Les Grandes Hommes

Backgrounds for French Big Men in “Through the Mud and the Blood”

One of the very enjoyable things about the “Sharp Practice” stable of rules from TooFatLardies is the focus on the
role of the “Big Man”. Put simply, “Big Men” are the leaders of groups and, sections, platoons and units in small-
scale skirmish warfare. They are the junior officers and NCOs who drive the action, rally their troops and lead the
close combat assaults represented in the wargame. There is an element of roleplaying which is just beneath the
surface in how Big Men are used within these rule-sets. “Through the Mud and the Blood” from TooFatLardies is no
exception, and offers a great deal if you want to look more closely at the background, motivation and, just possibly,
the future history of your tabletop Big Men in the Great War.

The idea behind this article is to fill in some of the blanks regarding Big Men, or “Grandes Hommes” as you could call
them, from the French army of the Great War in “Through the Mud and the Blood”. It’s my attempt to give a little
character to some of the figures which might find their way onto your wargames table.

It gives you a chance, as a graduate of the Class of ’08 from the Ecole Spéciale Militaire at Saint Cyr to finish your
brandy, pull on your white gloves, and walk briskly alongside your men with the echo of the Marseillaise in your ears
in the early months of the War of the Frontiers. It gives you the chance as the Chef d'Escadron of a troop of
Schneider CA-1s, to narrow your eyes through the smoke and yellowing, gas-heavy air of the Chemin des Dames,
wipe the oil and grime from your hands and clamber back into your thinly armoured tank, ready for the assault at
Berry-au-Bac on the opening day of the Nivelle Offensive.

Phlegmatic, insouciant, sometimes obtuse, but always endlessly patriotic, Les Grandes Hommes are the fulcrum on
which French military history will turn.

While our focus is on the individual, this is certainly not an attempt to turn “Through the Mud and the Blood” into a
roleplaying game – the colour of Sergeant Volpatte’s eyes (hazel), or Sous-Lieutenant Massena’s dexterity at leaping
from high walls (not the best since he was wounded at Verdun) isn’t going to matter at all. Rather, the intention is to
map out some of the personality aspects which possibly, just possibly, might change the course of a platoon assault
in the Champagne, a desperate rear-guard action close to the Marne, a midnight raid in the Somme valley or even a
bigger moment of military history.
Will your platoon commander’s fragile health and shattered nerves hold up in close combat? Will Corporal Tournelle
brave the MG08 machine gun fire to rescue that cold fish, Lieutenant Mosca, from No Man’s Land? And will Captain
Volpone’s secret illness, hidden from his closest friends and masked by a phlegmatic insouciance, haunt him again in
the critical hour of the German Stosstruppen assault in the Bois de Caures? Sometimes, the course of history can
turn on small details like these.

The other objective of this article is to take a light-hearted, but not entirely irreverent, look at where the future might
take your Grandes Hommes after the guns fell silent at 11am on 11 November 1918. Will Sergeant Toulouse be
reunited with his family as he returns to his house in the shattered coal fields of the Goehelle? Will Lieutenant
Montparnasse eschew his family’s military traditions by becoming a Left-Bank Surrealist and painting canvases of his
friends with fruit on their heads? And what of Corporal Le Tellier – will he return to the sands of the Sahara, picking
up his Lebel rifle and continue fighting the Riff with the Legion Etranger?

Provenance

So, what exactly is the background of your Big Man? For each Big Man in your French force, roll 2D6, with the
modifiers shown.

French Officers

“An officer newly promoted should not think himself a chief because he is obeyed under every day circumstances.
This indicates only that his rank is respected. He should feel satisfied when he has patiently gained the confidence
and the heart of his men, when he has acquired the certainty that they have given themselves up to him and that they
will obey him even in the face of death.” French Infantry Manual, 1918

2-5 Up from the Ranks You’ve clawed your way out of the ranks of les Poilus, with the dirt of Le
Mort Homme still under your fingernails. Who would have dreamt it? If
only your shift-mates from the Goehelle colliery could see you now…

6,7 Metropolitan Bourgeoisie Perhaps you were one of the cheering crowd on the Place de la Concorde
in August 1914, or one of the more sombre volunteers of the Class of
1915. Either way, you’ve come a long way from your law practice in the
Marais…

8,9, 10 Reservist Things seem so different in the real war, compared to those peacetime
manoeuvres in the Vosges mountains in the idle summer of 1913.

