DISCUSSIONS
Hi guys.
In this thread, I'll be experimenting with a new type of AAR. While this one in particular will be made up rather than recounting the events of an actually game, if this kind of AAR is well received it could be used in future AAR's.
In a method similar to World War Z (which I highly recommend by the way), I'll be presenting it in the form of someone traveling the world and interviewing various survivors of the war, about 10 years after it ends.
I'll post the first parts later today probably. I'll be editing all segments into the main post, but if you like, I can post a notification when I do.
Oh, and once the words start flying, please let me know what you think =)
I won't lose Africa for long. I need it for slaves. - SANAND
[Adalberto Marmaduke greets me as I enter his office. The newly elected President of Germany has asked me to create a history of the Second Great War. I figure there is no better place to start than with Marmaduke himself, Adolf Hitler's successor, and the one in charge of rebuilding Germany.]
I was only 17 years old at the time. My homeland of Austria had been annexed several days ago, and I watched from my bedroom window as the Fuhrer's motorcade came down my street. I had seem him before, on posters and on the radio. I admired him, making such progress at rebuilding his country. And now, he was sharing the prosperity with us Austrians!
Please understand, this was before we knew about the death camps. We didn't learn of those until after the war. I would never give him praise now, but at the time he seemed like a God! We never could have known that Austria was only the first of many.
His car was right in front of my house when I heard a loud bang, and then screaming. When the smoke cleared, I saw that the Fuhrer's car was on it's side. Some of his guards were trying to help him out of the wreck. Others were lying by the side of the road, I couldn't tell whether they were breathing or not.
It was soon clear what had happened. A bomb had gone off. This was an assasination attempt. Anyway, the Fuhrer survived, and was released after a brief stay in the hospital. When he got back to Berlin, the announcement came. The Gestapo had determined that the attempt on Hitler's life had been ordered by the Polish government.
{But it wasn't the Polish.}
Yes, we know now that Hitler wanted an excuse to invade. But at the time, I, and many other Germans - I guess we could call ourselves German at that time - would have believed whatever the told us. I was in basic training by the end of the week. My training was surprisingly short. Before long, I found myself armed and waiting at the Polish border. The excitement was too much, those three long days just waiting there. Then the order came. I got into my half-track, and off we went.
It amazed me how quickly we moved. My father had told me of his experiences in the First Great War, how they had to fight for every inch. That was what I was expecting, but instead we practically strolled in! We drove for a good half hour before we encountered our first resistance.
They had crouched down in a ditch, and opened fire when we passed. Our gunner sprayed them and I saw a red cloud around the area. But the next group wasn't dealt with so easily. Some infantry had foritified a farm house, and the machine gun barrage hadn't killed them all. We got out of the half-track, and went inside.
We went from room to room, clearing out whatever was left. Most were injured, and bled out before we could shoot them. A few times, one would pop out from behind a wall, or some furniture, only to be immediately gunned down. I turned into the final room, and saw a Polish officer. He drew his pistol, and I knew this was it. I raised my rifle and fired. He hit the ground, then looked up at me... before gasping his last breath.
This was my first taste of war.
[Winston Price invites me to sit down as I walk through the doorway into his Manchester apartment. The former RAF pilot has a long vertical scar underneath his right eye. I can already sense he will have quite a story to tell.]
"We should have seen this coming miles away." That was what they always said during the war. What most people don't know, is that people like me already had seen it. When Poland was invaded, my country decided to increase military production. "Just in case." Just in case... I already knew we would be going to war. I knew because I had witnessed firsthand Germany's expansion from the cockpit of my scout plane.
I had wondered why I had seen such a modest attack force entering Poland. The next day, however, was when I realized why. A day after the invasion of Poland, German troops occupied the Northern half of Czechoslovakia. I had never seen such speed and precision! I saw German panzers roll right over a trench, completely bypassing the defenders. I saw the Czech HQ go up in flames, and dozens of men trying to fall back, only to be gunned down by German machine gun fire.
