A major offseason statistical timekiller: If chiefsplanet members were B-17 crews... - Page 7

**Rain Man** · 01:57 AM

As some of you know, I've got a fixation with B-17 bombers from the World War II era. I've got this really cool simulation game (pencil and paper, not computer) of B-17 missions over Europe. It can track each crew member's history, as well as the success of an individual airplane's mission. It's a majorly cool game if you're into wargame simulations, and is called "B-17: Queen of the Skies." It's made by Avalon Hill.

Anyway, over the past few years, I've been running missions whenever I've been in the mood, and I've got records of almost 300 missions now. I thought it might be fun to use these for an interesting statistical time killer, so you could see what your fate would have been if you had been drafted into the Bomber Corps back in the early days of WWII.

I've got enough missions to run a group of 20 bombers, each with a 10-person crew. If you're interested in participating, do one of the following:

1. If you've got less than 4,000 posts and want to be on a crew, volunteer for service by stating so in this thread. Please don't pm me; just make a post.

2. If you've got more than 4,000 posts, you'll be in by default unless you post or pm me that you DON'T want to be included. If you don't want to read about yourself blasting German fighters out of the sky or falling 20,000 feet to your death in a burning aircraft, you might want to opt out.

Since I've already run the simulations, you'll have no responsibilities other than to watch what happens, discuss it, brag or curse, and maybe make a decision once in a while about reassignment if a bomber crew has casualties. This is just something to watch and ponder your fate. We'll run the game until somebody gets 25 missions, and it'll probably meander on through much of the offseason since it'll take me a while to post each mission.

Crews will be determined randomly, and the hierarchy on the crew will be determined by post count unless a person particularly wants to move down the hierarchy to take a certain position. If there are casualties, you can move around in the crew. (We'll assume that flying lessons come easy to you.) The hierarchy will be:

1. Pilot
2. Copilot
3. Bombardier/Nose & Port Cheek Gunner
4. Navigator/Nose & Starboard Cheek Gunner
5. Engineer/Top Turret Gunner
6. Radio Operator/Radio Room Gunner
7. Tail Gunner
8. Ball Turret Gunner
9. Right Waist Gunner
10. Left Waist Gunner

The way it will work is like this: I'll assign you to a crew, and I'll randomly assign your plane to a mission. Every week or so, as I have time, I'll post the results of missions. Each of the 20 bombers will have a mission in a thread called "B-17 Mission 1" or something like that. Once everyone has flown a mission, the survivors will go on to a new thread called Mission 2, and so on. There will be some shuffling of crews as time goes by, as crew members find themselves without planes or vice versa, and I'll post those changes as we go.

Within a thread, you'll read a summary of each plane's mission, its encounters with enemy aircraft and flak along the way, and its bombing success. The interesting part is that you'll read about any damage to the plane, any casualties to the crews, and/or any enemy planes hit by your own fire.

I'll add more explanations along the way.

Mods, let me know if this is a problem or distraction. It'll be 25 threads in total, one for each mission, and will probably result in one thread that'll bounce off and on the front page through the whole offseason. If it's a bother, we'll move it to another part of the board or just forget about it, but I think it'll be fun.

**morphius** · 01-20-2004, 02:50 PM

I just feel sorry for the people stuck in my crew, first trip out, crash and burn.

Morphius
Stupid luck.

KCWolfman · 01-20-2004, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by morphius

I just feel sorry for the people stuck in my crew, first trip out, crash and burn.

Morphius
Stupid luck.

Memo - Keep Morph out of the Enola Gay (let the jokes begin).

**ChiTown** · 01-20-2004, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCWolfman

Memo - Keep Morph out of the Enola Gay (let the jokes begin).

Good Point

We'd be sitting around in Kimono's, watching bad Godzilla movies and getting waxed on Sake by now.

Logical · 01-20-2004, 02:59 PM

So will I be facilitating death and destruction or directly producing it.

I must begin mental preparation for maximum effectiveness.

Of course I will be in charge of torturing ineffective crew dogs.

**Iowanian** · 01-20-2004, 03:21 PM

At least we know who'll be captain of

The EBOLA Gay

|Zach| · 01-20-2004, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Logical

So will I be facilitating death and destruction or directly producing it.

I must begin mental preparation for maximum effectiveness.

Of course I will be in charge of torturing ineffective crew dogs.

