Kelly's Heroes (Starship trooper variant)

[Blinkin]

I'll cast my vote for sci-fi. I would love something between Aliens and Starship Troopers simply for the versitility of setting and the toys were fun.

[MzHyde]

Why not just say its an alternate reality whereupon Pearl Harbor had a devastating effect on morale and as a result the US has allowed women to serve in order to help fill ranks?

[Chrystal]

Why not just say its an alternate reality whereupon Pearl Harbor had a devastating effect on morale and as a result the US has allowed women to serve in order to help fill ranks?

I'm glad someone else suggested this, because I thought of it after I went to bed last night...

I must say, I wish I'd thought of it when I was originally thinking the idea through, because I would definitely have gone with it!

So, who have we still got?

Kelly is available. NTG, you expressed an interest?
Big Joe is available (could be Big Jo)
Crapgame is available.
Oddball is played by Wargtass.
Cowgirl is played by Styx26 if she's still interested.
Moriarty is played by Sarah Nilson (if still in)
Barbra is played by RedEve (if still in)
Gutowsk is played by Blinkin. (Ye gods, a blind sniper! That's scary!)
Little Joe is played by JamesSureWould

Still need Big Joe and Crapgame.

I'm really surprised that no-one wants these two pivotal roles! I would have expected the top slots to fill up first?

[Wargtass]

You don't really need to go to an alternative universe. Just visit our Big Red Menace in the East at the time. Women served quite extensively throughout the Red Army, Navy and Airforce throughout the whole war. Which also remedies another thing that I might see as a problem with putting it in an American WWII-setting; it's just the movie again with some genderswaps. In a Soviet setting we could even swap out the German officer and flatbed full of soldiers that they encounter mid-movie for a Commissar and a bunch of psychopathic NKVD-soldiers.

Just a suggestion though.

[Hellis]

Anyone needed a womanizing/(malestringing?)/loitering Crapgame?

[Chrystal]

Anyone needed a womanizing/(malestringing?)/loitering Crapgame?

Very definitely!

You don't really need to go to an alternative universe. Just visit our Big Red Menace in the East at the time. Women served quite extensively throughout the Red Army, Navy and Airforce throughout the whole war. Which also remedies another thing that I might see as a problem with putting it in an American WWII-setting; it's just the movie again with some genderswaps. In a Soviet setting we could even swap out the German officer and flatbed full of soldiers that they encounter mid-movie for a Commissar and a bunch of psychopathic NKVD-soldiers.

Just a suggestion though.

Of course the problem with the eastern front setting is that being good Communists all, the soldiers would feel constrained to wait until their comrades in the bridging unit, the band and the grave-diggers arrived in order to share the wealth out equally....

"Split how many ways, stupid?" -  Big Joe



No, I'm going to go with either the Alternate reality WWII where female soldiers are commonplace in the US army, or the sci-fi setting.

Anything else is just adding unnecessary complications, and we still need Big Joe and/or Kelly (depending on NTG) or this isn't happening!

[Blinkin]

I'm glad someone else suggested this, because I thought of it after I went to bed last night...

I must say, I wish I'd thought of it when I was originally thinking the idea through, because I would definitely have gone with it!

So, who have we still got?

Kelly is available. NTG, you expressed an interest?
Big Joe is available (could be Big Jo)
Crapgame is available.
Oddball is played by Wargtass.
Cowgirl is played by Styx26 if she's still interested.
Moriarty is played by Sarah Nilson (if still in)
Barbra is played by RedEve (if still in)
Gutowsk is played by Blinkin. (Ye gods, a blind sniper! That's scary!)
Little Joe is played by JamesSureWould

Still need Big Joe and Crapgame.

I'm really surprised that no-one wants these two pivotal roles! I would have expected the top slots to fill up first?

I can go with an alternate world concept. Things may not of worked quite in the same way in some ways... They might of actually avoided D rations all together and someone relized that you need flavor in the others. ;) My uncle use to talk about how bad they were while today's MRE's are fairly tasty overall.

I didn't go for Big Joe or Crapgame because I thought that someone had already picked them up, but if you need one of them filled, I'll go for Crapgame... He's more my kinda guy... cowardly and a husker. ;)

And hey, give me rolled up socks, and I can hit the target every time at a good 20 feet... ;) Sadly, I use to be a fairly decent marksman when I could see. I couldn't hit a 75mm target at 300 meters, but I could hit a human torso sized target reliably at 200 yards.

Anyway.... watch out for the blind guy... yell when you run around so he'll know where you are. ;)

[Hellis]

Well I am going for crapgame :3. That guy is 1 part charmer/1 part Hustling, scamming sleaze <3

[Blinkin]

You don't really need to go to an alternative universe. Just visit our Big Red Menace in the East at the time. Women served quite extensively throughout the Red Army, Navy and Airforce throughout the whole war. Which also remedies another thing that I might see as a problem with putting it in an American WWII-setting; it's just the movie again with some genderswaps. In a Soviet setting we could even swap out the German officer and flatbed full of soldiers that they encounter mid-movie for a Commissar and a bunch of psychopathic NKVD-soldiers.

Just a suggestion though.

