Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Weird Wars => Topic started by: MidLifeCrisis on October 29, 2012, 11:26:12 AM
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Hello Chaps,
I am reasonably new to Weird War II but my imagination has been fired by such an eclectic melting pot of ideas, borrowing as it does from sci-fi and pulp through to Gothic horror and conspiracy theory madness. There’s the Germans armed with flying saucers, tentacled beasts summoned from beyond, zombie hordes and all sorts of unethical laboratory badness; there’s the US utilising Tesla tech, atomic science and Golden Age superheroes fighting on the frontline and then there’s the British with… um… some tanks… on legs.
Now I may be missing something here, I certainly haven’t read all the background fluff that’s out there, but the British seem to be a pretty dull and uninspiring choice. Maybe commercial games manufacturers run out of steam once they get beyond advanced rules for Captain America vs. Nazi battle mechs or maybe the problem lies with a lack of potential WWW2 concepts in British popular culture, I’m not sure. However, having seen the creativity on display throughout LAF I’m sure this situation can be soon remedied.
So here’s your mission should you choose to accept it – ideas for making the British an exciting force to play in a WWW2 setting with their own unique units and distinct flavour. I'm up for anything, no matter how bizarre, but I think it should feel plausibly rooted in British culture (even if it isn't). I have a few ideas of my own but would love to see what you guys can come up with. Please unleash the weirdness…
TTFN
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Well, just spitballin' here but in a couple of moments thought I have the following:
A revived Court of Camelot, a selection of knights armed with the latest in experimental 40's tech, all uniting behind General Sir Arthur Pendragon; wielder of the mighty Excalibur, his personal modified Cromwell Tank.
The League of Extrodinary Gentlemen (40's version).
Albion Giants, ancient defenders of the Isles roused by the descration of their home by the German bombers, imbued with the long history of Britain.
The undead 9th Legion, roused from their hidden graves to march against their enemies, the Tribes of Germania.
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And I though you were going to be talking about how the Brit ladies supposedly have on the average greatest bust size in all of Europe -- and how to depict that in miniature form, obviously 8)
Arthur is certainly a good choice, I'd prolly like to go with that tho I would make him the actual (pseudo)historical Once and Future King, come to save Britain at the hour of its deadliest danger. This on the basis that it would probably require the least amount of special house rules to work out under any given WWWx system. If the project doesn't need to be commercialized, I suggest stealing wholesale from Camelot 3000:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelot_3000
The Brits also have some pretty peculiar superheroes to use or to adapt, such as Big Ben:
http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/b/bigben.htm
Many more here:
http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/e/earlyuk.htm
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England´s capital is in urgent need of a proper public transport system. London transport got its red AEC Routemaster doubledecker buses recently, but there is trouble coming along: The evil Reich has launched V1 flying bombs and other mean things against the city. The battle of Britain is raging and the public transport has to be protected to keep the city alive. Rocket scientists were developing the ultimate answer to the threat from above and finally produced the backpack for flying conductors to guard their bus or tube train.
Young women from all over the country volunteer for London´s new air service. They are chosen for light bodyweight and agility, equipped with the all new backpacklauncher and swimsuit-styled flying combinations for aerodynamic reasons. Armed with a powerful Lewis 2.0cal. repetition assault gun, they are destined to throw themselves against those flying bombs to gun them down before they reach their destinations. The girls become famous for brave and daring deeds. Nobody knows, who they really are, because they have adopted typical London Transport names, but it is rumoured that many of them are young nobles andit is said that even members of the Royal Family were taking flying lessons with those backpacks. The forces have already begun testflying them as well, yet with no good results, as the weight of a fully equipped soldier is too high. Meanwhile the men are collecting cigarette pictures of the young flying ladies...
Here they are: The London Transport Flying Conductors Corps or simply the "Guardian Angels":
(http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll111/wamasaka/Mini%202010/MiniaturenfotosOriginale577-1.jpg)
(http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll111/wamasaka/Mini%202010/MiniaturenfotosOriginale568-2.jpg)
(http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll111/wamasaka/Mini%202010/MiniaturenfotosOriginale570-2.jpg)
(http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll111/wamasaka/Mini%202010/MiniaturenfotosOriginale569-1.jpg)
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Liking the King Arthur idea, returning to save Britain in its hour of need. Can’t imagine Churchill relinquishing high command but I can easily imagine Arthur leading a crack squad on a Heroes of Telemark style raid deep behind enemy lines.
