Mini France AAR - a struggle against the odds

[Alex Kernel]

Desperate times call for desperate measures. (@stnylan )

Once the the three army corps were in place and reorganized for an offensive France declared war on the Fascist Portugal caused by "unexpected" unveiling of a secret pact with Nazi Germany and Spain to attack France behind the back. The real motive might have been the very recent German-Portuguese contract to export high quantities of Tungsten absolutely necessary for the antitank weapons' and armours' producing German industry. 13 March was the date the offensive started, and when Portugal joined Axis. Things were going well for our forces. In two weeks and a few days Portugal was under French control, but the country refused to capitulate. That took everyone in France by surprise.

The General Headquarters debated what the best course of action would be. It was assessed that the German frontline was stable and no suspicious movements behind the enemy lines around the Maginot Line happened. Germany didn't declare war on Norway either, which proves once again how unreliable secret services usually are! What really unnerved the French generals was those pesky Portuguese invading unabating French territories in West Africa! They had to be punished exemplary. The second infantry corps (five divisions) was hurriedly assembled and sent by ship to West Africa, later, it would be Transported to South-East Asia to overtake the Portuguese colony before somebody else like the Japanese, or even worse, the Brits do it.

The thinking behind this decision was more complex. Portugal had 3 or four divisions (not all visible on the map) advancing on French possessions, while England only supported South Africa to annex Portuguese overseas territories (3rd Map). Should Italy join the party, France had no armed forces on the continent (they have been withdrawn early 1936 for reorganization), and a joined Italian Portuguese operation with only British opposition would have been dangerous for French Africa.

NOTE: I did see in past games that Italy sometimes wins the war in North Africa (and beyond) and the Middle East.

The second Infantry Corps was designated as the French elite army for overseas operations, be it in Africa, Middle East or South-East Asia.


Map 1 Portuguese conquests in West Africa

Map 2 Five divisions to protect the French colonies in Africa and beyond

Map 3 South Africa advancing in Portuguese colonies

Shortly before this action happened, the first infantry corps that did the heavy lifting in the Iberian wars, was gathered in the former Portuguese capital and transported by sea to Caen to man the Belgian borders, which have been left dangerously exposed for three months. The idea was for these forces to join the Maginot Line if Germany tried something serious. The only French (half) Armoured Corps was sent by train instead, in order not to delay the overseas operations.

Then, the unthinkable happened. On the 19 April 1940 Nazi Germany DOWed Luxembourg, and on the 20 April 1940 they declared war on Belgium as well.

 

[Alex Kernel]

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

True enough. You spoke some visionary words before!

I've just checked and while Butterfly Effect has reached 290,000 words, I'm not sure that counts as book

OH... MY.... That counts not as a book, but as trilogy. I checked your (HOI2) AAR, and it is many times longer than the war itself: from 2005 and you got yesterday a last reply. That's something unheard of, I'm sure. Even your Slovak friends would entirely agree with it. They might be even envious.

my record on 'quick AARs' is not good.

Your art lies somewhere else.

There was basically no Tungsten in Norway

Right. I checked in the game, and it's in Sweden too. Actually my question is what did Germany look in Norway for? I couldn't come up with something strategically significant, so I created this story with the Tungsten.
Tungsten was very important for AT and Armours, but why didn't the Nazis go for Sweden to secure that resource? Also in the game, Germany never goes for Tungsten, which is inaccurate, because they did import large quantities from Portugal, and less from Spain.

By the way, is there a difference between Wolfram and Tungsten? In my readings, they are the same substance, only Wolfram is used more often in the German language, and Tungsten in English.

It is perhaps a bit late for this plan, the time to stab Spain in the back and charge across the Pyrenees is during the SCW so you can get maximum benefit from it. But if you can get everything done and dusted by February then it was probably still worth it, even at this late point.

I'm aware late moves happen in this AAR. The reason for this is, this is the first time I'm playing France seriously (There was a failed attempt two years ago, when I barely new how HOI3 works). Consequently things occur to me while playing, which is a bit of levelling the field with the AI. Knowing the history dates is an advantage enough. The AI keeps little surprises too. I was expecting for example, it to attack Belgium and Holland around the date of May 10 1940. He attacked three weeks in advance instead, when my troops where barely deployed north of Maginot. That was a critical moment that will be treated in the next episode. Also, on that day I doubted the sanity of dispatching 5 divisions in overseas missions. Things are very tricky for France.

