Completed Let's Play Hammer & Sickle

[ERYFKRAD]

Also, benzedrine + melee = One man rape squad. Also, throwing knives is "safer" compared to melee.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Throwing is useful (except greandes)? Finally some game that made it.
Ok, game ordered and hope for enjoy. After failed S3 (SS sentinels) 2nd playthrough maybe it will be better.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Yeah, all modes of attack are useful. Throwing's pretty good if you have enough to throw, and don't cuss grenades bro, shit'd save your ass more than you think. Just be very careful what you do in this game, you can unknowingly screw shit up pretty badly.

 

[laclongquan]

Best game that use throwing well.

 

[Cholo]

Chapter 5: Elizbeth

Spoiler

The next morning, we sleep in till about noon. Haven't had the chance to do that since.... I can't remember when. Looks like the woman downstairs is up and about. Let's go speak with her.

The guy who saved you. Welcome back to the land of the living.

Where are the others?

Dead.

Vaclav?

They shot him before they shot you. How do you know him?

What is this, and interrogation?

Don't get overexcited. You're still healing.

Who the hell are you?

I'm the enemy of your enemy. Now, I'll ask the questions, please. Name?

American?

Yes.

What where you doing with Vaclav?

Typing. Light Filing.

I don't believe it for a second. You've had military training. What's your rank, soldier?

Lieutenant, 82nd Airborne. Before that I was a Platoon Commander in the 2nd Rangers Infantry Battalion.

When were you discharged?

I wasn't. I escaped from a guardhouse. A Captain tried to force me into the cellar. He broke his neck falling down the stairs. I snuck across the border to get away. Vaclav offered work – no questions asked.

Who did you plan to work for next?

The enemy of my enemies.

You'd work for me?

You're not German or American. Russian?

Captain in the Soviet Army.

Doesn't matter. I need money to move to Mexico. How about two hundred a week?

One hundred fifty to start. If you show spirit, you'll get two hundred.

Paid in advance.

Fine. Here are your thirty pieces of silver.

Hey!

Sorry... Please, take the money.

Saunders is a very capable shooter, and a stellar medic. We give her a Sten Mk. 2, a very common British submachine gun in the 9mm caliber. Like the M3A1 we previously discarded, it is also blowback opperated, mass produced and fires from the open bolt position. She also gets a spare magazine, a German handgrenade, and the medkit we brought across the border. She'll be more capable with it than the Captain.

Alright, now that we have that sorted out, let's try to get in touch with HQ over the radio we brought in last night.

There's nothing further to accomplish here and I lack documents and local currency. Request immediate evacuation. Over.

Stirring to Rook. Our Intelligence Center has been destroyed in a terrorist attack. Evacuation impossible due to extreme losses. Decrease your activity and adapt to circumstances. Recon the area as much as possible. Avoid capture at all costs. Contact us again as scheduled. Over and out.

So I need money. That shouldn't be too hard. As Marx teaches, “money has the occult ability to add to itself.”

More experience points, another level.

What's that smell? Somebody's cooking! Haven't eaten since before the border crossing. Let's head downstairs and find some food. Might want to speak with Conrad too. He'll know more about the area than we do. Maybe one of the Villagers will have some advice?

As luck would have it, we find Conrad and the source of the appetizing smell in the same room.

I haven't got all day.

I've got a rival. He's undercutting my prices. You see, I help people fix certain weapons...

You're an illegal arms dealer.

Ah, you might say that. Business is good... Peter leaves me alone...

Who's Peter?

Oh, ah, nothing. Forget it.

Who is Peter?

Ah... He's our local crime boss. But I'm not supposed to call him that.

I won't tell him you did. So you pay Peter protection money and he lets you overcharge for illegal guns.

You don't got to say it that way... So this ugly troll Sigmund sets up shop near here and threatened me. He wants my customers. If you get rid of him, I'll pay you. And I'll sell to you, if you need weapons.

You think I'm an assassin? If you haven't got the spine to be an arms dealer, then find a different line of work.

Get the hell out of my house! If I see you again, I'll shoot you!

Well, well. The armchair general grows a backbone! But I still don't think you're man enough.

(Our first skill check)
That must have touched a nerve. With one hand, Conrad tries to push The Captain backwards while with the other he fishes a weapon out of his coveralls. Too slow! The Captain backpedal just as Elizabeth raises her Sten...

And squeezes a burst right into Conrad's face- Conrad never stood a chance. Specks of bone, brain and blood fly all over the kitchen wall. Our ears are ringing, firing a weapon indoors always does that.

The Captain grabs a bowl of the soup Conrad was making before heading out the door, Elizabeth does the same. Interesting... She still has an appetite after the violence. Maybe she did serve with the Army. We'll have to keep an eye on her.

 

[Boxer]

Why didnt you take the quest. Graph on page 1 suggests that its the longer route... =p

 

[Cholo]

Boxer that's a good question, I'll try and answer it behind spoiler tags.

