WWII: What should my RPG setting be?

[Silver Moon]

Doing a "Timemaster" game using the "Partisans in the Shadows" module, set in German occupied France in 1941. The PC's are time-hopping commandos (timecops) set to put things back on track from aliens trying to make changes for Germany to win WWII. The prepackaged module is pretty good 'covert team/trust no one' scenario, which works well for a "Part I", but I would like to then flow into a more action-packed scenario for the commandos to finish up wth. As time-hopping is involved it could be at any point between 1941 and 1945, just so the villains are the Nazis. Any thoughts?

 

[Loonook]

D20 Modern/Past, Alternity will work well, especially if you use Blood and Guts for the d20 side to give a more military feel and rules for military interactions.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

 

[billd91]

I'm not so sure I'd use France. What would the aliens do there that could swing the war for Germany? I'd be more interested in operations to hamper German atomic bomb research like this: Norwegian heavy water sabotage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Or maybe some of the Polish cryptographers responsible for cracking Enigma are in need of assistance getting their info into Allied hands because the aliens are trying to make sure they get intercepted.

 

[Ramen]

Maybe the aliens alerted the German Abwehr to the existence of Dusan Popov in late 1943. Dusan Popov was one of the most successful double agents in WWII. He found out about the Japanese interest in Pearl Hardor before the attack. He was also instrumental in the deception of German intelligence during Operation Fortitude. This allowed the allied forces to obscure the troop build up before the D Day invasion.

They intend to either Expose or Kill Popov in order to alert Nazi German to the leak in their Intelligence branch during Operation Fortitude. If exposing is successful then Popov will be recalled to Germany and interrogated. If the is assassinated the Germans will try to gain information about what occurred and uncover the deception on their own.


The aliens have a three pronged strategy.

1. Alert his Abwehr handler to Popov's deception by leaking documents copied from Double Cross intelligence services at some unknown point after the war.

However knowing that there are individuals who seem to have interfered with prior operations they decide to make preparations in case they interfere with this.

2. If this fails they Intend to also disseminate the same information to other Abwehr operatives also stationed in England.

3. If they cannot accomplish either of these objectives they intend to eliminate Popov hoping it will alert the German intelligence to a potential compromise in their English Operations.

Your players mission would be to stop the transfer of the documents to Popov's handler. Recover the second set of documents from the backup agent before they pass them to the other Abwehr spy. Finally prevent the assassination of Popov.

All this while not alerting or killing the Abwehr agents in England, not alerting the British government including MI6, and not alerting Busan Popov since it may cause him to change his historical actions due to a perceived threat.

This is assuming that the aliens are trying to keep a low profile themselves and accomplish things with the most minimal interference. This means that they will also try to remain fairly unseen by either side also.

 

[Virel]

France 1941 not much Aliens can do to help Germany in France.

However, France in 1940 is another story.

o Crush the British at Dunkirk.
o Tip the Germans that their Ultra codes are compromised
o Suggest adding bigger drop tanks to the Me-109's to tip the Battle of Britain in German favor.
o Push Germany to develop better radar & jets ASAP
o Facilitate Operation SeaLion...invading Britain
o Put pressure on Spain to jump into the war on Germany's side
o With Spanish help take the Straights of Gibraltar
o Prevent Churchill from becoming Prime Minster

 

[Stormonu]

The aliens could be feeding information to the "Desert Fox" (Rommel) in his campaign in North Africa.

The aliens could be feeding the SS's search for ancient relics of power, which are actually alien artifacts of great power from older attempts to influence history.

The aliens could be working to sabotage the radar stations that give the british advance alert in the air campaign in the Battle of Britain.

The aliens could be attempting to augment the wolf packs of the North Atlantic with advanced tech to locate and disrupt the lifeline of supply ships to England.

The aliens could intervene in assisting the battleship Bismarck break out into the North Atlantic (1940) and avoid its sinking, or raising it from the sea to terrorize the British navy or supply lines.

The aliens may be attempting to convince Hitler that the allies will be landing at Normandy instead of Pas de Calais, either increasing the fortifications or disrupting the Allie's attempts at subterfuge to point away from the real invasion.

The aliens may reinforce the Italian Gustuv line with advanced technology against the allied push towards Rome.

The aliens might attempt to assassinate Stalin or other Russian leaders in an attempt to weaken Russia in the eastern front.

The aliens may assist in the Battle of the Bulge, attempting to obliterate the 101st airborne at Bastogne, thereby greatly weakening American resolve.

The aliens may assist Operation Valkyrie in attempting to assassinate Hitler and leave a somewhat weaker, but still intact Germany in existence.

The aliens might forewarn and help the Germans prepare for Operation Market Garden, turning the seizing of the five bridges into a trap that consumes the armies involved.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Here's a good one - convince the Japanese to go after the Russians instead of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The US doesn't enter the war until later and with with much more outdated equipment and the four units of Siberian and Kamchatkian reinforcements to Stalingrad are never deployed because they are actually needed in the Far Eastern theater. This of course mean the Russians will run out of food long before the Summer offensive meaning "The Red Menace" is effectively nil.

This also means the US never goes to assist the British in Africa and therefor the Operation Overlord Landings in June 44 never happen either. This also leads to better resources for the German army to wage war in Britain, meaning the air war can be sustained and maintained for a lot longer. Also, without American intervention, it is likely that the Germans, not the Americans are the first to discover atomic weapons.

After which the combined Axis turns on America which is now isolated, outdated and surrounded.

 

[Kynn]

Stopping aliens from helping the Axis is kind of boring.

Better would be stopping the aliens from helping the Allies.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

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[S'mon]

I'm not so sure I'd use France. What would the aliens do there that could swing the war for Germany? I'd be more interested in operations to hamper German atomic bomb research like this: Norwegian heavy water sabotage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Or maybe some of the Polish cryptographers responsible for cracking Enigma are in need of assistance getting their info into Allied hands because the aliens are trying to make sure they get intercepted.

Valuable as the Enigma codes were, by the time it's 1942 and Germany is at war with both the USSR and the USA as well as the British Empire, each of the former two at least as powerful as the expanded Third Reich, I think it's going to take more than that to give the Nazis a chance of winning.

The only thing I can see giving the Nazis a chance is nuclear missiles - they had the V2 missile tech IRL, so for the aliens it's the nukes that matter. So something set in Norway around the Norwegian heavy water plant is a good idea; indeed I've seen a very old White Dwarf scenario that used exactly that plot.