Arc 10597: Axis and Allies

The Producers is awesome! I would absolutely put "Don't be stupid, be a smarty! Come and join the Nazi party!" to the tagline of the story arc except that the obscenity filter would totally go berserk on that line.

Now that you've reminded me, I'm tempted to change the "France surrenders" clue to say, "Springtime for Hitler, and Germany! Winter for Poland and France!"

Anyway, in other news I ran a test run of the revised Axis and Allies on a solo 24 SS/will brute, slotted with SOs only, on Malicious (level 2) difficulty. I found I was able to beat the new Maiden Justice, who spawned as an EB for me, in a single try using 2 purple, 2 orange and 4 green inspirations, with some help from 5th Column allies.

So, hopefully the final boss should be much more doable for soloers. Wish I had made her a custom boss long ago; I had resisted doing so before because I thought the "standard" AVs would always be easier than a "custom" AV, and I also wanted to save the story arc space.

So here's a re-review as part of my CoHMR projective.

@GlaziusF

Playing on a level 39 ice/axe tanker, diff 2 so boss fights are bossily fighting.

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You know, apropos of nothing, it would be hilarious if you succeeded in every mission but didn't change history one bit. Just to schadenfreude Schadenfreude.

So technically, the "5th Column" is supposed to be some kind of infiltration wing. Like there are four columns of troops outside the city and the fifth column will arise from within the city itself.

Having Supreme Leader there be a member is like making FDR a CIA operative or something. I wonder if you can call him like a "national socialist" or something.

Though actually he was more of a "flopping ragdoll". Go go axe knockdown.

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I dunno, wouldn't like morale suffer or something if the new Supreme Leader only popped back to take charge of things every couple of years or so?

Well, best not to think about time travel too much.

Map's still decent, the rebalance to actually put lieutenants in is definitely worthwhile, and the little spice of munitions dumps to blow up and send soldiers flying is at least a little fun diversion.

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Troop transports!

...are those anything like mole machines? They better not be anything like mole machines.

You know what would be hilarious? If General Winter and General Mud were actual super-powered dudes and everyone just thought that they were being hammered by Mother Nature this whole time.

Fortunately, troop transports are trucks.

Unfortunately there are a crapton of wrecked trucks on this map, leading to a lot of false positives. When the recticle doesn't pick up on them it's a pretty nice clue though.

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The president is defended by bad dudes. Am I a ninja enough dude to kidnap the president?

Still don't like Red Atlas. No minimap and terrible terrain.

Ouch. No "you lost me" text? I don't fancy taking on a hero without backup here.

I think I backtrack about four/five times just trying to figure out where I parked my allies and how to get them to keep up with me.

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Storyline - ***. Germany stomps on people despite having its leader absent most of the time? I wonder if it might work better the other way 'round - showing up at key battles to swing them for the Germans, then when Herr Painter is at the victory celebration, clout him in the back of the head and lead the resulting amalgamation as the legendary heroes of the war.

Design - ****. The russian soldiers need something obvious to distinguish them from the commissars. They all looked like a bunch of dudes in shoulderpads. Similarly the Frenchies looked like a bunch of dudes in blue coveralls. And... Red Atlas. I do hate Red Atlas so very much.

Gameplay - ***. So ally-losing blindly-wandering frantic-tabbing objective-hunt-and-pecking much. It's a huge buzzkill trying to find the, what, four things on that map I have to do and leading allies around to fight the same dudes over and over again.

Detail - ****. It's good, but sparse. Probably because of text limitations, but sparse is sparse.

Overall - ***. It's what every villain wants to do, but the plot is a little weird even for time travel, and RED ATLAS RED ATLAS RED ATLAS RAAAAAAAAAGH.

Thanks for the review!


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Storyline - ***. Germany stomps on people despite having its leader absent most of the time? I wonder if it might work better the other way 'round - showing up at key battles to swing them for the Germans, then when Herr Painter is at the victory celebration, clout him in the back of the head and lead the resulting amalgamation as the legendary heroes of the war.

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I'm not really sure I understand your objection to the story? Are you saying the player should be more involved in the day-to-day management of the Third Reich? Germany actually had excellent generals overall, and it's a common belief that Hitler's erratic micromanagement was a contributor to losing the war.

