WW2 Armies, looking for some historical input...

[Ultimo]

I know this is General Discussion, but my needs are more general, even though it's related to AE material... so I'm posting it here so I can get more response than I might in the AE forum.  I'm hoping to get some input from people with some knowledge of the history of WW2, and the armies involved.

 

So, I'm kind of revamping my WW2 arc.  There are several custom groups representing the various armed forces involved in the various theatres of war, and I'm trying to make them all distinctive in their own particular ways... but I'm having some difficulty deciding on exactly what to give them.

I'm trying to follow a basic format.  Each group will consist of an Officer, Infantry and Special Forces character, all Minion level (I don't want them to be too strong, the heroes should be mowing through them with relative ease).

Officers will have a ranged weapon (usually Pistols) and a support power.
Infantry will have a ranged weapon (Burst or Slug).  I originally gave them NO second power, but I think I'll give them a Grenade.  The Special Forces would also get a second power.
Special Forces would depend on the specific nation.  For example, the Germans get Stormtroopers, the US gets Marines.

Where I'm having some issues is with the Officers, mainly.  Their particular support ability is intended to reflect the character of the army in question.  For example, the Germans ruled by fear, so giving the German Officer Fearsome Gaze is in character for that army.  The British are known for their discipline and "stiff upper lip," so Clear Mind seems appropriate.

I'm posting here to see if anyone can offer any suggestions/rationale for the armies and abilities.  Here's what I have so far...

 

US ARMY
Officer - Pistols/Fortitude (US known for tenacity)
Infantry - Slug (M14 rifle)/Grenade
Marine - Burst (M1 Thompson)/?????
-Notably, the US did use Flamethrowers during WW2, so I considered this too.

 

UK ARMY
Officer - Pistols/Clear Mind (UK known for discipline)
Infantry - Slug (Enfield 14)/Grenade
Commando - Burst (Sten)/?????
Canadian?
Australian?
South African?

 

RUSSIAN ARMY
Officer - Pistols/Gang War (Russia was noted for their strength in numbers)
Infantry - Burst (PPSH-41)/Molotov?
Russian Sniper - Snipe/Hide (Russian snipers were renowned)
-I also considered a Comissar character, but I'm not sure if he's needed.

 

GERMAN ARMY
Officer - Pistols/Fearsome Gaze
Infantry - Slug (K98k)/Grenade
Stormtrooper - Burst (MP40)/????
-I was thinking of something to increase the speed of the Stormtroopers, blitzkrieg, you know?

 

ITALIAN ARMY
Officer - Pistols/?????? - What are the Italians known for?
Infantry - Slug (Carcano)/NOTHING (Italians were known to be less effective troops)
Bersagliere - Burst (MP40)/Aim (elite marksmen)

 

JAPANESE ARMY
Officer - Katana/Caltrops?
Infantry - Slug (Arisaka)/Grenade
Ninja - Katana/Hide + Ninjas (I know, not historical, but it's flavourful)

-I had thought perhaps a Kamikaze, but that seemed... insensitive, so I thought I'd leave that out.

 

FRENCH RESISTANCE
Infiltrator - Time Bomb/Hide
Resistance - Pistols/Hide
Resistance - Burst/Hide

 

Any thoughts would be helpful!

 

 

(EDIT)

I should also ask... does anyone know if there's a list somewhere, of the heroes and villains who were active during WW2?  I know a couple of them, but I'd like to be able to add some others.

Edited Friday at 08:29 AM by Ultimo

[Snarky]

the German army had special forces in WW2 , the Brandenburgers.  these worked with German intelligence services and were covert.  A german squad always had one machine gun operator.  so there is an idea.

 

American special forces in WW2 were Rangers.  WW2 US Rangers were really motivated hard asses.  

Edited Friday at 03:22 PM by Snarky

[Maelwys]

4 hours ago, Ultimo said:

UK ARMY
Officer/Commando - Broadsword, Longbow, Bagpipes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Churchill 😉 ⚔️

(also https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/mad-jack-churchill-a-rare-breed-of-warrior/ - which details his antics both before and after he became a Commando)
 

Quote

Canadian?

Just the Bagpipes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Millin

Bagpipes were officially considered to be weapons of war until 1996 (and kinda sorta still are, at least during wartime!) 

 

Edited Friday at 12:31 PM by Maelwys

[Scarlet Shocker]

Russian infantrymen just need a stick - many went into battle effectively unarmed. You probably do need Commissars. 

 

Also in the Western theatre, air warfare was of significant importance. The Battle of Britain and the Strategic Bombing Campaign both had huge impacts on the outcome of the war so why not some air brigades with fighters (scrappers with Fly?) and Sentinels for Bombers?

[Ultimo]

1 hour ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

Russian infantrymen just need a stick - many went into battle effectively unarmed. You probably do need Commissars. 

 

Also in the Western theatre, air warfare was of significant importance. The Battle of Britain and the Strategic Bombing Campaign both had huge impacts on the outcome of the war so why not some air brigades with fighters (scrappers with Fly?) and Sentinels for Bombers?