10 L’Armée d’Afrique and the Your skin is permanently tanned and scoured from the sands of the
Troupes Coloniales Sahara and your time with L’Armee d’Afrique. France has called, and you
have answered.

12 Saint Cyr Your father was on Napoleon III’s staff at Mars-Le-Tour. You are one of
the elite, a white-gloved officer trained in the technology of war from
France’s premier military academy, the Ecole Spéciale Militaire at Saint
Cyr. Somehow you always know how to acquire a fine Burgundy and
some confit de canard.

French Cavalry Regiments: +1 to roll

1917-1918 period: -1 to roll

 French Tank Commanders

“de cavalier intrépide est gloriousement”

Posthumous citation for Chef d’Escadron Louis Bossut, killed at Berry-au-Bac, April 1917

2 Drifter No one in your regiment really wanted you around. They said you brought
bad luck. Perhaps you can do less harm in the Artillerie Spéciale.

3-5 Up from the Ranks Your last commander was killed on the Chemin des Dames under a hail of
fire from German field artillery. Now it’s your turn to try and breakthrough
the Siegfried Stellung.

6,7,8 Adventurer You’ll try anything which gets you out of the graveyard of Verdun. You
can’t make it into Les Cigognes, but a tank seems almost as romantic.

9, Modernist Engine oil flows through your veins and you have a knack for anything
10,11 mechanical. You rode and repaired motorbikes before the war. The future
is motorised. You can see the revolution in warfare coming and you want
to be part of it.

12 Cavalryman You were trained in l’attaque a outrance and grew up dreaming of Murat
and Ney. You’ve swapped your horse for a tank, but the principle is the
same. Breakthrough at all costs!

Cavalry Regiments: +1 to roll

French NCOs

“What were we in former times, when people had a station in life, before all our destinies were buried in molehills
lashed by rain and shrapnel which we must constantly rebuild?” Henri Barbusse, Under Fire

“The best corporal is the one whose group cooks its food in spite of all and manages to eat it hot” French Military
Manual, 1918

2,3 Banelieu Conscripted from the slums of Paris. Whatever your past, you’re en route
for the front. At least you have a new uniform, even if it doesn’t fit very
well.

4,5,6,7 Peasant stock Your family farm is not far from Alsace. You volunteered, mindful of la
plaie saignante, the Wound that Always Bleeds. You just hope the farm
will still be standing when you get back.

8,9 Artisan Your father stood on the barricades in the Commune in 1871. You
volunteered with the rest of your shift from the Montmartre printing works,
determined that the Boche never again capture your beloved city!

10,11 L’Armée d’Afrique and the Another decade, another war. Fighting the Boche is not that different from
Troupes Coloniales fighting the Tuareg or the Riff. At least your boots are on French soil this
time.
12 Old Hand You’ve seen a lot since the summer of ’14 when you rode to battle on the
Marne in a Parisian taxi cab. There are so few of your generation left now.
For August 1914, roll 1D6 for an “Old Hand” – 1-3 Reservist, 4-5 Regular,
6 Foreign Legionnaire. Add an additional Status level l (to a maximum
of Status III) for an Old Hand still fighting in 1916 and after.

1914 period: In August 1914, all NCOs should be “Old Hands”, with the number of such NCOs dropping dramatically
as the years pass.

After 1914: Between the Nivelle Offensive in April 1917 to the end of the War - one way of reflecting the
disappearance of the Old Hands of “Plan XVII” and the Marne which we have used in our own games is to roll again
(just the once) if you initially roll “12” for an Old Hand. This tends to make it very unlikely that one of your French Big
Men in 1918 would be have ridden to battle on the Marne in a Parisian taxicab (a 1 in 1,296 chance in fact).

