Unboxing of France 1940, a game published in 1972 by the Avalon Hill Game Company. (This video was shot at 60 frames per second and it is best viewed using Google Chrome.)
i got this game in 1972 and still have it. just broke it out last week. set it up on the pool table and started to play on sat evening, got thru 6 turns.. left it and the game panzer on the gaming / pool table, had to assist my wife with something. Didn't think anything about the game after the to do list was done. I woke early Sunday, 4am went down to play, and low and behold. panzer and france 1940 merged, some how Russian and German tanks were in France.. I had forgotten to cover the games with plexiglass saturday evening. and the cats went down to play a few turns for me.. The pieces and dice were all over the table. the cats are smart. they knocked all the dice into the tables holes and wacked them up the channels where i couldn't get them without tools. anyway, the games are reset and covered today. Anyway. that game got a lot of miles on it in high school and when i deployed in the Navy... Some didn't like it. Yet it was enjoyable. I know your post was 9 years ago. Yet it was interesting watching the vid. have a great day
I remember playing it a lot, also because there weren’t so many games published as today. It was fun experimenting with the different orders of battle. Glad you liked this video. Cheers!
Brilliant video! Still love the old games. Thanks for making this kind of 'unboxing' video! Need more of them! Very nostalgic! "Do a friend a favor..."
Thank you for sharing this video--including your memories of the Chicago department store visit. I recall the absolute awe I felt when visiting my older sister and brother when they attended Purdue University: there in the middle of the sales floor was a display w/ *dozens* of SPI plastic tray games....
One of my all-time favorites from the mid-1970s when I was a 12 yr old kid. I must have played it a billion times. It had a surprising amount of variety with the 8 or 10 different OOB cards based on alternate pre-war history for each nation. And OMG....the fold-out brochure listing their other games LOL that went away by about 1977. Interesting that the unit counters in your game have rounded corners, mind had traditional square corners. Great video on a great old AH game.
One of my favorites, too. I always trim my counters. For me, there's nothing wrong with good-looking war games. And if the game is a clever design, great!. After all, I will inevitably be spending a lot of time looking at the game I'm playing. Better to look at something good-looking than crappy-looking. For me, trimmed counters improve upon a game's appearance, even in the map is not so attractive.
Wow! Talk about bringing back memories. I have this and dozens of other games from this period stored in my garage. Wife has been on me for years to throw them out but for some reason I resist..lol. As I recall, this game was a no-win for France, always.
Joe... I can almost feel your excitement, back then... would have felt very much the same. I love those bookshelf games... games that fit nicely on the shelf... very elegant. I am glad we've improved playability by getting away from blue and pink units... love this review... keep up the good work.
Thank you, Jim. I like showing the old games once in a while. As to this one, there is a lot of nostalgia riding on it for me. Glad that you appreciate this, too.
Great unboxing review. I don't like the instruction folder either. It's hard to find things in the folder. A booklet would have been better. I do have the new John Cooper counters, which makes the game pop. This is a great game.
Stuka Jo, I have a similar experience. This was my first box wargame which I bought in the early 70s just after I left school. I used to love this game to bits.In fact, it sits on my bookshelf and is still in good condition.
Have you tried Vassal (the open-source boardgame engine)? They have most of the old Avalon Hill game converted to computer games, including France 1940.
I hear ya, brother! I played most of these games when I was 13 myself. My friend George Reed and I spent most of Saturday and Sunday playing D-Day, Midway, Bulge, and Waterloo at his house (add in the large bottle of coke and nachos). Thankfully I have kept most of these games in good shape... regret trading away Guadalcanal, which was pretty interesting. Love the respect you show the Old games ... IF you go to 2xsindustries.com out of Texas, they have created variant units to spice up almost all the old AH games... keep up the great work!!!
After all these years, I still love the game. The only rules I don't like, which, I would house rules, are the air rules, where you have to count hexes (18-hex range for the Allies, 20-hex range for the Germans). I would abstract it to convert each air unit into an Air Support marker. Just thinking out loud.
Some of the classics became classics because they were outstanding games. Looking back in time, I am not shocked that Avalon Hill would buy the publishing rights for this game from SPI. And it really stands up well even now - great fun to play (just like the original AH Afrika Korps). I know what you mean about the air factors vs. counting from an air base. I think it was designed to add a level of complexity and realism -- you have to manage your air bases effectively. That said, I don't know what the realistic air ranges for close support air units were - could they have basically flown all over France without regard to distance and fuel? I dunno. Thanks again for posting. I also really liked the Civil War play through.
