Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Anvilfolk]

The Detroit Dame

This will be a let's play of the B-17 Flying Fortress solitaire boardgame, in first person perspective. Hope you fellows enjoy it! Screenshots start at mission 2

Spoiler: Mission 1 (click to show/hide)

Dear Mom and Dad,

I can't tell you how excited I am. Today we're going on our first real mission on a B-17 Flying Fortress. We've been assigned the Detroit Dame, a fine looking bird, as new as you could want! Here's my final crew. You should recognize a few of the names from my previous letters, since we've been together for a while now.

Bombardier - Calvin Himes
Navigator - Edward Funk
Pilot - Angel Harris (yours truly!)
Copilot - Gage Ballard
Engineer - Cruz McQueen
Radio Operator - Mason McLeod
Ball Gunner - Garrett Short
Port Waist - Roman McWhorter
Starboard Waist - Steven Macias
Tail Gunner - Ryan Nattingly



None of us admits it, but you can smell the fear through all the bravado. We've been here in England for a while, and we've seen how many of those B-17s come back. Heck, even those that do... boy, they aren't often in good shape. I sure signed up for a mess. But it's my mess now! We aren't going to let the old Red, White and Blue look bad. Not in front of those Jerries!

And it looks like we've lucked out! Today's target is the St. Omer airfield, right on the French coast. German fighters have been launching from there to intercept our boys, so hopefully we'll give'em a pounding they won't forget!

Looks like we're readying up. I'll write the rest of the letter when I get back.


It's late at night, so I'll have to make it quick if I want to send this in first thing tomorrow morning. We're all fine! It looks like the Jerries weren't expecting us at all. Our intelligence officer told us the Germans were having trouble with their communications because of a previous raid. We were clear all the way to target, and there was only light flak. Some of those scary black puffs sure came close to us. I think that got our formation leader a little riled up, because it looks like we missed our target completely.

We didn't really have much time to think about it. Just as we were turning for home, we were attacked by some enemy fighters, but the formation was still pretty tight by then, and all the fire kept them at bay. Poor Roman, he lied about his age just to shoot some guns at the Jerries earlier, but he didn't even get to fire a single shot on his first mission! You should've seen the look on his face.

Looks like we'll have another mission tomorrow, so I don't think that'll be a problem much longer!

Your loving son,
Angel

Spoiler: Mission 2 (click to show/hide)

Dear Mom & Dad,

This letter will be hard to read because I am still shaking. I am safe and well, but Roman and Steven are both badly wounded. They are operating on them as we speak... I think we'll know more tomorrow. God, there was so much blood...

Let me start from the beginning, and try to get my thoughts in order. Maybe that'll calm me down.

Today we were supposed to go Amiens, which is further in than St. Omer. There's an important railway yard that we were meant to hit. We were in the middle of the formation this time, so we managed to avoid most of the fight. The Jerries don't like coming in to the middle, that's too many guns trained on them.

Anyway, like I was saying, we were clear most of the way. There were no clouds over the railway yard, so we could see it pretty well and lined up just fine for the bombing run. The flak was light again, so we weren't too worried (though I wonder if I'll ever get used to those black puffs... the old timers say it can get pretty bad). All of a sudden, two 109s (that's the basic German fighter plane) came straight at us from out of nowhere! I was busy keeping formation, when Cruz starts shouting over the comms and the plane was rattling with all of the guns firing. It was loud as heck because Cruz's guns are right behind me and Calvin's in front. They said he came from 1.30 o'clock high, but I didn't even see that. I didn't see the other plane that the fighter boys drove away either, but Calvin keeps saying he was coming straight for us.

Next thing I know, I hear some loud metallic clunk sounds from the back, the plane shakes, and Roman is screaming as hard as I've ever heard anyone scream over the comms. It was horrible, Mom. He wouldn't shut up, until suddenly the guns out back start rattling again and Ryan, the tail-gunner, shouts he's got the bastard (sorry for the language, just paraphrasing), that he's smoking. I see some tracers arching right past the cockpit, so close you wouldn't believe. I saw the fighter go right overhead, smoking badly, and go down. At this point I'm not complaining.

Now we're coming back to England as fast as the plane'll take us, and Roman's stopped screaming. I'm sitting there, flying formation, but in the back of my mind all I can think of is whether Roman's bought the farm. Did you know he's not even 19 yet?

