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World War Two Campaign


Cassandra

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Re: World War Two Campaign

 

Well, the land speed record in 1939 was 367 mph. The airspeed record in 1939 was 469 mph, set in a German Me 209. Sound barrier wasn't officially broken until Chuck Yeager did it in 1947. Before then top speed during the war was a shade under Mach 1, about 625 mph(german jet and rocket fighters). Did the comic books of the era portray superheroes moving faster than sound?

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Re: World War Two Campaign

 

There are probably a few workarounds, even for superspeed:

1) say the speedster can technically move faster than bullets or shells, but only for very short periods of time. If they push it, they can do so for a minute or three, but it's incredibly exhausting.

2) say the speedster can move at incredible speeds over long distances, but they're insubstantial while doing so, and/or the air friction is so great they can't carry anything or anyone while doing so.

3) make battlefield recon for speedsters hazardous to a ludicrous degree. Find a way to get them captured or injured almost every time they do it. This isn't the preferred approach, but at least it keeps down the number of instances where one PC can radically alter historical outcomes.

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Re: World War Two Campaign

 

In WW2' date=' though? In the comics written at the time?[/quote']

 

Not most of the time- he could easily outrun a bullet, or disassemble an entire car out from under a driver on the road. I have a late-40s story where he does race the electrical charge from a switch down a wire in order to defuse a bomb after the button's been pressed, though, which suggests in short bursts he could hit a sizable fraction of lightspeed-minus-resistance. dw

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Re: World War Two Campaign

 

Some suggested ground rules

 

All heroes built on 250 Points, 150 Point Base and 100 Points of Disadvantages.

 

No Megascale movement for superheroes, but some vehicles may have it (Wonder Woman's Invisible Plane for example).

 

No Bulletproof Costumes without an activation roll (Bulletproof vests at the time were heavy). Combat Luck instead.

 

The point totals are reasonable. But if you look at public domain of superheroes wiki, there seems to be a bit of heroes that have bullet-proof gear. Bulletman and family to name one.

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Re: World War Two Campaign

 

Then you had your light cavalry/carrier pigeons like Flash' date=' Johnny Quick and Air Wave that speed was just about all they did.[/quote']

 

Air Wave wasn't a speedster in the same sense as the Flash, although he did have roller skates that allowed him to travel along phone lines at high speeds....

 

The reason I introduced him into the discussion was because of his instantaneous communication power, which was one of the powers flagged as a possible problem. The fact that he was Lame with a capital L was just a bonus.

 

He could probably fight as well as any other non-powered face-punching character, except for the real hardcore ones like the Atom and Wildcat. (Or Captain America, but different universe.)

 

I see him as being a bit like the Red Bee - lame powers, but still a useful combatant.

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Re: World War Two Campaign

 

Question - Who replaced President Henry Knight in the Uncle Sam and The Freedom Fighters series?

A sentient robot double, Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard. Sponsored by Father Time.

And he was not sworn in as I understand it at the time. So he was a Senator.

(But I might err. American politics are a mystery to me )

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Re: World War Two Campaign

 

Air Wave wasn't a speedster in the same sense as the Flash, although he did have roller skates that allowed him to travel along phone lines at high speeds....

 

The reason I introduced him into the discussion was because of his instantaneous communication power, which was one of the powers flagged as a possible problem. The fact that he was Lame with a capital L was just a bonus.

 

He could probably fight as well as any other non-powered face-punching character, except for the real hardcore ones like the Atom and Wildcat. (Or Captain America, but different universe.)

 

I see him as being a bit like the Red Bee - lame powers, but still a useful combatant.

 

I think the thing is, you either have to work out an agreement with players to not "go there"(wrt using their powers for the obvious strategic advantages), or find workarounds to mitigate or balance out such things. The third option is to roll with it, and let the chips fall where they may...so long as the bad guys can also take advantage of their own extraordinary abilities. The most problematic power I can think of? Time Travel. Resurrecting the newly dead might also be problematic in some circumstances.

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Re: World War Two Campaign

 

Wonder Woman (Golden Age)

 

Val Char Cost

40 STR 30

20 DEX 30

20 CON 20

10 BODY 0

13 INT 3

20 EGO 20

15 PRE 5

18 COM 4

15 PD 7

15 ED 11

4 SPD 10

12 REC 0

40 END 0

40 STUN 0

Total Characteristics Cost: 140 Points

 

Cost Skills

3 Acrobatics 13-

2 AK: Washington, D.C. 11-

3 Breakfall 13-

5 CSL: HTH Combat +1

2 FB: Amazon Princess

2 FB: U.S. Military Officer

3 Paramedic 12-

2 PS: Intelligence Officer 11-

3 Tactics 12-

Total Skills Cost: 25 Points

 

Cost Powers

5 Damage Resistance 5 rPD 5 rED

7 ES: RPT, IAF: Mental Radio Tiara (-1/2)

15 EC [Amazon Magic]-15 Points

10 1) Flight 10", Variable Advantages (+1/2), Megascale or 1/2 END Only (-1/4), IIF: Invisible Plane (-1/4)

