The Game of France, 1940: German Blitzkrieg in the West, originally titled "The Battle for France, 1940", is a board wargame originally published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1971 that was subsequently re-issued by Avalon Hill in 1972. Both editions simulate the World War II Battle of France in 1940, when the German blitzkrieg offensive overwhelmed French and British defenses in northern France.
Although war had been declared in September 1939 between Germany on one side and France and England on the other, no major clashes occurred until May 1940, when German forces invaded Belgium and the Netherlands. When British and French forces advanced to intervene in Belgium, German mechanized units unexpectedly struck through the lightly defended Ardennes region using blitzkrieg tactics, flanking the Allied forces and pushing them back against the sea. [1]
France 1940 is a two-player game in which one player controls the Allied defenders while the other player controls the German invaders. The game uses the standard alternating "I Go, You Go" turn system of combat and movement developed for SPI's 1971 game Kursk: Operation Zitadelle , with each turn representing two days of game time.
The original SPI ziplock bag edition includes:
In the Avalon Hill boxed edition, the paper map has been replaced with a 3-section mounted map, and a six-sided die is included.
The historical scenario, which inevitably leads to an overwhelming German victory, is titled "The Idiot's Game." [2] Several other non-historical "what if?" scenarios are included that are more balanced. [2]
The Battle for France, 1940 was one of SPI's first products, designed by Jim Dunnigan, with graphic design by Redmond A. Simonsen. It appeared as a pull-out game in Strategy & Tactics #27. [3] Avalon Hill immediately bought the rights to the game, retitled it The Game of France, 1940: German Blitzkrieg in the West (also known as just France 1940), and published it as a slip-cover boxed game in 1972. The game proved to be reasonably popular, and in a 1977 poll conducted by Avalon Hill to determine their most popular products, The Game of France, 1940 ranked #10 out of 25 Avalon Hill games. [2]
In the 1977 book The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming , Nicholas Palmer pointed out "The problem in designing a game on the fall of France is that anything resembling the historical collapse will fail to appeal to the French player." Palmer thought that the extra scenarios included with this game dealt with that problem reasonably well, but concluded with a warning that the rules were "quite difficult."" [2]
In Issue 4 of Moves , Jeff Schramek noted that the German side was missing a mechanized unit that had, historically, been present. He also noted problems with the supply and air power rules, and suggested several changes to deal with those. [4]
In A Player's Guide to Table Games, John Jackson called this "a poor game defended as a good simulation. In fact it falls on its face on both counts." Jackson thought the issue was Jim Dunnigan's basic design, saying, "Dunnigan wanted a repeat of the German victory and he got it by grossly, and grotesquely, unbalancing the game." He concluded, "By playing around with the variables long enough, you can manage to come up with something you can live with, but what's the point? With one or two hundred alternatives, who needs a bad game and an inaccurate simulation?" [5]
In a retrospective review in Issues 16 and 17 of Simulacrum, Joe Scoleri compared 1971's The Game of France, 1940 to Blitzkrieg 1940, a board wargame designed 25 years later by Ty Bomba and published by XTR. Scoleri found the Combat Results Table in France, 1940 too large and complex, and play was not as fluid as the newer game. He also preferred a game mechanic in the newer Blitzkrieg 1940 that prevented Allies from entering the Ardennes at the start of the game, meaning "the Germans are free to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting French. The [Avalon Hill] game has nothing to match this. As the Germans in that game, you can enter the Ardennes on turn one, and get through it pretty quickly too. But the Allies can also enter the Forest, and move through it with the same speed, which seems ahistorical to me." [6] Scoleri also found the paratrooper rules in the older France 1940 too detailed and complex. Despite all of these negatives, Scoleri found that "the Avalon Hill game played in a fraction of the time of the XTR game." Scoleri concluded, "There were some things I liked about the Avalon Hill game: it reminded me of my 1970 VW Beetle in that it started and it got you there. In that sense, there was nothing wrong with the game; it seemed like a good fit between the model and the situation, and maybe you could learn something about the campaign by playing the game. The idea of the paper time machine seems very salient in this game: it seems designed to show you what happened, and within the restrictions of the format, why it happened." [7]
Wooden Ships and Iron Men is a naval board wargame simulating naval combat during the Age of Sail that was published by Battleline Publications in 1974, then revised and republished by Avalon Hill the following year.
