Blitzkrieg Stalled: Arras - the replay November 2003

May 21st 1940: Turn 1 The British (not shown here) advanced in dispersed formation, with the infantry in Llyod carriers in front and the slower Matida tanks following. The French pushed past Achicourt towards Bearaine and their first brush with the enemy came from infantry (2nd battalion / 7th Regiment) hidden amongst the Bearaine woods. The  approaching light tanks opened fire, chasing the defenders deeper into the woods. The rest of the German 6th Regiment moved into and around Bearaine and braced themselves for the oncoming assault.

At start I setup the German left wing slightly further back than I usually do. The Thuringen SS Inf Reg are in the woods and the Brandenburg SS Inf Reg are centred on Vailly. Both regiments belong to 1st SS Totenkopf Division. On the right, I have placed the 7th Inf Reg around Jillois and the 6th Inf Reg just behind Bearaine. Both regiments belong to 7th Panzer Division. The French (purple) get most of their at start forces but the British roll poorly and a chunk of their 'at start' forces are delayed and will follow as reinforcements.

Turn 2 The German units around Jillois launched a spoiling counter-attacked into the French left flank, causing them to halt and take up a defensive stance. However, the rest of the assault progressed and as it hit Bearaine, reconnaisance elements managed to partly hook around the town, promting the Germans to abandon it. The Germans tried to stablise the situation by calling up very substantial air support.  In truth, the airstrikes had little direct value but the presence of the Luftwaffe in such numbers must have disturbed allied command because they immediately ordered a maximum air effort by their own air units. This air batlle would distract German air units for the rest of the morning.

Turn 3 The sudden appearance of an attacking French force surprised the Germans, they had been rapidly advancing for several days and had mostly had things their own way. Rommel went directly to the front to supervise the action, tanks and 88mm guns followed close behind. He launched an immediate counter attack and re-entered Bearaine. The British had now started to arrive at their jumping of line to take their first objective - Vailly. Whilst they made final preparations, the Thuringen Regiment attacked into the exposed British flank. However, to

the surprise of Totenkopfs commander, this spoiling attack totally failed to make any impression at all. Turn 4 Determined not to lose the initiative, the French command decided to release the 1st DLM to support the 3rd DLM, which had lost its momentum and become strung out in a north / south axis. Worse still, a battalion of French tanks had just come up against 88mm guns being used in an anti tank role, which stopped those tanks dead in their tracks.  Bearaine again came under French control as both sides battled for possession of this strategically important town. To the west, the British captured Vailly.

Turn 5 Around Vailly, the Germans executed a well organised withdrawal, with part of their force retiring through the woods on their right. Elements from the SS Oberbayern Regiment started to arrive, strengthening Totenkopfs positions. Meanwhile, the French forces had taken proper control of the the Arras road in their sector. Turn 6 All of the 1st DLM had arrived onto the battledfield and the line was re-organised to absorb them into the left flank. On the British sector, Totenkopf came under

increasing pressure and eventually they decided to ask for reinforcements but were told that none were available. Instead, air support started to appear again which alleviated some of the problems.

Turn 7 The Germans in the British sector had moved to a new defensive position, where both flanks were able to anchor onto woods. Unfortunately for them, this rapid re-alignment had left their divisonal artillery exposed and it narrowly missed destruction as the target of an opportunist local attack. Overall, the German line was holding, thanks in part to the airstrikes made against the British artillery. The French were having similar difficulties in tyring to unhinge the enemy flank. Despite the arrival of 1st DLM, Bearaine remained contested and to make matters worse, Rommel's 25th Panzer Regiment had reinforced that part of the line.

Turn 8 The 1st and 3rd DLM renewed their efforts along the line. 3rd Tank Battalion of 6th Tank Regiment managed  to slip past the defending Panzer IIs covering the German left flank. But this promising attack failed and the arillery and air liaison officers were blamed for not co-odinating their support. This may or may not have been true but interestingly, a much smaller and equally unsupported French attack was successful further east, resulting in the capture of Jillois. It appears fair to say that the main problem with the French attacks had been that they had not used their infantry to support the tanks and were often in the wrong place at the time of need.