Spoiler

Two reasons mainly.

First is that if you decline, while you miss three small but fun shootouts you get an extra squadmate (although if Thor Kaufman is correct then I missed something and you can get him on either path. Will have to replay the game now, am very curious!)

Second, in case the folks who have played it followed the strategy guide that's floating around the net. I wanted to show something a little different although this path can be seen in the demo.

Not sure if I made the right choice with this path, it's more talky and less shooty than the other one. When I finish the script and get the rest of it BBCoded, I'll try and see how much interest there is in showing alternate paths, including the bad ending. There's a lot of cool reactivity and content in this game, and sometimes even if you mess something up the game will reveal more about itself than you'd ever see on a good playthrough.

Hope that helps.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I actually accepted this, and the convoy quest and finished both. :mondblut:
Might as well upload those screens later.
You know, if Kaufman is right, you'd have like 7 people in your squad by the time you're done recruiting. I wonder if that's possible. And Moshe would be damn useful in the final fight. Has some good dialogue too.

 

[Thor Kaufman]

recruits:

Spoiler

here's a pic with all possible recruits
hint: if you want to keep Larry you might think about how you could avoid him getting upset about a certain someone's untimely demise. (if you want to know how exactly just ask)

this is the final map, Sanders gets dismissed a few maps beforehand, unavoidable.
Pavel may be obscure even to a seasoned H&S player and he has kinda crappy stats (weak old man, good medic, though) but why not have him if you can? If you want to metagame save the medic bonus kit you get in the first map for him because he has the highest medic skill in the game but you'll get him so late in the game might as well give it to Sanders not to mention that to the middle/end of the game it's instagib, anyway so there's not much use in medic skill.

some extra info
at 200+Engineering you don't lose durability on weapon repair but instead durability becomes higher, at a very high level Fidel surpasses the 200 mark.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Pavel's an ok shot, at least, but lawd that strength he starts with.

 

[Cholo]

Chapter 6: Leaving Gaffburg

Spoiler

The group wanders off down a small forest path, not really sure where to go. There's been a lot of violence in Gaffburg since the Captain showed up last night, and he doesn't want to stick around for any more.

After hours of walking, Elizabeth and the Captain make camp, and start a fire.

Right now?

No, after you retire to the Old Spies home.

I propose we seat and get a couple hours of sleep. I'll take first watch.

How can you sleep?

Are you making fun of me?

Wouldn't dream of it.

Vaclav's dead, someone's hunting us down, we're in the middle of nowhere, and you want to... Just go to sleep?

Exactly. And I suggest you do the same. Here. Now eat some rations and relax.

What is this? A dinner date?

Listen. This isn't jolly ol' England, or wherever the hell you're from. I give the orders. You follow the orders! Insubordination will be punished!

No, capital! Like Desdemona.

Well, well. Has my lord read Shakespeare or does he merely have problems with women?

Both. And it's time I... Uh oh.

What?

Shh! Look... OK, we see each other. Now what? You seem to be alone there. You can't take us both at once. Want to talk first?

I can't see anything!

He's right there. I saw that branch move.

What if I have a machine gun?

One of us would still get you. Besides, if you were going to shoot, you'd have gotten it over with.

Right you are. Put away your weapons and let's talk.

You're a forester?

Yep.

I didn't know your department was still around.

They shut it down four years ago. But this is a special forest. Papa Goering himself used to hunt here. But when they sent him to the scaffold, nobody cares about the forest anymore. But nobody fired me either. So I just kept doing my job.

This is all very interesting, but what I'd like to know is...

Sorry

What do you want?

I saw smoke, and thought there might be poachers. But you're not.

What are we, then?

This isn't a safe place to talk. The wind from that hill carries your smoke down the valley and onto the road. I smelled your camp a kilometer and a half away. If I did, others could, too.

Why do you care about our safety?

I could use the company. Come. You can rest in my hut. And you can meet two fascinating gentlemen.

Wait! Who are they?

It's Spanish for “desperate person who would kill you as soon as look at you.”

You can decide that for yourself. But if it was a trap, would I have told you they were there?

You're going to help me for no other reason than company?

Company is about the best reason there is, but you don't realize that until you are old. You coming or not?

This might be a trap.

You walk first, old man. I'll walk behind you, so no tricks.

I understand.

What's he saying? Is that German?

It's Yiddish. The lad is Jewish. Moshe, put away your gun.

Who are these people?

I'm not sure. I think they're Russian.

Why did you bring them here?

We just want to talk. Put your gun down.

You're Russian?

I'm Russian. She's American.

A Russian and an American? Together? Kush mir in tokhes!

You speak Yiddish?

No. But I had a Jewish friend from Odessa. So are we going to start shooting, or what?

All right, come on. But no tricks.

Are you really Russian?

Yes.

Where did she come from?

She was working for the man I came here to meet.

Did you meet him?

No. He was killed.

By the Americans?

