Author	Schoenwulf
Method	Solo
Victor	France
Play Date	2021-10-31
Language	English
Scenario	FaoF016

Battle: In the pre-dawn hours of May 15,1940, Heinz Guderian had ordered an attack to continue the German advance south of Sedan. The Grossdeutschland IR and 10th Panzer Division pushed toward Stonne, a small village atop a high ridge that was garrisoned by French units from the 3rd Division d’Infanterie Motorisée. French troops were stationed in the surrounding woods and in the village proper. At 0545, H39 units from the 3rd Division Cuirassée de Reserve began rolling north to reinforce the village. By 0630, the Germans were pressing the French units on both flanks of the ridge, but the French were holding their ground and keeping the Germans from getting to Stonne. Shortly thereafter, the French received word that three platoons of Char B1-bis tanks were moving north to further reinforce the beleaguered hilltop position. German combined arms forces entered the west end of Stonne at 0815 hours and met stiff French resistance. Even though the Germans controlled the east part of the village by 0900, they were unable to control the ridge. Although the French had taken heavy casualties while maintaining the reinforced position, Commandant Lapierre and men had held long enough to slow the German advance.

Analysis: This scenario is a two map, 16-turn scenario with victory based on German occupation of the two village hexes; failure to accomplish this gives the French a win. The French set up with units on either side of the north/south road and in the village & adjacent ridge hexes. The Germans advanced on both flanks with armor and truck-borne AT waiting for the road to clear. The flanking units moved through the woods to establish a protected road corridor to the town. Once the woods were cleared of all French units, they moved to attack the French units on the ridge from both flanks. The French got a fortunate turn when both sets of armor reinforcements joined the fray on the first die roll turn. This allowed them to have armor superiority in the latter stages of the game, and that was a key to holding the ridge. In the final analysis, the French had lost 33 steps to only ten lost by the Germans, and only had two leaders (and one tank leader) remaining. In contrast, the Germans had not lost a single unit, but morale issues kept them from seizing control of the ridge. One village and one ridge hex were still being contested, and the French still has a single armor unit holding one of the other ridge hexes, resulting in a French victory. The scenario accurately reflects General Bertin-Bossu’s attempt to hold the village with the 3rd Motorized Division, a battle that actually went back and forth for a couple of days in mid-May 1940.