Anyway, a friend is running a Wehrmacht Heer (German Army) game on a PbP forum. As of now we only have 3 players, but expect a GM PC that serves to fill in some major skill gaps.
I should note that I expect that there will be no intentionally sensitive topics at play here. That is to say we won't be concentration camp guards or executioners for the Waffen SS. All of us are history nerds and we realize that the tale of the German soldier in World War II is a touchy thing. It is debated in the academic world of whether or not many of the common troops and citizens knew of the Holocaust. I'm not going to get into that here, but I am of the opinion that some did, sure -- but not all. This was a time before the Nuremberg Trials, and the mandate about unlawful orders. We, as in the group, are of the opinion that we are out to explore how soldiers experienced the war from the Axis side. Our three characters are very different and I expect it to be very interesting.
Firstly we should introduce the player characters and realize that this is just my perception of the PCs before we actually start playing.
We have our squad leader, Unterfeldwebel Gunnar Bahr. He has been in the army longest and is perhaps already disillusioned with the government's aggressive campaigns. A farm boy, he is big and strong and his primary concern is getting his squad home alive, them himself. At 24 he is the most experienced in life in and out of the military. He carries with himself a strong sense of honor and loyalty.
Then we have Oberschutze Hans Schneider, the machine gunner. He carries the squad's MG34. Relatively young and impressionable, he was a member of the early Hitler Youth program. He is a bit of a fanatic but doesn't really understand why the government targets the people that they do. In his younger age and with his experience in the State's "boy scouts" Hans seeks to serve his country like he was told he must, but could such fanaticism stand up to the cold reality?
We have Oberschutze Adalwolf Gartner, from Hanover and Colonge originally, a former Sanitiser (medic) that decided he would rather prevent injuries with a rifle that be reactionary with medical supplies. He saw too many of his friends die in the pre-war campaigns so he took up his rifle. He still scrounges plenty of medical supplies, just in case though.
Finally we have my character, Sebastian Brinkhuis. He is a third generation immigrant from the Netherlands, that is his great-grandfather came to Germany many years ago. He is neither truly rural or suburban, having grown up outside a smaller city but frequenting eastern and southeastern Germany on hunting trips throughout his life with his father and grandfather. Though, he and his family disagree with Hitler and the Reich's policies, they know better than speak out openly. Schutze Sebastian is among the most junior members of the squad and seeks to do his duty like his father, but he knows his training and squadmates with serve him well. He is known more by his rifle, whom he named Katarina, than he himself.
On the setting we will begin play before dawn on September 1st, 1939. We are with the 20th Infantry Division (motorized) taking part in the invasion of Poland. We are members of (as far as I can tell, fictional) Falke (Falcon) Platoon. We can expect to continue playing up through the end of the war. Can we survive nearly 6 years of war and the collapse of the German war machine?
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