Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

[clsage]

Reading a thread on timeline divergence involving WWII, as well as doing some back-story/family history for one of my stable of unplayed characters, got me started thinking about what sort of impact(s) (if any) a small group of semi-autonomous commandos equipped with VERY basic jump packs (think Rocketeer but less sophisticated, more of a combination of "jump jets with gliding wings attached") might have had on the course of the war....In my world history, I still (sadly) need WWII and most of the modern (1945-2001) era for use in other back-stories, plot threads, etc. So some of that is, unfortunately, inviolate.

 

I admit, my Knowledge Skill roll on WWI is probably only an 8- at best. So any ideas, input, etc would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

 

-Carl-

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

 

Hmm... unless these packs incorporated some radically advanced (for their era) technological concepts and fell into the hands of one or the other side in the war, I can't see this group having a radical impact aside from some covert operations. Powered flight was already in use, and armed aircraft would be far more effective in combat than the devices you describe. Jet-pack users could be a tactical surprise the first time they were deployed in front-line battle, but after that would be even more vulnerable to ground fire than aircraft.

[freakboy6117]

Re: Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

 

actually the real innovation in your idea isn't the jump packs its the commandos them selves the idea of special forces really didn't come into it's own until WW2.

 

on the subject of powered individuals there present throughout but the war but not enough to change the outcome

The agents of the great powers pretty much cancel each other out

mystics from around the world battle across the ethereal planes in defense of there nations or to stop the massive casualties causing a rift in the fabric of reality that will tear the world asunder.

 

pilots with super human reflexes and nerves of steel battle over the trench strewn landscape becoming legendary aces masters of the martial arts rescue comrades in pitched close combat deep in the trenches and behind the lines acrobatic thieves and lantern jawed investigators play the great game in search of intelligence that could change the tides of war.

 

In truth though only the bravery sacrifice of a nations can truly be the final arbiter of war.

[clsage]

Re: Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

 

Thanks gentlemen..That is pretty much what I had thought but with my somewhat limited WWI knowledge it's nice to have outside opinions/confirmation.

 

BTW, speaking of covert ops during the Great War, besides the classic "Assault On Prison Camp Loki" as suggested by Phillip Jose Farmer (Loki being the code name for the camp where Germany held high value/high risk prisoners) any other suggestions?

 

And thanks again!

 

-Carl-

[csyphrett]

Re: Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

 

Ballon Buster and Enemy Ace are pilots at war in that era. Lord baltimore shows what happens when something is unleashed in the middle of the war.

CES

[csyphrett]

Re: Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

 

G-8 is an ace fighting monsters in that time zone too.

CES

[Ian Mackinder]

Re: Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

 

Should be noted that, while 'special forces' as such may not have existed in ww1, many of the concepts were known and used. The word "Commando", it should also be noted, originated in the Boer War.

 

ANZAC troops (Australia & New Zealand Army Corps) were known practitioners of what was known as 'peaceful penetration' (in their own words, "Sneak through enemy lines in small groups and then make complete b##t##ds of ourselves..."). There were also many instances where mobility and surprise counted for a great deal against technically 'superior' forces, just not (usually) on the Western Front - more in the Middle East and colonial areas.

 

Of special interest (and in no specific order):

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeadler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Beersheba

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeebrugge_Raid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_intervention_in_the_Russian_Civil_War

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_East_Asia_Squadron

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaign

[Ian Mackinder]

Re: Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

 

... And, if we are talking about "semipowered" individuals of ww1......

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Emil_von_Lettow-Vorbeck

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Jacka

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Freyberg,_1st_Baron_Freyberg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_George_Barker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_C._York

[clsage]

Re: Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

 

ANZAC troops (Australia & New Zealand Army Corps) were known practitioners of what was known as 'peaceful penetration' (in their own words, "Sneak through enemy lines and make complete b##t##ds of ourselves..."). There were also many instances where mobility and surprise counted for a great deal against technically 'superior' forces, just not (usually) on the Western Front - more in the Middle East and colonial areas.

