En Garde -- July 1637 Turn Resolution

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Administrative

Thanks to Brian for writing the front!

The August 1637 Turn Deadlines are
Announcements and items for Le Sport: Wednesday, July 13
Orders: Monday, July 18

This is a fast turnaround since most are at the front. If I do not receive orders I will pick up your bravery/poltroonery from the last turn.

Send announcements and orders to me at aquazoo(at)patriot(dot)net

Character sheets will go out tonight.

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Elan En Garde! Game
Turn Resolution for July 1637

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In Paris

The City of Light was unusually quiet, save for activity around the various regimental barracks as they prepared supplies for the troops at the frontier.

Christian Cyan, bastard son of a peasant, signed up straightaway for a frontier regiment. Jean Neffis, second son of a peasant, did the same.

Looking around and getting his bearings, Alexandre-Valentin Le Fleurquin headed toward the town center and the row of soldiers looking for able bodied men to join. Alexandre-Valentin walks up to his dad's old regiment, the 4th, and explained to the soldier there that he wished to join. The soldier laughed and said, "Go see the officer on duty. I'm sure we'll see you back here before we march out." Before Alexandre-Valentin knew what was going on, he was rushed out of town and found himself in a long column of troops going to war...

Captain Jacque Wabbit of the GDMD was in that same column., having taken some time to buy a horse, and he informed the proprietor of the Frog and Peach that he would patronize that club when he returned.

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On Campaign

In a bold move, Chevalier Megane has insisted that the men of the GDMD experience battle before being considered for higher rank. The Chevalier has decided that potential Officers will be allowed to purchase captaincies, but will not be entitled to further promotion without serving at the front and proving themselves.

"We are soldiers", commented the Colonel, who had spent an exceptional amount of time at the front, "and a soldier's job is to fight the enemies of God, the King and France. The actions of the men (of the Regiment) will, by the grace of God, determine those best suited to lead rather than their purse-strings."

Having no such restrictions, Major Jean de Florrete arranged to buy the LtCol Rank in the Royal Marines.

Comte Daniel de Sparrot delivered a rousing speech: "Men of the Second Division! Last month, the Enemy forces attempted to crush us by direct assault and failed! You have spent the last days and weeks rebuilding some of those town defences that were destroyed, and any further assault by the enemy will not succeed -- each and every one of you is a soldier of France, and knows his duty! I am not a man of many words, but I know from first-hand experience just how the armies of His Majesty have fought in the past, and how they will continue to fight in the future! Tomorrow, we will see hills of enemy corpses piled up against our walls, and Duke Nicholas will have a bloodied nose to take back home with him as he runs with his tail between his legs. Merzig will not fall to the army of Lorraine: we have claimed it for France, and French it will remain! Our cannons, muskets and bayonets will teach that army out there that they cannot expect to retake this town, and we will make them pay so heavily for the attempt that they will quickly lose the stomach for fighting!"

"Lads, I will be watching you, as will the Field Marshal. We expect you to fight well -- we have SEEN you fight well, and I have confidence of seeing the same on the morrow. Get a good night's rest, sharpen your bayonets and make the enemy pay for their mistake of attacking us here!"

It was with a bruised pride & a desire to teach the Germans a lesson Armand St-Cyr waited to meet with Colonel Vigee-Leburn. After seeing how it should be done by the Colonel's actions last month, Armand wanted a chance to prove himself as a true leader. Eventually the Colonel had time and while sharing a cigar Armand put forth his request:
"Sir, what are our orders this month?
"There was no way I could have know the Germans would have been there.
"Anyway I would like to put forward my unit for the opportunity to prove ourselves. I have spoken with the men & they are just waiting for any opportunity."
"Gaston you know I can do this. Just give me the chance. I will await your decision & for our orders."
After discussing as much of the upcoming battle plans for the next month. Armand the their discussion to a lighter topic. Both the two of them enjoy a meal and Armand told of Karine her beauty. After awhile and much wine had been consumed by both of them, Armand made his way back to his tent knowing he would be supporting a shocking hangover. Before retiring he arranged for a gift & letter to be sent to Karine:
" My beloved Karine it has been so long since we have seen each other. That last week before I came to the front meant a lot to me, when I return it is my intention to repeat what we enjoyed. Things here are at the front are not what I thought they would be like. I have asked Colonel for a chance to do good for king and country & I await his decision. It is still my intention to return to you but with a title and a greater reputation at court. If all goes well I will stay true to this promise. I will return soon, please accept this gift until I can get back to you and once again entertain you.
Always,
Armand StCyr...

