Note: This thread is for posting of mission logs for the B-29 campaign I am about to undertake, playing the 2nd edition of B-29: Bombers Over Japan, 1944-1945, published by Legion Games. Feel free to comment in this thread if you would like, or in the other "discussion" thread. Doesn't matter to me. O0
On July 5, 1944, construction began on one of hundreds of B-29s in the Wichita Boeing plant in central/southern Kansas. Thousands of workers, including many 'Rosie the Riveters,' toiled in endless shifts to put together the sinews of the American war machine, and these B-29s were some of the most technologically-advanced weapons systems ever built by man.
As such, they were prone to bugs and issues, but the necessity of war, specifically the bombing of Japan from the newly-captured Marianas Islands, was of utmost importance. So, kinks were worked out as they cropped up; planes were fixed by mechanics in the field and eventually, these fixes made it back to the plant to be incorporated into future B-29s.
At the same time, eleven men went through B-29 training, men whom all wondered what the hell they'd just gotten themselves into, playing caretaker to a monster of a plane that was intimidating as all get-out up close.
B-29 Flight Procedure and Combat Crew Functioning VideoNote: This video is long (just over 36 minutes), but it's a fascinating look at the B-29 from the crew's POV.
As we completed training, the B-29 that would eventually become ours was getting ready to roll off the assembly line in Wichita. It went through the normal shakedown flight and was given a clean bill of health, then released to the Army Air Corps for transport to the Marianas.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FB29Building.jpg&hash=6944f39cbec9da671237320fd1350a19d0ae2278)
"Our" B-29, almost off the assembly line in Wichita, Kansas.(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FB29flight.jpg&hash=66c414292d35d44296c364c853c8ecb32ac1385e)
Her maiden flight, fortunately made with flying colors and no gremlins discovered!When we arrived, we were assigned to a training B-29 that was named "L-011." These B-29s did not have names; that would happen later. We got hands-on training on the B-29's systems, and even though we'd had that done to death stateside, this was the vast Pacific Ocean, so further training was needed. Our 'cherry popper' flight was taking a navigation tour to a distant island, and then turning around and finding our way home. Fortunately, despite nervousness all around, everyone did their jobs flawlessly and the L-011 made it back without crashing into the ocean.
We were congratulated by the squadron commander, Colonel James Francis III, and were quickly assigned "our" B-29. Despite having seen the insides and outsides of more B-29s than we could count, we went over her with a fine-tooth comb with awe. This was a big ol' lady, and she was more complicated than anything ever built before.
Ten miles of wiring, four analog computers, enough fuel capacity to fly over 5,500 miles, and an ability to fly over 200 miles an hour cruising or up to 350 miles per hour with the throttles to the stop...this was a plane of beauty, one that could strike fast, hard, and be home before the enemy knew what hit them.
We hoped, anyway.
We then had to decide on a name. Some of the guys on the crew (who are we kidding – ALL of them) were pun masters of the umpteenth degree. One reason we worked so well was the ability to try to top each other with punnery, and bad humor was always a welcome stress reliever. Eventually, we decided on "Miss Punctuality" to not just reflect our love of puns, but the fact that we intended to be on target, every time.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FMsPunctualityNose.jpg&hash=b8e371fef7f779b9b09a05baec085d69a561e72e)
After our crew chief and ground crew came up with an incredible logo and painted it on the side, the flight crew of the B-29 'Miss Punctuality' posed for a photograph in front of her. We were ready for action, though we each knew, in the back of our minds, the dangers of operating out here across thousands of miles of ocean, bombing an enemy that had fanatical devotion and a willingness to die trying to take us down.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FCrewPortrait.jpg&hash=2b48584c87187086ba56b746f2a47bc026e8a472)
(By the way: my bad. I had put "Radio Observer" as undercovergeek's position, when it really was supposed to be "Radar Operator." Oops.)
We thought we were ready, that is. We all knew we had to get through 35 missions to Japan, including possibly Iwo Jima, to get a ticket home. Home was a place we all longed for, as we'd all been gone from it for many months now. Letters served as a fragile pipeline to those we left behind. But there was no choice – we were at war, and our country needed us.
Next: Mission 1.
Registering for comment tracking. :)
MISSION 1
NOTE: I am VERY verbose in this first post, mostly because there are some game mechanics I explain along the way. I imagine as this progresses, the mechanics will fall off and the narrative will pick up. Other mission logs may be much shorter – I just don't know yet. There will be some skipping ahead, as it's going to be dull at times and I'm not reporting what happens in each Zone. You'll get the hang of it, I hope, as quickly as I do.
Long before dawn, we were to awaken, but some of us were long since awake already. Today would be our first mission in our new B-29 and there were some of us that could not sleep due to nerves, and some that could not sleep due to excitement.
I guess it depended on your point of view and what was within your control. As pilot, I was not only in charge of this monster plane and its deadly cargo, but for the ten other souls on board – if they didn't do their jobs, I wasn't doing mine. And it didn't help my own sleep that I tried to go through every emergency checklist in my head. I knew all of them by heart, knew the plane down to every last bolt and wire, but still, I worried. Iwo Jima was a long way from the Marianas, and Japan was even further.
As the officers headed to the briefing tent, the horizon still hiding the sun beneath a veil of blackness, the heat of the island of Tinian was unbearable. You could tell who was from the north and who was from the south by the way we each sweat. I hate the heat.
We jabbered a bit as we headed for the tent, mostly speculating about where we would go. I didn't offer an opinion, but in the back of my mind, I thought surely they'd send us to Iwo Jima. The scuttlebutt was that the island would be assaulted soon, and that would reduce nearly in half the distance we'd need to fly to get to Japan. The B-29 had range on her, but some targets in Japan would push that. Weather and enemy fighters could be an issue, too. So too could the B-29 herself, as she was still relatively new and full of bugs. Keeping her in the air would be an 11-man job, and even then, who knows.
I kept thinking Iwo Jima, and someone must have been listening to me, because when they moved the curtain aside to reveal our target, my stomach sank.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FTargetMission1.jpg&hash=06cf52c1726bdd9027ff607c60f5f5af68bcafe4)
So, it would be Nagoya, in Japan.
Apparently Nagoya has nearly half the aircraft production capacity in all the Japanese Home Isles, and that made it a nice, fat target. That was a hell of a long way to go, though. We'd definitely need our auxiliary tanks, though with those, we should have plenty of 'play' in our flight plan.