P.S.: SCW is the Spanish Civil War? Could France have done that, given her high Neutrality? Unfortunately there is no save from that period.

 

[Alex Kernel]

And now on to Portugal? Or might that be a bridge too far...?

Nothing is a bridge too far for the mighty France!

I'm impressed you pulled that off. Attacking Spain while the Germans are knocking on the door, and taking it before the Italians react or the Germans breeze through the Benelux.

Good show. I'm curious to see where this goes next.

Thank you! There are plenty of surprises in store. Stay with us, we'll have fun.

My hope is to survive the German challenge, and challenge the Soviets to free Central and Eastern Europe. Should victory be our destiny, France will give independence to all the conquered countries in a great peaceful family of liberal-democracies.

 

[nuclearslurpee]

As expected, an easy win on the peninsula, but now you're caught on the German front with a corps of five divisions out to lunch. Probably not what was planned!

It will be interesting to see what happens next. Can France hold out without one of her best infantry corps? If not, can they make it home in time to stop the inevitable?

 

[El Pip]

By the way, is there a difference between Wolfram and Tungsten? In my readings, they are the same substance, only Wolfram is used more often in the German language, and Tungsten in English.

They are the same thing. Slightly confusingly one of the main ores for Tungsten is called Wolframite.

P.S.: SCW is the Spanish Civil War? Could France have done that, given her high Neutrality? Unfortunately there is no save from that period.

SCW is indeed the Spanish Civil War. There was once an exploit where you could sneak into the war as a neutral, but it appears Paradox closed it in one of the DLCs. So you are probably correct that France cannot intervene in the war due to the very high neutrality.

Actually my question is what did Germany look in Norway for? I couldn't come up with something strategically significant

Now this is the hard question, trying to make sense of German strategy! The Norway invasion is not so much about Norway, but what it provides;
* Ah ice-free route for the iron ore from North Sweden, through the railways and port of Narvik. Some fairly high percentage of iron ore came through that route even during the war.
* Stopping the British being based there to bomb north Germany and threaten the Baltic
* A safer route for surface-raiders and the U-boats to get to the Atlantic. In WW1 the North Sea had broadly been a British lake, Jutland was described as "the German fleet attacking it's jailer, but remaining in prison", because Norway had been neutral but leaning British. If Germany occupied Norway then the German fleet and U-boats could base out of a Norwegian port and operate under friendly air cover while running to the Atlantic, a far safer option than risking the Channel.

So it was the German Navy and industrial concerns that wanted Norway captured, as it would help with a long war. But that sort of long-term thinking makes no sense in this context, the rest of German strategy was based on the idea that they would lose a long war, because the British blockade would strangle them as it had in WW1. Hence the gamble of Sicklecut to defeat France quickly and to a large extent Barbarossa ('kick down the door and the rotten structure will collapse'), risky plans that had to win quickly or they would lose slowly, as ultimately happened.

If much of this seems odd and contradictory then I have been successful, because Nazi Grand Strategy was contradictory and odd and often made absolutely no sense.

 

[Bullfilter]

Now this is the hard question, trying to make sense of German strategy! The Norway invasion is not so much about Norway, but what it provides;
* Ah ice-free route for the iron ore from North Sweden, through the railways and port of Narvik. Some fairly high percentage of iron ore came through that route even during the war.
* Stopping the British being based there to bomb north Germany and threaten the Baltic
* A safer route for surface-raiders and the U-boats to get to the Atlantic. In WW1 the North Sea had broadly been a British lake, Jutland was described as "the German fleet attacking it's jailer, but remaining in prison", because Norway had been neutral but leaning British. If Germany occupied Norway then the German fleet and U-boats could base out of a Norwegian port and operate under friendly air cover while running to the Atlantic, a far safer option than risking the Channel.

So it was the German Navy and industrial concerns that wanted Norway captured, as it would help with a long war. But that sort of long-term thinking makes no sense in this context, the rest of German strategy was based on the idea that they would lose a long war, because the British blockade would strangle them as it had in WW1. Hence the gamble of Sicklecut to defeat France quickly and to a large extent Barbarossa ('kick down the door and the rotten structure will collapse'), risky plans that had to win quickly or they would lose slowly, as ultimately happened.

If much of this seems odd and contradictory then I have been successful, because Nazi Grand Strategy was contradictory and odd and often made absolutely no sense.

That, and the heavy water facility for the German nuclear program (see ‘Heroes of Telemark’).

