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

[GoldenMonkey]

Originally Posted by acrosome

It seems a bit of a stretch to me that they'd let anyone out, be it Swedish, Swiss, or whatnot. Did they do so historically?

Yes, according to Eric Wallin a Swedish volunteer with the SS, they did let out neutrals. That was how he managed to escape Berlin, by stripping off his uniform and pretending to be a civilian. He also had a Swedish emergency passport given to him by a friendly Swedish nurse at the hospital where he was being treated. It took a lot of bluff and luck, as the Russians were wont to torment, rob, and/or kill anyone they found.

Wallin wrote the book Twilight of the Gods: A Swedish Waffen-SS Volunteer's Experiences with the 11th SS-Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, Eastern Front 1944-45. It's a disturbing, if interesting read.

[johndallman]

If you want some double-dealing, Walter Schellenberg is the German you need. He was authorised to act on behalf of Himler in all matters, and was the man who arranged prisoner releases through the Swedish Red Cross. He seems to have believed that such small-scale gestures would allow Himler to negotiate with the Allies and become leader of a conquered Germany.

As he doesn't seem to have subscribed to Himler's mystical ideas, he might very well do a deal to allow the Allies to steal magical artifacts, but get caught out by someone lower in the hierarchy who wasn't prepared to co-operate.

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I had some idea that a good mechanic might burn the outside chassis of a truck to make it look like a wreck, remove a few vital parts so it wouldn't run and leave it as a part of a bombed-out ruin. Bury the vital parts and make it possible to use the truck to escape after an hour or so of repair work.

Given the amount of shelling and bombing which they expect, I am not sure that many officers would sign off on that plan. If one bomb or collapsed building can take out their transport, and nobody will be there to see it, they will need an alternative which they can switch to on short notice.

Beevor thinks that a large fraction of all Soviet casualties were from their own artillery, but he likes to tell stories about the Soviets killing their most loyal supporters through incompetence or paranoia, so I might look for another opinion.

[cptbutton]

Originally Posted by GoldenMonkey

Yes, according to Eric Wallin a Swedish volunteer with the SS, they did let out neutrals. That was how he managed to escape Berlin, by stripping off his uniform and pretending to be a civilian. He also had a Swedish emergency passport given to him by a friendly Swedish nurse at the hospital where he was being treated. It took a lot of bluff and luck, as the Russians were wont to torment, rob, and/or kill anyone they found.

Wallin wrote the book Twilight of the Gods: A Swedish Waffen-SS Volunteer's Experiences with the 11th SS-Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, Eastern Front 1944-45. It's a disturbing, if interesting read.

Not really related, but I recall some documentary that there was a unit of Muslim volunteers in some German service very late in the war, I think it was the SS. Don't recall much more. But the PCs might try something like that, claiming to be recruits from some unusual group who have been recruited out of desperation.

Edit: Another idea. Maybe hide in plain sight. Claim to be a bunch of people who are working on some absurd supernatural scheme to save the Reich at the behest of some Nazi leader known to be into weird stuff like that.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by cptbutton

Not really related, but I recall some documentary that there was a unit of Muslim volunteers in some German service very late in the war, I think it was the SS. Don't recall much more. But the PCs might try something like that, claiming to be recruits from some unusual group who have been recruited out of desperation.

That would be this unit and this one. The problem with that for a group of PCs, as a small group that doesn't have senior officers with them, is that any German officer who felt like it would have the right to impress them for whatever he wanted done in the defence of the Reich.

Edit: Another idea. Maybe hide in plain sight. Claim to be a bunch of people who are working on some absurd supernatural scheme to save the Reich at the behest of some Nazi leader known to be into weird stuff like that.

Same problem. They're "obviously lying" about this scheme, so they need to be put to work fighting the Reds just over the horizon.

Pretending to be Germans in the SS puts them at a higher point in the status ladder and cuts down on the impressment attempts, at the cost of needing better Acting skills.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by adm

A spare U.S. Marine being available in Europe is rather unlikely. Marines were nearly exclusively assigned to the Pacific Theater, other than Embassy guards, and those serving as ships security units.

He'd have to have some specific mission critical attribute related to the mysterious and occult McGuffin, it is true.

Being the last scion of a royal line might do it.

I was thinking that the Gurkha was there because witch-finding runs in his family and he has demonstrated* indomitable will and resistance to the supernatural before.

*Under some Weird War II conditions.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by johndallman

If you want some double-dealing, Walter Schellenberg is the German you need. He was authorised to act on behalf of Himler in all matters, and was the man who arranged prisoner releases through the Swedish Red Cross. He seems to have believed that such small-scale gestures would allow Himler to negotiate with the Allies and become leader of a conquered Germany.

As he doesn't seem to have subscribed to Himler's mystical ideas, he might very well do a deal to allow the Allies to steal magical artifacts, but get caught out by someone lower in the hierarchy who wasn't prepared to co-operate.

As it happens, I had intended to use Herman Fegelein as the Nazi traitor who guides the PCs to a (fictional) secret tunnel which leads to an (even more fictional) part of the Führerbunker containing the McGuffin and some very special defences.

Adding Schellenberg on the outside, to facilitate the convoy meant to carry off the McGuffin and the PCs, is an excellent idea.

[safisher]

Originally Posted by Icelander

He'd have to have some specific mission critical attribute related to the mysterious and occult McGuffin, it is true.

Navajo spirit walker.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I had intended to use Herman Fegelein as the Nazi traitor who guides the PCs to a (fictional) secret tunnel which leads to an (even more fictional) part of the Führerbunker containing the McGuffin and some very special defences.

And that provides a convincing explanation as to how he thought he was going to get away, and maybe even for the mysterious woman who appears in some versions of his tale. Splendid!

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by johndallman

And that provides a convincing explanation as to how he thought he was going to get away, and maybe even for the mysterious woman who appears in some versions of his tale. Splendid!

Very much so.

I wonder if the first significant encounter in the scenario can be some of the PCs who infiltrated Berlin earlier meeting with Fegelein at his apartment on the 27th of April, only to discover that the SS have tracked him there. Exeunt omnes, pursued by Nazis.*

Players' choice whether the escape involves a running firefight, a car chase in a stolen staff Mercedes and/or a brilliant stratagem, fake papers, whoppers delivered with stone-cold confidence and a lot of screaming in German.

I guess it sort of depends whether we manage to book one session or two, who is available for the set-up session and what sort of characters they pick.

*Even worse than bears.