JP040: Ugly Faces. Nieuport, Belgium May 28, 1940.

History: Once the decision to initiate OPERATION DYNAMO had been reached, the next step for 
the Allies was to form a perimeter to keep the Germans away from the Dunkirk beaches for as 
long as possible. The Belgian town of Nieuport, at the confluence of a river and canal, was 
the logical choice to anchor the eastern end of the perimeter. Belgian forces had been 
expected to contribute to its defense, but King Leopold, without consulting the Allies, 
surrendered Belgium to the Germans on May 28. This left a vacuum which British and French 
forces raced to fill. Two infantry regimenst from the French 241'eme, arrived; the other, 
marching on foot, was surrounded by German forces and compelled to surrender the next day. 
Shortly after the French arrived, a German reconnaissance unit siezed a bridge into Nieuport 
and threatened to unhinge the entire Allied perimeter.				

Aftermath: The Belgians had failed to blow the bridge before their cease fire with the Germans, 
and the British were unable to reach the wires on the eastern end before the Germans arrive. 
A tense battle with the armored cars of the 12th Royal Lancers ensued, whose commander felt his 
men could do no more than "make ugly faces" at the Germans in hopes of scaring them away. 
British Brigadier A.J. Clifton, in charge of the local defense, had assembled a scratch force 
from five different regiments of "unemployed gunners, engineers, clerks, and drivers" as well 
as some WWI era 18-pounder guns and he immediately set about stiffening the line. 
The bridgehead was contained and Clifton's irregulars would continue to hold the line for 
another 30 hours until German armor finally broke through and force the final retreat of 
Clifton's men to the salvation of the Dunkirk beaches.						

Special thanks to Chris Argent for his development of the original ASL scenario that this 
Tigers on the Hunt engagement is based on. 


Play Mode: Best played as Germans against Computer French/British, normal or hard difficulty.

Units: Human and A/I Players.
German: Leaders, Squads, Half-Squads, LMG, MMG, ATR, AFV.
French/British: Leaders, Squads, Half-Squads, Crews, HMG, MMG, Ordnance, AFV.
NOTE: French forces start on map, use British units.

Off Board Artillery: None.

Map: North is to the left, two maps partial (1x2). 
Visibility 12 hexes.

Special Rules: None.

Terrain: Rural, Brush and Small Town.

Scenario Length: 7 Game Turns.

Victory Objective: The side with the most Victory Points at the end is the winner. 
Both sides get VPs for owning VP Objectives and destroying enemy units at the end of the scenario. 

Scenario Designer: John M. Pirman: Matrix Callsign - Big Ivan.