Bizarrely there is a precedent for this. Arthur Askey tried to take on the Germans with Excalibur back in 1942.
http://www.britmovie.co.uk/films/King-Arthur-Was-a-Gentleman_1942
The Camelot 3000 mob might look a touch out of place on the Western Front, but I'm sure we can issue them with some khaki capes and tunics.
And I though you were going to be talking about how the Brit ladies supposedly have on the average greatest bust size in all of Europe -- and how to depict that in miniature form, obviously 8)
By 'sexing up' I didn't mean coming over here with your nylons, chocolate and fancy cigarettes and making free with all the girls (again) ;)
Here they are: The London Transport Flying Conductors Corps or simply the "Guardian Angels":
Genius. Good to see those gels saving on fabric for their uniforms as part of the war effort too.
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A few more ideas...
Celtic Druids summoning treemen?
Ghostly bowmen or the Angel of Mons a la Arthur Machen?
Witches (see Bedknobs and Broomsticks!)
Also don't forget that back then we still had an empire, so there's a wealth of exotic troop types and mythology to fall back on (Zulu warriors with SMLEs, Canadian wendigos, multi armed Indian goddesses etc.)
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The Camelot 3000 mob might look a touch out of place on the Western Front, but I'm sure we can issue them with some khaki capes and tunics
Well, there's no reason to steal the look, only the concept of Arthur and Merlin having risen and the knights (and their ladies, if needed) having reborn in various guises.
Merlin is sometimes supposed to have been a Druid so that could allow using all sort of weirdness from the Celtic side of the mythic Britain as well.
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Jp1885 beat me to it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0rRPU_cvGg
St George and his Dragon - modified Crocodile tank?
A bit more sinister and probably not in keeping with the Brits in WWW2 (not that familiar with the setting but this topic caught my eye ;)), but Porton Down chemical weapons troopers?
Radar taken to the next level and used in offensive and defensive ways?
I know there was a pigeon guided missile that was designed and never commissioned in WW2 - got to be some other applications for the flying vermin!
Secret Agents with Bond style gizmo's and gadgets?
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Well radar was discovered by some boffins trying to invent a 'Death Ray'. Maybe they finally got it working?
I like the Mad Padre's 'S Commando' for Occult Secret Ops. http://madpadrewargames.blogspot.ca/2012/08/the-fearless-vampire-killers-2-padre.html
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Bagsie the Death Ray!
Also, mention of Bond reminded me that a certain Commander Ian Flemming worked for British Intelligence during WW2 and, amongst other things, proposed several operations involving the Great Beast himself Aleister Crowley. There's a scenario in there for sure.
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The cartoon series "Gargoyles" has a lot of story lines around the revived court of Camalot. Set in current times, wouldn't be hard to take it back 60-80 years.
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No reason (as the 'English' are a mix of German, Scandinavian and Celtic-speaking people) that the Brits couldn't have 'Germanic' or Norse-inspired stuff as well as Celtic. Maybe Wodnesbarrow in Wiltshire - now Woodborough - really was the barrow of Woden, and antiquarians find Gungnir there. In Tom Holt's book 'Expecting Someone Taller' Siegried's treasures, the Tarnhelm and the Ring of the Niebelungen, come to England with the Anglo-Saxons - maybe they could be used.
There's the Herlathing (the 'assembly of Herla') which is a version of the Wild Hunt that you could use. Brownies, pixies/piskies, the Duergar, Cu Chulain (he was from Ulster, so would presumably fight for the Empire), the Black Dog (maybe someone finds a way to tame it?), there's a bunch of mythological creatures to be plundered...
Or you could go technological. British engineering in the 19th century was at the forefront of world technology. Mass production probably came later to the UK than Germany or the US, so there's not quite the same level of tech, but there was a tradition of craft production and indeed mad inventors. Think of Caractacus Potts (and his dad) in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Heath Robinson, and Professor Branestawm.
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I SWEAR this exact thread has appeared in Weird Wars before... I am getting the most uncanny sense of deja vu here!
*searches*
Ahahaha! Found it: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=37341.0 In that thread, Steve F quite rightly points out that the British already have plenty of REAL WWII weirdness, without even delving into Fantasy!
A modern/reincarnated/risen King Arthur with some Round-Table company (either risen as well, or modern stand-ins) also seems to be a popular choice. Anything historical, really, given how important history is to the Brits.
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Maybe mix a bit of Harry Potter into the mix?
Britain had troops from across Europe serving here. Polish, French, Dutch and Norweigan spring to mind possibly more. Perhaps some of thier supernatural or extraordinary forces joined the Brits too?
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I SWEAR this exact thread has appeared in Weird Wars before... I am getting the most uncanny sense of deja vu here!