No. It was an unknown militia, wearing strange uniforms. They looked like SS uniforms, but they were dark blue.

Wait! Dark blue jackets?

I've seen them before.

A year and a half ago Moshe tracked down an SS officer. But he was just too late. The murderer was taken away by troops in dark blue uniforms. They were accompanied by two Americans. Care for some wine?

Just wine?

Sorry, got no vodka. But the wine is good. It's a present from Papa Goering himself.

Oh yes. Of course, if he knew what I was really doing here in the forest he would not be so friendly.

What were you doing?

Helping the enemies of the Reich. Hiding Jews, Left-leaning political figures. An anthropology professor stayed here for two weeks. The poor fellow failed to find proof of an Aryan ancestor. Instead he dug up an ape-like Cro-Magnon skull in Germany. Party leaders had to really pervert evolutionary science to explain it.

So you're an anit-fascist

I'm a human being.

How do you make a living, now that your forestry department is gone?

I do some metalwork. Guns, mostly. Picked up the trade on the battlefield. These are anxious times, so there's plenty of work for a gunsmith who can repair and improve weapons.

Improve them how?

I mount scopes that are perfectly adjusted for precise shots. I install silencers so quiet you won't hear them a room away.

Who buys these wonderful creations?

Maybe later. Nice job deflecting the conversation from my questions. But I do want to know why you need me.

Well, you see...

Looks like it...

All this talk has made me thirsty. Young lady, there's a well in the yard with a bucket. Would you be so kind as to draw us some water?

You think I should get it just because I'm a woman? Get it yourself. You're the host.

Elizabeth, fetch a pail of water. That's an order. Woman.

You moron.

it's not so easy to order wives around.

Looks like I praised you too soon.

Get to the point.

All right. I hardly know where to begin.

If I had to do it over again, I'd never have taken you in. Do you know they're searching for you?

Who?

The Americans. Invading the forest.

Searching for ME?

You know any other Russian around here? I heard some interesting news on the radio.

What?

Last night a US outpost along the highway was attacked. They found shell casings from Russian weapons, and strangely enough, a dead body in Russian uniform.

How could Russians get so far into Germany without being spotted? And why attack some isolated outpost? And why wear a Russian uniform? You think we don't have access to American uniforms and weapons?

Quite a passionate defense. Don't worry lad. I believe you. This reminds me of the hot August night ten years ago when the Nazis claimed that the Poles had attacked our radio station near the border. Turns out they had dressed one prisoner in a polish uniform and shot him. Before dawn we had invaded Poland, and the world was wrenched apart by war. I used to have a wife, two sons, a daughter. All I have left are a daughter-in-law and a grandson in town. I'm sick of the leaders who bear false witness so they can wage war!

I'm really sorry, Grandpa, for all the years I fought your people.

You're pretty sharp for a forester.

Even a forester can keep his eyes open.

Russians don't want war. Especially against a nation with an atomic bomb.

Oh, you're both so clever, helping the poor girl who doesn't know where to go.

Go do something useful. Fetch us a pail of water from the well.

If war is coming, I don't want it to touch me or my loved ones. I'll keep Elizabeth and the boy here, and you make sure they don't hurt the forest.

I can't promise anything, but I'll try and settle it without war. You have my word as an officer.

Thank you, son. Listen, why spend the night in the wet forest? You can stay here.

By the way, how did Moshe get here?

I found him at the edge of the forest last autumn, sick with fever. I nursed him back to health, and he stayed. Why?

By the way, Grandpa, you said there were two desperados here. I can only see that Moshe is pretty desperate, but who's the other one?

That would be Fidel. The Spaniard who taught Karl words like”desperado.”

Fidel? How old is he?

Forty-something.

Slim, with a narrow face, broken nose, and a scar over the right eye?

Sounds scary. By the way, there's no pail out there.

Not that scary. The women usually find him charming.

How do you know him?

Where is he?

How far is the town?

Five hours, if you know the way.

Why?

I think it's my old friend Fidel Sanchez! How long has he been here?

Four months. He's had some problems with Claus, so he hides out here.

Moshe, will you take me to town?

Papa?

All right, take him. Just see to it he doesn't make too much noise there.

Let's go Elizabeth.

Good point... Let me think.

Here, young lady. This outfit belonged to my daughter. Looks like a good fit.

Thank you! Let me get cleaned up.

Don't take your Tommy-guns. Take something you can hide, like a pistol or a knife.

Or nothing. Where am I supposed to hide a holster in here?

A maidel mit a klaidel, eh Moshe! Take a handbag, too.

Elizabeth changes out of her fatigues, and washes up. The Captain takes the time to radio in to HQ

The attackers left dead bodies in Soviet uniform and numerous PPS shells. Please inform me of all other Soviet groups acting in this district. Please let me know of the operation details. Sympathizers detected among the residential population. I'll begin reconnaissance. Over.

Gambit to Rook. Other than you there are no Soviet agents acting in that district. We supspect it was a provocation aimed at increasing tension. You are authorized to work with sympathizers. Gambit over and out.

