Aha, I finally found a ruler…
And guess what: I got the WFBC at 17mm x 9mm
Given RL’s recomendations for French units, I’d say his recomendations are spot on for the Frenchies:
Hotchkiss H35
17mm L / 7.5mm W
SOMUA S35
19.5mm / 8.5mm W
Char B1-bis
21.5mm L / 9.5mm W
I also went back through some of the older posts and rediscovered an old RL post… and concur with his choices for mech and air units:
Golden opportunity for you as France is not cut yet – could you make their set the following?
Hotchkiss H35 (Light Tank)
SOMUA S35 (Medium Tank)
Char B1 (Heavy Tank)
Panhard 178 (Mech Inf/Armored Car)
Morane Saulnier MS.406 (Fighter)
Bloch M.B.170 (Tac Bomber)
Amiot 354 (Bomber)
Make these as a set, in A&A size, without any of the infantry. This is a test set – if sales are not as you expect, make the “infantry” pieces and then sell it as a normal set, without the air pieces. Win-win I think.
I concur in all of this now, though I might also put in a word for the LeO 45 (the most used) or MB 162 (the best) as bomber alternatives.
If cutting a mold really has the sort of finality that those old messages seems to imply, then I say, just go for the full A&A expansion approach and assign the previous six sets to some as-yet-undeveloped separate game of its own… and go for a full line of French A&A-sized pieces, sans infantry, with all remaining resources immediately, as that’s where the market is.
In fact, I would consider adding in the naval units to the set as well and not waiting for a separate naval series. (Heck, French ships might be the last remaining French pieces on the board on turn 3 anyway…)