Plan Jaune

Open the Box Stake the Bunny

Reviewed by Markus Stumptner


(Besida and Thomas for Vae Victis)

This is only just in and played solitaire. This is a very competent and attractive game on the May 1940 campaign. Covering the area from Holland to the Jura the scale is corps for most units, but divisions for armoured and key motorised units. The counters are (as usual with Vae Victis) the best in the hobby with clear but evocative sprites for the various units and including the range of armoured vehicles that you would expect to see in a book on the campaign.

Armoured formations (Panzer Corps and two French groupings) have special counters with support factors that give special benefits. These formations supported by air units can be ferocious. They can disregard attacking other units in their ZOC (unlike infantry units) giving the real spearhead feel. With up to three column bonuses for air-support, plus one for Panzer Corps support and a quality bonus (German panzers are 5 to a French infantry 3 or 4) the result can be unstoppable, especially when a full panzer attack imposes an automatic D3 result (steps lost, hexes retreated). Indeed I cannot see how one can hold back the Germans. The French armoured forces have lower quality tanks (referring to operational rather than theoretical effectiveness) and their formations are often weaker. The French airforce is represented by one counter (plus an occasional RAF unit) against (I think) six Luftwaffe units.

The rules are very competent with clear thought and many neat ideas (for example, although you can choose to take losses as steps or hexes retreated you must have the greater part in losses). The sequence has armoured units moving, then combat. This means that where the allies are retreating the burden of combat falls on the panzers.

This is one to which I look forward to returning.

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