Additional modifiers for extreme cold?

[Bathawk]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

Or any place on the Eastern Front where there are lots of troops and limited water supplies. Until the recently-destroyed Kherson dam was built in the 1950s, southern Ukraine could be extremely dry during the summer in addition to blisteringly hot mid-continental summer heat.

North Africa would be the logical place for him from 40 to late 42, but during 1943-44, he could be anyplace in eastern Ukraine or southwestern Russia.

It's boring from an adventuring point of view, but he might also have served as a fireman in Germany as the RAF and USAAF blasted German cities to rubble. Not only would he be a one-man fire brigade, he'd also be useful for creating potable water in areas where the water mains were broken and invaluable as a Nazi propaganda tool. Of course, if there was a female equivalent she'd be on the home front instead of him.

In any case, his real value is water where and when you want it for the logistical price of moving one man and a few trucks full of portable water tanks and fire hoses around as opposed to entire fleets of tanker trucks, desalinization and water purification equipment and all the fuel and men required to operate them. Even better, all those trucks and men normally needed to haul water can haul fuel or ammo instead.

By the time the Third Reich was collapsing and Africa had fallen to the allies, would it be easy to re allocate resources to the Eastern Front as opposed to dropping back to Italy?

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Bathawk

By the time the Third Reich was collapsing and Africa had fallen to the allies, would it be easy to re allocate resources to the Eastern Front as opposed to dropping back to Italy?

Germany wasn't a spent force by early 1943. It was obvious that the 3rd Reich was losing, due to the near simultaneous losses of North Africa and Stalingrad, but it wasn't clear that they were certain to lose. German defeat only became inevitable after the Normandy Invasion, the Allied air offensive against Occupied Europe and the massive Soviet victories in 1944.

There's no reason why Deluge couldn't have been deployed to Russia between 1942 and 1943, although it would have required him to transfer to an entirely different army.

More likely, his original command would have fought hard to keep him after the retreat from North Africa. Southern Italy can be as hot and dry as Ukraine/Southern Russia. If he stayed in Italy, he'd initially be in Sicily in early 1943, then evacuate to Southern Italy and slowly retreat up the Italian peninsula during late 1943.

[Rupert]

I think they were clearly losing by the end of '43, and had no realistic prospect of turning that around. By then the allies were clearly not going to lose in the Pacific, The Soviets were advancing and had their act together, and the western Allies had shown that their victories in North Africa were not a fluke, and they'd located the deadwood in their commands and largely discarded it.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Rupert

I think they were clearly losing by the end of '43, and had no realistic prospect of turning that around.

Pretty much, barring some massive unforeseen catastrophe that didn't happen in our timeline. By early 1943, the U.S. was on a full war footing and pumping out enough ammo, fuel and equipment to supply all its allies. By the end of 1943, all the weapons weapons programs which allowed the Allies to defeat the Axis were either in production or close to it, with the exception of the atomic bomb.

Thinking about the character, while it's easiest to design Deluge as a fanatical uber-Nazi, it might be more fun from a roleplaying perspective if he was an ordinary man with an extraordinary power and a "go with the flow" personality. That would be in keeping with a "water sign" personality. Flexible, creative and intuitive but also sentimental, sensitive and a bit lazy.

The civilian-in-uniform version of Deluge would be loyal to his friends and immediate superiors, but also perfectly happy to be a human fire hydrant operating dozens of miles behind the front lines. Before the war he worked in a brewery or water treatment plant, probably in a city along the Rhine or Elbe or on the Baltic Coast. He liked his job, loved his home town and didn't want to leave.

While he might have the makings of a good combat soldier or special operator, he'd never volunteer for such duties. If drafted, initially won't be happy in his new role. After he gets settled in, however, his sense of duty and intuition make him a formidable foe.