Free France Campaign

[ColonelY]

Indeed! (For example: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item ... /205208705 )

'Seems to be a perfect fit!

And it's a squadron we've already heard about during Operation Exporter!

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The campaign map seems too modern, I tried to age it:

Capture d’écran (580).jpg (723.08 KiB) Viewed 2139 times

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For some images with black side stripes, you can use background textures for a better effect

Example for a poster, we could use a brick wall in the background:

Before :

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After :

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Some background textures are used for portaits :

Before :

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After :

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[bru888]

Funny that you should mention this now. Just yesterday, I began an online course in paint dot net. I imagine that such improvements will be forthcoming in the future.

P.S., If you are willing to donate that L'Appel_du_18_juin image by posting it here, I will think about using it. I want to see if the basic image still has the same quality as this:

L'Appel_du_18_juin.png (303.66 KiB) Viewed 2116 times

From your posted images, it looks like it does.

As far as the rest, I like the campaign map for its clarity, so it will remain untouched. The black edges to portraits makes the image stand out so I am not changing those either.

[bru888]

I am always on the lookout for heroines, and I have found one in Bir Hakeim. She will be featured, for sure.

Her autobiography is available on Amazon: Tomorrow to Be Brave: A Memoir of the Only Woman Ever to Serve in the French Foreign Legion

51tNpBAgyQL.jpg (36.41 KiB) Viewed 2102 times

About three-quarters through the book, I certainly can recommend it. I just finished her account of the Battle of Bir Hakeim and it was both riveting and informative. As for her personal life . . . let's just say that she was quite frank and honest.

[ColonelY]

[...] No: "Have you put one unit of Somua S35 and one unit of Char B1?" I have seen no evidence of either tank in Syria and Lebanon. Besides, do you realize how strong a tank the Char B1 was/is? Again, I don't want people saying "This was tough enough, then a Char B1 appeared and I had only a crappy Renault/Hotchkiss 35 and a couple of weak AT guns to deal with it, so I gave up after Turn X." You will see both the Somua S35 and Char B1 tanks in Tunisia (well, Char D1's to be technical but we'll throw in a couple of B1's instead anyway). [...]

True!

I had forgotten about the Tunisian part of this campaign, damn!

Yeah, I knew (already) that these B1 are strong warbeasts... Okay, so we'll be able to see them once in action, that's perfect!

[ColonelY]

A last feedback of mine (I hope ) about 05OperationExporter:


Despite what I've written before, because the changes are this time rather modest (replace a Sea Hurricane by a Fulmar, a Free French Gloster Gladiator by its Sea version and change the AI Setup of only one DD), I made these changes in the Editor before relaunching the scenario for a final and full playtest...

(By the way, I find it really cool to have a Sea Gladiator as well... a small nice little touch. )

And I’ve got a Major Victory at the 44th turn out of 60… So, 60 turn seem to be still a little too much!
(And even with an Early Victory module, it means free RPs offered to the Free French... 10 extra turns = almost 400 free RPs for them... )

=> Overall impression: it’s an excellent scenario, and it's now definitely going much better (in terms of fun and immersion) with this naval and aerial components than the very first time I’ve played this scenario! It’s more challenging, but not too much either, and much more realistic too.


I’ll try ( ) to make a short feedback, for once:

1. What’s on the rather perfect side:

-> I take back what I said about the aerial battle over Palmyra - it remains a real battle! (The previous test, mainly about the 208th squadron, was simply too short to figure it out properly .)
-> Sinking L’Adour is challenging but perfectly manageable! (With 2 Fulmars and 2 Sea Hurricane instead of 1 Fulmar and 3 Sea Hurricanes, I mean.)
-> The Aussies have more difficulties to advance, but not too much either… more intensity on this side! (This time, they are more likely to reach the surroundings of Beirut once our forces are coming from the East as well, which is great! )
-> Sinking enemy subs isn’t too much of a problem either (even mine didn’t last very long).


2. What I think could still be improved:

-> If we keep this concept of French DD escorting the L’Adour, then this DD MUST move… But, if I'm not mistaken, you've already fixed this, so that should be fine.
(The “Capture Naval Hex” I’ve selected at first wasn’t effective… Maybe because I’ve selected for this “test” a sea hex instead of directly some port? Nah, on a second test like this, it doesn’t move either… It joins the naval battle later, but to make it move at first... )

***
-> Important: Add a “Construction Group” once Palmyra has fully been taken… And preferably either with a new event or with few words at the end of the event text once Palmyra is secured for good.

Why? Well, later we’ll probably have our British squadron from Iraq battling enemy airplanes over there… and the point is that then the air exit hexes W of Tartus (direction Cyprus!) may become closer than the air exit hexes at the E of the map (direction Iraq!).

