Ils Ne Passeront Pas – Early War French for Flames of War

By Tom Gall

We’ve all been patiently waiting for early war to make the return to Flames of War, time to feast your eyes on the French part of release for version 4.  Unfortunately when Germany turned their focus west in May of 1940, a brief few weeks and the French would be knocked out of the war, which as a result means this is a faction for early war only.

Why Play French?

I first started playing French during the earlier release of Blitzkrieg for Flames of War version 2 back in late 2010. What drew me was the desperate struggle of one of the largest militaries at the start of WWII, on the defensive against the German onslaught, putting up the good fight that would ultimately not go their way due to a whole host of tactical reasons. The French are plucky, unique and offer up unit selections that can work for offensive and defensive stances.

No matter if you’re an old hand or a new to Flames of War, the French as a faction in Early War brings good tanks, reasonable infantry, and good artillery that can win you games.  In this article we will crawl through just the French part of the release, note their strengths and point out their weaknesses too. They might be just the force for you.

Formations

The 6 core French formations of Infantry, Reece, and Tank, we’ll see within each of these companies the built options and focus on the strong units that will make up the likely backbone for your force. Let’s start with the tanks!

The Char B1 tank formation follows the historical OB where R35s, H35s and H39s were mixed in and served side by size with the Chars. However one must quibble with not using the French company name. We’ll look at the individual units later in the article.

The Somua tank squadron, or in the French (Escadron de Combat) again historically anchored in its mixture of Somua S35s and Hotchkiss hardware. Interestingly one antitank element is added to the formation.

The Chasseurs company has the option to be mounted in Lorraine 38L armoured transports. They’re not fast (yea mule!), they don’t have mounted assault rules like the Germans do but they do bring the heat with machine guns and can dash your infantry towards the objective. As a formation, they have access to 25mm anti-tank guns aplenty as well as 81mm mortars. Will this be the first infantry formation you’ll turn to when fielding French? Maybe.

 

The Motor Fusiliers (or Escadron de Fusiliers Portés) while an infantry formation bring integral recon in the form of light tanks. The anti-tank options introduce 25mm anti-tank guns either on their own or mounted on Laffly trucks.

Last we have the Rifle Company or in French the Fusiliers. Why for the Motor Fusiliers Battlefront can use the correct French term and then drop it for the Rifle Company is unfortunate, a nit.

This infantry formation has no tanks, has a little less anti-tank in so much you can only select a single platoon but includes a 25-mm anti-aircraft option which as you’ll see makes perfectly good anti-tank guns.

The last formation is Panhards, all Panhards. There is a command card option for Schneider P-16 scout cars as well.

If you’re used to mid-war and late war stats it might give you pause but remember this is early war, times are different! Given a choice between Panhards or the Schneiders I think I’m going with the Panhards since they are only 11 pts for five with a far better gun.

French Units

In this section, we’ll look at the more interesting French units.

Given Panhards satisfy the spearhead function and have a decent gun with an anti-tank of 6, and you can build platoons of 3-5 at a good points cost, I think you’ll see a fair amount of these on the table. Consider the front armor is the same as the British A13 tank but at a pip less anti-tank and one worse firepower. Not a unit you’ll likely want to assault with, but they should be able to be a thorn. A platoon of five runs 11 pts, and three for 7 pts.

The Somua S35 with its front armor of 4 and very capable 47mm gun with an AT of 7 and 4+ FP is one of the better tanks in early war. With platoons of 3-5 in size, it is a good candidate to be a workhorse for your force. Note the methodical keyword that allows it to use its terrain dash speed when breaking off from assaults. A platoon of five runs 29pts and three for 17 pts.

Given it’s armor, gun and other characteristics, I would suggest this is the best tank that the French have and perhaps the best tank in Early War.

The Char B1 is a great heavy tank. A front armor of 6 in early war is as good as it gets, but remember the German 88s have an AT of 14. Historically the Germans struggled against the Char B. Of no surprise the Char B1 is costly but you’re getting the ability to fire both main guns at the same time and for early war that 3+ firepower on the 75mm gun is something you’ll enjoy.  Additionally consider in early war if you’re assaulting infantry, with a top armor of 2, you’re largely safe from infantry. Platoons can be in sizes of two or three, regardless the tank costs 10 pts each.

