Bonjour Monsieur. En avant et bienvenue.
Hello sir. Advance and welcome.
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Halt! Qui vive? Halt. Who goes there?
Monsieur l'Capitaine. Allow me to present our guest. He has the Duke's permission to attend.
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This way please. We will need to be fairly quiet.
Meanwhile, disapproving guards observe the situation.
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One of the guards follows into the room - just in case of mischief.
Here we are sir. Come this way.
Ah, bonjour René. This is our honoured guest approved by the Marshall.
Votre serviteur, Monsieur. Your servant sir.
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De Broglie (left) confers with an artillery officer (center) while an unknown member of the General Staff looks on.
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Members of the supply services confer off to the side.
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De Broglie: Messieurs, as you will recall two plans were developed. The first was to continue eastwards to attack the Marquis of Brandenburg via Hesse-Seewald while blocking the Britannian Marquis of Granby in his entrenched camp at Minden. The second idea is to block the Hesse-Seewald Army at Fulda and move north maneuvering M. de Granby out of his now prodigious works.
René: Monsieur l'Maréchal, I beg to mention either plan places the burden of supplying two armies on our grand magazine at Frankfurt Am Main. Though l'Intendant Bastille there has ably done his duty, he warns more strongly now of disputatious elements and more than the usual confusions among Frankzonian governing parties. I am alarmed Monsieur.
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Artillery Officer: Oui René, J'suis d'accord. Yes René, I agree. However, over the winter we sited new batteries within the city and outer works. In addition the garrison remains at some 15,000 men.
De Broglie: And the King's nephew, Lt. General Gallantier was posted there to help keep order. In addition Messieurs, M. de Bastille suffers from acute worries that we have found to be less worrisome than he believes. As long as he continues to see demons in every quarter, he will be on guard and I hope never taken by surprise.
René: As you say, Monsieur l'Maréchal.
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De Broglie: Let us move on then Messieurs. The King desires to know which plan I have chosen.
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General Staff Officer: My view mon Général is to hold at Fulda and turn out that Granby fellow from his works at Minden, tumble him back to Bremen and thence back to Britannia. I point to the Fulda Gap as the location to block the newly appointed King of Hesse-Seewald.
De Broglie: Anyone else?
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René speaking to the gentleman with a cane and his back turned: Look my friend. I think we should reinforce the smaller magazine at Koblenz if we are to maneuver versus the Britannians. The Army should advance from there. Basing two armies at Frankfurt Am Main will not work. What do you think?
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Gentleman with cane: I agree.
De Broglie: Let us adjourn for refreshment before I tell you my decision.
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Gentleman with cane: Monsieur l'Maréchal, I agree with René about one thing. If we are to maneuver the Britannians out of the Minden position, our Army should be supplied from Koblenz. Let the magazine at Frankfurt Am Main continue to supply our secondary Army operating against the Hesse-Seewalders.
De Broglie: Merci.
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Well Monsieur, it is time to depart. The exact plan of campaign must remain unknown to us for it is not our province to know, at least for now.
Guest: I understand. Before we leave I desire to view the Fontenoy painting. There is the King congratulating Maréchal de Saxe for his victory. If l'Maréchal de Broglie advances versus the Marquis of Granby, will the future battle not be Fontenoy in reverse? I tremble for such a thing.
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Cast from left to right: Maitre d', Guard, Guard, Capitaine, You, René, Maréchal de Broglie, Artillery Officer, Unknown General Staff Officer, Gentleman with cane, Servant and Supply Official
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Two months later on March 15, 1759/2009.
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A dragoon of the Gallian (French)Fischer Legion arrives on the road to Minden.
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More follow.
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And so, it begins, The Campaign of 1759/2009 in Germania.
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Closing Remarks
- Purpose: To tell a story mostly by captioned color photographs as a background to our campaign. You can do this too.
- This is background for the French and Allies vs British and their Allies at the Bring Your Own Battalion or Brigade (BYOB) SYW game at the Seven Years' War Association gathering on 20-21 March in South Bend, Indiana USA. Game is on 21 March.
- Interior walls are painted basswood
- Windows/doors are model railroad products in 1/4" scale.
- Ditto for most furniture. Some are scratch-built.
- See furniture from Miniature Building Authority too.
- The colorful floor is a floor tile bought at a hardware store.
- Paintings are reduced on a color copier.
- Outside Versailles background was increased in size on a copier.
- The map is from a real 19th C. map reduced on a color copier.
- Differently sized miniatures seem natural, don't they?
- Miniatures are 30mm Edward Suren (Willie), 28mm Front Rank, 28mm Crusader, 28mm Redoubt and Miniature Building Authority.
- The dragoon guidon is made up. No one knows what Fischer flags looked like. Flag Dude made it.
- Rules: Batailles de l' Ancien Régime 1740-1763 known as BAR. See the link above and to the left for Old Regime Rules for prodigious information about BAR.