Thanks, again. That Civil war video was 3 hours long. I'm amazed you watched the whole thing. It was quite a project to edit and paste together. Cheers.
In reality the 3 French DLM (armored) divisions were stronger than many of the German Panzer divisions. They had Somua medium tanks and Hotchkiss tanks, many armed wth long 37mm guns. Those "light" tanks had armor mostly impervious to the main German 37mm ATG's. They also had a lot of powerful 45mm gun armed armored cars. When they fought head to head in a single battle, Hannut, the French DLM's destroyed many more tanks than the Germans did french ones, even with the German's better tactical doctrine. The 3-4 French tank divisions represent the 3 DCR units, which were small (only about 5,000 men) but very powerful with Char B1 bis and Hotchkiss tanks. The Char B1 was pretty much invulnerable from the front to German weapons except field guns and 88's, of which there were few. Their shortcoming was that they only had a single battalion of infantry and limited recon assets. They were "breakthrough" divisions to be used in setpiece battles. They were of course outmanuvered and most losses were to mechanical breakdowns and fuel shortages.
France 1940 and Luftwaffe, eh? In hindsight, two mediocre games, if opinions are to be believed, but choices were limited back in those days and many AH box covers were irresistible. :-) I know I couldn't resist the box cover of Luftwaffe, although I never got to actually playing the game.
Thank you for the invitation, Shelby, but I just can't commit to this now. I am currently filming a video on No Retreat: The Italian Front, which has been a challenge to film and I have a list of games in line overdue. Thank you, again and Happy New Year. Cheers, Joe.
i got this game in 1972 and still have it. just broke it out last week. set it up on the pool table and started to play on sat evening, got thru 6 turns.. left it and the game panzer on the gaming / pool table, had to assist my wife with something. Didn't think anything about the game after the to do list was done. I woke early Sunday, 4am went down to play, and low and behold. panzer and france 1940 merged, some how Russian and German tanks were in France.. I had forgotten to cover the games with plexiglass saturday evening. and the cats went down to play a few turns for me.. The pieces and dice were all over the table. the cats are smart. they knocked all the dice into the tables holes and wacked them up the channels where i couldn't get them without tools.
anyway, the games are reset and covered today.
Anyway. that game got a lot of miles on it in high school and when i deployed in the Navy... Some didn't like it. Yet it was enjoyable. I know your post was 9 years ago. Yet it was interesting watching the vid.
have a great day
I remember playing it a lot, also because there weren’t so many games published as today. It was fun experimenting with the different orders of battle. Glad you liked this video. Cheers!
Brilliant video! Still love the old games. Thanks for making this kind of 'unboxing' video! Need more of them! Very nostalgic!
"Do a friend a favor..."
Thank you for sharing this video--including your memories of the Chicago department store visit. I recall the absolute awe I felt when visiting my older sister and brother when they attended Purdue University: there in the middle of the sales floor was a display w/ *dozens* of SPI plastic tray games....
Thanks, Judson. I know exactly what you mean! Great memories.
One of my all-time favorites from the mid-1970s when I was a 12 yr old kid. I must have played it a billion times. It had a surprising amount of variety with the 8 or 10 different OOB cards based on alternate pre-war history for each nation. And OMG....the fold-out brochure listing their other games LOL that went away by about 1977. Interesting that the unit counters in your game have rounded corners, mind had traditional square corners. Great video on a great old AH game.
One of my favorites, too. I always trim my counters. For me, there's nothing wrong with good-looking war games. And if the game is a clever design, great!. After all, I will inevitably be spending a lot of time looking at the game I'm playing. Better to look at something good-looking than crappy-looking. For me, trimmed counters improve upon a game's appearance, even in the map is not so attractive.
In 1972, under the Christmas tree, I found 1776, Lufftwaffe, and Diplomacy. AND I WAS OFF AND RUNNING as a wargammer! Great memories.
Excellent job Joe! Brought to mind my own affection for Tactics II and Blitzkrieg from back in the day. Old school!
Wow! Talk about bringing back memories. I have this and dozens of other games from this period stored in my garage. Wife has been on me for years to throw them out but for some reason I resist..lol. As I recall, this game was a no-win for France, always.
Blast from the past. Thanks SJ! made me all mushy inside. Good times.