Not too long after that, two 110's (two-engine german fighters, with more canon than I care to think about) come at us from below. They must've been scrambled not too long ago since they're still climbing, and I figure that's the end of us. Then Gage starts whooping all over the place, pointing at two of our fighters swooping down on the 110's, who just split-Sed for the deck.

The plane wasn't too badly damaged, and we managed it back to England without any more trouble. Ryan went and checked on Roman, and it turns out both him and Steven, from the starboard gun, were hurt bad. They were both bleeding hard from shrapnel wounds, and feeling woozy.

Now we're down and I don't know what's happening with them, but I can't bear to see anyone right now, so I'm staying in and writing this letter.

You just don't believe it can happen to you, you know? But seeing those two kids hit like that. I guess I'm allowed to go a little crazy, right?

I'll send this letter as soon as possible, and another with more news later on.

Your loving son,
Angel.

PS. Mom and Dad, GREAT NEWS! Roman and Steven are going to be alright! They lost a lot of blood and it was cold up there so they passed out, but the doc says with some good meals in them they should be out and about next week or so! I think we'll be celebrating today, even though they can't drink beer (yet)!

And I was so worried I forgot to tell you we actually hit the target last time - you should've seen those bombs go off! I don't think the Jerries will be using that place anytime soon. And the Dame will be in fighting shape soon too!

Aren't they grand news? I just can't stay put right now. Boy, oh boy, we sure got out of that one fine! Hugs and kisses! Twenty three more, and I'll be able to give them in person! See ya soon!

Spoiler: Mission 3 (click to show/hide)

Dear Mom & Dad,

27/01/1945

This will be a running letter, since not all that much is happening. We are confined to base most of the time.

Roman and Steven are doing great. They're still confined to bed, though I wonder if they would still be there if the nurses weren't treating them so nicely... sometimes I think they're lucky!

The old Dame is being patched too. Our ground crew is just swell, and they're doing a fine job, working overtime... the works! I've talked to the aircrew, and we'll be taking them out soon for a nice dinner. It's the least we can do!

05/02/1945

The docs are finally letting Roman and Steven get out on occasion, and we've managed to smuggle them down to town for a few drinks. We had so much fun! They got all the attention from the girls. They loved it! We had great laughs on Ryan's account. That's our tail gunner, who kept trying to impress the girls, but they weren't having it. Maybe once he bags a couple of 109s he'll get more attention!

We also took the ground crew for dinner. They truly are nice fellows! They really appreciated it, but its their dues. We can't do our job if they don't do theirs.

After the last mission, I'm not sure what to think about the next mission. It can't be long now, since the doc's said the boys will be checked out soon. I feel responsible for them, and I'm worried. We fly in big formation, but there's so many of the Jerries buzzing around the sky. Anyway, they seem to be itching to get back in the fight, so I guess I should too.

09/02/1945

It's 7.30am, and we've just had our briefing. I thought I'd pen these down before breakfast and the flight. It looks like we are going back to St. Omer. That's good news - should be an in-and-out affair. We're going in with good fighter cover too. I think they're keeping us from the tougher missions, which is working. We haven't lost a single bomber yet (though the Misfit, flown by Doug Rocker came pretty close).

I'll write the rest later, or I'll get the leftovers from breakfast!

It's late at night again, but if I don't write this down I believe I'll forget the lot of it. Sorry for saying so, but we drank the day away.

The Misfit went down. It was flying right with us, then a 190 swooped down and took out it's #3 engine, and it fell out of formation. The 190 came again and again, until the Misfit was all flames... then the right wing just snapped off. Garrett said he counted only two parachutes... I wonder if Doug made it...

We were luckier. The escorts drove off two waves of attackers on our way to target, one of which had two 110s and a whole lot of cannon.

The weather was clear, but this time they must've expected us, because the sky was full of black pecks. Some of them came mighty close to us, but they came closer to other bombers. We saw at least 2 or 3 from other squadrons go down.

And we missed our target yet again. St. Omer is quickly going from my favourite target to something else entirely...

On the way back, a 109 made it past the fighter screen, but Ed Funk, our Navigator, was ready for him! I've heard the boys talk about how they saw all the hits (and there were a lot of them apparently!), and that put the fighter's aim off. He missed us and didn't come back for seconds.