The Intelligence briefing has some good news – namely, that Japanese fighter resistance is expected to be nil, thanks to some carrier raids on area Imperial Army and Navy airfields. Some smile in relief, while others look worried. Since there is no expected enemy fighter resistance, we will not have any escorts on this mission.
NOTE: I rolled poorly on this table, but the modifier due to no expected enemy resistance didn't help much at all. My roll alone would have doomed us to doing this mission alone, regardless of modifiers.
Heading over to our revetment where Miss Punctuality sat, the crew was eager to get going. The ground crew had already checked her over and loaded her up, but as the crew it was our responsibility to go over it again and be sure all was well. It was my job as pilot to ensure they all did it right, but I needn't worry – they knew what they were doing, and before I knew it, we were climbing into the different pressure sections of the B-29.
Preflight checks were good, and we went through the routine of starting her up. The Flight Engineer, M/SGT Barthheart, went through the routine of letting me know which engines were ready to start, and the ground crews stood by with fire extinguishers as the engines coughed to life, sputtered, and caught. M/SGT Barthheart maneuvered the controls on his board to ensure the engines were running smoothly.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FFlightEngineer.jpg&hash=0601b93a2ddd1aaf07f6711e7decfe7d749871fa)
We taxied into position, being very careful with the brakes. Among the hundreds of other things swimming through our minds, we knew that brakes often failed on these beasts because of the enormous weight put on them. Starting and stopping constantly was a sure way to brake failure and getting the tail guns of the bird in front of you in your front windows.
Finally, it was our turn to take off. Brakes were set, engines brought up to power, and brakes released. Even with all that power built up, it took a moment or two before Miss Punctuality, loaded down like never before in her short life, started to slowly move down the runway. I willed her to go faster, feeling every eye on the base on us, and it felt like I could get out and walk faster. I saw we were getting up there in air speed, and I waited for the right moment before nodding to the Co-pilot, 1/LT JasonPratt, to help pull back on the yokes. Even with the two of us, it felt like pulling a steel girder through molasses, but finally, Miss Punctuality's nose started to lift and the runway began to fall away beneath us.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FCockpit-Takeoff.jpg&hash=e6fcdf867af8d232ae000158d0cc0e971197258f)
Historically, given the distances the B-29s had to travel, it was impossible to have all-day trips; in other words, the bombers had to usually take off at night in order to ensure they could have some daylight when they came back to land. Night missions, later on in the war, made this a moot point as bombers took off in daylight and came back in daylight. For the first 10 missions, the rules tell you to always treat takeoffs and landings as if they are done during daylight hours. Guess they don't want you dying in your first takeoff...or at least, have less of a chance of that happening!
We fought her weight to get climb speed; this was as dangerous a moment in our flight as being over Japan, or so I'd heard. More birds crashed on take-off than had been shot down, not to mention the many aborts and returns to field. I tried to push all of that out of my mind as our wings gained purchase in the stifling air as dawn broke to our right, and we soared off in the opposite direction.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FTakeoff.jpg&hash=a47b9f1b4fa2467ca407b6a1f6345e84991959f7)
Taking off in one of these things is indeed a challenge; there's a table to roll on to ensure we manage to make it off the ground safely. I had visions of us crashing on take-off, and of course with 34 missions left that could still happen – but it's best to not think of such things! Fortunately, we succeeded. This time.
As we left Tinian airspace, we started to gain altitude; our mission called for us to meet at MED altitude in Zone 3, so I went ahead and put us up there.
Navigating across open ocean is not an easy task, and it's something of a chore in this game. Until our bird gets into the main formation of bombers, we have to conduct Navigation Checks. This isn't just the Navigator's job – though the lion's share of it belongs to him. It's a team effort. I have to roll on four separate tables to get modifiers to a roll on a FIFTH table to determine if we're on or off course. These four tables are Pilotage, Dead Reckoning, Celestial Navigation, and Radio Navigation.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FZones.jpg&hash=aafba7db25d77460f94bd958ad6794d2bd138500)
As you can see from the above image, B-29 has a Zones track which the bomber follows. Since we're meeting the formation in Zone 3, we have to roll for navigation in Zone 1, 2, and even 3, before we can determine if we join up with the formation or not. Missing the formation, or failing a Navigation Check, can mean burning extra fuel looking for a recognizable navigation feature, or finding a signal to work off of. As I said, it's a team effort.
I can feel the fuel burning out of the tanks as the thirsty, titanic engines suck it greedily. This baby can go far, but the fuel only lasts so long. Damage to a wing tank, or leakage, or just outright miscalculation, can mean bailing out or ditching somewhere in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean.
B-29s in this game have 38 Fuel Units. They can also carry auxiliary tanks, one in the forward and one in the aft bomb bays, which each provide an extra 4 units of fuel. With each Zone we enter laden with bombs, we use up 2 units of fuel. Taking off has the possibility of burning 2 more, but I rolled to avoid that, thankfully. Bad weather can also cause fuel usage. Once bombs are released, it's only 1 Fuel Unit per Zone. The fuel in the auxiliary tanks unfortunately cannot be sucked dry immediately; the game only lets you use 1 Fuel from those tanks each time you have to use Fuel. So if I had to use up 4 Fuel, only one could come from the auxiliary tank, while the other 3 have to come from our main, wing tanks.
We have Good Weather in Zones 1 and 2, which is great. Our Navigation rolls don't start out too well, with us getting an inaccurate reading thanks to our novice Navigator – but none of us are vets, so it's to be expected. I climb the plane to MED altitude in Zone 2, so we lose not just 2, but 4 Fuel Units.
I rolled an 'Accurate Reading' on Pilotage, but that calls for a secondary roll, which is affected by the Navigator's experience; with less than seven missions, there's a -1 to this secondary roll, and I got a 2; a 1 result is an inaccurate reading, so there you go.
Fortunately, we get good Dead Reckoning and Radio Navigation results, so we're barely able to stay on course this time. We do better in Zone 2, where the Good weather holds up and we putter right along. Slipping into Zone 3, where our Formation rendezvous is, we still conduct Nav checks, and this works out, though the weather slips to Poor.
We conduct our Formation Assembly check, and fortunately, we find the other bombers, coming from all over the Marianas Islands. No exciting events occur (thankfully), and since we have no fighter escorts, we don't have any little buddies to look for either. We press on.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FCockpit-Ocean.jpg&hash=a9144a67e0b1274a76b857e779ae132302f3b572)
We continue to have Good weather as we truck along through Zones 4 and 5. The real fun begins when we get over Zone 6, which is where Iwo Jima lies. Will the Japs send some fighters up to face us? Or will we get to cruise by? Will they instead wait for us to come back?
