Dynamo: Dunkirk, 1940 (1986)

(from The Wargamer Magazine 53:)

Dynamo: Dunkirk, 1940 is a strategic/operational-level simulation of the decisive middle phase of the battle for France. The first phase ended when the tanks of Panzergruppe Kleist emerged unscathed from the western end of the Ardennes Forest on 14 May, thus unhinging the entire Allied strategic plan. The third phase began on June 5, when the final drives into the heart of France were begun. For two weeks at the end of May, the Allies had a final chance to rebalance the situation. Had they succeeded in stabilizing a supplied bridgehead on the Flanders coast, or managed to smash the thinly-spread German mechanized formations while breaking out southward, all of subsequent World War II history would have been changed. Alternately, had the Germans succeeded in bagging the whole of the B.E.F., there would have been little or nothing to stop an Operation Sealion and no troops to send to North Africa.

Game has a 12 turn Campaign scenario, and a 7/5 turn "No Halt Order" scenario to examine the ramifications of Hitler's mistake. The ratio of playing area to unit quantity creates high-density combat and fluid gameplay situations. The simulation is at the intermediate level of complexity, and suitable for solitaire play

Republished in Command Magazine Japan #52 in 2003, together with Napoleon in Sunset, 1814.

Magazine References:

The Wargamer Magazine Article List:.

• issue #56 of August 1986, including the game First Team: Vietnam.
  • Dynamo: Dunkirk, 1940: Errata

BattlePlan Index Article List:

• Battleplan,No.2 November-December 1987
  • Dynamo: Dunkirk, 1940 - "Quick and Dirty Variant", Gary E. Smith