There's some competition now between Ed and Garrett now. Ed's supposed to be good at bomb dropping, but so far he's outdone Garrett (the ball gunner). It was funny to see them fighting over who's got the best aim, but my head seems stuck with the Misfit. Doug was a real nice guy.

Your loving son,
Angel

Spoiler: Missions 4 and 5 (click to show/hide)

Dear Edwin,

I can't get myself to write Mom & Dad this letter, and I hope you won't tell them about it. But I needed to tell someone.

Yesterday was my 4th mission with the 8th Air Force. The first three were scary at times, but this one had me thinking I'd buy the farm for sure. That's why I don't want you to tell Mom & Dad. Especially Mom, I know she probably couldn't take it. But I need to get this off my chest, and telling the intelligence officer isn't the same as talking to family. I hope you don't mind.

We've had some close calls, but nothing like this time. We were going to Meaulte. The brass thinks they're building aircraft there, and they want to stop it. It's close to Amiens, where we've been before, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad.

Wrong. On our way there, we get bounced by four airplanes. Four! The fighter jocks got two of them off our tails, the 190s, but there was still a 109 and a 110.

The gunners went crazy at them, and everybody was shouting over the intercom. Ed missed the 109 coming in from 1.30, but Ryan and Garrett both let loose at the 110. Before it could reach us, one of the engines coughed smoke, stalled and spun down below the clouds. Garrett was ecstatic - he confirmed the kill later - but there was still a 109 coming at us. He was jerking all over the place as the entire squadron seemed to be shooting at him. That fouled his aim, and I don't think he hit us at all!

One more 109 tried to dive in from 12 o'clock high, but was driven off. And that's when things got hairy. Nothing but blue, then all of a sudden the sky above and below is filled with black puffs. I thought it would block out the sun and even the vets were sounding worried on the radio. Turns out, they were bracketing us. The two layers converged...  and then we're in the middle of it, with nothing we could do to stop it.

The plane shuddered a few times, then without warning there were two quick blasts, right on top of us. Next thing I know, there's plexiglass flying all over my windscreen, the plane drops thirty feet, and I'm fighting to keep it in formation. Took us the best of five minutes to figure out how badly we were. Calvin was OK somehow despite some bruises and cuts, but his bomb controls were out so he was dropping manually. The elevators were a little bust, and I had trouble keeping the plane steady. Worse, both Calvin and Roman's heatsuits stopped working.

The bomb drop was a failure because of the manual bomb drop, and now Calvin and Roman are getting really, really cold. Especially Calvin, down in the shattered nose, at 20k. I decided to stay with the formation as we turned back. That was stretching it a bit, but we needed the protection of the rest of the squadron over target.

It was a good thing too, because the Jerries were relentless. A first wave of one 190 and two 109s comes in, but our escort burst in at the last second. They were busy with the first wave when the second wave came, so we had two 109s coming straight for us from 12 o'clock.

Then the guns are rattling again, missing. At least they threw the 109s' aim off, because they both swooped past without hitting. We had told Ryan, back in the tail, to expect 109s, and he was ready for them. As soon as they zoomed past, he's shooting and swearing like a madman. He actually hit one too, despite the separation speed over 500mph.

By now, both Calvin and Roman are in risk of freezing (literally - we're at 20.000 feet and it's cold), so I do what I have to do, and drop out of formation, down to 10.000ft. That left us below the escorts and the safety of the formation, so there's nothing stopping the Jerries from coming in again, and again, and again, and again...

Which is exactly what happened. It's all hazy now, but the gunners wouldn't stop firing throughout the whole time, and I really thought we were done for. Since I didn't have to keep formation, I was throwing the Dame all over the place, trying to make myself hard to hit. Of course, that threw off my boys too...

By this time I don't know what's happening anymore. I know we're close to St. Omer, which must be where all the aircraft are coming from. What I do know is that Ed claimed a kill in all of that confusion, and a probable. The gunners are none too happy about it, since he's supposed to navigate, not get all the kills!

The funny thing about air combat is - and I've heard the fighter jocks say this a lot more than we do - in one moment you're in the thick of it. In the next the sky is as empty as space. The Dame made it out of all of that, somehow. We finally spot the White Cliffs of Dover (I could listen to that song all night now), and despite damage to the elevators, we make it down in one piece.

