At this point of the war Lt Langveiler expected to be sitting in some warm, quaint Swiss gnome home, nibbling on chocolate and picking out which timepieces to send back to his family. No one had anticipated the Swiss to defend so well against the modern weaponry of the Germans, much less begin a counterattack that had sent them scrambling. Now, the field-promoted gnome had rain pouring off his hat as he stood with his surviving men in the ruins of an old church. The standing remains offered a short respite from the cold rain, but it was much too unstable to stay under it for long.
Wiping the water off of his face only added more water, but he couldn't ruminate on his situation. Private had been assigned guard duty on the other side of the old brigade, and when he came running back over the bridge, his only report has "Swiss Rangers, 10, I think they saw me."
The men were roused from whatever primitive shelter they could make.
Surrender was always an option, but they needed to put up a fighting effort, the old laws dictated it.
Forces:
Remnants of the German 27th (Die Leinenkugels)
1 Sergeant (Lt Langweiler)
5 Riflemen
Fight with Honor: The Germans will surrender if wounded. They can declare this prior to a wound recovery roll. If an out of action result is rolled, the figure is assumed captured/surrendered. Results of Out of Action during combat are treated as kills. Two point per figure surrendering/captured. The Swiss aren't the only nationality that can tunnel in a pinch.
Flee with Honor: The Germans already know that there's a large Swiss unit beyond the abbey. The only chance to fight another day is to cross the bridge. Three points per figure that get over the bridge and is alive at the end of the game.
Kill with Honor: One point for each Swiss out of action at the end of the game.
The Swiss National Park Rangers
1 Officer (Capt Fishgeruch)
1 NCO (Sgt Richard)
8 Riflemen (with close combat hatchets)
Eliminate Threat: Two points for each German killed or captured.
Do Not Underestimate the Sneakiness: The Swiss lose one point for each escaping German
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| The Swiss Rangers pull up to the Abbey. |
Turn One: The Swiss swore they saw a lone German trooper running through the countryside, so Capt Fishgeruch sent an advance to carefully creep up the stone arch to see if anyone was waiting for them.
The precaution was in vain as a single shot range out from across the river, and everyone but the scout saw Ranger Meier's head turn into red mist.
"Sniper!!!!"
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| Headshot! |
Ranger Baumann, behind Meier was in the German Rifleman's sight, he pulled the trigger, and just heard a *click*
"Goddamn rain..."
The other Germans huddled over to the sniper, finding the right line of sight for the advancing Rangers, but nothing was as effective.
The Swiss found cover at the base of the bridge, and prepared for an all out charge.
Turn Two: The Swiss though they had the upper hand, but it would take longer to storm the wall than they initially thought. One Swiss used the wall of the bridge as cover and fired down on the German position, to no effect. A German bullet dropped him to the cobblestone, wounded. Another Swiss tried to draw fire from around the base of the bridge, but it just gave the sniper enough time to clear his weapon, reload shoot him in the head. Another Swiss on the bridge dropped dead.
Meanwhile Private Meier, how had held a good cross-fire position across the road from the abbey, must have been inspired by the sniper, and took it upon himself to find a new position to pick off Swiss early.
Turn Three: Captain Fishgeruch grabbed Sergeant Richard by the shoulder, "The pension plan for the Park Rangers isn't all that great anyway, let's go!" The duo charged passed a opening within their men. Captain Fishgeruch reached the wall first, punching one of the German rifleman in the face with the pommel of his sword, before slicing the supposed sniper below the neck with his sword, dropping him. The Sergeant followed quickly after, but there no witnesses to whether he was shot or beaten in hand to hand. Nevertheless, his lifeless body adorned the other side of the wall.
The Germans were quickly realizing that those early shots may have convinced the Swiss of a "Take No Prisoners" approach to the engagement.
Turn Four: When when point blank shot grazed the Captain, he wisely dove face-first in the mud on the other side of the wall to feign death (re; he earned a shock token).
With the remaining rifleman pinned or bleeding near the bridge, Park Ranger Schneider pulled out his trusty hatchet and dove over the wall. The two Germans broke his momentum, pushing him back, but not before they both were on the ground, quite dead.
Pondering an escape route, Lt Langweiler pulled out his pistol and fired upon Schneider, wounding him. For a moment, it appeared that the officer could possibly dashed across the road and support the pinned Schneider in the trees, possibly pushing through the remaining resistance and to freedom.
Turn Five: Park Ranger Schneider got better real quick (a well timed Queen of Hearts for initiative, removing the wound and allowing him to act). Leaving his firearm in the mud, Schnieder dove at the officer. The German proved to have more mettle than Schneider expected, and soon the two were locked in lethal hand-to-hand fighting (a tie for the close-combat roll!)
Meanwhile, Captain Fishgeruch recovered himself from the mud, and dove over to the last German rifleman, plunging his sword into his chest.
Lt Langweiler had one final trick up his sleeve ... or a few inches away from his. He managed to grab his pistol from a puddle, but as he turned it to shoot Schneider, the Ranger turn it into the officer's body as the gun went off.
A wounded and bleeding Langweiler let out a sigh of relief, "I surrender... if I don't bleed out first."
Breaking down the victory conditions, it was a brutal 12-6 Swiss win. From the first roll, the dice had bloodlust, forgetting about wounds and going right to "out of actions." Only one death was the result of a recovery roll! There was no mercy, which was the harsh reality the Germans discovered as their war machine effectively eliminated any of the old, honorable ways the that gnomes had fought with before.
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| All the blue tokens represent out of action, all but one on the initial wound roll! |
Rolling on the basic campaign chart in the core rulebook, the merely wounded Swiss Rifleman would miss the next engagement but return fine. Sergeant Richard and Lt Langweiler both suffered greatly from their wounds. Richard would never be the same again, and was eventually relegated to a training company. Langweiler would be in no shape for an escape attempt, and would be never see combat again... if he survived captivity.
Rules are Fistful of Lead by Wiley Games. Figures are Gnome Wars by Brigade Games.
This scenario was based off of Flintloque scenario Sharke's Abbey on Orcs in the Webbe.
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