[WWII/TS/Covert Ops/Weird War II] Götterdämmerung on Walpurgisnacht

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Icelander

That being said, I know that the MP 3008/Volksmaschinenpistole was a copy of the Sten designed to use MP 40 magazines.

What I want to know is if the redesign for a vertical magazine is a necessary part of that modification or if a Sten MkIIs could be designed to take MP 40 with fairly minimal modifications?

The Sten magazine is claimed to be a copy of the MP38 mag, and I'm fairly sure the MP38 and MP40 mags are interchangeable. So I think that just works.

The obvious question if this is right is why the Sten has a reputation for magazine problems and the MP38 & 40 don't. My best guess is that the British manufacture was really cheap: if you ask the British to make something cheap you get that, but it tends to be the product's only virtue. The design is a bit subtle in that it merges two columns of cartridges gradually and the angles, smoothness and cleanliness matter, so very cheap manufacture may well mess it up, and the change from vertical to horizontal operation might matter too. The British magazines also had holes so you could see how full they were, which doesn't help with cleanliness.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by aesir23

Anthropology? Classics? Archaeology? Linguistics? Pure Mathematics?

Anthropology, good. Comparative folklore and suchlike.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by aesir23

Anthropology? Classics? Archaeology? Linguistics? Pure Mathematics?

Anglo-Saxon battle chants? Romani divination? Come to think of it, Roman divination: there may well be plenty of entrails around.

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Icelander

What should the British aristocratic college-girl have studied that turns out to have applications in occult covert operations?

And what abilities ought that translate into in game terms?

Similarly, what would be a good way to give Herr Professor Rosen some runic magic? Something from Thaumatology is no doubt a perfect fit, but what would be both simple and evocative?

I want the occult to have been low-key for most of the war, a strange sideshow to the fighting with men questing after artifacts in neutral countries, but around the bunker in Berlin when the game is set, magic is suddenly much more effective and overt.

<Rubs head> Too early and too West Germanic for Sumerian or Hittite, but plenty of Brits reading Akkadian; early Jewish mysticism is unlikely in Berlin in 1945; lots of interesting Greek and demotic papyri from Egypt but that would take some creative Ahenerbe officer declaring that Hermes Trismegistus was really an Aryan; something early and Germanic could work. Studying Arabic and Turkish and New Persian feels too eccentric although there were definitely orientalists at British universities. Then there is the mystic Christianity route but I do not know if much in that tradition is gameable ...

Comparative folklore is absolutely a possibility. Anth and archaeology tended to be very hands on.

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Anglo-Saxon battle chants? Romani divination? Come to think of it, Roman divination: there may well be plenty of entrails around.

In an Icelander campaign, there are always plenty of entrails around.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Polydamas

In an Icelander campaign, there are always plenty of entrails around.

Oh, very true.

Edit: Though the single* 'on-screen' death scene, where there was no doubt that the character was dead, was actually very decorous. Captain Reynard gave the sitting Obersturmbannfuhrer Peter Högl (Commander of Hitler's bodyguard) an opium-laced cigarette and some fine brandy.

Once the Obersturmbannfuhrer dozed off, Reynard softly put his hand over Högl's mouth to secure the still-burning stub between his lips while his other hand slipped a F-S Commando Dagger between the captive's ribs, severing the aorta and piercing the heart. A slight twist and then Reynard gently guided the bound body down to the floor, as if he'd sagged forward into prone position once falling asleep. Only when the body would cover any visible blood did Reynard withdraw his blade. He didn't want to upset the drunken Glaswegian, you see.

The usually cankanterous Jock Sweeney had become convival upon sneaking some cleansing alcohol from a medical bag after being subjected to field surgery. Jock had been trying to share garlic sausage and pure spirits with Obersturmbannfuhrer Högl and seemed prepared to let him go once they didn't need the safehouse any more. Jean-Marie Reynard, however, does not believe in leaving Nazis alive. Particularily not senior SD** officers who employ vicious torturers.

*Why, yes, as it happens, we only managed to play through the introduction, a chase scene, a punch-up with the Reischssicherheitdienst, some parkour, and a very few seconds of Schmeissers, Mills bombs and Bren gun. Oh, and some dialogue with Hermann Fegelein and some hasty replanning once they realised that his authority would not get them through SS guardposts anymore, at least not near the Reichskannnslerei. To be concluded Saturday.
**Ironically, Captain Reynard was making a common mistake here, confusing the Reichsicherheitdienst (RSD) with the Sicherheitdienst (SD). In actual fact, the RSD are bodyguards and almost certainly do not employ torturers personally.

[Icelander]

As it turned out Major Alexander Reed-Thornton and Herr Profssor Siegfried Rosen are both NPCs. The players apparently do not want too much responsibility or knowledge.

Lieutenant Jan Wójcik; Polish commando and wireless operator, also failed to attract a player. Perhaps one of the two who couldn't make it tonight will play him Saturday. Until then, he has been giving good service as the angel on the PCs' shoulder, clandestinely covering their escape with his DeLisle carbine. Also carries a F-S Commando Dagger and a VIS P 35(p) 9mm semi-automatic pistol. Once it's time to rendervouz with the assault team of paratroopers, he has a Gewehr 43 with a telescopic sight.