In the tents of the high command, early July.

The night was dark with only the scent of evening primrose and the whispered signs and countersigns of the sentries. Unfortunately, not all the solders were asleep like they should have been. I've been told that Brigadier Laffont, Colonel Megane, Colonel D'Abril and Colonel Mondego were discussing something with Field Marshal Dillee, when Colonel Megane spied the shadow of a listening observer. Without breaking his tone or flow of speech, our brave Colonel whipped out his dress sword and thrust through the side of the tent, catching Captain Zekelbahum by surprise and through the chest. Screaming with rage, the captain fell against the side of the tent, impaling himself ever further on the exquisitely sharp blade. A matching scream came from the front of the tent as another shape materialized out of the shadows! Captain Yshaevron burst through the front of the tent, and ran at Marshal Dillee. Fortunately for France, Colonel D'Abril threw himself onto the scoundrel, giving Colonel Megane enough time to finish off Zekelbahum and bring his sword to bear on Yshaevron. As the traitor Yshaevron was distracted, both by D'Abril's tackle and Megane's threat, Colonel Mondego emptied out a nearby bag of apples and calmly secured the sack over Yshaevron's head, catching him completely by surprise and trussing him up like a goose.

Seizing the initiative, field Marshall Dillee made an unprecedented move, contradicting all of his earlier orders, and sent the Dragoons and Guards brigade off to assault the Duke of Lorraine's army directly. Relying on the fact that the duke would be unprepared because of his reliance on the traitors, the Marshall realized that both these companies were in perfect position to strike at the Duke.

The Duke had made camp near a river, rendezvousing with his river based supply train. Brigadier Laffont had been directed to advance squarely with the dragoons while Moliere's Guards were directed to lead a flanking attack via the river.

The Dragoons advanced as expected, with Grand Duc Max's Dragoons in the fore, and the Princess Louisa Light Dragoons providing the reserves. Brigadier Laffont, however, stopped his dragoons after a few brief skirmishes with the pickets, and took a small hill as a defensible position. Thus, the opportunity for the Duke's most crucial tactical mistake arose: the Duke of Lorraine abandoned his camp and advanced with his regiments against the hill.

Through sheer bad luck, the first rounds of bullets from Duke Nicholas's forces killed both Brigadier Laffont and Lieutenant Commander Aubriot of the Light Dragoons. Rallying his forces, Colonel Megane took command of both forces, and continued the holding action.

Lt. Colonel Desacroix returned the favor by ordering his men to target the enemy officers. His reaction added to the enemy's confusion and helped to even the almost three-to-one odds against the dragoons.

Meanwhile, the extremely under-strength Guards Brigade sailed down the river in captured Saarlander supply craft. The normally resplendent Musketeers and Cardinal's Guard both had donned rough tunics which were reminiscent of traditional Saarlander sailing garb. A few complaints were heard at the coarseness of the burlap and the lack of gold embroidery.

The ruse worked so well that the dockhands at the temporary docks by the Duke of Lorraine's fortified camp actually tied the ships down before realizing that the Royal Foot Guard were swarming amongst them. The reserves in the camp quickly scrambled down to the docks, where they were
cut down by the understrength but accurate fire from both the Cardinal's Guard and the King's Musketeers. D'Abril and Mondego were heard placing wagers on which enemy troop would die to which regiment.

In the end, however, both D'Abril and Mondego waded off their ships to finish off the rest of the camp's defenders. Realizing something was wrong, Duke Nicholas acted quickly in turning his regiments around and retreated back to the camp. While the exalted Colonels were securing the camp, Major de Treville fortified the gates with this company and Captain Lefuet quickly manned the enemy cannon, firing canister at the returning Saarlander forces.

Despite it all, the company of Royal Foot Guard manning the northern palisade was pushed off by enemy forces, only to meet an heroic charge lead my Major d'Ermatitis, which broke the enemy's will.

At the retreat of the forces, Colonel Megane advanced the dragoons and acted as hammer to the Guard's anvil. The final charge by Major la Vessie's company took the enemy high command alive, dispatching their guards with almost embarrassing ease.