The last tank we’ll look at in depth is the Hotchkiss H39 with the long 37mm. Note there is the Renault R35, the Hotchkiss H35, Hotchkiss H39 and even the venerable FT-17 tanks as other low cost tank options. Most of these tank units are available in groups of three.

In the case of the H39 (Late) you’ll enjoy a 3 armor all around which against most anti-tank guns in early war is not bad. The AT of the long 37mm is 5 and FP4+ with overworked will challenge you. These are good tanks in assault, remember there are no panzerfausts in early war. The platoon of three will set you back 11 pts.

The Chasseurs stand out as their ROF of either three or two makes them a solid unit. Your choices are either seven or five MG teams with one VB rifle team. They are a solid choice and with the option to add Lorraine 38L as armored transports it gives the French a solid ability to maneuver infantry quickly. The infantry alone costs 8 pts for seven stands plus the VB or 6 points for five stands plus the VB.

The Motor Fusiliers add an optional HMG team as part of the build but otherwise from a stand perspective are about the same as the Chasseurs. Platoon sizes are either seven or five MG teams plus the one VB rifle grenade team. The points are exactly the same cost as the Chasseurs at 8 or 6 pts depending on the size of the platoon you choose.

As part of the Motor Fusiliers Company you’re able to field up to two platoons of AMR35s. A platoon can be either three of the MG variant and two of the 13.2 variant for 9 pts or two of the MG plus one with a 13.2 for 6 pts. You might want to think in terms of do you want to build up your infantry company or do you want to consider Panhards with their better gun?

The 25mm anti-tank gun with a 6 anti-tank is quite capable. It’s a gun team so you won’t be able to go into buildings like the midwar Italian 47mm gun can but regardless with platoon sizes of two, three or four guns these are a great investment. The point costs are between 3 and 5 points.

French Support

You can look high, you can look low, but you won’t find French aircraft that would be akin to the Stuka that the Germans are able to field.

French support options give you access to plenty of artillery. As it is all emplaced gun teams, that does mean if your artillery takes hits, you’ll have to unpin them.

The 75mm French artillery might be an auto-include given its ability as both an artillery unit and as very good anti-tank gun. The 4+FP is unfortunate when trying to dig out infantry but for a 75mm gun that is what is to be expected.  While the French can field 105s and thus gain a 3+ FP those guns are not as capable as emergency anti-tank guns. The 75mm four gun battery will set you back 14pts.

The French 47mm anti-tank gun while it’s no German 88 it still is a good gun given its AT9 rating and 28″ range. Unfortunately these are only available in platoons of two for 6 pts,  as a support option.

The 75mm male 1897 is available not only as an artillery unit but also as a dedicated anti-tank unit. As an anti-tank gun it goes to a 3+ save instead of a 4+ save. The range is less than the 47mm gun and given the anti-tank platoon is only available as a unit with two teams, I suspect I’d lean towards the 47mm platoon. The two 75mm gun teams run for 7 pts.

The French mounted up 47mm (and 25mm) anti-tank guns on trucks, in the case of the 47mm they put them on the back of Laffly trucks and were reasonably successful with them. The 54eme destroyed 28 tanks and 5 armored cars with theirs. Unfortunately the decision not not give the unit either gun shield or an armor rating of any kind makes them a glass cannon. A 4+ truck save just means that your opponent will machine gun these things to death and they’ll disappear quickly. They’ll make for a good ambush unit and then they’ll be gone.

Prior editions of Flames of War give them a 0 armor rating all around. This was essential for competitive play. This time around, at least having gun shield with a truck save could have made them more useful.

A platoon of five will cost you 15 pts. It is a good question if you would want to invest in five for 15 pts when machine-gun fire will cause them to evaporate. I’ve used them in a couple of games so far. There will be an AAR posted soon.

The 75mm Autocanon de 75mm was a hold over from WWI but given it’s 75mm gun it was useful both as an AA gun and as anti-tank gun. With its 3+ FP, it’s an interesting choice between this unit or the 47mm mounted Lafflys. They are both glass cannons, both with disappear under simple machine gun fire.  The 75mm SP AA platoon is limited to 4 teams while the Laffly TCC can be as large as 5 teams in the platoon.  The points cost for four Lafflys or four Autocanon de 75mm is the same as 12 pts.