Captain Jean-Marie Reynald; French adventurer, saboteur, tireur and gunrunner, his player actually happened to be present during prep work and thus had considerable input on background and character. Spent most of the session dressed as a lady of negotiable affection, carrying an umbrella containing a yataghan-shaped sword-bayonet and a purse containing a Beretta M1934 in .380 ACP with a suppressor. Also hides a F-S Commando Dagger on his person, regardless of which gender he may currently be dressing as. Has an MP 40 submachine gun for less clandestine work, as well as a wealth of grenades, WP, concussion and fragmentation.

Elizabeth Victoria Felicity St. Clair; the Oxford-educated English rose, was snapped up by a player who valued her poise, elegance and points spent on luck instead of brute ST. She elected to leave her Sten gun behind when meeting the local contact, which she immediately had cause to regret. A Browning Ml1910 in .32 ACP and a tiny stiletto strapped to the garters on one shapely thigh are not suitable for shooting one's path through dozens of jackbooted Nazi thugs.

Jock Sweeney; Glaswegian sailor, marine engineer and naval commando, is not actually a highly trained SOE agent. Surveillance, brush-passes and dead drops are all Greek to him. He is, however, a German-speaking mechanic with demolitions training, which means he was suitable to replace the German-speaking Czech SOE saboteur who was supposed to go when that worthy broke a leg learning to parachute. His player had great fun going all football hooligan on a group of senior RSD officers in a stairwell. Later, he used a ZB vz. 26 light machine gun and a grenade to discourage pursuit by some more RSD men from Hitler's bodyguard. Carries a fully-automatic Mauser C96 variant (M712 Schnellfeur) with a 20-rd box magazine as a sidearm and a smatchet in place of a knife.

Kharak Bahadur Rai; Gurkha witch-finder, was claimed by the last player to arrive. Carries a Browning HP pistol for self-defence and has an SVT-40 stashed for the assault. Naturally has a kukri. Two actually. A large one and a bigger one.

[Landwalker]

Originally Posted by Icelander

What would be the most effective infantry rifle for close-combat and bayonet-fighting?

Bonus points if it is likely to pass unremarked in the hands of a German soldier. I'm leaning toward a Tokarev SVT-40, as Germans re-issued thousands of captured ones, but I don't know how robust it was for use with a bayonet.
[/COLOR]

Late to the party, but could you justify an SKS-45? Those are 100% down with bayoneting, and while they entered the war very late, per Wikipedia "A small number of SKS rifles were tested on the front line in early 1945 against the Germans in World War II." Plus, semi-automatic, although of smaller caliber than what one expects from a "Battle Rifle" of the M1 Garand variety.

The SVT-40 should work fine, though, and I like that choice—as you said, it's a Soviet weapon, so of course it has a bayonet mount; it's a more "battle rifle-y" caliber weapon, and is semi-automatic for RoF fun; Tactical Shooting confirms its bayonet capability (and it has Reach 1,2*, rather than just Reach 1, which is a boon). Plus, the 7.62×54mmR is probably going to be a lot easier to come by salvage-wise (what with all those Mosin-Nagants running around) than the newfangled SKS-45 7.62×39mm rounds. Plus, having been around for most of the war already in some degree, won't completely stand out to somebody familiar with such things.

Edit: I also now notice that you ended up with the SVT-40 per the description for Kharak Bahadur Rai, so now I feel like I've wasted internet supporting a decision already made. Oh well. Go go SVT-40!

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Landwalker

Plus, having been around for most of the war already in some degree, won't completely stand out to somebody familiar with such things.

That's just the reason I selected it, rather than more exotic brands. Thousands of soldiers defending Berlin are carrying one, so it's not remarkable at all.

Originally Posted by Landwalker

Edit: I also now notice that you ended up with the SVT-40 per the description for Kharak Bahadur Rai, so now I feel like I've wasted internet supporting a decision already made. Oh well. Go go SVT-40!

The Acc 4 is a bit of a disappointment, but on the other hand, I'm using an extension of the Follow-Up shots rule in Tactical Shooting that allows for, more or less, half-Aim under certain conditions, with half-Acc. So in that sense, for combat at typical RPG ranges, in rapid fire, it doesn't matter whether the Acc is 4 or 5.

I suspect that Kharak Bahadur Rai will be doing a lot of half-second Aim with his weapon, not to mention Sighted Shooting without Aim. That's what his high skill is for, after all.

[Icelander]

I am not very familiar with classic German car brands. Apart from police vehicles that are Mercedes 260D, what models of car can I expect to encounter in Berlin, at least on those streets where wheeled vehicles can still get around?

What would be a typical small truck, carrying munitions or reinforcements to a spot in the city?

What would be the vehicle of choice for ferrying a bunch of jack-booted thugs of the SS?

Does anyone know what vehicles the Reichsicherheitdienst (RSD), Hitler's police bodyguard unit (which was later administratively placed under the SS) favoured?