Le Matz was the issue game in Vae Victis No. 24 (Jan-Feb 1999), and covers the Western Front battle of June 1918.

Historical Background

Operation Gneisenau was intended by Ludendorff to strengthen the flanks of the salient which the earlier success of Operation Blucher (the Chemin des Dames offensive) had won, and to draw away Allied reserves from Flanders, where he intended to launch his final, war-winning, attack (Operation Hagen). The German salient was particularly vulnerable because it lacked good communications (especially rail) back to the original German front line, which the capture of Compiègne would help to remedy. Although there was a subsidiary attack by the German 7th Army (Boehn) to the east, the main blow was to be delivered by the 18 divisions of Von Hutier’s 18th Army.

Preceded by another Bruchmuller bombardment, the Germans opened the Battle of the Matz (aka the Battle of Noyon) on 9th June. For the first few days, progress was reasonable, but the French were prepared, and – in contrast to Duchêne’s 6th Army a fortnight earlier on the Chemin des Dames - Humbert (3rd Army) had prepared a defense in depth. In addition, the German attack had been predicted, and a counterattack force assembled, to be commanded by the fiery Mangin. This was launched on the 11th, and brought the offensive, which had been beginning to falter, to a halt. On the 12th, faced with escalating losses which he could ill-afford, Ludendorff ordered Von Hutier to go over to the defensive.

Strategically, the battle is seen by many commentators as yet another tactically effective German attack (casualties were, according to one source roughly 40,000 French, 25,000 Germans, although the article accompanying the game gives a figure of 60,000 French losses) which was nevertheless strategically fruitless, frittering away precious manpower in the stosstruppen divisions, while not advancing Hagen, or even achieving its immediate objectives, since Compiègne remained in French hands. As a game, on the other hand, the battle has a number of points in its favor:

a) It should provide both sides with opportunities for both attack and defense.
b) It being 1918, this is no futile assault on an impregnable defense: air power and armour played prominent roles, and there should be plenty of movement.
c) The battle was short - only four days from start to finish – so the game may be able to follow suit.
d) There is no other wargame on the topic (not surprising really, given that this was a solely Franco-German affair, except for a few British air squadrons: most English-language secondary sources give the battle only the most cursory coverage, and the article accompanying the game has more detail than anything I have read elsewhere).

The Map

Dispensing with 7th Army’s subsidiary attack, the game concentrates on the main assault by Von Hutier. Compiègne is at the southwestern edge of the game map (and entering the city will probably mean a decisive victory for the Germans), while Noyon and Montdider – on the German side of the initial front lines - are at the northeastern and northwestern corners respectively. The map is the usual size for a VV magazine game (23” x 16.5”), and while four-colour, it is bland at best, with uninspired graphics and colours (the background is beige, perhaps trying to hint at WWI mud) - though it is at least clear.

VV maps seem to conform to this type – clear, but not eye-catching – but the Matz map is even more ho-hum than usual. Besides the cities, the main terrain features are the high ground and forests of the Bois de Thiescourt and its neighboring woods on the French right. The Matz itself is a stream bordering the high ground to the west, and then turning east behind the woods to run into the Oise. Of more use to the defenders is the other tributary of the Oise, the Aronde, which runs from west to east across the path of Von Hutier’s attackers about two-thirds of the way south of the French front line: most of the German objectives lie beyond the Aronde.

The other map feature worth mentioning is the French defensive system (the German equivalent does not appear).

Historically, Humbert had arrayed his forces in the standard three defense lines: an initial line of machine guns posts, a second line of strongpoints, and finally, the main defense line, some five kilometers from the front. This is simplified in the game to two trench lines (of equal defensive value), roughly equivalent to the second and third zones (in addition, the second zone was several kilometers deep, rather than the one-hex -1300 m - line in the game).. The front itself at the start of the battle lies slightly in advance of the first of the two lines, while the set-up rules oblige the French to cover all of this original front line with their ZOCs, thus obliging them, in effect, to post some forces in the forward defense line (roughly one-third of the front cannot be covered by forces in (and therefore protected by) the first trench line: as one author noted of the battle, an “obvious open invitation to defenders manning the front (forward) line to commit suicide”, and in the game these units will very likely be overwhelmed in the initial German onslaught.