On the third day, as Czechoslovakia surrendered, Denmark was attacked! It went on like this for a week. After the surrender of Denmark, Switzerland was attacked. It surrended in fear before I ever saw a German troop cross the border. On the trip back to London on the ninth day, I saw German tanks rolling into Holland. But even as I passed by the Netherlands, I could still see the flashes of small arms fire. I realized that they were also attacking Belgium. I reported my findings as soon as I returned to London. My government declared war the next day, and France followed suit. The whole time, I don't think I ever saw a German unit stop moving.
Several days later, I was sent to scout the coast of Holland, because our subs had spotted a large ship. They worried it was meant to transport German soldiers. When I arrived, it was already in the water. But as I got closer, I saw that it was painfully overcrowded. These weren't Fascist invaders, these were Dutch civilians trying to escape! I flew down low, but I knew there wasn't much I could do to help. I saw a white streak in the water, heard a large BANG, and people screaming. The force of the torpedo forced me to my left. My wing hit the water, and my face slammed forward.
[He points to the scar under his eye.]
I don't know how long I was out for, but the next thing I knew, I was in the back of a truck heading to God knows where.
[Byron Folliot does not smile. He flicks a cigarrete onto the floor when he sees me.]
Europe had been conquered by surprise. The invasion of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, all surprises. But it happened over a period of nine days! Why had the Dutch, the Swiss, the Belgians, not prepared? We had been preparing since the First Great War. The Ligne Maginot, the most impenetrable border defense ever created. And in this war, it counted for shit.
We were on high alert that day, recon planes had spotted an infantry force of about 1,500 heading our way. The majority of the French military had it's guns pointed east that day. That was a big mistake. 1,500 infantry? It would hardly take any extra reinforcements to repel that attack, and we needed those troops to be spread out along the border!
We saw the first heads appear on the horizon around noon. We waited until we could see the entire formation. Immediately I knew something wasn't right. No planes. No tanks. Just infantry. And from the looks of it, disorganized infantry. When they charged, the artillery opened fire.
It was a spectacular sight, bodies, or what was left of them, propelled into the air. They were so tightly packed. What trained army stays together under artillery fire? Why would they not spread out to minimize casualties? Their forces must have been cut in half by the time they were in machine gun range. They never stood a chance. Have you ever seen a movie where someone was shot in the head? You usually see a hole in the forehead. This couldn't be further from the truth. The skull is a big round bone, like a hard glass bowl. It shatters when hit with that kind of force. Now imagine a 50. cal round hitting dozens of heads in a row, in a straight line, and yet still they came! By the time the fire ceased, there was literally a river of blood flowing downhill. After a few minutes, a single German stood and raised his arms. We took him into our fortification, and he told us of the suicide mission.
He was a Dutch civilian. He and his family had gotten on a ship to try and escape to Norway, but they were sunk by a German torpedo. He said that the Germans had dressed rounded up more than a thousand survivors from the sinking ship, but hundreds had died. The survivors were taken to the German-French border, and given First Great War era uniforms and weapons, and ordered to storm the border. Anyone who protested had been shot.
It was then that we were told that the Germans had entered France through Belgium. I was one of the units that was ordered to go reinforce the border.
{But hadn't the Germans already penetrated miles into the country?}
We didn't learn that until we were being fired on by tanks inside our own damn border! We didn't have any armor of our own to reinforce the Belgian border, all we had was infantry in trucks. It was a massacre. I just barely made it out of my transport before it was destroyed. What could one soldier do against tanks? I laid in the grass, and prayed with all my might they would assume I was dead. I was fortunate.
I watched them roll over. The first column of German armor went right over me, the second to the right. But the second column... these weren't panzers, like the others. The side of this secod set of tanks glowed in the bright aura of a red star.
[Mark Frampton smiles at me from his wheelchair. He is, surprisingly, not bitter about losing his legs. At least, not that he lets on.]
All hell broke loose after the Soviets joined Germany in the conquest of France. Italy signed an alliance with them the very next day. We lost Cyprus, and any naval forces stationed in the Mediterranean. We should have known. Although it had been slightly less aggressive, Italy was just as Imperialist as Germany. They had conquered Yugoslavia, and now they sought to conquer us. Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary joined too, though it was most likely just to keep their own borders secure. The Soviets and Italians took Greece in just a week.