And the fueling system won’t warn us until it’s somehow too late, i.e. until we’ve to send our planes fully to the W to allow them to quit the map and to be refueled… thus being low on fuel, probably already damaged, possibly encountering some AA units here and there, and probably about to face most of the enemy remaining fighters on their way out… I’ve lost several dogfighters that way! (At least two... The airfield at Damascus wasn’t under control yet anyway.)

So, that’s why the airfield near Palmyra was nice. But we know why it has been removed. Still, some possibility of landing nearby Palmyra, once fully under control, would be really useful at some point… therefore one Construction Group unit spawning there, that what may solve this little issue while adding another “new” unit on this battlefield, and allowing the player to choose where he wants his future airstrip!
***

-> A very little detail, it seems to me, from your printscreen (Sea Gladiator event text), that you have a double space at the location of this X letter: “[…] one of their X top mechanics […]”

-> Have you really added two more Vichy French tank units somewhere? In any case they weren’t a problem at all, as I haven’t noticed the difference…

-> The event when the Coast is fully clear is really nice, but ‘should say few words (but very short!) once the first naval wave has just been released.

-> Adding flags over airfields for the flavor? Please. Come on, there aren’t that much anyway…

***
-> A last time, and after having thought again about it: Still add few more enemy fighters later in the scenario…

As I've written somewhere:
It’s a relatively long scenario (normal!) and if the enemy doesn’t get any aerial reinforcements then, once air superiority won, there is no more challenge (at all) in the skies…
I made once a research. During Operation Exporter (without taking into account the losses here), the Vichy French had 90 planes from start... but they received 3 groups from the Vichy France and the Vichy French empire in Northwestern Africa (the German let them pass by Greece, I believe, at least for the majority of them!)... so that they’ve had in total 289 planes at the end!
=> So, because it’s based on History and to offer more challenge/action in the skies, AND after having thought again and again to it, here’s what I finally suggest:
Triggers:
1. Conditions -> “check turn” > 24 & at least 15 or 16 enemy aircrafts down (as if this is not even successful, don't bother to add another layer! - yeah, as it's about keeping some action and challenge, not about ruining all the player's efforts! )
(Instead of, as I've suggested before, check turn > 20 and obj “Decimate Axis air forces completed”)
2. Effects -> spawn 3 or 4 experienced Vichy French dogfighter units & add an event talking a little about this historical aspect & shut off this trigger when that happens.

‘Could come with an event warning enhancing the immersion and saying that, according to our spying network , there should probably be some reinforcement by air, etc.
(It was historical by the way… that there was several waves of reinforcements, but for the spying networks… well, probably too, but who knows now?)
Turn 24: only 5 Axis air units left… Around turn 33 to 34, almost none left… (And we have at least more than 10 turns left to play, so… then the skies fell a little empty!)
So, having played it again, now I can precise this suggestion :
1. ONLY Vichy French fighters (to respect History, so no new German plane), 2 dogfighters near Beirut (in its NW) and 1 or 2 dogfighters near Homs (in its W).
2. Check the off-map air supply for them (so that we can fight enemy planes even more intensely without any airfield nor airstrip on this battlefield ground )
3. Thus some little adaptations in one text, the one of this Pri obj: “Destroy Axis air forces” -> “[…] Destroy the Axis air forces (as long as they do not receive reinforcements, according to intelligence gathered they are up to a total of 14 fighters and 10 bombers). […]”
***

-> About the Ajax, our possible extra cruiser depending if we’ve lost one British cruiser in the Gabon scenario or not (via campaign variable)… I’ve had the Ajax cruiser, and I’ve taken a look in the triggers for this (02Gabon & 05OperationExporter), to see that all looks just perfect in there. So, I would say all is working pretty well.

One little detail, though, as this previous result about cruiser is about to count on this scenario as well: If we've saved the cruiser, why haven’t we a marker on map, before the OperationExporter scenario?
I mean, like the blue “Free French air units are receiving a +1 (1/2 star) bonus due to previous successes in aerial combat.” … Now we could only have the “Due to the loss of HMS Devonshire at The Battle of Gabon, one less cruiser is being deployed in scenarios in which the British Navy is involved.” … Perhaps add the opposite as well on campaign map before playing this scenario? That may be a cool reminder of previous achievements.


Et voilà !

[ColonelY]

I am always on the lookout for heroines, and I have found one in Bir Hakeim. She will be featured, for sure.

Her autobiography is available on Amazon: Tomorrow to Be Brave: A Memoir of the Only Woman Ever to Serve in the French Foreign Legion


51tNpBAgyQL.jpg

About three-quarters through the book, I certainly can recommend it. I just finished her account of the Battle of Bir Hakeim and it was both riveting and informative. As for her personal life . . . let's just say that she was quite frank and honest.

Hey, hey, you're going to end up making me want to read this book too.

[ColonelY]

I've just read again an old post of mine, where I find still some useful but not yet used info:

(If you prefer a shorter version, ou may directly skip this quote.)

And some more historic events to add again more depth, more flavor:


Event: “Rachid Ali’s escape to Germany!”

Maybe, with “Crystal clear!” as campaign event before the first scenario, then this one maybe around the third of the first scenario of the Syrian campaign... Historical event!

Text:
“Rachid Ali was routed and abandoned his country on 31st May. This has opened the gates of Syria to the Allies via the desert and the Euphrates. As for Turkey, it has refused to let Vichy reinforcements cross its territory. With all this, the Germans no longer seemed in a hurry to get new forces into Arab countries... in fact, they even withdrew the planes they had sent from Greece.

From then on, the only Vichist reinforcements to arrive in the Levant after the fighting had begun were two French air squadrons that had come from North Africa via Athens, where the Germans had welcomed them and refuelled them.”

-> which could then be actually going together with the evacuation, in game, of the last German planes in Syria… (Thus the interest to not make this appear too soon within this scenario, to let them do something - by the way the Germans are known to have bombed Damascus once the Allied have captured this city. Have they just come back from Greece to achieve this? Something to spawn in game, then... Or just another historic event once Damascus is taken? )
--------------------------------------------------------------
Then an event just before the end of the last scenario about this Operation Exporter (historical event):

Title: “Perfidy!”

Text:
“To prepare the text of the armistice, during the meeting held on 19 June at the home of Sir Miles Lampson, and attended by Wavell and Catroux, General de Gaulle drafted the text of the conditions that seemed acceptable to the Free French and suitable for those opposite.

The next day, unpleasantly surprised: the text retained by the British government and already sent to Dentz (the Vichy's Commander in Chief of the Army of the Levant) was in no way similar to the one the Allies had agreed to!

1. It was not any longer at all question of the Free French; it was just as if it was being proposed to Dentz to entrust Syria to the British!

2. The soldiers and civil servants of the Levant were going to be repatriated en masse and with authority; but de Gaulle needs to keep as many as possible with him!

So there, de Gaulle set out on a more or less diplomatic crusade to have his rights respected and to protect those of France!”
--------------------------------------------------------------
A campaign event just after the last scenario about the Syrian campaign and the next scenario on another theater of action:

Title: “Bitter victory!”

Text:
“Our general has been intractable, thus there was a lot of arguing going on.

It was not until July that the agreements of 19 June were respected by the British, somewhat "interpreting" the text they had signed with those of Vichy.

Thanks to de Gaulle's tenacity, and besides at the peril of the alliance with the British, the flag of the Free France now flies over Damascus and Beirut.

Moreover, de Gaulle can finally send his officers to retrieve some equipments and rally some troops among the defeated Vichy's forces.

So, 127 French officers and 6'000 French non-commissioned officers and soldiers join us, plus the Syrian and Lebanese elements which are reconstituted, thus adding yet 290 officers and 14'000 men. That's how the Free France has finally gained about 20'000 fighters after this fratricidal struggle.

But thanks to the delaying imposed by our British ally, it's almost too late: only a fifth of the remnant French Vichy's forces has been able to join our ranks, because the others are being evacuated by Vichy's ships. Indeed already 25'000 officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the French army and air force are slipping away on the horizon, together with one of our assets...”

(Numbers taken from the Memories of General de Gaulle... )

Two considerations:

1. This part can make the core of an event accompagnying the arrival of some Vichy French dogfighters as reinforcement:
“Rachid Ali was routed and abandoned his country on 31st May. This has opened the gates of Syria to the Allies via the desert and the Euphrates. As for Turkey, it has refused to let Vichy reinforcements cross its territory. With all this, the Germans no longer seemed in a hurry to get new forces into Arab countries... in fact, they even withdrew the planes they had sent from Greece.

From then on, the only Vichist reinforcements to arrive in the Levant after the fighting had begun were two French air squadrons that had come from North Africa via Athens, where the Germans had welcomed them and refuelled them.”

2. From texts of the two last elements, another campaign event may appear after the Operation Exporter scenario as many men are about to join and fight under the Free French flag! So, maybe with a slightly more "neutral" title... but with these historical elements:

=> The British tried to be entrusted Syria and Lebanon, who were, as it has been mentionned earlier, FRENCH Mandates.

