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Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2019 8:48 am
by $iljanus
raydude wrote:
AWS260 wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2019 5:17 pm And a ball turret to cushion the landing.
I was gonna say, "it sucks to be..", and couldn't find the ball turret gunner on our crew list. I managed to find that it was gbasden. We should ask our squadron commander, Siljanus, to add him to the official roster when we get back.
Oops, a stowaway!

(off to fix it)

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2019 12:48 pm
by dbt1949
gbasden! Want some coffee? It's Folgers.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2019 2:15 pm
by gbasden
dbt1949 wrote: Tue Oct 29, 2019 12:48 pm gbasden! Want some coffee? It's Folgers.
Hey, I've gotten to murder a pilot already! Won't turn down some coffee, though. :)

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2019 3:18 pm
by dbt1949
Cream and sugar?

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 11:36 am
by $iljanus
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With the Sack Time being out of formation and at 10,000 feet, NickAragua tries to take evasive action to avoid fighter fire as best he can. It will be harder for the gunners to aim (-1 DRM to hit) but hopefully the bandits will have just as hard of a time hitting the Sally.

Five Me 109s fly towards the Sally head on. A fighter makes his run from 10:30 level but misses. Raydude hits his bandit at 12:00 level and injures the pilot but the plane still is able to fire back but misses, diving away. Another Me 109, unchallenged at 12:00 level hits the bomber but only causes superficial damage. He circles around to try to take another shot at the Sally. Daehawk and Zenn7 trade shots with their targets with everyone missing. The bandits fly off in search of other planes to attack.

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The ace that hit the bomber earlier circles around and attacks from 12:00 low. Gbasden, and Raydude miss the bandit but the ace doesn't land a hit this time. Zenn7 fires some pot shots as the Me 109 passes behind him but nothing hits as the ace flies off.

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The next wave doesn't fare very well against the bomber. The Me 109 at 12:00 level is engulfed in flames as tracers from Raydude and Daehawk hit the bandit. Dbt spills his coffee as he and Gbadsen fire at a Me 110 coming in from 9:00 low which also erupts into a fireball. At 6:00 level Zenn7 misses his bandit while the Me 110 ace lands a hit on the right wing, knocking out the aileron and also hits the pilot compartment, shredding NickAragua's oxygen supply. Lucky for the crew, the oxygen tanks didn't explode and at 10,000 feet NickAragua doesn't need the oxygen.

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The Me 110 ace comes around from 9:00 high for another run. Dbt, cursing because his flight suit is now soaked with spilled coffee and Daehawk fire but miss the bandit. The ace fires back, also missing and buzzes past the plane and heads for home.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 1:31 pm
by NickAragua
*cough* hope you guys weren't looking forward to going back up above the clouds for the rest of the trip, 'cause that ain't happening now.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 2:04 pm
by dbt1949
zzzzzzzzzzzzaaapppppp! Damn electrical suit is shorting out!

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 4:51 pm
by TheMix
knocking out the aileron
Uh.... we didn't need that? Right? Right?

<starts checking out his parachute>

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 4:52 pm
by $iljanus
TheMix wrote:
knocking out the aileron
Uh.... we didn't need that? Right? Right?

<starts checking out his parachute>
Well, you have one on the other wing... for now.

Not home at the moment so I'm not sure if it's just a penalty when landing if both are destroyed or everyone needs to bail out!

Edit: Now home and it's just a -1 DRM when you roll for landing safely vs a flaming death at the end of the runway.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 5:19 pm
by TheMix
<begins figuring out fastest path to jump door>

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 12:52 pm
by $iljanus
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Damn, the Germans really have it out for our plucky little bomber as four bandits fly towards the Sally. Dbt who is fully awake fires at the ace approaching from 10:30 low. He hits the ace but not enough damage was done to him and the ace fires back hitting the wing but only putting holes in areas that don't seem to cause any severe damage. The ace curves away and leaves the bomber alone. His wingman however coming in from 10:30 level weaves past Daehawk's tracers and scores some solid hits on the bomber. Some shrapnel bounces around the flight deck and hits the instrument panel, damaging the flap controls (you now have a -1 DRM for landing to add to the other penalty you suffered with previous damage). Multiple hits occur on both wings. The outboard fuel tank on the left wing is hit but self seals due to its design. The inboard fuel tank on the right wing isn't as accommodating and a fine mist of fuel can be seen trailing from the wing. NickAragua calls out to DonD "Hey, best guess how far till the airbase?". DonD gives an estimate and with the rate of fuel loss the Sally should have enough to get her home.

Raydude hits the Me 109 coming from 12:00 level in the left wing but the bandit is still able to continue his attack but misses. The damage was enough to discourage him from coming around again. His wingman also misses the bomber and as he passes behind the Sally, Zenn7 fires and misses as well. The Me 109 curves away towards other targets.

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The Me 109 that damaged the Sally comes around from 9:00 level for another pass. Dbt, Gbasden and Daehawk concentrate their fire on the bandit and the cockpit is filled with shells and shrapnel. The plane dives towards the earth and crashes. The skies around the Sack Time Sally grow quiet as she limps towards home...

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:21 pm
by dbt1949
Well.....that was exciting!

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:24 pm
by Isgrimnur
I propose we rename the aircraft to Whistlin' Dixie.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:35 pm
by Daehawk
Needs gofaster juice.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:46 pm
by NickAragua
"Actually guys, as it turns out, more holes makes the aircraft more aerodynamic, so it'll go faster." :ninja:

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 10:47 pm
by Zenn7
NickAragua wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:46 pm "Actually guys, as it turns out, more holes makes the aircraft more aerodynamic, so it'll go faster." :ninja:
Less weight helps go faster right?