 

[Alex Kernel]

The end of the Phoney War on the Western Front

Since the failed French Euskirchen offensive in the autumn of 1939 and up to the German declaration of war on Luxemburg and Belgium on the April 20 1940 the frontline was only rarely punctuated by attacks and counterattacks doubled by inconclusive aerial dogfights.

The German attack on a neutral country came caused great surprise in Paris, despite the harsh lessons taught by the Nazi regime to the international community in Czechoslovakia and Poland. Some lessons get never internalized.

On that beautiful and sad day of spring the French General Headquarter had to lay out the fundamental battle plan for the survival of our beloved Nation.

The situation was truly perilous. The entire combined armoured and motorised Corps was on its way on trains towards the frontline, but all of its divisions were still in Spain, needing at minimum three weeks to become fully operational at arrival. The second Infantry Corps was on its way to Africa to fight off the Portuguese forces.

The only French Armoured Corps on the day of the German offensive in Belgium.

The existential question was, where should France fight for her life. On French soil, or in Belgium (and eventually Holland)? The general mood was to reject another frontline in France itself, given the devastations during the WWI.

The ad-hoc French Battle Plan 20 April 1940

It has been decided to help the Belgian allies, by advancing and entrenching in defensible positions behind rivers and in cities. France didn't have any offensive capabilities, and the best bet was to keep the higher defence value frontline stable. Holland's province Maastrict had the effect of reducing the defensive belt in Belgium to three provinces: Liege, Namur and Philippeville. The French sector north of the Maginot Line also covered three provinces: Charleville, Sedan and Longuyon Mezieres.
In case the French troops would not get in time to the designated defence positions, or they will be defeated there, a second frontline will be established along the fortified cities Bruxelles and Antwerpen. This line would be also effective if Netherland will be attacked and defeated.

Another reason to fight off the Germans in the Low Countries was that France simply lacks the manpower to defend alone against the German invaders. By saving Belgium, and possibly Holland, one could fill the gaps with local Belgian divisions, who despite being technologically less advanced, will hopefully be able to stop the onslaught. Britain has also cabled that they are going to send to the frontline 2 infantry divisions and 1 armoured.

Should the second line be overrun, the French army will make another stand on the border with a reinforcement center in Lille, which had been heavily fortified since 1936. A fourth last defensive line would be established along the rivers two provinces behind.

In the eventuality most of Belgium is secured, the French leadership contemplates extending the defensive line to Netherland on fortified provinces and rivers, because the north-western Belgian border has no natural or man-made defensive advantages, a real danger for the overstretched French troops.

All the troops at the Belgian border received orders to enter the neighbouring country and run to the frontline as fast as possible. Belgium protested against the French plan to not establish the defensive line along the entirety of its eastern most borders, but to no avail.

All that France could send in Belgium where 14 infantry divisions, 5 of whom, freshly brought from Iberia, would not be able to enter battle for around 100 hours after deployment, and another 2 of them being taken from the French segment that was left woefully weakly defended (1 div/province). One British Royal Marine (3xMAR + ENG) was rapidly heading to the French defenders in desperate need of reinforcements. Three other French AA divisions (INF + 3xAA) in Reims (the active airport behind the lines in France) were also recently assembled and in need of organizing for several more days.

The Aircraft was also placed at the closest possible airfields to counter the already heavy German bombardments.

This was the starting point of the hot phase of the German-French war.

 

[Bullfilter]

A fourth last defensive line would be established along the rivers two provinces behind.

I think you’re going to need that fourth line: a fort in Amiens or Arras might have been useful too.

I think Belgium and Holland are both irrevocably doomed, though I admire your Quixotic attempt to defend them. I doubt defending on the Belgian border will be much use either - the terrain isn’t favourable enough and you will probably lose more men and organisation defending it that the Germans will attacking it.

To defend the fourth line, you probably need two strong divisions (including some AT brigades) in every province at least, plus infantry divisions in reserve to replace burnt out ones in place and some armoured formations for counter-attacking any line breaks, including on the main existing line further east. Plus a strong defence of the Italian border. And for at least one of those frontline defensive divisions in each province to be dug in at close to max (ie ten days worth of fortification in place) when the Germans hit.

And maybe a last line of defence along the rivers around Paris if enough of the fourth line falls. Anyway, very interested to see what you try and whether it works. Have you already finished the game and are just writing it up retrospectively? Or are things ‘live’?

 

[El Pip]

or even worse, the Brits do it.