Popularity

Perhaps you find that, despite the misery and death in the trenches, some solace in the companionship of your fellow
soldiers. Do you lead the singing of “La Marseillaise” as the enemy’s shells fall? Or are you introverted and silent,
forever cursing your black luck? Roll a D6 and find out.

D6 roll Popularity

1 Little better than a Toad ! Your men are stuck with you – perhaps you feel the same away about them.

2 Un poisson froid: You keep yourself to yourself. Making friends quickly leads to bitter grief in the trenches

3,4,5 Likeable enough: You are generous with the parcels of cheese from home, and you’re generous with the
Pinard (when it arrives) – there’s a lot worse than you along the Line

6 Popular and Personable – You could almost be mistaken for another Lannes or Ney. Your men have
accepted you, whatever your background. You’re respected, and that means a lot to you.

For a badly-wounded man, his popularity could make a difference in being rescued from no Man’s Land, or left to die:

When a Big Man is badly wounded and rolls 1D6 (see page 21 of the rules), +1 for a Big Man who is “Likeable
Enough” or “Popular”, -1 for a “Little Better than a Toad”

Physical Stature

Are you a boy soldier, a walking skeleton or a Gascon bull of a man? Find out by rolling 2D6.

2 You hid a secret illness from the recruiting officers. Roll 2D6 again

2 - You’re an asthmatic: if the unit you are attached to is caught in gas attack or gas pocket and subject
to a “Poor Gas Discipline Card”, treat as a light wound (page 21 of the “Mud & Blood” rules). Add a “Poor
Gas Discipline” Card to the “Mud & Blood” deck whenever gas is used. If the “Poor Gas Discipline” card
is drawn, the next group or weapons team (of either side) which is deployed in the gas barrage or gas
pocket suffers 1D3 additional wounds (counting no cover) – let’s hope you’re not in the middle of it!
 3 to 11 - various embarrassing ailments, but nothing impairing military efficiency.

12 - You suffer from panic attacks, and they’re getting worse while you’re in the Trenches: Drop your
Health (see below: Health) by 2 points at the start of the game

3 "Pardon? Dix-huit. Non, pas possible!!" You’re a boy soldier, underage by at least two years – you
volunteered before your Class was called up. You have lots of spirit, but it’s a man’s war. Minus 1 dice
in close combat.

4 Gourmand – you’ve always lived to eat, and you can always tell a good local wine. Perhaps it’s the fine
food of the Dordogne you were accustomed to before the war started. At night you dream of foie gras
and plump ducks from the Haute Garonne. You try not to think to hard of when Les Hommes Soupes will
finally arrive.

5-9 Average – Slim, but of average build. Nothing that the regimental cook can’t fix.

10,11 Athletic – You’re fit and healthy and love running, especially when you’re being shot at. Plus 1 pip to
any dice roll when moving alone.

12 Giant – You’re a giant of a man, with hands the size of a Limoges piglet. Plus 1 dice when engaged in
close combat.

Foreign Legionnaire, Tirailleurs Sénégalais or trench raiding party: plus 1 to roll

Health

Fighting on the Western Front took a terrible toll on those who fought there. The pressures of leadership
exacerbated the tension for junior officers. Like the British Army, French soldiers suffering shellshock (la confusion
mentale de la guerre) could not be medically discharged. As an option for junior officers who may have been in the
front line, under fire or enemy attacks for a considerable time, you may like to use the following Health system.

In a number of playtest games, we’ve always used the Health system sparingly. Generally, we have used it in in
circumstances where, viewed objectively, one of the Big Men would be at risk of succumbing to combat stress during
the battle. These circumstances would be rare, but are documented in accounts by contemporaries. In addition to
providing an insight (however small) into the terrifying experience of junior commanders of all sides on the Western
Front, the use of the rule creates significant challenges for player controlling a Big Man in a critical position under
extreme pressures.

