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| Superhero Roleplaying in a World on Fire, 1936-1946 |  |
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Tales of Talents: 'The Dance of the Last Minute'
Synopsis: This is a mini-campaign set during the days just before D-day. The basic concept is that the Germans have managed to gain intelligence that the Allies will be making Normandy a significant landing site and the players must somehow prevent two panzer divisions from reinforcing the landing beaches. Intro: Itís a calm night with dark cloudy skies over the town of Poole, England. The port harbour is busy and bustling with ships of every size docking and picking up supplies and troops. Exhausted dock workers and British army personnel scurry about the boardwalk stacking crates and putting them on ships and unloading large boxes of ammunition. A constant stream of army trucks makes it way through the town as military traffic snakes through the streets and locals shut themselves into their houses. A few scant lights in the harbour sillouhette the hard working men and the assembling of troops into ranks. Tension fills the air everywhere. It is June 1st, 1944 and the storm is coming. The Briefing Youíre standing on the docks watching all of this activity. A British captain with a strong cockney accent runs up to you, out of breath. ìAha, there you are! Commandís been lookiní all over for you gents. Kindly get your gear and report to the HQ down the street at the olí bakerís shop!î Off you head down the street, into the darkened town with almost no street lights. Stumbling over the cobblestone curbs and weaving your way around the wagons, you are finally waved into the old bakery with a large front window with curtains fully drawn. A Canadian Army major sits at the table where lists of charts and troop dispositions are piled on an old cutting room table. Meat hooks serve as cap holders and women in WAC uniforms work beside civilians in suits who are coordinating the logistics and movement of supplies down the coast. Cigarette smoke plumes in the air and almost all the eyes have dark circles under them. Fatigue lilts in the air and people speak using as few words as possible. These are the final meticulous steps that must be taken before D-Day ñ a day that will single-handedly determine the course and, possibly, the outcome of the war itself. ìFor one year, Allied planners have been preparing for this coming day and now something threatens to tear it up completely,î says the Major to you as he smoothes his hair back and lights a cigarette. ìIím Major Jim Landries with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. We have a bit of a problem that only you can possibly solve at the moment,î he says as he clears his throat. The man is clearly all-business. ìAll of the other Talent Operations Groups are either exhausted from the preparations, infiltrating the enemy lines to gather intelligence, or helping with the logistics to ready the landings. You are battle ready, hardened, rested up and available on short notice. So weíre asking you to perform a very vital mission directly related to the coming Canadian landings on Juno Beach.î ìAs you may or may not know, the Allied High Command has been busily involved in a game of deception with the Germans. This operation, codenamed Fortitude South, involves directing the German attention away from the Normandy area and towards Pas de Calais ñ further to the northeast of the actual invasion.î The major stops and pulls on his pipe as he looks at the map on the wall. ìSo far we think it has worked well. Reconnaisance flights show that several the massive XV Army is holed up in the Pas de Calais area and weíve had no reason to suspect that the Germans might find out the true invasion point.î He looks at you thoughtfully. ìUntil today, that is. A team of geologists had been sent undercover to the Allied invasion area in Normandy to make collect sand and soil samples to help them confidently determine the feasability of different landing points for our ships. One of the men, an American, seems to have been captured in a cafÈ near Arromanches. It seems he couldnít master the European method of eating with knife and fork in each hand.î ìAlthough we suspect he hasnít told them too much due to our limited briefing of these gentlemen, weíve gotten word through our own intelligence sources that orders are about to go through to send two Panzer divisions to cover the real landing area. It seems the Jerrys want to play this one safe and has figured out that we may send some troops to the area in the coming days.î ìI neednít tell you that these extra two tank divisions could seriously threaten our landings and it appears through this intercepted communique from the German High Command that their destination is somewhere near the Courseilles-sur-Mer area, which would directly threaten the Canadian landing beaches.î ìWhat we are proposing in one more last-minute intelligene coup and weíre hoping that youíll be the ones to deliver it.î ìWeíre proposing to drop you behind enemy lines somewhere near Pas de Calais in hopes that you can somehow convince the Germans not to move those divisions down the coast. We donít care how you do it but you must keep the Germans convinced that the main Allied invasion will be at Pas de Calais from the non-existent First Army Group commanded by Patton. To this end, we recommend that you let slip some false intelligence documents into the German intelligence stream. Weíve prepared some false landing maps for you ñ but you neednít use these if you can find some other way to turn the Jerrys around. Perhaps an act of ìsoftening upî the German defenses will go a long way to convincing the Jerrys to bring back those panzer divisions. ìWell, that being said, a transport plane is awaiting you gentlemen at Londonderry. What do you say? Are you up for it?