The British also continued attacking on their sector. Infantry and tanks from 2nd Royal Tank Regiment advanced directly onto 88mm guns and not surprisingly, were held at bay. Elsewhere fortunes were mixed. The German commander doubted that he could hold his position for much longer due to the mounting casulaties. He again called for reinforcements but instead was ordered to fall back onto Mercatel and told to hold out until nightfall. Totenkopf obliged and withdrew a couple of miles south east under cover of intense air and artillery cover. Turn 9 The Germans had totally gone over onto the defensive. They were relying on  their air superiority to deliver protection to critical parts of the battlefield. It was only the constant sound of friendly aircraft overhead that gave Totenkopf any hope of making it to the next day without reinforcement. Turn 10 The airstrikes had really disrupted British activity, they were reduced to just nibbling weakly at the enemy flanks, causing harassment rather than any real harm.

The French equally struggled to get any air support to the battlefield. They had orders to attack the German right flank, but like many of their previous attacks, the results were not decisive enough. In fact the 12th reconnaisance unit got itself into difficulty and could barely extract itself. For whatever reason, Rommel had become pre-occupied with Bearaine. He insisted that it be held and moved his 88mm guns amongst the buildings. As a result of his 'no retreat' orders to the defenders of Bearaine, the continued possession of the town meant that as his flanks were pushed back, his position began to resemble a horse shoe shape.

Turn 11 - NIGHTFALL Totenkopf had made it but its commander was certain that they would not be able to withstand the certain attacks that he expected the next day. He again pleaded for reinforcements and was told that 5th Panzer Division to the west would provide support the following day and that he would receive most of the available air support. Knowing the value of such promises, he set about re-organising and refitting his defensive line. Throughout the night, refugees behind allied lines, blocked the road to Arras. Rommel received orders to

stand fast and not give up the valuable defensive terrain that he held. This single order, more than any other factor, would determine the final outcome of this battle.

the next day, May 22nd 1940: Turn 12 Petreforce (150th Inf Brigade) had been released by the British Command to support the planned attacks at Mercatel. Confusion in the transfer of orders, no doubt made worse by the problem of refugees blocking the road, resulted in just a single battalion from that formation actually moving up. At first light, the allied attacks resumed with vigour. The British crashed into the left flank of Totenkopf and not even their 88's could protect them this time, the entire formation was pushed sideways, loosening their grip on Mercatel.

Turn 14 The pursuit of Totenkopf was halted to re-organise and allow the artillery to catch up. The guns had been operating from outside Vailly but the British advance had outpaced their range. At last, units from 5th Panzer Division were released to assist Totenkopf. Unfortunately, an entire battalion of Pz IIIs went in the wrong direction, they would not realise their mistake before the days end. However the other panzer battalion from 31st Panzer regiment, together with infantry did get it right and by mid morning, they were passing Warlusel. German

Turn 15 Alarmed by the sudden appearance of the enemy to their rear, the British setup up a defensive line centred on Mercatel and sent half their forces back towards Vailly to protect their artillery and fend off 5th Panzer. South of Bearaine, 1st and 3rd DLM, leaving the centre thinly covered, pressed against Rommel's flanks. The attacks went well, even the air support got through. A substantial chunk of 7th Panzer was about to be cut off. For the second time that day, Rommel had allowed his forces to be threatened by an enemy pincer movement.

Turn 17 7th Panzer strength was down to about  50%. The survivors fell back onto Neuville Gitasse, whilst French forces consolidated and re-organised. The British had halted 5th Panzer at Vailly and they would not be able to continue their advance without additional forces being released to them. As it transpired, this would not happen and the panzers would not move any further that day. Turns 18 - 20 While the 1st and 3rd DLM continued to regroup their units (which had become quite mixed up) to prepare

Turn 16 The fighting between the trapped German units and the troops that encircled them was the most intense of the previous 36 hours. But despite facing almost certain defeat, the Germans stood defiant and repelled the initial assaults. Air support was concentrated at the neck of the trap to assist the German escape but it could not be sustained. As the next couple of hours ticked by, the noose eventually closed tight and hundreds of German prisoners were taken. Amongst the dead lay Rommel.

