Despite the general weakness of early WWII German tanks, the Wehrmacht was still able to sweep across Europe in 1939 and 1940. When the invasion of France came, it pitted the nearly training-tank-level German armour against an odd mix of ancient WWI relics and more modern, much heavier tanks. However, bad tactics and the German ability to skirt insurmountable obstacles meant that the French tanks never had a chance to blunt the Blitzkrieg.
There’s no better way to get a feel for the general inadequacies of the French armoured answer to the German juggernaut than to build the Revell (Matchbox) 1/76 Char B.1 and FT.17 two-pack kit. It’s full of Matchbox Awesome (TM) and sports some of the worst box art ever! Check out this new repop of an Orange-Range classic on the Out of Box page.
The Sprue Lagoon 
As a footnote
Fantasque does not mean fantastic…
Depending on context
capricious
fanciful
erratic
However your post is fantastic.
Merci beaucoup, mon ami!