The remaining French At Start forces will be occupying the first trench line in the game: probably an over-commitment of forces compared to the actual deployment, but then Foch had instructed the local commanders to defend step-by-step, and as a result they probably did put more troops than usual into the second line.

The Counters

There are roughly 200 counters in the game, mostly double-sided, and in the normal VV style, i.e. large and colorful, with Osprey-type figures rather than NATO icons. These complement the plain-Jane map fairly well, so overall the game’s graphics are more than the sum of its parts. Each sides forces are broken down into corps, each with its own HQ and (long-range) artillery (the French also have some army-level artillery), and then into divisions, normally of three regiments, again with supporting artillery. The various corps on each side are colour-coded (using a band along the top of the counter), which makes the command rules easier to implement. Indeed, one of the good features of the game is the way that the various command levels (division & corps) above those of the basic unit in the game (regiments) are given a role: attacks by more than division suffer an adverse modifier, while units out range of their corps HQ suffer movement, combat, and artillery penalties. In addition, artillery can only fire in direct support of units in their own formation.

The Rules

There is an excellent translation of the rules available from Grognard (courtesy of Charles Vasey). This is a relatively simple game: experienced players should be able to pick it up very quickly. The rules themselves are clear and straightforward enough, with little ambiguity, except for the Air Phase. Here it would be wise to agree some house rules in advance if playing with a very competitive opponent. As an example of the problems, as written, the close escort mission for fighters is a complete waste of time. However, this is easily solved, as the intent of the designer (that fighters flying this mission can protect the more vulnerable bombers, but cannot then themselves fly ground support missions) is pretty clear. This, together with some other ambiguities in the air rules, make them an irritating exception to an otherwise fairly clear set of régles.

A rule which is crystal clear, but strange nevertheless, pertains to the treatment of streams, compared to the two major rivers in the game (the Oise and the Aisne). The combat effect of attacking across the rivers is a –1 column shift to the left for the attacker on the CRT. Attacking across streams attracts a –2 die roll modifier. This is odd because, to all intents and purposes, the CRT is set up so a column shift and a die roll modifier have exactly the same effect. The net result is that the minor streams are a bigger combat obstacle to the attacker than the major rivers (movement costs, on the other hand, do correctly reflect the greater importance of the rivers).

A final oddity is the victory conditions. These are assessed in terms of towns and villages on the French side of the line which fall into German hands (see also below under Course of Play): if the Germans manage to occupy 6 VPs-worth, they gain a tactical victory, with operational and strategic victories at 12 and 20 VPs respectively. A French victory is nowhere defined – strange for a French-designed game – and although this is obviously holding the Germans to less than 6 VPs, there is no grading of French victories into three similar levels.

Turn Sequence

The game has eight turns (12 hours each), and starts with an Interphase in which both sides calculate how many air units they will receive for the upcoming player turn. The Allies have a built in advantage here, as their 2d roll is modified by +2, the Germans by –2. The phasing player then checks his units to see whether any are out of range of their corps HQs: any units which are will suffer movement and combat penalties this turn. One possible tactic is to bombard your enemy’s HQs in your own turn. If you succeed in disrupting them, then their HQ range is halved, from six hexes to three. This can be particularly useful for the French, trying to delay the initial German advance, but it is not easy, since the HQs are difficult to hit, and are often located in protective terrain, with defending fighters in range to prevent air spotting or bombardment.

The phasing side then moves their ground forces, but before combat, the opposing air units fight one another for aerial supremacy. In addition, friendly artillery bombards enemy positions. This can inflict disruption (a negative combat modifier), step losses, or both. Later in the game, as the infantry forces of both sides weaken, concentrated artillery fire can be devastating. Movement allowances are relatively small (4 for infantry), but stosstruppen have an easier time infiltrating enemy positions (lower ZOC exit costs).

