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Originally Posted by tshiggins
As GM, you must address this key issue. Warfare in the modern era depends on economic strength, technological superiority and industrial capacity. German industry was arguably the most technologically-sophisticated, by the late 1930s, and it had business leaders unmatched in their competence.
However, much of the materiel needed for the war effort lay outside Germany's borders -- even outside the borders of the other Axis powers. Germany had no direct control of petroleum products, and its access to rubber supplies lay across a sea largely controlled by the British Navy.
What will drive much of the action in your campaign is the key question, "Given the superiority of the Allied wealth, industrial capacity and numbers, how could the Germans have possibly won?"
The ability to magically scry helps, a lot. Nothing multiplies force better than timely and accurate intelligence. However, quantity has a quality all its own, and even if the invasion of Normandy had failed, the ever-increasing industrial output of the Allies (U.S. industrial output accelerated for the entire duration of the war) just means they tried again the following year. They already had a foothold in Italy, and friendlies in the South of France, and control of most of the Mediterranean.
So, I think you have to look at some of the more boring types of magic seldom used by PCs, but which would profoundly impact industrial capacity. If the Germans used magic to multiply their industrial capacity, and create from scratch huge supplies of rubber and petroleum, then they might see some real potential for victory.
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The use of subtle magical sabotage of Allied industrial capacities could also help; what if they unleashed an army of gremlins on Allied factories?
They could also maybe give help to British and American Fascist parties before the war, reducing their warfighting effectiveness by political means.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tshiggins
(What if the only way to defeat the NAZIs is to emulate them? That makes Glen Cook's Black Company look like a Disney fairy tale.)
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That's basically the premise of
The Life Eaters, the expanded version of Brin's
Thor VS Captain America, previously mentioned.