"Recommend Books for Weird WWII" Topic

Hi all,

Been interested in some weird WWII gaming for some time and am gathering figures for several HotT armies for it. Can anyone recommend any good books on the subject? I see Amazon has several as E-books, but I am old fashioned and like real books.

Thanks,

Terry

Hi Terry,
Do you mean fiction/novels or rules? If you want hardcopy rules there are two that come to mind

1. NUTS! War Without End: link

2. Secrets of the Third Reich: link

Osprey is rumored to have a Weird War game slated for 2016, as is Modiphius with an Achtung! Cthulu skirmish game in 2016.

Also check out Lead Adventure forum: link

Cheers!

Thanks SBminisguy,

I realize I should have been more specific. Since I am a dedicated DBA/HotT player I have he rules I need. So I guess I am looking more for novels, graphic novels and such. I enjoy reading now that I am retired and prefer to read about subjects of interest instead of "required" reading.

I do however appreciate the links to the various rules and will check them out as they usually have some good info as well.

Again appreciate the help,

Terry

PS – The Lead Adventure Forum looks excellent and I see what appears to be a book list of many. Thanks again for he help,

Terry

Well, there's a decent number of Weird War novels and graphic novels out there.

1. Fiends of the Eastern Front series by David Bishop: link

2.Any Weird War Tales you can find: link

3. The Keep: link

4. Bitter Seeds: link

5. Shadows in the Mist: link

6. Delta Green – Denied to the Enemy: link

7. Trellborg Monstrosities: link

8. The Wolf's Hour series: link

9. The Alien Factor: link

10. Tannhauser novels: link

11. The War that Time Forgot comics: link

12. The Light Brigade graphic novels: link

13. DUST Wars: link

More great ideas here: link

Oh, one more -- the Gear Krieg Weird War from DP9 setting has a couple of fan graphic novels involving mecha combat between Germans and Brits (Alfies Tenners) and another one with a German special commando team (Kraut Patrol).

aurora.dp9forum.com

Wow SB! What an awesome list. I have already picked out a couple I plan to order right off.

I read Turtledove's most enjoyable series WorldWar (about to finish my first HotT army based on the books – a Russo-German alliance to fight the Rave)and am now reading the follow on series – Colonization. So far I am enjoying it a lot, but was also looking for more similar to read and you have supplied it.

Many thanks!!!!

Terry

Sure, and if you like AltWar, there's a bunch of stuff in that genre as well. Authors like Robert Conroy, Gingrich & Forstchen have all sorts or alternate endings and scenarios for the War. And Allen Steele has an AltWar book in which the Germans build a Sanger Amerika bomber, etc. Phillip K Dick's "Man in the High Tower" about an Axis-conquered US is now a series on Amazon…and if you want to get an idea of what happens when a modern army, perhaps even a well equipped WW2 army like Germany, fights a fantasy army…check this out!

YouTube link

You might enjoy the Uber comic series: link

They're very bloody!

"A kill in the morning" by Graeme Shimming.

Ken Hite has a Osprey book on a fictionalized nazi occult and weird science program.
link

He has another coming out next year about America's military efforts against the mythos.
link

Graham Masterton has a novel about the use of demons during the D-Day invasion
link

Savage Worlds has a whole setting of WWW2
link

Declare by Tim Powers starts out in WW2
link

Lammas Night by Katherine Kurtz
In 1940 Hitler unleashes black magic vs Britain and the effort to stop them
link

Paul Anderson Operation Chaos
link

Thank you all!

I felt there had to be some tings out there to read and help enjoy the genre – just didn't know what they were. I am familiar with the two Osprey books and have the NAZI one at top of my list – looking forward to the one on the Americans.

I have also created a list/queue of some of the the ones recommended and feel they will keep me going for awhile. I am also reading a new book in the Dr. Syn series which I greatly love and am working through Turtledove's follow on series Colonization. Can't say the Turtledove follow on series is as good a read as the WWII series, but I am still learning a few things about the Race that may be helpful in painting up that army.

I am doing my Weird WWII American army based on the movies of Hollywood, and started it some time ago with a few elements already completed except for the base work, which I do all at one time when the army is finished. I have Captain Miller and his Rangers with Cpl Upham from Saving Private Ryan, and an MP with his sentry dog, and of course John Wayne and his "Devil Dogs" from Sands of Iwo Jima. I'll see about posting a few pictures.

My sincere thanks to everyone!!!

Terry

AE-WWII has an excellent fluff with a whole alternate timeline.

link

Fun game too!

Army of the Fantastic anthology, not all are WW2 there is a fun vignette called Foche Drache about the Luftwaffe's dragons in operation Barorossa. It is short but has formidable but not invulnerable dragons with their own motivations for fighting. As I was reading it ideas for scenarios kept popping up.

SBMinisguy,

Just thought I'd let you know that the first book I ordered from your list arrived today and I am about to turn in for the night and o a little reading – and am really looking forward to it.

I picked the first book on the list as sounding like a good starting point – "Fiends of the Eastern Front 1: Operation Vampyr". I am hoping to pick up more of them as well.

Thanks to everyone for the great help here!

Terry

OK, I'm half way through Fiends of the Eastern Front and I've already got the vampires as a planned element in my army. HotT is so adaptable for creating some fun elements and this is going to be one of them.

I plan to use some French mountain troops modified and painted to look like Romanian mountain troops a la the book, and base two or three of them with a few bats flying around as well. This will be a great Lurker element!

Terry

You can also go back to 1930s pulp fiction for interesting ideas of what the next war would look like and overlay that onto a Weird War II. Guys like Secret Agent X or Operator No. 5 had some pretty crazy plot lines. Op. No. 5 had the Purple Invasion series, which was a not-German invasion of the US, and one (or both) of them had an over the top invasion from the east too.

I am finding more and more, and just selected several movies on Weird WWI and WWII subjects.

I have also finished reading "Fiends of the Eastern Front: Operation Vampyr" and it was a great read. Being a HotT player I can very easily come up with a set of opposing armies based on the books and probably will!

Thanks again all,

Terry

I am into the third book of the "Fiends of the Eastern Front" trilogy and it has been great. I have already worked up two armies and am starting on a third based on the second book. I am sure once I finish the third book I will see yet another army. The joy of HotT – the armies are small!

Highly recommend these books.

Thanks again for the lead!!!

Terry

Have to keep thanking you guys for this help and list of books. I have finished the Fiends of the Eastern Front trilogy and loved it, and am now half way through The Alien Factor, which is equally as enjoyable. I have coming a copy of The Seed which sounds very appealing too.

Thanks again all,

Terry

Very much enjoyed The Alien Factor, and having received my copy of Bitter Seeds and am about a third of the way into it. Very interesting read so far.

Anybody hvae any other good suggested books to read?

Terry

Picked up a new book today and will start reading it tonight – "Night of the Nazi Zombies" Looks good anyway.

I also have "The Wolf's Hour" coming.

Terry

I was hoping to start reading The Wolf's Hour only to have the copy described as Very Good being so trashed and smelly that I am sending it back, and now have to wait for another copy! Looks good though.

I did finish Night of the Nazi Zombies, and enjoyed it. Very adaptable for HotT, which is what I play. My only complaint about the book is the poor or complete lack of proofreading that forces you to think through some of the sentences to determine what the right word should be, or what words should be left out or added. Still a good read.

Terry

Terry

Reading The Wolfs Hour now and a good read. Very in depth, and inspiring, but also a bit grizzly in detail.

Have one of the Tannhauser books coming to read next.

This list of books and links has been a tremendous help, and I thank you all again!

Terry

Just finished "Tannhauser – Enigma", and it was OK. The heroes were a little too super-heroish (being very much like the old Saturday matinee serials we saw as kids), but I liked the variety of "weird" aspects of he story line. I liked it enough that I plan on getting the other two books in the series as well.

Not exactly Weird WWII, but Weird WWI, and a very good read – "By the Blood of Heroes". One of the better ones I've read, and I have read all but one on this list since I first posted it, and I'm trying to find a copy of it now.

Terry

Finished "The Keep" and that one is very thought provoking. A very good read! Starting "Shadows in the Mist" now, and so far it's very interesting.

Anyone got any other titles they recommend?

Terry

Just finished Lavie Tidhar's The Violent Century. It sort of fits, just like Powers' Declare and actually deals rather more with events during WWII than that seminal work does while encompassing the Cold War era as well. However as with Declare, it's not a military fiction novel but rather a spy thriller -- only with superheroes instead of supernatural entities from Middle-Eastern myths. Probably not everyone's cup of tea, even tho I liked it quite a bit.

US Airborne against Nazi Zombies at Bastogne…

link

Looks good, I've added it to my list

Thanks,

Terry

I have just finished a really good read, and although not truly weird, it is a great alternate history and lends itself easily to the table top. The book is Robert Conroy's "Red Inferno 1945".

The premise is before the Germans are totally defeated Russia turns on the allies in an attempt to conquer Europe or at least all of Germany.

I highly recommend it.