I would agree that the Soviet's used women in more roles than the Allies (including the UK and so on), but like the US, they weren't using women in front line combat positions; but, like the WAC's, as support personell. There were a relative few who were fired upon even WWII and other era's simply because you could shoot up a field hospital or HQ with long range fire.

[NiceTexasGuy]

Totally revised because I was still asleep when I posted:

I'm not married to the idea of playing Kelly (or Big Joe) and I hate the thought that someone else might come along thinking "I'd be an awesome Kelly, too bad it's already taken" - so perhaps see if anyone else wants either of those roles before putting me down.  I'd be just as happy playing Crewman #5 the guy who doesn't even get a name who gets killed in the first scene.  Well, maybe the second scene.

[Blinkin]

I guess as we need a Big Joe, if no one takes it today, I'll swap out for Big Joe... but now I need to find the movie again, I loved it, but haven't seen it in a few years.

[Wargtass]

Very definitely!

Of course the problem with the eastern front setting is that being good Communists all, the soldiers would feel constrained to wait until their comrades in the bridging unit, the band and the grave-diggers arrived in order to share the wealth out equally....

"Split how many ways, stupid?" -  Big Joe

Actually, not all good communists. My grandfather served in the Red Army from 1942 and on-wards to 1944 and I have heard some really funny and sad stories about the supposed comrade-ship of the Reds and how equal they were. They went through several blue-hats (Commissars), out of which only a few were killed by Axis, most were killed because they were too communist for the common soldier's taste. Hell, gramps and six other soviet soldiers stole a truck full of supplies by the end of the war and used it to bribe their way through Finland and finally they swam over the Torneå river to Sweden. Not all comrades were that communist and every wolf-pack has its foxes.

I would agree that the Soviet's used women in more roles than the Allies (including the UK and so on), but like the US, they weren't using women in front line combat positions; but, like the WAC's, as support personell. There were a relative few who were fired upon even WWII and other era's simply because you could shoot up a field hospital or HQ with long range fire.

Keywords relative few. Again, my grandmother was among the six others that went through Finland to Sweden and she had fought in the frontlines on and off for two years by then. My other grandfather (mother's side) was fighting in the Finnish Army (imagine those family dinners on Christmas) have a story about how he was almost gutted in the trenches by a female Red Army soldier. It happened, and as such is very valid.

But I'm fine with alternate US, as I said, just a suggestion.

[Chrystal]

The thing about the Russian front was that it culminated in three major sieges.

Stalingrad, Moscow and Leningrad.

Stalingrad (Now Volgograd) was a siege with a river at it's back, and the Russians ferried supplies into the city across the river Volga.

Moscow was not a true seige because the city was never completely surrounded, so far as I remember, but supplies were so very short that it might as well have been.

Leningrad (Now St Petersburg) was a true siege. The city was fortified and defended well, and supplies were brought in from Finland, but so far as I remember my history, just about everyone in the city from children to old women were drafted in to the army to help defend it!

Wargtass, I have a great respect for the Russian people, whom i believe to have been very unfortunate in their rulers over the last hundred and ten years...! I am wondering if your grandparents were involved in the siege of Leningrad?

My father was in the Royal Navy during WWII, and spent much of his service in the Mediterranean, in the "Home fleet" guarding Britain against invasion and on Atlantic Convoy duty. I don't think he was ever on the Murmansk convoys.

[Wargtass]

My soviet (originally a German jew who fled to Poland and was incarcerated in Dachau concentration camp for being communist rather than jewish... long story) grandfather was at Operation Iskra as a gunner in a T-34-85, but never actually got to fight before his unit was redeployed further north. He fought throughout the whole Continuation War, mostly against Finns and some Germans along the Karelian front, but as it was he saw some very strange redeployments, including almost being moved to Baku for some reason. Luckily for him he wasn't immediately redeployed from the Finnish front after their treaty with Finland and could make their way through Finland with only a crudely painted on Finnish swastika and a few words of finnish (as well as a whole lot of supplies exchanged for a blind eye. They had to pass through Lapland, so for a while they were part of a Finnish convoy of trucks heading towards the Germans in northern Lapland, which they luckily managed to break away from by faking engine problems.

My finn grandfather on the other hand spent a whole year outside Leningrad, which finally resulted in severe shell-shock and hearing problems after an especially enthusiastic artillery barrage (dropped on Leningrad, but in such quantity that the frontline soldiers felt as if they were targeted as well). He was abused by an SS-field doctor for faking it before a Finnish officer threatened court-martial if the creep laid hands on a Finnish soldier again. We still have to practically yell to him if he sits across the table to make ourselves heard.

Granny was all over the place and in all sorts of positions, including being a nurse, refueling aircraft and being machine-gun-toting tankodesantniki (tankriding shock infantry, that's how she met gramps... ::) ). We have a picture of her standing knee-high in snow with two other female soldiers by an ISU with a degtjarev over her shoulders. Badass as all hell, I'll see if I can get a scan of it.

As for the Royal Navy, they also saw some carrier-attack action against Petsamo. Nothing major, but apparently it scared the shit out of Finland at the time, who feared the Brits might be preparing for a landing and participation in the war on their front. Never happened, but it seemed real to them at the time. After 41 I don't think the RN or RAF participated any further though.