Cheers for link. Sorry for covering old ground. Taken together both threads have some great (and some mental) ideas and have given me plenty to chew on. I'm certainly feeling more inspired and excited about a WWW2 British project now I can see how it might work, so a heartfelt thanks for all the suggestions. Right, I'm off to look at 15mm commandos and knights and working out what I would need to kit-bash a not-Dalek...
Britain had troops from across Europe serving here. Polish, French, Dutch and Norweigan spring to mind possibly more. Perhaps some of thier supernatural or extraordinary forces joined the Brits too?
I think it's safe to say Arthur's boys will be drawn from the best of the best.
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Perhaps a Queen Boudicia super soldier.
Or Admeral Nelsons flying column. A techno equipped guerilla unit trained to hamper the inevitable British invasion.
The guardian Angels are awesome.
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Oh by the way..
.. No sex please we're British. ;D
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what about a bouncing bomb? or perhaps an anti-tank weapon powered by a giant spring? or tanks that can float and 'drive' through water, or a plane made entirely of wood that is faster than any other of the time? or an aircraft carrier made of paper-mache, or a small harbour that you can float into position.
Brits- we don't need sexing up we is weird enough already. ;D
plus men who wear schoolgirls skirts and play weird instruments.
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Ooh, how about the Loch Ness monster, WWWII style!?
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Oh by the way..
.. No sex please we're British. ;D
I guess you've never seen Bristol on a Saturday night. lol
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Sadly I have ;)
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Also, no one has mentioned Dr Who in all this weirdness. The Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann Drs had a few stories set in WW2 and then there are also a few in the New Who stuff.
Also, I think some Hammer Horror inspired monsters and Monster Hunters.
Druids have already been mentioned but maybe more elemental creatures like Stone Golums and Tree Men?
Lots of Celtic Creatures and myths to explore too, Cú Chulainn, Selkies, Puka and all sorts that would band together to defend there homeland.
I personally tend to see Weird British as less weird tech and more steeped in legends, myth and lore.
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That is certainly one way to look at it, depending of course on how weird you want the things to get and what the other powers have (are the Nazis teh Occultz for example or just twisted superscience?). The range of the weird can go from widespread fielding of experimental weapons through paranormal to downright supernatural and at every turn you can attempt to give it a pseudoscientific veneer or not. For example a reborn knight of the Round Table is plenty weird of course, but not quite as weird as a fairy creature or a ghost popping up on the battlefield. However in the earlier thread, I IIRC suggested going the "Darwinian" route which could come close to allowing fairy critters without sacrificing the quasiscientific approach.
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Following on from suggestions here I've been having a quick look at real life weird science projects undertaken by the British during the war and have been staggered by my own ignorance of what is sci-fi gold. Apparently the problem with the Death Ray, according to Watson-Watt, was one of power generation. With a small superscience tweak to the battery you've got a working proto-type ready to deploy.
Harry Grindell Mathews, the originator of the British Death Ray, also had some other ideas that didn't see the light of day (or did they...) including an aerial torpedo (a sort of rocket-cum-cluster bomb) and rocket powered stratoplanes.
Other craziness I spotted today include a bomb containing 30,000 anthrax tipped darts, a super stink bomb designed for use by the French Resistance to demoralise the enemy and a helicopter/jeep.
I'm also ashamed to say I've only just found out about Barnes-Wallis' Earthquake Bombs.
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Always thought the best way to push the Weird war side of British forces was a mix between 'super-science' (many real-life things, and adaptions on them - radar guided weapons, anyone) and the opposite of Nazi occult forces, with legandary figures thrown in - and not always nice guys (rather like the Temple in SoTR).
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How about The Welsh Dragon ? an actual dragon, similar to Reign of Fire. would have an armor value like a tank, and equipped with a very powerful flame thrower, and of course, can fly. Should prove useful against Messerschmitts. ;D
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Someone mentioned the old cartoon 'Gargoyles'; they had a time travel episode that featured British ams Scottish Gargoyles (the brits looked more like gryphons) defending London in the Blitz.
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Someone mentioned the old cartoon 'Gargoyles'; they had a time travel episode that featured British ams Scottish Gargoyles (the brits looked more like gryphons) defending London in the Blitz.
Gryphon-headed gargoyles in leather jackets, if my memory serves me right.
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Someone mentioned the old cartoon 'Gargoyles'; they had a time travel episode that featured British ams Scottish Gargoyles (the brits looked more like gryphons) defending London in the Blitz.
Here he is!
(http://th06.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2010/104/9/4/Commission__GRIFF_by_johnbecaro.jpg)
This guy would make an ideal base.
