WW2 squad command, DUNKIRK 1940.

[tigermite]

this is the first in a series of RP's in which each player commands a squad (or section, depending which side you're on) of men through some of the toughest battles of WW2. each scenario will have an objective, which the players and their men must complete. the first battle will be... DUNKIRK.

DUNKIRK: (OPERATION DYNAMO), 1940.





The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 27 May and 4 June 1940, when British, French and Belgian troops were cut off by the German army during the Battle of Dunkirk in the Second World War. In a speech to the House of Commons ("We shall fight on the beaches"), Winston Churchill called the events in France "a colossal military disaster", saying that "the whole root and core and brain of the British Army" had been stranded at Dunkirk and seemed about to perish or be captured. He hailed their rescue as a "miracle of deliverance".
On the first day, only 7,010 men were evacuated, but by the ninth day, a total of 338,226 soldiers (198,229 British and 139,997 French) had been rescued by the hastily assembled fleet of 850 boats. Many of the troops were able to embark from the harbour's protective mole onto 42 British destroyers and other large ships, while others had to wade from the beaches toward the ships, waiting for hours to board, shoulder-deep in water. Others were ferried from the beaches to the larger ships, and thousands were carried back to Britain by the famous "little ships of Dunkirk", a flotilla of around 700 merchant marine boats, fishing boats, pleasure craft and Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats—the smallest of which was the 15-foot fishing boat Tamzine, now in the Imperial War Museum - whose civilian crews were called into service for the emergency. The "miracle of the little ships" remains a prominent folk memory in Britain.
Operation Dynamo took its name from the dynamo room in the naval headquarters below Dover Castle, which contained the dynamo that provided the building with electricity during the war. It was in this room that British Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay planned the operation and briefed Winston Churchill as it was under way.


the players can choose to be either british or german.


BRITISH PLAYERS:
will command a section of 10 men.
the british players will start off at a small village on the border with belgium in the south-east of the british front, the british objective is to (obviously) get to dunkirk and hitch a ride on a ship back to england.



GERMAN PLAYERS:

will command a section of 10 men.
the german players will start off at the newly captured port of calais and must try to thrust through the british lines and get to dunkirk and trap the british forces in france (okay i know that didn't happen but what the hell! it's an RP!).




here's the form:


NAME:

SIDE:
UNIT: (no british paras or SAS. keep it historicly correct!)
PERSONAL WEAPON: (all of the british troops would have been armed with the old lee enfield no.1 rifle, but others would have been armed with bren guns and perhaps captured german weaponry.)
NAMES OF YOUR MEN: (optional)


okay, that should do, if anyone's got any questions, mail me.


my character sheet will be up shortly.

we'll start once e've got a suitable amount of players.

[lafittejean]

NAME: Jean Lafitte

SIDE:British (French Free Forces)
UNIT: 4th Army Corps Scouts
PERSONAL WEAPON: MAS 1936 Cal 7.5mm (regulars), Chatellerault M1924/29 Cal' 7.5mm (only one), and a Semi Auto. M1935A Cal 7.5mm (for yours truly)
(I realize this is very forceful, but there were French units at Dunkirk, the Belgians surrendered first after all so only a few of them were evacuated compared to the British and French...)
Names of Men: Renault (DECEASED), Jaque (DECEASED), Jean (LMG gunner), Duval (LMG Gunner), Louis (Dead), Francois (Dead), Freud (Dead), DeMall, injured (marksmen), Dugal (Scout), Frederick, injured (Scout), Jean Lafitte, injured (NCO)

[KILLTHEHIPPIE]

NAME: Frederick Liebling (wounded)
SIDE: German
UNIT: 256th Division
PERSONAL WEAPON: MP40, Walther P38, knife.
Names of Men: Eichmann (dead) , Kuntz (dead), Hammerstein (dead), Neumann (dead), Klaßen (el sameo), Bauer (dead), Schäfer (critically wounded), von Steuben (wounded), Meyer (dead)

[tigermite]

NAME: richard miller.
SIDE: british
UNIT: british second division.
PERSONAL WEAPON: lee enfield no.1 rifle, enfield 38 revolver, bayonet.
NAMES OF YOUR MEN: tom (lee enfield, bayonet.) bryan (same) john (same) mark (bren gun, bayonet) anthony (bren gun assistant, captured MP38 and combat knife.) frank (lee enfield, bayonet.) jeremy (same) arthur (same)
joe (same)

okay, so now that we have a british player, a french player and a german player, i think it should be okay to start.

