History FanFic / AnISOTInGrimdark

* WhipItGood: Areta Bane liberally applies the whip to unruly Dark Elves under her command. She ends up having to do it more often once the Black Company's growing fame results in higher-echelon Dark Elves signing up for it, ones with more privileges than the original group that lead to mindsets she needs to (literally) beat out of them.

* KnoWhenToFoldEm:

* PragmaticVillainy: Areta Bane will not permit casual abuse of slaves--not out of moral objections, but because the slaves in question are highly qualified doctors and mechanics whose talents are beneficial, thus keeping them healthy and loyal serves her interests. She even personally [[ATasteOfTheLash flogs]] a new recruit for abusing a mechanic while the latter was in the middle of fixing a war machine that none of the Dark Elves know how to fix.

** In another early battle, the German Navy battles a Norscan raiding fleet. The Germans were equipped with modern destroyers and corvettes, helicopters, and guided missiles. The Norscans are a FantasyCounterpartCulture to the Vikings, down to the wooden ships. [[RealityEnsues The Germans inflicted over 12,000 casualties on the Norscans while taking only one single casualty, a sailor WIA, on their side.]]

* RealityEnsues: Many early battles that pit Medieval-to-Early Modern Era armies against 21st century mechanized forces with artillery, armor, and air support have [[CurbStompBattle very predictable outcomes]].

* WhenEldersAttack: Ernst Hamann, who at 90-something years old, manages to injure [[PhysicalGod Orion himself]] and kill several of his followers. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, RealityEnsues and poor Ernst doesn't survive this encounter.]]

* ZergRush: Used by several local factions (like the Beastmen and the Skaven) in the hopes that they have more warm bodies than the Germans have bullets. Germany and her allies, however, simply respond with MoreDakka. Zerg rushes work far better, however, in tight, compact spaces, such as during urban warfare, or in deep underground tunnels, where many of the German advantages of range are negated.

** Taken UpToEleven in one of the later arcs when [[spoiler:the German Army takes out the Horned Rat, the chief god of the Skaven ... with a nuke.]]

''An ISOT In Grimdark -- Germany 2012 sent to the Warhammer World'' is a collaborative ongoing story series, created by Beer and [=Wolf1965=], in the AlienSpaceBats sub-forum of Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom about, well, the entire country of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Germany being sent to the world]] of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}''.

!!Provides Examples Of:

* RenegadeSplinterFaction: Germany ends up with one of its own in the form of "the Black Company" - a band of Renegade Germans who break off to form their own mini-state and ally with the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Dark Elves]]. However, unlike Germany's other enemies, at least these ones aren't fully aligned with Chaos, at least not yet. [[spoiler: and after their [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder erstwhile allies turn on them]], they quickly end up back in the employ of the ''Bundesrepublik'', though still maintaining their independence from the regular German armed forces.]]

* [[spoiler:FantasticNuke: the Skaven have attempted to launch warpstone bomb attacks now three times, once on The Empire and twice on Germany. All three attempts were thankfully thwarted just in the nick of time thanks to the use of [[TheLittleDetecto "magic indicators"]] to detect these bombs before they could be detonated]].
** [[spoiler: the Germans themselves partake in this trope when they take out a PhysicalGod with a special bomb composed of a "conventional" nuclear bomb attached to a special warpstone core, placed under a massive bell of refined warpstone]].

* DefeatMeansFriendship: after the aforementioned CurbStompBattle against the German Navy, a large number of Norscan tribes rejected Chaos and defected to the Germans' side.

* CoolPlane: the German Luftwaffe already has the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurofighter_Typhoon Eurofighter Typhoon]] and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panavia_Tornado Panavia Tornado]] in its arsenal. These are joined by an [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks American B52 Stratofortress and a A10 Thunderbolt II squadron]] that joined the [[MassTeleportation Weltsprung]]. But special mention must go to the "Storch" (Stork), a small, light, unarmed aircraft that's based on an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fieseler_Fi_156 older design from World War II]]. It's easy to build and repair, requires minimal space for take off and landing, and [[BoringButPractical ends up being used for just about everything]]: as a training aircraft, for aerial reconnaissance, for delivering supplies to remote outposts, and, at one point, for even extracting a squad TrappedBehindEnemyLines.

