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Ardennes: La Morte de Reutlinger [Mission]

This mission depicts the heroic end of Jean Reutlinger near the factory town of Lexy, during the French Ardennes Offensive of late August 1914. On the second morning of the offensive, the Third Armee under Emmanuel Ruffey was stopped by the German Fifth Armee under Crown Prince Wilhelm, south of Longwy near Lexy. The Fifth Armee immediately started into the 'German Way of War' and began to counter-attack in full concentration at the first sight of contact. Neither side were prepared for the onslaught that followed...

{Recent Updates: Updated Artillery thanks to @jaybee!!! Set time to 6AM to remove electricity from lights and allow for an ambiguous experience}

{Objective}
Defend the surrounds and center of Lexy as the French 67th Regiment, or push through the town as the headstrong German 33. Reserve-Division.

The French have produced hasty fortifications after a days advance into the region. The most forward strong-point is the farmhouse of an apple orchard. The attacking Germans must endure the rain of hotchkiss and rifle fire, before fighting tree-to-tree towards the town center. Once within Lexy proper - The Germans must take the fortified chapel and market square before finally pushing the hasty patchwork of defenses within the final orchards and factory complex.

{Loadouts}
As it is early 1914, the combat is similar to that of the Franco-Prussian war or the American Civil War, but on serious steroids! Both sides are Rifle dependent (1886 Lebel, 1907 Berthier, & 1874 Gras for French, and G98, G88, & K98AZ for the Germans). Officers and select assault groups are the only men armed with handguns (Modèle 1892 & Ruby 1914 for the French and Reichsrevolver, C-96, & Luger for the Germans). There are no grenades, and to top it off - medics are extremely rare. To be specific, there is a French medical detachment working out of the chapel. These corpsmen are not close at hand usually, so downed men are extremely likely to be stepped over and abandoned to die.

{The History}
Jean Reutlinger, born March 19th 1891, was a French photographer and conscriptee. The son of Léopold-Émile Reutlinger, one of the most successful photographers in France at the time, he produced thousands of photographs in sepia and black and white, and experimented with autochrome, an early form of color photography. He also enjoyed sports, working as a fencer and participating in the University of Paris' masters athletics in 1912, and wrote sports articles for La Vasque and L'Auto amongst others. In addition to his sports articles, he also published poetry under the name Doriane G, an homage to Oscar Wilde.

In October 1913, Reutlinger was conscripted into the military, joining the 92nd Infantry Regiment. He died in the Battle of Ardennes on August 22, 1914. He was wounded twice and continued to fight before being fatally wounded. At the time of his death, he was attached to the 67th Regiment. He was buried at Montparnasse Cemetery in the Reutlinger family tomb.

In 1917, the diplomat Pierre Combret de Lanux said of him in his book Young France and New America, "My friends Alain-Fournier, Baguenier-Désormeaux, Jean Reutlinger, Armand de Montoussém – and my countless brothers whose names I do not know – you were the best among us and now you leave a heavy task for us to perform. We shall miss you not with the heart only; we shall miss your energies and advice."

In 1922 Reutlinger was posthumously awarded the
Médaille militaire and honored with the Mort pour la France. In 1926, he was awarded with the Croix de Guerre. In 2023, his Médaille Militaire and Croix de Guerre pairs were auctioned off by Morton & Eden in London and sold for 300GBP.

{Médaille Militaire Challenge}
-Spawn as a French Fusilier and fight until becoming wounded twice, defend yourself till death after exhausting both bandages, or try to retreat and survive the onslaught...

{Extras}
The only two scripst included is a day/night tick and an Artillery script from @Jaybee. Many of the set-dresssing around the map were placed by moi and took a lot of time. These props are crucial for AI gameplay, therefor I will constantly be updating and adding new cover and concealment options as I play and love this mission. P.S. Feel welcome to kick the ticket multiplier up as much as you feel.

I apologize if this mission is a pain to run. It is a memorial, but also an playground in prop placing. I am determined to find a limit to the amount of detail that is attainable within the mission editor. All credit is to the map creator, Tugagon. This map is an amazing representation of the real town of Lexy as it could have been in 1914. I also apologize again to all who checked the map out just to see how much stuff I placed. There are honestly hundreds of props condensed in areas all over the entire town.

{Map by Tugagon}
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3332481891&searchtext=French+Fields

Research&Writing Credits: my Wife, August Hamilton