Background
"Ils ne passeront pas!" were the famous words of General Robert Nivelle in his declaration to Joseph Joffre on June 23rd, 1916, during the deadliest and longest battle of WWI: the Battle of Verdun. Spanning from February 21st to December 18th, 1916, it left nearly a total of one million casualties across the French and German armies in an area covering less than ten square kilometers. Hoping for a decisive victory in the region, the German Empire set forth upon the Verdun Fortified Region hoping to capture the Meuse Heights, which overlooked the city of Verdun. The French defenders valiantly held their ground even as Forts Douaumont and Vaux fell to the hungering Empire, eventually pushing back and securing the region. The tremendous loss of life, however, was felt across Europe, even in light of France's victory.
Gameplay
In this RP, you will be playing as French soldiers part of the 72nd Infantry Division, 351st Regiment stationed in the area around Samogneux, fighting from the opening stages of the battle until August. As one of the units stationed directly on the frontlines of Verdun, protecting the villages of Samogneux, Haumont, and Brabant east of the Meuse river, they faced down the 18th Corps of the German Empire, which was tasked with breaking through their sector in the battle. For these French forces, the beginning of the battle was utter hell, with them enduring a day's bombardment and an immediate assault on their lines; however, the survivors of the chaotic artillery barrage held the line for three days, preventing the German forces from breaking the dam until February 24th. From then on, the survivors of the division, along with every other French unit either already in or now reinforcing the area, kept up fighting until their early departure in August.
This RP is about more than just the fighting though, for those of you expecting non-stop action to write about. There will be fighting, as is on par for any RP dealing with the tragic reality of war, but more importantly, you're RPing characters, and they should act as such. We all know how this hard-fought battle ends, and much of the events leading up to it. As such, this RP isn't built up by the action, but by the characters and the story. Those of you excited to write about skirmishes and battles will have your time to shine, but remember that this is more than just that; this is a story, and stories thrive off of characters as well. Just recounting actions does nothing.
Expectations
Players in this RP are expected to have their characters working together to help achieve the common goal of protecting their French motherland and stop the German advances toward the city of Verdun. Every character in this story shares the same common goal and the same enemy, so they should not be fighting among each other as the hellish storm of over a thousand artillery pieces set fire to the world around them. Your goals are to hold the line, keep the trenches alive, lift the morale of your fellow soldiers, and not allow the Germans to pass. Even with lulls in the fighting, your characters should be involved in something, whether its cleaning out the trenches, gathering food or water, or even playing cards and interacting with those around them. Not every moment will have fighting, but every moment has something to it: a character sitting in the mud-filled trenches spewing off a Shakespearean monologue doesn't make for an interesting story!
Remember, this story is grounded in the horrible reality that is the First World War. Mindlessly charging alone into No Man's Land won't end with happy results, with the threat of artillery, machine guns, and all the other horrors of war plaguing the battlefield. Your characters aren't superheroes; they'll suffer just like many others really did suffer. This doesn't mean you have to force your characters to constantly die at every passing moment, but coming out unscathed from every skirmish, artillery barrage, or firefight is unlikely. You should be prepared to make sacrifices with some of your characters. No one's a hero here; they're just people. If you're willing to do all this, you should know about what The Great War entailed: tightly-packed, zig-zagging trenches that left groups vulnerable to artillery, disease, and all the other terrors that killed millions. No one's special, no one's protected, and no one's safe from the horrors of it all. Despite that, remember: "Ils ne passeront pas!"
Rules
1. All rules that will get you a warning/banning on NS apply here. Don't break them.
2. Adhere to the PG-13 nature of NS. Even though this is covering an incredibly touchy and incredibly violent subject, show grace and humility in your posts.
3. No godmodding. To reiterate, just because any one of your many characters is a protagonist in this story, does not mean they are on par with Superman. Your soldier, with his standard issue rifle (or machine gun if he's just sitting in the trenches as a gunner, or maybe bundle of grenades if he's a grenadier) and knife, club, or pickax is just as vulnerable and squishy as the next dozen men over when it comes to machine guns, artillery, rifles, pistols, and melee weapons. Sure, maybe (and that's a very, very unlikely maybe) your character going Rambo across No Man's Land will net him a few kills, but if you do this, he shouldn't be expected to return at all. In fact, you shouldn't plan on keeping every single character of yours alive for the entire RP; you should be willing to get a few killed here and there.
4. Respect other players. This one's a simple one, but seriously. Just be kind to each other.
5. OP's word is law. Whatever I say goes. HOWEVER, this doesn't mean I'll just be an asshole and make your characters all spontaneously die and ruin any fun you're trying to have with the RP; quite the contrary, in fact! I'm more of a tool to build and tell the amazing story that was Verdun from an all-knowing perspective. We're working together on this here.
6. Cooperate! Like I said above, we're all working together here. Don't just lock yourself away in your quiet little corner of this RP; interact and work with the other players to have the most fun possible.
7. No one-liners. I'll give exceptions to just dialogue, but try to go for more than just a few lines to a post. You'll have plenty for your characters to react to, take in, etc.!
8. Most importantly: Have fun!
Applications
- Code: Select all
-02231916- (DO NOT REMOVE: FOR TRACKING PURPOSES)
(Remove everything in parentheses)
[b][u]CHARACTER APP[/u][/b]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Rank:[/b]
[b]Appearance(spoiler if image, otherwise a paragraph is fine):[/b]
[b]Personality(What are they like?):[/b]
[b]Skills:[/b]
[b]Strengths:[/b]
[b]Weaknesses:[/b]
[b]Backstory(minimum of two paragraphs):[/b]
[b]Additional Information:[/b]
-OPTIONAL-
[b]Theme Song:[/b]
[b]Likes:[/b]
[b]Dislikes:[/b]
Accepted Players List
1. Torrocca: Too many characters to properly list
2. Hothnia: Soldat 2e Pierre Dumont
3. Mestovakia: Field Nurse Viktoria Schrader
4. Rodez: Lieutenant Quentin Doumergue
5. Arctica-Aleutia: Soldat 2e Marty Finnegan
6. Beutarch: Intelligence Officer Jaques Dupont
7. Order of the Snow Lion: Sergent Vito Tartini
8. Arengin Union: Sergent Thouvenel Levantal
9. Christoslavia: Soldat 2e Jean-Luc Rousseau, Sergent Mahmoud al-Abbas al-Ribat
10. Vionna-Frankenlisch: Caporal Edward Villeneuve Nicholson, Capitaine Michaël Noel Florentin
11. Da Klan: Marc Benett
Additional Notes
There's a fun little song hidden in the flag if you click on it!
