Free France Campaign

[ColonelY]

[...] It's been a while since I allowed deployment at scenario start, so I thought I would do so here. Most of the II Corps will be deployed on land, in the east, having traveled overland from their disembarkation points on the Côte d'Azur (not on the map). The CC1 of the 1re DB will appear later (Turn 3 feels right) near Cogolin with a popup message (using the image above) as you suggested.

By the way, "weather" (pun) it is factual or not, the scenario begins with rain and fog grounding all air units. The sun comes out coincidentally with the commandos finishing their work on the Îles d'Hyères which also releases the naval bombardment fleet. Reason: I don't want the player interfering with the commando mission by using airplanes.

All that sounds perfect to me.

[bru888]

When a French land unit approaches Marseille:

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When a French land unit approaches Toulon:

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[bru888]

"Nord Africain" would look much better with this small addition here "Nord-Africain" ... and a final one: "Régiment Cuirassiers" would be better as "Régiment de Cuirassiers"

Done.

Agree on 2eDB (and 1re DB): if any evidence surfaces as to composition, will adjust OOB(s).

[ColonelY]

Wonderful, it looks great, very nice events!

(EDIT: And now we even already know which German subs, from the "Kriegsmarine" faction of course, shall appear at some point... )
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When a French land unit approaches Marseille [...]

Complementary idea: You could increase the effect, between these two events (between these 2 pictures of the Transporter Bridge, that is), by making some explosion effect/sound by blowing some virtual bridge… to achieve this last part, simply add the “blow bridge” trigger, select a nearby hex (but NOT a hex with some real bridges, of course!) and select of course the “Explosion Effect”… like this it will be heard as well, thus increasing even more the effect while reading the text!

[bru888]

Wonderful, it looks great!

When a French land unit approaches Marseille [...]

Complementary idea: You could increase the effect, between these two events (between these 2 pictures of the Transporter Bridge, that is), by making some explosion effect/sound by blowing some virtual bridge… to achieve this last part, simply add the “blow bridge” trigger, select a nearby hex (but NOT a hex with some real bridges, of course!) and select of course the “Explosion Effect”… like this it will be heard as well, thus increasing even more the effect while reading the text!

Heh, I'll try. What I did do is add to "Big Bridge Blown" this final sentence: "What some called 'La Tour Eiffel de Marseille' (and others called an eyesore) is no more."

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[ColonelY]

[...] Heh, I'll try. Good; I know it should work! What I did add to "Big Bridge Blown" is this final sentence: "What some called 'La Tour Eiffel de Marseille' (and others called an eyesore) is no more." Just excellent!

[bru888]

[...] Heh, I'll try. Good; I know it should work!

It does work! "Boom" and flash in the harbour, just about where the bridge would have been. No unsightly craters are left as happened when tested in a cornfield. Only drawback: "Boom" happens immediately, not between messages. Reason: Both messages are in one trigger. Even though one must click "Continue" to see the second message, both messages have been instantaneously created along with the sound clip in the trigger's effects. And I don't want to span this over two turns with two separate triggers. But that's okay; the player's attention has been obtained!

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[ColonelY]

Great, another nice litte touch!

[ColonelY]

[...] Only drawback: "Boom" happens immediately, not between messages. Reason: Both messages are in one trigger. Even though one must click "Continue" to see the second message, both messages have been instantaneously created along with the sound clip in the trigger's effects. And I don't want to span this over two turns with two separate triggers. [...]

And what about if these events where placed in two separate triggers (but both for the very same turn, of course! )?

We could try to test this: Let's duplicate them, remove one of the events each time (obviously!), keep the explosion effect of course only with the 2nd event...

[bru888]

Nope. It's the nature of the game. Everything that could happen in that event (Move Event), and under those conditions, is going to fire at once. I even tried it as shown below but the game blows through both triggers and goes "Boom" immediately. The only way to separate them would be to have the second trigger with another event (most likely, Turn Start) but as I said, I want this to be all-in-one. So it's fine; I like it the way it is.

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[ColonelY]

[...] I even tried it as shown below [...]

It's awesome, I was precisely writting to suggest this very same option/idea. And when trying to submit the post, I've seen this last one of yours...

Nope. It's the nature of the game. [...] So it's fine; I like it the way it is.

Then okay, so be it!