Joe... I can almost feel your excitement, back then... would have felt very much the same. I love those bookshelf games... games that fit nicely on the shelf... very elegant. I am glad we've improved playability by getting away from blue and pink units... love this review... keep up the good work.
Thank you, Jim. I like showing the old games once in a while. As to this one, there is a lot of nostalgia riding on it for me. Glad that you appreciate this, too.
Great unboxing review. I don't like the instruction folder either. It's hard to find things in the folder. A booklet would have been better. I do have the new John Cooper counters, which makes the game pop. This is a great game.
Stuka Jo, I have a similar experience. This was my first box wargame which I bought in the early 70s just after I left school. I used to love this game to bits.In fact, it sits on my bookshelf and is still in good condition.
Same here. It has a very special place for me. Many great memories with it!
Thanks, Stuka Joe for another great video. I enjoy unboxing videos of older games.
Thank, James. I cherish my older games, specially those I played when I was a kid.
You have rekindled my intrest in wargaming, I'm showing my son how to play B-17 and a few others that have been in a closet for decades.. Thank you
+brian daum Thank you, Brian. I am happy to hear that! Cheers. Joe
Have you tried Vassal (the open-source boardgame engine)? They have most of the old Avalon Hill game converted to computer games, including France 1940.
I hear ya, brother! I played most of these games when I was 13 myself. My friend George Reed and I spent most of Saturday and Sunday playing D-Day, Midway, Bulge, and Waterloo at his house (add in the large bottle of coke and nachos). Thankfully I have kept most of these games in good shape... regret trading away Guadalcanal, which was pretty interesting. Love the respect you show the Old games ... IF you go to 2xsindustries.com out of Texas, they have created variant units to spice up almost all the old AH games... keep up the great work!!!
My favorite game is Waterloo.
thank you
My dad goth this game yesterday, he had it as a kid. He also got
A fantastic game - one of my favorites.
After all these years, I still love the game. The only rules I don't like, which, I would house rules, are the air rules, where you have to count hexes (18-hex range for the Allies, 20-hex range for the Germans). I would abstract it to convert each air unit into an Air Support marker. Just thinking out loud.
Some of the classics became classics because they were outstanding games. Looking back in time, I am not shocked that Avalon Hill would buy the publishing rights for this game from SPI. And it really stands up well even now - great fun to play (just like the original AH Afrika Korps). I know what you mean about the air factors vs. counting from an air base. I think it was designed to add a level of complexity and realism -- you have to manage your air bases effectively. That said, I don't know what the realistic air ranges for close support air units were - could they have basically flown all over France without regard to distance and fuel? I dunno. Thanks again for posting. I also really liked the Civil War play through.
Thanks, again. That Civil war video was 3 hours long. I'm amazed you watched the whole thing. It was quite a project to edit and paste together. Cheers.
It was a pleasure to watch. I especially enjoyed Lee's invasion of Kentucky and Indiana!
Thanks for putting it together and posting it. Great job.
In reality the 3 French DLM (armored) divisions were stronger than many of the German Panzer divisions. They had Somua medium tanks and Hotchkiss tanks, many armed wth long 37mm guns. Those "light" tanks had armor mostly impervious to the main German 37mm ATG's. They also had a lot of powerful 45mm gun armed armored cars. When they fought head to head in a single battle, Hannut, the French DLM's destroyed many more tanks than the Germans did french ones, even with the German's better tactical doctrine. The 3-4 French tank divisions represent the 3 DCR units, which were small (only about 5,000 men) but very powerful with Char B1 bis and Hotchkiss tanks. The Char B1 was pretty much invulnerable from the front to German weapons except field guns and 88's, of which there were few. Their shortcoming was that they only had a single battalion of infantry and limited recon assets. They were "breakthrough" divisions to be used in setpiece battles. They were of course outmanuvered and most losses were to mechanical breakdowns and fuel shortages.
France 1940 and Luftwaffe, eh? In hindsight, two mediocre games, if opinions are to be believed, but choices were limited back in those days and many AH box covers were irresistible. :-)
I know I couldn't resist the box cover of Luftwaffe, although I never got to actually playing the game.
I had this game. Idiot relative tossed it out.
Would you be interested in a game of France 1940 by email?
Thank you for the invitation, Shelby, but I just can't commit to this now. I am currently filming a video on No Retreat: The Italian Front, which has been a challenge to film and I have a list of games in line overdue. Thank you, again and Happy New Year. Cheers, Joe.
Afrika Korps