----------------------------------------------------------

28TH MAY, 1940

richard miller and his men walked in single file out of the village and headed north, after a few minutes anthony (the bren gun assistant) broke the uneasy silence.
"so how long do you think it'll take us to get to dunkirk?" he asked.
richard bit his lip. "well, assuming that every single damn nazi leaves us alone we'll be there by tomorrow, but seeing as those stukas come round every ten minutes and we've got the entire wermacht trying to kill us, we should be there in a week. assuming that we don't all die first." he said grudgingly.

[lafittejean]

28th May, 1940

Quietly Jean Lafitte and his men low crawled into some cover northwest of the village, when they finally stopped they paused... "Perhaps, we should surender no?" Was a thought entertained by Dugal. "What and be left to the mercy of these Germans, I think not sir, if you want to stay though you can stay... I mean look. The Belgians are rumored to be getting ready for surrender, you'd blend in I'm sure. No?" "No, no I was merely think... Alright I shut up." "Good, now." smiled Jean "We will keep on going towards the Dunkirk beachhead. My main fear is not of soldiers but of Stukas, I mean look above the lazy RAF is doing nothing here! Lazy bums! However with that in mid-" *ZING* "TAKE COVER!" Soon the entire group of men ducked for cover into the bushes looking around for the source of the bullet.

[KILLTHEHIPPIE]

28th May, 1940

"Neumann, you idiot!", Liebling half shouted, half whispered. "You might have just blown our cover with that shot!". He turned to the rest of his squad. "Until further notice, nobody fires unless I give the word, understood?" The rest of the men nodded silently, and Liebling led them to a new position, avoiding the enemy's line of sight. He took another look at the enemy position, towards which they had rotated about 80 degrees since Neumann's careless shot. On close examination, he could make out where the French squad had fled into the bushes. "In typical French strategy", he thought with a smirk. Formulating a plan in his head, he began giving his orders. "Meyer, von Steuben, set up the MG34 on this hill and provide suppressive fire. Klaßen, Hammerstein and Bauer, move 200 yards southeast and follow up after our first volley. The rest of you, come with me." He led the rest of the squad a short distance forward, and had them all aim for whatever bit of Frenchman they could see through the bushes. On Liebling's word, they opened fire, with Liebling himself spraying the area with his MP40, and the MG34 sprung to life, filling the bushes with hot lead.

[lafittejean]

28th Day of May, Year of Our Lord 1940

Lead was flying everywhere as Jean looked around trying to figure out the situation, it was obvious, an ambush. That was quite inconveniently seem to be all around. "Commander sir! We need to get out!" "Shut up Jaque is that not obvious? See if you can't add some of our own lead to the air." Meanwhile the LMG crew had managed to get their gun firing and seeemed to be distracting the Germans. "Merci! You idiotic commander!" Jean turned around to see that the ever critical Jaque had been injured. "Be quiet you fool it's not that bad! Now shoot, before they put more holes in you!" Then a solution appeared in Jean's mind, a smoke grenade! He happened to have one so he took it out. "Take that you German scoundrels!" Pulling out the pin he threw it and soon covered the area in smoke. With that the Frenchman quickly tried to retreat.

[KILLTHEHIPPIE]

"Well, don't just stand there!", Liebling barked, coughing on the smoke. "Advance!" With the MG34 still pouring lead into the smoke, the German squad advanced. Crouching out of the way of the French LMG as well as their own MG34's fire, they pounced through the smoke. Soon, they realized that they had gotten within the French LMG's line of sight, and dove into whatever cover they could find. "Don't let that LMG mow you down", Liebling commanded, as his men returned fire.
"Sir", Eichmann queried, "what about the rest of the French?"
"Let them run", Liebling responded, picking at the LMG with his MP40. "For now, just concentrate on what's firing back at us".

[lafittejean]

"Commander?" "What you idiot can you not see we're busy pulling back?" "Sir what of Jean and Duval? They're still firing their gun to pin the Germans down." "What did you say Renault! Sacreu Bleu! That is our only automatic weapon we have! Renault, and you Louis follow me. The rest of you move into that brush 100 meters from here and get ready to provide supressive fire if you have to. NOW MOVE!" With that three French men went back into the bushes under fire hoping they could find the LMG team alive, the rest of the men advanced into the nearby Brush...

[tigermite]

28th may 1940.

richard milller stopped and listened; he could hear gunfire coming from a nearby hill. he signalled for his men to crouch down.
"okay, sounds like there's a skirmish over there, we'll have a look, but try not to use that much ammo. mark, anthony, john, get down behind that wall and fire at anything wearing a german uniform. everyone else, fix bayonets and follow me!" richard and his men cautiously advanced through across the field. suddenly richard noticed an MG-34 crew firing on top of the hill. he dived down onto his chest. his men followed suit. "target those jerries on the hill! 5 rounds, FIRE!" the air crackled with the sound of 8 lee enfield rifles opening up. the jerries collapsed.