Free France Campaign

[terminator]

Hemingway releases the Ritz bar in Paris: such a lovely legend... (https://www.lexpress.fr/actualites/1/so ... 93590.html)

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[ColonelY]

Hey, nice picture, thanks!

More info about this story here: https://www.thelocal.fr/20140822/when-h ... -ritz-bar/

[bru888]

Thanks, terminator. For the popup message, I merged that photo with one of J.D. Salinger:

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[bru888]

For the popup message, I merged that photo with one of J.D. Salinger:

Bah, a waste of time because the text was too long for one message! Instead:

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[ColonelY]

About the use of V-1 (and V-2) by the Germans in France:

Example here https://www.rtbf.be/info/regions/liege/ ... d=10410183 :

"It was 75 years ago: during the autumn of 1944 and especially during the winter, just after the euphoria of the liberation, Liège and its region lived in terror of the V1 and V2, the German "flying bombs".

In total, more than 2000 "robots" fell on the province of Liege. The last one was on January 31, 1945.

Sporadic and then almost daily bombings

Historian and archivist at the Liège State Archives, Bernard Wilkin recounts: "When we talk about terror, in fact, it settled in gradually. The first bombings began in September and the population of Liège did not believe in a large-scale offensive. There was talk of a few V1s and V2s falling. But these drops intensified in October and especially in November, when there were almost daily bombings, and with the proximity of the Battle of the Bulge in December, a real climate of panic set in that lasted until the end of January.

A good part of the population then lived in the cellars of the houses. "If we talk to our older fellow citizens, they will certainly remember this climate of terror," says Bernard Wilkin, "I remember my grandparents who lived in Grivegnée and who spent the entire winter of 1944-45 in their coal cellar.

German strategic aims

"One of the objectives of the Battle of the Bulge was of course to reach Antwerp," continues the historian, "which meant that not only the city of Liège was bombed, but also Antwerp, which they tried to demolish in order to stop the flow of supplies to the Allied troops. In Liège, there were many American troops and a particularly important railway network. There was a strategic stake, even if all historians agree that the Battle of the Bulge was lost. In reality, we can really say that the war was already lost almost in 42, 43. But in the German idea, there is still this desire to cut the rail network and to materially strangle the Americans."

Robots" that spread death and destruction

In the end, the military effects were not very important, but from a civilian point of view... "The effects were quite dramatic", commented Bernard Wilkin, "About 1680 V1 and V2 rained down on the city. 1269 citizens of Liège perished. More than 2000 people were injured. And, a particularly important figure, 78,000 houses were damaged or totally destroyed. The V1 and V2 shipments ceased at the end of January. "Because the Germans were cornered," explains the historian, "Militarily, the Battle of the Bulge was lost. And from an industrial point of view too, Germany no longer has the means to keep up. The V1s and V2s require a lot of resources, and Germany no longer has the means to supply itself at the time."

Two different weapons

V1 and V2 were quite distinct devices. Bernard Wilkin explains: "The V1 is an unmanned aircraft, which contains a certain amount of fuel and explosives. Once it runs out of fuel, it falls on the target with a lot of approximations. It is still possible to intercept the V1. Some fighter pilots will make it their specialty. While the V2 looks like a rocket as we imagine it. It can fly at a very high speed and rise to a particularly impressive height, which makes it impossible to intercept. The devices that hit Liege were launched in the Netherlands or at the German border."

Liege, also the first victim of the first jet bombers

"It's not well known, but there were also very occasional bombings, notably on December 24, 1944, by aircraft. This was in fact the first bombing of jet planes, the Arado, which was a new weapon, one of those famous weapons that were to change the course of the war," the historian explains, "This bombing will destroy many homes but also part of the memory of Liège since the repository of the State Archives in Liège will be seriously affected, which will lead to the burning of a large part of the medieval and modern collections." The depository of the State Archives was then housed in the buildings of the Jonfosse train station. To commemorate the event, an exhibition is organized in the current premises of the State Archives in Liege at Cointe. It is accessible free of charge from Tuesday to Friday, from 9 am to 4:30 pm, until February 28."

And from here https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/V1_(missile) (extracts) :

"A few V1s fell on Paris, again after the Allied liberation. Many simply went astray and fell at random. [...]

