Allied Question

[emcgman]

Is there any way to keep France from being over run initially. (Starting with the 1939 scenario)

Is it worth putting any PP's into trying to defend France at that early stage?

Or, should I just create a build up for counter attack?

Thanks

[iwcarmichael]

In my limited experience the length of time France can hope to hold on depends on when the Germans attack. France becomes proportionally stronger vs Germany the longer the Germans wait. If the Germans don't attack until May you should be able to hold them off until September and even to November if you are lucky.

If the Germans attack immediately (December 1939-January 1940 - after conquering Belgium) then you will be lucky to hold on until May.

Move all your units to the front (including garisson units and even the infantry from Marsallies (let's face it, once the Italians are in the war the end isn't far off anyway), except for one unit that entrenches in Paris. Build a leader (put him in Paris) and all the rest infantry. The British should support with a unit or two and build another fighter ASAP.

If you try to save up points to build French armor and the Germans attack earlier you will simply not have enough units to hold the front.

That's how it has worked out in the games I have played so far anyway.

[YourAdmiral]

I played a campaign where I held off the Germans from February 1940 to December 1940. My opponent conquered Holland and Belgium first and then came straight down from Brussels.
 
I built a lot of garrison units and put them into entrenched defensive lines behind rivers. I evacuated the Maginot line pretty quickly to prevent those units from being outflanked and to use them in the defense of Paris.
 
I probably should have created a commander but never did.
 
I put a few British units in defense of Paris, but I think a better strategy is to put the Brits into remote cities like Marseille and Bordeaux so that when Paris falls the Germans still have to dig the Brits out of the regional cities. You can always evacuate the Brits quickly if things go bad.