[ColonelY]

Still looking for heroines?

Then what about Suzanne Lefort-Rouquette?
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From this source https://www.leparisien.fr/laparisienne/ ... 075185.php :

So, let's translate all this, shall we?
Caption of the picture: "Suzanne Lefort-Rouquette, one of the heroines of the Provence landings, here with her husband, General Jacques Lefort."

"France has lost one of its historical figures in this year of commemorations. Seventy years, almost to the day, after landing in Cavalaire on August 20, 1944, as an ambulance driver, Suzanne Lefort-Rouquette died on August 17 in Hyères (Var) at the age of 101, her family announced Wednesday in the Figaro newspaper.

Suzanne Rouquette, who commanded the medical battalion of the 9th Colonial Infantry Division, was seriously wounded in the Vosges at the end of 1944 and had to have a leg amputated.

Commander of the Legion of Honor and holder of the Croix de Guerre with several commendations, she had written a book of memories ("Des ambulancières dans les combats de la Libération") and married in 1945 a captain of a shock battalion she met during the Provence landings. This one will become the general Jacques Lefort.

At the age of 20, she joined the French army in Algeria, and in 1943, within General de Lattre de Tassigny's first French army, she took charge of the 25th medical battalion of the 9th colonial infantry division (DIC), with thirty female drivers and as many female paramedics under her command. She was on the front line in Corsica, on the island of Elba and then took part in the Provence landings.

"We would have given our skin to save France"

"The girls were all volunteers, of all ages and backgrounds. There were daughters of a colonel, a doctor, a colonel, an ironer, a Jewess, an Arab. We would have given our skin to save France," she wrote.

It was after her serious wound, in the Vosges, that she received the Legion of Honor, lying on a stretcher. Sent to Hyères for convalescence, she married Jacques Lefort in September 1945. They had a son and five grandchildren.

Suzanne Lefort left active service in 1947 to follow her husband to Indochina, Laos and Algeria.

"She created dispensaries and leprosy clinics," her granddaughter Isabelle told nicematin.com, referring to "an exceptional woman who was not afraid of the eyes and was a model.

Suzanne Lefort-Rouquette was also very active in the associative world, in the AGPM (General Association of Military Welfare), in the Red Cross, in the ANFOC (National Association of Career Officers' Wives) and in the Algerianist Circle of Toulon in particular."
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And, for example, from this source https://www.la-croix.com/Archives/2014- ... 21-1195080 :
"Seventy years almost to the day after she landed in Cavalaire on August 20, 1944 as an ambulance driver, Suzanne Lefort died on August 17 in Hyères (Var) at the age of 101, her family announced yesterday in the Figaro newspaper. At the head of a cohort of thirty drivers and as many ambulance drivers, she had taken part in the Provence landings. Decorated with the Croix de Guerre and the Légion d'honneur following a serious wound, Suzanne Lefort joined General de Lattre de Tassigny's First French Army. Sent to Hyères for convalescence, she married the future General Jacques Lefort in 1945. Two years later, she left the army to devote herself to the associative world."
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More info? Well, I know there are some repetitions in terms of content, but... some news, or new infos, as well!

Translated from this link https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr ... 35050.html :
"Suzanne Rouquette, who commanded the medical battalion of the 9th colonial infantry division, was seriously wounded in the Vosges at the end of 1944 and had to have a leg amputated.
Commander of the Legion of Honor and holder of the Croix de Guerre with several commendations, she had written a book of memories ("Des ambulancières dans les combats de la Libération") and married in 1945 a captain of a shock battalion she had met during the landing in Provence. This one will become the general Jacques Lefort.
At the age of 20, she joined the French army in Algeria, and in 1943, within General de Lattre de Tassigny's first French army, she took charge of the 25th medical battalion of the 9th colonial infantry division (DIC), with 30 female drivers and as many female paramedics under her command.
She was on the front line in Corsica, on the island of Elba and then took part in the Provence landings.
"The girls were all volunteers, of all ages and backgrounds. There were daughters of a colonel, a doctor, a colonel, an ironer, a Jewess, an Arab. We would have given our skin to save France," she wrote.
It was after her serious wound, in the Vosges, that she received the Legion of Honor, lying on a stretcher.
Sent to Hyères for convalescence, she married Jacques Lefort in September 1945. They had a son and five grandchildren.
Suzanne Lefort left active service in 1947 to follow her husband to Indochina, Laos and Algeria.
"She created dispensaries and leprosy clinics," her granddaughter Isabelle told Nice-Matin.com, describing her as "an exceptional woman who was not afraid of the eyes and was a model.
Suzanne Lefort-Rouquette was also very active in the associative world, in the AGPM (General Association of Military Welfare), in the Red Cross, in the ANFOC (National Association of Career Officers' Wives) and in the Algerianist Circle of Toulon in particular."
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Probably one of the last pictures of this lady: https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... ygDegQIARA_