Those questions and more bother me, as Iwo Jima appears on the horizon.
The rolls to determine fighter resistance actually seem to discourage interception. One must roll first on a Fighter Resistance table, which will net None, Light, Moderate, or Heavy. Once determined, another roll is made to determine if fighters actually attack the player's bomber. Obviously, the heavier the resistance, the better chance of this happening...
None of the crew call out fighters, and the chatter on the open radio net is limited; apparently the Japs refuse to come up to meet us. For now, anyway. We can therefore continue unmolested.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FJapPilot.jpg&hash=87c6390cbc3c5c49f16b4c59866819f5371d398b)
Despite the concerns in the B-29s far above, Flying Warrant Officer (飛行兵曹長) W8taminute-san seethes in frustration far below. They can easily see the contrails of the high-flying bombers far ahead, but can only watch in impotence as they bring their payloads of death to his homeland, his family. He can only pray they avoid his hometown of Nagasaki...for now, their squadron is grounded due to lack of fuel. Hopefully, more comes in soon.
As we continue, leaving that hunk of coral in the distance, we move through Zone 7, where we experience more Poor weather, but nothing terrible. The weather then clears up and it looks like it's going to be clear sailing all the way to Japan.
Indeed, it is. The formation encounters no issues along the way.
Indeed, the B-29s were so buggy that one must roll for a Random Event in each Zone their bomber enters. On a roll of boxcars (12), a Random Event occurs. This could be good...or bad. So far in this game, though, so good.
Soon, the coast of Japan is visible through the front windows; the jagged, mountainous terrain is foreboding, but we've been constantly told how easy it will be to bomb them – it's small, so we can get in, drop the payload, then get out before the Japanese even knew what hit them. They say their radar is leagues behind ours and the only warning they get is when they spot us with their eyeballs. Hopefully, they don't see us coming. Our target is one zone inland, and we have to check for fighter resistance in each of the next two Zones.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FCockpit-Land.jpg&hash=d301829054330c1142c7a8551409e991df685461)
In Zone 10, we are still blessed (cursed?) with Good weather, and no random craziness occurs yet either, thank goodness. We're virtually on the end of our tethers way out here and some of the first bombers to regularly see Japan now...what should we expect? What will it be like?
The Fighter Resistance here is Moderate. Despite a -2 penalty to this check, which reduces resistance chances, we still get 'Moderate.' So, fighters DO come up to check us out, and as we watch eagerly, we see flashes of gunfire and wings in the sun in the distance along the edges of the formation. No Japanese plane penetrates into our part of it, though, and our gunners, eager to get some shots off, are somewhat disappointed yet relieved nothing comes at us.
We still have one Zone to go to get to the target, though...and finally, we get there.
The 'Good' weather we've been blessed with so far has made me think we're going to have a perfect view of the aircraft factories we're supposed to target. So of course that means, when we get over the target, it is 'Completely Obscured' thanks to a really lousy roll of the dice.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FBomvadier-TargetCompletelyObscured.jpg&hash=4e2d4eb8e27761b52b3129308993c6ba7a92f92f)
Yep, nothing but friggin' clouds out there. So we'll just have to wing it.
As the target is completely obscured, screwing our chances of a good bomb run, so too are the Jap AA batteries below not going to get a good shot in at us. They try, regardless. The flak is 'Light' but several get close enough to shake our molars in our skulls. No holes in the plane, though, and we get close to our release point.
It's all in 1/LT Nefaro's hands now, our Bombadier...though I feel for him, because it sucks that there's no way we can see the target. He releases the bombs, and we feel Miss Punctuality get noticeably lighter as she shudders and wants to suddenly rise, so we fight the controls to make sure she stays on course.
Of course, we're 'Off Target,' but I expected that. Worse, we're at 0% Accuracy, but I thought that might happen, too. The mission is a bust, but at least it counts towards our tickets home.
Really, there's not much you can do when you're 'Off Target.' Pretty much only a 2 or 12 on 2d6 will net you results, and even then, it's a pittance.
The formation turns over Nagoya, the clouds mute testimony to the heavy bombs that just slipped through them like hot knives through butter. We have to check for fighter attacks again, this time getting a 'Light' result, and yet again, no Jap fighters head into our part of the formation. We keep a strained eye out, though. We pass through Zone 10 with another 'Light' result, and again we get lucky (or unlucky, as our gunners now must feel), for no Japs appear then either.
I remind them there's still Iwo Jima to worry about, and that seems to cheer them up a little.
The weather is Good (of course, where were you a couple of Zones ago?) as we slide through Zone 9. We are now officially at 1/2 fuel remaining – all the fuel from the auxiliary tanks is gone, though we do not drop those unless it's an emergency – they're reusable, after all.
We enter Zone 8, expecting more Good weather, but instead, I see a towering, massive line of thunderstorms ahead.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FCockpit-StormClouds.jpg&hash=9bbfa533789a2ec44e7964818e5534f21466fe25)
I rolled a '12' for Weather, so that's Bad (more like, BAD) Weather. Studying the storms, both JasonPratt and I converse, and we decide to spend the extra Fuel unit to try to find a better way around the storm. As we are still in Formation, that doesn't make sense unless I missed something. Maybe we don't move all that far off course.
We enter the angry, dark clouds, which seem to be behaving themselves. I tell the crew to keep sharp eyes out for the other planes in the formation, because we don't want to ru-
BOOM
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FCockpit-Lightning.jpg&hash=ef2c48dc665151c2cb3238832eab9db340245fee)
HOLY SH*T
Sparks dance across our instrument panels.
"BREAK RIGHT!"
The looming form of another B-29, panicked from the lightning strike so close its hit our planes, fills the left side of my view; I struggle to pull the plane off to the right as the instruments go haywire. Finally the guy to our left levels off, and I curse at him. I see a wave from the cockpit of his bird, almost apologetic. I look right, but JasonPratt says we're clear.
"Losing fuel," says M/SGT Barthheart.
I look back at the instruments. The storm result roll only does superficial damage to the cockpit instruments – thank goodness, as that could have been bad! They still work and seem to be reporting correctly. The formation is all shot to hell now, though.
Wait, fuel loss...?!?