When the people of this timeline write the history of the war, the failure of France to trust it's British ally will be pinpointed as one of the biggest mistakes France made.

More seriously, surely most of the French Army would happily trade almost all of West Africa for a second Infantry Corps manning the front lines right now. If you beat back the Germans then you can deal with Portugal at your leisure, but if the Germans break through it doesn't matter what Portugal does.

I agree with my colleague above, holding the Dutch and Belgian borders (even the limited section proposed) is probably doomed. If nothing else I fear the Germans might well have taken some of those provinces outlined before the troops get there. A 'Brave' plan would be to use your naval strength to ship troops directly into Amsterdam, make that a fortress and rely on it's urban bonus and naval gunfire support to hold. If nothing else it will distract a large portion of the German Army from moving south.

In any event there is probably value in accepting Eastern Belgium is doomed and just going straight to the Dyle Line (the Antwerp to Namur line of forts) and holding there, giving your forces time to dig in and get that defensive bonus.

 

[Eurasia]

God have mercy on your soul. And abandon Africa. It is useless! USELESS!

 

[Alex Kernel]

The Future is Today

One of the most consequential battles of WWII is recorded in the history books as the Battle of Dinant.

On the wee hours of 19 April, German troops crossed the borders of Luxembourg overwhelming the small local garrison, and attacked Verviers (East of Liege). The Luxembourg Headquarters managed to flee in Metz, France.

Heightened divisions arose anew between the French and the Belgian Headquarters. The King of Belgium, who coincidentally was in a state visit in France, held a passionate discourse in the French Parliament asking the Republic to defend the Belgian borders in their entirety from German aggression. The Belgian army was fully deployed at its borders hell-bent on repulsing any hostile attack.

The French General Headquarters, while acknowledging the valiance of the Belgian resolve, was firmly convinced this was pure folly. The main concern of the French was they won't make it to the Philipville-Namur-Liege defensive at all before the Germans are there, and they further feared a general German offensive on the lightly defended Charleville Mezieres-Sedan-Longuyon segment. Their trust in the Belgian military capabilities was very modest, to say the least. And the fact that no Armours were ready for action was potentially disastrous for the whole enterprise. British forces were missing completely from the picture at this juncture.

Heavy battles ensued across the Belgian-German border, whereby the Germans brought their best elite infantry units, artillery and panzers.

To the astonishment of everyone, the Belgian troops resisted for several days the unforgiving assault, which proved to be crucial for the French trains to bring our divisions on the designated defensive perimeter in time. By the time the French infantry was occupying its positions in Liege and Namour, the remnants of the Belgian divisions were retreating in great disorder towards Liege and Bastogne (which was still holding). The German lost no time and started an attack on the French troops in Liege, some of whom were caught disembarking their equipment from the railway. The Belgian Air force, which was considerable in numbers, went at great length to protect the French and the Belgian infantry from scathing Bomber attacks. German interceptors of superior technology have steadily reduced Belgian air defence.

Meanwhile, the French Airforce was defending the Belgians in Arlons and Bastogne with more efficacity. The Belgian defence in Arlons and Bastogne crumbled a few days later than in the north, and now almost all of the infantry and motorised Belgian divisions were routed, retreating as they could toward Dinant. To the astonishment of the Allies, the mobile enemy divisions have occupied the border provinces in record time and rushed toward Dinant in a concerted attempt to eliminate the backbone of the Belgian army, by capturing their units at arrival. This threatened to be a crushing defeat, not only for the Belgians but also a catastrophic blow for the French defensive strategy.

Panic was rampant among the officers in the French Paris HQ, as soon as they realised the gravity of the crisis. All the French troops on the Belgian line were either reorganizing or defending with the desperation of the doomed to prevent a German river crossing, signifying no help was possible from the North and North-West. The only two divisions on Charleville were sent in a chanceless battle to Dinant in a last-ditch attempt to save the 80% of the Belgian army, with support from Sedan.

Then the incredible happened. A German motorised division reached Dinant FIRST. The French units immediately entered action, with support from the First French Bomber Group. Enemy bombers tried to pound the French divisions as well, and an incredible number of Fighters encountered each other in life and death fights. The French Air force was slowly, inexorably losing the grip, when the first English Interceptors entered the scene. The first French Bomber Group was eventually grounded with close to 20 Strength for half of wings. The second Bomber Group, without the protection of a Multirole Fighter wing was ordered to continue the bombardment at all costs.