It was a tough mission for sure...

But we made it... and we'll make it again. We were actually among the first to arrive. Our ground crew was scared for a few seconds, until they saw us all leave the plane unharmed. The Dame wasn't looking its finest, but all in all it was not too bad to repair.

After the mission, we stayed a few hours, counting the bombers landing, the stragglers, tallying the damage. It was a tough day. I think 17 bombers didn't make it.

Ed and Roman were pretty cold, but it was nothing serious, so they got us to fly as soon as the Dame was good to go. Three days later, we went back to St. Omer, again. We were hit by flak, again, though nothing critical. We were off target again... but somehow a few of our bombs still hit, so there's that.

Now we're no longer on probation - a new batch of B-17s and crews came in. So, starting soon, we're going on longer missions, and the fighters won't be as close as we'd like them. I don't know what to do if my crew's heatsuits get taken out again... we could've been in real trouble down there, at 10k, outside the formation. Calvin and Roman are thankful for dropping down to 10k so they didn't freeze, but I'm not sure I can do it again...

Can't dwell on that though, so I've been hoping we stop drawing low position in the squadron. The lowest always get hit harder... five missions down, twenty to go, and we'll be state-side!

P.S. I am so glad to hear you got that job at the newspaper! Looks like all the work you put in really paid off. Perhaps you can come here as a correspondent soon - that'd be swell.

Don't forget not to tell Mom & Dad!

Your brother,
Angel

Spoiler: Intro to missions 6-10 (click to show/hide)

To be read while listening to this.


Dear Mom & Dad,

Has it really been less than two weeks? It feels like an eternity.

They've kept us flying, flying, flying... days are blending into one another, and right now it feels like one long slog, with us just trying to keep up. The flights are longer too, so on each day that we fly, we can rest less and less.

In a very wicked and strange way, I guess I am glad the old Dame (she's definitely not new anymore) comes back battered almost every time. The ground crew has needed one full day's worth of work to patch her up, so that we get a day off. We don't have the energy to really go to town these days, so we spend the time in the mess, playing cards.

Even now, all I can think about is just sleeping or taking a nap. But I know that if I try to, I'll start thinking and worrying too much and I won't be able to sleep. Gee, remember that first letter I sent you? I was so excited! It hasn't even been a month and look at me!

Anyway, I don't want you to worry. We're almost half-way through our tour. Another month or so, and we'll be back to the States. They'll want to parade us and make us look like heroes (even though we're doing the same as everybody else, except maybe surviving...), but I'm sure we'll be able to spend most of the time home. I sure can't wait for that - you wouldn't believe how much I dream of your home-made cooking!

I'm also sending a picture of the boys with the Dame. It's a little frayed since I've kept it in my pocket for the last few flights, but I hope you like it!

Your loving son,
Angel

Spoiler: Missions 6-7 (click to show/hide)

Dear Edwin,

Nice to hear from you! I'm glad work seems to be going great! What's the latest word on your coming here as a correspondent? Try to come sooner rather than later.


I'm afraid I wasn't particularly upbeat in my last letter to Mom & Dad, so the burden of keeping their spirits up is going to have to be yours. I don't think I'm up to doing it myself anymore. Things are getting very ... complicated.

Like I said, they'd moved us out of the probation missions, so now we're flying longer, and we've got less fighter cover. Fritz also seems to be redoubling his efforts with the flak, or perhaps they're simply more prepared further inland.

The first couple of missions were actually fine. We went to Lille twice, which is not further than our previous targets. We were trying to take out some factories they've got working overtime there. On the first mission you wouldn't believe the cold it was... Calvin (the bombadier) and Cruz (the engineer) had it worse. Both their guns jammed from the cold, and no amount of kicking or punching would make them go again.

It's funny thinking back on our first experiences with flak. We were so scarred of the scattered light puffs we saw back then. These days?... we just consider it something that will damage the Dame, though hopefully not too bad. It was pretty heavy on the second mission to Lille, but luckily missed all important systems.

Despite all that, we got some good hits on the industrial complex on both times. The enemy fighters were mostly staying down, or being driven away, and morale was up. There isn't anything quite like a formation dropping their bombs together!

Spoiler: Mission 8 (click to show/hide)

Next up they had us go to Rouen, to hit the railyard there. Now, Rouen is almost straight south from England, so most of the way is over water. Ditching over the Channel is one of the last things you want to do... we don't hear back from a lot of the guys who ditch or jump.

We were in the middle of the formation, so we were protected by other bombers... that got us clear to the target without too much trouble. Over target though, things got hairy. Gage, the co-pilot, who was less busy flying formation, called out that he couldn't see all that many fighters around. Sure enough, when I looked I couldn't see any of them. I guess the fellows in the previous waves must've been in real trouble, and the escorts were off helping them.

One thing's for sure. They weren't escorting us. We lost count of the number of 109s diving in on us, but there must've been half a dozen!

Most of them missed, except for one. That must've been an ace because he came back again, and again, and again, and every time all of our guns are shooting like hell, and he just keeps hitting us hard every time, and doesn't even seem to get a scratch.

Just before we went on our bomb run, Cruz McQueen, the engineer, went to check on the bombs, since we'd taken such a pounding. He was quiet for the rest of the trip. My hands are shaking just from thinking about it. After we landed, he showed us a smashed 20mm shell. It had hit one of the bombs, but was a dud somehow, so it didn't go off. If it had, the bombs would've all gone off inside the Dame... I've seen it happen to other bombers, and nobody's ever come back alive...

Anyway, we missed the target, and started heading back. Just as we do, a 190 swoops down from 10.30, but the pilot must've bought the farm from our guns before he could fire, because he stalled and span away.

It was smooth sailing home after that, though the control surfaces were a bit stiff. Nothing I couldn't handle though. Good thing we weren't attacked, because we barely saw any fightin' friendlies all the way home...

When we finally land back at base, Steven found a piece of shrapnel in his leg that he hadn't even noticed. It hadn't hit anything serious, so he was good to go two days later for the next mission.

At the mess that night, as I was looking around, I realised how many new faces there were, and how few people I recognised. This was our 8th mission, but our original group is almost... gone? I should've guessed though, every mission we see some bombers explode or go down in flames... we count the parachutes, and hope for the best. Some crews make it back due to the French resistance, but most of them don't, either KIA or POW...

That was a tough mission...

But I guess the next ones didn't get any easier...

Spoiler: Mission 9 (click to show/hide)

They were against Antwerp's factories. These are, again, pretty far away, so there were more chances for us to be intercepted.

The first time we went there we were clear all the way to target. I think the Jerries allow us to get close, and then throw everything they have at us over target. Well, it seems to be working...

The weather was poor when we got there, so we lost some of the fighter jockeys in the clouds. That didn't stop several 190's from getting the drop on us, though.

And again, in a scenario that's been repeated far, far too often, all of the guns are rattling, warning cries are shouted over the comms, the casings are piling up at most crewmen's feet... Now, The 190's armament is stronger than the 109's, and one of them sprayed us good. I thought I'd had it when I saw several cannon shots climbing up the nose towards us, but somehow they missed us. Gage was pale as a ghost...

So the 190 knows he has us in our sights, and we're on our bombing run now so there's nothing we can do. He comes back, but with even more concentrated fire, Calvin manages to smoke him bad, and he split-Sed for the deck without getting another hit.

Not too long after that though, Cruz complains his oxygen isn't working too well, so he probably has a leak. It's not too bad so far, but at this altitude if there's any more damage we'll have to drop down or he'll pass out (or worse...).

Despite the light flak and bad weather, one of the puffs comes real close to Ryan back in the tail guns, and sure enough, he's also complaining about his oxygen mask.

Then suddenly there's a break in the clouds, and Calvin somehow does his calculations with the Norden bombsight, and we manage a really good bombing run. Perhaps even our best one yet.

So there we were, actually cheering over the comms, with big ol' smiles on our faces, but we should've known better. Four 109s decide the bullseye is on us, though a P-51 drove one of them away. And once again, we're getting pounded over and over again as they come back for second and third passes.

Through all that, Cruz on the top turret takes one, which Ryan saw hitting the silk, and Steven in the starboard waist gun smokes another bad enough that he doesn't come back.

By some miracle, none of 20mm shell hits appeared to have hit anything overly critical, and we keep on heading home. I guess they don't call her the Flying Fortress for nothing!

