Escouves Forest
August 1944—Écouves Forest. Thick woods, rough country, and Germans with their backs to the wall. Perfect place for a fight.
After we busted out of Normandy, the Krauts tried to make a stand in that damned forest north of Alençon, thinking trees and shadows would stop the Allied hammer. Well, General Leclerc’s French 2nd Armored Division rolled in and showed ’em that no terrain—no matter how dense—can save you when the Allies are coming.
It wasn’t clean. It wasn’t easy. The fighting was up close, personal, and vicious—tanks blasting through trees, infantry ambushed from behind every stump. But the French didn’t blink. They cut through that forest like a buzz saw through timber, rooting out the enemy one foxhole at a time.
And when the smoke cleared, the Écouves Forest was ours—and the jaws of the Falaise Pocket slammed tighter on those retreating bastards.
That fight mattered. It sped up the collapse of the German line in France and helped crack the door wide open on the road to Paris.
Moral of the story? You corner a desperate enemy in the woods, you don’t tiptoe in—you charge in, guns blazing, and don’t stop till the last one runs or drops.
~~ General Howitzer
6 VP’s
Card Balance:
Allies – 6
Axis – 5
Complexity:
2
Conditions:
Countryside
Context:
Historical
Location:
France
Year:
1944
Theater:
Western
Campaign:
Codename:
Summary:
Objectives:
6 VP’s, plus the City of Ecouche for the Allies
Battlefield:
The center of the battlefield is dominated by the large Ecouves forest which is hiding some Germans.
Troops:
Allies – 6 Infantry, 6 Armor
Axis – 5 Infantry, 4 Armor
Allied Strategy:
1.
Axis Strategy
1.
Battle Reports
Author:
French Open, 2022; Also played at The Finest Hour Open, Chicago 2025.
Link:
