Armies of France

[doc man]

Hi All, My first real post.

I have a large-ish French army with a good selection of vehicles including a number that were not mentioned in the 2nd Ed. Armies of France or the 3rd Ed. French Army list. I was wondering if they were going to be included in the 3rd Ed Armies of France book which is supposed to be a more comprehensive list.

And I was wondering if anyone else could think of any other French Vehicles that should be included.

AAC-37 – Spanish built version of the Soviet BA-6. About 25 were interned by the French Army when Spanish Republican troops escaped to France after the Spanish Civil War. Were used during the Battle of France and subsequently by the German Army in Russia.

Blindado Tipo Zis (UNL-35) – Another survivor of the Spanish Civil War, 22 were interned by the French Army. Basically an armoured body placed on any truck chassis that could be found. It was planned that they would be sent to the Colonies but unknown what happened to them.

FT TSF – Unarmed version of the FT tank with turret replaced by command and radio turret – basically a command version of the FT. About 100 built and still being used the the desperate days of June 1940.

Renault TRC-36 – about 260 built, tracked ammunition & fuel transporter. Although I am not sure of it’s utility in Bolt Action.

Citroen P28 – 53 built, a tiny armoured halftrack which performed poorly and was used instead for tank training. Was hurriedly thrown into combat in June 1940.

Cruiser A.10 & A.13 – British tanks that were left behind by the BEF as they retreated from France. About 10 used by French forces who didn’t even have time to repaint the British markings before throwing them into combat.

Various Hasty Vehicles – In the last desperate weeks of the Battle of France, various French vehicles were coming off the production line and being thrown into combat without turrets fitted – Char B1s, AMD-178s etc. The AMR-35 ZT-4 had been intended for Colonial service but were also used without their turrets. Instead, various armour plates were welded into place along with LMGs and MMGs. This would be easy enough to represent in Bolt Action with an entry listing the point involved to remove a part or ability and the cost to refit a different part.

Amazingly, in the French political climate of the 1930s, the French Armed Forces did not trust the French workers enough to not start a communist revolution so different factories produced different parts to tanks, each individual part (Turret, Chassis, Radio, Ammo, Guns etc.) being manufactured in a separate factory which meant it was useless without it’s other parts and could not be used in a revolution. Even Rifle parts were built in several different factories. The French Army would then take possession and assemble it all – this being done by conscripts etc. The same applied to the French Air Force with German forces capturing large numbers of unarmed fighters with their missing guns stored elsewhere.

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