Here with some guys from the "Bataillon de Choc": https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... gEegQIARBB (she'll marry a captain from this Battalion... one can guess that he's probably on this photo too)
EDIT: Good guess. 'Found on another forum with some caption reading: "In the center Captain LEFORT , on his left Lt Suzanne ROUQUETTE (Mrs LEFORT) , next to him , Captain CLAUZON."
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Warning: Although it is a bit the same principle, Suzanne Lefort was NOT part of the Rochambelles. The latter were with Leclerc's 2nd armored division (thus further north, in Normandy)...

Here, it corresponds, or "fits", perfectly to this scenario... She landed there, managed nurses of the 9e DIC, married a captain she also met in Provence, of a Bataillon de Choc who also fought there, she will be treated after her wound on one of the islands we have to seize during this scenario...

[bru888]

I am in love once again.

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"Sure," you are going to say. "You will not include Bretagne the tank, but Suzanne the nurse makes the grade, eh? "

Well, yes. Yes, she does. I have my priorities and prejudices like any other man.

She will be featured.

[bru888]

She will be featured.

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[ColonelY]

Very nice events!

... poping-up while targetting (more or less) the Hyères's islands?
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I've checked the info at my disposal: in principle, I wouldn't expect to see a (historical) German airfield on this battle map... but, from the different airfields that Germans did use at that time for this sector, all German planes have to show up either from the West or the North-West. (Which is perfect, by the way, for our "final" rush, for taking a city before the Americans...)
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As immersive "decorations", one could add several sunken ships at Toulon's port (hexes)... At hexes where it's very unlikely that German subs will directly move, thus making these wreckages simply disappear... and, of course, there without noise, please!

[ColonelY]

Ah, for personal reasons (no really enormous issue but several things to take care of and different cities to go through in the process), I probably won't have the opportunity to interact effectively here for a few days... four in fact.

But don't worry, I'll be back in action next Monday, as usual. And at that time, I must admit that I hope to test the first version of this scenario...

[ColonelY]

Oh, and another important element:

I wonder how you are going to make the French partisans near Marseille appear in this scenario!

First, some historical information:


Translated from here: https://www.lamarseillaise.fr/societe/a ... MELM051692

"Marseille : August 1944, from the insurrection to the liberation

72 years ago, the city of Marseille was liberated from the German occupation after the uprising of the population and the action of French troops. A look back at nine days of battle in which the role of the CGT and the Resistance was decisive.


It was not until August 28, 1944, that the bells of the Good Mother rang out, followed by the bells of all the churches in Marseille, which had finally been liberated from the Nazis. The result of a little more than a week of struggle during which the people of Marseille took their destiny into their own hands before the arrival of the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division (DIA) led by General de Montsabert.

The battle for the liberation of Marseille began in a city that had been battered by the Occupation (since 1942), the destruction of the Old Port (February 1943) and the deadly raid by the US Air Force in May 1944. The first act was on August 17, when the clandestine CGT ordered an insurrectionary strike. It became general on the 19th.

"That day, not a single streetcar left the depots, not a single factory was running. In the streets, groups of women forced the stores to close. Around noon, the city's activity came to a complete halt," recalled La Marseillaise in its August 23, 1945 edition. This was an anniversary date for the daily newspaper, which was born of the Resistance and which, although it had never stopped publishing under the cloak since December 1, 1943 (see opposite), was celebrating its first year of free expression.

But let's get back to the Marseilles uprising. On August 21, following a popular demonstration "led by the FTPF and the patriotic militia," the newspaper stated, the departmental liberation committee, which included the PCF, PS, National Front, MLN and CGT, set up shop at the prefecture, which was decorated with a tricolor flag for the occasion.