10 2) Force Field +10 rPD +10 rED, No END, OIF: Bracelets (-1/2)

14 3) Mind Control 10d6, No Range (-1/2), OAF: Magic Lasso (-1)

7 4) Stretching 4", No END (+1/2), OAF: Magic Lasso (-1)

10 Multipower (10 Points)

1 u) Leaping +10"

1 u) Running +5"

5 LS: Longevity [immortal]

Total Powers Cost: 85 Points

 

Total Cost: 250 Points

 

150+ Disadvantages

10 DNPC: Etta Candy (Unaware Useful Normal) 8-

10 DNPC: Steve Trevor (Unaware Useful Normal) 8-

10 Hunted: Baroness Paula von Gunther, Cheetah, Dr. Psycho, or Mars (As Powerful) 8-

5 Hunted: Queen Hippolyte (As Powerful) 8-

20 PsyL: Code of the Hero (Very Common/Strong)

20 PsyL: Honorable (Very Common/Strong)

10 SocL: Secret Identity [Princess Diana of Themyscira/Diana Prince] (Occasionally/Major)

15 Vuln: Ambushes/Treacherous Attacks, 1 1/2x STUN (Very Common)

Total Disadvantages Cost: 250 Points

 

 

Princess Diana found wounded U.S. Air Corps. Captain Steve Trevor who had crash landed on the mystic Island of Themyscira. After learning about the Axis Menace from Trevor, Queen Hippolyte decides the Amazons must sent someone to investigate the threat. A contest is held to find the most capable Amazon, and despite her mother's wishes Diana participates and wins the games. Travelling to Washington, D.C. with Steve Trevor, she creates the identity of Diana Prince in order to work for Military Intelligence to learn where she would be most needed. Becoming a superhero known as Wonder Woman, she joins the Justice Society of America.

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Re: World War Two Campaign

 

How Many SuperheroesVillains Would Both Sides Have During The War?

 

At http://www.combinedfleet.com/ a site dedicated to a study of the Japanese Navy during World War Two, there is an interesting article on war production. The Seven Major Nations in the war, The United States, The British Empire, Nazi Germany, The Soviet Union, France, Italy, and Japan had 90% of the World's War Making Potential. This includes factories, manpower, raw material, and availiable armed forces. Here are the percentages per country.

 

USA 41.7%

Nazi Germany 14.4%

Soviet Union 14%

British Empire 10.2%

France 4.2%

Japan 3.5%

Italy 2.5%

 

Total 90.5%

 

In order to have those with true superpowers a country should have a technological/scientific infrastructure advanced enough to produce them. This would include those with natural powers, and those as a result of accidents as so many heroes did. The above percentages could be used to represent those superhero/villain level characters built on 250 Points, such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Human Torch, and Batman. There would of course be many Hero/Villain level characters built on 150 Points, including sidekicks like Robin, Sandy, Kitten (Both for Catman and Black Cat).

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Re: World War Two Campaign

 

Two quick thoughts:

 

While China was in some ways just a punching bag for Japan, they also kept the majority of the Japanese army busy for the duration of the war.

 

A lot of Golden Age characters had mystical origins. Basing the presence of superbeings on scientific infrastructure works as a shortcut, but doesn't necessarily explain characters with mystical origins.

 

Personally, I'd make superhumans so rare as to be below the level of useful statistical analysis. They should all be anomalies.

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Re: World War Two Campaign

 

True' date=' Assault. I don't think 100 superhumans in a world of 2 billion is out of line.[/quote']

 

Well, the All-Star Squadron was pretty much every superhero in existence in the DCU during WW2, and it had about 50 members. So 100 might not be out of line for that kind of setting.

 

At the other extreme you have a setting like Godlike where the numbers are significant enough to induct them into military units.

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Re: World War Two Campaign

 

A superhero World War Two campaign would have a mix of technologies. The early war tanks used the both the Axis and the Allies were lightly armored and armored. In fact, two thirds of all British Tanks, and one third of all German Tanks were armed only with machine guns. Strangely enough all French Tanks had armor and cannon capable of defeating any German Tanks, but only one in ten had a radio, and they were split up into smaller units while the Germans concentrated theirs.

 

Meanwhile superheroes would be firing off ray guns and flying in invisible planes.

 

One ready made villian is the Juggarnaut renamed Dreadnought in classic enemies (4th) it was developed during WWII. Well the end of the war, who said it couldn't have been used earlier? Or stopped before it could have been massed produced?

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Re: World War Two Campaign

 

One ready made villian is the Juggarnaut renamed Dreadnought in classic enemies (4th) it was developed during WWII. Well the end of the war' date=' who said it couldn't have been used earlier? Or stopped before it could have been massed produced?[/quote']

 

Not to mention any prototypes that were made...

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Re: World War Two Campaign

 

There are a number of Superhero Groups in the Comics that fought in the war.

 

The Invaders (Marvel Comics)

Captain America

Bucky

Human Torch

Toro

Miss America

Whizzer

Sub-Mariner

Union Jack

Spitfire

We could also add Venus, Blonde Phantom, Golden Girl, Sun Girl, and Namora, just have them saw up earlier.

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