I'm not sure your suggestion of moving the assassination of Hitler to be the last mission makes as much dramatic sense as finishing with the invasion of America. I feel like giving the player ownership of the war early on gives them more motivation to actually win the battles, while being Hitler's lackey probably would be demotivating.

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Design - ****. The russian soldiers need something obvious to distinguish them from the commissars. They all looked like a bunch of dudes in shoulderpads. Similarly the Frenchies looked like a bunch of dudes in blue coveralls. And... Red Atlas. I do hate Red Atlas so very much.

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While all Russians share the same color scheme, they actually do have different costumes; commissars actually have dress shirts and officer hats, while the regular troopers have long coats and a sorta cylindrical cap. Likewise the French lieutenants have dress shirts and slacks while the regular soldiers have combat vests and fatigues.

I kinda think each nationality should use the color scheme of their national uniform, so I'm hesitant to change their colors to make them stand out. I'm kinda hoping that the different name, different rank, and different costume pieces will be sufficient to distinguish them. Is there something else you'd suggest adding?

Regarding Red Atlas, I'd love to use a normal colored Atlas Park, but there are only three Atlas Park maps: the one that doesnt let you author any mission details of note, the one that has a gigantic meteorite impact on it, and the ruined Atlas Park map with Council war machines and broken tanks on it. I agree that the lack of a map and the broken terrain are not ideal, but the other two Atlas maps seem even worse to me. Is there another map you think would be more suitable for the Invasion America mission?

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Gameplay - ***. So ally-losing blindly-wandering frantic-tabbing objective-hunt-and-pecking much. It's a huge buzzkill trying to find the, what, four things on that map I have to do and leading allies around to fight the same dudes over and over again.

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What do you think I can do to improve this? Happy to entertain suggestions. I don't think players would accept making them "Defeat All" but reducing the number of objectives still leaves people stealthing around looking for just the objectives they need. I kinda feel that the battle scenes need to be on an outdoor map, so I am not sure I can make the maps smaller and have the missions still make sense.

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Detail - ****. It's good, but sparse. Probably because of text limitations, but sparse is sparse.

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In what area would you like to see more detail? I'm hoping I will have more space to play with in I15, so would be glad to add more material.

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Overall - ***. It's what every villain wants to do, but the plot is a little weird even for time travel, and RED ATLAS RED ATLAS RED ATLAS RAAAAAAAAAGH.

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Heh, I'm sorry that you hate this particular map so much that one map in one mission would affect your overall opinion. What map do you think I should've used instead?

Also, why do you feel this plot is "weird even for time travel"? "Germany wins WW2" is one of the most common time travel tropes (e.g., see Godwin's Law of Time Travel).

I'd be happy to make some adjustments if you can suggest any.


Anyway, thanks again for running through the arc!

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Thanks for the review!
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Storyline - ***. Germany stomps on people despite having its leader absent most of the time? I wonder if it might work better the other way 'round - showing up at key battles to swing them for the Germans, then when Herr Painter is at the victory celebration, clout him in the back of the head and lead the resulting amalgamation as the legendary heroes of the war.

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I'm not really sure I understand your objection to the story? Are you saying the player should be more involved in the day-to-day management of the Third Reich? Germany actually had excellent generals overall, and it's a common belief that Hitler's erratic micromanagement was a contributor to losing the war.

I'm not sure your suggestion of moving the assassination of Hitler to be the last mission makes as much dramatic sense as finishing with the invasion of America. I feel like giving the player ownership of the war early on gives them more motivation to actually win the battles, while being Hitler's lackey probably would be demotivating.

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I can see I didn't get that across well, probably because of the late hour. Okay, here's the revised version: SF plans to paint you as "the mysterious savior of the Reich", you pull the German Army out of the scrapes Hitler's cranial-rectal inversions get them into, and then when he's celebrating the victory, you storm in, chop him into Hilterwurst, and use that reputation to seize the reins of the global German empire.

It doesn't seem quite right that leaving a giant power vacuum at the top because the new guy in charge spends all his time in the future actually results in a _more_ stable organization. The current sequence of events might work well enough if SF said she was staying behind as your adjutant representative or whatever.

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Design - ****. The russian soldiers need something obvious to distinguish them from the commissars. They all looked like a bunch of dudes in shoulderpads. Similarly the Frenchies looked like a bunch of dudes in blue coveralls. And... Red Atlas. I do hate Red Atlas so very much.

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While all Russians share the same color scheme, they actually do have different costumes; commissars actually have dress shirts and officer hats, while the regular troopers have long coats and a sorta cylindrical cap. Likewise the French lieutenants have dress shirts and slacks while the regular soldiers have combat vests and fatigues.

I kinda think each nationality should use the color scheme of their national uniform, so I'm hesitant to change their colors to make them stand out. I'm kinda hoping that the different name, different rank, and different costume pieces will be sufficient to distinguish them. Is there something else you'd suggest adding?

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Officers get epaulets. Soldiers don't. I don't fight with the camera close enough to make out differences in a texture pattern that starts out with solid colors, but I can definitely tell who has things on their shoulders and who doesn't at a glance.

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Regarding Red Atlas, I'd love to use a normal colored Atlas Park, but there are only three Atlas Park maps: the one that doesnt let you author any mission details of note, the one that has a gigantic meteorite impact on it, and the ruined Atlas Park map with Council war machines and broken tanks on it. I agree that the lack of a map and the broken terrain are not ideal, but the other two Atlas maps seem even worse to me. Is there another map you think would be more suitable for the Invasion America mission?

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Maybe we could fight out on the beaches? (Eleusis map)

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Gameplay - ***. So ally-losing blindly-wandering frantic-tabbing objective-hunt-and-pecking much. It's a huge buzzkill trying to find the, what, four things on that map I have to do and leading allies around to fight the same dudes over and over again.

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What do you think I can do to improve this? Happy to entertain suggestions. I don't think players would accept making them "Defeat All" but reducing the number of objectives still leaves people stealthing around looking for just the objectives they need. I kinda feel that the battle scenes need to be on an outdoor map, so I am not sure I can make the maps smaller and have the missions still make sense.

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Change the map. That's it, really. It's near impossible to find stuff on Red Atlas because it likes to spawn inside ruined buildings and you have no way of easily figuring out where you've been.

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Detail - ****. It's good, but sparse. Probably because of text limitations, but sparse is sparse.

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In what area would you like to see more detail? I'm hoping I will have more space to play with in I15, so would be glad to add more material.

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Army descriptions. If you decide to tweak the plot text, longer briefings. "boss fights" with minions and lieutenants from the custom groups which are basically just setpiece battles. Maybe a recurring war reporter character or something. Glowies to pick up that might indicate you're not alone in the timestream.

I don't know how much more space you're going to have free or how much you can put into it, but put in as much as you can.

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It's what every villain wants to do, but the plot is a little weird even for time travel...

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No No No. This villain certainly does not want to be made into a time-traveling fascist agent and forced to help Nazi Germany win.

There is no campiness here, like in The Producers, to mock the Nazis. There isn't even a mention that killing Hitler averts the Holocaust.

Once again, check out this trope PW.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...elExemptionAct

"Trying to kill Hitler simply doesn't work" in a time travel story. That may be because he was such a singular evil, seething with hate. Even the stories which argue that removing him will allow someone worse to step in, still put you in a Catch-22. That's exactly the position in which you put the player.

The consensus in time travel stories is that Germany was meant to lose, should always lose in some form. There is nothing to set right here.

I'm tempted to say make the morality for this arc neutral, cause all you claim to be doing is playing military strategy. If you won't accept that the implicatiosn of your arc are immoral, make it amoral.

See, I disagree. I think the fact that PW turns that cliche on its head is what makes this arc so strong.

Typically, stories about Nazi Germany are about two things:

1) You travel back in time to prevent Hitler from becoming chancellor of Germany. You either 1) fail or 2) bring around something far worse than what Hitler was.

OR

2) The story takes place in an alternative history where Germany won World War II. Hitler (then usually Himmler) rules the world with an iron fist.

