by Keith Tracton, 21 September 2025
I received a copy of the fourth expansion to the Panzer series, designed by Jim Day, set in France, 1940, featuring notable French and German troops and vehicles.
click images to enlarge
What’s in the Box?
The Panzer series is has exceptional detail. Each game incorporates data cards that precisely define the characteristics and weaponry of individual tanks and infantry squads. The battlefield is constructed using geomorphic map boards, offering limitless combinations for diverse scenarios. The ground scale is 100 meters per hex, while the time scale is 15 seconds to 15 minutes a turn. Truly Tactical!
Every Panzer game and expansion comes with a playbook that includes one of my favorite things (about wargames in general): a comprehensive table of organizations and equipment book, providing extensive detail on the organizations of both French and German armies of that year, alongside rich historical context for the weapons employed.
And of course there are four double-sided geomorphic maps, 21 data cards, and four counter sheets, all designed to complement the core game’s components.
The Scene of Our Battle
I played Scenario 37 from the expansion, set in Ernage, Belgium in 1940.
For this specific engagement, the German forces consist of an armored company and a panzer grenadier company, supported by a pair of self-propelled mortars. Their tanks include formidable Panzer IVDs, lighter Panzer IICs, and the company commander’s Panzer IIIFs. They also field an Italian bomber. The Panzer grenadiers have half-track transport (trucks for the heavy weapons teams) and some of the halftracks are equipped with 37mm anti-tank guns.
The French forces begin already positioned on the map, having established a series of strong points with the intention of delaying the Germans. leveraging the depth of their deployment. The French have a tank company and an anti-tank company, the latter deploying similarly to a German “PAK”-gun (anti-tank) lines used in desert fighting of 1941 (see Panzer North Africa!). The French tanks are S35 and H35 models, supported by a couple of armored cars, to complement the six 47mm anti-tank guns of the anti-tank company.
The Action Unfolds
In the opening German moves, tanks spearhead the assault, with panzer grenadiers held off-map to allow armored units to probe the French defenses. This initial reconnaissance quickly results in a tactical setback for the Germans as a lucky French shot hits the track and disables the first German tank.
As the battle progresses, a French platoon on the left flank opens fire on the numerous approaching German tanks.
Meanwhile, the anti-tank guns in the center find themselves frustrated, lacking a clear line of sight or spotted targets thus far.
The forward areas witness a desperate “knife fight,” where the French armored cars on a hill stubbornly refuse to yield their position. On the right flank, a very slow French tank platoon retreats after scoring a hit that leads to a German tank bailout.
The lone anti-tank gun in the center continues its patient wait for targets.
By turn three, the Germans intensify their attack. Panzer IICs directly engage the resolute French armored cars in the front. Note the French anti-tank guns intended kill zone is in the center of the map. French tanks on the right flank begin a slow repositioning rearward, their movement restricted to only a three movement point maximum if not on a clear path or road.
The French left flank prepares for engagement, with a fire command already laid out for the entire platoon.
Five anti-tank guns, along with another individual gun, lie in wait.
French S35s in the center maintain a steady fire, their positions marked by visible fire command. They still have Spot-Fire markers from the previous turn’s fire, which means they are easier to spot themselves for return fire by the Germans.
German mortars strategically position themselves in a corner of the map, ready to deploy either smoke screens or high-explosive (General Purpose is the term in this series) rounds.
In the center, German units attempt to use a path, seeking the fastest route past the French armored cars and tanks. Not much luck maneuvering so the Panzer IICs charge to clear the French armored cars off the hill!
The German HQ group and two main platoons engage the French left, who, despite fighting effectively, find their weapons less potent against the thick front armor of the German tanks.
On the crucial hill, the AMD35 armored cars prove exceptionally effective, scoring hits on two more undamaged tanks and achieving one outright kill. Their fast-firing 25mm cannon prove to be more than a match and continue to penetrate German armor plate.
Next week, the German reinforcements arrive . . .
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Interesting fight; good AAR; thanks for posting!
Is it just me, or are the unit counters too large for the hex size?