Ok, let's take a look at Moshe. He's a sniper, but we don't have any scoped weapons for him to use. We're headed into town anyway, so let's try to keep the weapons we bring small and concealable. Moshe comes with an Uzi, a pretty hefty anachronism, but it's a lot of firepower and he can keep it hidden under his jacket so we'll bring it along. The most useful skill Moshe can learn is 'Always Inflict Ranged Criticals', so we'll be working him along that branch of the skill tree. We won't see it till near the end of the game, but it's too useful not to pursue.
Moshe takes a second 9mm magazine for his machine pistol, the wire cutters from The Captain, and a roll of bandages.

Alright, next time we're off to the nearby town of Zeizenburg

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Ah, brings back memories of the demo.
I remember rescuing Fidel just so I could get my hands on that suit of his.

 

[Cholo]

Fidel Sanchez at Venta de Camposines, Battle of the Ebro.


Chapter 7: Zeizenburg

Spoiler

6:00 AM, some stranger is outside of the town's bar leaning against a streetlamp and vomiting. We've all been there.

A police officer approaches the man almost immediately.

And carries him off to the drunk tank.
The police here look pretty vigilant. Better keep a low profile or we'll end up like that guy.

The Captain heads down some stairs.

And finds an old friend at the bar.

Hello, Kid.

What are you doing here?

Drinking coffee. And, before you ask – no, I don't work for Uncle Joe. Things can change a lot in seven years.

Who are you working for?

No one. I don't play those games any more.

I doubt that.

Doubt away. And now I will pay for my coffee and walk out. Don't try to stop me. You know me.

But you don't know me. Things have changed more than you think. Go ahead. I won't stop you.

Fidel walks away, but is stopped outside the bar by a group of Americans

Who are you?

Put your hands on your head!

You've got the wrong guy.

Hands on your head! I'm not required to take you alive.

What are the charges?

Charges? Your kind doesn't go to court. Colonel McLeod wants to see you.

How did you find me?

You can hid from Claus but you can't hide from us,

How did you know about that?

In back, under the raincoat.

Good. Make sure you keep on cooperating.

Are we just going to sit here?

Don't let them see you. They're professionals.

You can tell from the way they walk?

I saw how they approached him. The odds are against us.

He's your friend, isn't he?

They'll take him to the military prison. Easier to guard him... and to interrogate him. Is there one near here?

Yeah. Vaclav said the English run a camp for prisoners of the Allies.

We approach the bartender. Maybe he saw something we missed.

Ok then, what the hell. It's five o'clock somewhere.

That is it! The real German's choice! What's your interest in this town?

I thought I'd buy a small cottage and open a garage. I'm a mechanic.

You won't get many customers here. This is a small town. There are only four motorcars in the whole town. The police department, the military Commander, the antiquarian, and Mr. Smith.

Mr. Smith? American?

A Briton. Very respectable businessman, though a strange character. His apartment is above the bar.

How is he strange?

Wakes me up late at night leaving in that noisy motorcar.

Interesting... Is he engaged in shipping supplies for the American or British troops?

I never saw him with military men... How do you like our beer? We make it ourselves.

More experience points, we level up again.

And with that, we leave town.

 

[Cholo]

Sigmund on the Eastern Front. Before the injury.


Chapter 8: The Scorched Bandit

Spoiler

The Captain's orders are to scout around, reveal any intentional provocation of hostilities between the superpowers and to gather local support. Fidel wasn't willing to help us, but he seemed spooked about what was going on in the area. Maybe he knows more. He and The Captain have a lot of history- perhaps there is some way he could be persuaded to at least advise us on the situation. We could head to the Prison at this point, but neither The Captain nor Elizabeth can think of a quiet way to free Fidel.

Before we shot him, Conrad had mentioned that his mother-in-law had all the equipment needed to forge documents. Maybe we could put some paperwork together and bluff Fidel out? We'll head back to Gaffburg for now to see if we can dig up anything useful.

We find Conrad's corpse sprawled out in front of his garage, apparently haven been dragged out by two suspicious looking armed men.

Let's go. We don't want to be blamed.

I always thought we would get to kill him. Sigmund will be mad.

Shut up! No names!

Oops.

Who is there?

Not sure we need to pick a fight with these guys, let's see who they are.

Who are you?

That was rude. Try again.

Who do you think you are, barging in like that with your floozie!

I'll make you my floozie.

You watch how you talk to me, soldier!

Jawohl, Herr Officer!

Are you a member of the Werewolves?

None of your business.

Did you kill Conrad?

So you just made Sigmund very happy. He really wanted Conrad dead.

Who's Sigmund?

Our boss. And he'll be very grateful. Conrad's been a competitor for too long. If you want to meet Sigmund, we'll take you to our hamlet.

Let's see where this takes us...

OK. But if anything goes wrong, you'll die first.