When I enlisted, I found myself operating an AA gun in south-east London. The first bombers came after France fell, which put Africa firmly in Axis hands. I got the hang of it pretty quickly. The trick is to always lead your target, you see. Fire a bit ahead of them, and they'll run right into your fire. The best kill I ever pulled off was when... do you care about all this?
{Yes, please continue.}
Alright then. A German Heinkel was flying in a squadron of about three others. It was on the far right of the group. When I fired, I took out the engines on it's left wing. It dipped left, and clipped the wing of the bomber on it's left! Two kills for one barrage. I was quite proud of that one.
It wasn't always like that. Most of Sussex was destroyed in the bombings, though we did manage to protect the major landmarks. Our main priority was keeping Fritz off of Parliament. We succeded in that, but what of all the people who are still homeless because of that order?
I lost my legs in June of 1940. Our AA gun was in the courtyard of an old school for boys. A stuka came down inside the building itself. At first we thought it wasn't a problem, that is until the South wall collapsed on top of us. I just barely managed ot drag myself to the street, where I was spotted by a truck and taken to a medical station.
[He pauses for a moment.]
I did have one good friend, Frederick Clawson. He enlisted after that Dutch luxury ship went down. I haven't heard from him in years. I wonder if he's still alive.
[The spires of Alter Hof castle in Munich, Germany cast an eerie shadow over the courtyard. The former palace of Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV, used by the Nazis as a political prison during the Second Great War, still holds some of it's wartime residents.]
Request Permission to Visit Cell: 43567 Prisoner Number : 1273-C Prisoner Name: Frederick Clawson
You can make excuses for me, you can spout the statistics in my face, but in the end, whatever little expectation were placed on me, I failed. I failed to stop all of this, and I failed to give the most evil son of a bitch to ever have existed what he deserved.
I had been commissioned by the Prime Minister himself to smuggle myself into Germany, and assasinate Hitler. Getting in was the easy part. I traveled legally to Sweden, whereupon I took a British aircraft to northern Germany for insertion. We had to fly in dense clouds, and I never found out if the plane made it back. Broke into a farm house, grabbed myself a pair of civilian clothes, and bingo, Frederick Clawson model citizen. I hitchhiked my way to Berlin.
He was speaking at a rally that day. I made my way into a building across from his balcony, and took aim. I had his head in my sights. I had him. I had him...
[He stares off, clearly deep in thought.]
His damn advisor tapped him on shoulder right as I took the shot. I've heard people say I shaved his moustache. I don't think it was that close, but who knows? I didn't think. I just sat there and waited to be captured.
Three years have passed since the attempted assasination of Hitler. A large number of interviews have been put away for another time, in the interest of moving the story along.
Italy has all but conquered Africa, but so far South Africa has yet to lose any land, as they are reinforced by British troops. France has surrendered to the Axis. The Soviets conquered Turkey and the Middle East, including Afghanistan and Persia. The Axis has all the oil it needs. The Baltic states fall as well, the southernmost areas going to Germany, the rest to the USSR.
Tomorrow I'm doing two new chapters, and the US will have a role in the second!
I won't lose Africa for long. I need it for slaves. - SANAND
Umm, like it so far. Really like the story format, but i'm not sure how you would fit this in to an aar. Could you explain about that a little more please.
"Mors ultima linea rerum est mortalis."
- MajorLufbery
- MHII, MH GOLD
- location: France
- joined: Aug 12, 2009
- posts: 1173
Certainly. The idea is that based on what the people being interviewed say, you get an idea of the events of the war.
I won't lose Africa for long. I need it for slaves. - SANAND
Dizzle is following the events of a supposed game, but with a fictional/historical dialog explaining it. So, instead of 'September 1st, Germany attacks Poland! Easy going, little resistance', he's telling a deeper story. Excellent idea. I don't think it'll work for everyone, but if you can tell a good tale, awesome. If people like this format, you'd play your game and then recount, on a more personal level. Sort of like the ongoing Dutch AAR.
