A major offseason statistical timekiller: If chiefsplanet members were B-17 crews... - Page 3

**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.

Redcoats58 · 01-20-2004, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KcMizzou

So, I can be a servant... or the first to die. Wtf???? Just another example of "The Man" keping me down.

So coffee fetcher it is. Welcome aboard pup.

**KcMizzou** · 01-20-2004, 03:59 AM

Bastards.

I'm goin' to bed. G'night fellas.

Redcoats58 · 01-20-2004, 03:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KcMizzou

Bastards.

I'm goin' to bed. G'night fellas.

Later

ChiefJustice · 01-20-2004, 04:05 AM

I wonder if this name will make the list of one of the squadron?

Redcoats58 · 01-20-2004, 04:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiefJustice

I wonder if this name will make the list of one of the squadron?

Somebody get their photo shop going and put Bronco helmets on these two guy's. CJ has found their bomber.

mikey23545 · 01-20-2004, 05:27 AM

I only have 2000+ posts because mostly I'm the strong, silent type every bomber crew needs...So I feel it is my duty to volunteer....

Redcoats58 · 01-20-2004, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikey23545

I only have 2000+ posts because mostly I'm the strong, silent type every bomber crew needs...So I feel it is my duty to volunteer....

How you have been here so long and have so few posts? I bet Endelt had more posts in his first day then you have right now, but then again he is a post whore.

**Rausch** · 01-20-2004, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Yep. I initiated a draft.

Sweet....assuming I made it through boot camp, who am I blow'n $3it up with?....

Redcoats58 · 01-20-2004, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rausch

Sweet....assuming I made it through boot camp, who am I blow'n $3it up with?....

You're so money and you don't even know it. Of course you'll make it through boot camp.

**Rausch** · 01-20-2004, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redcoats58

You're so money and you don't even know it. Of course you'll make it through boot camp.

Yeah, but it's hard to say goodbye to all the beautiful babies....you gotta' talk confident to the pretty babies....

JohnnyV13 · 01-20-2004, 06:04 AM

I'd like to be in.

Even tho I don't have any seniority, I used to be an avid player of the online air combat simulation Air Warrior. Air Warrior was one of the oldest realtime online sims before it was bought out by EA then discontinued in 2001.

I've flown thousands of missions, but I was mostly a fighter pilot. Trust me, you learn A LOT more about WW2 air combat tactics flying a sim than you EVER can learn playing an Avalon Hill game. (I used to play Luftwaffe. Is B-17, Queen of the Skies the same game?).

I've done it all. I've flown escort, I've been a buff pilot (pilot slang for bomber), been a gunner, bombadier and I've flown German planes attacking bomber formations. (These sims are ALL played against live human players, much tougher than any AI game you've played).

Oddly enough, the plane I liked flying the most was the British Spitfire IX. Despite its reputation, the P-51 was not a great "turn and burn" plane. It was terrific for bomber escort and for flying the "boom and zoom". I also really liked the German Bf-109K4.

**alanm** · 01-20-2004, 06:15 AM

Just as long as you don't send me on raids over Ploesti or Bremerhaven I'm cool with my slotting.

Redcoats58 · 01-20-2004, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rausch

Yeah, but it's hard to say goodbye to all the beautiful babies....you gotta' talk confident to the pretty babies....

**RealSNR** · 01-20-2004, 06:30 AM

So what's the catch? We do 25 missions but then you change them to 40, right?

ChiefJustice · 01-20-2004, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SNR

So what's the catch? We do 25 missions but then you change them to 40, right?

Catch-22,Major Major.

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, 03:59 AM	#32
KcMizzou Supporter Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Parkville MO Casino cash: $10005170	Bastards. I'm goin' to bed. G'night fellas.
Posts: 54,695

01-20-2004, 04:05 AM	#34
ChiefJustice The Stig Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: "Some say he has no home" Casino cash: $10004900	I wonder if this name will make the list of one of the squadron? __________________ Dante Hicks: But you hate people. Randal Graves: Yes, but I love gatherings. Isn't it ironic?
Posts: 4,806

01-20-2004, 05:27 AM	#36
mikey23545 MVP Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $10015321	I only have 2000+ posts because mostly I'm the strong, silent type every bomber crew needs...So I feel it is my duty to volunteer....
Posts: 12,314

01-20-2004, 06:04 AM	#41
JohnnyV13 Veteran Join Date: May 2003 Location: Tucson AZ Casino cash: $5385200	I'd like to be in. Even tho I don't have any seniority, I used to be an avid player of the online air combat simulation Air Warrior. Air Warrior was one of the oldest realtime online sims before it was bought out by EA then discontinued in 2001. I've flown thousands of missions, but I was mostly a fighter pilot. Trust me, you learn A LOT more about WW2 air combat tactics flying a sim than you EVER can learn playing an Avalon Hill game. (I used to play Luftwaffe. Is B-17, Queen of the Skies the same game?). I've done it all. I've flown escort, I've been a buff pilot (pilot slang for bomber), been a gunner, bombadier and I've flown German planes attacking bomber formations. (These sims are ALL played against live human players, much tougher than any AI game you've played). Oddly enough, the plane I liked flying the most was the British Spitfire IX. Despite its reputation, the P-51 was not a great "turn and burn" plane. It was terrific for bomber escort and for flying the "boom and zoom". I also really liked the German Bf-109K4.
Posts: 4,222

01-20-2004, 06:15 AM	#42
alanm Feeling Victorian Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Nebraska/Wyoming/Colorado Casino cash: $-113564	Just as long as you don't send me on raids over Ploesti or Bremerhaven I'm cool with my slotting. __________________ It bears repeating, ** Herm, Pioli, Haley, and Crennel for ing up my franchise for a goddamn decade. Buehler 445**
Posts: 33,983