OK are these two ideas totally insane and without merit, or the sort of insane that is potentially fun?  I don't think actual sanity is involved here.  Both ideas allow, among other things, Nazi-free WWII games where you don't know how it all is going to end.

(1) Pure fantasy, working title "Panzers on the Anduin" in which with a bit of ethnographic and historical fluff, the all-human nations of the fifth age wage war on a Middle-Earth map updated for five or six centuries of progress free from elvish interference.  I've always taken Gondor for a pretty fascist place anyway, what with all that going on about the importance of pure Numenorian blood and all. 

(2) Alt WWII in which a  Germany that is still a republic is part of an anti-communist alliance against General-Secretary Trotsky's  second shot at continuous revolution.  Either a good way to use all the early war kit in new combinations (BT-7s vs Char D-2?  Red Cavalry vs Polish Cavalry?  And any country could have joined the comintern in the 20s!) or a 1944 version.  One thing about that kit the Germans based on the 38T and various French chassis (there was even an "Becker" replacement for the SdKfz 251!) is that you can deploy 1944-viable French and Czechoslovak forces!

Anyway, I'd like your opinions.  Is this nuts?  Is it any more nuts than 18th century Imagi-Nations? 

Hello lentulus

No this is not nuts. Most of my dabbling takes place in imagi-nations now, mostly for the reason that I can't be wrong about any details  .

You could have a look at this blog posting which has some interesting ideas about alternate WW2 scenarios:-

interbellumimaginations.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/an-alternative-ww2.html

Hasn't been added to for a while but the basic concepts are interesting. A non-Nazi Germany, an anti German coalition of France, Czechoslovakia and Poland, a Britain more inclined to be sympathetic to Germany, etc.

Have fun

Cheers

GrumpyOldMan

Interesting thoughts, thanks!

Nuts! Doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of nuts! I love alternative world scenarios. I have written on this forum before that one of my current games is a 1960/70 TV mash up where a small Scottish town becomes invaded by creatures plucked out of time and space. Dinosaurs vs Confederates who had Centurion (tank) support. Alien vs vampire, Zombie Nazis.

If it's fun, and it doesn't hurt anybody, do it!

I must confess, your Armoured Elves do fascinate me as a concept. I think they'd have fast tanks, BT or Crusader type chassis ... Dwarves would have Churchill/Tiger types ... Goblins in Grants .... you may be on to something .... 

Make sure you have Elrond and Galadriel photographing themselves with mobile 'phones (it's known as taking an elfie, I understand).

The second one appeals to me as I've dabbled in various early war 'what ifs?'. The whole AVBCW 'period' is full of possibilities all across Europe, so plenty of scope for things to escalate into war.

Quote from: FierceKitty on 05 October 2014, 06:59:04 AM
Make sure you have Elrond and Galadriel photographing themselves with mobile 'phones (it's known as taking an elfie, I understand).

No more nuts than any AVBCW type scenario. Quite possibly more realistic than many "historical" wargames, too

My conception of AVBCW has a balkanised Germany fragment somewhat when UK & French intervention in the Spanish Civil kicks the Fascist in the nuts. Austrians backed by the Italians again fight off Anschluss and East & Central Europe becomes a multi sided "not quite a full on war" with everyone stuck in to their historic differences...

The Russians are ominously quiet, mostly, but horrible rumours keep coming out along with arms and close mouthed Commissars to "aid the fraternal revolutionary brothers" etc. but not enough to swing any balance, especially as the French are a creaking but surprisingly dominant superpower. They weren't so riven by factionalism (the CP's last instruction were anti-Germany, which chimed perfectly with nationalist fervour erupting after an "oberserving" Gendarme was mown down by German a armoured car in the abortive seizing if the Rhineland.). So there's a militarised left leaning France at one end currently meddlin to keep te Germanies disunited, propping up the Republic in Spain and moderates in the UK civil war and making sabre rattling noises over Central Europe whenever anyone gets too frisky.

You could have fictional Eastern European nations - the map was fairly fragmented after Versailles. One could be a Soviet friend, so has early war Soviet kit, another could be British client, Horseguards trying to stop the red horde by sending old armoured cars etc.

Nazi dwarf zombies riding mechanical, steam driven boars fighting off hordes of Soviet Socialist orcs using dart firing mouth organs and hurling handfuls of Uncle Joe's Mintballs.

Push off back to Games Workshop

Quote from: lentulus on 04 October 2014, 11:06:29 PM


Anyway, I'd like your opinions.  Is this nuts?  Is it any more nuts than 18th century Imagi-Nations? 

You are no more nuts than any other wargamer. If WW II Imagineering -I nicked that from a bloke on the LAW Forum- is what floats your boat then who can gainsay you? After all it's your hobby to do with it whatever you want. My passion is the Mongols -especially the European Campaign of 1241- and I in the process of working out the details for a solo Mongol invasion of the rest of Europe after the Hungarians and Polish got a kicking. I am also dabbling in 6mm 7YW with the intention of painting them as Prussians/Russians/Austrians or French but renaming them for my own Imagineering campaign.

Henry Hyde (the Editor of MWBG) has some great ideas for campaigns -his are 18C but transposable to most periods; he sells a compilation pdf with all the ideas  on his site at:

http://henrys-wargaming.co.uk/?download=wars-of-the-faltenian-succession-the-complete-series-compilation

I've got a copy and it's very useful. Plus £1 goes to Combat Stress Appeal for every copy he sells so it's a win-win.

Your idea has all the hallmarks of an interestingly different topic. Keep us posted if you would.

Hello lentulus

Some more links if you want to delve a bit more into alternate WW2 history scenarios:-

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/
http://www.dalecozort.com/ww2main.htm
Books on alternate histories:-
www.uchronia.net/bib.cgi/search.html?id=world+war

Cheers

GrumpyOldMan

With so much rich military history to select from I can't understand why people feel the need to make things up.

Now, please excuse me, I need to go back to painting some additions for the Anglo-French Naval War of 1902. 

I must say I had not thought of keeping the non-human races in "PotA" but now mentioned it is tempting.  But alt-1940s sounds a good deal cleaner.  I will mull over the idea further.