Health at start of game

“When they raised their heads, their faces showed a depth of sorrow one had never seen before. Their dusty
features seemed frozen and taut with suffering, as if they screamed out something terrifying, the incredible horror of
their martyrdom” Georges Gaudy “Souvenirs d’un Poilu de 57e Regimenet d’Infanterie” (1922)

1 Le Cafard (“the Cockroach” – “a crisis of black melancholy”)

2 Exhausted

3 Battle-ragged
4,5 Worn

6 Still fresh

For each wound suffered in any previous game (whether lightly or badly wounded – see page 21 of the “Mud and
Blood” rules): -1

For each Disfiguring Wound in any previous game: -1

Gassed in immediately preceding game (being within a unit suffering “shock” from a gas attack): -1

Suffers from Panic Attacks: Drop your Health (see below) by 2 points at the start of the game (see Physical Stature
above)

Roll 1D6 and ascertain the Big Man’s Health on the above table at the start of the game. Track the Big Man’s Health
on the table below, starting with the Health score as shown at the start of the game. Then, during the game, reduce
the starting Health score by one point each time one or more Shock points are inflicted on any unit with which the Big
Man is attached to (even if that Shock is later removed). On reaching 5 Shellshock points, reduce the Big Man’s
status by one status level in the game. On reaching 0 Shellshock points, treat the Big Man as badly wounded (see
rule 9.5.1 on page 21 of the “Mud & Blood” rules). He will have no further influence on the game, but the owning
player must attempt to remove him from the field of battle (no roll is needed for this). Removal to a French
regimental aid post takes two stretcher bearers if available (four in bad or abysmal terrain), and two men from the unit
the Big Man is attached to if not.

Shellshock Points

0 1 3 4

Treat as Badly Wounded

4 5 6 7

Drop one status Le Cafard

8 9 10 11

Exhausted Battle-ragged Worn Still Fresh

Grandes Hommes Character Traits

I like to try to add a little more colour to Big Men through the following table. Many of these have no effect on the
game (although it is surprising how often these are referred to when playing). However, traits marked in blue
(positive) or red (negative) will have an effect on the game of “Through the Mud and the Blood” or the “Winter Sports”
trench-raiding supplement (see TooFatLardies’ Christmas Special 2010)

Character Traits for Les Grandes Hommes

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 Grim Stealthy Charismatic Gaunt Reckless Short-sighted

2 Gascon Iron Constitution Alcoholic Glory Hunter Sweet-tooth Phlegmatic

3 Heavy Smoker Mercurial Linguist Legionnaire Determined Devoutly Religious

4 “Embusqués” Homesick Chivalrous Vengeful Sharp Eyed Confident

(a Dug-Out)

5 Trophy Collector Fatalistic Insouciant Patriotic Dreyfusard Sardonic

6 “Energetic” Suave Hollow-eyed Socialist Loyal Unlucky

French Character Traits

Alcoholic all tasks take 50% longer owing to indulging in Linguist Add another Wir Sind Freunde card (or
frequent snifters from the Pinard ration equivalent) in Winter Sports to a trench raid (up to 3 Wir
Sind Freunde cards allowed in total)

Charismatic +1 to Popularity Loyal - Will always attempt to rescue a wounded Big

Man of his own regiment or battalion, regardless of the
danger

Determined Always adds 1 pip per dice of movement Patriotic – will always sing La Marseillaise loudly on
attacking into close combat. Double any shock inflicted in
 the first round of any close combat for any group or
formation containing the Big Man.

Dreyfusard – a supporter of Captain Dreyfus, and prone Reckless – roll 1d6:

to argue bitterly about the rights and wrongs of L’Affaire
a decade later. 1-4 reckless: may only make one spotting attempt at
each separate target (once attempted, can’t repeat same
target).

5-6 foolhardy: as “reckless”, but may not add his initiative

to any spotting attempts

Devoutly Religious: never without a crucifix. +1 to Sharp-eyed +1 on all spotting rolls

Health if a Chaplain is nearby (within 24 inches)

Embusqués – needs to expend an extra initiative to Short-sighted minus 1 to all spotting rolls
enter close combat

Energetic - No initiative point needed to enter close Socialist – roll 1D6:

combat
Roll of 1-3 : minus 1 to popularity for constantly
complaining and blaming “the capitalists and bankers for
this mess” and bemoaning the death of Jean Jaurès;

Roll of 4-6: add one to popularity for persuading others

than a better future is possible after the war.