In the end, the German Motorised division, wore down and had to retreat. The French divisions took positions, being promptly subjected to intense Armour and Artillery attacks. An eerie silence sank over the skies, with both parties' completely spent Air forces. The Belgians lost several wings, but still had enough to fight another day.

The French AT brigades helped the units in Dinant to resist for several more days the enemy barrage of fire, at a very high cost in lives. That sacrifice sufficed to save the Belgian army from near total destruction. They reached Dinant in time to continue relatively unhindered their retreat to Namur and Philipville. The German superiority in numbers and firepower caused the French divisions to break and withdraw back to Charleville. As German troops were amassing in Dinant in need of reorganization after the bruising battles, a few fresh divisions tried to cross the river into Charleville Mezieres. Fortunately a British Royal Marines Division (see the left corner down) was already in place to close the gap, and resisted well, until reinforcements from the Maginot Line arrived.

The French units in Liege, aided by the most modern AT and ART regiments and by the Belgian forts (Level 3) managed in extremis to repel the combined German armoured and Infantry attack. Their luck was that the first wave of German attackers needed some time to reorganize as well, after the first battles with the Belgians in Verviers.

In total the Battle for Dinant lasted for 2 weeks, and it was THE existential struggle for France. In all this time, the Germans also probed the French defence on the Maginot Line, forcing the Southern Army Group to dispatch two Mountaineers Divisions from the Italian borders, literally saving the day in one Maginot line fierce battle.

Multiple powerful attacks followed on the French Charleville Mezieres-Sedan-Longuyon line, which was very thin indeed, but, as noted before, the bulk of the German troops had to organize as well after the failed Dinant offensive meant to eliminate the Belgian army altogether. The French divisions on the Charleville-Longuyon segment resisted only due to the French Motorised and Armoured divisions arriving eventually from Spain to reinforce them. Because we had no reserves left, the mobile corps could not be used in any other mission, having to stay on that line to keep the power balance in check.

It was largely believed that in absence of a carefully planned river and fortresses defence, and some amount of luck, France would have had no chance of halting the massive German offensive. Also, if Germany would have attacked concomitantly the Netherlands, the frontline would have collapsed.

The British contribution to the war effort might not have been obvious, but it is considered by the French military as significant on another level. As these dramatic events unfolded in Belgium, the British Navy supported by the French first Fleet fought several sea battles, reducing the German Navy capabilities, and tried two landing operations on the shores of northern Germany. Those attempts predictably failed, but they did determine the German High Command to distribute a number of divisions to the northern shores, which probably relieved the pressure on the French troops in Belgium and North-East France. It was assessed that those extra divisions had the potential turn the tide in the Dinant Battle and/or on the neighbouring French segment. Arguably, the British amphibious operation has averted a German declaration of war on the Netherlands. Any of the three courses of action the German army would have taken in the absence of the British amphibious attack, it would have led to the collapse of the Allied defence.

NOTE: The original war screenshots were made with the wrong key, which meant they were all lost. Unfortunately, I am trying to make up for that lack of battle graphics with help from several saves in essential moments. Yes, the history is being told in retrospective, but the game was not played to the end. In fact we are approaching fast the last played days. So, the outcome is open to me as well. I will tell you, when we reach the "present" time.

This battle was a very close call. No returns allowed. Some of you asked me to bring the five divisions in Africa asap back to the Western Front. To be sincere, I cannot explain to myself why I didn't do it, as I played a month ago. I can imagine only that actually I have completely forgotten about those units, while totally engulfed in the desperate defence of France. The account of the battles is very accurate though, simply because I haven't stopped to think about them since then. It was an incredible and totally unexpected experience. Initially, I thought this would truly be a mini French AAR, but it turned out differently. The dies have not yet been cast and Germany is further just fine and very dangerous.

 

[Alex Kernel]

God have mercy on your soul. And abandon Africa. It is useless! USELESS!

You're totally right on that. I don't know what was in my head as I played and let those divisions fighting meaningless wars in Africa. Happy to see you with us!

 

[Alex Kernel]

When the people of this timeline write the history of the war, the failure of France to trust it's British ally will be pinpointed as one of the biggest mistakes France made.

Well, I had my fun about the French-British historical rivalry. Being a Romanian, those Imperial ambitions of many past centuries bear no emotional weight for me.
Right, France did misread the British stance, but things clearly changed after the famous Dinant Battle.

 

[Alex Kernel]

I think you’re going to need that fourth line:

That might still be the case, but not for now!