Yes sir. I can tell your mean business. You give orders like an officer.

Observant guy. Lead on.

The Hamlet.

Er, excuse me, but you can't approach Sigmund with your weapons.

Tell him I'll come unarmed. And alone.

Yes sir. Oh, one more thing. Don't say anything about his... er... face.

I've seen it all before.

The Captain passes his Luger to Saunders, and heads in alone and unarmed.

I hope I'm not walking into an ambush here...

Looks like a shabby German army out here.

Er... No. The German army's ended four years ago. Where are you going.

To Sigmund.

What for?

Business

All right. But you leave your weapons here.

OK.

A wooden fence, patrolling guards, three buildings, a sniper on the central roof. A horribly disfigured man stands expectantly in the courtyard.

Scared?

I've seen worse. You were in the tank corps, right? Where? Kursk? Ardennes?

Balaton.

It was tough for us there too.

You were there? What division?

Army. Recon.

I fought enough of your kind there, Russian!

Russian?

Aah... they told me you'd be very grateful about Conrad.

Yes. You deserve something for that. The swine was running guns out in the open. We have to hid out here to avoid denazivication.

You're SS?

No. We just have charges against us from the war. We don't want your spy games to bring the Americans here.

No need for that. Just help me get an Allied uniform, papers, and some weapons. I'm getting a friend out of the military prison.

The prison? Very good. We'll help you, and you'll help us.

OK. I help you.

Good. I want you to get another man out of that military prison.

Who?

A kid. Gerhard Stogel, son of my army friend. We call him Larry, because he spent time with the Yankees after the war. But after that stupid Soviet raid against the sentry post...

It was not a Soviet raid.

Oh really? Who else wears Soviet uniforms and carries Soviet weapons?

I wish I knew.

Doesn't matter. After the raid, the Americans rounded up anyone easy to catch. Larry had charges against him from his days in the Volkssturm, when the Nazis forced young boys to fight. The Americans sent him to the military prison where they took your buddy. I want the kid back. He's like a son to me.

and if he talks, the Americans will know how to find you.

That too. I'll give you an American uniform and a US officer's ID. Pick a weapon. I'd advise you to take something American, even though I like our MPs more. I'll pay you four thousand, plus a permanent discount on all future purchases. Deal?

Fine. How much harder can another jailbreak be?

It's a deal then. Here is the ID. Take as many uniforms as you need. You can also grab three Tommy-guns with ammo and a couple of colts. Very reliable sidearm.

We do as Sigmund suggests, unfortunately there are only uniforms for The Captain and Moshe. Elziabeth will have to get by with civilian clothes and a handgun hidden in her purse for now. The Captain takes a Colt M1911, as befits an officer, and an ID naming him as one “Andrew Lindsey”. Moshe takes an M3A1 “grease-gun”.

Just outside the prison:

Come on. Look at you. I'd sooner throw you in a cell than let you release a prisoner.

Come on... this looks like a valid Secret Service officer ID.

And that's why you arrive riding the marrow-bone coach?

Riding WHAT? We're walking.

That's what walking is... riding the marrow-bone coach. Something real Secret Service officers don't do.

Just keep quiet and don't let anyone know you're there.

If I wanted to be a housewife I'd go back to the US.

Ready to retire?

Without severance pay? You must be joking.

This house across the street from the prison serves as the Commander's office.

On the other side of the street looms a concrete two story monstrosity, guarded by watchtowers and a serious looking fence.

The main gate around the corner has a large entrance leading to a courtyard for arriving automobiles, and a smaller door which opens to a secure reception room.

The Captain takes a deep breath, composes himself, and enters the commander's office.

Who are you, and what are you doing here?

Lieutenant Andrew Lindsey, Counterintelligence. I'm here for Fidel Sanchez, alias Gambusino and Gerhard Stogel, alias Larry.

Oh, that's what Counterintelligence wants, is it? Well, Counterintelligence needs to know that Counterintelligence should have a transfer warrant.

No time. My plane leaves in an hour. Now you're not to blame and I'm not to blame for the mix-up in the paperwork. But who do you think they blame when I return without them? That's right. You and me.

Ahhh... Let me see what I can do.

Are you certain, Lieutenant? This terrorist is dangerous.

Don't worry. I can take care of myself.

What's the matter?

Fidel, I need a good demolitions man. I don't know who's after you, but you need someone at you back.

What if I refuse?

Then God help us both.

To stay out of their hands, I'd even tackle jobs for Uncle Joe again. Do you know the old hut in the forrest? The forrester there is a friend. I'll meet you there. Adios.

You don't need to know. It's enough that I know you, Gerhard “Larry” Stogel. Sigmund sent me. That scorched bandit cares about you.

Papa Sigmund sent you?

Yes. Now run off and tell your scorched “Papa” that you've been set free by his old friend from Balaton.

What if we had gone another way with the prison commander?

Spoiler

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Not bad, so there are ways to pull back on track. Impressive.

