ASL Action Pack #21 Unboxing

On 10 May 1940, Germany came west. In 16 days, the Netherlands surrendered, Belgium was on its last legs, and the panzers had cut France in half. Blitzkrieg to Paris is MMP’s Action Pack #21, and it puts you in the middle of those first few weeks. You get ten scenarios and four new double-sided boards, all from one designer.

It came out in October 2025, and I’m a little late getting it unboxed. I have a lot of unboxing to catch up on.

Getting It

In the US, you can get it straight from MMP or from Ritterkrieg, where it’s $48 and in stock. That’s where I get nearly all my stuff. In Europe, ask the European experts. I don’t know the shops over there.

Gary Fortenbery designed every scenario and every map in the pack. Charlie Kibler painted the boards. In 2025 I assume that means digitally, not with a brush.

Case Yellow

The German plan was called Fall Gelb, Case Yellow. Army Group B went into the Netherlands and Belgium first, with paratroops dropping on the airfields around The Hague and the bridges to Rotterdam. Gliders landed right on top of Fort Eben-Emael. It looked like 1914 all over again, so the best French armies and the BEF rushed north into Belgium to meet it.

That was the trap. The real punch was Army Group A, with its panzers threading the Ardennes, where the French expected nothing big. They crossed the Meuse at Dinant and Sedan on 13 May. A week later Guderian’s tanks were on the Channel at Abbeville, and the Allied armies in Belgium were cut off.

The Dutch lasted five days. Rotterdam was bombed on 14 May, and they surrendered the next day. The Belgians held on until 28 May. By then the BEF was heading for Dunkirk. The scenario numbers on the timeline show where the pack drops in.

What’s in the Pack

Here’s the packing list.

• Four 11″ x 16″ double-sided geomorphic boards, 23a/b to 26a/b
• Ten scenarios, AP227 to AP236
• A credits sheet
• An errata slip

Yes, errata. Right off the bat, before I’d even read a card. It’s one fix to one scenario, so it’s no big deal. For Wons Enough, the German Turn 3 entry instructions now say “of board 9b” after the board edge. Still, a pink slip is the last thing I want to see in something fresh off the printer.

The first scenario stopped me cold. “Disaster at Ypenburg” is the German airborne assault on Ypenburg airfield, outside The Hague. A couple of years ago I sent MMP a Starter Kit scenario on the same fight. I called it “The Curtain Falls,” and it used some special rules to fake the Fallschirmjäger drops around the field. It’s been in limbo ever since.

Gary’s version is much meatier, because full ASL has pillboxes, wire and trenches to play with. I should probably ask MMP what happened to mine.

Starter Kit is where new scenarios are really needed. There are only about a hundred SK scenarios after 20 years, while full ASL has something like 7,000. Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox.

Ten Fights in Sixteen Days

Every scenario is from May 1940, and they’re all pretty short. They run from 5 to 7½ turns. The Germans face the Dutch three times, the Belgians twice and the French five times.

The Dutch fights are “Disaster at Ypenburg,” “Wons Enough” and “Grebbeberg Heights.” In Wons, about 200 Dutch infantry set ambushes to stop the Germans from outflanking the Afsluitdijk. The Grebbeberg was the anchor of the Grebbe Line, the Dutch main line, and the SS went straight at it.

The Belgians get the Chasseurs Ardennais twice. In “Bastion Bodange,” they hold pillboxes in the Ardennes on the first day, with no orders to retreat. In “Résiste et Mords,” they’re at Vinkt on the Lys at the end of May, slowing the Germans so the BEF can get to Dunkirk. The title is their motto, “resist and bite.”

France gets the rest. “First Dance” and “Suxy Beasts” are French cavalry running into the panzers in the Ardennes. “Crossing Chaos” is the bridge at Yvoir, wired to blow, with Germans right on the heels of the last Allied rearguard. “Esprit Combatif” has the Spahis making a stand at La Horgne. Then “Gallic Counterpunch” finally lets the French hit back, with de Gaulle’s tanks at Montcornet.

Disaster at Ypenburg has a lot of special rules. That’s my one gripe with full ASL scenarios these days. I ran a poll on the channel a while back about the least favorite thing in scenarios, and complicated SSRs won by a mile. I get it. They tweak the rules to match what happened. But at some point SSR creep turns a scenario into homework.

The numbers on the map match the table under it.

The Boards

The four new boards are 11 by 16 inches and double-sided, in the same style as MMP’s other double-sided boards. Here are the “a” sides.

23a has a Normandy feel, with lots of wheat, walls and hedges, plus a couple of small hills. Those hedges could turn into bocage with a single SSR. 24a has a river running straight through it, with a village on the bank. It’s interesting to think about which other boards it lines up with. I think the Fortenbery boards have more river options than the regular geomorphic boards.

25a is a mishmash of everything. It has hills, a little village, a cemetery, streams, woods, brush, orchards, wheat and walls. You could probably even turn it into a PTO board. 26a has a big hill, a skinny one and a third besides, with a stream and a small village full of orchards.

That’s the cool thing about ASL boards. Add one SSR that says the hills don’t exist, and 26a turns into a flat Normandy board with walls and orchards. A few words, and it’s a whole new board. Fun fact, by the way. There are more ASL boards than there are Starter Kit scenarios.

Where to Buy

Ritterkrieg, $48 (US and North America)

Debriefing

Blitzkrieg to Paris is a solid Action Pack. The scenarios are short, they cover all three of the armies the Germans rolled over in May 1940, and the Dutch and Belgians don’t get nearly enough love in ASL. Four new double-sided boards are always welcome, and these four give a designer a lot to work with.

The errata slip and the special rules on Ypenburg are small gripes. If 1940 is your thing, or you want the underdogs to make a stand, this one’s worth grabbing. Just keep an eye on my Starter Kit scenario. Maybe someday it’ll get out of limbo.

Academy Out!

GET TO THE CHOPPA…!!!

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