=> The British planed to repatriated en masse and with authority the soldiers of the (Vichy French) Armée du Levant... but de Gaulle needs to keep as many as possible with him!

=> The latter because even if the British have accepted the solid help of the Free French, they don't really want either that they become too strong, so that the British may easily keep the lead of overall military operations...

=> Finally, even if most of the French soldiers have already been evacuated (thanks to the British support!), Général de Gaulle managed that about 127 French officers and 6'000 French non-commissioned officers and soldiers join the ranks of the Free French fighters, plus the Syrian and Lebanese elements which are reconstituted, thus adding yet 290 officers and 14'000 men. That's how the Free France has finally gained about 20'000 fighters after this fratricidal struggle.

==> All this is worth another nice campaign event, isn't it?

[ColonelY]

About the Free French "Bataillon de Marche 4", that has taken part of Operation Exporter and has thus fought in Syria:

"A new stage was marked on July 23rd by his departure for Ethiopia, where English and South African forces had inflicted severe defeats on the Italians, who now occupied only a few pockets like GONDAR. Lieutenant-Colonel G. PALEWSKI, sent by General DE GAULLE to defend French interests (Djibouti had not yet rallied) had requested the sending of a military force to better mark the French presence, hence the designation of B.M.4, its embarkation in SUEZ, July 24 on board the Cap Saint Jacques, and its landing on July 31 in BERBERA. The battalion was regrouped in BURAMO, from where a simple detachment commanded by Lieutenant LECOURT was admitted by the British authorities to take part in the capture of GONDAR in December 1941. The battalion then moved to DIRE-DAOUA, far from the fighting in Libya, without a well-defined mission, which was detrimental to the usual spirit of discipline of the Riflemen. Finally, on 22 April 1942, the long-awaited order of return arrived. The battalion embarked at BERBERA on the Burma sub-section, landed at SUEZ, then arrived at BEIRUTH."

(A source may be required? Here it is: http://1dfl.fr/-Bataillon-de-Marche-no4-172-.html )

This may be worth anoter nice little campaign event!
(Especially as we don't have a Gondar scenario.)

[bru888]

A last feedback of mine (I hope ) about 05OperationExporter: . . .

And I’ve got a Major Victory at the 44th turn out of 60… So, 60 turn seem to be still a little too much!
(And even with an Early Victory module, it means free RPs offered to the Free French... 10 extra turns = almost 400 free RPs for them... )

This is my first (only?) campaign, and I find myself still learning about designing one. Or, more accurately, remembering what I learned elsewhere but failed to recall, consider, and act upon here. Such as this concept; I was dismissing the possibly over-generous amount of turns, relying on the "Early scenario end" trigger, but I had forgotten about this aspect. OE shortened to 52 turns.

[bru888]

Hey, hey, you're going to end up making me want to read this book too.

This is me:

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Which leads me to what I am about to say in my next post . . .

[bru888]

Campaign news: Second Battle of El Alamein to be bypassed.

Susan Travers was also present for Second El Alamein. Specifically, she waited with other drivers as her general directed the Free French assault upon Qaret el Himeimat, once again on the extreme left flank of the Allied lines of battle:

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While not as vivid as her experiences at Bir Hakeim (she was in that battle, not just observing it), Ms. Travers does give an accounting of what happened at Qaret el Himeimat. I took these notes while reading the book:

The Free French performance at Qaret el Himeimat on the southern end of the line was less than stellar, bogged down as they were by sand, impeded by minefields, and facing a heavily defended flat-topped mountain with a sheer cliff face on the side to be attacked. The Free French really had no chance (and Amilakvari was killed in this battle). 2nd El Alamein was a great victory for the Allies but Montgomery was sorely disappointed with the Free French who were effectively sidelined with garrison duty in Libya as the Allies launched Operation Torch.

I have little desire to portray the entire battle of Second El Alamein just to reenact the Free French's minor participation in it at the bottom of the map. Well, maybe I would if they had been victorious. Instead, I would prefer to zoom in on their portion of the battlefield, like I did in Bir Hakeim, in the context of the larger battle of which it was part, like the Battle of Gazala.

Here, though, to zoom in and accurately show what took place at Qaret el Himeimat . . . how do I make that an enjoyable challenge? By utterly changing history? I tinker with history, calling it "artistic license," but I do have limits. Besides, the Italians and Germans were on top of a plateau, overlooking a cliff below which the Free French were huddled as the bombs rained down on them. In OOB, how do you show a plateau with a cliff face? A range of mountains? Rough desert with escarpment edges?