The V1s flew in a straight line at a constant speed (around 600 to 700 km/h), which made them not easy targets but reachable by several types of allied fighters, which were just as fast. The action of the latter, as well as the flak, made it possible to shoot down about half of these machines launched against the United Kingdom."

[ColonelY]

About the German air strenght left at that time: (without considering here the V-1 and V-2 flying bombs)

The two first paragraphs translated from this French https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op%C3%A9r ... odenplatte (which doesn't contain entirely the very same information that the "equivalent" webpage in English, as usual ):

"Operation Bodenplatte was a Luftwaffe air operation designed to paralyze the Allied forces in the Battle of the Bulge. Its objective was to gain air superiority over the battlefield in order to relieve the German troops engaged in their counter-attack. Using a strike force of more than 900 fighters, night fighters, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft, the operation aimed at destroying the Allied air force on the ground in an area including north-eastern France, eastern Belgium and the southern Netherlands. Bodenplatte was initially scheduled for 16 December 1944, but bad weather conditions repeatedly postponed it until New Year's Day 1945.

The secret was so well kept that some German land and sea forces were not informed of the operation. If the British Ultra services registered movements, they did not realize the imminence of the attack either. The result was a certain surprise for the Allies and a certain German tactical success. However, the loss of pilots - including several experienced leaders - could never be compensated for, even though the Allied aircraft destroyed on the ground were quickly replaced. The Luftwaffe did not gain air superiority, even if only temporarily, while German troops continued to be exposed to Allied attacks until the fall of the Third Reich."

If the Germans were still able to engage more than 900 aircrafts at the (very) end of 1944/beginning of 1945, then at the time of the Liberation of Paris scenario, the Luftwaffe was definitely still there! Weakened certainly, but still capable of formidable attacks. So, for the bombing raid(s) towards the end of the scenario, well, that's certainly an option!

[bru888]

Another 105mm M2A1 Howitzer unit with the same motorization than other artillery units... Under the US flag, but named perhaps "US 250th Artillery / French 2e DB" (it's just not too long to be properly displayed, so that's perfect!)

Not quite, but I will fix.

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[bru888]

Not quite, but I will fix.

That's more like it! (A popup message will explain this.)

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[ColonelY]

Indeed... Nice, that will do it!

[bru888]

"A new Stalingrad" is mentioned in the scenario description.

I have set up an "Avant-garde / 2e DB" along the lines of what you suggested.

"Snipers disrupted the Liberation Parade" and "Fighting continues after liberation parade" are mentioned someplace herein. Alluded to, perhaps is a better way to put it. That cigarette shot thing sounds like it was made up, either by Cocteau or the person who wrote about it. I can find no other references to such an incident.

V-1 and V-2 attacks on Paris took place after liberation which is just as well because why waste time programming V1 and V2 strikes that will have no effect? (I recently figured out why by the way: You mentioned the Japanese Ohka; that was originally designed to damage and destroy ships. It was never intended by the game designers for use against land targets and the offensive ratings reflect this.)

And again, "no warplanes in this scenario on either side." For various reasons which I will briefly reiterate:
• Nowhere did I read that air power played a signifcant part in this. It's not worthwhile for "A final unexpected action towards the end of the scenario, when enough objs have been achieved? The warning of an imminent German bombing raid, the help provided by a handful of Allied dogfighters, perhaps even some German 'captured' AA facing these skies... another sec obj to deal enough damages to them or to destroy enough of these planes (or worse!)" When Paris is liberated, it's liberated and the scenario is over.
• It's already a bigger land battle than it was in reality, but the Allies still have the upper hand. Why? Because they did so in real life! Unopposed or weakly opposed Allied aircraft added to the mix will make this scenario a bit ridiculously easy.
• There is a stipulation in here that the city monuments cannot be attacked by artillery. Now, if I include planes, some yahoo customers of ours will think it cool to bomb the Eiffel Tower (which never happened, of course). That will require me to design a module to prevent planes from appearing over the city at certain times, etc. We saw how easily that went in the last scenario.

[bru888]

A popup message will explain this.

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[bru888]

I have set up an "Avant-garde / 2e DB" along the lines of what you suggested.

