After reading the articles on the First Divisions already published in TEN, the American, the German, and more recently the Russian, I felt inspired to write about others much less significant in Europa terms. These are the First Divisions of the French Army. Now I admit that in a standard game of Fall of France they will only last a couple of turns, if that. Yet as Grand Europa gets closer, I at least, speculate on how effective the French Army would be if it were left alone for much of 1940, and what it probably would have become in 1941.

The first point to remember is that after the debacle of 1940 everyone zoomed in on the bad aspects of the French. British officers described the lousy (literally) condition of some of the conscript units. German Panzer experts patronizingly listed the tactical weaknesses of French armor, and the failure to concentrate tanks in a few powerful formations.

The Germans conveniently forgot that Panzer divisions had been fought to a bloody standstill in their sweep across Northern Belgium. The British preferred to forget that Dunkirk had been defended by French troops, and that their famous counterattack at Arras (the one where Rommel discovered you could use 88s against Matildas) involved more French tanks than British ones. As far as the criticism of the distribution of tanks - has anyone ever analyzed, either in Europa terms or actual tank count, the pattern in the German Army in 1943 or later?

I suspect that the widespread use of self-propelled guns in infantry units and the vast mass of StuG brigades, heavy tank battalions, etc. adds up to a pattern remarkably similar to that of the French in 1940! The truth is that the French Army, like most, had strong and weak points. However, analyzing the French Army will take more space than is available in this article. Let's just consider a few of its divisions, especially in terms of their Europa ratings.

First Divisions 1940 France

Introduction
1 DIM (1re Division d'Infanterie Motorisee)
1 DLM (1re Division Legere Mecanique)
1 DLC (1re Division Legere de Cavalrie)
1st Divisions: Tirailleurs
1 DIC (1re Division D'Infanterie Coloniale)
1 DCR (1re Division Cuirassee)