(http://www.hfminis.co.uk/img_cms/product_images/m011griffonweb.jpg)
http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=griffon~hfm011&category=miniatures%7Efantasy-monsters-%26-animals
And on a non gargoyle related idea, how about a bit of Captain Jack Harkness to make your British sexy. ;)
(http://www.crooked-dice.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Group-Captain-Jim-300x295.jpg)
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Whatever happened to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Sex_Please,_We%27re_British
?
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James Bond type character and Dr. Who were already mentioned, but worth repeating.
How about a 1940's style Avengers team?
And from the Colonies? From India there would be loads of things one could think of. Not to mention explorers and archeologists using foreign arcane artifacts to save the Empire.
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Super heroes from that era Union Jack and Spitfire (British members of the Invaders), Maximan (from 2000ad' Zenith series). Also worth a look is Robot Archie (written during the 1950's) whose look could suit Weird war 2 quite easy.
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Everyone knows the Second World War was won on the playing fields of Hogwarts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTJjp5IFyLE
(Call of Potter: Wand at War?)
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Then we have the female SOE ninja assassin:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oidcqZPuBBM
Presumably she can get in to hand to hand fights with the Nazi fetish girl on top of a Zeppelin or something.
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And don't forget the (whatever) Firefly.
(http://www.flamesofwar.com/Portals/0/all_images/british/Tanks/BR121c.jpg)
Take an American mech (or golem, or giant monster, or whatever) and strap the biggest gun you can find to it.
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And if we are talking Great War, there is the Contemptible. Britains pre war army (which became known as the Old Contemptible) was very small by European standards, but well trained. Naturally, trained soldiers were far to valuable to sit idle just on account of having been killed. So many were brought back to life by the technologies of Herbert West (reanimator) and put back in to the line. Over the course of the war, additional improvements were made to them, and by the Berlin offensives of 1920, an average Contemptible stands ten feet from the bottom of their hooves to the end of their horns, can wield a specially modified pom-pom in each hand, and is quite, quite mad from all the excitement.
And after spending the inter-war years in storage, the program could be reactivated to fight the Nazi scourge.
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And there are the SAS and the Commandos. And British Paras were known as the Red Devils, which obviously means that a dark ritual has turned the entire unit in to Hellboys.
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And Churchill. As we all know, Churchill was lethal with a submachine gun.
(http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m67hofPmoH1rwjpnyo1_500.jpg)
This picture was taken shortly before he led the final assault on the Reichstag in an attempt to prevent Hitler fleeing by rocket to the Nazi moonbase.
http://www.grippingbeast.com/product.php?ItemID=2578
(http://www.grippingbeast.com/photos/twdcsp05.jpg)
(As we all know, Churchill actually killed Hitler (the first time) with the Mauser C96 he carried at the Battle of Omdurman, loaded with silver bullets blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury to overcome Adolfs occult defences)
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Huh, didn't know that Churchill had formed an alliance with the Italian crime syndicate to fight against the Nazis. And yet it all makes sense!
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How about Winston & the Ironsides
(http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p176/aircav_album/Dr%20Who/WinnieIronsides010.jpg)
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How about Winston & the Ironsides
Sweet!
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"If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons."
(Churchill, to his personal secretary John Colville the evening before Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union.)
In a WWW2 setting, can we assume that both happened?
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The Coldest War
by Ian Tregillis
has a few interesting ideas for WWII, the Brits had access to warlocks who could make deals with Demonic forces, deals that involved sacrificing x many people via "accidents" the amount depending on the size of the required favour. The idea being that it was acceptable for a certain number of the unknowing public be sacrificed for the greater good (without telling them of course).
The Germans had super science agents with enhanced psionic powers.
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Yes I've mentioned Trelligis before, his book is rather much a turnabout of the "eebil Nazis is teh Okkults" trope tho but it could be used definitely if you haven't already settled on having Hitler's chaps fielding demonic familiars...
As more of an aside, here's a Peter Pan character that wouldn't necessarily look out-of-place on a WWWII battlefield, flying to the rescue of Britain from Neverland:
http://www.beastsofwar.com/sci-fi-wargaming/infamy-prove-pixie-dust-peter-fly/
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OTOH Peter's (fairy?) companion is prolly too steampunky. Stempunkish. Whatever. Or just plain risque to lead the charge of the strange brigade back in the Weird World Wars I and II.
http://www.beastsofwar.com/infamy/follow-pixie-dust-infamys-talullah-belle/
The "wings are absolutely superb too" comment was funny tho, if you are given to think about what other "absolutely superb" features of Belle's attire Brennon doesn't explicitly mention :P