Produktbeschreibung
Contents: Historical map, 32 die-cut counters, 6 scenarios, rules and charts, Platoon Leader campaign game.
Commentary: As its name suggests, Stonne 1940 is a historical module, designed by Pedro Ramis, that takes place during the German blitzkrieg campaign against France in May 1940. Specifically, it details the fight for the heights near the village of Stonne in a desperate attempt by the French 3rd Motorized and 3rd Armored Divisions to stem the German tide, represented here by the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment, the 16th Infantry Division, and the 10th Panzer Division. Early war armor and infantry actions abound in this, one of the only historical modules to represent the 1940 campaign in France.
The map is a fairly attractive representation of the environs of Stonne, but the use of shades of green for every elevation level (perhaps done for reasons of economy) makes the map somewhat confusing and hard to parse. A wider range of colors (as, for instance, in Kampfgruppe Peiper) would have been much more user-friendly. Making matters worse, some of the crest lines could be darker and more obvious (some players trace them to make them more visible). Additionally, the map is printed on glossy paper, which can cause frustrating glares (Critical Hit later abandoned this type of paper for its maps). A reprint of the module would profit greatly by a redone map. The 32 counters provided mostly represent French tanks. Stonne 1940 has six scenarios, which range in size from massive combined arms actions to quite manageable tournament sized scenarios.
One Platoon Leader campaign game is included with the game; it has 8 campaign dates. Both sides have a lot of purchase options ranging from motorcycle platoons to a wide variety of tanks and armored cars (especially for the Germans). Both sides also have opportunities to attack. Unfortunately, the campaign game is said to be flawed, because of a terrain bottleneck that essentially forces all German vehicles to go through one sunken road, which can be easily defended by AT mines and guns. However, Critical Hit Magazine Volume 6 Number 2 provides two additional campaign games for the Stonne map (as well as two additional scenarios, a play aid, and other supporting material).
Despite its flaws, Stonne 1940 still has much of interest. However, it is probably a good example of a module that could afford to be fixed and reprinted. |