 

Thanks....I'm toying with the idea (and it is only that at the moment) that the team would have been composed of only about a half dozen combatant troops (due mostly to issues regarding the fabrication of the "jet glide packs"). This team would have been composed of English, Canadian and Australian troops, with the addition of one US citizen (the great grandfather of the modern hero I'm building the backstory for). And this team, including the US soldier, would have been operating from before official US entry into the Great War. I'm also toying with having the unit be mostly funded by "non governmental sources" (ie: an industrialist fighting his own private campaign against a shadowy figure whose machinations helped spark the war (yeah...I sorta stole some of that from League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen )) I'm also toying with having President Wilson giving tacit approval to the venture, as a means towards building an eventual League Of Nations Police Force...which would be the precursor to UNTIL...Or UNIT....Or, in my so far only imagined campaign, the UN Global Defense Directorate.

 

Thoughts?

 

-Carl-

[clsage]

Re: Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Beersheba

 

From that article:

 

"....The light horsemen jumped the front trenches and dismounted behind the line where they turned and engaged the Ottoman forces with bayonets. The Ottoman forces were in many cases so demoralized that they quickly surrendered. One Australian, who was dazed after having his horse shot from under him, recovered to find his five attackers with their hands up, waiting to be taken prisoner. " And also, Lieutenant Colonel Murray William James Bourchier is quoted: "this method of attack would not have been practicable were it not for the absence of barbed wire and entanglements."

 

NICE! And, with all respect to the daring and intrepidity of the light horsemen involved, it would be a simple matter to add "jump troops" to that battle mix. With the "Air Rangers" jumping in ahead of the light horse and taking out selected portions of any barbed wire or other barriers, allowing for the lack of same that Lieutenant Colonel Bourchier refers to.....And, since the "Air Rangers" (still looking for a better name for the team and would gladly welcome suggestions) are a semi-shadow troop it would be reasonable that they do not appear alongside the light horse troops in the historical record! ZOOT!

 

-Carl-

[Burrito Boy]

Re: Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

 

I'm also toying with having the unit be mostly funded by "non governmental sources" (ie: an industrialist fighting his own private campaign against a shadowy figure whose machinations helped spark the war (yeah...I sorta stole some of that from League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen ))

 

-Carl-

 

LXG, and almost certainly sky Captain, might have stolen that from the Blackhawk comic set in WWII and that first came out in 1941. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackhawk_(comics)

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

 

in Science

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1917_in_science

 

 

Cheers

 

 

QM

[clsage]

Re: Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

 

in Science

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1917_in_science

 

Thanks!

 

I had almost forgotten this one (which has a WHOLE lot of gaming potential):

 

1917 -- Albert Einstein introduces the idea of stimulated radiation emission.

 

In other words:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser

 

 

-Carl-

[Burrito Boy]

Re: Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

 

LXG' date=' and almost certainly sky Captain, might have stolen that from the Blackhawk comic set in WWII and that first came out in 1941. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackhawk_(comics)[/quote']

 

Now that I read the article, I realize that the novel is really the source of the funded by "non-governmental sources" angle. It's also the only Blackhawk material I've read. So I can't recommend the comics but the book is a good, pulpy read full of ideas just waiting to be stolen.

[Ian Mackinder]

Re: Timeline Building - Effect(s) Of Semi-Powered Individuals On WWI ??

 

Thanks....

 

You're welcome

 

This team would have been composed of English' date=' Canadian and Australian troops, with the addition of one US citizen (the great grandfather of the modern hero I'm building the backstory for). And this team, including the US soldier, would have been operating from [u']before[/u] official US entry into the Great War.

 

Don't forget the Kiwis (New Zealanders) . For that matter, non-English Britons (Scots, Irish, Welsh).

 

Note that there was a lot of support from the US from well before its official entry. Quite a number of US citizens volunteered, individually or collectively, for various roles - the 'Lafayette Escadrille' ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafayette_Escadrille ) was probably the most famous. The AFS Intercultural Program was another organizational example ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFS_Intercultural_Programs ) and, even if non-combatant, its members saw a great deal of action.

 

So US citizens being in Allied military units of one kind or another certainly happened. Such persons just would not have had any protection from the (neutral) US government. Early form of "plausible deniability", so to speak.

 

Less palatably for some. There were also large pro-German groups in the US and, while we tend not to dwell on those much, it follows that there were some US citizens who took up arms (of one kind or another) for Germany. At least, while the US was neutral.

 

Oh, and here is something else interesting from the magic of Wiki - a list of famous people who were ambulance drivers in ww1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ambulance_drivers_during_World_War_I

 

Strange when you think about it. When most people think of World War One, the focus tends to be on the Western Front and its appalling losses (and for us Aussies and Kiwis, the Middle East). But, there was a great deal happening elsewhere as well.