M/SGT Barthheart reports our inboard tank has sprung a leak, thanks to the weather. Great...so maybe we're going to lose all our fuel out here? I can't panic...gotta keep it together. Before I can even ask our Flight Engineer what the deal is, he reports he's already transferred fuel so we don't actually lose any Fuel Units. Way to go, M/SGT. One less worry.
Since the storm was really bad, the formation was disrupted, which means we get a +1 to fighter attack rolls from this point forward. Since Iwo Jima is the only remaining source of possible fighter attack, that's where it will get interesting.
The next Zone, 7, has Bad weather as well, but fortunately I roll better and we manage to make it through safely without incident.
That's good, because I think I need to change my long johns when we get home.
We then come up on Iwo Jima again, and it remains a tiny speck far below. The result is 'Light' resistance when checking for Jap fighters, but once again, none of them reach us here in the formation, and their efforts seem half-hearted at best, as if they're testing our defenses.
As Iwo Jima slips away behind us, we're in the home stretch now, and we enter Zones 5 and 4 with no problems and Good weather in both cases. Our fuel is dwindling, but we have plenty to make it home, unless we REALLY tank our Navigation Checks in Zones 3, 2, and 1...
In Zone 3, the formation breaks apart as each B-29 heads for its own base in the Marianas Islands. Ours is Tinian of course, and we head that way, but now we're on our own for navigation.
The weather in Zone 3 is Poor, but we still get excellent rolls and stay on course; so too for Zones 2 and 1, as we get closer to Tinian. And finally, the island itself comes into view, we contact the tower to get instructions, and we're very, very happy to see our base loom in through the front windows.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FCockpit-Landing.jpg&hash=1f0970c79c7709d5497868bbe80a92d2f6ed02f7)
Mission Accomplished.
Result: 0%, Off Target
Better luck next time, boys...
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FScan_Pic0014.jpg&hash=f493c85352c9477c0a19b594dbfe2026fc9a8e16)
I was actually gripping the edge of my chair reading that.
Great read! You need better weather dice however.... :P
Awesome BC
Glad to see the radar worked perfectly ;)
Only after i showed you where the on/off switch was.
...here, have a pickled onion.
Man that Navigator sucks! Who is that idiot?
Oh wait...nevermind :P
Nice read Banzai! There were plenty of tense moments throughout that AAR from the moment of takeoff through to the storm on the way home.
Very exciting! O0
When do we get to the mission where I get to shoot down W8t? :))
(Sorry man, Love&War, y'know how it goes)
Are those images from the game or some other source? They do make it very immersive
Con
Quote from: Con on August 29, 2014, 10:49:22 PM
Are those images from the game or some other source? They do make it very immersive
Con
^Absolutely - my thought as well.
Quote from: Con on August 29, 2014, 10:49:22 PM
Are those images from the game or some other source? They do make it very immersive
Con
I think those pics are examples of BC's superb 'shop skills, each pic hand crafted for your enjoyment.
Yep! All images you see are Photoshopped. I just grabbed a variety of pics from different bomber positions as best I could and took out the view from the window and replaced it with other bits to illustrate the narrative. The cockpit was a pain, to remove each and every pane of glass, but ultimately I thought it would look cool so it was a labor of love.
Quote from: Staggerwing on August 29, 2014, 08:16:46 PM
Very exciting! O0
When do we get to the mission where I get to shoot down W8t? :))
(Sorry man, Love&War, y'know how it goes)
Well if I have to get shot down I hope it's by you Stagger! O0
QuoteSo too could the B-29 herself, as she was still relatively new and full of bugs. Keeping her in the air would be an 11-man job, and even then, who knows.
THE CO-PILOT IS ORDERING THE WAIST GUNNERS TO FLAP THE WINGS HARDER WITH HIS MIND!! :D
Quote from: Banzai_Cat on August 30, 2014, 08:45:26 AM
Yep! All images you see are Photoshopped. I just grabbed a variety of pics from different bomber positions as best I could and took out the view from the window and replaced it with other bits to illustrate the narrative. The cockpit was a pain, to remove each and every pane of glass, but ultimately I thought it would look cool so it was a labor of love.
Ouch! But where did the position pix come from? They look like a sim.
Not sure what you mean by 'position pics' - you mean the map of Japan? I created that from an image someone uploaded to the BGG site for the game.
No, I meant positions inside the plane.
Oh, hell. Duh. :-[
LOL
I forgot I said that. Anyway, yeah, I found a plethora of resources online. Not the best in some cases. Thing about the B-29 and her waist gunners...they remote-controlled the guns from their cupolas. The tail gunner has a rather dramatic view, but that's about it. Couldn't get decent CFC pics unfortunately. I figured I'd get some placeholder images to use anytime their positions or part of the plane have trouble. IF, that is. ;)
Quote from: JasonPratt on August 30, 2014, 06:46:06 PM
QuoteSo too could the B-29 herself, as she was still relatively new and full of bugs. Keeping her in the air would be an 11-man job, and even then, who knows.
THE CO-PILOT IS ORDERING THE WAIST GUNNERS TO FLAP THE WINGS HARDER WITH HIS MIND!! :D
I'm flapping, I'm flapping...but I want to shoot something!! GJK to Cap'n Cat...is it ok if I test my gun? Over.
After getting back from Nagoya, we felt like veterans. But we'd learned very, very little as to what was really waiting for us out there. We'd only had a taste of how vicious Pacific weather can be, and had only seen Japanese fighters far off in the distance. Truthfully, our first mission was a long-distance milk run and, as we found out afterwards, a waste as not one bomb fell on target.
This time, our target would be a teeny bit larger.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FTargetMission2.jpg&hash=41e3201ad2a68dc76cb50c8142e2f384a90510b4)
When the mission was revealed, we were instructed to "hit the urban area." Given that Kobe is a city of one million souls, that shouldn't be too difficult. As soon as I had that thought, I tried to push it to at least arm's length. Thinking like that would be bad luck.
Even better, a grim-faced Intelligence officer briefed us that the Japs were starting to take notice of our bomber raids, and would likely step up their fighter resistance.
Indeed, I rolled 'Heavy' for Japanese Fighter Resistance. Oh – and despite this, once again we'd have no 'little friends' to escort us. I was willing to bet our gunners would have a chance during this mission to fire their weapons, finally...The weather wasn't good this morning, with some squalls coming in and dumping rain everywhere. The meteorologists had told us the rain wouldn't last and it wouldn't get too bad. We covered up as best we could, because nobody wanted to get onto an airplane that would head up close to 30,000 feet and have a wet uniform.