î He looks expectantly at you. Hereís the intelligence we have in the area. With that he steps back as a younger man wearing lieutenantís epaulets steps forward and adjust his glasses. He clears his throat and begins: ìOur latest intelligence reveals that no less than Field Marshall Erwin Rommel himself is probably stationed at a makeshift headquarters near the small city of Arras. We think he might be the one who has commanded the two panzer divisions down the coastline even against what we think are the explicit orders from German High Command. Of course, any other time, we wouldnít mind at all if you killed the man ñ but in this case, doing so might actually make matters worse and raise far more suspicions ñ not to mention some fairly serious retribution towards the locals in the area. Weíd prefer that you slip in and out completely unnoticed. Arras has been heavily bombed over the last month in yet another attempt to convince the Germans that weíre aiming the invasion force in that direction. Nevertheless, we think the Germans are still using the city as their headquarters for the Fifteenth Army and Rommel is calling the shots from there ñ but weíre still not exactly sure where the HQ is located in the city itself. My guess is that heís somewhere near the Hotel de Ville near the centre of the city but our experience in North Africa tells me that you never know with this man. We also know that Rommel tends to travel with his own personal bodygaurd, a talent we donít much know about right now, Iím afraid. Be warned that you may have to deal with him if you intend to get close to Rommel.î The major stands up slowly and stabs at some papers on his desks. ìA couple of last notes,î he says. We have arranged for a member of the French resistance to meet you near your drop point at Lens just north of Arras. His codename is Noir and he can help guide you towards the German Panzer headquarters in the area. He knows the terrain well and can also provide you with a few weapons or equipment on the ground should you need it. Your codename for this mission is Brutus. Also, I should mention that if you can come home after completing this mission, we would find you damned useful for the landings. But if you must stay behind then we ask that you cause as much disruption as possible behind German lines while the landings take place.î With that the major sits back down and slowly lets his gaze fall back on the reams of logistics papers and schedules stacked before him. The Trip Abroad: You arrive at RAF Londonderry airport later that night where Royal Air Force bombers are taking off and American Eighth Air Force bombers are landing. The "night shift" has started and your RCAF Lockheed Electra Junior cargo plane awaits on the airfield ready to taxi. As you hop aboard, you find yourself in cramped company. There is barely enough room for you, never mind your equipment! The seats are shallow indents in the wall on either side and no matter how hard you try, you cannot prevent your knees from touching the personís knees across from you. The pilot introduces himself as Captain Sparling and insists you call him Mike. ìI guess you fellas have to get some place in a hurry! Well this is the plane for it. The Electra is the fastest transport plane in the world,î he says with some pride. At that, he guns the engine and youíre airborne within thirty seconds. The small plane dips slightly towards the darkened English countryside where you see scant lights down below. An hour later, youíre over the coast and looking down into a black English Channel. Outside of your window, you see a flight of B-17s coming home. Smoke is coming from one of the bombersí engines and it gradually loses altitude then plummets straight towards the sea. Itís too dark to see if any parachutes made it out. The pilot barks to you. ìAs soon as weíre over the channel weíre only 19 miles out! Get ready!î Scenario Possibilities: ï The plane gets shot down en route. The characters parachute out of the plane and land well off course. They must traverse hostile terrain to get to their intended drop point, meet Noir and the rest of the local resistance. ï The characters meet up with Noir, who turns out to be a collaborator. She tries to turn the characters in to the Germans. ï The characters may try to find Rommel and try some sort of ruse involving him (i.e. using a doppleganger to issue the ìpull back ordersî). Rommel is looking for a gift to give his wife on June 6th so heíll be travelling back and forth between Paris and Pas de Calais at some point. ï The characters may decide to hit the Germans at their sea defenses to make it look like the area is being softened up for an imminent attack. ï They may conduct aggressive guerrilla warfare in the area, forcing the XV army to pull back its Panzers to deal with them. Of course, the Germans wil assume that the troublemakers are partisans and will deal harshly with the local population. ï The characters may decide to merely ambush the panzer divisions heading down to the Juno Beach landing site but this will likely convince the Germans of the importance of the area and they may send even more tanks down there. ï The characters decide to abort the mission and make their way back home ñ this in itself will be difficult if they donít have any talents that are immediately helpful in crossing the English Channel. ï The characters plant false intelligence with the local Germans or they distribute a false communique from Hitler which demands that the Panzer divisions be pulled back to Pas de Calais. Keep in mind that the HQ in Arras is located in the Hotel de Ville, which has been turned into a veritable fortress stronghold by the Germans. |
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