is unguarded, the AI will move a unit to it to conquer/protect it because it is a primary objective and a supply center. That's understandable.

I'm also okay with the Poncelot being destroyed before it can trigger the Walrus message. That whole thing came from being concerned that the sub would be too elusive for the gunboats and cruiser to sink (no destroyers with sonar are included). If the player gets lucky (or skilled) to pound that submarine when its surfaced before it can do 2+ damage, that's fine.

Added +10 supply for le "Garde de la Mine" per your suggestion.

As for Mont Bengoué, rather than giving a weather report...

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But some rainy weather was built in, yes. (Also a sandstorm in Kufra.)

[bru888]

In the end, with a campaign featuring no core units, and thus having removed specialisations that dealt with purchasing units and increasing command points, these were all that were left for Free France:

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Not enough to be useful as a specialisations tree, to say the least. Damage control deals with "severely damaged warships" which are not going to be featured much in this campaign. The other three deal only with aircraft and seem one-sided; only air specialisations?

So the resolution is this:

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I am going to have to be creative with secondary objective awards. Where I offered specialisation points in the first three scenarios, I am going to take those out. I will come up with somethings different as rewards.

Well, as I said before, "this is yet another demonstration of the difficulty of designing a campaign for a faction which has not received much developmental attention; e.g., Free France. Which is understandable, considering the dynamics of the game. The big factions, U.S., Britain, Germany, Japan, Russia, are mightily developed. Everybody else has been thrown in for a bit of flavor, with just enough uniqueness to suit the needs of the campaigns featuring the biggies."

Core is out. Specialisations are out. But I will make it work, and it will still be fun.