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06-29-2009, 10:43 AM
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#11 |
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Hamilton, UK
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Re: Red Tide
Hopefully if it sells well then we might see more WW2 books in the future.
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06-30-2009, 05:45 PM
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#13 |
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Trondheim, Norway
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Re: Red Tide
Oh, yes... Yes! Unspeakable joy!
Za Rodina!
__________________
"You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic". - Greg House, MD. |
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07-04-2009, 09:40 PM
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#14 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Kentucky
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Re: Red Tide
Is this going to be an E23 product?
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07-08-2009, 12:14 AM
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#15 | |
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Hamilton, UK
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Re: Red Tide
Quote:
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07-12-2009, 01:38 AM
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#16 |
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Adelaide, Australia
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Re: Red Tide
I'm in the middle of Ivan's War by Catherine Merridale and it has me so geared up for a Soviet campaign.
The terrible training, dealing with communism in daily life, angry peasants who hate collective farming, living like medieval folk, NKVD woes, annexing countries, the wretchedness of the Winter War and commanders who have no idea, bad or no equipment, no buddies, divisions wiped out, trying to use the army to scratch ahead in a wretched system, bad propaganda movies, the dread of German invasion, relatives missing behind the lines, becoming a partisan with no support from the government and having to scrounge for weapons and become a bandit for food, earning medal after medal, the army slowly being reformed, penal battalions, stealing and hustling, not enough weapons to go round, blocking detachments being turned into valets for officers, arbitrary executions by officers, arbitrary executions of officers, starving, GULAGS, Stalingrad, T-34s, the state co-opting your valour as proof of their greatness, seeing the wealth of the Germans and wondering, 'why did they invade us?'... Being driven by the hope of a new wristwatch, a bicycle, and end to collective farming... Starting at zero and in complete despair, and hoping for anything to make life better. Free ice cream in the winter as proof of Communist glory. Oh my god... The harshest WWII campaign ever, but wow. I'm definitely running a Soviet campaign next (after I get back to my Allied one in a couple of months, finally, and finish it) |
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07-17-2009, 02:13 PM
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#17 | |
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Banned
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Bristol
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Re: Red Tide
Quote:
There is a myriad of partisan groups all over the eastern front, some are not as 'noble' as others. But it would exciting to run a game like that. |
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07-17-2009, 03:23 PM
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#18 | |
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Adelaide, Australia
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Re: Red Tide
Quote:
It's 1938. You live in a Communist 'wonderland'. You come home from watching a propaganda movie where a Soviet tank driver breaks away from his unit, goes to Berlin and catches Hitler, the others reproaching him saying, 'Now there's nothing for us to do!' Outside the world is no paradise, and people barely scrape by. There are rumours of starvation in recent times, and of unrest amongst the peasants. But you can get ice cream in several flavours! At least one PC originally comes from a Ukrainian village, but he headed to the big city... Someone's father is captured by the secret police and sent to the Gulag. Who gave him up? The father can return later in a punishment battalion. Does the PC let the old man die on a suicide mission when he finds out, or does he go against orders to save him... or help him on his task promising certain death? Anyway, the PCs are called up. Army training... isn't. There is hadly any real training. They sit around ruined barracks. They steal. They listen to political lectures. There is no food. Hardly any guns. They help collective farmers, who hate them, and they see that the peasants are not so happy as everyone thought. In fact, the way they live is almost medieval. About the only thing they learn to do is form up in a group before heading off to listen to the politruks, and scrounge and wheel and deal. They also learn not to talk, or to complain too much. They see fellows punished severely for minor infractions, even as all the men have to sleep in barracks without roofs. They take part in the invasion of Poland, in the rear. They don't see much action; maybe some desperate partisans. They do see the NKVD rushing in with them. They rush into a prison... and the sounds of many shots. The PCs have adventures and tasks, capturing this, neutralising that, it's just not too heroic. The Winter War. A slaughter. Men are told they will win with ease. They pass frozen corpses of Soviets on their way. They must charge bunkers no-one knew were there. And when they know, the generals tell them... charge. No-one has a full kit. Most of their friends die. They don't have winter clothes. Getting ammo... and a replacement weapon... is a struggle. Find a corpse. Finally they get a chance for some heroics, but at what cost? And what did they gain? The generals are still treating human beings like cattle... And then rumours have it the generals are disappearing. They are sent to occupy the Baltic states. But things seemed much better here. There are wristwatches, on every body! Wrist watches are like a ferrari back home. Everyone has enough food. Everyone can read. People have big houses. Before the PCs get too excited... They are discharged. They return to civilian life. Some personal adventures. Maybe some run-ins with political types. The Germans invade. They are called up again. By this point they have no faith in army life. Their faith is not renewed by the terrible conditions they face heading to the front. Rumours are rife. Stalin is silent. 200 people dead, they say? Surely it can't be so many, we were to drive them from our land, our defence was to be perfect... Chaos near the front. German planes everywhere. Tanks everywhere, and when they appear, everybody breaks and runs. They are surrounded. They are captured. Escape! And then... Life as a partisan. They have no help from home, only orders. They must kill for every new weapon and ammo clip. They must decide on missions and supply themselves. They must get supply from unwilling peasants, and help them on their farms. Good thing they practised farming skills when they were younger! Moral grey area: when the peasants refuse, what do they do? When a village is destroyed for helping the partisans, what do they do? Fervour grows. We hate the enemy, we will drive him from our land! He is murdering our people, burning our villages! For now, all seems lost... And the boy from country Ukraine... Where is his family? There has been no word... No letters can get through... Time passes, patriotism grows, eventually the army is strong, Stalingrad, Kursk, Bagration, even a little Lend Lease! Locals buying their own tanks to fight the enemy! Now we will take the fight to the lair of the Fascist beast, and hope for a brighter future... |
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07-17-2009, 07:32 PM
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#19 | |
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Join Date: May 2009
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Re: Red Tide
Quote:
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07-18-2009, 03:31 AM
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#20 | |
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Adelaide, Australia
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Re: Red Tide
Quote:
Some people like starting dungeon crawls from rock bottom, with little money for the best equipment and their skills still not perfect. They build up to the kewl powers! Players would have to trust their GM, and they would have to sign up to overcome such hardship. To me it has all the elements of adventure. I would see it as a challenge, and some territory covered would be by nature dark, but I think there are still many RPGers who are stimulated by such things. It would be turning the difficulty dial up, though. I wouldn't want to spring it on people without explaining what they're in for, and I'd want only to try it with experienced and dedicated RPGers. It would be a balancing act to throw in down time and comedic moments, and to listen to the needs of players to ensure that the campaign goes in a direction they are satisfied with. It could be moving and memorable drama. I have players who would be keen and I don't think they're masochists. They would play because they like the elements mentioned above, they're interested in history and the moral grey areas, which is where a lot of the best and most unforgettable role-playing happens. They'd be taking a game that has one of the biggest and most important struggles in history as its backdrop but its the threads of their personal lives, loves and struggles that will shine forth most brightly from the tapestry of the game. What more could you want from an rpg? |
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