Ehhh, I hope I am not on Logical's crew...he would be extra mean I believe.

KCWolfman · 01-20-2004, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZachKC

Ehhh, I hope I am not on Logical's crew...he would be extra mean I believe.

If I get to be Captain, you probably won't want my crew. I will have them circle around a few times so I can get prime closeups of those we hit.

Slayer Diablo · 01-20-2004, 03:29 PM

Sounds great! Hope I can survive at least five missions

ndbbm · 01-20-2004, 03:31 PM

I wanna be on a crew.

Logical · 01-20-2004, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iowanian

At least we know who'll be captain of

The EBOLA Gay

In today's war would the Enola Gay have been known as the

AIDS DON'T ASK DON'T TELL

Talisman · 01-20-2004, 03:58 PM

Tuesday, January 20th, 1943

I'm getting pre-mission jitters. I just pulled out a picture of my wife and stared at it for a while. That helped a little. I can't get my hands to stop shaking. I'm not sure if it's from fear, nerves, or the memory of the turret gun vibrating in my hands last mission. I hope the mail comes today. It would be nice to hear from home. As each day goes by and the longer I'm over here, it's harder to remember the faces of my friends and family. I hope I hear what our next mission is soon. It's the waiting that's the hardest...

|Zach| · 01-20-2004, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCWolfman

If I get to be Captain, you probably won't want my crew. I will have them circle around a few times so I can get prime closeups of those we hit.

Go easy on the target to the right ok?

Thanks, ZachKC.

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**Rain Man** · 01-20-2004, 05:25 PM

I know I said 24 hours, but I'm psyched, so we'll do our crew assignments now. If you're interested in joining a crew from this point forward, pm me and I'll put you in line as a replacement for any crew member who meets an untimely end. That shouldn't take long.

Zebedee DuBois · 01-20-2004, 05:26 PM

Put me on a plane! I can serve my Planet!

Plus, I gots some qualifications!

Strengths:
I have a pilots licence. So I could probably be a pilot, copilot, or Bombardier.
I have some math skills, so I could be a navigator.
I have no problem shooting at people that are shooting at me.

Weaknesses:
I have a touch of claustraphobia. I may not make rational decisions when in cramped quarters.(I may not descriminate about what I'm shooting at.)
Hit and miss about problem solving on the fly. Work better with time to reflect on the problem.
May have some moral qualms about dropping bombs on civilians.
Have been known to fart in elevators.

Ultra Peanut · 01-20-2004, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zebedee DuBois

I have a touch of claustraphobia.

Eww. Pink's not going to like this...

01-20-2004, 12:54 AM
Rain Man Seize life. Be an ermine. Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $-672449 VARSITY	A major offseason statistical timekiller: If chiefsplanet members were B-17 crews... As some of you know, I've got a fixation with B-17 bombers from the World War II era. I've got this really cool simulation game (pencil and paper, not computer) of B-17 missions over Europe. It can track each crew member's history, as well as the success of an individual airplane's mission. It's a majorly cool game if you're into wargame simulations, and is called "B-17: Queen of the Skies." It's made by Avalon Hill. Anyway, over the past few years, I've been running missions whenever I've been in the mood, and I've got records of almost 300 missions now. I thought it might be fun to use these for an interesting statistical time killer, so you could see what your fate would have been if you had been drafted into the Bomber Corps back in the early days of WWII. I've got enough missions to run a group of 20 bombers, each with a 10-person crew. If you're interested in participating, do one of the following: 1. If you've got less than 4,000 posts and want to be on a crew, volunteer for service by stating so in this thread. Please don't pm me; just make a post. 2. If you've got more than 4,000 posts, you'll be in by default unless you post or pm me that you DON'T want to be included. If you don't want to read about yourself blasting German fighters out of the sky or falling 20,000 feet to your death in a burning aircraft, you might want to opt out. Since I've already run the simulations, you'll have no responsibilities other than to watch what happens, discuss it, brag or curse, and maybe make a decision once in a while about reassignment if a bomber crew has casualties. This is just something to watch and ponder your fate. We'll run the game until somebody gets 25 missions, and it'll probably meander on through much of the offseason since it'll take me a while to post each mission. Crews will be determined randomly, and the hierarchy on the crew will be determined by post count unless a person particularly wants to move down the hierarchy to take a certain position. If there are casualties, you can move around in the crew. (We'll assume that flying lessons come easy to you.) The hierarchy will be: 1. Pilot 2. Copilot 3. Bombardier/Nose & Port Cheek Gunner 4. Navigator/Nose & Starboard Cheek Gunner 5. Engineer/Top Turret Gunner 6. Radio Operator/Radio Room Gunner 7. Tail Gunner 8. Ball Turret Gunner 9. Right Waist Gunner 10. Left Waist Gunner The way it will work is like this: I'll assign you to a crew, and I'll randomly assign your plane to a mission. Every week or so, as I have time, I'll post the results of missions. Each of the 20 bombers will have a mission in a thread called "B-17 Mission 1" or something like that. Once everyone has flown a mission, the survivors will go on to a new thread called Mission 2, and so on. There will be some shuffling of crews as time goes by, as crew members find themselves without planes or vice versa, and I'll post those changes as we go. Within a thread, you'll read a summary of each plane's mission, its encounters with enemy aircraft and flak along the way, and its bombing success. The interesting part is that you'll read about any damage to the plane, any casualties to the crews, and/or any enemy planes hit by your own fire. I'll add more explanations along the way. Mods, let me know if this is a problem or distraction. It'll be 25 threads in total, one for each mission, and will probably result in one thread that'll bounce off and on the front page through the whole offseason. If it's a bother, we'll move it to another part of the board or just forget about it, but I think it'll be fun. Last edited by Rain Man; 01-20-2004 at 01:57 AM..
Posts: 145,500

