Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

The Rhine Tavern was nearly deserted, but that was to be expected at five-thirty in the morning. Seated at his usual table, the Hanoverian officer charged with the responsible command of the Coalition Army was still working away as was his usual habit. The beautiful barmaid, Helga, had fallen asleep at the bar waiting for her favorite German officer to call it an evening.

Well, that was the last of them, thought the Coalition Army Commander to himself as he signed the last dispatch and placed it in the stack of completed documents. He took a moment to stretch his tired muscles before packing the completed documents safely inside his leather case. It had been another long, arduous night of work. Nothing that a bit of Jagermeister cannot cure, thought the Hanoverian as he poured himself a final shot from the bottle resting before him on the table. Downing the fiery liquid in one well practiced gulp, he inverted his fine, crystal shot glass, and placed it on the table beside the now empty bottle. He took a moment to look around the tavern one last time before rising from his familiar chair. He slowly removed his officer’s coat, and gently draped it around the back of the tavern chair. His gaze was briefly captured by the numerous medals adorning his coat as he remembered the many victories that he had secured in his career for which those medals had been awarded.

Picking up his leather case, he walked over to the table near the fire which was the normal haunt of the Marechal’s of France. Reaching into his case, he withdrew a small, silver mirror and placed it on the table at the spot that Marechal Bardon normally occupied. Turning toward the bar, he placed a folded, handwritten note near the outstretched hand of the beautiful barmaid. He laid a single, red rose across the note and took a long moment to admire Helga’s stunning beauty that shone forth even more brightly in the serenity of her slumber. Ever so gently, he leaned over and placed a soft kiss upon her cheek, being ever so careful not to awaken her prematurely.

He very silently placed a large bag of captured, French coin on the bar beside the rose and note and, turning toward the door, left the tavern and quietly closed the door behind him. Once outside, he cast a somber look at the tavern stable, remembering his fine steed that he had so often quartered there. Taking to the road on foot, he heard the birds begin to sing as the sun rose over the horizon. The Hanoverian officer began to whistle a tune that had been taught to him by ‘Der Wurger’ as he left the Rhine Tavern behind, and stepped into the peaceful dawn.

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Thank you for the four and a half years you have allowed me to serve as your gaming companion, as well as your elected President and Coalition Army Commander. My time as a member of the NWC has come to an end. I wish you all the very best in the future.