BOB a mistake ? --- The Battle of France

[csThor]

IMO there are two key reasons why the BoB was chosen over the BoF.

1.) Popularity

The BoB was covered in more books than I manage to count and there was an epic movie made about it. The BoF has been "forgotten" - most probably because France and the UK got their @sses handed to them in it (for reasons which go far beyond the scopes of a military simulation). The BoB, however, was stylized into the ultimate standoff between the forces of good and evil, as desperate battle for the survival of the "western civilization". As such the BoB is known to many, even many people who do not care about aviation or military history. IMO the BoF has more potential as an AddOn ...

2.) Scope

For the BoF the map would have to be much larger and incorporate parts of the Ruhr area which might tax computers more than perferable. However this is secondary to the other main advantage of the BoB - the limited number of objects (trucks, tanks, guns, ships and aircraft) necessary to simulate it. And it adds the bonus of having a static frontline so creating the campaign engine might be a little easier at first.
The less work Maddox Games has to put into the objects and their systems the more time the programmers have for working on the core engine. And that can never be wrong.

My 0,02 € ...

[mwolf]

I hope for balkans war
there you can see clashes of BF-109 E 3 vs BF-109 E4 and similar in april war 1941
that would be very fun

[GOZR]

In the air the battle of France or the The Phony War was not a defeat aucontrary the ground was an other story ..
The things about SOW is that we have already BOB2 and Oleg stepping over there crowd humm.. ..

[csThor]

As I said the BoF was a defeat for the Allies - regardless of the local successes. This is probably why it was put on the back shelf compared to the BoB - few people like to be taught about past defeats.
For example Guderian remembers his time as teacher for Tactics and Military History at the Officer's Academy at Stettin where he found the other teachers omitting Napoleon's victory over Prussia in 1806 while he went through it in great detail as he regarded it highly informative. I guess the same motivation applies to the relative lack of interest in the BoF.

[Qwerty]

Originally Posted by csThor

As I said the BoF was a defeat for the Allies - regardless of the local successes. This is probably why it was put on the back shelf compared to the BoB - few people like to be taught about past defeats.

Well I find the BoF very interesting, precisely because I don't understand it. Even today, historians cannot agree on the motives or reasons for every thrust and counterthrust of the campaign. It seems to me it played out much like a six week chess game - not so much a defeat of arms as a collapse of resolve (by some poorly equipped French and Belgian units) and a recognition of impending defeat (by the BEF) leading to withdrawal from the theatre. A victory for speed of manoeuvre and aerial support of infantry.

But I don't think it's ignored because it was a defeat (though I believe French society still prefers not to discuss the BoF) - it's more probably because the campaign was so short (10 May - 25 June 1940). There are only so many times one can bomb the three bridges over the Meuse without it getting a little 'samey'.

[GOZR]

This is where The Phony War have a huge importance the year before the declaration of war as we know now...

[C6_Krasno]

Yes, but if I'm right, Battle of England is nearly as short, from end of July to September 15, so maybe a month and half or two monthes ?

[GOZR]

the Phoney War is from September 1939 to April 1940.. It's quite a long time...





It is so much more interesting than BOB..

[MaXMhZ]

Let's just wait untill we have SoW:BoB, From what I understand we'll get a huge map from England to Germany. Now granted I'm very bad at geo but I thought France was between those two. I guess nothing will hold us back to make our own BoF

[Asheshouse]

Originally Posted by MaXMhZ

Let's just wait untill we have SoW:BoB, From what I understand we'll get a huge map from England to Germany. Now granted I'm very bad at geo but I thought France was between those two. I guess nothing will hold us back to make our own BoF

Word is that the map will only go far enough to include the Regia Aeronatica airfields in Belguim. -- so good for a Dunkirk re-enactment, and bits of the Battle of France but not the whole campaign.

Also good for post BoB cross channel raids.
Channel dash - with Guisenau, Scharnhorst and Prinz Eugen?

PS Is anyone modelling the Amiot 143. It looks awesome!