Part 14: Hitler in Dachau
First stop: Dachau. Yup, you heard it right.
We cross a river to the west and then proceed north along the edge of the map.
Rubber Neckers are great for grinding: they aren't too tough yet land 1000xp when slain.
Also, they are the first enemies to use Ice Beams against us.
Thanks to having killed the Rubber Necker, Richard makes level 8. I'll be sure to grind Mozart and Alan up a couple of levels as well after I'm done with this update.
Anyway, we have arrived.
Welcome to the first Nazi concentration camp. Hell is, of course, the most appropriate place for a location like this.
To get inside, we must cross the river. Thankfully we have Alan's Swimming skill of 17, which kicks in automatically as we approach the water.
Unsurprisingly, there are Nazi swastikas all around.
The first thing we see is a cage surrounded by barbed wire with a chained prisoner inside.
The prisoner is none other than Heinz Guderian. The only thing from his biography of interest to us here is that he did in fact fall out of Hitler's favour -- twice:
quote:
In 1941 he commanded Panzergruppe 2, also known as Panzergruppe Guderian, in Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union... His armored spearhead captured Smolensk in a remarkably short time and was poised to launch the final assault on Moscow when he was ordered to turn south towards Kiev. He protested against Hitler's decision and as a result lost the Führer's confidence. He was relieved of his command on 25 December 1941 after Fieldmarshal Günther von Kluge, not noted for his ability to face up to Hitler, claimed that Guderian had ordered a withdrawal in contradiction of Hitler's "stand fast" order. Guderian was transferred to the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) reserve pool, his chances of being promoted to fieldmarshal, which depended on Hitler's personal decision, possibly ruined forever. ... In September 1942, when Erwin Rommel was recuperating in Germany from health problems, he suggested Guderian to OKW as the only one who could replace him temporarily in Africa, the response came in the same night: "Guderian is not accepted". Only after the German defeat at Stalingrad was Guderian given a new position. On 1 March 1943 he was appointed Inspector-General of the Armoured Troops. Here his responsibilities were to determine armoured strategy and to oversee tank design and production and the training of Germany's panzer forces. He reported to Hitler directly.
... On 21 July 1944, after the failure of the July 20 Plot in which Guderian had no involvement, Guderian was appointed chief of staff of the army as a successor to Kurt Zeitzler, who had departed July 1 after a nervous breakdown. ... However, he had a long series of violent rows with Hitler over the way in which Germany should handle the war on both fronts. Hitler finally dismissed Guderian on 28 March 1945.
"I have heard that your girlfriend, Alison, is being held in Satan's Fortress. If you free me I will lead you to victory over Satan."
Richard's Pick Lock skill is 20, so we can free Guderian for him to join our party:
Guderian is strong, well-equipped, and has some interesting skills (like Bureaucracy, for example):
But we'll be sticking with Mozart, I think.
Note that Guderian suggests we can actually recruit Hitler into our party... more on that later.
There are big letters ALK written on the ground, but I've no idea what they're supposed to mean.
Interaction with 3 Killers
Expectedly, there are lots of Nazi soldiers around. All they say is sie "Wie geht's?", i.e., "How are you?" in German.
Interaction with 3 Gunners
Some of them even have new character animation!
We also approach the nearby Winged Demon, who turns out to be Field Marshal Model, the Wehrmacht's best defensive tactician.
Interaction with 1 Winged Demon
Walter Model teaches Rifle to Alan and Mozart, improving their skill from 15 to 18.
Not much of an improvement, but hey, why not.
To the south, we come across a group of four World War II pilots, led by Hermann Göring.
He also suggests we can take Hitler with us inside Satan's Fortress. Hmm.
Further south is Hitler's personal supply depot. If we entered it right now...
...that'd make everyone turn hostile, and we don't really want that at the moment. So let's wait a bit and explore the camp further.
Interaction with 2 Pit Fiends
The Desert Fox teaches the Rocket Launcher skill to Richard.
Funny that the guy teaching Rocket Launcher is himself equipped with a spear.
Meanwhile, in the northern part of Dachau, a conspiracy is brewing.
Operation Valkyrie, you say?
quote:
Operation Valkyrie was an emergency continuity of government operations plan developed in Nazi Germany for the Territorial Reserve Army of Germany to execute and implement in case of a general breakdown in civil order of the nation. Failure of the government to maintain control of civil affairs could be caused by the Allied bombing of German cities, or a rising of millions of foreign forced laborers working in German factories.
German Army officers General Friedrich Olbricht, Major General Henning von Tresckow, and Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg modified the plan with the intention of using it to take control of German cities, disarm the SS, and arrest the Nazi leadership once Hitler had been assassinated in the July 20 Plot. Hitler's death (as opposed to his arrest) was required to free German soldiers from their oath of loyalty to him (Reichswehreid). After lengthy preparation, the plot was carried out in 1944, but failed.
Note that, in this game, Stauffenberg suggests Guderian is somehow involved with the anti-Hitler plot.
Now that's one heavily-guarded place...
Still, we manage to get inside in one piece.
An Arch Devil is being held prisoner here.
"Any organized effort like that will make the Devil forget his self-imposed rules. Lucifer will utterly irrevocably obliterate every last of them, maybe even the entire circle of Hell! Lucifer CAN do that. Hitler doesn't believe it. I KNOW SATAN HAS THAT POWER!!!"
So the river flowing through Dachau is Styx? And apparently Charon had been piloting not a mere boat, but an ocean liner, now seized by Hitler?
Outside Hitler's HQ, we are welcomed by Mussolini.
We also overhear an argument when approaching the door:
And here we are inside.
There's a phone booth in the corner.
But it's a tad too pricey for us.
Naturally, Eva Brown is in here.
As well as Himmler.
Interaction with 4 ModernSoldiers
He too wants us to escort Hitler inside Satan's Fortress. And no matter if we choose to recruit Hitler or not (we won't), we can now freely access the supply depot!
Let's chat to Hitler himself now.
A generic moaner! I knew it.
Before we can recruit him, Hitler wants us to give him something that would prove our loyalty to his cause. Well,
...what else could that be but a copy of Mein Kampf?
Hitler is even more powerful than Guderian:
Again, we'll stick with Mozart for now.
So yeah, we can now access the supply depot.
There are some really neat items inside those chests: Dark Rifles, Shotguns, Bulletproof Suits...
...but I was particularly glad to discover a Dark Pistol (needed for a side quest later) and an Anti-tank Rifle.
Anti-tank Rifle is a rare and extremely powerful weapon, dealing up to 100 points of damage per hit.
With that, I believe we're done here in Dachau. Leaving this place sure feels good.
Next time: Dismal Land