World at War #106 - France Overseas, 1940

From Decision Games:

The Magazine:

France Overseas: What If They Fought On? On 16 June 1940, as the Germans advanced into France, Gen. Phillipe Petain said the “unity and preservation of France” demanded an armistice before the army was destroyed. Premier Paul Renaud refused, but the cabinet rejected his call to continue the war from North Africa by a vote of 13 to 6. In that way, one of the most significant strategic decisions made among the Allies during the first half of the war was decided by four votes.

Articles

The Battle of the Mius River, 1943 As the Battle of Kursk was ending in mid-July 1943, another big clash of armored forces was taking place farther south. That was at the Mius River and—though it concluded in a German tactical victory—it proved to be a Soviet operational success.

The Bougainville Campaign The Bougainville campaign was pivotal regarding the course of the advance in the Southwest Pacific Theater. American naval, ground and air forces had to overcome determined Japanese resistance while securing a base for future operations against Rabaul.

The Desert Air Force From 1 to 3 July 1942, a hastily regrouped British force brought Panzer Army Africa to a halt in a series of engagements later known as the First Battle of El Alamein. The victory was a narrow one, and all during it the Desert Air Force (DAF) maintained pressure on the attacking Axis units. In his after-action report, British commander Gen. Claude Auchinleck rated the DAF’s contribution to the battle’s outcome as “decisive.”

The Game:

France Overseas, 1940. A two player alternative history wargame that examines the possibilities inherent in the campaign that could have occurred in northwest Africa late in 1940 if the French had resolved not to give up. The assumption is they instead chose to evacuate as much of the French Army as possible to Tunisia, Algeria and French Morocco.

Both sides’ orders of battle are historically based. That is, the German force in Spain is what they had intended to use for the invasion of England around this same time. The assumption there is, if they believed they could lift that force across the English Channel, the Strait of Gibraltar would have presented less difficulty – eight miles wide vs. 21 at the Pas de Calais – once Spain had been dragooned into joining the Axis.

The Spanish divisions are the two corps of their Army of North Africa (the original supporters of Franco). The rest of their ground force is assumed to be invading Portugal, as was their plan had things gone this way. During the game the Allied player will have to cope with decisions made ‘above his head’ in London in regard to fleet commitment and the BEF’s initial landing site. That arbitrariness is reflective of the Allies’ historic inability to create smoothly operating joint service headquarters during the war’s first half.

Each game turn represents half a month. Each hex represents about 10 days. Each hex is 20 miles (32.4 km) from side-to-side. Units are divisions.

22 x 34-inch map and one counter sheet of 176 5/8-inch counters.