But on second thought, and upon review, I didn't like it in conjunction with this scenario or the way the game is played. Setting up "10 light tanks, 10 armored cars and 10 troop transport trucks" as some sort of lightning strike force ... that's 30 units! Out of 60-70 total, that's almost half of the Allied army (including the Americans!). So, nearly half the Allied army is, what, rushing to Paris without regard to supply? That doesn't work in this game and in the scenario, the challenge is to maintain proper lines of supply while still, at the same time, pushing to Paris as quickly as possible (to relieve the beleaguered French Resistance fighters in the city). It felt like I had this blob of units running ahead while artillery is mopping up the bypassed towns. It didn't feel right.

So I reverted to a version of the 2e DB as was seen in Argentan, but expanded to company level to provide for more units.

I think what will happen is that I will descend to the company level. I probably will label accordingly, like "2e Cie ..."

Bah, again! (I said "Bah" twice on this page.) The company level is working fine, but fine-tuning each label with "2e Cie" is not optimal. More is lost than gained by being too detailed. The player can figure out what he is looking at or, more likely, will not even notice or care. The labels are accurate overall and they add the flavor and immersion as intended. Good enough.

[bru888]

Last popup message in Liberation of Paris, I believe. (Depending on how things go, there are up to 21 popup messages in here — that's enough.)

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[bru888]

And here are the orders of battle that I have worked out:

FRENCH (US units, FF flag):
1er Marche du Tchad / 2e DB (US Infantry, M3 Halftrack) (3 co)
2e Marche du Tchad / 2e DB (US Infantry, M3 Halftrack) (3 co)
3e Marche du Tchad / 2e DB (US Infantry, M3 Halftrack) (3 co)
13e Bn du Génie / 2e DB (US Engineers 44, M3A1 Halftrack) (3 co)
Spahis Marocains / 2e DB (US M5A1 Stuart) (3 tanks)
501e Chars de Combat / 2e DB (US M4A3 Sherman 76(W) (3 tanks)
Chasseurs d’Afrique / 2e DB (US M4A3 Sherman 76(W) (3 tanks)
Régiment de Cuirassiers / 2e DB (US M4A3 Sherman 76(W) (3 tanks)
Fusiliers-Marins / 2e DB (US M10 Wolverine) (3 tank destroyers)
Régiment d'Artillerie / 2e DB (US M8 75mm HMC)
Artillerie Coloniale / 2e DB (US M7 Priest)
Artillerie Nord-Africain / 2e DB (US M7 Priest)
US 250th Arty / 2e DB (US 105mm M2A1 Howitzer, US truck)
Groupe Colonial FTA / 2e DB (US T85 MGMC)
Reconnaissance / 2e DB (3 armoured cars)
General Leclerc / 2e DB (US Jeep)
36 TOTAL UNITS

AMERICAN:
1st Bn / 8th Reg / 4th Div (3 co)
2nd Bn / 8th Reg / 4th Div (3 co)
3rd Bn / 8th Reg / 4th Div (3 co)
1st Bn / 12th Reg / 4th Div (3 co)
2nd Bn / 12th Reg / 4th Div (3 co)
3rd Bn / 12th Reg / 4th Div (3 co)
1st Bn / 22nd Reg / 4th Div (3 co)
2nd Bn / 22nd Reg / 4th Div (3 co)
3rd Bn / 22nd Reg / 4th Div (3 co)
Engineer Combat Bn / 4th Div (3 co)
20th Field Arty Bn / 4th Div (155 mm, truck)
29th Field Arty Bn / 4th Div (105 mm, truck)
42nd Field Arty Bn / 4th Div (105 mm, truck)
44th Field Arty Bn / 4th Div (105 mm, truck)
Cavalry Recon / 4th Div (3 armoured cars)
General Barton / 4th Div (Jeep)
38 TOTAL UNITS

74 TOTAL ALLIED UNITS

GERMAN (boxed only):

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85 TOTAL GERMAN UNITS

Once I place these, Liberation of Paris should be ready soon.

Remember, this was supposed to be the last scenario in the campaign. As such, it was supposed to be a dramatic climax! Well, the pressure is off because it's not going to be the last one. As a matter of fact, the last scenario will be the quite minor conflict, Battle of Authion. Two reasons not to sweat over coming up with an ending with a bang anymore!

[ColonelY]

-> Ok, let's forget about V-1 or final bombing raid.

-> Event "The End Is Near?": The "n'est pas?" should rather be written "n'est-ce pas?" (like "isn't it?")