PanzerBlitz is a tactical-scale board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1970 that simulates armored combat set on the Eastern Front of World War II. The game, which was the most popular board wargame of the 1970s, is notable for being the first true board-based tactical-level, commercially available conflict simulation wargame. It also pioneered several concepts that would become industry standards.
1914 is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1968 that simulates the first few months of World War I on the Western Front.
PanzerArmee Afrika, subtitled "Rommel in the Desert, April 1941 - November 1942", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1973 that simulates the World War II North African Campaign that pitted the Axis forces commanded by Erwin Rommel against Allied forces. The game was revised and republished in 1984 by Avalon Hill.
Blitzkrieg is a strategic-level wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1965 that simulates a non-historical attack by one major power against another using blitzkrieg strategy. It was the first commercial wargame that did not simulate an actual historical battle, and with almost 400 counters, it was a precursor of the "monster" wargames of the 1970s featuring more than a thousand counters.
Battle of the Bulge is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill (AH) in 1965 that simulates the World War II battle of the same name. General Anthony McAuliffe (ret.), who had been commanding officer at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, was a consultant during the game's development. The game proved popular and sold over 120,000 copies, but was dogged by criticisms of historical inaccuracies, and was finally replaced by a completely new edition in 1981. A third edition in 1991 was released as part of the Smithsonian American History Series.
Conquistador, originally subtitled "The Age of Exploration: 1495–1600", is a board game published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the exploration of the New World in the 16th century. Players take on the role of European countries sending expeditions to find gold and establish colonies. Although the design uses the trappings of board wargames such as a hex map, combat is not a major part of the game.
Panzergruppe Guderian is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. in 1976 that simulates the 1941 Battle of Smolensk during World War II.
Napoleon's Last Battles is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications in 1976 that simulates the last four battles fought by Napoleon. It was one of SPI's most popular games, and also received many positive reviews.
Battles for the Ardennes is a "quadrigame" — a board wargame that contains four different battles using one set of rules — originally published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1978 that simulates Second World War battles in the Ardennes Forest region in 1940 and again in 1944.
Barbarossa: The Russo-German War 1941-45 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1969 that simulates the conflict between Germany and the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front of World War II. This was only SPI's second game produced during a preliminary round of "Test Series" games, and proved to be the most popular. Despite the title, taken from the German operational name for their initial invasion of the Soviet Union, the game covers the entire Eastern Front campaign from the German invasion in 1941 to the Fall of Berlin in 1945.
Frederick the Great, subtitled "The Campaigns of The Soldier King 1756-1759", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates several of the campaigns of Frederick the Great in Central Europe during the Seven Years' War. When SPI ran into financial difficulties, they sold the rights to the game to Avalon Hill, who produced a second edition in 1982.
KampfPanzer: Armored Combat, 1937–40 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1973 that simulates the first battles involving battle tanks.
Kriegspiel is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1970 that simulates a hypothetical war between two nations. Although the simple game sold well to new players, it received negative reviews by more experienced gamers.
Leipzig: The Battle of Nations, subtitled "Napoleon vs. Europe", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1969 that simulates the 1813 campaign of Napoleon in central Europe, including the Battle of Leipzig. The game was one of the first Napoleonic board wargames, and a number of innovative rules such as the effect of individual leaders on combat were adopted by other wargame publishers.
Luftwaffe, subtitled "The Game of Aerial Combat Over Germany 1943-45", is a board wargame originally published by Poultron Press in 1969 under a different title, then subsequently sold to Avalon Hill, who republished it in 1971. The game is an operational simulation of the American bombing campaign against Germany during World War II.
MechWar '77, subtitled "Tactical Armored Combat in the 1970s", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates hypothetical tank combat in the mid-1970s between various adversaries, using the same rules system as the previously published Panzer '44.
Minuteman: The Second American Revolution is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that hypothesizes a modern-day revolution in United States as the result of widespread unrest.
Eagle Day: The Battle of Britain is a board wargame published by Histo Games in 1973 that simulates the Battle of Britain. Reviewers noted its marked similarity to previously published wargames The Battle of Britain, and Luftwaffe, but found Eagle Day to be inferior to both.
Flying Circus, subtitled "Tactical Aerial Combat, 1915–1918", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1972 that simulates aerial combat during World War I.