I'd love to have included some kind of air war, but there's not really anything I can do with that... the best I could manage was to give a few of the supers flight abilities.

 

I know there's a symphony power set now... is there a bagpipe weapon to put in?  I'll have to look...

 

The arc has 5 missions:

North Africa

Sicily

France

Berlin

Guadalcanal

 

I'm still kind of struggling with the last mission, but as I say, at the moment, I'm more concerned with getting the troops right.

Edited Friday at 04:17 PM by Ultimo

[Jiro Ito]

It would be awesome for symphony and sonic powers to have bagpipes, guitars, flutes, accordions, cowbells, drumline quads etc to wield, instead of just screaming at people.  Alas.

[srmalloy]

6 hours ago, Snarky said:

the German army had special forces in WW2 , the Brandenburgers.  these worked with German intelligence services and were covert.  A german squad always had one machine gun operator.  so there is an idea. 

The Brandenburgers, and their predecessor unit, the Freikorps Ebbinghaus, was formed by and operated as part of the Abwehr until it was broken up in the late war, some personnel being transferred to an SS-Jagdverband under Otto Skorzeny, with the remainder redesignated as an infantry division, then given a panzer regiment and redesignated again as a panzergrenadier division -- a sign of the Reich's declining fortunes at the end of the war, with commando operations no longer being viable as an adjunct to normal operations.

 

The standard WWII German infantry squad had one machine gun, one submachine gun, two pistols, and seven rifles. Initially the squad leader would carry a Kar98k, but this was replaced with an MP40. The machine gunner had a pistol as a secondary weapon, the assistant gunner had a pistol as his primary weapon, and the remainder of the squad, including the Munitionsträger (the ammo carrier for the machine gun), would carry the Kar98k. Squad members would also have some number of grenades, either the Stielhandgranate 24 'stick grenade' or the Eierhandgranate 39 'egg grenade'. (Sources: Buchner, Alex: Handbuch der Infanterie 1939-1945, S. 15-16; German Squad in Combat: p.1-3 ; Töpfer: p. 5-7; Bull: p.23-24)

 

[Captain Fabulous]

I'm pretty sure the Italians were armed with linguine and meatballs.

[srmalloy]

27 minutes ago, Captain Fabulous said:

I'm pretty sure the Italians were armed with linguine and meatballs.

Pfft. The Italians had a wider range of elite and special forces units during WWII than any of the other combatants, including paratroopers, assault engineers, sea-landing and swimmer units, long-range recce and ski units, and even hand-picked Fascist 'Mussolini' units. The Decima Flottiglia Motoscafi Armati Siluranti (X^a MAS), created in 1938 as the 1a Flottiglia Mezzi D'Assalto, was the first unit of commando frogmen in the world, later copied by the Royal Navy and US Navy. Other commando and special forces units include the Folgore, the Arditi, the Bersagliere, and the ARDA (Arditi Distruttori Regia Aeronautica)

[Captain Fabulous]

2 hours ago, srmalloy said:

Pfft. The Italians had a wider range of elite and special forces units during WWII than any of the other combatants, including paratroopers, assault engineers, sea-landing and swimmer units, long-range recce and ski units, and even hand-picked Fascist 'Mussolini' units. The Decima Flottiglia Motoscafi Armati Siluranti (X^a MAS), created in 1938 as the 1a Flottiglia Mezzi D'Assalto, was the first unit of commando frogmen in the world, later copied by the Royal Navy and US Navy. Other commando and special forces units include the Folgore, the Arditi, the Bersagliere, and the ARDA (Arditi Distruttori Regia Aeronautica)

These are the real Italian generals. 🤭

p.s. I am Italian, no slight to my fellow paisans intended.

[Scarlet Shocker]

4 hours ago, Jiro Ito said:

It would be awesome for symphony and sonic powers to have bagpipes, guitars, flutes, accordions, cowbells, drumline quads etc to wield, instead of just screaming at people.  Alas.

 

and gurt great speakers hanging from a chopper.... 

[Crysis]

Is this a Fire Farm arc?  How's the XP?

[Ultimo]

7 hours ago, Crysis said:

Is this a Fire Farm arc?  How's the XP?

No, I don't do farms.  It's 5 missions set during WW2, but they're not directly connected to one another.  I don't even know what the experience rewards are like, I just play it for the fun of it.

[Crysis]

2 hours ago, Ultimo said:

No, I don't do farms.  It's 5 missions set during WW2, but they're not directly connected to one another.  I don't even know what the experience rewards are like, I just play it for the fun of it.

 

Er…twas a joke.  AE = FIre Farms, phat XP, etc etc.

 

What’s the arc name/number?  I’ll be sure to check it out when your done.  On my Spines/Fire farmer of course. 

[Ultimo]

It's called The World at War, it's currently published, but I want to tweak it some... especially the final mission.  If you do give it a go, I'd be glad to hear any thoughts you have about it.