-> For the French vanguard, about the "10 each"... Well, this was (only) the group that was historically detached first... but, in the scenario, it could just as easily be represented by one or two units of each... like this, "Avant-garde / 2e DB" is still an option, I would say!
And on the US side, one could imagine an US tiny vanguard as well, because we've still in reserve this extra "102nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron" (again, one or two units on the battlefield)...

-> We will have many tanks... what about the German AT capabilities? Have you already added a bunch of German 20mm FlaK 38 & 8.8 cm FlaK 37 in the mix? These are great because they can switch mod from AA to AT...

-> I assume that the "Tank Strike Force" is a group of a few Tigers together with various Panther (including one Jagdpanther in the mix )...

-> I feel like there may be a little something missing... I've seen you'll put 3 units of the German Renault FT-17 tanks "of another age" in this battlefield. As you've written, you really like this contrast, this blending:

[...] A couple of German Renault FT-17 tanks in the mix (I love the blending of Panther/Tigers and this rattletrap on the same battlefield, an indication of waning German fortunes) [...]

Now, this effect could be enhanced by adding (without any extra event this time), let's say, 2 units of German PzKw. 39H 735(f) => so, more "French captured tanks", yes. We know there was some (as proof, we've already in resereve a picture of them in the streets of Paris). Now, together with your "Tank Strike Force" or not?

[terminator]

Women fighters, the forgotten of the Liberation of Paris

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[ColonelY]

Very nice, thanks! Well, one could make room to add one of the (certainly) very last events of this scenario, couldn't we?

[ColonelY]

From here: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femmes_da ... %C3%A7aise

"In Paris, three lanes were named in memory of women resistance fighters companion of the Liberation: the place Simone-Michel-Lévy (7th arrondissement) in 2006, the street Laure-Diebold (8th arrondissement) in 2013 and the bridge Marcelle-Henry (17th arrondissement) in 2017."

& "Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, at the head of the Alliance network supervises the network's three thousand agents. After the war, she presided over the association of former agents. She is the only woman to have been head of a major Resistance network."

More information about her here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Madeleine_Fourcade

[bru888]

-> Ok, let's forget about V-1 or final bombing raid. Thank you for continuing to respect my "editor in chief" status, my co-author.

-> Event "The End Is Near?": The "n'est pas?" should rather be written "n'est-ce pas?" (like "isn't it?") Thanks. Corrected.

-> For the French vanguard, about the "10 each"... Well, this was (only) the group that was historically detached first... but, in the scenario, it could just as easily be represented by one or two units of each... like this, "Avant-garde / 2e DB" is still an option, I would say!
And on the US side, one could imagine an US tiny vanguard as well, because we've still in reserve this extra "102nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron" (again, one or two units on the battlefield)... Jeeps and recon units will be up front.

-> We will have many tanks... what about the German AT capabilities? Have you already added a bunch of German 20mm FlaK 38 & 8.8 cm FlaK 37 in the mix? These are great because they can switch mod from AA to AT... Definitely. I read about the 88's being a significant element of German defences.

-> I assume that the "Tank Strike Force" is a group of a few Tigers together with various Panther (including one Jagdpanther in the mix )... Yes, but I didn't have the Jagdpanther. I'll add one.

-> I feel like there may be a little something missing... I've seen you'll put 3 units of the German Renault FT-17 tanks "of another age" in this battlefield. As you've written, you really like this contrast, this blending:

[...] A couple of German Renault FT-17 tanks in the mix (I love the blending of Panther/Tigers and this rattletrap on the same battlefield, an indication of waning German fortunes) [...]

Now, this effect could be enhanced by adding (without any extra event this time), let's say, 2 units of German PzKw. 39H 735(f) => so, more "French captured tanks", yes. We know there was some (as proof, we've already in resereve a picture of them in the streets of Paris). Now, together with your "Tank Strike Force" or not? Will do. That picture was too small, though.

Very nice, thanks! Well, one could make room to add one of the (certainly) very last events of this scenario, couldn't we?
Certainly, but only because I am in love once again! Ah, me. I am such a pushover.

[bru888]

Very nice, thanks! Well, one could make room to add one of the (certainly) very last events of this scenario, couldn't we?
Certainly, but only because I am in love once again! Ah, me. I am such a pushover.

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