Dead Man's Hill
Arno von Borries
Back Garden cover art deterministic combat Random Combat Spring Thing 2016 Spring Thing Game war
Mutual slaughter in northern France, spring 1916.
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"Oh terrible minutes! One fears death and could, in such times,
yearn for death, horrorified by this kind of death. Been in two assaults; may there follow no more! Nothing more eagerly longed for than this, besides getting home in one piece. Where did all courage disappear to? We have enough of waging war. Not cowardice is this but humanness, rebelling against this barbarism, this ghastly
slaughter."

Kurt Peterson, killed in action August 3rd, 1915

I slid down into a large shell crater to escape the fire that had wiped out most of my company. For all I knew, what was left of it were the two men who had jumped in right after me. I could hear their teeth clattering from underneath their gas masks.

Somewhere around here had to be the that ominous trench.

At that very moment, some heavy battery didn't want to to be left out and started ploughing the hilltop once more, just to be sure nobody would get off it alive today. If I hadn't had soiled my pants already while running for my death through no-man's-land, now would have been the last opportunity.

An uphill struggle by Arno von Borries

This was where the French wire entanglements had been before the bombardment. Now, however, there was nothing left of them. The impact of whatever had hit here had been so violent, it had dug a hole right up to the trench itself.

The trench continued to the north, east and west.

I could see Gruber and Tiersen here.
Inventory
I was carrying:
an automatic
a pistol magazine
three grenades
a bayonet
a lantern
You examine the lantern
A powerful mantle lantern, currently unlit.
You look at the bayonet
"The bayonet frequently jams on the thrust and then a man has to
kick hard on the other fellow's belly to pull it out again; and in the interval he may easily get one himself. And what's more the blade often gets broken off."

Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front
You look at automatic
A standard service pistol.
Examine magazine
(the pistol magazine)
A seven-round magazine for an automatic.
You look
This was where the French wire entanglements had been before the bombardment. Now, however, there was nothing left of them. The impact of whatever had hit here had been so violent, it had dug a hole right up to the trench itself.

The trench continued to the north, east and west.

I could see Gruber and Tiersen here.
You examine Gruber
Bruno Gruber was a man from my company.

He was carrying four grenades, a very light and a flare gun.
He was wielding a grenade.
You look at Tiersen
Eberhard Tiersen was a man from my company.

He was carrying a grenade, a banana magazine and a machine gun.
He was wielding a grenade.
You wield the bayonet
Both my hands were full already.
Inventory
I was carrying:
an automatic
a pistol magazine
three grenades
a bayonet
a lantern
You go to the north
This position was still in surprisingly good condition considering the heavy shelling that had been going on for days.
Concrete braces reinforced the construction.

The trench continued to the south.

I could see a surprised Frenchman here.

Tiersen fell in behind me.

Gruber fell in behind me.

The Frenchman fired his automatic at myself.
I received a light wound in the my leg.
Fire automatic at Frenchman
I wasn't wielding the automatic.

Gruber struck a Frenchman with his grenade.
The Frenchman received a light wound in the chest.

Tiersen struck a Frenchman with his grenade.
The Frenchman received a light wound in the leg.

The Frenchman fired his automatic at Tiersen.
Tiersen received a moderate wound in the stomach.

Tiersen struck a Frenchman with his grenade.
The Frenchman received a moderate wound in the head.

Gruber struck a Frenchman with his grenade.
The Frenchman received a light wound in the chest.
The Frenchman collapsed on the spot.
You hold automatic
I took the automatic from the Machine-gun nest.
You hold the magazine
(the pistol magazine)
I took the pistol magazine from the Machine-gun nest.
Wield magazine
(the pistol magazine)
The pistol magazine was unsuited as a weapon.
Wield grenade
I was already wielding the grenade.
You throw the grenade
Dropped.
You get the grenade
I took the grenade from the Machine-gun nest.

The dying Frenchman groaned in pain.
You examine frenchman
The man was dying.

The Frenchman's head was badly bruised.
1
( - What this game is about)

The fighting for the town of Verdun during the first world war has become a symbol for and warning against the futility of war in both France and Germany. It lasted ten months, during which the front lines changed by not even ten kilometres, yet cost hundreds of thousands of lives. It is remembered for its particular brutality. Those who fought in it called it "Bone mill", "Blood pump", "Hell".