Terry

Just finished a very well written and gripping book which is more of an alternate history than a weird war book, but highly recommended and very adaptable to gaming. The book is "Front lines" by Michael Grant. The alternate part is that women are allowed to serve in combat and are subject to the draft as the men were. This is obviously the first book in a series as it covers the US army in Operation Torch. Personally I am very much looking forward to the next installment.

Next up is "The Front" recommended by SBminisguy (above), which I am anxiously looking forward to.

Terry

I have finished two more books on the list – Delta Green, which is a very involved and complex story. But a really good one which I very much enjoyed. This one seemed to drift away from Weird War that we'd like for gaming, but still had some good ideas, and an intriguing story.

The other is The Front about the 101st at Bastogne, but from a very different perspective than the previous accounts I'd read about the Bulge. I really liked this book and look forward to the next installment in the series.

Next up is one not recommended, but looks good. A series of short stories titled World War Cthulhu – a series of short stories about Cthulhu in various eras of warfare. Followed by The Martian Invasion -a follow on book where the Martians that invaded Victorian England are now invading America, also not recommended but looks good.

Terry

Just started a , so far, very well written and captivating book titled "The Great Martian War – Invasion" by Scott Washburn. It takes place around 1908/09 with a second wave of Martians after their defeat from invading England 20 years prior. Not WWI or WWII but still offers some great opportunities for gaming, and this is just the first of a trilogy. This time the whole world is invaded, except England and Europe so of course you can use Boxer Rebellion figures for it. Yep, the many colonies at the time are very much invaded.

Terry

I just finished a really interesting and enjoyable book, and also very unique – "Fate of Nations – Einstein Must Die", by Chris Kohout.

It is supposed to take place in 1910 and the characters seem to indeed be 1910ish, but the British and American ships sound more the War of 1812, and the British are described as invading America in red and white uniforms. But then there is also a giant tank,atomic bombs and zeppelins.

Don't want to say anymore because it is such a good read, and well detailed which makes it a perfect book to base Weird World War Armies on.

Very much looking forward to the next installment.

Terry

OK, several additional books read, and two of the three were really good and one was just OK.

I especially enjoyed "Himmler's War" by Robert Conroy, an alternate history very similar to his book "Germanica" which I also enjoyed. Not really a Weird WWII, but still a good read and some thought provoking implications.

The next book I really enjoyed – Dark Victory by Brendan Dubois. It's a well written account of an alien vs. current times…sort of. The aliens main weapons are lasers and flame throwers so I don't think I would enjoy seeing it made into a movie, but it sure is a great story. The action is fast paced, the twists are non-stop and it's just a wonderful read. Not to mention that the main characters are teenagers as that seems to be who is filling out the ranks, which the book explains why. Anyway, 12 is the earliest age to enlist and the main character is 16. But it really does add to the story. I highly recommend this one.

The third book is "Saving Hitler" by Ian James and is sort of a time travel premise book and is an OK read, but for me seemed to delve into all sorts of abstraction that detracted from it. The main story line is pretty good and the premise is WWII ended with Japan and Germany owning he world, but now Germany is taking over from Japan to own it all. It's a short book and maybe more of a novella?

Just started a new book that so far is very intriguing titled "Project Return Fire" by Antony Davies and Joe Dinicola – another time travel type that sends a a modern Ranger Team back in time through a radioactive anomaly to 1945.

I also got the new Osprey Cthulhu book and it's OK, but hasn't inspired me very much as I had hoped it would.

That's it for now,

Terry

Not a book as such, but does anyone remember this from the History Channel back in 2013? YouTube link

Got to be some tabletop inspiration there!

Also – OP, if you want to PM me I'll send you a copy of our group's game set in an alternate 1954 -it's not quite Weird War 2, more Cold War Gone Mental, but you might enjoy it ;-)

Ah yes, I have seen that and definitely some game play in there. After, Turtledove's World War series has Earth (Tosevites) fighting The Race (lizards) from Home.

In fact I recently finished painting up the Tosevite army based on the three books and am doing their basing now. I have the figures for the The Race, but have not started them yet. Need to do my Red Skull Germans first to fight my Hollywood US army that is finished.

All great fun!

Terry

Graham Masterton has a novel about the use of demons during the D-Day invasion

That book scared the everliving out of me when I was a kid!

Sounds like a good one! Do you remember the title?

Terry

OK, Just found it – "The Devils of D-Day". I had it on my list but based on your post just ordered a copy.

Thanks,

Terry

I have continued my pleasure of reading as much as I can related to possible Weird World War while working on my various HotT armies. One I recently finished was "Alfie's Tenners" which I thoroughly enjoyed, and you can read my review here.