The last support platoon we’ll look at is the 25mm AA gun which is a potential auto-include unit in that German players are likely to field Stukas, you’ll want some anti-aircraft assets to handle that. Additionally these guns are decent anti-tank guns, while the 5+FP is the same as a Panhard, the good ROF makes it a yet another great tool to have on the table. The guns are cheap were 4 is only 6 points.

Uniquely French Rules

There are four special rules the apply to French forces. These are:

Gigantic French tanks, these prevent tanks from being placed within 16″ of the enemy when placing an ambush. No surprise this largely applies to the Char tanks … right? NO!  It applies to the 75mm SP Anti-aircraft platoon.  The Char B and the Char 2C and both good sized models, but neither have the Gigantic keyword applied to them.

Methodical applies to tanks who have a low tactical speed. Without this rule, tanks breaking off during assaults would be destroyed since they might not be able to move away far enough. Methodical allows them to use their Terrain Dash speed instead.

Secondary weapon applies to those tanks that have more than one main weapon such as the Char B1. Those armaments labeled as secondary may fire with a ROF of 1 when the main gun fires but at a +1 to hit.

Quick fire applies to the 75mm artillery battery. When firing with four guns in the battery they are able to re-roll misses and in the case of just two guns firing they do not need to confirm hits.

Looking for small turret or single man turret?  You won’t find it instead the keyword that is applied to a number of French tanks is Overworked. If those tanks move they have a further +1 to hit which of course models that fact that most French tanks burdened their tank commanders with multiple roles.

Strengths

The French are universally hit on 3. This does mean during your games you will take losses, OTOH your units are generally cheaper and you’ll be able to field more to face your opponent.

French tanks have “Good, Better, Best” options with

• Good: R35/H35 – 3 armor, AT4 or AT5, plus an MG but is overworked – 6″ tactical movement speed, yet at ~3pts per tank
• Better: Somua S35 – 4 armor, AT 7 plus an MG. – 8″ tactical yet ~6pts per tank
• Best: Char B1 – 6 armor, an AT7 (47mm gun) plus an AT6 gun (75mm gun) as well as an MG – 6″ tactical for ~10pts per tank

These tanks won’t zoom across the board but compared to the average German tank, their armor is a pip better and their guns good enough to penetrate armor.  The downside and this is universal across all nations in Early War is the number needed to make firepower rolls is a bit higher. A 4+ firepower roll is pretty common for many guns. The French 75 on the Char B1 is a 3+ firepower and with the Char both the 47mm and the 75mm gun CAN fire at the same time when stationary. The 75mm gun will have a plus one to hit as a secondary gun and only be able to fire once, but 3 shots per tank makes the 10pts per tank appealing and with its frontal armor of 6, that’s almost as good as a Matilda II. You could also not fire the 47mm gun and thus have a RoF of 2 for the 75mm gun assuming you are stationary.

The experienced Flames of War players will immediately notice one concern especially when it comes to assaults, that is the 6″ tactical. If you don’t make your counterattack only having 6″ of moment is potentially a very big problem, there is a new keyword called “methodical” which allows them to use their terrain dash speed instead of tactical should they have to break off.

Play Style

True to World War II, the French are well built for Defensive operations. Their AT options with the 25mm, 47mm and 75mm are all good at AT6, AT9 and AT9. The French infantry is not as good as either German nor British units, especially on the attack given the hit on 3 aggressive rating. On the defense however, they should be just “good enough” to hold their own.

In my test games, I’ve been selecting both defensive and maneuver stances with reasonable success. If you have an ambush available to you Laffly or some other French anti-tank guns will do ok, but generally score bail outs so you’ll have to work with infantry to assault bailed out tanks to have a good chance to truly knock them out.

As early war competitive play starts to happen, we will see what lists people come up with and how they are successful. A good French attack list might emerge but as of yet, it’s too early to guess what that might look like.

Summary

I recommend the French as an early war army. Either as a pure French force or mixed with the British in some clever way.  French tanks and British infantry?  British force with French Panhards? They should serve you well on the tabletop.

The starter boxes will be a good choice to leap into a French force.

Look for additional NoDiceNoGlory articles on the Germans, British and with some after action reports on games played.