During March and April 1916, much of the struggle happened on two adjacent hills, behind which some French batteries were positioned to fire into the German flank. One was known only as hill 304, the other had been called le mort homme even before the war. Attack was
followed by counter-attack, day and night.
Go north
( - What this game is about)

The close combat in the trenches was easily outmatched in deadliness by the effects of the artillery fire. Soon, the incessant bombardment had turned the hills into an unrecognisable moonscape of shell craters. When it rained, these turned into pools of slippery mud, threatening to drown anyone trying to find shelter. As both sides tried to prevent the other from gaining a foothold on the hills, there was rarely a chance for the troops to dig their own cover. When there was, they often discovered body parts of those sent in before them. To this day, there are an estimated 80.000 dead still lying unrecovered on the battlefields of Verdun and every square meter is sprinkled with, on average, five kilograms of metal from shell fragments.
Go north
( - What this game is about)

Why point out all this a hundred years after the fact, when there have been even bloodier wars since?

People from all walks of life went into the first world war singing and jubilant. They came from societies where an uncompromising stance in matters of foreign policy and national prestige were seen as
raison d'etat. At Verdun, they got what they had asked for.
It seems to the author that the memory of these developments has somehow faded away and that today might be a good time to call the human cost associated with them back into mind. After all, the institutions of compromise, that have been so central to keeping the peace in Europe for the latter part of the 20th century, have never been less popular than today.

In essence, the work at hand is a short vignette, meant as an illustration of the ultimate consequence of a game that can feel heady and warm yet carries in itself the potential for any cruelty imaginable. That favourite pastime past and present: patriotism.
2
( - How this game works, mechanically speaking)

This game can involve a lot of shooting, stabbing, striking and the like. Because this takes place at very close range, there will usually not be any time to draw a weapon before someone else starts the killing, so it's important what characters hold in their hands at any given moment. Readers will want to keep the following points in mind when playing the game:

1. To fight, one needs a weapon.
2. In an emergency, almost anything can be used as a weapon.
3. Weapons and objects can be drawn and holstered (equipped, wielded, slung, put away...).
4. To make use of any object or weapon, it needs to be drawn.
5. It is possible to hold two small objects at the same time, but many objects are too large to carry in one hand only.
6. NPCs will normally not just stand around and get killed. Instead, they will use whatever they have at their disposal to get rid of their opponents, or at least try to flee.
7. It is possible to give orders to others, like, for example, so: "Peters, equip pistol", "Jansen, give magazine to Peters", "Peters, Jansen, load pistol",  or "All, hurl primed grenade south".
8. Men under your command will try to obey simple orders. If they can't comply immediately, they will try to create the necessary preconditions to carry them out first.
3
( - How this game works, tactically speaking)

The basic method of rolling up a trench as was practised during this phase of the war was to toss a few hand grenades around every corner before going oneself and to bomb out all underground bunkers the same way. It was seen as very secondary whatever other armament was carried. The only real alternative course of action was to fire blindly around corners, which was much less effective with most of the weapons available at the time.

This assumed that the attacker had somehow managed to make it into the defender's trench. Since a frontal attack across no-man's-land in the face of the defenders' guns had been shown again and again to be utter suicide, it emerged that the most promising tactic for attacking infantry was to come silently at night and infiltrate a position unnoticed by its occupants. To make this work, it was necessary to take only a very small raiding party and to make as little use of light, firearms and explosives as possible in order to avoid detection.

Of course, it was also conceivable to bombard a position with heavy artillery until everyone inside was dead. In fact, this was what was attempted most of the time. The downside to all these tactics was that they could be employed equally well by the defender to counter-attack positions that had already been captured.
Examine
This position was still in surprisingly good condition considering the heavy shelling that had been going on for days.
Concrete braces reinforced the construction.

The trench continued to the south.

I could see four grenades, Gruber, wounded Tiersen and a dying Frenchman here.
Inventory
I was carrying:
three grenades
two pistol magazines
two automatics
a bayonet
a lantern
You give the bayonet to Gruber
I gave the bayonet to Gruber.

The Frenchman stopped moving.
You give the grenade to Gruber
I gave the grenade to Gruber.
You give the magazine to Gruber
(the pistol magazine to Gruber)
Gruber was carrying too many things already.
Inventory
I was carrying:
two pistol magazines
two automatics
a lantern
You give automatic to Tiersen
I gave the automatic to Tiersen.
You give the magazine to Tiersen
(the pistol magazine to Tiersen)
I gave the pistol magazine to Tiersen.
Continue
Which do you mean, a pistol magazine or a banana magazine?
Inventory
I was carrying:
a lantern
You look
This position was still in surprisingly good condition considering the heavy shelling that had been going on for days.
Concrete braces reinforced the construction.

The trench continued to the south.

I could see four grenades, Gruber, wounded Tiersen and a dead Frenchman here.
You search frenchman
This was where the French wire entanglements had been before the bombardment. Now, however, there was nothing left of them. The impact of whatever had hit here had been so violent, it had dug a hole right up to the trench itself.

The trench continued to the north, east and west.

Tiersen fell in behind me.

Gruber fell in behind me.

