On May 20, 1940, units from the 2e Régiment des Tiralleurs and 4e Régiment des Cuirasses were tasked to control the Boucheneuil bridge. After their first attempt was unsuccessful, they returned after dark with armor support in an attempt to blow the bridge. The Allies split into two forces, one centrally along the east-west road and the other on the south flank headed directly toward the bridge. The latter units were met by German troops from the 11th Panzer Division that were situated in town west of the bridge. The northern force crossed the river north of town and a German infantry platoon moved north to meet them on the east side of the river. The southern force was met in town west of the bridge by a German HMG platoon supported by two infantry units. Deadly fire from the Germans eliminated both Sous-Lt. Capilier and the engineer platoon accompanying his force by 2200 hours, so destruction of the bridge was left to the northern force. The remaining tiralleur platoon continued to battle with armor support from a group of S35’s, but to no avail. Eventually, in desperation, the Somua’s assaulted the HMG group without support from the leaderless infantry and were dispatched. The northern force had battled their way south after crossing the Escaut, but were eventually forced to retreat at 2345 when the MG34 platoon turned their fire upriver. The Allies were unable to blow the bridge resulting in a mission failure.

This scenario is played out on a single map with a very small task force. It is a great introductory scenario for new players, as it has very few units, a small playing area, a single objective, and limited LOS. The red Division Marocaine chits from AP were used for all forces except the Somua unit. Of the two possible approaches, splitting the Allied force or striking with a single large group, the former was tried in this playthrough. The early loss of the engineer unit from south force resulted in the need to move the northern engineer unit down quickly. It was unfortunately disrupted twice by fire from a single German infantry unit patrolling the east side of the river and did not get to the bridge within the 12-turn limit. The game ended with the bridge intact, and five French steps lost to none lost for the Germans, a clear German victory. While splitting the Allied force causes the Germans to have to split their very small force to cover two fronts, it is a gamble since the loss of a single engineer unit compromises Allied flexibility

Author	treadasaurusrex (Germany)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	France, Morocco
Participants	cjsiam cjsiam
Play Date	2022-04-20
Language	English
Scenario	DiMa004

This 1-session, online play-through was one in which I played the outnumbered Germans side. We played to game turn 10, in a what resulted in a major victory for the hard-fighting, Moroccan troops.

Please see my AAR for 1940: Fall of France, Scenario 32, and I respectfully refer the reader to Craig Johnson's succinct & insightful AAR for this scenario.

Author	cjsiam (France, Morocco)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	France, Morocco
Participants	treadasaurusrex (AAR)
Play Date	2022-04-20
Language	English
Scenario	DiMa004

The first play against this worthy opponent....a simple game, but a night game...the french forces must sneak up on the weary Bosch and destroy the Bridge (5,6 with Eng). I cleverly sent one company (2 platoons+1 Eng) to cross the river to the north and attack from the east, just in case... The remaining forces came in directly too the town, but awaited developments on the east side of the river before starting to attack the Germans who had set up to the west of the bridge. After the crossing north of the bridge--the germans responded to try and keep the french away from the bridge using a platoon and officer. At that point the French jumped into Assault to pin the germans, while sneaking units onto bridge to attack the remaining unit--a mortar--bringing one of their engineers. The Assaults in the main town (near bridge) and the eastern threat both were painful for the french--losses and disruptions--but two times units went from demoralized to CLEAR with rolls of 2!!... The Capitaine and the Engineer got onto the Bridge on turn 9...on turn 10 they rolled and Viola! the Bridge was toothpicks! Vive-La-France!