The end game It would be fair to say that the allies absolutely romped to victory in this game, scoring a 'Strategic Victory' and highlighting for me (yet again) the replay value of this game. Here the German set-back (read total defeat) was much greater than historically the case and the loss of Rommel invites its own interesting consideration as to how later campaigns might have been fought, had he not been present. There are several points in the game which clearly had an influence on the direction of the game and possibly the outcome. Here are a few of them.

At last, French infantry had moved across to their left and started working with the tanks, pushing the Germans out of the eastern part of Bearaine Woods and forcing Rommel to abandon the town before he became surrounded. Rather than a smooth withdrawal, two infantry battalions and the 88mm guns had become disrupted and were too slow in getting out of the town. They found themselves stuck out in the open and short of reaching their own lines. With 1st and 3rd DLM virtually surrounding these units, their fate appeared sealed. Likewise, on the British sector, gaps in the German line had opened and were just begging to be chewed up and exploited. Turn 13 But amazingly, on both sectors, there was a complete command paralysis. Around Bearaine, the inactivity allowed the exposed German units to be absorbed back into their own lines, while the British forces, which had suffered widespread disruption as they prepared for a renewed attack, set off with only half of the units that were meant to advance. 1st Battalion (1st Inf reg of 4th Royal tank Regiment) completely wrecked itself on the defenders 88mm guns but elsewhere did take Totenkopf very heavy casualties and Mercatel had to be given up for fear of being cut off.

air units flew across the area in force in an effort to keep the way clear for 5th Panzer and for the most part they did a good job.

for an assault on Neuville Gitasse, the German command ordered the surviving elements of Totenkopf and 7th Panzer to retreat south (off map) and to abandon any notion of defending Neuville Gitasse. To the west, 5th Panzer was instructed to fall back slowly onto warlusel. These manoeuvers were successfully carried out without any interference from the enemy.

1. The French decision to bring 1st DLM into play - They gave the allies extra resilience that allowed them to stretch out and be strong on both flanks, which discouraged the Germans from counter-attacking, since gathering enough force to just attack one flank would over stretch their remaining defences. 2.Rommels decision to remain in Bearaine too long - 7th Panzer never recovered from allowing its flanks to be bent so far backwards. 3. Allied Command Paralysis on turn 13 - This was rolled on the Random Events table and it could not have come at a worse moment for the allies or a better time for the Germans as it saved them from certain defeat at that point. 4. The arrival of Petreforce - The British rolled poorly for this reinforcement at the start of day two. Out of a possible 6 battalions, they only received 1. A kinder die roll might have given the British enough spare capacity to remain on the offensive during the latter part of the game, rather than them just having enough troops to draw up two defensive lines. 5. Insufficient committment by 5th Panzer Division - earlier entry and in larger numbers, may have saved the 'wrecking' of Totenkopf. The loss of the Pz III unit that set off in the wrong direction (failed entry die roll) did not help matters either. Although there is a heavy penalty in Victory Points for realising this formation on the first day, the Germans were losing so badly by the end of the first day (plus the French had released their reserve), that Victory Point loss should have perhaps been less of a deciding issue in this instance.

Overall, a very enjoyable game and it strikes me that it would make an absolutely superb back to back game with an umpire (3 game sets in use) but with neither the German or Allied player having any knowledge of enemy reinforcement potential or sighting of the Combat Tables. I would limit line of sight to 2 hexes (2 miles) and perhaps introduce a rule that at ranges greater than 2 hexes, bombarding artillery requires other units to spot for it. You can imagine the allied players dismay to suddenly find 5th Panzer immediately to the rear.