This arc actually twists BOTH of those. You travel backward in time to take Hitler out SO that you can in turn rule Nazi Germany which then rules the world with an iron fist.

Nowhere in PW's arc does it say that you bring around the Holocaust. That is left completely up to you. Maybe you do bring around the Holocaust. Maybe you bring around a different sort of Holocaust (kill all 'em French!). Or maybe you become a ruler like Dr. Doom rules Lativeria. Who knows? It's completely up to YOU, as the player, to decide what happens as a result of your helping Germany win World War II.

I think that, as far as villainous arcs goes, this is one of the best arcs out there. Only New Age Ronin's "Becky's Revenge" comes close as a good villainous arc, and that one is more humor-themed.

"Axis and Allies" earns Citizen Razor's Seal of Approval.

I would have to check the arc again, but I think Hitler is already the Fuhrer. There may be a specific date given, but I think it's supposed to occur late in the war, when Germany is losing the war after opening a second front w/Russia.

That means Nazi ideology has been active for maybe a dozen years and concentration and extermination camps in full operation, also for years.

PW has stated in several places that in this arc you, the player, Set Right What Once Went Wrong. But you don't prevent any atrocities commited by Nazi Germany. Instead you become the new Fuhrer and ensure Nazi Germany's victory.

The arc turns you into a fascist, w/ all the baggage that carries. If you enjoyed playing this arc, it must have been in a morally neutral way. If you don't see it, I can't make you see that. It's just war games to you.

Btw, go see Inglorious Basterds when it comes out.
Then we'll talk again.

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I would have to check the arc again, but I think Hitler is already the Fuhrer. There may be a specific date given, but I think it's supposed to occur late in the war, when Germany is losing the war after opening a second front w/Russia.

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Just as a point of fact, the first mission has dialog explicitly placing it after the annexation of Sudetenland (Sept 1938) and prior to the invasion of Poland (Sept 1939).

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That means Nazi ideology has been active for maybe a dozen years and concentration and extermination camps in full operation, also for years.

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Wikipedia's article on the Final Solution describes the Final Solution being decided upon in around Jan 1942, with some scholars arguing for as early as Dec 1941. People were killed earlier than that, of course; but that's when it was institutionalized.

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PW has stated in several places that in this arc you, the player, Set Right What Once Went Wrong. But you don't prevent any atrocities commited by Nazi Germany. Instead you become the new Fuhrer and ensure Nazi Germany's victory.

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As the Holocaust is rightfully a very sensitive subject, I would rather steer clear of depicting it in this story in any way. After the initial assassination, the story is primarily focused on military action.

Based on the timeline presented, you are welcome to imagine whatever you like your character would've done about this. I'd rather keep the main story focused on the war, however.

Anyway -- in response to Glazius's earlier suggestion that the assassination of Hitler be reshuffled to be the very last mission in the timeline -- I think I can't do that as it will become too morally objectionable to some players. It seems necessary for the assassination to be the very first mission, as I'd rather the player be "in charge" of the war from an early date.

Oh, and in response to the person who left feedback saying that "The Wolf's Lair" is in Poland.... it is now. Back then it was part of East Prussia. After WW2, the Soviet/Poland and Poland/East Germany borders were both moved westwards.

Thanks for the input!

Perhaps when i15 gives you the ability to do so, rename the 5th to "German army" or "SS" or some such? That was my biggest gripe with this arc, the 5th were based out of the US, weren't they?

Besides which, the 5th are still around today. Their original purpose as a military unit is no longer valid, so they're heavily implying that they stay together because of their Nazi ideology. Making them strictly a military unit would further help distance your character from the Nazi party, and all that implies.

Changes as a result of feedback:
* Added a new faction, "Wehrmacht", containing 5th Column minions, lieutenants and bosses. (I considered deleting all the fantasy elements, vampires and werewolves and such....but, heck, it's a comic book universe. Left them in.)
* Added a new faction, "Third Reich". Der Führer is the only member of this faction.
* Schadenfreude, the initial contact, remains 5th Column (since she is from the present day).