Out with the Second Battle of El Alamein as a scenario. Instead, I will have a popup message that mentions it, and the Free French's subsequent "exile" to garrison duty until they were called back into action late in Operation Torch, April 1943, I believe.

The good news is, I find myself thinking about possibilities beyond the Liberation of Paris. The further I go in this campaign, the better I will have a handle on that.

[bru888]

I tinker with history, calling it "artistic license," but I do have limits.

I was thinking about this. I did provide for Allied victory in Dakar, which on the whole was a miserable affair from their perspective.

Yet I was quite comfortable in doing so. It could have happened that way if the Free French were less hesitant and reluctant in fighting their countrymen.

However, my reading about the battle at Qaret el Himeimat left me definitely convinced in the opposite direction. No question.

I guess it's the equivalent of "flying by the seat of one's pants": Making decisions on the fly, based on instinct.

[ColonelY]

A last feedback of mine (I hope ) about 05OperationExporter: . . .

And I’ve got a Major Victory at the 44th turn out of 60… So, 60 turn seem to be still a little too much!
(And even with an Early Victory module, it means free RPs offered to the Free French... 10 extra turns = almost 400 free RPs for them... )

This is my first (only?) campaign, and I find myself still learning about designing one. Or, more accurately, remembering what I learned elsewhere but failed to recall, consider, and act upon here. Such as this concept; I was dismissing the possibly over-generous amount of turns, relying on the "Early scenario end" trigger, but I had forgotten about this aspect. OE shortened to 52 turns.

OE shortened to 52 turns? Nice, it seems a perfect fit to me.

You had forgotten about this aspect? No worries at all, we're here to help (or to try, at least).

[ColonelY]

Campaign news: Second Battle of El Alamein to be bypassed. [...]

Wow, I wasn't expecting this at all... But, after having read all your writings carefully... well, why not, finally?

[...] The good news is, I find myself thinking about possibilities beyond the Liberation of Paris. The further I go in this campaign, the better I will have a handle on that.

Aha, it looks promising: different openings appearing on the horizon for the future...

[...] Besides, the Italians and Germans were on top of a plateau, overlooking a cliff below which the Free French were huddled as the bombs rained down on them. [...]

Yeah, don't judge them too harshly, the conditions (including as well heat, sand, mines) were extreme...

[ColonelY]

I've read, on the description: "no-one [...] has made a movie out of this woman's experiences. It has all the makings: [...]" But now someone is cooking something up.

[ColonelY]

Well, as usual I know you're going to browse through all the posts and their content.

Not too much stress though, building this campaign should remain a pleasure!

I'm still convinced that there are still some relevant elements related to OE (like the construction group, the handful of Vichy French dogfighters, etc.) and in the events that could also follow OE...

Everything in its own time, but - while not stressing yourself - please take as usual the time to go through all of them. It would be a pity to lose interesting elements...

I know, I'm sorry but I'm often writing novels - well, let's say that, amongst others, I've a lot of ideas.

[ColonelY]

By the way, very first small details related to 06BirHakeim.

Based on what is at disposal right now, I already see few elements that may be modified, so why waiting to write about it?


About the text of the briefing (in order of apparition):

1. “1st Division's première brigade” -> “1st Division's Première Brigade” (okay for the original mix between languages, but with two capital letters, it does look better)
2. “Quels crétins.” -> “Quels crétins !” (it comes out with some sort of enthusiasm, right, so let’s make it appear…)
3. “Ritchie has sent an urgent request to” -> “Ritchie has just sent an urgent request to” (more immersive, I think)


About unit names:
1. “General Marie-Pierre Koenig” -> “Général Marie-Pierre Koenig” (make it look “frenchier”)
2. “Bn de l'Oubanghi” -> “Bn de l'Oubangui” (everywhere it appears!)

3. As it’s « une compagnie » (so a feminine French word), one could use:
1 Cie / 2e Bn / 13e DBLE -> 1re Cie / 2e Bn / 13e DBLE
2 Cie / 2e Bn / 13e DBLE -> 2e Cie / 2e Bn / 13e DBLE
Then 3e and 4e for the two remaining!
And similar adaptation each time one find a French company of something…

4. Then all these names (and the corresponding with other numbers) would look better with spaces in between as well, I mean as most of the units (overall visual aspect):
1re Cie/1er Bn/Inf de Marine -> 1re Cie / 1er Bn / Inf de Marine
43 Bty/11th London Yeomanry -> 43 Bty / 11th London Yeomanry
1 Bty/1er Rég d'Artillerie -> 1 Bty / 1er Rég d'Artillerie


And that's all for now!
Not much, but still helping a (very) little in the building up of the 06BirHakeim scenario.