TL;DR – A multi-nation platoon of Allied soldiers hold a French manor house in the face of a German attack during the Battle of Dunkirk.
The Battle of Dunkirk was a series of tenacious defences by the British Expeditionary Force, the French Army, and a mash of depleted Belgian, Dutch and Polish units against the unyielding might of the Third Reich’s lightning advance into France.
With their backs to the sea, the Allies fought to stave off a certain defeat long enough for the Royal Navy to evacuate the bulk of the troops stationed in and around Dunkirk.
You are part of a multi-national platoon formed from the shattered remnants of Allied forces fighting in France. Having spent the last three days fighting through swarms of German reinforcements and assaults in a chaotic run of the gauntlet, you and your brothers-in-arms have finally made it into the safety of Allied lines.
Though, the safety is short lived. Having only sat down long enough to light yourself a cigarette, artillery sounds in the distance – and it’s not coming from behind you, but in front. Seconds pass, and then explosions erupt up and down the meagre defences you have found yourself surrounded by. Men run to and throe, throwing themselves behind shallow dugouts and dilapidated sandbags. Tank engines roar to life, but again, the sound is coming from further inland.
Had God smiled on you, what came roaring out of the hedges and sparse woodland of northern France would have been an Allied armoured unit trying to reach safety. He didn’t smile on you though, and any hope of winning this war fades from you as a dozen German panzers surge from cover. Hundreds of infantry are at their backs, and within seconds, the air is thick with lead and shrapnel.
You and your multi-national brothers in arms, the ones you’ve fought besides during the entire retreat, decide to enact what every man in a five mile-radius is thinking: RUN
Your “tactical withdrawal” is swift, and by now you’ve gotten good at such manoeuvres. Sprinting blindly, you and your platoon hop trenches, dive over dragons teeth and disappear into the shrubby bogs behind the shattered line. Bullets and mortar rounds chase you, but you keep on, and though many are slain, enough familiar faces make it to a safe distance from the slaughter.
Upon a hill, and laced with layers of thick hedges, you come across a derelict château. It’s a large building, made of solid Napoleon-era architecture and standing four floors tall. The smouldering tail of an Amiot fighter plane sticks out of the Château’s west wing, but aside from the wisps of smoke, the place seems still and deserted.
The battle against the German panzers wages on behind you, but you know it is lost, and are thankful your platoon has no official commanding officer – otherwise, no doubt you’d of been ordered to stand your ground and die a dog’s death against an enemy that cannot be beaten.
Still. The Frenchmen among you are bitter; their country is falling down around them, and their ancestral enemy is raping their national pride. For them, they are done with running. The Belgians and the Dutch develop a similar mentality. The English? They just fled from a battle; a coward’s tale is a shameful and potentially fatal one.
Four miles to the west, and the Germans will be at Dunkirk. 400,000 fighting men will be trapped and every last strand of hope for Free Europe’s survival will fade. The château appears to be a blind spot in the Allies’ defensive measures, or perhaps, they hadn’t planned for the line in the area to buckle so readily. Your platoon makes a unanimous decision to hold the building and its approaches against whatever lurches from the rising smoke in the distance.
- You must be able to piece together paragraphs that make sense to the reader.
- In-depth knowledge of World War Two is not required, though any knowledge at all will help you.
- No controlling other peoples’ characters without their consent.
- No God Modding (really? Who would have thought?)
- No sexual adventures in one of the Château’s many bedrooms.
- Not everyone in the platoon speaks the same language. Consider this when communicating with other characters. Sign language may replace the tongue in some situations.
- Western armies did not (and still don’t, really) typically employ women in frontline roles, because they have boobs and can’t shoot guns, constantly complain when they have to walk far, and get so emotional they’ll likely break down and cry. Bull shit to that sexist nonsense, I say. In the chaos of Dunkirk, I’m going to permit a French/Dutch/Belgian woman with a rifle. Any history nerds can chew my rod of not caring. Equality, yo!
- The Germans the platoon is up against are professional soldiers, and will generally not be seen doing stupid stuff. Consider this when you “mow down the mindless drones of the Third Reich as they charge across open ground with no covering fire”. I’ll raise an eye at this kind of stuff, and spawn a T-90 main battle tank from the future onto your guy/gal’s head.
- Ammunition is a thing. Your guy/gal doesn’t carry unlimited ammo. The German weapons might seem appealing, if you can get close to enough to their corpses.
- Tanks are scary.
- Being shot at is scary.
- Planes are scary.
- Incoming artillery is really scary.
Character Name:
Character Gender:
Character’s Explanation of Being at the Manor (Female characters only): The intro already states why the soldiers are there, but anyone wanting to pursue a female character will have to explain her presence – so that we keep some historical credibility. An example would be that she was simply a refugee caught up in the fighting, and forced to pick up a weapon to defend herself, before she got dragged along by the platoon in the chaos of the retreat.
Character Age:
Character Rank: Nothing higher than a Staff Sergeant or equivalent. The platoon has no official commanding officer.
Character Nationality: English, French, Dutch, Polish or Belgian.
Things the Other Soldiers Will Know About Your Character: No need for in depth history of how your guy/gal grew up in the shadow of an arms factory, and had to survive on cabbage soup for twenty years until war broke out and they got all murdery. However, the soldiers you have spent the last three days will know certain things about your character. These things would include: Any temper issues, any linguistic advantages/disadvantages, any significant injuries of note, any significant background information of note, and any notable skills your character may have.
Weapons and Ammunition: Fairly straight forwards. List the weapons and amount of ammunition your character is carrying. Bear in mind that your character only has one back, and two arms. The RP is also set in late may/early June of 1940, so no weapons that were developed after that time. This will serve as a test to your Rping integrity.
Items of Interest: Anything like compasses, mirrors, tools – anything that might be useful.
Appearance: A text description, or a picture if you’re lazy.