* CoolTrain: After allying with the Empire, the Germans quickly build an entire network of these to help the Empire improve its economy and its military projection capabilities. Special mention, however, must go the Emperor's private, made-to-order train, based on the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRG_Class_05 Deutsche Reichsbahn Class 05]], a steam locomotive capable of reaching ''220 km/h''. Even more special mention has to go to "The Hammer", a ''massive'' armoured train that's armed to the teeth with all kinds of guns, and has its own personal CrowningMomentOfAwesome when it [[spoiler:rides to the aid of the besieged quarry, running over thousands of Beastmen in the process]].

* BadassGrandpa: Ernst Hamann, who at 90-something years old, manages to injure [[PhysicalGod Orion himself]] and kill several of his followers. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, RealityEnsues and poor Ernst doesn't survive this encounter.]]

* ZergRush: Used by several local factions (like the Beastmen and the Skaven) in the hopes that they have more warm bodies than the Germans have bullets. Germany and her allies, however, simply respond with MoreDakka.
** Zerg rushes work far better, however, in tight, compact spaces, such as during urban warfare, or in deep underground tunnels, where many of the German advantages of range are negated.

* NotSoHarmless: The three daemons Tzeentch sends over to Earth think they will be able to steamroll all opposition and expose the planet to Chaos. However, it turns out the InsignificantLittleBluePlanet's ''already'' quite crazy.... CrazyPrepared, enough that even subverting ''Ebola'' and an ''Iowa-class battleship'' isn't ''nearly'' enough to allow them a foothold.

* TheEmpire: A rare "heroic" example. The Empire are not the nicest guys around - they practice feudalism and like to burn heretics at the stake. But given [[BlackAndGreyMorality the alternatives]], as well as their striking [[FantasyCounterpartCulture cultural and linguistic similarities]], they are naturally Germany's first choice as allies in this strange new world.
* TheLittleDetecto: "magic indicators", one of the first Magitek devices the Germans invent. [[BoringButPractical And by far one of the most useful]], especially when combating foes who can conceal themselves using magic. Or for combating the ever present threat of [[FantasticNuke warpstone bombs]] by detecting them before they can be detonated.
* TheMagicVersusTechnologyWar: With modern Germany representing the "Technology" half of the war.
** However, the line starts to blur as the war drags on: the Germans start recruiting "magical units" of their own, as well as integrating magic into some of their tech, while the local Warhammer factions start modernizing, using whatever German technology they can acquire.
*** Of course, they're all still centuries behind Germany, but some of the armies, like the Dark Elves, are starting to field units equipped with 19th century-level tech. And one Skaven engineer tries to reverse engineer a [[spoiler: .50 Cal Browning machine gun]] - it fails, but it was still a commendable effort.

* CoolPlane: the German Luftwaffe already has the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurofighter_Typhoon Eurofighter Typhoon]] and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panavia_Tornado Panavia Tornado]] in its arsenal. These are joined by an [[YanksWithTanks American B52 Stratofortress and a A10 Thunderbolt II squadron]] that joined the [[MassTeleportation Weltsprung]]. But special mention must go to the "Storch" (Stork), a small, light, unarmed aircraft that's based on an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fieseler_Fi_156 older design from World War II]]. It's easy to build and repair, requires minimal space for take off and landing, and [[BoringButPractical ends up being used for just about everything]]: as a training aircraft, for aerial reconnaissance, for delivering supplies to remote outposts, and, at one point, for even extracting a squad TrappedBehindEnemyLines.

* CrossOver: [[spoiler:A group of German explorers find and briefly interact with [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Leman Russ]], who as thanks for their help gives them the knife he was using to perform surgery on himself. Not only is the blade an extremely advanced example of smithing, Russ' blood is of extreme interest as well. There's a brief detour from the main storyline following Russ as he recovers priceless repair supplies for the Golden Throne and meets with the Emperor.]]

* CrossOver: Very briefly, with [[spoiler:the ''other'' [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Warhammer]].]]

''An ISOT In Grimdark - Germany 2012 sent to the Warhammer World'' is a collaborative ongoing story series, created by Beer and [=Wolf1965=], in the AlienSpaceBats sub-forum of Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom about, well, the entire country of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Germany being sent to the world]] of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}''.

* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: inverted. The Renegade German faction adopts one of these from the Dark Elves, but to everyone's surprise, quickly turns them around into a professional and effective military force, thanks in no small part to proper discipline, training, tactics, and weaponry.
* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: averted. The writers [[ShownTheirWork spend a lot of time examining]] how the German economy is forced to adapt and retool itself from the ground up following [[MassTeleportation "the Weltsprung"]], as well as what happens on Earth now that the world's fourth largest economy is gone.
* AwesomePersonnelCarrier
* BadassArmy: most of the armies of ''Warhammer'' are still considered this, even when heavily outmatched by the equally-badass, but far more technologically advanced, [[UsefulNotes/WeAreNotTheWehrmacht German Bundeswehr]].

* BreakTheHaughty: A trio of Muslim Extremists head to Araby to try and convert the locals there with their own radical interpretation of Islam, arrogantly believing they can launch a Jihad in Germany. However, the Dark Elves find them and thanks to their magic, are able to read the trio's Koran and know the trio are liars as the radical message they preach doesn't match what the Koran says. The trio suffers a horrible fate where one dies due to torture from the Dark Elves, another was made a Eunuch of a Araby Sultan while the last one had his spirit broken and made a slave of the Dark Elves. To add insult to injury for the last guy, the Dark Elves constantly mock him saying, [[WhereIsYourXNow Where Is Your God Now]]?
* CoolAirship: due to the shortage of runways on Warhammer World, it isn't long before the Germans reintroduce the Zeppelin, for exploration purposes, as well as a military transport. One particular exploration Zeppelin is named the [[ShoutOut ''Enterprise'']].

* CoolTrain: after allying with the Empire, the Germans quickly build an entire network of these to help the Empire improve its economy and its military projection capabilities. Special mention, however, must go the Emperor's private, made-to-order train, based on the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRG_Class_05 Deutsche Reichsbahn Class 05]], a steam locomotive capable of reaching ''220 km/h''.
** Even more special mention has to go to "The Hammer", a ''massive'' armoured train that's armed to the teeth with all kinds of guns, and has its own personal CrowningMomentOfAwesome when it [[spoiler:rides to the aid of the besieged quarry, running over thousands of Beastmen in the process]].
* CoolVersusAwesome
* CrapsackWorld: the ''Warhammer'' world was ''definitely'' the quintessential example of this trope before Germany's arrival. However, the arrival of these powerful newcomers might ''just'' be enough to tip the scales into AWorldHalfFull. Only time will tell ...
* CrossOver: very briefly, with [[spoiler:the ''other'' [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Warhammer]].]]
* CurbStompBattle: the German army delivers quite a few of these early on to opponents who have never experienced the joys of modern weaponry before. A particularly memorable one occurs when they [[spoiler:assault the Beastmen warherd guarding the sorcerer trying to create a "third Chaos Gate" in the Great Forest. With generous helpings of TankGoodness and MacrossMissileMassacre, they manage to wipe out an entire army without taking a single casualty]].

* EpicFail: the Greens' attempt to prove that Chaos is not evil. They end up infected with all kinds of illnesses (they met with Nurgle worshippers) and massacred by the military.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: the Empire bears striking similarities to Early Modern Era Germany, even down to the language. This helps foster close diplomatic ties, cultural exchanges, and (of course) cooperation on military operations from the get-go.

** The latest story arc brings us to a part of the Warhammer World seldom seen before in the official canon: Kathay, the world's equivalent to ImperialChina ... complete with roving Hobgoblin barbarians based on the Mongols or the Xiongnu.
* GermanicEfficiency: the nation as a whole proves quite proficient at quickly adapting everything, from their economy to their military tactics and hardware, in order to face the new reality.

* HollywoodTactics: averted for the most part by everyone (with the notable exception of the Orcs, [[BloodKnight though that is to be expected]]). Even the Beastmen chieftains are quite adept at adapting their tactics, such as spreading their warriors out in order to reduce casualties from German firearms and artillery. Chaos champions like Archaon too are shown to be very strategic and tactical in their decision-making, and not, uh, ''chaotic'' as you would expect.

* KillItWithFire: after consultation with the Empire's mages, the Bundeswehr settle on napalm as a dedicated anti-Chaos weapon.