There's no point in describing the damage to the plane now... but I guess I'll just say that we must have someone watching over us. Most of the shells that hit us, had they been just a few inches to the side, could've done so much damage... perhaps enough that we wouldn't make it back. We're overdue for some bad luck... I know it, and the boys know it, and the ground crew knows it...

The next night was the first time I noticed Steven had the shakes. And I don't think he's the only one. For our last mission, just yesterday, most of the boys barely ate anything for breakfast, and Garrett was still sick a few minutes before we got on the plane...

Spoiler: Mission 10 (click to show/hide)

We went to Antwerp again. Turns out that even though the Dame had a good run, the bad weather threw most others off, so the brass ordered another raid.

It's getting late, and I'm sure for you, as for us, missions are starting to look the same... we fly to target, clear all the way, and get bounced when we get there. The fighter cover doesn't do much, but luckily Cruz takes one down from 3 o'clock, and the others miss - except Ryan knew they were coming, and pounds one as he flies towards our 6.

That's two confirmed kills to no real damage, and the boys were actually chatting over comms for a bit, until the telltale signs of heavy flak start coming up. They ranged us for a minute or so, then really, really opened up.

I can't possibly imagine that any of our bombers escaped without some damage from that. What's sure is that some of those black puffs got close enough that we saw the flames before the smoke engulfed them.

We missed the bombing run entirely because of that, and as we were inspecting the plane on the return, we saw a bunch of loose metal sheets on the port wing...

We managed to stay in a very tight formation despite all that, and some enemy fighters were driven away by the concentrated fire. Some more 109s drop on us and come back for seconds. We take even more damage (is there any point in saying we were damaged anymore? It happens every single time...), but again, nothing critical.

And then we're well on our way back. Those fighter jockeys finally decide to make an appearance, and drive Fritz away over Belgium.

We finally make it back to England, but on our approach the controls feel funny, with the plane tugging to the right a bunch. And then Roman's panicky voice over comms lets me know that the port gear isn't coming down. We get waved off and circle for a while. I tried everything. I shook the plane sideways, bounced it up and down...

And it finally dropped down!, but we couldn't be sure it was locked down... if it wasn't, it would just flick right back up, and we'd crash. Both Gage and I were sweating, but we made the prettiest, softest landing you've ever seen, and the gear held!

So now here I am... writing a letter, and waiting for tomorrow's mission.

They've assigned us as replacements to the bombing groups that get put in the thick of things. Word is that we might even go all the way to Germany, past the fighter umbrella.

For some reason, that's given our morale some respite. The thought of bringing the fight to Fritz is something to look forward to, in the middle of all of this. Gee, I can even see the boys out there right now, painting messages on the bombs, and it's late at night. Some messages for Hitler, you know? We'll get him to read them from real close!

All in all though, the 109s and 190s are coming in more and more, especially when we're assigned to the low squadrons, like yesterday. I feel our luck can't hold out much longer. The B-17 is well built, but with the amount fighters and flak pushing through to us, it can't be long until something serious gets hit.

Today was just an example (is tomorrow going to be another, I wonder...), and it was tough landing that bird. It could've gone very wrong... I've seen it happen, and don't want happening to me.

But that's where we are right now, with 10 missions under our belt, veterans of the 8th Air Force by all acounts, and almost half-way through our tour!

I can't shake the feeling it might be too late if you delay, so please visit when you can. I'm sending Mom a picture of us with the trusty old Dame, you know, in case something happens. I really hope she likes it...

Your brother,
Angel

Ran out of space. Remaining missions here.

[Itnetlolor]

This kinda reminds me of a game in a prior forum I visited that was LP'd. It was 50 Mission Crush for the Commodore 64. It was pretty fun to watch, despite classic C64 graphics and all.

Sign me up as a replacement if possible.

EDIT:
NAME: Roman Howard
ROLE: Bombardier
ORIGIN: New York
AGE: 28
PERSONALITY: Tinkerer, lazy, focused, smart, more calm than expected under stress (handy for aiming with a norden sight).

[Anvilfolk]

Thanks for the interest

Yeah, there'll likely be a lot of rotation ... it was INSANELY lucky that Steven and Roman survived. If they're seriously wounded, on a roll of 1 they have a rapid recovery, but then on 2-4 they are invalidated and go home, and 5-6 they die, I think. I couldn't believe those two 1s when I rolled them! I'm starting to get attached to the characters...

