'Gnome de Plume'
A Panzerfäuste Scenario by Matthew Hartley
Some volunteer Gnome's try to hold the Guermantes Way road against the approaching Khallazdurin troops.
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The Pen is Mightier than the Sword
(but only when the pen is very sharp and the sword very small)
Introduction
One of the tragedies of the early phase of the War were the volunteer companies raised by each nation. Idealistic young males from social clubs and societies or work mates joined up en masses "for the duration". In Dun Nomin, these volunteers were known as the Gnome de Guerre.
The Gnome de Plume was a volunteer company of writers and journalists. On the Guermantes Way they met their harshest critics.
The Gnome de Plume
The Gnome de Plume have been ordered to hold the Guermantes Way highway against units of the rapidly advancing Khallazdurin forces.
The unit is ten strong and led by the Moliere.
Lieutenant Moliere (Section Leader, Regular, Normal, Guts 7)
Moliere is armed with a Gnome pistol. Although achieving his rank through family political connections, Moliere has made an attempt to study the art of war and is moderately proficient. Whilst his unit is now passable, by Gnome standards, he knows his unit is woefully inexperienced and will need tight control to survive their first fire fight.
Corporal Camus ( NCO, Regular, Experienced, Guts 7)
Camus is armed with a Gnome rifle. He also has a handkerchief of Frogs Legs saved for emergencies. Camus is a born rebel and his battle experienced was gained as a revolutionary and bandit. He is, nonetheless, a good fighter.
Pvt. Colette (Regular, Normal, Guts 6)
Colette carries the units Gnome Light Machine Gun. A factory worker turned "urban poet" Colette maintains his LMG with pride.
Pvt Flaubert (Regular, Normal, Guts 6)
Flaubert is armed with a Gnome rifle and 2 grenades. Having been forced to poach during period of "writers block", Flaubert is the most experienced rifleman amongst the units privates.
Pvt. Proust (Regular, Green, Guts 4)
Proust is armed with a Gnome rifle. Proust's mistress has provided lavishly for her hero. Proust has two bottles of Champagne and a bottle of Claret in his pack.
Pvt. Balzac (Regular, Green, Guts 4)
Balzac is armed with a Gnome rifle and a grenade. Balzac's mother has equipped her son with a home baked baguette and a fearsome brie.
Pvt. Mauriac, Gide, Queneau, and Fournier (each Regular, Green, Guts 4)
All are struggling playwrights armed only with their rifles.
The Gnomes have 6 cm of sandbags (moderate cover), 6 cm of brush (light cover) and 10cm of barbed wire, to be placed where they wish on the table.
The WaldJaeger
Despite its impressive name, the Waldjaeger companies are relatively inexperienced in battle at this stage of the war.
Lt. Grimlet's unit have been set to clear the road and hold the hill to cover the forces advancing along the road. Gnomish opposition thus far has been light and Grimlet is looking for a chance to show what his dwarves can do.
Lt Grimlet (Regular, Normal, Guts 9)
Grimlet is armed with a pistol.
Sgt Stahlwerk (Regular, Veteran, Guts 10)
Stahlwerk is a tough old long service regular. He carries a dwarven SMG and 2 grenades.
Pvt. Kohl (Regular, Normal, Guts 8)
Kohl is the units machine-gunner. He carries an dwarven LMG and a knife.
Pvt.s Auskunft, Bergwerk, Fundgrude, Verminen, and Spitzhacke (Regular, Normal, Guts 8)
All are armed with dwarven rifles and each carries a grenade.
Pvt.s Wahl, Silberbarren, Kugel, Gluhbirne, and Eimer (Regular, Green, Guts 6)
New drafts to the unit, each is armed with a dwarven rifle.
Terrain
A road runs down the middle of the board. The road is overlooked by a large hill with a small wood. The rest of the board off the road should be covered in fields with low walls and the occasional copse of trees.
Deployment
The gnomes set up first and may deploy anywhere on the board. The Dwarves enter the board from the topmost table edge. They must deploy within 12cm of the road.
Objectives
The winning side must control the area by the end of the game.
Writer's Note
This scenario looks extremely unbalanced in favour of the dwarves. However, the gnomes are surprisingly resilient if well deployed in a defensive position. In playtests the dwarves lost more times than they won!
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Webmaster's Notes
The scenario was first published on Orcs in the Webbe on the 22nd February 2008. It was absent for several years due to a prior regeneration of the website not transferring everything over correctly. That wrong has now been righted and it returned in it's original form on the 7th December 2025 as the seventh entry in that year's Advent Calendar and, of course, as part of Orcs in the Webbe's ongoing Panzerfäuste Archive Project.
Any comments in maroon in the article above have been added by me either to provide additional information or clarity. I may also have made small changes to grammar and layout but may not have marked those.
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