 

[anus_pounder]

Don't quote me on this, but I think there may be ways to pull back on track.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Don't quote me on this, but I think there may be ways to pull back on track.

Fucking mobile phones, man.
I guess as long as you stay out of trouble with the 'murican troops you can prevent NUKLEEAR VARR.

 

[Cholo]

Nuclear war? Pfft! Conrad wishes he was that important. The Captain's on a mission, can't just go off shooting up a town every time some coward offers him chump change.

Larry prepares for his first taste of combat with the Volkssturm.

Chapter 9: Fidel & Larry

Spoiler

Well, that worked out surprisingly well. Let's go collect Fidel. He said he'd meet us at the Forester's Cabin, so the squad heads there.

As we arrive, The Captain decides to comment on something that's been irking him about Moshe since they met last night.

You have a good ear. Yes, I grew up in Warsaw. My father was a doctor.

Why not go to Israel? Why are you in Germany?

OK. I'll tell you. But remember, you asked. When Germans came to Warsaw, they forced us into the ghetto. We tried to adjust to it. My father even kept practicing medicine. But then we learned that they were going to load us into railroad cars. Better to die standing and fighting. So we fought back. Perhaps you've heard of it.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. You held off the German Army for a month.

We had no real weapons. We did well if one of us in twenty managed to reach a soldier and tear him apart with our bare hands. Thousands died, but no one came to help us. When the slaughter was over, the survivors were sent to the death-camps. They sent me to Auschwitz.

You survived a long time. The uprising was in '43. Auschwitz wasn't liberated until 1945.

I have a good memory for names. Once I've heard a man's name, I never forget it. An old man in our barracks said, “we shall all die tomorrow and nobody will remember our names. Little Moshe can remember. Let us name ourselves to him, all of us, and then transfer him to another barrack.” He said “As long as Moshe lives, he will recall our names and tell the others, so that we shall not perish witout a trace in this world.” I memorized every name... four hundred and fifty three men. They secretly transferred me to another barrack, and brought in the body of a man who had just died to take my place. I memorized their names, too. And when that barrack was scheduled for death, they sent me to yet another.

What then?

For eighteen months they transferred me from barrack to barrack. And I memorized eight thousand, three hundred and fifty seven names. Mostly Jews, but also Poles, Frenchmen, Belarussians, and even your fellow Russians.

You remembered them all?

Every name. In the end, the troops forced all survivors on a death march to camps in Germany. But I pretended to be too sick to move and they left without me. When Russian soldiers forced open the barracks' doors, there were only a few thousand. A few thousand out of more than a million.

You didn't go back to Warsaw?

What for? There's nothing for me there. Many tried to go to Palestine, but the British opposed us. They put us back in camps again... this time without gas chambers. I escaped with some young friends and learned to fight and shoot. We began hunting the many Nazis who escaped the Allies – Gestapo officials, SS troops, and others. In '47 we received an invitation to return to Israel – we had a country of our own now.

Eight thousand three hundred fifty seven men, Captain. They are all here, in my head. I made a written list of them, and sent them to all the Allied nations. But they didn't leave me. So my war will never end.

You're a strong man, Moshe. Maybe too strong.

I understand. But I won't let you down Captain. We have important work to do.

The squad picks up the pace, and before long they're back at the Forester's hut.

Welcome! And I can see you want to lure him away for good!

Hello again, Gambusino.

Hello, Kid.

Is it possible you were scared of the guys who took you?

These days anything's possible. Stay away from McLeod, Kid. He's over your head.

I'm not a kid anymore, Fidel. I've got a job for you. When the job is done you can go wherever you want.

And if I turn down your little job?

Then settle your affairs with McLeod... Alone.

Fine. By the way, I've got one more thing to settle. Hey, Grandpa!

My name is Karl.

OK, Karl. We need a place to stay for awhile.

I see. You're welcome to stay at my place. The more the merrier. Do you need money?

Maybe. Why?

There's an antiquarian in town named Alfred. Americans and Britons buy rare items from him, but no one asks where he got them.

Where did he get them?

His brother worked for the Gestapo in Berlin, and ransacked treasures from the “enemies” of the Reich. Alfred sells them on the sly. Tell him he has to pay you to keep his dirty little secret. I'd have Moshe threaten him, but he'd kill the old vampire. Good luck.

Fidel's job will be picking locks, disarming traps, setting mines and occasionally blowing holes in walls. Since the squad is pretty small we'll need him as a trigger puller as well, but the technical stuff comes first. He starts with medium body armor, and a Degtyaryov light machine gun- also known as a DP 28. It is a gas operated, pan magazine fed weapon of Russian origin, and fires the classic rimmed 7.62x54mm cartridge. It has a generously sized magazine, and the heft of the cartridge means that it can punch through most walls with impunity. The squad has more subtle work in mind, so we'll be swapping Fidel's fatigues with a civilian disguise, and giving him tools more suited to his expertise. If we get into anything hairy, Fidel will just have to hunker down and hope for the best.