When we got back to Miss Punctuality to brief the gunners, there was a brief lull in the rain though the low-hanging clouds stuck like glue to our flat island. I saw that our Crew Chief had painted a bomb on the side to indicate our successful completion of our first mission. He must have done it during the night, when it was still dry outside.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FNose1MissionDown.jpg&hash=f0385c498d4882631829cc2e0f9be16ddcb35eae)
It looked nice, but it was an empty mark as far as I was concerned.
The Crew Chief saw me staring at it and said, "A mission is a mission, sir."
I nodded...couldn't argue with that.
We briefed the gunners on our target. They had a mix of fear and eagerness in their eyes now, unlike the last mission, where it was more eagerness. One 'good' mission and we'll see. Hopefully we don't get hit with the sh*t too fast, but there's no better way to tell how good your crew is except during a disaster. Not to mention, how well I could fly the plane or make the right decisions to ensure they all came home. I'd still be worrying about that, God willing, when we reach Mission 35.
For now, we had a Jap city to bomb.
The engines started with no problem as our ground crew stood by with fire extinguishers. M/SGT Barthheart got the engines purring again, and we taxied into position like last time. It was daylight, a few hours into it, which meant we'd be landing at night. I was not looking forward to that, but had been assured the fields would be lit like Christmas trees and would be covered by dozens of night fighters. That made me feel a bit better, but not much.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwikitravel.org%2Fupload%2Fshared%2F%2Fthumb%2F7%2F76%2FB-29s_of_the_462d_Bomb_Group_West_Field_Tinian_Mariana_Islands_1945.jpg%2F350px-B-29s_of_the_462d_Bomb_Group_West_Field_Tinian_Mariana_Islands_1945.jpg&hash=04d3357c413f01bcef28fb40d684d4834385c095)
When it came our turn to take off, I took a deep breath, nodded to 1LT JasonPratt in the co-pilot's seat, and we slowly pushed the throttles to their stops. The engines strained in their mounts, trying to pull the heavyweight B-29 along with them, and our fully-loaded plane started to roll down the runway. Like our first mission, we had two auxiliary tanks in the bomb bays as there was no way we were going to reach Kobe without them.
The weight, the bombs, the tons of fuel...it was a lot to push down a runway and take off with, so I held my breath as we got to the 'no return' point and we both pulled back on the stick...
Miss Punctuality's nose came up obediently, though sluggishly, as she was wont to do weighed down like this. She pushed against the thin air, engines working mightily. If a bad thing was going to happen during this mission, this was the first chance it had to make an appearance.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.40thbombgroup.org%2Fimages%2FSchutte3%2F40th-Princess-Patsy-42-6344-1at.jpg&hash=60a3575acde2496beb7af2efbff8b975892bb446)
...fortunately, she obliged and we got into the air. We went through the checklist, and 2LT Mirth called out our bearing to the rendezvous, some distance away. We pulled Miss Punctuality through the low-hanging clouds, and headed off to meet the rest of the mission group.
Initially, our navigation was not a problem. The weather stayed poor and the clouds didn't seem to have a ceiling. Meteorology must be the easiest job on the planet, I thought. If you got it right, you did great. If not, people shrugged and thought 'well, they'll get it next time.' We couldn't get away with that in our jobs. If we didn't get it right, anything could happen, most of it bad.
As we moved on, the weather continued to be poor, and we lost our way. 2LT Mirth called out that he'd given us a slighting incorrect heading. A miniscule error could result in hundreds of miles' worth of course correction and lots of fuel burned for nothing. We were all new at this, and if he was going to screw something up, better it get caught now than in the middle of the Pacific. Besides...it wasn't just him. We'd stayed on course in the previous zone even though I totally screwed up myself.
As I mentioned in the previous mission, navigation checks are required in Zones 1, 2, and 3. We made it through Zone 1 with no problem despite me blowing the Pilotage roll. Zone 2, though, the only thing we got right was SGT bob48's radio signal location. We still managed to get lost in Zone 2. We had to hope we'd get a better result in Zone 3 to not only stay on course and find our mission formation, but also to not burn extra fuel. I was worried about our fuel load since Kobe is a bit further than Nagoya was.(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FFrontofBomber.jpg&hash=a9e06cc0f44dca87b4be6e45518ca0e4510f45da)
When we got to the rendezvous zone, the weather got worse. Storms greeted us and rain lashed the canopy. I'd pulled us up to HI altitude as this was the altitude required for the mission.
In preparing for this mission, I realized I screwed something else up in Mission 1 –specifically that Missions 1-10 are flown at HI altitude. We flew it at MED altitude. The modifiers for navigation, bombing, and fighter attacks are different at HI altitude than MED.
Also, being off course and then hitting 'Bad' weather in Zone 3, where we're supposed to, on top of everything else, form up with the other bombers, is NOT good. "Great," I muttered. Then I keyed the intercom to all crew: "Everyone, be prepared to sh*t your pants if Mother Nature hits us with another lightning bolt."
The storm was getting worse, and the winds were headed right at our nose, so we burned even more fuel.
From Zone 2 to Zone 3, we climbed from MED to HI altitude. Moving one Zone with a full bomb load costs 2 Fuel. Climbing in altitude costs 2 Fuel. The storm made us use up yet another fuel. So, 5 fuel gone in one zone. I was worrying even more now about getting back home.Despite the fuel burning, we not only managed to get back on course (no thanks to me as I blew the Pilotage roll yet again), we also found the formation. However, the storm meant we'd be disrupted for the duration of the mission, which meant a +1 to all Fighter Resistance rolls.
And I never should have mentioned lightning strikes, because...
BOOM(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FCockpit-Lightning.jpg&hash=ef2c48dc665151c2cb3238832eab9db340245fee)
DAMMIT, ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS AGAIN?
We flew right through the storm clouds, praying we would not hit another bomber in this soup; we had little choice but to do so, to hope we were on course. The randomness of lighting striking near your plane, much less ON the plane, two missions in a row?
This time, the damn lightning actually hit us. It felt like we had received a hammer blow from below, and the plane lurched up as if kicked by a giant.
We reacted immediately, trying to keep Miss Punctuality's fat ass under control. The instrument panels sparked again, but the lights remained lit and they looked functional. I glanced over to M/SGT Barthheart at the Flight Engineer station, and he gave a thumbs-up...his controls were good, too.
However, I noticed the landing gear was inoperable thanks to the strike. We investigated once we confirmed we had the plane under control, and sure enough, their controls were fried. If we wanted to lower the gear (which is a good thing when one wants to land), we'd have to do it manually from the bomb bay. So some lucky soul was going to get to go in there and try to lower it manually.
