Storytelling part - Introduction to a grim world.
June 8th, 1944
I finally decided to start a dairy. Partially for Germaine, partially for me, mainly for the future generation.
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| Ah~ Germaine. My dear love as I imagine |
My name is Jean Courage. I was born in 1920, a sunny Sunday. I fought World War 2 at the beginning, being some of the latest to stop fighting in July 1940, long forgotten because of the Armistice signed by Petain. Our bunker was cleared after a last "baroud d'honneur". This was maybe a mistake, but we wanted to show the German they didn't defeat us. It cost Platoon Lebron, all of them disappeared and we never knew what happened to them. I still recall the face of our Lieutenant when he came back from the Platoon Lebron, asking us a gunpoint to close the anti-blast door and to never open it again. That and the scream we could hear in that very dark tunnel...
We resisted 2 days and nights until the German officer, one of the German Heer, graciously proposed we stop fighting and we would be escorted back to the Vichy zone. He said we fought well and somehow I read guilty on his face.
For the first years, I lived in Paris with my parents, working as a butcher. Life was hard but at least we ate enough. Year after year the war brought hardship on us with its restrictions, rationing. Until the night the Gestapo and its French collabos arrested my father for act of resistance. He helped a group of American pilots to escape and was sold out by his best friend, betrayed for 30 kilo of wheat. I then left Paris to my uncle in the countryside when finally.... June 6th happened!
Little was known that day but since then there is only hope.
June 9th, 1944
I feel so free and liberated. Starting this dairy is making me feeling good. It's also exciting. It is so dangerous. If the collabo or the Gestapo find it, I am done. It is an act of resistance in itself.Yesterday, I joined my cousin to one of his secret gathering in the woods. Lord, they have weapons! To be honest, most of them are old hunting rifle, but I saw a sten. "Gift from the Sky" said Marcel, the baker of the village. I wish we can have some action soon.
June 15th, 1944
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| SWD soldier |
On our side, we are not inactive. 3 nights ago, we ambushed 2 Germans cars. They were SWD as Raymond (my cousin) said. Raymond is very knowledgeable and knows everything about the Germans. He is working in a cafe that delivers food at the Kommandentur, the HQ of the Germans. They had a box of landmines.
- "Gaz", said Marcel."Stupid Germans, didn't they learn the Great War? Gaz will never solve anything. We'll drown these in the swamps" Then he looked at all of us. "and we will NOT use it. Gaz will kill us and everybody we love as surely it will kill the Fritz (aka the Germans)"
We dumped the cars and the bodies together with the landmines in the swamps. Hopefully, the Germans will not find them.
June 22nd, 1944
I had to hide the dairy far from the farm. On June 17th, the Germans arrested Marcel and his family. I don't know how they found him, but we heard they are using new methods. Better safe than sorry.
Bad news are never alone and Raymond disappeared too. Last night he was closing the cafe when a convoy reached the Kommandentur. I know, I was there washing the kitchen. All vehicles were all black and no marking. Sven Miller, one of the regular military guard came to order some food. I still remember his face. He was terrified, so pale and sweating like hell. He said that Raymond had to bring the food.
"what kind of food?", asked Raymond. Sven replied strangely...."whatever food, as long as YOU bring it"
Raymond went and never came back. When I asked about him, Sven replied he was already gone. He urged me to get home as soon as I can and close my door. I cannot tell that to Mum. She'll be too sad. She likes Raymond very much.
June 23rd, 1944
I am taking risks to write so close to the previous entry, but I need to write it. Last night, when I brought the dairy where I am hiding it, I heard a convoy. Not unusual I said to myself then. So I laid down and waited for the convoy to pass. It was the SWD convoy of the previous night.
Seating in the mercedes was likely the officer, tall, pale, very aristocratic. Next to him was a kind of scientific with his little round shaped glasses.
What i am doing? I am writing little details but not the reason I opened this entry. What is important is what I heard. It was a long kind of wolf howl and the scream of Raymond in one of the truck, I can swear it on my mother's life. The truck was marked with a red cross and too well defended. I had no chance to liberate him. He was going somewhere to the front. I hope he can escape.
June 25th, 1944
We hear the front has been broken and the Allies are driving the German home. The BBC is asking us to stay calm and stay home. They are also saying that we need as much as possible to stay indoor. The same for the official radio under German control.
The Germans convoys are heading the other way now, and very fast. I believe they are in a hurry, the Americans should be near now.
June 28th, 1944
There was a bombing raid the other day. Lots of bombs around the railway. All the youngs of the village have decided to gather and we are going to take action around July 1st. Some are worry about their family but we also heard the Americans are about 100 kilometers from here.
Yesterday, on the Paris radio, we learnt the SWD has officially replaced the whole German civilian government. I do not care, I will be soon liberated. But it seemed important.
I am planning to join the Free French once the Americans are here and go free my mother in Paris. In the other good and best news of the week, I am now engaged with Germaine. Once the war is over, I will marry her.
June 30th, 1944
Tomorrow is the great day. We heard the Americans are only 30 kilometers from here and the Germans should not be many. We will gather, take weapons and embush whatever Germans we can see. So the village will be freed by us! All communications have been severed, either by the Americans or the Germans. I hope my mother is safe in Paris.
About the Germans, we heard they are avoiding the road so close from the front, to avoid the constant straffing of the Typhoon or the Mustangs.
2 hours ago, there was bombing next to the front. Apparently, the Germans. I did not know they still had aircrafts. I thought they were all gone, as I have not seen any of them for about a month.
Anyhow, tomorrow is the day we fight back and hard the Germans!
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Rules and modifications.
The universe is the one from Secret of the Third Reich (SOTR) with the SWD conducting inhuman and mystic research and achieving them. Because I don't like Nazi, I won't be playing them (even passively) and replaced the bad guys by the imaginary SWD.
In terms of game, SWD is ruled by weird people drawn from nobles. They are leading the German army now and they will be the big boss that it will be better to avoid. They have minion, the SWD soldiers, and the whole German army is afraid of them.
Same as in SOTR, the SWD has designed the V-Gaz. It is a viral gaz that change recently dead or healthy people into zombies. That's all I can say without taking much of the plot.
Having the game in 1944 also change few of the FFO ingredients. First, people are used to blackout. Electricity is a luxury and people don't need fridge or light.
Secondly, there is no internet. The only source of information are coming from radio that you can plug on electricity or more likely manually power.
Thirdly, Urban/Semi-urban and rural environment does not work. There are more military forces than civilians. I will then roll for change of zone 1d6 :
1-2 : Limited military presence during the gaz attack, count as rural
3-4 : Average military presence during the gaz attack, count as semi-urban
5-6 : Major military presence during the gaz attack, count as urban.
So every movement may be a salvation or higher risks, as the main character, Jean Courage, will have no right to know. Unless he can gather information from encounter with people.
Additionally , V-Gaz will be effective only for a short period and is highly contageous after that if bitten by infected people. On of the random event will be gaz cloud (gaz landmine exploding or just the wind). But Jean Courage will not know about the gaz unless, again, he can meet or the BBC informs about it.
Finally, there is no police in the sense of FFO-ATZ. Police may be German military, French gendarmerie (similar to county troopers) or Vichy police. The National guard equivalent will be military (Heer or Allied Para) and gangers will be either highwaymen or SWD units.
The campaign will start on July 1st, 1944, the day after the first V-Gaz attack against the Allies few kilometers away from the city of the character.