The first 5 missions are supposed to be pretty easy, since the target locations are close and the fighter cover is always Good. After those first five missions we'll get progressively worse fighter cover, until some targets are entirely outside fighter coverage. You should hopefully be able to see part of that on the map!


There are very, very few choices to make in this game, so it'll basically be a dice-fest to see how long the crew and/or bomber can go on. I'd like to keep it a little personal, so grab some believable name for a character, and perhaps add a bit of background if you want Although you might want to wait until we know which... "vacancies" we get!

[Seamas]

This looks pretty well-written!  I'm intrigued.  Sign me up as a replacement.

Lt. Jake "Montana" Wyatt
Navigator or Co-Pilot
Origin: Billings, MT
Age: 24
Personality: Reserved, capable, calm under pressure


Edit: On second thought I'll take any of the Lt. positions if/when they open up.

[EuchreJack]

German Intelligence reports a new recruit!

Name: Jack Euchre
Nationality: American
Origin: Grand Rapid, MI
Age: 22
Role: Unknown (whatever you need)
Rank: Unknown (whatever matches the role needed)
Personality: Heroic, Boisterous, Swears rather than cries when in pain, Swears when happy, Swears when upset, Swears when surprised...

[Chosrau]

So what kind of influence do you actually have on how the game goes?

[Anvilfolk]

Actually very, very little, like I think I said somewhere above. Your decisions essentially amount to which gunner shoots which incoming enemy aircraft, and when to turn back. Then there's stuff that I haven't had to deal with, namely casualties, oxygen fires and putting them out, oxygen leaks, etc.

I'll be doing another mission now, will try to post it by tonight. I can't say I'm looking forward to seeing some of your guys in-game, because that means some of my guys will have died, but keep your fingers crossed. A few more missions and things will ramp up considerably!

[Anvilfolk]

I'll need to sit down and do a proper writeup, but here's the current status for those who are interested.

Spoiler: Mission Record (click to show/hide)

Mission 3 was relatively unexciting, except for medium flak, damaging a fighter but fortunately not being hit.

Mission 4 was completely bonkers. I thought we were done for. I found out flak gets to shoot 3 times instead of 1, and we actually got heavy flak over target. We took a pummeling! Let me tell you, it was a long way back... but I'll leave the details for the writeup!

Mission 5 was St. Omer again. Good fighter coverage kept us clear. It was in, bomb, out. We were off target, but very luckily got a couple of bombs in.



Beginning with mission 6, things are going to take a turn for the worse. We're officially off the newbie cadre. We are no longer guaranteed good fighter support, meaning a lot more of the enemy fighters will be able to get to us.  Some of our targets will also be at 3 distance away rather than 1 or 2. It will be... lively.

[Anvilfolk]

Added mission 3 - oof. This stuff takes long. Going to try to speed through the other two faster.

--- edit ---

Mission 4 and 5 added.

[EuchreJack]

Nice read!

I'm guessing that we'll be writing to Edwin more and Mom&Dad less...

[Anvilfolk]

Hahahah

I'd love to be as in period as I could too, kind of like historical fiction, but I haven't gotten the skills or the time to develop them. I do have a bunch of books about the bomber boys, but they're back in Portugal and I haven't read any WW2 stuff for a while now (though I'm starting to get the itch).

Can't wait to try out the longer missions, and actually getting hit more by fighters!

Also, I'm open to suggestions and any kind of participation

[Seamas]

I really enjoy seeing the period photograph(s) complementing the storytelling.

[Anvilfolk]

Thanks I have a few more ideas of images I can use, so look for them at some point.

Did a few more missions. Two of them were comparatively easy, but the other two made it really obvious how good it is to have Good fighter coverage, which we are now not guaranteed. I'm still being insanely lucky, as so far all of the damage has been either superficial or only partial (i.e. doesn't really have an effect on game unless same system is hit again). Things are getting really, really tense!

Anyway, here is a quick overview of progress!