Back on topic, how many of us "old guards" from the first round of recruitment are still here (aka have been made aware that this lives again)?

[LordMing]

I'd be pleased as punch to take the role of Kelly, since Oddballs taken

[Styx26]

*salutes* I'm still in, Sarge!

[Chrystal]

Cool....

I think we have a full ToE? Let's see...

Pvt. Kelly: Lord Ming
MSgt. Big Joe: Blinkin
SSgt. Crapgame: Hellis
Sgt. Oddball: Wargtass
Pvt Moriarty: Sarah Nilson *** If Still In ***
Pvt. Little Joe: JamesSureWould
Pvt. Cowgirl: Styx26
Pvt. Gutowski: Available (Sniper)
Pvt. Petuko: Available (Assassin & BAR)
Cpl. Job: NPC (Chrystal) (Killed by Germans in minefield)
Pvt. Willard: Available (Demolitions)
Pvt. Fisher: Available
Pvt. Babra: RedEve *** If Still In ***
Pvt. Mitchell: NPC (Chrystal) (Killed by Germans in minefield)
Pvt. Grace: NPC (Chrystal) (Steps on a mine)
Pvt. Jonsey: Available.

I'm still trying to remember which character is which of the lesser known ones. I think Mitchell gets killed in the minefield along with Job, when the BAR jams (as they were prone to).

I'll PM Sarah Nilsen and RedEve to see if they are still interested, because we have all the top characters now.

[Sara Nilsson]

o7 reporting in

[RedEve]

I'm still in.

I'll need to figure out how much I had already worked on my character concept though.

[RedEve]

Did this thing already have a CS? :)

[Chrystal]

Did this thing already have a CS? :)

Heh, nope, hadn't done one yet.

I wasn't sure a cs would be required, as basically the characters are all cannon (or is that canon? I can never remember).

Before we go any further, I would like a show of hands, please:

Those who would like the sci-fi setting, those who would prefer the original WWII setting in an alternate universe where women are allowed in front-line units, and those who have no preference whatever....

Because I can't do the CS until I know which setting we're doing!

[RedEve]

I'm okay with either, really.

[Styx26]

I'll toss in my vote for a sci-fi setting.

[Chrystal]

What the heck, lets do the sci-fi setting then, as originally planned.

Code Select Expand


[b]Player Name:[/b] Your Elliquiy nlogin id, NOT your real name (Unless they are the same)

[float=right][img height=300 padding=5]Insert Image URL here[/img][/float]
[b]Character name:[/b] The name and rank of your character (as per the character list)
[b]Gender:[/b] M or F
[b]Species:[/b] Added this after some thought. Human would be preferred. See below.
[b]Role within the squad:[/b] If you don't know what their role is, we'll sort one out for you.
[b]Equipment:[/b] Be creative but not too creative please? I have a scientist's dislike of lasers as hand-held weapons. Plus the squad is supposed to be lightly armed.
[b]Personality:[/b] A paragraph or three describing what your character is like, what makes them tick, what turns them on and off. Please try to pay at least lip service to the character from the film? Having Big Joe as a gung-ho glory hound simply wouldn't work, for example.




Worked example:

Player Name: Chrystal

Character name: Major General Colt
Gender: M
Species: Human
Role within the squad: Division Commander.
Equipment: Satellite photographs (stolen by Crapgame), An incompetent general Staff, Colt Mk XXXV automatic pistol, box of medals, box of cigars.
Personality: Impatient, gung-ho gloryhound. General colt wants to be at the front of every battle. He thinks that the war will soon be over (he's a year early in that) and wants to make Lieutenant general before it is. Other than these major flaws, he would actually be quite a good soldier if he could just get his head out of his arse for long enough to do some proper soldiering. He wants to win the war, he does care about his men, and he knows that the best unit in his division is Captain Maitland's reconnaissance platoon.

Colt considers himself to be a better soldier than he really is, and considers his staff to be incompetent. He considers the enemy to be practically insignificant and his war is fought not with them but against the political machinations of the senior officers on his own side.


Okay, let's see those character sheets.

You DON't have to use the same actors from the film, and if you are making a female character that is going to be damn near impossible.

Species: I added this after considerable deliberation. If everyone chooses to be human then I will take it out again. But it might be interesting if the army were a mix of human and alien species.

If you really don't want aliens involved, then please say so!

[RedEve]

Player Name: RedEve

Character name: Pvt. Jacqueline Babra
Gender: F
Species: Human
Role within the squad:
Equipment: Communication device, pulse rifle, food rations, combat knife, compass, paperscreen maps
Personality: Jacqueline Babra is the butt of many of the platoon’s jokes. A competent though not brilliant soldier, she acts as both the side-kick and protégé of Big Joe. Prefers to be called “Jack”, but has to endure being called “Barbara” (a bastardisation of her surname). In spite of the occasional hazing she has to endure, she enjoys serving on her eclectic platoon.

I can expand upon the personality part if need be, though it's hard to stay true to the Babra original and expand too much.