Duke Nicholas's head is now impaled on one of the stakes outside the gates of the encampment. For his aplomb and demonstrated ability, Colonel Megane was awarded the Croix de Guerre and promoted to brevet Brigadier. Both Captain Wabbit and Subaltern Laisse were seen "tending to the enemy wounded" and later converting their loot into portable specie. For his skill at taking the camp, Colonel d'Abril was awarded the l'Etoile de France. For his action which took the enemy High Command alive, it has been given to me that Major la Vessie will be made Chevalier on his return to Paris!

Meanwhile, the Cavalry Division of third army was still on essential field operations.

General Gamut split his force, trusting in Brigadier D'Acier's ability to lead the Heavy Brigade.

The Dragoon Guards were detailed to protection of the Semaphore network, while the Carbiniers were detailed to defend the supply lines.

The Dragoon Guards quickly ran into a company of enemy scouts besieging one of the semaphore towers. Drawing pistols, the regiment rushed the enemy company while Captain Nespah did a superb job of rounding those of the enemy who ran. Brigadier Legris, who had accompanied the Dragoon Guards, read the enemy orders and quickly directed the force remounted: the Queen's Own were walking into a trap!

Meanwhile, the Queen's Own Carbiniers continued to take up security patrols in the village. The force, unfortunately, was split up into companies traveling independently. Major St-Cyr's force was in the lead, and walked directly into the ambush set for it. The enemy regiment acted with dispatch to surround the battered company.

Acting quickly, Major St-Cyr tried to prevent a rout of his men and just barely retreated to join the rest of the regiment hiding in one of the King's Hunting parks, north of the village. I hope the King won't notice the damage done to his beloved villa from the fighting there.

Luckily however, relief was on the way. Lead by Brigadier Legris, the Dragoon Guards rode through the light forest to the rescue of the Queen's Own. Adolphius's reconnaissance in force had taken light losses trying to assault the King's villa. They were broken completely by Legris's charge and both regiments had an entertaining time rounding up the enemy scouts.

For his quick thinking and the rescue of a regiment and the King's villa, Marquis Legris will be promoted to Duc when he returns to Paris.

Meanwhile, D'Acier took his regiments out to keep an eye on Adolphius. They, of course, chose to do this by trying to crush the light cavalry that Adolphius kept between them and his army.

Brigadier D'Acier was surprisingly successful at this, with help of the ALC, The CPC engaged Adolphius's mounted scouts. Major Aubert's company was in the fore, which overran the enemy scout encampment. Captain Pierre's Horse tripped over a campfire, and it was only due to the timely and heroic action by Subaltern LeBlanc that the injured Captain was saved. For his heroism, Brigadier D'Acier applied for a Croix du Roi in subaltern LeBlanc's name.

Back in Merzig, First Army lead a counter-siege against the cousin of the Duke.

Unfortunately, these successes were not mirrored in the defense and counter-siege of Merzig, mainly due to Yshaevron's perfidious treachery.

The fourteenth day of July dawned bright and clear, like most of the other days. Unlike most of the other days, the 53rd regiment manning the collapsed east wall was not returning fire with aplomb, but were holding rebelling stomachs and complaining about the food served the night before. It seemed as if Yshaevron had poisoned the food of the 53rd before leaving to spy on the high command!

As if the groaning stomachs were a cue, the enemy mounted a fresh attack against the collapsed wall and the 53rd fell like wheat to the harvest. Only Major Blanc, Captains Bardot and de Beaumont, and a handful of their men survived the massacre.

The second army fled the ruins of Merzig as the new Duke of Lorraine, Duke Braesi, took possession.

Luckily, the frontier regiment was on its toes and moved to take possession of the abandoned siege fortifications. Captain De'Ville was saved by heroic private Neffis from an attack by a few late sleepers. The remaining enemy forces were beaten down, and once again France has the unenviable position of besieging Merzig.

Gentle readers, I can only stress my recommendation to name your latrines after one of these two traitors: there is no better way to dishonor their memories and the disservice they did to France.

Captain Yshaevron would have been shipped back to the city of Light to await his trial for High Treason. Field Marshall Dillee was confident in his verdict of guilt after the captain confessed all without the slightest remorse. He faced a firing squad immediately.

With Duke Nicholas crushed, August will see a heavy offensive against Adolphius as well as an effort to retake the ruins of Merzig from the new Duke, Duke Braesi of Lorraine.

