Things I Want: XCOM 1944!

So lately I have been thinking of alternate WWII thanks to a friend of mine, who is actually running the Legends of the Oni-Kaji Jewels setting. I helped him give another friend some XCOM conversions and I started watching Beaglerush's XCOM Longwar play through videos again on YouTube. And I wonder what it would be like to combine them.

Not Like the Bureau... better than that...


You would have five major spheres of influence for whichever country you'd be from, which would determine your starting gear. M1 Garand for the USA, Lee-Enfield No4 for the UK, the USSR would have the Mosin-Nagant 1930G, the Japanese would have the Arisaka Type 99, and the Germans would have the Karabiner 98k. That's just for starters, NCOs would get SMGs or a shotgun, Commandos might get an advanced rifle. And the Japanese NCOs or Officers can have a katana, or the high risk, high reward for a flamethrower for anyone else. Obviously, there could be supporting units, like a tank instead of a SHIV, or a radioman who can call in air support or indirect fire for the squad. Sounds over powered? Well without armor (initially?) and against plasma weapons, they'll need it.

So what about the story? Well, early 1944 seems like a good time, say during April 1944, there are several attacks across the world from extraterrestrials. Including is an attack on the capital city on each of the major countries, Stalin and Hitler are killed outright, Roosevelt escapes but dies in April, Churchill and Hirohito are injured but survive. They are forceful enough to halt WWII and all combatant parties establish a ceasefire to form XCOM at a meeting, directed by top-ranking Generals and Admirals from the main countries (Eisenhower, Patton, Montgomery, Rommel, Zhukov, Khruschev, Kuribayashi (Iwo Jima never happened), and various other commanders from the major combatant nations. In the face of extermination the nations put aside their conflict in favor of a common enemy. Technology was shared as well as resources and man power, though some prejudices remained.

So what classes would we see? None! Equipment slots? No, but weight is a factor.

Take what you want to take, but an automatic weapon does less damage to that Muton than a rifle. And edge restrictions, don't have rock and roll? Good luck with getting an automatic weapon? No marksman? No scoped rifle. Be lax with it but why would they give you a weapon they know you can't use? As for taking a tank, well... that's up to the GM and it will have the PC as the commander. The driver and gunner will be extras. Its a good thing, because I'm sure that M4 Sherman or PzKfw IV isn't going to stand up too long against alien plasma rifles, and you're only going to get the heavy stuff once you're proven your worth as a team to use it. So you wouldn't want to lose more than one PC to exploding it would you?