Hunchmausen's Headquarters: Day One 12.15pm!

11.20am: The enemy’s artillery fire a few more shots. The enemy battalion halt for a few minutes on the road: then, they move back to their original positions.

The baron's messenger returns from the enemy lines with the following message:

“Dear Hunchmausen,
You’re right: we all need the afternoon off - but we shall not be retiring!”

Agorn’s wagon arrives, escorted by a platoon of light troops. They report spotting on the Widenlau road an enemy cavalry picquet observing their passage (not something that could be done in Fenwick), about a quarter of a mile from the town.

Hunchmausen orders one of the light troops to accompany a squadron of hussars in an attempt to pick off the enemy picquet before it gets back to report its findings.

'That pig that I can see, Churglemurgle - send some men out to capture it', says the baron. 'Pigs are sensitive and intelligent creatures. More so than our soldiers'.

'Indeed sir', says Czernazmije, 'Although, the Vulgarian contingent of the army are very sensitive and empathetic; without empathy you don’t really know how to hurt people and it just becomes senseless violence'.

Three enterprising fellows from the Ostmarck regiment try and grab the little piggie to the front of their positions.

The enemy artillery ceases firing until 11.50, at which point they recommence their slow bombardment for ten minutes, and then cease firing again. Overall, the enemy artillery thus far have inflicted a small measure of disorder on the Ostmarck regiment which is soon remedied by the liberal application of the flats of their officers’ swords.

At 11.50am the hussar squadron returns. They have failed to grab or kill any of the enemy picquet; the picquet have fled towards the Tinkel road.

The piggie proves to have too much initiative for the Ostmarck regiment. No doubt it can also shoot better. It wanders off towards the enemy lines.

At 12.10pm, from the cathedral spire, the baron's observer reports the arrival in the Nabstrian camp of a wagon, accompanied by a few hussars. It disappears behind the hill with the enemy artillery on it. There seems to be some excitement in the camp. Many of the enemy artillery crew disappear behind the hill.

'If only we had a mortar', sighs Hunchmausen.

At 12.11, the observer in the spire spots through his telescope a body of horsemen crossing the Tinkel road, from the south west, at a distance of about a quarter of a mile. The enemy are moving cautiously and with some skill, so it isn’t clear how many of them that there might be.

Hunchmausen orders the Brense hussars and the two squadrons of the Karnstein dragoons to move out and investigate the movement of the enemy horse.