I couldn't see any such thing.
Go east
This was a well-constructed trench more than a man deep.
The walls were revetted to keep them from caving in.
Black water stood knee-high at the bottom.

The trench continued to the north, east and west.

I could see a surprised Frenchman here.

Tiersen fell in behind me.

Gruber fell in behind me.

Gruber struck a Frenchman with his grenade.
The Frenchman received a light wound in the arm.

The Frenchman struck Tiersen with his grenade.
Tiersen received a bad wound in the head.
Tiersen was killed instantly.
You look
This was a well-constructed trench more than a man deep.
The walls were revetted to keep them from caving in.
Black water stood knee-high at the bottom.

The trench continued to the north, east and west.

I could see a machine gun, a banana magazine, a grenade, two automatics, two pistol magazines, Gruber, dead Tiersen and a lightly injured Frenchman here.

Gruber struck a Frenchman with his grenade.
The Frenchman received a light wound in the leg.

The Frenchman struck myself with his grenade.
I received a light wound in my chest.
You look
This was a well-constructed trench more than a man deep.
The walls were revetted to keep them from caving in.
Black water stood knee-high at the bottom.

The trench continued to the north, east and west.

I could see a machine gun, a banana magazine, a grenade, two automatics, two pistol magazines, Gruber, dead Tiersen and a wounded Frenchman here.

Gruber struck a Frenchman with his grenade.
The Frenchman received a light wound in the arm.

The Frenchman struck myself with his grenade.
I received a light wound in the my arm.
You examine the water
A muddy grey soup.

Gruber struck a Frenchman with his grenade.
The Frenchman received a light wound in the chest.

The Frenchman struck myself with his grenade.
I received a light wound in the my arm.
You look
This was a well-constructed trench more than a man deep.
The walls were revetted to keep them from caving in.
Black water stood knee-high at the bottom.

The trench continued to the north, east and west.

I could see a machine gun, a banana magazine, a grenade, two automatics, two pistol magazines, Gruber, dead Tiersen and a wounded Frenchman here.

Gruber struck a Frenchman with his grenade.
The Frenchman received a light wound in the stomach.
The Frenchman collapsed on the spot.
You look at Tiersen
Eberhard Tiersen was a man from my company.

Tiersen's head had a horrifying crushing injury.

"Maman! Maman!" the dying Frenchman called out.
You look
This was a well-constructed trench more than a man deep.
The walls were revetted to keep them from caving in.
Black water stood knee-high at the bottom.

The trench continued to the north, east and west.

I could see a rifle, a clip, three grenades, a machine gun, a banana magazine, two automatics, two pistol magazines, Gruber, dead Tiersen and a dying Frenchman here.
You look at Gruber
Bruno Gruber was a man from my company.

He was carrying seven grenades, a bayonet, a very light and a flare gun.
He was wielding a grenade.
You get the grenade
I took the grenade from the Communications trench.
Inventory
I was carrying:
a grenade
a lantern
You kill Frenchman with the lantern
"Heloise, mon cher," whispered the dying Frenchman.
You wait
Time passed.

The dying Frenchman tried to say something, but couldn't manage to form the words any more.
You wait
Time passed.
You look
This was a well-constructed trench more than a man deep.
The walls were revetted to keep them from caving in.
Black water stood knee-high at the bottom.

The trench continued to the north, east and west.

I could see a rifle, a clip, two grenades, a machine gun, a banana magazine, two automatics, two pistol magazines, Gruber, dead Tiersen and a dying Frenchman here.
You look at Gruber
Bruno Gruber was a man from my company.

He was carrying seven grenades, a bayonet, a very light and a flare gun.
He was wielding a grenade.
You give the grenade to Gruber
Gruber was carrying too many things already.
You drop Gruber
Gruber was already here.

The dying Frenchman groaned in pain.
You give you the very light
The Frenchman died silently.

(Myself the very light)
Gruber gave the very light to me.
You check what you're carrying
I was carrying:
a very light
a lantern
You go to the north
This was a well-constructed trench more than a man deep.
The walls were constructed of neatly stacked sand bags.

The trench continued to the south.

I could see three surprised Frenchmen here.

Gruber fell in behind me.

The Frenchman fired his rifle at Gruber.
Gruber received a fatal wound in the head.
Gruber was killed instantly.

The Frenchman fired his rifle at myself.
I received a bad wound in my stomach.

The Frenchman cycled the action of the rifle.

The Frenchman cycled the action of the rifle.

I stopped moving.

My chest had a small bruise. My stomach had had a major artery torn by a bullet. My leg had received light wound from a grazing shot. My arm had a small bruise. My arm had a small bruise.

"The only thing that is particular to war is the wound, the
senseless injury of the body, and the senseless enmity. That is, the animosity between men, who would, as individuals, face each other without hate, perhaps even with love."

Arthur Schnitzler, 1914