Starting on mission 11, the targets could be even further away, entirely outside the fighter umbrella. Even Poor gives you some chance of driving enemy fighters away. Once we're outside, that's all gone. I was hoping to get ace gunners until then... I've taken to marking probables, meaning heavily damaged fighters that break away, but those don't count towards the Ace status, so it's just fluff. Being an ace gunner gives a +1 to hit, which is amazing because most enemies attack from somewhere in the front arc, which is outside the firing arcs of most side gunners (cheeks and waist), and need a roll of 6 to hit. Ace gunners would only need 5...

The most harrowing moment so far was when we were over target, preparing for the bomb drop, but the defending fighters got through. One of them actually hit our bomb bay, with bombs inside, and HIT THE BOMBS. Somehow though, the mission before we'd gotten a rabbit's foot, which is a free once-in-a-lifetime re-roll, which allowed me to reroll whether the bombs detonated... so they didn't. If they had, it would've been the end of the Detroit Dame, and all of its crew!

Thank the god of luck for that rabbit's foot!

[Sheb]

Can you maybe explain a bit more about the machanics during the game? Like in the after-mission reports, what's those crosses near to each of our gunners?

[Anvilfolk]

Oh, sure - sorry, I really should've done that

You are playing a crew of a B-17 bomber of the 8th Air Force based in England during the 44-45 strategic campaign against Germany. The general mechanics are pretty easy, but once damage kicks in it starts getting more and more detailed. The game goes as follows:
- To begin, you roll on a table for the target location, your position in the squadron, and the position of your squadron in the formation. These affect how easy it is for you to get attacked by enemy fighters (more fighters attack you if you are low in the formation).
- Then every "turn" you move one zone closer to the target area (zones are circles on map).
- Every time you move into a new zone, you roll to see whether your fighter cover is (P)oor, (F)air or (G)ood - that's in the mission chart.
- After rolling for fighter cover, you roll to see whether you are intercepted in that zone. Typically, the closer you are to England, the smaller the chances of getting attacked.
- Once/if you get attacked, you roll on a table to see how many waves of fighters appear. For each wave, you roll to see which fighters appear where. This is the table Fighter Waves table on in the Mission Chart. The numbers marked are the table entry that specifies which fighters appear.
- Then you roll to see how many are driven away by fighter coverage (your choice of which). Then you allocate guns to the different fighters, depending on their arc of fire (the counters next to enemy fighters). You can see who is able to shoot at what, and how much is required to hit, in the screenshots with the bomber&enemy fighters, in mission 2. If you hit, you roll for damage, which reduces the chances of you being hit, drives the enemy away, or destroys it. All guns that shoot lose one ammo point (which are the ticks you were talking about).
- Then the enemy shoots. They also roll on a table to see 1) whether they hit, 2) if they do, how many shells hit, 3) for each shell where it hits, 4) for each hit location what subsystem is hit, and 5) the effect of that particular hit on that particular subsystem. I've been penning down all hit notes, so you should be able to see that on the mission chart too.
- Enemy planes that hit you come back for more - for a maximum total of 3 attacks. Planes that don't hit just go away and focus on other bombers.
- Once you get to the zone with the target, you roll for weather, then you get attacked as usual (modified by weather), except with a higher chance to encounter multiple waves of fighters.
- Once you've gotten rid of the fighter attacks at the target area, you roll for flak, roll for flak hits x3, for each hit roll for how many shell hits, for each shell roll for a location, etc etc.
- Then you roll for whether you're on target or not, then roll for the amount of bombs on target. Then you turn your plane around, and repeat the entire process.

That's basically it. The basic mechanics themselves doesn't offer you a lot of choices (which planes disappear due to fighter coverage, and what guns to shoot at which fighters, which is relatively easy to optimise). When you do start getting a few more choices is when you take very serious damage, which I have luckily still not sustained. There are many, many systems which can fail, including oxygen systems, heat systems, engines, control surfaces (ailerons, rudders and elevators), cold and jamming, lightly wounded crewmen, heavily wounded crewmen, oxygen fires, fuel fires, etc, etc. When that starts happening, you can imagine FTL in boardgame form

What I'm personally most fond of is not so much the mechanics are the involvement the game produces. Playing this yesterday was incredibly tense, with so much going on each die roll. This doesn't happen in just any old boardgame. These guys have a story now. I'm pretty attached to a few of the crewmembers already (know their names by heart), and especially to the Dame. She's done me proud so far!