In game terms, this is not good. We'd be able to try to lower the gear with one attempt per Zone. Once down, they drag the plane severely, meaning we'd be spending TWO turns in each Zone...essentially, burning double the fuel on the way home, as if carrying bombs (2 Fuel per Zone). So, obviously, our best bet was to wait until we got close to Home Base. If we did it too soon, we'd use up extra fuel that we don't have. Then again if we wait too long and I blow the roll, we'd be circling until we run out of fuel. And it's no foregone easy thing to manually lower gear – it's a roll of 1-2 on a d6. The mission was JUST starting out, and we already had this hanging over our heads.There were actually two hits to our wings – that first nailed the landing gear controls, and the second one, fortunately, only caused superficial scorching.
Shaken, and with one more thing to worry about now (and worse, something tangible), we proceeded to the next zone. The weather cleared up finally, though the formation was still a bit scattered. We didn't have the fuel to wait around, so we'd have to go in as is.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FCockpit-Ocean.jpg&hash=a9144a67e0b1274a76b857e779ae132302f3b572)
The weather held up all the way to Iwo Jima, where we had a welcoming committee.
Flying Warrant Officer (飛行兵曹長) W8taminute-san felt excitement; they had fuel, and yet another B-29 raid was heading right over their heads. They were cleared to attack!(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aviastar.org%2Fpictures%2Fjapan%2Fnakajima_oscar-s.gif&hash=436695b8a4191cc4a59d490eb7568de7f3b7f86f)
His formation was small, as American carrier raids had been felt tremendously. There were a dozen of them taking off to attack more than a hundred American bombers. However, their formation was not nearly as tight as he saw the last time. Flushed with both excitement and the duty he felt to his Emperor, he pushed the Oscar's throttles and launched himself at the bomber stream.
The Ki-43 was a dominating aircraft early in the War, much like it's nimble Zero cousin. Unfortunately, like its cousin, it would break apart with a few good hits. The idea was to stay nimble and hit hard. These B-29s were fast and there'd only be one pass at this...
He flew into the formation, seeking a target in its heart. Shooting down a B-29 on the fringe would be a victory, but shooting one down in the midst of the Americans would be a GREAT victory. Besides the loss, the Americans would see their brethren crashing to the ocean far below in flames, hopefully demoralizing them!
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fvicsocotra.com%2F2010_stories%2F6-8-10-super-fort.jpg&hash=abd97fef5fae56ab4ad70e186bd104539169ea73)
Several B-29s took shots at him as he raced in between the planes; his brother pilots had taken off on individual hunts, all semblance of formation gone. It mattered little. FWO W8taminute-san dodged one B-29 by flying under it and saw another one a short distance away, this one with a scantily-clad woman sitting provocatively on a bomb adorning its nose. He grinned as he chose that one to attack.The glint of the sun off of the Oscar's wings was the first indication of attack. Both SSGT Jarhead and SGT GJK, the CFC and Right Gunner, respectively, called out the target at 3:00 low, headed right for Miss Punctuality. Heads turned to get a look at the Oscar – at least, those that could see out of the starboard side of the aircraft.
SSGT Jarhead turned in his seat and took control of the lower rear turret; SGT GJK took control of the lower front turret. Both excitedly turned them to face their attacker. Both called out what they were doing, and the turrets erupted in flame. The monster .50 caliber twin machineguns in each turret thumped loudly, and everyone aboard Miss Punctuality could feel her shudder in response.
FWO W8taminute-san hunched over his Oscar's controls as he brought the B-29 into his sights. It was above him, so only half of the bomber's weaponry would come to bear. Just as he thought that, he saw the telltale winking of the bomber's two lower turrets, telling a staccato story of hot lead slung at him at incredible speeds. He held his breath...
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FOscarAttack.jpg&hash=6b1ea0e18ddfffbadd4b118ae6c27c6ed8dd60d6)
Both gunners missed. Whether it was excitement or nervousness...regardless, it's not easy to hit a Japanese fighter, much less one as nimble as an Oscar.
SGT GJK yelled out a warning as both turrets continued to pour fire after the Oscar, but it was obvious they were not going to hit it. The Oscar erupted in flame as it fired on us...
NEXT: MISSION 2, PART 2
MISSION 2, PART 2
The angle of attack wasn't quite right, and his Oscar's fire arced short of the bomber. The closer he got, the more off his fire was. Cursing, he dived under the B-29, seeking out another target.
Breathing a sigh of relief – especially both GJK and Jarhead, since they had front-row seats to the whole spectacle – we left Iwo Jima behind. We'd already had enough excitement to last us the rest of the Mission, and we weren't even halfway there yet.
As we approached Japan, Zones 7 through 9 were all Good weather zones, giving us a bit of a break. But as we entered Zone 10, Japanese fighter coverage would get thick. Knowing resistance would be heavy, we braced ourselves for action. The target zone is Zone 12, so we could possibly be attacked three times before we had a chance to drop our bombs on Kobe.
By the way...once we entered Zone 10, counting the fuel in the Auxiliary tanks, we were at 1/2 fuel load. Not even to the target yet...this should be interesting.
As we neared the city, no Japanese fighters came up to attack us. We were thinking Intelligence was another job like Meteorology, where people said "meh" if they didn't quite get it right. In this case, we didn't mind. Kobe came into sight, though, and things changed a bit.
For one, we had a super-clear view of the city.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FBombadierClearOverCity.jpg&hash=c06bd61602d16ab08add6ff82e4ce0c92f0676bf)
Which meant enemy flak would have a good chance of pounding us.
While we worried about that, SGT GJK shouted a warning – an Oscar was coming right at us from the 3:00 low position, as if that was the only direction they could come from. Both he and S/SGT Jarhead swung the turrets they controlled over Iwo, and depressed the firing switches. Miss Punctuality shuddered a bit as both twin gun setups spoke, hurling fiery lances at our attacker. But, like over Iwo, both turrets missed. They cursed loudly, and we braced ourselves for its attack run.
The Oscar's cowling blazed as if on fire, shooting at us, but its shots went wide and it lanced under us like a roach under a spotlight. Then, it was gone.
Before we could catch our breath from that one, puffs appeared almost immediately. Our brains barely registered it as flak before we felt three hits in rapid succession – BAM-BAM-BAM – causing Miss Punctuality to lurch up a bit with each hit, like a prizefighter getting slammed. Any flak that could make this heavy plane move in mid-air was something to be feared.
