Germany's Diary: The Lost Pages

[Germany]

(( And so Ludwig's journal starts up! A quick note first though: I won't be doing the entries day-by-day in a linear trajectory like North Korea does. Rather, I'll write a little entry about whatever strikes me whenever I feel like it and skip around through time. So you might see something from the 1930s followed directly by something from 2000 followed directly by something from 1912 or whatever. Or there may be a little series of entries all within a day of each other in time that are followed by entries much further back or ahead in time. Think of it as a collection of lost pages from his diaries over the years.

Also, I can guarantee I won't have a new entry up here every day. Expect updates to be infrequent. ))

[Germany]

January 5, 2010

As fun as it is to rewrite history and conquer the world in virtual World War IIIs, I decided to do something different today and play against myself as my enemies. Just to see what it would be like.

So I bought an American-made World War II game. In its raw format because I like my war games to feel as authentic as possible, and I figured having everything in English would make it easier for me to remember whose side I was on.

Anyway, like most war games, this one starts with a solid introduction to the main character and a rundown on the current wartime situation and the importance of the mission at hand. The opening sequence uses real footage, too, and even with the English-speaking veteran grimly narrating in the background I was still overcome with an intense desire to reach into my screen and destroy all those damned Allied tanks rolling towards my armies.

Naturally, the Allies are denouncing me, calling me cruel and evil. No surprise there. It wasn’t like they didn’t partake in their fair share of cruelty during that war and countless others, but a game from their perspective isn’t going to get into that. They like to paint themselves as the dashing heroes who never do wrong. Annoying, but to be expected.

Through the intro, I learn that my American has a fairly cookie-cutter personality. At least he’s focused and obedient. That’s good, because if he were like Alfred it would be way too tempting to make the game all about exploring exciting and creative new ways to get him killed. For some reason which escapes me he is the only American onboard a British ship heading for the St. Nazaire submarine pens in France. They’ve just reached the port when my — I mean, the Germans — attack.

And so gameplay begins.

It’s going to feel really strange shooting every Nazi in sight. But they’re just a bunch of pixels on a screen. I’ll adjust.

Hm. I wonder if this game will let me kill Hitler?

I really, really hope so. I couldn’t kill that crazy bastard in real life so I’ll settle for a virtual representation. Hell yes.




(( I know that U.S. games don't play on most European game systems and vice-versa, but as I found online there are a number of ways to get around that, some more expensive and/or trickier than others. Take your pick as to which Lud used. ^^ ))

[Germany]

January 8, 2010

According to weather reports a huge blizzard is coming to my house: some areas are already experiencing the onset of it even as I write. The media are urging everyone to stock up on essential supplies and to brace themselves for extreme cold, ice, difficulty getting around, and possible power outages. Sounds like it’s going to be pretty brutal. I’ve already prepared and storm-proofed my personal residence. I have a small backup generator, too, just in case. My life isn’t dependant upon electricity but I have grown rather fond of it.

In other news, for some inane reason Turkey is taking the “privileged partnership” France and I offered him with the EU as an insult. We tried explaining to him that he cannot become a full member until A) he stops violating his currently-existing treaties with the EU, and B) he passes the reforms he needs to meet full membership criteria. Which should be common sense.

Oh well. Either he and his boss will realize this and make the necessary changes to join or they won’t. I promised I wouldn’t get in his way on this one, but he’s out of his mind if he thinks I could talk the entire EU into changing the full membership criteria or making an exception just for him even if I wanted to. Which I don’t. Especially now that he more or less spat at France and I for trying to do something nice for him. I know I won’t be making that offer again.

I’ve been playing the game I mentioned a few entries back for a few hours every night since then. I admit I had a few slip-ups right at first and fired on my comrades instead of my enemies, but thankfully they’re completely immune to friendly fire. In fact, they don’t even notice it: I shot one man dead-on in the head three or four times before I realized he was my ally he didn’t even react to my attempt on his virtual life — no firing back at me, no yelling “traitor!”, no nothing. Granted, that is pretty standard for war games, I just always find it amusing, especially since this soldier was watching me the whole time and when I went up to him afterwards he gave me my next objective along with a medicine kit and started following me around as an NPC partner. Too bad he wasn’t immune to German attacks — I was actually starting to get a tiny bit attached to him before he died. He had balls of steel and took a lot of bullets for me. I could have healed him with a medicine kit, but by that point I needed all the ones I had for myself.

I’m done with the France levels now and about to head to North Africa to destroy Tiger tank proto-types. So far this game’s been a pretty fun break from what I usually play: each level is chock-full of mandatory missions along with a sometimes-optional target Nazi officer to eliminate and a briefcase of secrets to collect for points towards completing the level with a gold medal opposed to silver or bronze. It took me a few tries, but so far I am solid gold.

Hopefully the Africa levels will be a little more challenging, especially since it looks like I’m going to be snowed in for the next couple of nights.

[Germany]

January 9, 2010

The weather forecasters weren’t kidding when they said we were in for one hell of a blizzard: I woke up this morning with a bad case of the chills and looked outside to see a thick blanket of snow. Images of drifting snow, gale winds, treacherous ice, traffic accidents, stranded vehicles, downed trees, and power outages are all over the news. A few homeless people froze to death last night, and the spike in accidents is keeping the hospitals working overtime. Public transportation has either stopped altogether or is going at a crawl in hard-hit areas. Hundreds of flights have been cancelled.

Worse, the storm’s just getting started. The snow is already 30 cm deep on the isle of Ruegen and still coming strong. Most of my house will be taking heavy snow, strong winds, and subzero temperatures over the next few days. Most of Europe is suffering along with me, especially the more Northern regions.

I have the day off, but once I have some breakfast and get my blood circulating I’m heading to base to see if they can use me. Unless there’s something more urgent going on I’d like to mount a little expedition to move and assist stalled vehicles and clear roads. My citizens need all the help they can get right now, and with my strength, stamina, and experience I can help a lot of them in a short amount of time.

Going to start breakfast now.

___________________________

It is now 1832 hours and I’m home for the night. I would have liked to have stayed out for at least an hour longer helping, but around 1300 the chills I’ve been experiencing incessantly since waking up took a turn for the worse. I put an extra sweater on under my coat and bought a thick black scarf — which doesn’t look a thing like Russia’s, by the way — to go with my snowcap. It helped only marginally, but I worked through the discomfort for another three hours before my lack of color and constant shivering began to worry my comrades, especially the ones who knew how long I’d been out. They thought I might be coming down with hypothermia. When they couldn’t get me to check in at the nearest hospital they insisted that I at least go home and take it easy for the rest of the night. By that point I felt as though I’d been submerged in a polar lake, and I didn’t want to risk suddenly passing out somewhere, so I went ahead and followed their advice.

At least I got a lot done today. I helped clear about a dozen roads of snow and debris, fixed signs, and pulled several cars out of ditches. I also had to dig some cars out of snowdrifts and give some unfortunate people a lift.

Oh, and I saved a half-frozen little white kitten I found alongside a road. It was cute, but I don’t want the added responsibility of taking care of a kitten right now — especially when I’m feeling like this — so I gave it to a friend whom I know will treat it well.

This is awful. I’ve been caught outside with only meager shelter for days, nights, even weeks in some pretty severe winter weather before ( Stalingrad comes to mind ), but this kind of cold is different: it comes from inside my body as much as outside. And I know why, but there’s nothing I can do about it. If I could I’d move my land-body further South.

My dogs keep staring at me expectantly…I’d better feed them and let them out for a few minutes. Then I’m going to take a hot bath, get into my warmest pajamas, fix some hot cider, and curl up in a comforter on the settee to play my game.

[Germany]

January 10, 2010

(( Warning! Some swearing ahead! ))

What the hell?! There is no way, no fucking way[/i] a man should be well enough to continue running around and firing on his enemies after a direct hit to his face with a goddamn bazooka. More, it took 9 or 10 hits — most of them in the chest vicinity — with a shotgun in close quarters to finish him off after that, and that’s not even counting the solid round he took from my MP40 before I switched over to the bazooka and shotgun! The target officers always were harder to kill than the average Nazi in this game, and I’m flattered that the Americans made us so tough, but damn. A single bullet to the brain or heart is usually enough to kill me instantly, and I’m the living embodiment of a nation. I can’t take a spray of submachinegun bullets to the legs, crotch, and stomach without even flinching like this Brecht character can, either. I can understand having major targets be more of a challenge, but surely there’s a better, more realistic way to do it than making them all supermen. Perhaps make them snipers, or have them have a lot of heavy weaponry, defensive barriers, and/or bodyguards at their disposal. Maybe some are cunning and always a step ahead of your character? If even a tiny fraction of my officers had been like Brecht, I would have never lost the war.

Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I feel even worse today than I did yesterday. No matter what I do I can’t get warm and stay warm. Hot baths help, but minutes after I get out I’m freezing again. And I feel generally weak and lethargic, like I’m walking around with lead weights tied to my arms, legs, and body.

According to reports the snow is 30cm deep in Leipzig and Berlin now. It looks deeper when I look out my window. More of my citizens are getting their cars stuck in snow-drifts, some as deep as a man is tall. Rescue efforts were already underway and going well, last I heard. Amazingly, I don’t think any more of my people froze to death today, though apparently the death-toll is still rising in places like Poland.

I hate this. I hate being sick period, but it’s even worse when I’m stuck indoors. Medal of Honor is a fun way to pass the time, but I don’t like being cooped up inside all day long, especially when my people could really use my help. I feel like I’m being lazy and letting them down, even though I know logically that I’m in no condition to get out there and do what I did yesterday. I feel helpless, and I can’t stand it.

I’m going to take a break from my game for a while and fix something small to eat. I’m not hungry, but I haven’t eaten since I got up and I don’t want to lose what strength I have.

I think I’ll call up Israel and Italy and see what they’re up to. I haven’t heard from them in a while. Maybe it’s because I lost my cellphone a few days ago and my landline wasn’t working last night. Or they’ve been busy.
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