Hearing of the losses, His Majesty had a search done for some able gentlemen who could serve as officers for the final month of the summer season, and thus the regiments received some fortification.

Campaign Matrix:

Character	MiDs	Promotion	Crowns	Other
DDV			300
CC
JN	6
JdF
SOS	KILLED
BB
DDS	4		300
AVF
AML	6		500	Duc
GSE
JPN	2		500
ASC
JDA	6		550
AA		LtCol
RSP			1100
JML	2	Capt	600	Croix de Roi
RM	3	bBG	1900	Croix de Guerre
LYD	4		1900
JW			2500
ML			1600
HDE	1 5		1700
LL	4		2000
TdA	6		2100	l'Etoile de France
HdT	6 5		2300	Croix de la Cite
FM	2 6		1500
PvdO	5		1300
SlV	2		1500	Chevalier

Character Matrix

Char	Regt	Rank	Club	Mistress	Title	SP	SL Gain
AML	DG	bBG	Bothw	Helene	Marquis		23
DdS	None	bLTG	Bothw	Claire	Comte		23
TDA	KM	bLTG	Bothw	Beatrice	Duc		22
JdA	CPC	BG	Bothw	Ursula			15
FM	CG	Col	Bothw	Michelle			15
PvdO	CG	LtCol	Bothw	Didi			15
HdT	KM	Maj	Hunters	Hyacinthe	Chevalier		14
DDV	None						12
ASC	QOC	Maj	Frog &	Karine			11
LL	RFG	Capt	Hunters	Cosette			10
SlV	CG	Maj	Hunters	Nadine			10
RM	GDMD	bBG	Blue G		Chevalier		10
HdE	RFG	Maj	Hunters				10
GSE	DG	Capt	Frog &				7
JPN	DG	Capt	Horse Gd				7
JdF	RM	LtCol	Frog &				7
LYD	GDMD	LtCol	Frog &				7
JW	GDMD	Capt	Frog &	Gillian			5
RSP	CPC	Capt	Red Phil	Rosalyn			5
JML	CPC	Capt	Red Phil				4
SOS		KILLED
AVF	4th	Capt					3
ML	PLLD	Subalt					2
JN	None						2
BB	53rd	bCapt					1
CC	None						1

'+' indicates the gain of a SL this turn
'-' indicates the loss of a SL this turn
'D' indicates the character is currently disgraced

Reminder: No Sps are tallied while on campaign

No Orders Received:
NOR Orders Used:
Converted to NPC:

Housing Matrix
Char District Dwelling
AML IsleCite Palace
DdS IsleCite Palace
TDA LaChapel Mansion
JdA Belleville Apartment
FM Montmart Palace
PvdO Montmart Palace
HdT Charonne Fine House
DDV Passy Garret
ASC Belleville Apartment
LL Charonne Fine House
SlV Charonne Town House
RM Charonne Apartment
HdE Passy Garret
GSE Passy Town House
JPN LaVillet Fine House
JdF Passy Garret
LYD Passy Garret
JW Les Bat Town House
RSP Passy Garret
JML Passy Garret
AVF Passy Garret
ML Passy Garret
JN Passy Garret
BB Passy Garret
CC Passy Garret

The Regiments
The table shows the disposition of officer slots within each of the regiments. C6 - C1 are the captain slots in increasing order of seniority. M2 - M1 are the two majorities, LtC is the Lieutenant Colonel, and COL is the Colonel. 000N0 indicates the position is filled by an NPC. The first three digits are the NPC number and the last digit is his MA. - means the position is open. Any officer with a [ ] indicates this is the Brigade Major. A ( ) indicates the regimental adjutant, if any. { } indicates an officer serving in a military appointment. Any officer with a military appointment does not have a regimental command; that duty is passed to the next senior officer of the regiment.

Any character holding a brevet rank of Col. or below will be indicated as holding both ranks (ie CPT and MAJ).

Remember, for game purposes, there is no limit to the number of privates and subalterns allowed within a regiment, and they will only be noted if occupied by a player character.