Fatalistic - overly cautious - remove 1 pip per dice of Stealthy always +1 to D6 roll attacking a sentry (Winter
movement Sports)

Gascon – may possess a large nose, although mainly Sweet-tooth – lover of viennoiserie and patisserie in all
hidden by an even larger moustache its forms. There are few things you’d not do for an
almond croissant or a gourmandise chocolat.
Sometimes you lie no the iron hard ground and dream of
a shop window full of sugary treats….only to wake up to
week-old stale baguette.

Iron Constitution ignores first light wound (page 21 of Trophy Collector +1 to any souvenir collecting or
“Through the Mud and the Blood” rules) looting rolls in enemy trenches

Legionnaire – Foreign Legion Officer or NCO equipped Unlucky – Unable to use a “Viene de Pendu” (“The
with some impressive weapon from darkest Africa – a Devil’s Luck”) card *
coupe-coupe, tribal club or Bedouin sword: always
counts as being a trench cleaner.

*French tank commanders will find the absence of a “Devil’s Luck” card very disadvantageous (see a forthcoming
guide for using French tanks in “Through the Mud and the Blood”).
 Apres le Deluge

“Yet Verdun will be born from its ashes. The destroyed and deserted villages will rise afresh from their
ruins; too long exiled, their inhabitants will come back to their rebuilt homes; under the protection of a
victorious peace, the ravaged countryside will recover the laughing face it wore in happy times”

Raymond Poincaré, President of France (1919)

I also like to find out what might happen to the Big Men after the War, should they survive. It’s not meant to be
particularly serious but could, at the end of a game or campaign of “Through the Mud and the Blood”, add some
suggestions on where you might find your Grandes Hommes reappearing in your Inter-War games.

First, and most importantly, find whether the Big Man survived the War and lived to the moment when the guns finally
fell silent. For those surviving, civilian life beckons. And for a few, the fighting continues on …

Roll 2D6 for each Big Man used in the game. Then, for the survivors, follow the relevant Exit and roll 1D6.

Bonne Chance!

Roll 2D6 Did you survive to hear the guns fall silent?

2-5 In Proud and Glorious Memory You died for France. “Mourir pour Le Patrie est le sort le plus
beau” (To die for one’s country is the most beautiful of fates)

6,7 Wounded Survived, but wounded. A piece of shrapnel in your shoulder

always makes you wince when the weather’s cold and wet.
You are a Civilian.

8-11 Survived You survived La Grande Guerre, and leave the army on being
demobilised. You are a Civilian.

12 Survived You survived La Grande Guerre, but stay in uniform. You

remain a Soldier.
 French Civilian Exits: The “Broken Faces”

“Our Moral ascendancy, exerting itself from one end of the country to the other, will regenerate order. If the
weakness of the public powers fetters its advent, our vibrant, organised mass will know how to impose it” Colonel
François de la Rocque, leader of the Croix de Feu formed in 1927

1 Disfigurement and reconstructive surgery: You struggle to recover from the War. You are one of the gueules
cassées – the broken faces. You find help in the Parisian hospital Val de Grâce, the main maxillofacial surgery
centre in France. Your face is repaired through remarkably skilful surgery, but piecing your mind back together
will be even harder.

2 Penniless: The Peace breaks you in a way the War never did. You hang by the gates of Versailles and call for
your elected politicians to extract even greater reparations from Germany. You listen to the communists and the
anarchists – maybe they have the answers.

3-5 An “ordinary” life: You return to the life you led before the war. The café in the square is very much the same.
You still fish by the bridge in the summer. You keep your Médaille Militaire hidden in your bedroom.