I think Belgium and Holland are both irrevocably doomed, though I admire your Quixotic attempt to defend them.

The Belgium defence was not without self-interest. My bet was that those Belgian divisions could fill the frontline, where France alone definitely can't. It paid off in the end, but the German AI made an almost successful attempt to short-circuit that. It was a VERY close call. Had I not been able to provide safe passage to the Belgian army, it would have been game over for France. A short story like the short Italian AAR.

you probably need two strong divisions (including some AT brigades) in every province at least,

I had plenty of AT brigades (18). Without them any resistance would have been outright impossible.

Soon I'll play "live". The game doesn't go further until then.

 

[Alex Kernel]

Neither the War plans in-game editor, nor Paint are making the map graphics sufficiently explicit and aesthetic. Any idea for a better, but not too complicated, image editor?

 

[Bullfilter]

Neither the War plans in-game editor, nor Paint are making the map graphics sufficiently explicit and aesthetic. Any idea for a better, but not too complicated, image editor?

If you have Powerpoint or similar, you can paste a map shot into it, do your graphic work (more flexibly, as you can resize, recolour and move things around until you’re happy). Then when ready, select all and copy it back into paint

 

[Bullfilter]

The French General Headquarters, while acknowledging the valiance of the Belgian resolve, was firmly convinced this was pure folly.

And right they were to think so.

British forces were missing completely from the picture at this juncture.

Had you set an Allied objective for Britain on a relevant French port?

In all this time, the Germans also probed the French defence on the Maginot Line, forcing the Southern Army Group to dispatch two Mountaineers Divisions from the Italian borders, literally saving the day in one Maginot line fierce battle.

Important to hold the line, but if/ when the back is stabbed, let’s hope they’ve either been able to return or the southern sector can be otherwise saved.

Also, if Germany would have attacked concomitantly the Netherlands, the frontline would have collapsed.

Very lucky they haven’t ... yet

Arguably, the British amphibious operation has averted a German declaration of war on the Netherlands.

An interesting theory.

I can imagine only that actually I have completely forgotten about those units, while totally engulfed in the desperate defence of France.

You would be far from the first to have done that, my friend.

Initially I thought this would truly be a mini French AAR, but it turned out differently.

Let‘s hope it brings victory against the Boche! It took me 3-4 goes to finally win as France, and when I did I was so pleased I turned it into a retrospective AAR!

 

[El Pip]

Germany not attack the Netherlands definitely benefits France, if the front is only a few provinces then stacking limits start kicking in and Germany cannot deploy it's superior numbers to any real benefit and the AI can cope with defending a short section (just about).

But I hope French plans can cope with the changes when Germany does attack the Netherlands, because that has to be a strong possibility. Hopefully their delays buy enough time to get divisions recalled and dug in.

 

[Wraith11B]

If you're looking for lovely graphics, I tended to screenshot GoogleEarth with a minimum of their overlays and then use UnitSymbol to generate the necessary unit graphics, but that's just me. I note that you're playing with sprites and not counters, so YMMV.

 

[roverS3]

That was tense. I guess you did pick a bad time to send your armoured forces into Spain, and a Corps of Infantry to the colonies. The battle of Dinant was pretty crazy. Knowing the area myself, I can only imagine the many thousands of Belgian troops trying to make their way there, through the dense forest and the narrow valleys, not to mention the steep rock faces. Of course, the difficult terrain does play into the hands of the French troops which are attempting to delay the German offensive.
It's interesting to see that the German AI tried to bust through the southern part of the Belgian Ardennes, just as Germany did historically, except that in OTL, the Allies had arguably overstretched themselves by sending troops into the Netherlands, and thus this part of the front ended up to be very lightly guarded. The Allies were thinking along the lines of: The Germans would never send a large mechanised force through the Ardennes, right, they'd be forced to mostly stick to the roads, I'm sure they wouldn't take such a risk, thus we can afford to defend the area with small, lightly armed, units. Of course, then the Panzers showed up, and the rest is history...

My personal preference also goes to counters over sprites, but to each their own I guess. It always felt weird to me to represent an entire division as a giant man or lorry.

use UnitSymbol to generate the necessary unit graphics

Why didn't I find out about this sooner. That's a great tool, I'm not sure where I'll use it, but it's definitely full of potential. (as you have demonstrated in Der Adler, der Wolf, und die Sonne.)

I'm on the edge of my seat. Will greater France survive, or will it all prove to have been for naught?