"Blade" is the nineteenth map on the French side of the campaign.
General Situation
| Units | Depots | Factories | Resources | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 85 | 5 | 5 | 110 |
| Germany | 37 | 1 | 1 | 45 |
| France | 32 | 1 | 2 | 26 |
| Neutral | 16 | 3 | 2 | 39 |
Units
| Player | Computer | |
|---|---|---|
| Infantry | 11 | 5 |
| Elite Infantry | 2 | 4 |
| Cavalry | 2 | 5 |
| Sappers | 1 | 0 |
| Anti-Tank Guns | 0 | 4 |
| Armored Car | 0 | 3 |
| Charron | 2 | 0 |
| Mark I | 6 | 0 |
| Light Artillery | 2 | 1 |
| Medium Artillery | 2 | 4 |
| Heavy Artillery | 0 | 1 |
| Stationary AA-Emplacement | 0 | 1 |
| Supply Car | 2 | 0 |
| Train Artillery | 1 | 1 |
| Supply Train | 1 | 0 |
| Bunker | 0 | 7 |
| Patrol Boat | 0 | 1 |
Buildings
| #1 | Depot (France) | Resources: 5 | #7 | Factory (Germany) | Resoureces: 15 |
| 1 Medium Artillery, 1 Cavalry, 4 Infantry | 1 Medium Artillery, 2 Anti-Tank Guns, 3 Cavalry | ||||
| #2 | Factory (France) | Resources: 6 | #8 | Depot (neutral) | Resources: 10 |
| empty | 2 St. Chammond, 1 Light Artillery, 1 Elite Infantry | ||||
| #3 | HQ (France) | Resources: 5 | #9 | HQ (Germany) | Resources: 10 |
| empty | empty | ||||
| #4 | Factory (neutral) | Resources: 7 | #10 | Depot (neutral) | Resources: 10 |
| 2 Elite Infantry | 1 Heavy Artillery, 5 Cavalry | ||||
| #5 | Factory (France) | Resources: 10 | #11 | Factory (neutral) | Resources: 6 |
| empty | 2 Elite Infantry | ||||
| #6 | Depot (neutral) | Resources: 6 | #12 | Depot (Germany) | Resources: 20 |
| 2 Cavalry | empty | ||||
Strategy[edit]
Pretty easy map actually. You have unusually high resources for such a late level, and you start with a relatively even unit count. Kill the bunker at the double bridge immediately, then fall back. It will save you trouble later. Watch the medium artillery moving in from the enemy HQ and fall back accordingly. Send the truck north immediately to pick up the Medium Artillery from the northwestern depot. Build a heavy artillery in your factory to help your light artillery check the assault.
The train artillery will be needed at the bridge in the beginning, as well as the medium artilleries. You can hold the eastern depot easily with the St.Chammonds that are in there, and quite soon you can start moving south to take over the southeast factory. Rotate tanks and infantry on the double bridge and establish a shuttle service to your factory in the north for repairs.
The enemy heavy artillery units will move into your range sooner or later. Once those are gone, move the train artillery towards the enemy HQ and clear the bunkers. By that time you should have control over the whole area southeast of the river. The rest is mopping up via a few trucks full of troops and a quick assault from 3 directions.
NOTE: The game throws a low blow at you in this map. Neither you nor the enemy has any aerial units, and neither is anyone allowed to build any. That's a bit of a setback, since at that stage in the game, you'll be quite used to the convenience of hunting down enemies all over the place with your experienced bombers.