* {{Magitek}}: it isn't long before German engineers and scientists start fusing their 21st century technology with local magic to create some fascinating new inventions.
* MassTeleportation: unlike many other "ISOT" scenarios on AlternateHistory.com, this story actually tries to provide an in-universe cause for the "''Weltsprung''" - sabotage by Chaos Daemons caused an exceptionally powerful world-shaping spell being conjured by the Slann to spiral out of control, and as a result, Germany (and a few other bits and pieces of Earth) traded places with several bits and pieces of the Warhammer World.
** It is unclear if this magic can ever be reversed to return Germany and its people back to Earth, and the Germans have for the most part accepted this hard truth and have made the best they could of adapting to their new home. [[spoiler:However, Germany's arrival has opened up a connection between Earth and Warhammer World, allowing [[NightmareFuel Chaos to travel to a new world completely unprepared for them]]...]].
* MedievalStasis: averted. Even before Germany's arrival, The Empire was already quite advanced compared to most Fantasy settings, with technology varying widely between the 15th and 20th centuries, but generally hovering around the 1650-1700 levels, with a germinating industrial revolution in the largest cities. Needless to say, after allying with Germany, the Empire dives headlong into a true Industrial Revolution.
** Bretonia plays it straight.
* MillionMookMarch: some of the spectacular descriptions of the massive armies of Warhammer World on the march lend themselves to this trope. But special mention goes to a [[spoiler:victory parade the Germans and their Imperial allies hold to celebrate their victory in the Storm Of Chaos]].

* PoweredArmor: thanks to magic, German scientists are able to work around some of the real world limitations on the usefulness of MiniMecha, such as weight and power source. In conjunction with Germany's use of TankGoodness, it isn't long before the battles of ''Warhammer'' start to vaguely resemble those of its [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} sci-fi counterpart]]...
* RealityEnsues: many early battles that pit Medieval-to-Early Modern Era armies against 21st century mechanized forces with artillery, armor, and air support have [[CurbStompBattle very predictable outcomes]].

* ScrewYouElves: the infamous arrogance and pomposity of the High Elves of Ulthuan is deflated quite a bit against the Germans, and even against the aforementioned [[RenegadeSplinterFaction smaller renegade German faction]] that allies with their Dark cousins. Suffice to say, it looks like Ulthuan now has a choice between accepting modernization, or being left behind by the steady march of progress and technology being made by everyone else.

* ShownTheirWork: the authors exhibit a high degree of knowledge not just of German history, politics, economics, contemporary society and pop culture, technology, and military tactics, but also of much of the background fluff of the ''Warhammer'' setting.
* SteamNeverDies: justified. Older steam locomotives are far better-suited for the Empire's new railway than the modern German ICE High-Speed trains, as they use far simpler, 19th century-level technology (which can be more easily repaired locally), and can run on local wood and coal.

* StrandedWithEdison: justified. Germany is an industrial nation with a population of 80 million, including many scientists and engineers. It takes a lot of heavy retooling of the economy, but given the abundant natural resources of Warhammer World, the Germans are able to manufacture most of the things they need, as well as drilling for oil locally. It doesn't come easily though, and some goods, like coffee, are still extremely limited in availability.
* TankGoodness: the good ol' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_2 Leopard II Main Battle Tank]] makes a number of notable appearances on the battlefields. But just as important to the Bundeswehr's war effort are the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiesel_AWC Wiesel Armoured Weapons Carriers]], light tanks that, while smaller and nowhere near as powerful or flashy as the Leo, nevertheless [[BoringButPractical play a vital role in providing support to the infantry]] in tight spots the Main Battle Tanks can't quite reach.
* TheEmpire: a rare "heroic" example. The Empire are not the nicest guys around - they practice feudalism and like to burn heretics at the stake. But given [[BlackAndGreyMorality the alternatives]], as well as their striking [[FantasyCounterpartCulture cultural and linguistic similarities]], they are naturally Germany's first choice as allies in this strange new world.

* TheMagicVersusTechnologyWar: with modern Germany representing the "Technology" half of the war.

* TookALevelInBadass: in response to the [[CrapsackWorld native threats of the Warhammer World]], the ''Bundeswehr'' quickly adapts and expands its forces to include ... PoweredArmor and MiniMecha (made possible with {{Magitek}}) and special "magic units" that include wizards, dwarves, vampires, and werewolves serving in the ranks.
* WorldOfBadass: being set in the [[DarkerAndEdgier GRIMDARK]] world of ''Warhammer'', this is to be expected.
* ZergRush: used by several local factions (like the Beastmen and the Skaven) in the hopes that they have more warm bodies than the Germans have bullets. Germany and her allies, however, simply respond with MoreDakka.