Regimental organization: see http://patriot.net/~aquazoo/eg/eg_res/regts.html

The General Staff

Brigade Commands:
Brigade of Guards -- Moliere (NPC)
Horse Guards Brigade --
Heavy Brigade -- JDA
Dragoon Brigade --
1st Brigade of Foot -- Aurillac (NPC)
2nd Brigade of Foot -- Petite (NPC)
3rd Brigade of Foot -- Chastel (NPC)
4th Brigade of Foot -- Saint-Girons (NPC)
1st Volunteer Brigade -- Groulart (NPC)
2nd Volunteer Brigade -- de Challon (NPC)
3rd Volunteer Brigade --
4th Volunteer Brigade -- Bonshom (NPC)
1st Cavalry (V) Brigade -- Becdelievre (NPC)
2nd Cavalry (V) Brigade -- Flambert (NPC)

Division Commands:
1st Division -- Luxor (NPC)
2nd Division -- DdS
Cavalry Division -- Gamut (NPC)
1st Volunteer Division -- de Souveray (NPC)
2nd Volunteer Division -- Guivar'ch (NPC)
Volunteer Cavalry Div -- Guillory (NPC)
Frontier Division -- Voisin (NPC)

Army Commands:
1st Army -- Pied dans la Bouche (NPC)
2nd Army -- Besancon (NPC)
3rd Army -- Benoist (NPC)
Field Army -- de Gatinais (NPC)
Frontier Army -- Perigeux (NPC)
Field Marshal -- Dillee (NPC)

Other Military Appointments (only Player Characters are listed)
Captain Cardinal's Escort PvdO
Divisional Commander DdS
*indicates position to become available next season

Civil Appointments (only PC MwoPs shown)
Comsr of Public Safety vacant
Chancellor of the Exchequer vacant
Minister of Justice vacant
Minister of War TdA Mai 38
Minister of State AML Mai 38
Minister w/o Portfolio
* The month shown is the last month in which the character will hold the appointment. The appointment ends on the last day of the indicated month.

Mistress Roster

Mistress	SL	Attributes	Gentleman
Beatrice	22		Married - TDA
Claire	23	I	Married - DdS
Helene	21	W	Married - AML
Antoinette	18	W I B
Michelle	17	W	FM
Ursula	16	I	JdA
Didi	15		Married - PvdO
Madelon	14
Isabelle	13
Hyacinthe	13	I	Married - HdT
Karine	13	B	ASC
Cosette	10	I B	LL
Patrice	10	W
Nadine	9	W I	Married - SlV
Rosalyn	9		RSP
Veronique	8
Gillian	8	B	JW
Wendie	7	W
Francoise	6
Estelle	6	W I

Player Roster
Achilles Martin Legris AML 23 nospam.bill@pentex.org
Daniel de Sparrot DdS 23 nospam.acarin@btinternet.com
Tirs D'Abril TDA 22 nospam.tirs@tirsabril.com
Jean D'Acier JdA 15 nospam.jbalkestahl@yahoo.com
Fernand Mondego FM 15 nospam.ckirmser@charter.net
Piet van der Oops PvdO 15 nospam.vinlander@hotmail.com
Henri de Treville HdT 14 nospam.sandbagger3@gmail.com
D'ahstardlee De'Ville DDV 12 nospam.chainsawpixie@yahoo.com
Armand St-Cyr ASC 11 nospam.drew@zip.com.au
Louis Lefuet LL 10 nospam.kauss@eriga.lv
Silac la Vessie SlV 10 nospam.micks@gmx.co.uk
Renno Megane RM 10 nospam.reaching-moon@supanet.com
Hacute d'Ermatitis HdE 10 nospam.tomm@doctors.org.uk
Georges Singe Elan GSE 7 nospam.aquazoo@patriot.net
Jean Pierre NesPah JPN 7 nospam.Sean_Newman@eisai.net
Jean de Florrete JdF 7 nospam.rubber_man_98@yahoo.com
Louis-Yves Desacroix LYD 6 nospam.lydick@2nd-source.com
Jacque Wabbit JW 5 nospam.ashkc@btinternet.com
Robert Staunton Pierre RSP 5 nospam.brian@technicraft.com
Jean-Michel LeBlanc JML 4 nospam.redwing922@yahoo.com
Stanislav Ortlion Savary SOS 4 nospam.martibr2003@yahoo.com
Alexandre-Valentin Le Fleurquin AVF 3 nospam.david.wells@sinclair.edu
Marcel Laisse ML 2 nospam.thedouble1998@yahoo.co.uk
Jean Neffis JN 2 nospam.johnicholas.hines@gmail.com
Beaufort de Beaumont BB 1 nospam.brwntrsk@sover.net
Christian Cyan CC 1 nospam.ijew.1971@tesco.net