I'm fueled by gasoline, alcohol and nicotine
I'm an honest hypocrite imploding modern idiot
I'm irrational I'm illogical hypocritical a bleeding heart liberal
"Watch Me As I Fall" - Pennywise
- sgtpoliteness
- MHII, MH GOLD
- location: United States
- joined: Sep 17, 2009
- posts: 222
The only thing is, I can see this getting really looonggg. Or maybe its just me.
"Mors ultima linea rerum est mortalis."
- MajorLufbery
- MHII, MH GOLD
- location: France
- joined: Aug 12, 2009
- posts: 1173
I think Major Lufbery will be right. This is a kind of writing which uses many words to discribe something. That is not bad to make a story. A story can easily have many many words, but will be fun to read. On the other hand, a war is so many stories combined, and each with them so many words, that it will be a very very very long read to read through a whole war...
Not that I'm not interested in the rest of this AAR. I hope it will be something different but nice to read. Me myself and I try to do something slightly different too in my very first AAR about the Netherlands, as referred to by sgtpoliteness.
'If it ain't Dutch, it ain't much!'
- Dutchie
- location: Netherlands
- joined: Aug 10, 2009
- posts: 400
Yes, I've been reading your AAR. Very excellent, having a country that is usually cannon fodder hold out for so long against the most powerful land force in the world!
P.S. Because this takes so long to write, there probably won;t be more for a few days. (though there will probably be more than one interview)
I won't lose Africa for long. I need it for slaves. - SANAND
Nice AAR, Nice idea for aar. Could turn good, but like others said could be long, yet i like it.
- Oscar
- location: Brazil
- joined: Dec 10, 2009
- posts: 12
- Banned
Do you have the copywrights to this?
"Mors ultima linea rerum est mortalis."
- MajorLufbery
- MHII, MH GOLD
- location: France
- joined: Aug 12, 2009
- posts: 1173
MajorLufbery said
Do you have the copywrights to this?
What do you mean? Like, do I have the copyrights to do something in the style of WWZ? It's too general to need that, and even if I pasted a chapter from it, I don't think I'd need to, as I'm not making money from it.
Or do you mean a copyright on this new story itself?
I won't lose Africa for long. I need it for slaves. - SANAND
I think he means the copyrights to the story itself, I doubt anyone can copyright a genre.
I think in the US anything can be copyrighted as long as the work is original, meaning you yourself has to write it.
"I am not your son"
~JPS
- cavetroll1304
- MHII, MH GOLD
- location: United States
- joined: Aug 10, 2009
- posts: 1260
People, people, people. I'm just kidding. Its a sad attemt to be funny. You know...
"Mors ultima linea rerum est mortalis."
- MajorLufbery
- MHII, MH GOLD
- location: France
- joined: Aug 12, 2009
- posts: 1173
best dizzel post ,Our gunner sprayed with red clouds . what imagination!
who make peaceful revolution impossible , will make violent revolution inevitable // martin luther king
- firestone
- location: Egypt
- joined: Aug 10, 2009
- posts: 266
- Banned
I added a second chapter. It's kind of short, I just wanted to establish a larger thing so it wouldn't take forever for the war to get going. The next one will be more exciting.
I won't lose Africa for long. I need it for slaves. - SANAND
firestone said
best dizzel post ,Our gunner sprayed with red clouds . what imagination!
Are you being sarcastic? Sorry, my sarcasm detector is broken. =(
I won't lose Africa for long. I need it for slaves. - SANAND
dizzle229 said
firestone said
best dizzel post ,Our gunner sprayed with red clouds . what imagination!
Are you being sarcastic? Sorry, my sarcasm detector is broken. =(
Uh oh.
So, the explosian forced his plane to the left, right? And just out of curiosity, what type of plane is he flying?
"Mors ultima linea rerum est mortalis."
- MajorLufbery
- MHII, MH GOLD
- location: France
- joined: Aug 12, 2009
- posts: 1173
Yep. He was flying dangerously low though, so it's not like a torpedo blew him out of the sky. The motion was only slight, but just enough to force him a little too far down.
P.S. I've already decided that the next chapter will be from the point of view of a French soldier.
P.S.S. Please donate, I need money for a new sarcasm detector.
I won't lose Africa for long. I need it for slaves. - SANAND