Permanent guerrilla warfare Despite the Resistance's limited resources (not even a thousand poorly armed men), "coups de main" were taking place all over the city, as André Sauvageot recounted in his book, Marseille dans la tourmente. The Germans had 24,000 shells taken from them in Menpenti, and trucks and caterpillars were attacked in Castellane. It was "permanent guerrilla warfare" at Chateau-Gombert, Allauch and Pointe-Rouge.

This recklessness caused "a change in the General Staff's plans and a faster arrival of French troops in Marseille", according to Gaston Defferre. The 3rd DIA accelerated the movement and reached the outskirts of the city on August 22. Despite General De Lattre's reluctance, they entered the city the next day," explains historian Robert Menchérini in Les Bouches-du-Rhône pendant la guerre, "through the Étoile massif and the Garlaban, while German General Hans Schaefer ordered the destruction of the port installations, blowing up part of the ferry bridge.

With the help of the Resistance, Moroccan tabors and Algerian riflemen reduced the pockets of German resistance. The regional commissioner of the Republic, Raymond Aubrac, representative of the French provisional government, took over the prefecture on the 24th. On August 25, the assault on Notre-Dame de la Garde was launched with Algerian riflemen in the front line. The tanks were called to the rescue. The crews of the Jourdan and the Jeanne d'Arc paid with their lives, one being hit by shells, the other jumping on a mine.

In the North, the goumiers took the lead by seizing Gignac and Le Rove on 26 and 27 August. In the South, the Tabors reached Bonneveine, Montredon, Mont Rose and Les Goudes. Schaeffer finally "proposed the surrender in honor" and signed the capitulation the next day on the hood of a jeep. But it was only at 7 pm that the city was officially liberated before the victory parade on La Canebière, on the 29th, to the applause of the crowd."
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Now, two things:

-> About the Goumiers... well, they were there again... so one could add one single unit of them on this battlefield (to remain historically accurate, irreprochable - some of them were there? Fine, we do have some on the battlefield). Just one unit, without any special comment, and in principle for the very last time within this campaign, that should be ok.

-> About the partisans... perhaps a bunch of them could be spawned in the surroundings of Marseille, of course. Moreover, one could imagine having one or two of them in the middle of the German garrisons troops (to simulate the popular insurrection in the city), on Free French hex (so that we can replenish them!), fully entrenched... perhaps expanding a little the city to gain a few hexes there... maybe with another primary objective to save them, or part of them at least (for those that are spawned Inside the city), appearing once closing-in on this town... like this we may find more challenge, like for the "boss" final encounter... furthermore, it could somehow be an introduction of what may be seen next when it will be question of the liberation of Paris itself!

Well, I'll let you think a little about this now.

[bru888]

Partisans, oui. Goumiers, non.

[ColonelY]

Partisans, oui. Goumiers, non.

Fine!
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More pictures?

When Toulon has just been captured, perhaps this view of the Place de la Liberté (here in 1940) :

https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... egUIARCwAQ

... where a commemorative plaque will be affixed with the text :

« Ici même, le 28 août 1944, des éléments du 3e spahis algérien, du bataillon de choc, du 3e tirailleurs algériens et du 7e régiment de chasseurs d'Afrique ont fait flotter le drapeau français sur Toulon. » = "Right here, on August 28, 1944, elements of the 3rd Algerian spahis, the shock battalion, the 3rd Algerian riflemen and the 7th regiment of African fighters flew the French flag over Toulon."
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Various pictures, 28 to be exact, here:

http://archives.ecpad.fr/la-bataille-de ... aout-1944/

(Just use the horizontal... hmm, "staircase", I believe it's called?...)
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This time, see you soon.

[bru888]

Two good partisan uprising pictures in that batch.

By the way, no old French tanks (Renaults, Hotchkiss, etc.) any more. Lend-lease would be in full swing by now, from an historical perspective. There might still have been some of those tanks around but from a game perspective, they would be absolutely useless against even the PzKw IV tanks, let along Panthers and Tigers. You may see some references to those old French tanks in your sources but gameplay decides the issue. Even the M5A1 Stuart tank is questionable, but I see much more evidence of those light tanks in French armoured units than Renaults and Hotchkisses at this point in the war.