Mission 1
* Enemy group for this mission is now Wehrmacht.
* Ambushes, patrols are now Wehrmacht.
* Der Führer's guards, and Schadenfreude's guards, all Wehrmacht.
* Changed Der Führer's weapon to be a Council submachinegun.
* Mission complete clue changed to remove 5th Column reference and to insert the word "putsch", which feels like a word that needs more use. Clue is now:

"After a successful putsch, you have become the new Führer. The forces of the Third Reich are at your command!"

Mission 2
* British models now have the description:

"Following the German invasion of Poland, the British Expeditionary Force was sent to the Franco-Belgian border. The rapid advance of the Wehrmacht through the Low Countries as part of the Manstein Plan has left them trapped in Dunkirk, cut off from Allied reinforcements."

* French models now have the description:

"The French First Army marched north to oppose the German advance through the Ardennes. The Wehrmacht's blitzkrieg tactics have left them trapped in Dunkirk, cut off from the rest of the French forces."

* Costume tweaks for French lieutenant: added moustasche, removed gloves, changed style of pants, changed color of undershirt.
* Deleted ambush when fighting Lord Gort, to make space.

Mission 3
* Mission is now titled "Case Blue", which more accurately describes the 1942 German operations in southern Russia.
* Battles are now between Red Army and Wehrmacht.
* I was unable to author General Paulus as a Wehrmacht boss; for some reason, standard PvE bosses added to a custom faction cannot be used for "boss" or "ally" details. I don't have enough space to make a new custom model for General Paulus, so he remains 5th Column (for now; may change in I15).
* Changed Soviet Trooper's costume to distinguish him from the officers: removed shoulder epaulets, changed shirt to tank top, changed boots to combat boots.
* Soviet troops now have the description:

"This soldier is part of Operation Uranus, a Soviet counter-offensive which has trapped the German 6th Army in Stalingrad."

Mission 4
* Changed map to Steel Canyon; others had complained about Ruined Atlas Park before, but the searing white hatred that Glazius expressed ultimately pushed me over the edge for this. This is kind of a big map (may even be bigger than Atlas Park) but it's better lit and has a map. It's a little less iconic for CoH than Atlas Park, but oh well.
* Steel Canyon is a little less iconic than Atlas Park, but hopefully will work. If I get a lot of complaints about Steel Canyon not looking right for Invasion America, I may switch back.
* Stormtroopers remain 5th Column, mostly because the interface won't allow me to make them Wehrmacht allies. However, since this mission is set in Paragon City, having 5th Column allies actually works.
* Added "Ally Stranded Dialog" for Schadenfreude and Stormtroopers.
* American troops now have the description:

"Recalled from overseas to defend the American heartland, this soldier stands ready to repel the enemies of the United States."

* Deleted "American Surrender" mission completion clue to make space; it's kind of redundant since the arc ends immediately after.

Souvenir
* Cropped some less-needed text out to make space.


I ran one test with a 29 SS/will brute and this all seemed to work fairly well. Searching Steel Canyon in the last mission was a little annoying because it's bigger than the Atlas Park map, but at least it HAS a map, so going to try it for now.


Things I want to do when I15 comes out and hopefully I have more space:
* Add back some ambushes at key points.
* Add back the American Sergeant mob in mission 4.
* Add some Wehrmacht/US Army and 5th Column/PPD battles to mission 4
* Add some non-required destructible objects to mission 4 (maybe hero statues like in the cape mission).
* Figure out some way to give Maiden Justice Unyielding (for KB protection) without giving her Unstoppable.

Schadenfreude, the initial contact, remains 5th Column (since she is from the present day).

Schadenfreude is the name of an AV in the two new (wretched) TFs in i15. I know it sucks to lose a good name, but you might want to consider changing this.

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* I was unable to author General Paulus as a Wehrmacht boss; for some reason, standard PvE bosses added to a custom faction cannot be used for "boss" or "ally" details. I don't have enough space to make a new custom model for General Paulus, so he remains 5th Column (for now; may change in I15).


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Really? I know I did that in my arc, and it was still working as of a week ago or so.

One thing I do recall, though, is that I could not select a "Random" boss for a detail; the boss had to be added individually. Perhaps this is the issue with Gen. Paulus?