6 City of Lights: The war changed you. And it drew you to Paris. Roll 1D6:

“Night came on, the lamps were lighted, the tables near him found occupants, and Paris began to wear that
peculiar evening look of hers which seems to say, in the flare of windows and theatre-doors, and the muffled
rumble of swift-rolling carriages, that this is no world for you unless you have your pockets lined and your scruples
drugged.”

1 The revolution is coming, comrades! As the Comintern announces permanent revolution, you unite with the
workers, ferment strikes and agitate against the Government. You watch the stain of fascism slowly spreading
across Europe, and secretly meet with Soviet agents by the Bois de Boulogne.

2 You join the Surrealist revolution sweeping Paris, rubbing shoulders with Andre Breton and sleeping with
Picasso’s wife. Your painting are a remarkable success, filled with melting watches and the empty, hollow faces
of Parisian prostitutes.

3 You become a writer, endlessly churning out paperbacks from your garret on the Left Bank of the Seine,
endlessly scribbling implausible tales of espionage and exotic adventures which yellow and fade a day after their
printing.

4 You are elected as a representative in the Chamber of Deputies: You stagger through a seemingly endless
succession of weak governments, ill or decrepit Ministers and corruption scandals. You slowly begin to realise
that the Third Republic is doomed. Your only question is what will sweep it away.

5 You sell anything on the Black Market, for a price. You evade taxes and your shady friends persuade you to
start forging Government Bonds.

6 You join de la Rocque’s Croix de Feu, religiously read Le Flambeau and march with others demanding
“national reconciliation”. You are past caring whether you’re a Bonapartist, a Nationalist or a Fascist. You simply
want a demagogue to take order and return France to Glory.

You are a Wounded Civilian: -1

You suffered a Disfiguring Wound in the War: -2 (if badly wounded in a game, roll 1D6 at the end of the game. On a roll of
1, it is a Disfiguring Wound)
 French Soldiers’ Exits: The Snarling Peace

“My life hatred has been for Germany because of what she has done to France” Georges Clemenceau

1 The Riff Wars: You return to the 2e Estranger d`Infanterie, your regiment in the Foreign Legion and fight
against the Riff in Morocco and North Africa. The fighting is almost as hard as on the Chemin des Dames,
although now it is the sun and the dust-storms, and not the poison gas, which is blinding you.

2 Poland and Russia: Your formation fights in Poland and Russia in bitter, nasty civil wars. And to think, a
few short years ago, these were your allies …

3 Rhineland and Ruhr: You occupy the Rhineland and the Ruhr, commanding a regiment of Tirailleurs
Sénégalais and specialise in terrifying the German population. You smile coldly as the Boche civilians
protest against your casual brutality, oblivious to the cycle of hatred you are perpetuating.

4, 5 The Maginot Line: You become a disciple of André Maginot and support his call for greater security for
France. The mistakes of the last war will not be repeated. You place your faith on concrete fortifications.
You arrange, through your political connections, for your regiment to garrison a Maginot Line fort. This is
clearly the way to win the next war!

6 Division Légère Mechanique: You rise through the ranks and help build the French armoured and
mechanised formations in the 1920s and 1930s. You study the intelligence reports from Germany and know
the next war cannot be far away.

You were an NCO, were an officer “Up from the Ranks” or “Colonial”: -1

You were a trench raider: -1

You were a tank commander: +1

Notes

I hope you find these Backgrounds helpful and fun in your games. While I’ve written them with the “Through the Mud
and the Blood” wargames rules in mind, you should be able to adapt them fairly easily to other rule-sets. Huge
thanks are owed to both Richard Clarke, for talking through the things a former Poilu might get up to in post-War
Paris, and Joe Legan, whose “Platoon Forward” supplement was one of the starting points for these Backgrounds.

For those interested in further reading, I’d recommend the following books which give more insight into the world of
Le Poilu and junior French officers in the Great War:

“The Road to Verdun” – Ian Ousby (1999)

“La chair et l'acier: L'armée française et l'invention de la guerre moderne (1914-1918)” - Michel Goya (2004)

“French Trench Warfare 1917-1918” (An infantry manual from 1918)

***

Sidney Roundwood, January 2014