TMP link

I have read several others as well, and will share my thoughts on them with you when I have a little more time. I am currently finishing up Harry Turtledove's second book in "The War That Came Early" series. I am a Turtledove fan and this series, like others of his works I've read, is equally as intriguing.

More shortly,

Terry

Two additional books I've recently finished that I'll share. The first is "Dark Victory". This one is probably intended for a younger age, early teens maybe, but I really liked it. More than a bit grim at times, but one that the ending was in now way expected until you read it. So for that reason it was doubly good! It's about fighting aliens in the near future and we are forced back to an age before electronics. The aliens are a fearsome lot too!!! For me a good and recommended read.

The second one is "Project Return Fire". I also liked this one, but two knock-offs for me. First I did not enjoy the language. I felt it was overdone and instead of adding to the story detracted from it. Not a prude by any means, but felt it was used just to say there, I said it again.

The other knock off, and not a biggy as I still found the ending quite interesting. But the ending concept was quite apparent early on.

So here are a couple more Weird World War books with possibilities.

Terry

Oh and for books, don't forget the Girls Und Panzer manga!

WWW2 doesn't come much weirder than that =^,^=

Thanks miniMo, I'll have to check them out. I've heard of them but had not thought of them. Good suggestion!

Terry

You're welcome Terry, but be warned it is highly inspirational stuff!

The anime video is the most inspirational., the manga are also fun reading.

Video online here: link
Watch the regular episodes first, then the OVA (battle with Anzio), then the movie.

The special episodes can be skipped, obligatory-for-the-Japanese trip to the beach stories.

Yukarin's Tank Corner are fun light background on the tanks.

I have just finished Harry Turtledove's six volume set "The War that Came Early". Being a Harry Turtledove fan I of course enjoyed it. Some very thoughtful switches that made for a good and interesting story.

However, I do have a few knock-offs on this series.

First, I think it went a book too long. Well two books too long actually. I felt there was a lot off filler that didn't really enhance the story, and an abundance of redundancy in recounting stuff about the characters that were just covered a chapter or two previously and in the previous book(s). I mean how many times does he have to tell me that X character was a possessor of ancient history and now worked in a labor gang. He told me that in the first book and I got it then – but he kept telling me again and again through to the final book. He did this for other characters too.

The language in this was far raunchier than his previous books I've read of his. Not a prude, but something that unless it truly adds to a story I can do without.

One real nit, is a parachute jump action. He describes how when they were over the enemy territory, each trooper stepped into the door and when the light went to green from red for each trooper they jumped. Trust me the light went from red to green once and when it did all the troopers pushed out the door as quickly as they could. This helped insure they would be less scattered upon landing. Doing it the way he described they'd been spread for miles.

Maybe there is a 7th book coming???? If not it seemed to end rather abruptly and with quite a bit hanging. So, I am expecting another in the series.

Bottom line if you enjoy alternate history I recommend it. I did enjoy it and am truly hoping for a 7th volume. Still think it could have been done in fewer books though.

Now starting the just released 3rd book in the "Twilight of the Gods" series – "Ragnarok". I really enjoyed the first two books so am looking forward to this one to bring it to conclusion.

Terry

I finished the "Twilight of the Gods" and really enjoyed the first two volumes a lot. The third book seemed to lack the same sense of reality that the first two had. Still I can recommend them, but not really weird world war, more of an alternate history in the 60's.

They do give a good background to a 60's era German civil war and that was appealing.

Terry

I want to mention two books this time that I have finished reading. The first is Graham Masterton's "The Devils of D-Day". I agree with you Lion in the stars – it is a very scary book! Well written and absolutely unpredictable. Some good suggestion for an allied occult venture – with some all black Shermans.

The second book is James Stewart Thayer's "S-Day". An enjoyable read, but I could not help but feel I was reading just another account of the actual D-Day invasion. It's pretty much along those lines only of course with the Germans doing the invading. An unexpected ending and one that leaves the reader, or at least it did me, a little troubled. I say this, because it presents a course of action that suddenly seems to be justified just because it is the "good guys" doing it. Except for a basic scenario, I saw little of value in it to apply to Weird WWII gaming.

I am currently finishing the first book in John Birmingham's The axis of time trilogy. Now this has proven to be a very well written, thought provoking and captivating book. There were times when I kept reading into the wee hours because I just had to read what was going to happen next. His thought process has encompassed so may aspects of what might happen in a situation presents that I may not have considered. If the remaining two books in the series are as good as this I am going to be enjoying them very much. And some good food for thought for Weird WWII gaming.

Terry