-D

Really? I know I did that in my arc, and it was still working as of a week ago or so.

I've never been able to do it.

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Really? I know I did that in my arc, and it was still working as of a week ago or so.

One thing I do recall, though, is that I could not select a "Random" boss for a detail; the boss had to be added individually. Perhaps this is the issue with Gen. Paulus?


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I've tried this a couple ways, adding to the "Wehrmacht" custom group both "Random 5th Column Boss" and specific bosses from the standard 5th Column enemy group; neither seemed to allow me to use them as Bosses or Allies through the Wehrmacht faction, even though I can use the same mobs as Bosses or Allies from the 5th Column faction.

I think this is probably a bug or at the very least unintended; if you know some workaround I'd be glad to try it though?

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I've tried this a couple ways, adding to the "Wehrmacht" custom group both "Random 5th Column Boss" and specific bosses from the standard 5th Column enemy group; neither seemed to allow me to use them as Bosses or Allies through the Wehrmacht faction, even though I can use the same mobs as Bosses or Allies from the 5th Column faction.

I think this is probably a bug or at the very least unintended; if you know some workaround I'd be glad to try it though?

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I'll have to check my arc once I get home, but I thought for certain that I managed to get this to work. If my memory isn't playing tricks on me, I'll let you know.

And if it is playing tricks on me again, I'll probably forget this ever happened. >_>

-D

Grab a standard 5th boss, then type 'Wehrmacht' into the top text field located under 'boss text'. I believe it's labeled 'boss display faction' or something.

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Grab a standard 5th boss, then type 'Wehrmacht' into the top text field located under 'boss text'. I believe it's labeled 'boss display faction' or something.

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Hmmm, the top text field under "Boss Text" for me is "Boss Description", and top field under "Ally Text" is "Ally Description". Is "Boss Display Faction" a new feature on test server maybe? If so, that would certainly solve my problem.

Yeah, it's on test. My bad, thought you were talking about that already since you said you'd renamed your 5th.

Some tinkering I've done recently:

Mission 2:
* French soldiers now have "regen" secondary (was martial arts). I liked the idea that French would know savate, but I had several players comment that the French were throwing shurikens, which didn't make sense.
* Added a little more text to the mission briefing. (Was too sparse before.)

Mission 3:
* Soviet commissars now have "pain" secondary (was sonic resonance). "Pain domination" just felt like a better fit for how I picture the comissars operating.

Mission 4:
* American sergeants now have "sonic resonance" secondary (was devices). I liked the grenade throw animation, but I also like the look of the sergeants yelling at their soldiers for buffs.
* Now that "ruined Atlas" has a proper map, I've moved this mission back to using "ruined Atlas" (was Steel Canyon). Reworded the mission briefing and mission entry popup to match.

Received a review from Sister_Twelve. Her opinion of it was rather lukewarm, which, thinking about it, is justified. This arc has been on my back burner for some time and hasn't been updated in awhile. Being my earliest effort, I wrote it when I knew a lot less about story arcs. Also, the earlier controversy on its subject matter kind of put me off promoting the arc, or even looking at it, for awhile.

But looking at it again with what I know now, I feel like there are things I could do to make it better. So I'm planning to generally overhaul the story arc, to use some of the newer Mission Architect features and to try and improve the story overall.


Recent changes:

* All "Boss" objectives changed to "Only Boss required" (at the suggestion of Sister_Twelve).
* Changed from "Looking for Feedback" to "Work in Progress".
* Arc-as-published was at 100.1% memory usage (apparently the result of code bloat from cumulative patches). As a result, I needed to cut some stuff to even be able to republish. I decided to try replacing some custom mobs with recolored standard mobs.
* Replaced the Russian soldier with an assortment of recolored Council Empire minions.
* Replaced the Russian political commissar with a recolored Paragon Police Psi-Cop lieutenant.
* Added some recolored Crazed minions (renamed to "Partisan") to the Russian forces, for variety. I think these scruffy guys actually look pretty good fighting alongside the regular Russian soldiers on the Stalingrad map.
* Added a recolored Council Empire lieutenant to the Russian forces, as a "Russian Sergeant"; though I'm thinking I might try to give him a more Russian-sounding name like "Starshina".
* Replaced the American soldier and American sergeant with recolored Malta operatives (NOT the sapper or gunslinger though). They're admittedly too futuristic looking, but the Malta tactical operative has the right shape helmet, and recolored in green looks very "green army man".
* Added a recolored Private Security Guard lieutenant as an American lieutenant; not quite sure if he works, he still looks pretty rent-a-cop.
* Added a recolored Paragon Police Psi-Captain boss to the Allies as a French officer, and changed General Weygand to use this model. The ludicrously high military cap and the sleeve stripes just seemed to make this work.
* Wrote a brief bio for the repurposed Crey Security Agents in the Secret Service faction (previously they had the default Crey bio).
* Reworked the Wehrmacht faction; instead of including all 5th Column, now it only includes the guys that look like actual soldiers (no robots, wolves, or vampires); renamed most of them also. This makes them look much more uniform, but now they're almost boringly homogenous; I'm kinda waffling on whether to add back the robots, wolves and vampires, for the sake of diversity.
* The increased use of recolored Crey, PPD, Crazed and Council Empire mobs made me change the arc's level range to 40-44. (I figure this is not significantly worse than 40-50 since even exemped to 44, you will still have all your powers.)

All these changes actually decreased my memory usage from 100.1% to 81%, while actually increasing the number of actual models that my custom factions are using (especially the Red Army group). I cut 4 custom models and added back probably two dozen recolored standard mobs. Reusing standard mobs also increases the net exp gain in the story arc (due to the exp penalty for custom mobs "standard" powers). On the downside, I now have to overlook a few visual oddities (PPD badges, anachronistic Malta gear, etc).

It feels like a good trade-off so far, though; especially because it now gives me some room to make more changes. I'll try to make some screenshots of the recolored mobs and post them later on.

I decided to try and revamp parts of the arc to present alternate history in more of a documentary style. Reworked mission 1 accordingly, still need to rework the later missions.

Specific changes to mission 1:
* Changed the timeline to make this mission occur in 1938, immediately before the Sudeten crisis (previously it was set in 1939, before the invasion of Poland). Based on my historical research, the German military very nearly overthrew Hitler on its own at this time, because they were afraid he was going to drag them into a war they couldn't win; but after the Munich Agreement that ceded the Sudeten to Germany, Hitler became much too popular to overthrow. So, immediately before the Munich Agreement seemed the ideal point for a time traveler to overthrow Hitler and take his place.
* Added a new "begin mission" clue, "History of World War 2".
* Added a new clue dropped upon defeating der Fuehrer, "August 1938".
* Added a new "end mission" clue, "September 1938".
* Changed the ally from being Schadenfreude to a generic German army officer named "Conspirator", belonging to the "Schwarze Kapelle" enemy group. (This was what the Gestapo called the conspiracy against Hitler within the German military.) I thought having "in-period" Germans trying to help the player overthrow Hitler would make it more believable when the player suddenly gets promoted to being the new Fuhrer. Gave him some background info to match. I considered naming this ally after a real German officer, but I thought it would be disrespectful (they all died pretty horrible deaths for trying to do the decent thing and resist Hitler).
* Originally the mission was set in "The Wolf's Lair", the bunker in East Prussia; but I found this wasn't actually built until 1940. The mission now is set in the "Fuhrerbunker", an underground bunker in Berlin built in 1936. Yeah, just like the 5th and Council, those wacky Nazis loved their underground bases.
* Added "Himmler", an optional vampyr boss, because most conspiracies to assassinate Hitler seemed to want to take out Himmler (the head of the SS and the Gestapo) too, just to be sure. I made him a vampyr because the photographs I found of him make him look exactly like a vampyr to me. I thought about adding a clue saying that defeating Himmler stopped the Final Solution (since Himmler was one of its chief architects) but decided that might be too heavy-handed. Decided I'd better just steer clear of that can of worms and leave it up to the player's imagination.
* Thought about adding an Eva Braun hostage but I decided against it; I didn't think it would add much, and I thought having Hitler's girlfriend present would make him seem too sympathetic.

Did some more revamping of this arc.

