A while ago I watched a film starring John Mills and Richard Attenborough simply called Dunkirk. Despite being made in the 50s it still stands up today as a well made and story-driven film that illustrates what happened during the retreat and evacuation of the BEF and French forces in May and June of 1940. I’ve since done some research on the topic through two excellent reads – The Miracle of Dunkirk and I Fought at Dunkirk, both well worth looking at.

The fast moving Panzers, veteran Wehrmacht troops, ruthless SS and dogged Allied defenders (both French and British) would make for an excellent campaign. Played from the British viewpoint: a squad of professional, yet inexperienced soldiers finds itself isolated from its unit and pressed on three sides by the advancing enemy. The campaign would play out a series of encounters that gradually drive the unit towards the coast, meeting up with fleeing French civilians, other Allied stragglers, and of course, Stuka attacks, artillery, and infantry assaults.

I will need at least one squad of BEF troops, and three or four squads of Germans. In addition to that I’ll need some early-war vehicles, British, French and German, an aeroplane or two and lots of scenery.

Still got a lot of work to do, but I’ve made a start at least.