French Avatars in Order of Battle: World War II?

[LN59]

The creators of the game, mostly Anglo-Saxon I presume ( that's not a criticism) seem to have forgotten - despite five DLC out of sixteen (Blitzkrieg, Kriegsmarine, Endsieg, Allies Defiant, Allies Resurgent and soon a sixth one) - that France, although militarily crushed in 1940 then four years occupied, all the same had very many participants throughout the war, from September 1939 to September 1945. In both opposite camps at the same time and depending on the moment. Far worst: face to face as in Senegal and Syria in 1941!

In 1939-1940, the French divisions on the Western Front were twenty times more numerous than the British ones. The French air force five times more before the Battle of Britain. Not to mention the excellent custom campaigns where the Free French are present, like Normandie-Niemen (1943-1945, by Jeff & Terminator), 3rd US Infantry Division (by Conboy) or Free France 1940-1945 (by Bru & ColonelY) for example, but where they're only represented in the event windows.

>>> NOT A SINGLE FRENCH AVATAR IS AVAILABLE FOR CUSTOMIZED MULTIPLAYER GAMING OR THE SCENARIOS' AND CAMPAIGNS' CREATION!

Can we hope one day to have French Avatars in OoB: WW2? Not only Free French (Gaullists) but also some French before the summer of 1940 and a few Vichysts (1940-1944)? Why not at least a Giraudist like General Juin for the Italian Campaign, Liberation of Corsica in 1943, Gustav Line breakthrough & Elba Island invasion in June 1944? Despite the traditional French bashing among some rare guys across the Channel and the Atlantic, my country doesn't lack heroic and honourable characters. I'm keeping a well-documented list at your disposal!

Finally, having found a magnificent portrait of a Free French NCO on the Wargame Design Studio (USA) home page which has just taken over the great work of the late John TILLER (1955-2021, RIP), I fulfilled my frustration in editing and including it in my Steam Order of Battle's Avatars' directory ...

Who would be interrested about that kind of feature and historical rightness?
LN59, aka "Furia francese"

Size is 256 x 256 pixels
Resolution is 72 pixels/inch
Unit: "1er Bataillon d'Infanterie de Marine"
Rank: Adjutant
Possible place and date: Western Desert (Bir Hakeim) - Spring 1942.

avatar_FreeFrenchNCO.png (115.6 KiB) Viewed 2412 times

[terminator]

The allied campaign does not use the French as core units, only as auxilliary units

[Shards]

I'm happy to add some in, but we'll need someone to make them and the stock images that are used as the base must be royalty free.

(and I'd certainly rather use named individuals rather than "An Adjutant with a Chin-Strap beard" (non monsieur, non...)

[bru888]

>>> NOT A SINGLE FRENCH AVATAR IS AVAILABLE FOR CUSTOMIZED MULTIPLAYER GAMING OR THE SCENARIOS' AND CAMPAIGNS' CREATION!

Indeed. This recalls the fictional "Admiral Portier" that I was forced to use for this very reason. Poor Admiral Karel Doorman ("portier" is French for "doorman"); I had to use his likeness throughout the campaign as my narrator avatar. The very first briefing:

"Bonjour. Je suis l'Amiral Charles Guillaume Portier, chef d'état-major du Général de Gaulle. Mais non, permettez-moi de continuer en anglais pour nos amis Britanniques. Good morning. I am Admiral Charles Guillaume Portier, chief of staff to General de Gaulle. It is my responsibility to provide the briefings required in conjunction with the operations of les Forces Françaises Libres. Welcome. Now to the matter at hand."

admiral_portier.png (187.55 KiB) Viewed 2356 times

All of which rates this:

[LN59]

In the meantime the Adjutant has become Lieutenant and has exchanged
the pipe for the cigarette (Gauloises, English or American?) and the forage cap for the kepi.

1944_12 The 1st DFL in transit through France.jpg (31.85 KiB) Viewed 2339 times

"Sir! Yes, Sir!" No problem for a friendly contribution, if that's okay with you, Shards!