In combat, there is a fairly standard CRT, mixing retreats and step losses. Modifiers cover stoss and tanks (for both attacker and defender), with terrain (woods, trenches, streams, villages, etc) aiding the defender. Mixing regiments from more than one division results in a negative modifier, but this can normally be offset by the use of stosstruppen (by the Germans) and tanks (by the French). The Germans do have a few tanks, but far fewer than their opponents (3 steps to 16).

The battlefield limitations of tanks are neatly covered in a rule which makes them susceptible to additional losses, over and above those called for in the CRT. Artillery which did not bombard may directly support the combats, adding its bombardment (for the attacker) or defensive support (for the defender) factor to the appropriate side. The latter is normally half or less of the value of the former, but probably the best use of attacking artillery is still pre-combat bombardment, leaving the defenders to fire in defensive support, where they are likely to be limited by the artillery/command rules (units may only fire in aid of their own formations).

After the first Combat Phase, there is a second movement (or Exploitation Phase), with units moving at half their normal movement allowance, followed by another round of combat. Any artillery not committed earlier may be used in support. The combination of the two movement and attack phases, together with the command rules, means that almost certainly the French will see some of their forces cut off in the first day or two of the offensive – surrounded by the attacking Germans, they will be out of command, and thus unable to retreat out of difficulty in their own turn.

Game Play

The game seems to flow broadly in line with the historical course of events. The Germans open with an offensive which looks unstoppable, with superior force (18 divisions to 8 in the French front line) added to the combat advantages conferred by their 4 stoss divisions. However, Von Hutier’s forces will suffer casualties as they push forward, especially from the French artillery bombarding the attacking formations (which will have had to stack in strength to launch effective attacks), while the generally superior Allied airpower will also chip away at the attackers.. As time progresses, the infantry of both sides will be gradually worn down – while the artillery stays for the most part unscathed – so that, in the final turns, the two sides have predominantly reduced strength regiments, which are very vulnerable to adverse combat results (breaking and running, if you will). Mangin’s counter attack force (4 divisions and a tank groupement) tends to have a considerable effect, if only because these fresh forces can take more punishment than the exhausted original combatants.

Victory is assessed solely in terms of geographical objectives taken by the Germans – they will normally win decisively by taking Compiègne, but this is difficult, and luckily there are plenty of other less significant (in VP terms) villages scattered throughout the southern half of the map. Both the map in the article accompanying the game, and that used by most English-language sources, seems to indicate that, after the French counterattack, the final line achieved by the Germans would have resulted in zero VPs for them, and thus a French victory. While not claiming any great level of expertise (see the accompanying replay in the Vae Victis folder!), it seems to me that in all four games I have so far played, the Germans have done better in the game than they did in reality. Interestingly, on the other hand, play of the French – on the defensive at the start – seems to be gradually improving with each game. While Le Matz is in general a simple game, it does (despite the odd liberty here and there) present a reasonable view of what combat in 1918 – and this offensive in particular – were like. So, for all the presence of tanks, stosstruppen, and aircraft, artillery is more critical than all of them: and this is exactly as it should be, since this is WWI – even if it is mid-1918. Both sides will find that the most critical attacks of each turn are often the massed artillery bombardments to prepare a position for an infantry assault (if attacking), or to decimate the massed attackers (if on the defensive).

However, this is 1918, so the sexier elements of the new warfare are present, and are given definite roles, but their limitations are acknowledged. So, the stosstruppen are the spearhead of 18th Army’s offensive, but the German player will watch in dismay as the all too few stoss divisions are inexorably whittled down. Tanks are useful to have in any combat, but their problems (such as mechanical unreliability) are simulated by the additional losses they can suffer if involved in any fighting, so tanks tend to be a wasting asset once committed. Air power is very useful: it can hinder the effectiveness of the enemy’s artillery, as well as adding directly to the impact of friendly bombardments. However, the players can never count on air support (there is a wide fluctuation in the number of squadrons available), and even when present in force, air power is very definitely ancillary to the activities of ground units.

Summary

An excellent magazine game: one of the best from Vae Victis. Not too long, with plenty of colour and action for both players, all within a reasonable time span. All in all, not a bad addition to the growing number of quality WWI titles.

(Reprinted by permission of David Buckland and John Kranz www.consimworld.com)