The second phase of our WWIII campaign takes place on the continental shores of the English Channel, in and around a coastal community known as... Dunkirk!

After isolating Brussels from the remainder of the Combine army, the Paneuropean armored divisions were able to force the City to surrender within the week.  This left the Paneuropean panzer divisions free to forge ahead toward the channel ports.  While Panzerarmee South had isolated the Combine forces in the Low Countries and was heading on into the center of France, Panzerarmee North continued pressing against the survivors of the Combine Northern ETO Army.  With a series of lightning strikes, the Combine was forced to retreat until its back was against the Channel.  With overwhelming Paneuropean forces closing in, they had only one choice:  Evacuate the continent!
 
Fortunately for the Combine, the time spent by the enemy in reducing Brussels had allowed them enough time to formulate an evacuation plan.  Already, most of the Combine GEV's, infantry and Ogres had escaped to England.  The majority of the remaining forces, however, would have to be evacuated the old fashioned way - by boat.  Deciding to to risk the entire fleet, ETO Command decided to send one Mega-Transport to haul off the survivors.  The question now was, would it have enough time before the Paneuropean panzers closed in for the kill?
 
Some twenty miles to the east of Dunkirk, the Combine Militia are the first to spot and encounter the Paneuropean vanguard - two squadrons of GEV's.  The hovercraft race in amongst the Combine rear guard, who, in spite of their technological inferiority, hold their ground and destroy several GEV's with their quick firing guns.  The GEV's retaliate by attempting an overrun, but this too turns against them and they take heavy casualties for only a small gain.
 
 
 
 
Back at Dunkirk, the Mega-Transport has arrived.  Forces in and around the city prepare for evacuation and head for the dock.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Although the defenders are uplifted by their initial success against the Paneuropean GEV's, it is not long before enemy reinforcements appear.  First, it is a squadron of Heavy Tanks supported by a Super Heavy.  These vehicles choose to stick to the less well defended highway in spite of the longer route involved.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Meanwhile, to the south, a Combine armored train races into the area, intent on reaching Dunkirk as quickly as possible.  Although heavily armed, the train is also carrying several tanks and infantry platoons towards the evacuation zone.  The crew realize that the train is very vulnerable so close to the Paneuropean lines.  Should the enemy choose to make a daring attack at the train, they would have a fairly good chance of success.  But will they risk it?
 
 
 
 
 
Fortunately for the Combine, the Paneuropean commander in charge of the southern flank instead chooses to concentrate on a nearby village in lieu of the armored train - doh!  The train's engines pushed to the limit, it is soon out of harm's way and passing the village of Bon Vivant, its cargo safe and on its way to the docks.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Here, the train is just reaching the outskirts of Dunkirk.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Back at the front, retreating Combine forces join in the defense along with the MBT's stationed in Bon Vivant.  They all sally forth into the fields to combat a kampfgruppe of Paneuropean GEV's.  The skirmish is brief and violent.  Although there are Paneuropean survivors, the Combine GEV commanders steer their vehicles away and gun their engines full throttle towards the waiting Mega-Transport, leaving the MBT's behind to fend for themselves...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Meanwhile, the Paneuropean flanking force has finally arrived on the outskirts of Dunkirk.  Several of the GEV's make a bee-line over the water towards the docked Mega-Transport, however, nearby Combine howitzers make quick work of them.  The surviving GEV's head towards the city, hoping to solve the problem from a different angle, but are destroyed for their efforts.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Massive Paneuropean reinforcements arrive on the battlefield.  If this armored column reaches Dunkirk, the defenders are done for!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
More combine evacuees head into Dunkirk.  Traffic begins to bottleneck at the wharf.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Not all of the defenders are so lucky.  Here, three platoons of Combine infantry make a mad dash for Bon Vivant, but are caught and cut down en masse by the swift Paneuropean GEV's.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The massacre continues in the center of the battlefield, however, the Paneuropeans are not finding it as easy going as they would like.  Here, not only do they find it necessary to gang up four GEV's on an ancient Combine MBT, they also feel it prudent to shoot it in the back!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Combine armored train, having successfully unloaded its passengers, reverses engines back into the heart of the battle.  Here, the Paneuropeans have finally taken Bon Vivant, only to find themselves under fire from the guns of the train!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Some of the last minute Combine stragglers, these LGEV's carry a platoon of infantry straight past Dunkirk and on over the Channel without even slowing down!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Paneuropean panzers continue their advance down the highway.  Although they encounter no resistance along their path, the road has been severed just ahead by Combine howitzer fire.  This will slow down the column...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Here come the last of the Combine evacuees, a group of four Super Heavy Tanks!  The Combine commander decides to risk all by holding the Mega-Transport until these four vehicles get on board.  While some of his subordinates advise against, he sticks to his guns and awaits the outcome...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Back at the front, the armored train is assaulted by wave after wave of Paneuropean panzer, both Heavy and Super Heavy.  Not able to withstand such a blow, the train is severed!  The train's commander decides to cut the rest of the cars and race back to Dunkirk, however, fate has something else in store for him.  The enemy panzers catch up with him before he can get out of range, and their combined fire destroys the locomotive, thus putting an end to the great symbol of Combine power on the European Continent.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Here the Paneuropean panzers attempt to negotiate the severed road.  Their commander, not wanting the tanks to lose formation and become separated, slows down the pace so that cohesion can be maintained.  The delay proves to be too much, however...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ESCAPE!  The Mega-Transport makes it off just in time, barely avoiding the just-too-late appearance of a Paneuropean Ogre Mk V on the outskirts of Dunkirk.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
All told, the Combine lost 36 units, but managed to evacuate over 40.  This resulted in a victory for the Combine because, although they had lost the Continent to the Paneuropeans, they had managed to recover enough forces to establish a viable defense of England for the inevitable invasion to come...
 
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HOW WE DID IT:

We used an 4x4 wargaming table down at the CGC "club house", known to some as Mangrove Games. Anthony, the owner, was kind enough to let us run our Wednesday night game club meeting late for this one - thanks Anthony!

All the Ogre figures, armor and infantry were made by Steve Jackson Games!  The modern microarmor and militia figures are all from Irregular.  The laser towers and jam screen are a mix of old resin Ogre line models, and ones we used to make for Flagship Games' game, Mecha!  The roads are Geohex road cloth.  The city bases are also Geohex cloth.  The English Channel is a strip of blue vinyl table cloth.  The forests are a mix of Woodland Scenics and K&M Trees, placed on custom finished bases.  The mountains are hand-made from Woodland Scenics materials, while the low hills are made from shaped blueboard with paint and flock added by Adam of Bartertown.  The majority of the buildings are by JR Miniatures (available through Geohex), and the rest are either Village Green 6mm or some of the old, out-of-print Mecha! range.  Finally, the Mega-Tanker was scratch built from Bass Wood in about 5 minutes (including painting), by yours truly.  Okay, so it could have looked better...

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Well, I hope you enjoyed the second installment in the series.  Next will be the Battle of Briton 2041!  Look for it early in October!
 
If you would like to see the first game of the campaign, click here.
 
If you would like to go on to the next part of the campaign, click here.
 
If you would like to see some pictures of the CGC 2001 Wargame/Party, click here.