Next we head back to Sigmund's compound, to collect our reward. It's a short walk from the Forester's hut.

We find Sigmund in one of the houses.

Very good. Here's your fee. Can you do one more thing for me?

You help a guy once and he thinks he can live off you forever!

No, no. This helps you, too. You need soldiers, so take Larry with you. I don't want him here on the day they finally come to arrest us old soldiers.

You really think he'd be safer with me?

No. But he could have a future with you. He has relatives in East Germany. If he serves you well, maybe you can take him back with you.

OK. I'll take him.

Larry is a somewhat talented engineer, although he'll never be quite as good as Fidel. We're still going to be outgunned in just about every fight we get into, so we'll devote Larry to skills related to shooting. After a few more levels, Larry will be an excellent machine-gunner, although his low strength will prevent him from carrying all the ammunition we'd like him to have.

It's almost 1:15, and squad has been walking back and fourth for quite a while. Time for a much deserved and needed rest. We'll head back to our hideout in the forest.

And rest all through the next day. We have a lot of action ahead of us, no need to rush into it starved and sleep deprived. We're up two more squad members now, and we've got a name.

McLeod.

 

[oscar]

Do you get any benefit for sleeping longer?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Far as I can tell, sleeping's only good for advancing time, and temporarily putting your squadmates off your team if you're gonna do something they'll object etc.

 

[Cholo]

May heal wounds on some difficulty settings? Not really though- had to add some flavor text for some of the decisions to make more sense / come off as less gamey. It would have been a nice touch though, racing against the clock, choosing if and when to rest, maybe using stimulants to fight fatigue, and facing diminishing returns or withdraw.


Edit: what ERY-bro said ^^ (although, squadmates may still object to actions taken when they rejoin the squad, it's great how reactive parts of this game are.... I'll try and grabs screens of one great example)

Spoiler

Fuck! Couldn't get it to trigger, but in past runthroughs Larry will notice if you off Sigmund while he's napping. If you bring the scoped M1 Garand from the compound after you kill the bandit sniper, he'll even comment on that saying those rifles are too rare to have just come across randomly. Shame I couldn't get it, I really wanted to show those conversations. Sometimes getting triggers to run correctly in this game can be a hassle.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Heh, they'll complain only if they think you did it, example-

Spoiler

I accepted Conrad's job, then accepted The convoy job. Then, after rescuing Fidel, I had Larry sleep at Conrad's place while I went and killed Sigmund. Since I never went back to that place until the base ambushes, Larry was convinced Thor's Hammer was the one that offed Sigmund.

 

[Cholo]

Chapter 10: Snooping around Zeizenburg

Spoiler

We head back to Zeizenburg. There was something fishy about the Bartender's story, and I want to see if we can dig anything more up on Mr. Smith. Fidel seems hesitant to go, but Smith will supposedly be out all night and we might need his skills if we're going to snoop around.

The objective for today will be to determine if there's any connection between “Mr. Smith” and the McLeod fellow, and to see if there's any link there to the strange occurrences in the area. Maybe we'll find info on those mystery soldiers from Gaffburg, or even see something about the roadblock shooting. HQ said whoever was operating here, they weren't Soviet- so it will be to our advantage to figure out who exactly they are.

The squad gets to Zeizenburg just after midnight. Fidel gets noticeably agitated as we approach the site of his arrest in the town. Let's see if we can get any more info out of him.

How I got here?

For starters.

When we were crossing the Don river, I was wounded and the Germans caught me. I thing some bastard betrayed me. When they found out I was Spanish, they decided to execute me. But Schellenberg's SS division decided I could be useful.

Useful how?

Double agent in the French Resistance. A lot of my guys from the Spanish Civil War were helping the French. I infiltrated the Resistance and asked them to help me kill the SS goons holding my leash. Then I left for England.

That's when you started working for the British?

Yes. I trained under Colonel McLeod – a vicious man. They wanted to use me against the Soviets after the war.

What did you say?

I escaped. I cooked up an accident so they would think I was dead. Look, I'm over forty. I wanted a calmer life. Maybe move to South America. Brazil, maybe. But it took me time to get out...

Smith lives right above the bar, so we'll check around his house.

Fidel deftly picks the front door's lock.

And enters Smith's home. Empty.

Fidel moves through another doorway into a dining room. There's a gigantic safe against the wall and next to a bookshelf. Fidel's years of training kick in and almost without even looking he can tell the safe has been booby-trapped.

Fidel removes a set of tools from his jacket pocket, and gets to work. If Smith had anything interesting, it will probably be just behind the safe door.

Looks like Fidel was right, a frag grenade. We'll hold on to that for later.

With the safe open, we find...

Look at these photos. It's the water scoop installation. And a date. There's writing on the back, but it looks like code. The date is... tomorrow. We better hurry.

Hey! I know where this is!

Where?