01-20-2004, 02:50 PM	#91
morphius World's finest morphius Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $5735027	I just feel sorry for the people stuck in my crew, first trip out, crash and burn. Morphius Stupid luck.
Posts: 26,023

01-20-2004, 02:59 PM	#94
Logical Screw U if U can't take a joke Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $10004900	So will I be facilitating death and destruction or directly producing it. I must begin mental preparation for maximum effectiveness. Of course I will be in charge of torturing ineffective crew dogs.
Posts: 31,579

01-20-2004, 03:21 PM	#95
Iowanian Supporter Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Utopia Casino cash: $1668454	At least we know who'll be captain of The EBOLA Gay
Posts: 62,945

01-20-2004, 03:29 PM	#98
Slayer Diablo Cross with me Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kansas City, MO Casino cash: $9994900	Sounds great! Hope I can survive at least five missions
Posts: 11,673

01-20-2004, 03:31 PM	#99
ndbbm No mas Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Amish Country. Casino cash: $10004900	I wanna be on a crew.
Posts: 4,524

01-20-2004, 03:58 PM	#101
Talisman Champions Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Des Moines, IA Casino cash: $286743	Tuesday, January 20th, 1943 I'm getting pre-mission jitters. I just pulled out a picture of my wife and stared at it for a while. That helped a little. I can't get my hands to stop shaking. I'm not sure if it's from fear, nerves, or the memory of the turret gun vibrating in my hands last mission. I hope the mail comes today. It would be nice to hear from home. As each day goes by and the longer I'm over here, it's harder to remember the faces of my friends and family. I hope I hear what our next mission is soon. It's the waiting that's the hardest...
Posts: 6,844

01-20-2004, 05:25 PM	#103
Rain Man Seize life. Be an ermine. Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $-672449 VARSITY	I know I said 24 hours, but I'm psyched, so we'll do our crew assignments now. If you're interested in joining a crew from this point forward, pm me and I'll put you in line as a replacement for any crew member who meets an untimely end. That shouldn't take long. __________________ Active fan of the greatest team in NFL history.
Posts: 145,500

01-20-2004, 05:26 PM	#104
Zebedee DuBois Veteran Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: floating in a tin can Casino cash: $-1844801	Put me on a plane! I can serve my Planet! Plus, I gots some qualifications! Strengths: I have a pilots licence. So I could probably be a pilot, copilot, or Bombardier. I have some math skills, so I could be a navigator. I have no problem shooting at people that are shooting at me. Weaknesses: I have a touch of claustraphobia. I may not make rational decisions when in cramped quarters.(I may not descriminate about what I'm shooting at.) Hit and miss about problem solving on the fly. Work better with time to reflect on the problem. May have some moral qualms about dropping bombs on civilians. Have been known to fart in elevators. __________________ What am I even doing here?
Posts: 3,935

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