The first hit exploded a dozen feet from our bomb bay doors, which put some small holes in it but otherwise it had no effect.
The second hit, however, nailed the bomb bay door's controls. This froze them in place.
The bombardier, 1LT Nefaro, called out in frustration. "Bomb bay doors won't open!"
I saw the indicator lights were out, saw his arm moving as he kept trying to flip the switch. This was NOT good.
In game terms, this is VERY bad indeed. If we can't drop our bombs, we have to turn around and head home – with a full bomb load. Meaning 2 Fuel per Zone. Meaning we'd have to ditch in the ocean somewhere near Iwo Jima once we ran out of gas. Not to mention if a Jap fighter or flak hit us in the bomb bay, it could mean sayonara as we disintegrate in mid-air. Needless to say, I figured this was lights out for us!
I had once chance – to try the controls myself from one of my panels at the Pilot's station. I said a quick prayer, and jiggled the switch. The light didn't come on. A heartbeat or two passed. The light came on and we felt the bomb bay doors open, the rumbling moving through the plane. We felt a rush of relief flood us.
However, S/SGT Jarhead called out: "Lower aft turret is out. It took a shell."
SGT Shelldrake, our left gunner, came on next: "What are we going to do? Can we fix it?"
Jarhead answered: "Nope, it's a wreck. We'll just have to hope no Japs come at us from that direction."
The bomb bay doors open, though, was the biggest thing now. I just wanted us to get through this bomb run without anything bad happening...and 1LT Nefaro called out he had control of the plane. More flak bursts exploded around us, and my anxiety hit the roof as I had no control until he released the bombs. Seconds seemed to stretch into an eternity until, finally, Miss Punctuality jumped up like a bucking mare as the bombs fell.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2F9%2F90%2FFirebombing_of_Tokyo.jpg&hash=95ee2cc9cad667cab2a197423169a994f64fe09e)
We saw that the bombs were more or less falling on target, but we had other worries. The formation turned to return home, and more flak came up at us. Nothing hit is, thank goodness, and our nose was now pointed to home.
That did it for the Japanese fighter defense, though. Swarms swept up against us, like angry bees protecting their queen. None of them picked us out, though, and we stayed more or less in our shaky formation as we slowly left Japanese ground behind and headed back out to sea. By the time we reached Zone 10, Japanese fighter resistance in that Zone became 'light,' and no fighters came up to take us on then, either.
Cue another sigh of relief.
Heading to Iwo, we were met with Good weather in each Zone we traveled through. But our fuel level was dropping fast. As long as nothing bad happened to us (knock, knock, knock...) we might have two boxes of Fuel left when we get to Home Base.
We flew over Iwo, but apparently they didn't want to come up to play this time. I wondered if we gave them a licking or not – we'd have to wait and hear the scoop from the other crews and from the mission report to see for sure. Until then, we focused on our instruments and kept an eye out for storms or gremlins or anything else that might want to bring us down.
The weather got 'Poor' once we entered Zone 5, just past Iwo on the way home, but this time the headwinds that gave us such a problem heading out were now pushing us from the tail. Fortunately, we gained a Fuel box, giving us a bit more padding.
Zone 4 was no different – Poor weather again, and again we get lucky as I rolled an extra Fuel box. The tail winds remained strong, as if guiding us home.
However, we still had the landing gear to worry about.
Once we entered Zone 2, I dropped us to MED altitude. I wasn't about to let a crewman get into an unpressurized bomb bay at 26,000 feet! This way they'd be able to work without a possibility of losing digits to frostbite.
It didn't matter who did it, but it made more sense to depressurize the rear compartment and let one of them try instead of depressurizing the pilot's compartment. Just in case.
S/SGT Jarhead volunteered, so after the chamber was depressurized he crawled into the noisy bomb bay, hooked up the portable generator, and worked the controls to try to bring the gear down.
It didn't work.
We moved into Zone 1 and I crossed off another Fuel box – we had five left. If I blew the roll again for the landing gear, we might be doing some circling around Tinian. Jarhead tried yet again, and unfortunately again, the gear refused to come down.
By now, Tinian was in sight, and our gear wasn't. We radioed ahead. At least, if we had to ditch or crash-land, we'd be rescued most likely – better than taking chances in Japan or Iwo or close by either. When we entered the Home Base zone, I rolled again...
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FCockpit-Takeoff.jpg&hash=e6fcdf867af8d232ae000158d0cc0e971197258f)
...and the gear came down.
Even though it was night, we managed to put Miss Punctuality down cleanly, and rolled up to our part of the air base. The Crew Chief would be mad that we'd put holes in 'his baby,' but that would be his covering for being glad to see us again.
FINAL MISSION REPORT
30% of our bombs hit the target, which is an 'Excellent' rating. (30% and higher is Excellent, actually, so we just made it.) This counts as a Victory, and after the Draw in the last mission, this is welcome news indeed.
Also that we made it home in more or less one piece. The Crew Chief and his mechanics could patch the holes, repair the bomb bay doors and the rear lower turret. We had 33 more of these to go. I hope this was the worst we'd see, but I wasn't that naïve to think that was true.
NEXT: MISSION 3
wooohooooo - awesome
great write up, and goddam if those radars didnt do a perfect job again!
Excellent! O0
Off to the PX to buy Mirth a pocket compass and Jarhead and GJK BB guns fer target practice. ;D
Oh and BC.... quit flying into lightening bolts!!! >:(
Quote from: Barthheart on September 04, 2014, 10:40:09 AM
Oh and BC.... quit flying into lightening bolts!!! >:(
It isn't his fault; I keep summoning those to keep
me us awake and to relieve
my our tedium so that
y'all I will have something to do.
My aim is getting better!!
Soon, I shall have a way of shooting at our opponents when they attack us. Like Thor. I can't hurl my chainsaw out the window, after all -- I may need it for
crew morale repairs.
Great stuff BC!
(When I say "relieve my tedium" I don't mean reading the AARs which are great. O:-) That's just a running joke about the copilot being of no real use in the game mechanics.)
You could bring us coffee... ;)
I need to get a rear-view mirror for my end of the plane so I can see where we're going next time, not just where we've been. :))
That would be a front view mirror then, Stagger ;)
I'm trying to incorporate everyone into the narrative, somehow, but unfortunately not all events in the game thus far have allowed everyone to take part (tail gunner, for example). Or to not take part more than I'd like.
