Newbie question - defeating France

[Someguy1400]

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere. I'm playing as Germany and fighting against France in 1939. I attacked through Belgium and made it to just outside Paris, but I don't seem to be able to get any further; any attempt I make to take out Paris is met with 40+ divisions moving in to defend. I've tried moving in 40+ of my own divisions but even then they seem to do very little damage to the French, even when outnumbering them 2-1, and even when this includes nearly 20 armour divisions on my side and only infantry on theirs. Am I doing something wrong here? I only have 8 tactical bomber squadrons - could this be the problem? A similar issue exists with the Maginot line provinces (Strasbourg etc - the ones with 10 land fortification) - even when I vastly outnumber and outclass the French troops, I seem to do very little damage. Is the idea here to cut off the supply to these provinces before attacking them? Also, when does the "Vichy France" event happen - when I have taken over 2/3 of France's victory point-awarding provinces, or sooner than this?
Any help, tips or reports on what has worked for other people here would be very welcome.

 

[unmerged(42764)]

AFAIK, if you have Belgium, Netherlands, Northern France and Paris, Vichy event will fire soon (I think it's random). Never try to attack the Maginot Line (forts level 10). You don´t need it. Just take Sedan and Lille and run like a crazy man to Paris and the south (with panzers, of course). Put your infantry's armys around Metz, Colmar e Strasbourg. Another thing: when you attack a enemy province, just launch 24 div. per friendly province (with Field Marshal) against the enemy (to avoid the stacking and command penalty). Did you research the "river-crossing" techs. ?

 

[unmerged(17617)]

First of all, take a look at this threads in th FAQ, Leader effects (land, sea, air) . It's a great help in understanding the combatsystem of HOI .

Second, the best way to deal with enemy units is by not fighting them. You want to surround them and cut them of from their supplies before they can interfere with your plans. In the case of France this means that you should try to cut off their troops in the Maginot line, and those on the French/ Belgium border by attacking Chaumont and Sedan once you have gone through Belgium and fan out towards Reims and Besancon. Use mobile forces for these runs and back them up with some good defensive troops. Once the coastal pocket is cleared (to free some divisions) taking Paris should be easy since twothirds of the French army has been taken care of and the remainder is either understrength or at low org.

It sounds like you have pushed those Allied troops in front of you, instead of eliminating them in yuor current game. You may want to try to place some attacks on the flanks of Paris to get additional provinces to attack from (without the rivercrossing penalty) and to draw French troops away from the capital.

As to your last question; The Vichy event fires when you have taken Paris, 25% of their national provinces (VP-points don't matter) and France or Germany controls the province of Vichy.

Hope this helps.

 

[Morian]

I had the same problem for a while, but then i go the hang of it. If you think thats hard wait till you have to invade soviet union.

 

[Someguy1400]

Great advice - worked like a charm. I did have another question but I'll start another thread.