Danger Zones and Dogfights: A Hornet Leader AAR (Mission 1 Complete!)

BanzaiCat · June 05, 2015, 10:29:48 AM

001 Introduction

Here's the Hornet Leader AAR I'd been talking about for some time. A review will be forthcoming here on GrogHeads (on the Mythical Front Page^TM no less) by the end of June. This AAR should start up by then, but there's a few things to get done, first.

For one, I'm still working on some graphics to illustrate. I have most of the counters done (I had to redo a couple as they looked awful when I scanned them and I couldn't find a reliable source online for them).

Also, need to get some of you jokers to sign up. If we don't meet the pilot quota, I'm going to have to shanghai some of you. And you know who you are. 8)

Once we've got those pieces I'll be ready to move forward. Likely the first mission will be the week of June 21...I will be out of the country from June 13 through 20 and next week will probably afford me only bits of time here and there. I'd like to be ready to roll by the start of the following week.

I will be running this one myself, playing it solitaire and narrating the events/showing images as the action and drama unfolds. As long as you don't mind associating your name with my victories (and defeats), hopefully you enjoy what I come up with.

I will be running the WWIII North Atlantic 1986 campaign, with a Medium length. Short is too short, and Long is too long...at least, for the purposes of an AAR. A Medium Campaign gives me ten pilots/planes. Here is a list of the planes I have to choose from:

F/A-18C Hornet
A-7 Corsair II
F-14 Tomcat
A-6 Intruder
EA-6B Prowler
E-2C Hawkeye

The Corsair may seem out of place, but choosing one actually grants bonus Special Operations points, which help in-game. It's really not that bad an aircraft, though it does carry a lot less munitions than the A-6 (hence, the bonus). I'll get into more details later when the time comes. For now, I just need some volunteers. Here is the list - let me know which spot you want. As far as aircraft go, if you REALLY have a need to "pilot" one particular aircraft from above, let me know in your response post. Otherwise I'll just put you into whatever aircraft I choose for that skill level. Likely I am going to make the Veteran-rated pilot an F-14 or F/A-18C driver and the Skilled-rated pilot an A-6 driver. The rest I'm not sure about, but I will definitely include one E-2C Hawkeye and probably one EA-6B Prowler. If nobody wants the Hawkeye, I volunteer Toonces and his giant watch for that one. O0

Pilot 1: Airborne Rifles (Exp: Veteran) F/A-18C Hornet
Pilot 2: SDR (Exp: Skilled) A-6 Intruder
Pilot 3: mirth (Exp: Average) EA-6B Prowler
Pilot 4: Dammit Carl! (Exp: Average) TBD
Pilot 5: Besilarius (Exp: Average) TBD
Pilot 6: Staggerwing (Exp: Average) TBD
Pilot 7: PanzersEast (Exp: Average) TBD
Pilot 8: Barthheart (Exp: Green) F/A-18C Hornet
Pilot 9: JudgeDredd (Exp: Green) F-14 Tomcat (?)
Pilot 10: Windigo (Exp: Newbie) E-2C Hawkeye

Once the roster is filled up, I will give a bit of background and share some of the pics I've done so far.

Thanks! I hope everyone gets into it and enjoys it.

Dammit Carl! · June 05, 2015, 05:58:30 PM

I'm down (w/ no preference).

Hmmm...poor choice of words for someone in a plane :-\

besilarius · June 05, 2015, 06:00:53 PM

Banzai, this is really dated, but off of Vietnam, the word was that the SLUF was a really good dogfighter at low altitudes. Don't know if there would be any combat on the deck, but the Corsair might have some advantages in the dirt.

BanzaiCat · June 05, 2015, 06:07:39 PM

Thanks, Carl!

Bes, yeah, the Corsair was a good aircraft. For some reason I have a mindset that it was a dinosaur of the Vietnam War era, though that could be said of the A-6 or even the Tomcat to an extent. In-game, it only holds 7 Weight Points worth of munitions, though, while the A-6 holds 12. So, though they don't hold a lot of weapons compared to the other platforms, taking them grants extra Special Operations points, which are used for strategic assets like special weapons (including the Phoenix air-to-air missile), priority R&R to get pilots rested quickly, and that kind of thing.

You down for the pilot's list too, Bes?

Staggerwing · June 05, 2015, 06:20:47 PM

I'll enlist as well. I'll fly whatever is needed so if others want the shiny hot rods I'll be glad to drive the Google van.

mirth · June 05, 2015, 06:23:45 PM

I'll fly the Queer.

BanzaiCat · June 05, 2015, 07:48:06 PM

OK, so that's mirth, Dammit Carl!, and Stagger in on this, with possibly besilarius as well.

Since you called out the Prowler specifically, mirth, I put you into that slot. As for the others I'm going to wait and see who else has specific requests, if any, otherwise once I get enough volunteers I'll go ahead and put you guys in 'em then.

Barthheart · June 07, 2015, 07:36:11 AM

Reporting for duty. Any plane that flies is good enough for me.

Silent Disapproval Robot · June 07, 2015, 07:52:43 AM

A-6 for me please. I like dropping explodey things.

BanzaiCat · June 07, 2015, 08:15:59 AM

Updated! Four slots to go.

Airborne Rifles · June 07, 2015, 08:48:06 AM

I'll fly with you.

BanzaiCat · June 07, 2015, 08:52:44 AM

Great! Three left!

Emeraldlis · June 07, 2015, 08:54:16 AM

I'll be watching from the ground and generally wishing you fly boys well O0

Airborne Rifles · June 07, 2015, 09:14:47 PM

Gimme a Hornet. I like to drop bombs but I like to shoot missiles too.

BanzaiCat · June 08, 2015, 11:20:12 AM

Did a squadron patch.

I've also been working on some aircraft as well, complete with tail colors, but that won't be finalized until we get three more to sign up or shanghai'd in, then I figure out which aircraft I'm going to use (besides the ones I've already listed).

Was hoping you'd want a Tomcat, AB. Because this campaign is in the 80s, and because DAAAAAANGER ZONE!

But who's to say we can't mix it up? I might do a couple of Hornets with the Tomcats.