Groupe Franc de
Cavalerie
Order of Battle for Command Decision
miniatures rules
The Groupes Franc de Cavalerie
were an improvisation created in the desperate final weeks of the
struggle against Germany in 1940. Since most of French Army's
armored and mechanized formations were decimated in the initial battles
of the war, the French found themselves having to improvise new
formations to try to cope with the German advance. The smallest of
these was the GFC, a mixed unit of motorcyclists, armored cars, tanks,
and motorized anti-tank guns whose role would be to try to delay German
armored spearheads or to harrass the Wehrmacht's flanks and supply
lines. These formations may be viewed as the successors to the franc-tireurs of the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 which, although creating a nuisance for
the German forces, were unable to make a significant impact on the
course of events.
Although due to their improvised nature the GFCs varied considerably,
the organization listed below is representative.
Groupe Franc de Cavalerie
Regular or Experienced, Morale 8
Headquarters, with 1 Command Motorcycle Stand
Armored Car Platoon, with 1 Panhard 178 Armored Car
Tank Platoon, with 1 Somua S-35 tank
Anti-Tank Platoon, with 1 25mm or 47mm AT gun, 1 Gun Crew, 1 Laffly
Light truck
Machinegun Section, with 1 MMG stand, 1 Light Truck
Motorcycle Detachment, with 3 Motorcycle Patrol Stands
Notes:
1. Normal Command Decision scale of 5 vehicles per stand is used. The
Motorcycle Detachment had 18 actual motorcycles. The AT gun
platoon may be treated as a battalion gun stand, due to the small size
of the unit (2 cannon).
2. On account of the dispersed nature in which the GFC was to operate,
its stands may be treated as self-ordering.
Mike J.
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The J-8 Shop
Wargame Rules and Variants
http://www.oocities.org/pmj6/