The longest for me will be to check the copyrights with the possibly detaining institutions: "the Historical Service of the Armed Forces, the Free France Foundation and the Museum of the Order of the Liberation". I could then send you a gallery of about 6 to 10 nominative portraits in the desired image format, with essential (but brief) explanations as to the biography of each character. What purpose ?

On the model devoted to the 3rd US Infantry Division "Rock of the Marne", to allow, for example, a campaign on the "First Free French Division" (1e DFL) which fought valiantly from 1940 to 1945. Where ? In Gabon, Chad, Eritrea, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, Italy, Provence, along the Rhône, in the Vosges, in Alsace and finally in the French Alps. Against Italians ... lucky enough to have their own avatars without any DLC being dedicated to them.

But it's true, with many custom scenarios and some campaigns where however they have the frequent role of Germans' auxiliaries.
Would France be of less interest than Italy or even Finland in a game about the Second World War?
Not to mention Poland and a few Allies or Axis Minors ...

LN59, retired history teacher, passionate about historical games.

[Shards]

That beard is still awful!

[LN59]

Awful, but very frequent in French Colonial and Legionnaire units!
The "Infanterie de Marine" like the "Légion Étrangère" comes under the command of the Army.
The words "de Marine" comes from the fact that for a very long time it was our "Ministère de la Marine" which was responsible for our colonial Empire's defense.
It was therefore this Ministry who financed these units made up of a metropolitan framework and private soldiers, largely indigenous.
So, the "Infantry de Marine" should not be confused with our "Fusiliers-Marins" which correspond to your well known Marines (in USA or in UK).
In France, nothing is simple but it's only in appearance!

[Shards]

The best images are 3/4 portraits like Mr Doorman up there. They're usually found as B&W versions in out-of-copyright collections from the period.

Previously, we have paid an artist to then recolour them. I am unlikely to be able to do that in this case, so you might need to find a friendly artist to help you out?

[Erik2]

I found a few suitable French portraits and used them as commanders and avatars in my (modded) France 1940 campaign.
The colorization is not my work.
Good hunting!

commander_500 = Charles De Gaulle
commander_501 = Charles Huntziger
commander_502 = Maurice Gamelin
commander_503 = Henri Giraud
commander_504 = Pierre Billotte
commander_505 = Georges Blanchard

frenchies.jpg (88.31 KiB) Viewed 2283 times

[LN59]

Hi, Erik2, bru888, Shards & Terminator!

A big thank you for your illustrated answers and all the details you kindly provided me. I get to work as soon as the Winter Tournament is over. However, I do have a few questions for you. Thereby :

1 ° are the avatars' dimensions really 256 x 256 pixels, 72 pixels per inch? You indicate a ratio of 4 / 3. Isn't it more for Black and White pictures? Those that appear in the events window, unless I'm mistaken? Indeed, in addition to avatars, I can collect interesting images to illustrate in this way a possible "1st Free French Division" campaign. And why not, later, a "Second Armored Division" campaign (General LECLERC) or even "First French Army" (General de LATTRE de TASSIGNY).

But here I am encroaching on what you have already done quite well, despite the restrictions linked to a French "Core Force" not originally planned for the game. In reality, this is mainly due to the fact that in 1940-1941 the "Free French Forces" counted on the recovery of French material in the colonies rallied to General de GAULLE; then from spring 1941 to early 1943, on equipment granted by the British Army and finally, from 1943 until after 1945, on American equipment. Not to mention that there has always been a "mix" of armaments, combat gear and tactical doctrines. Without mentioning here the individual origins, the political convictions and the most variegated strategic aims!

2 ° the numbering of the six French avatars gathered for your 1940 Campaign goes from 500 to 505. British General Lord Gort (Field Marshall in 1943) corresponds to # 506, according to the portrait associated with the six others. Could you, please, tell me the usable digital range for the French avatars that I will send you, knowing that there will be about a dozen, in addition to those already selected by you?