The B-29 is kind of a cold fish compared to the B-17. With Queen of the Skies, you at least had a crewman and his machinegun, and that was it. Now you have two top turrets and two bottom turrets that can be remotely controlled by more than one person. It takes some getting used to. Then again I'm learning more about the B-29 than I've ever learned, which is kind of cool too.
Quote from: Staggerwing on September 04, 2014, 06:37:16 PM
You could bring us coffee... ;)
AWAKEN! {sploosh!} ...those electrics were moisture-proofed in a giant cold aluminum can flying through clouds, right?
Quote from: Banzai_Cat on September 05, 2014, 07:47:19 AMThen again I'm learning more about the B-29 than I've ever learned, which is kind of cool too.
True; I for one wasn't aware the turrets operated remotely. I don't have a clear idea how far back people are spaced either -- I get the impression Bob the tailgunner is stuck waaay back away from everyone else.
The tailgunner has their own pressurized compartment, so yes, they're separate from everyone else.
Though it's my understanding that for takeoffs and landings, the tailgunner sits with the three gunners in their compartment. Also, he's the only one that's in charge of his own guns; nobody else may fire them...except of course if he buys the FarmTM and ends up getting replaced by another crewman.
Don't worry, Stagger...I knocked on this faux-wood table I'm working at today when I typed that one-handed.
Quote from: Banzai_Cat on September 05, 2014, 07:47:19 AM
I'm trying to incorporate everyone into the narrative, somehow, but unfortunately not all events in the game thus far have allowed everyone to take part (tail gunner, for example). Or to not take part more than I'd like.
its cool, i like to think im just a silent hero in the back
throwing pickled onions at bob
Some thoughts on the game:
(1) The weather is a real bitch. That much is probably obvious from the fact that we had strikes two missions in a row. If you get a 'Bad' result on the weather table, you have to roll on another one to determine what happens, if anything, and that's where the lightning strikes come from. There's at least two results that have that happen, where you roll for damage to cockpit instruments and then roll twice for damage to wings (just as if they were hit by enemy planes or flak). We've been very lucky with the cockpit instruments - the ONLY way to avoid damage is by rolling a '7,' and I did that both times.
(2) Bad weather (even 'Poor' weather) tends to propagate itself. There's modifiers to weather table rolls in the next Zone if weather in the previous Zone is Poor or Bad - I think it's a +1 for Poor and +2 for Bad.
(3) Flak is also a lot deadlier than I remember from the B-17 game. We were lucky in Mission 1 because of the complete cloud cover, which serves a negative modifier to the flak die roll. OTOH, Mission 2's completely visible target left us also very vulnerable, giving a positive modifier and therefore the damaged bomb bay doors and busted turret. If we had dropped the bombs and turned around and then got hit, the bomb bay doors would have been frozen open, causing drag and additional fuel loss.
(4) Speaking of fuel...Mission 2 was a very close call. The tail winds in Zones 4 and 3 (IIRC) helped 'restore' two Fuel units. I didn't scan the mission log - I'll get to that before I play Mission 3 and write that one up - but we had five Fuel units left when we landed. I didn't find anything in the rules about circling the base trying to lower the landing gear manually. I just assumed this would be allowed to happen. Kind of silly to ditch or bail out when you still have fuel and a chance (even a slim one) of being able to land that bird in one piece.
(5) The navigation rules add a lot of suspense to the game's first part and the final approach, but it gives me the feeling that we're flying alone. I can't imagine ONE B-29 by itself from every base in the Marianas, but that's the vibe the rules give. I think instead it's more a small group of planes that you, as the human solitaire player, are technically leading to the rendezvous. Again, I didn't find a reference to that in the rules, but that's what I'll assume.
(6) Japanese fighter attacks are thus far kind of lame. As I said in the Mission 1 log, the game seems to discourage them. Then again, the B-29 was a fast beast and Japanese early warning was generally nil. When they could get fighters up in the air, they had to be positioned just right to have a hope in hell of getting one pass on these bombers. Follow-up attacks are very rare in this game, too. I do kind of miss the clouds of Messerschmidts and FWs attacking my B-17 like I'm the only plane in the sky, to be honest.
The enemy planes, though, are just one slice of the terror pie. The largest piece is fuel, followed closely by weather. The fuel part won't be a big worry once Iwo Jima is cleared and we're based there (starting with Mission 11, God willing we get that far). I think we remove the aux tanks then and get larger bomb loads.
Another excellent narration BC. It's funny that this being only the second mission and thus far poor Miss Punctuality gets slapped twice by lightning.
Three cheers for my appearance as well. I like the choice in plane you had Flying Warrant Officer (飛行兵曹長) W8taminute-san take up on that intercept attempt. It looks like you got a shot of the authentic cockpit of the fighter as well. O0
Yeah, that was the best Oscar cockpit shot I could find. It had controls labeled with numbers, so I had to 'shop them out.
quote on Facebook from the link to this thread
QuoteI nearly shared this, thinking it was genuine history. AWESOME computer graphics.
That's pretty awesome to know; thanks for sharing. I appreciate the positive feedback on this piece. I'm just having a good time playing and weaving a narrative around it - it's even better knowing people are enjoying reading it. O0
Quote from: JasonPratt on September 04, 2014, 06:27:33 PM
(When I say "relieve my tedium" I don't mean reading the AARs which are great. O:-) That's just a running joke about the copilot being of no real use in the game mechanics.)
You should be the cameraman since you have such a good view of our gunners missing those fighters coming in from 3 O'Clock. :P
Perhaps I should taunt the bogeys approaching from the 12 to 3 quarter? Does taunting confer us any bonuses?
Quote from: JasonPratt on September 12, 2014, 08:14:38 AMPerhaps I should taunt the bogeys approaching from the 12 to 3 quarter? Does taunting confer us any bonuses?
it makes you 17% cooler; same basic effect as drinking a Modelo.
Quote from: Barthheart on September 04, 2014, 10:38:13 AM
Excellent! O0
Off to the PX to buy Mirth a pocket compass and Jarhead and GJK BB guns fer target practice. ;D
Can you please pick me up a laser sight while you're at it. Thanks.
And more pickled onions for Bob
No more pickled onions.... the air is already green when we fly.... :buck2:
....how about a garlic bulb then, eh?
Quote from: bob48 on September 17, 2014, 03:15:14 PM
....how about a garlic bulb then, eh?
That's for the French!
Yeah, just thought I'd try out some international cuisine.