Wenzburg. This is the water scoop, where they pump water from the lake. We had a Nazi Youth summer camp near there, and took a field trip to the pumping station. It's a US army post now.

Where is it?

About sixty kilometers from here. You can get there by highway or train. It may take a long time to get a driver to take us. Unless we beat him up!

We'll need some serious weapons. And papers. I'm sure the place is crawling with patrols.

take a look at the equipment we have now that we've raided “Smith's” appartment.

The Captain has a Lee Enfield, with an extra ten rounds of .303 pocketed, a German M24 hand grenade, a roll of bandages, an extra Allied uniform, and the fake counterintelligence papers from Sigmund.

Sanders has Moshe's Uzi stowed away, the Soviet first aid kit, an extra magazine of 9mm, another German grenade, and some papers from the safe. Don't know if they'll work since she doesn't have an Allied uniform, but better safe than sorry.

Moshe has another Lee Enfield with spare ammunition, The Captain's wire cutters, the Water Scoop's blueprints, another Stielhandgranate, and a spare Allied uniform.

Fidel took one of the Allied disguises from Smith's safe and has discarded his civilian clothes. He is armed with one of the M3A1 submachine guns Sigmund gave us, the grenade he pulled off the safe, a spare grenade, a pair of .45 ACP mags, a roll of bandages, Allied ID papers and some engineer tools. You can see he's only at 50% weight capacity, so we'll be using him to carry heavy stuff when needed.

Larry took an Allied disguise as well, another M3A1 submachine gun, a lightweight grenade, a pair of spare magazines and the final set of ID papers.

Looks like we're all kitted out for some snooping and shooting, now all we need to do is figure out how to get to the Water Scoop.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another short update, so I'll post a few more thoughts on the content we've seen so far.

Conrad Choice:

Unfortunately, we're forced to talk with Conrad and make a choice before we can leave the map. Not wanting to help him means we have to kill him. If we agree to help him, we don't actually have to, and he never gets curious about why Sigmund is still alive or where his dynamite is.


The choice here is between getting Larry early, or getting Moshe at all. (Although Thor K. says you can get him by interacting with the jeweler in Zeizenburg?? Will have to try that out on another playthough- I had no idea!) I picked Moshe, for the extra story content and since he's so useful for his spotting and long range crits by the end of the game. That said, we miss three fun, inventive, small scale firefights (Peter Klaus, Allied Convoy and American Roadblock) because of this and the first half of the game is more walking around and talking than anything else.


May have been the wrong choice for a Let's Play, hopefully people aren't falling asleep.


Moshe, The Forrest & Zeizenburg:

Lots of great ideas here, a real shame the game didn't expand on or reiterate what it gives to us in this section. The concept of a disguise is introduced (civilian clothes), as are concealable weapons. Sidearms, knives and hand grenades can be hidden on your squadmates, but everything else will get you escorted out of town, put in jail, or shot up by American soldiers.


Since this is a game about espionage in the cold war, I really wish the developers had forced you to rely on hiding in plain sight more often. Also, there's really no need to carry any weapons at this point of the game, since there won't be any combat for some time. Having more small scale shootouts like the Peter Klaus encounter, or even stumbling upon much larger groups of enemies which could force you to retreat (since you haven't brought enough firepower) could have been interesting. Even random encounters could have been a good way to force you to chose between concealability of firearms and actual protection of your characters.


That said, I kind of respect the designers for keeping random encounters and trash combat out of the game. (With a FEW exceptions)


Gaffburg, The Hamlet & The Prison:

Fidel is taken away but there's no good way to break him out just yet, other than shooting up the place. I'm not sure why the game thinks you're supposed to go back to Gaffburg at this point, your bed and radio are in the Forest and Fidel is in the Prison. Anyway, you do, and that gives you access to Sigmund's compound.


You're told, twice, to come in alone and unarmed. If you don't do this, the guards around the Hamlet will open up on you. Sigmund then just GIVES you disguises, a forged Allied officer's ID, and American small arms. Sigmund then gives you money, and he gives you another squadmate. It's a windfall, and it's jarring how easily it all comes.


The prison itself was a great idea, and clearly had a lot of time put into it. Unfortunately, there's really nothing to be gained by exploring it or shooting up the guards. We have Allied disguises now, and can just waltz up to the commander for the prison and demand a pair of his prisoners. There is an intelligence check which was a great touch, but other than a hidden dice role there's no real challenge here. If the developers had more time and resources, I wonder if they would have expanded on this area.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

When you figure that the ID of Andrew Lindsey comes from the officer in the Convoy you'd raid, it's perhaps not as jarring. It's very likely that Sigmund would want to get rid of it, as it's evidence of a sort that he's raided the convoy himself. Far from being a windfall, from Sigmund's perspective it was probably a matter of convenience and necessity to give it to you. In other words, Komrade Kaptain got played.

 

[anus_pounder]

This is some good shit. I would play it, but since you're being so kind... So I'll go play Silent Storm + Xpack instead.