3 ° My selection of portraits will be more varied but complementary to yours: fewer general officers, more officers or combatants who had an important role on the ground, including resistance fighters, men, a few women, Europeans and natives, who were also very numerous in the troop. All also presented in the form of a table (PDF) with their first and last names, a brief historical note and, if you allow it, a suggested use (of bonus traits) according to their skills or their historical achievements.

There we go, I don't think I've forgotten anything ... For now!
Sincerely,
LN59

[Erik2]

The IDs used for avatars/commanders can be anything not already in use. I started my on ID = 500, I suggest you start yours at ie ID = 600 to avoid any duplicate IDs in the future.

[LN59]

Okay, Erik2! Message well received...

[LN59]

Hi Erik2,

I come back to you for some clarification on the creation and installation of additional avatars in the graphics data directory of the game.

a) I observed that there are two folders containing portraits:

- the <Avatars> folder and the <Commanders> folder which seems to me more complete than the first one, with two kinds of thumbnails for each character. So what is the role of each, their differences especially in the use of their content, and which is the most relevant to accommodate customized portraits?

b) <Avatars> folder:

- There appear to be "free slots" with the current no portrait at slots #98, #99, #118, #119 & #120. Is there a problem using them to place our homemade avatars on? I ask you this question because if I use #130, my "Free French NCO w/an ugly beard" avatar is ignored, even if I use a number >= 134.

- Also, it seems to me that the Soviet Officer (from the VVS, #129?) although official (in a DLC of the Soviet trilogy), is not recognized in the list of avatars selectable to illustrate our panel of info during a game in PBEM. As you scroll, the last character to appear on screen is aviator Aleksandra Boïka, before returning to the start with a US Marine. Same if I use 500 or 600 ... What does this numerical data correspond to?

c) About the <Commanders> folder:

- Numbered from 0 to 133, there are in fact 129 portraits in the two forms mentioned above, plus 5 "free spaces". Are these images associated with the <commanders.txt> file in the <Data> folder for internal use by the program? Can we, or should we, edit this file to ensure consistency with the "Commanders" portrait database, as is likely to happen between the "Avatars" and the <avatars.txt> file?

- Are there any rules to follow or precautions to take to do this? Or is it just for game designers/developers?

I hope I haven't been too boring with all my questions which, however, are not of an extremely urgent nature! I have gathered the portraits that I hope to upload to you in a few... (weeks? months?) and give you an overview of them by the "contact sheet" attached. I will take care of the colorization, but it may take quite a bit of time, like checking the copyright of the images (long for sure).

Congratulations again and my warm thanks for this very good game that is OoB: WW2 and for the extraordinary content made available to us on the forum by real artists (mods, scenarios, campaigns). I hope there will soon be a sequel on the Allies to complete the trilogy... and I do not despair of seeing one day a DLC entirely devoted to France. That said, the campaigns of bru888, conroy, colonelY, Erik Nigaard (etc.) are real gems!

Best Regards from France,
LN59

French Avatars - Work in Progress!
This list of 27 isn't definitive. The last one to be uploaded will have a few less characters (between 12 and 20).

Galerie_27_Portraits_Français_2eGM.png (627.64 KiB) Viewed 1917 times

[Erik2]

a) The 256x256 Avatar is used when you login to multiplayer (and maybe other uses as well)
The 256x256 Commander is the one you see on the right map edge during play.
The 256*162 commander_unit is used when you have attached a commander to teh unit.

b) I guess the free slots are an oversight. I would not use those as the devs may use ithem for official avatars/commanders in the future.
Start your commanders with a hight number, I started with 500 in my MicroMod.
Note that info must be put in the avatar, commander and english_mod (or other language) files. Otherwise you won't see the commanders in the editor. Check my files in the MicroMod.

[LN59]

Thank you, Erik2, for all these useful details!
Sincerely,
LN59