Belated update from France. Better late than never.

You may have guessed it - I started a new job in September, and was literally swept away with work. Completely forgot to update my last campaign game in our France 1940 FOW campaign.

It was a brilliant battle against Mark's BEF. I was really cocky at the start of the battle and actually charged his lead platoon with my PzIIs. And I learnt the hard way how effective those little 2pdr guns can be. Needless to say my PzII platoon was torn to shreds, and the 2 surviving tanks bottled out.

After the initial setback, my troops dug in and waited for reinforcements. The pioneer platoon dug in to cover my right flank while the center and left flanks were covered by the Luftwaffe 88 battery and supported by the CO and the 2iC platoon. In the meantime, the 88s got invoved in long-range counter-battery fire against the Britsh artillery, with Stukas joining in the action as appropriate. The combined and consistent shooting eventually wore down the British batteries, and they were never a real threat in the battle.

The British reinforcements in the form of infantry and mortar platoons, supported by Matilda I's came in from my right flank. The dug-in pioneers were more than enough to discourage the advance of those tanks. Fortunately for me, the British infantry advanced cautiously, deciding to go from wood to wood.

Why this was fortunate for me was because it allowed precious time for my reinforcements to reposition from my far left flank and into battle on the right flank. One light platoon, one PzIII platoon, and the 2iC platoon combined to make a complete mess of the flanking British infantry. And to make sure the British didn't have any ideas about moving his 2pdrs to support those infantry, one of my light platoons hung around behind a hill on the left flank, within charging distance of the British lines should he decide to move his ATGs.

The combined tank platoons and Stuka strikes eventually decimated the British flank attack, and my tanks were now sweeping into assault positions behind a wood. Then it was time to for the final assault, and as one, the 3 tank platoons of the main assault on the right flank struck forwards, while the platoon lurking on the left flank charged the British positions in front of them, thus drawing the deadly 2pdr battery fire away from the main attack. The platoon carrying out the diversionary attack was decimated, losing 4 out of 5 tanks, and the survivors hastily fled the battlefield. But it was not in vain, for the main attack swept up the British right flank and garnered victory for the Germans.

Only one infantry platoon survived on the British side. I lost 2 tank platoons, and while the 88 battery was technically still there, I had lost both guns.

A superb end to an amazing campaign! Thanks Mark for such a brilliant game. Seeing 2 nicely painted armies on a nicely built table in a campaign game with a strong narrative is always too much fun!

And after that game, it was back to 40k! I had resumed work on the AirCav, with all remaining squads now primed, and 3rd squad currently being painted. Vendetta #3 is being assembled. Should be good. Also, the Dark Vengeance box is a great distraction, and combined with the Dark Angels models from another DV box, plus a whole bunch of marines I've had assembled for a long time now, I think I have most of 1st and 3rd Companies to go along with my Ravenwing. Then there's the Chaos codex, and I've got the Hellbrute all primed and ready to go ...

so much hobby, so little time ...