Mission 1:
* Added some text to briefing.
* Gave der Fuhrer a death message.
* Added some text to debriefing.

Mission 2:
* Added some text to mission entry popup.
* Cut down objectives to 2 British generals, 2 French generals (previously was 4 and 3).
* Defeating each general now spawns 3 to 4 friendly patrols or battles. Kinda stole this mechanic from my Destroyer of Worlds arc; eventually, the map is completely overrun by German panzers.
* Gave some dialog to General Prioux, General Brooke.

Mission 3:
* Added a "mission begin" clue.
* Rewrote "mission complete" clue.
* Added some text to debriefing. (Note: discovered "Stalin" is a bad word according to the profanity filter. But "Stalingrad" is not.)
* Renamed "troop transports" to "command posts" (thought that made them sound more important).
* Added lots of friendly patrols that spawn as you accomplish various interim goals, to give more of a visual effect that the German army is taking over the map.
* Reworded mission entry and mission exit popup messages.

Mission 4:
* Added a "mission begin" clue.
* Rewrote "mission complete" clue.
* Reworded mission entry and mission exit popup messages.
* Added some text to "send off" and "return success" dialogs.
* Several 5th Column patrols now spawn when each General is defeated and when the President is captured, to give more of a visual effect that the 5th Column is taking over the map.
* Gave more dialog to President Truman and Maiden Justice.

Quick Review: First things first, the contact has no description so I have no idea who she is or how she has access to Oroborous in order to perform unauthorized changes to the past, as she certainly doesn't appear to be a Mender.

While the recolored 5th Column troops retain German names for their LTs and Bosses, the minions are simply named "German Soldier?" The first mission also felt a bit "empty" considering that this was supposed to be the Furher's personal bunker. Oh wait, I'm Fuhrer now? I didn't realize that this version of the Nazi party functions on Asskicking Equals Authority.

What do you know, they have a pyramid in France and French Generals are psychics. This mission felt like it was missing a lot, I didn't see any battles between the Axis and Allies, and while there were Axis patrols there were no Axis allies to follow me around.

The third mission actually has some battles between the Germans and Russians, but what the heck are these Partisans doing wandering non-chalantly through the streets dressed like their heading out for a night on the town? I didn't know that Russian women went into battle in skirts and tank tops. Never saw this General Paulus either, seems he got killed on his own since the objective suddenly vanished mid-mission.

Finally found one of these damn Soviet Generals after hopping around the map for several minutes spamming my Tab key. Stealth on a required boss is a rather dick move to be honest, it just makes an already boring mission take much longer than it should.

Also he has some MASSIVE defense and speed debuffs, can ice shield his Mercs and the ambushers who come to aid him. After two pointless deaths I go off to find the other one, he was in a spot I traveled past several times now but couldn't see him because of his stealth.

This last mission bothers me right away because we know that Statesman and some other heroes fought in Europe during WW2, so where the heck are they this entire arc? Even when I go to the US he's not there, instead it's Maiden Justice and that's it?

Oh joy, minions with web grenade and they love to spam it. Then I see Maiden Justice, who is an EB with purple triangles of Doom and Unyielding running constantly. Since I'm a Dominator and she has somewhere around Magnitude 60 protection to my powers, I said "screw this" and quit right here.

I'm going to be honest, I didn't have a damn bit of fun playing this arc. 3 stars is a bit on the generous side.

Some nerfs to difficulty as a result of feedback:

* Maiden Justice no longer has Unyielding. (Was too difficult for controller/dominators. May now be too easy for people with lots of knockback, but prefer to err on the easy side.)

* Russian Generals and Polkovniks no longer use Cold Domination (Infrigidate/Ice Shield/Arctic Fog/Benumb/Sleet). Instead they now have Storm Summoning (Gale/O2 Boost/Snow Storm/Freezing Rain). Hopefully this still preserves the "Russian Winter" idea, but gets rid of their stealth aura (annoying for low perception characters) and the Ice Shield buffs (too powerful/looks weird). Switching the Cold debuffs for the Storm debuffs plus O2 Boost is probably a push.

I'm hoping this will make missions 3 and 4 a little easier without making them a total pushover.