09.2020 Blitzkrieg in the West: The Central Campaign

Publisher/Date:
Lone Canuck Publishing (2020)

Product Type:
Scenario Pack

Country of Origin:
Canada

Contents:
6 scenarios on cardstock, 3 pages rules/tables

Commentary:

Blitzkrieg in the West: The Central Campaign (hereinafter Central Campaign) is a small scenario pack featuring actions from the 1940 German invasion of France. It is a sequel to the very similar Blitzkrieg in the West: Northern Campaign, published in 2016.  Whereas the previous pack depicted fighting from the the right wing of the German invasions of the Netherlands and northern Belgium by Army Group B, this pack features actions from the southern, left wing of those invasions, north of the main German armored thrust (which, one presumes, will be the subject of a subsequent pack in this series).

The six scenarios include one Dutch-German action, two Belgian-German actions, and three British-German actions. Most of the scenarios are small or medium in size; they tend to be vehicle heavy.  One scenario uses OBA rules (and another uses OBA contact rules in connection with an on-board piece), but no scenarios feature Night or Air Support Rules. In all the scenarios, each side has its initial Base Force (and possible later reinforcements), plus a randomly determined OB addition added to either the Base Force or in some cases a reinforcement.  Thus each player’s OB will vary slightly with each playing of the scenario.

As is typical for Lone Canuck scenarios, support weapons are exceedingly plentiful.  In many of the scenarios, the great majority of squads will have one SW or another.

To play all the included scenarios, one needs boards 6, 17, 23, 41, 49, 51, 66, 1a, and 9b, as well  as ASL Starter Kit geoboards q, y, and z.  Two scenarios require counters that appear only in Blitzkrieg in the West: Northern Campaign, although it looks as if players could fairly easily use some substitute official counters if need be.

Central Campaign also includes rules for a linked-scenario campaign game.  The campaign games involves players gaming each scenario in order, with the winner of each of the first five scenarios receiving5 VP and an “Attachment Credit.”  Players keep a running total of VP from their scenarios and at the end the player with the most combined VPs wins. The “Attachment Credits” are used to modify the die rolls that select the variable forces that appear in each scenario; each “credit” can increase or decrease the dr by one. If a player wins a scenario “decisively,” that player can also get “Bonus Attachment Credits.” They operate in the same was as regular Attachment Credits except, unlike the former, may not be accumulated but have to be spent on the next scenario.

This pack will probably appeal most to people who like early war tin-can actions.

Back to Top