All that fuel we lost, ammo we fired, the less metal on the plane (assuming the bullets creating holes went clean through...). :)

PS: I start firing my gun, aiming a little to the left. Judging by my hit rate, the scope seems off, I think that direction.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2019 3:22 pm
by $iljanus
Zenn7 sees the most curious thing and calls NickAragua on the intercom, "Hey Nick, we have a B-17 following us. A German one!" Smoove says its an omen. "Bad or good?" asks NickAragua. "I guess we'll know if we land safely..." is Smoove's reply.

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Other than the rather creepy German B-17, no other bandits show up to attack the Sack Time Sally. This is the time however when the number 4 engine decides to stop working. Boo, random event roll! NickAragua pushes the other three engines as much as he dares and eventually the airfield can be seen in the distance. Unlike the beginning of the mission, storm clouds have covered the base with a driving rain. NickAragua trusts his ability to land the crippled plane and decides not to order the crew to bail out. With Smoove's help they slowly ease the plane towards the runway. The smoking wreck of another bomber pushed to the side of the runway can be seen. The controls are sluggish due to battle damage and the visibility gets worse by the minute as the plane drops in altitude...

Congratulations, crew of the Sack Time Sally! Due to the efforts of your pilot and co-pilot the plane lands safely! Even with the damage that the bomber suffered the hard working maintenance crews will get the plane back on the line in a few days for another mission. From the flight camera the bombs dropped by the Sally...

Missed the target.

No worries since there will be more opportunities for the Sally to drop bombs on Germans!

So that was a fun mission! After applying the DRM penalties due to battle damage and the crappy weather over the airfield, the plane just made the cutoff for a safe landing without having to scrap the plane. And other than Raydude with some shrapnel in his ass, everyone was no worse for wear. One down and 29 to go. I'm going to take a short break but I'm still interested in trying to get to 30 missions. I'll do the kill credit calculations and post that in a little while but until then enjoy some R&R. Your next target that I just rolled up is an aircraft factory in Fischamend Markt, Austria! (Damn, that's gonna be a long one. Gotta fly across 10 zones to get to the target...)

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2019 3:28 pm
by Smoove_B
:dance:

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2019 3:30 pm
by TheMix
"Nice flyin' there, gents!"

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2019 3:37 pm
by dbt1949
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Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2019 3:45 pm
by NickAragua
Phew!

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 1:13 pm
by $iljanus
The briefing hall is filled with the murmur of sleepy men. On the stage is the map of today's target covered with canvas. The group commander steps behind the podium and signals to his aide who draws back the canvas. Whistles and groans fill the air as the target is revealed.

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"Today's mission will be a bombing run against the aircraft factory in Fischamend Markt, Austria. In your escape packets are the appropriate phase cards that can be used if you go down in the Balkans. With the level of partisan activity there's a good chance you will be able to evade capture. The pressure we are bringing against Nazi wartime industries, especially their aircraft factories, will hopefully make an impact on their capability to oppose our raids in the future. You'll now be briefed on target conditions, opposition intelligence and weather. Good luck to you all, gentlemen."

So this is a pretty far target. A straight line of distance is 532 miles one way. In game terms that's 10 zones of rolling for fighters but it could be worse since there are targets even further out in the target book. I still need to tally the kill counts from the last mission but I should be getting this one off the ground in a few days...or not if there's a nasty runway accident.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 2:30 pm
by dbt1949
I always thought tat the area we are flying over was Yugoslavia during WW2. Except for Croatia.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 2:34 pm
by NickAragua
I was talking to a friend about that region the other day and called it Yugoslavia. Then I realized it hasn't been Yugoslavia for like 30 years.

Can we drop some bombs over Hungary while we're there? If we need to save actual bombs for our target, I'll just eat a big lunch.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 3:20 pm
by $iljanus
dbt1949 wrote:I always thought tat the area we are flying over was Yugoslavia during WW2. Except for Croatia.
It is. Ignore the labels on the map from the future!

But I think my use of the term Balkans would have been historically accurate.

In any case you're bombing Austria!

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 3:37 pm
by raydude
$iljanus wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2019 3:22 pm
And other than Raydude with some shrapnel in his ass, everyone was no worse for wear.
Woohooo! Purple Heart baby!

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 4:11 pm
by Daehawk
Thats a million dollar wound. In the future you can go show President Johnson.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 4:34 pm
by LawBeefaroni
dbt1949 wrote: Wed Nov 13, 2019 2:30 pm I always thought tat the area we are flying over was Yugoslavia during WW2. Except for Croatia.
My father-in-law was a partisan in that region and helped at least a few downed US and British airmen escape from behind the German lines. I have one of the letters from a US pilot thanking him for the rescue. I need to dig it out and post it. You know, as a template for the Sack Time Sally crew...

:wink:

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2019 9:03 am
by dbt1949

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2019 10:34 am
by Archinerd
Sobering too.
Thanks, that was a good read.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2019 5:59 pm
by $iljanus
After the usual pre-flight breakfast and preparations, the crew boards their bomber and NickAragua makes a final check of all the stations on the Sally. She has a new number 4 engine and instrument panel and all the bullet holes have been patched. Everyone reports that there are no issues over the intercom. The skies over the airbase are sunny and clear so hopefully there won't be any mishaps when the bombers get into their formations. Eventually the signal is given and the Sack Time Sally lumbers down the runway with a belly full of bombs. Nickaragua powers up the engines and the Sally lifts into the air. A warning light appears on the instrument panel as she climbs but winks out. It's a smooth flight to the rendezvous point with no issues and all the bombers for today's mission get into formation without incident. The Sally takes position 8 in the high cell of the combat box and the formation begins its flight over the Adriatic Sea.

As the bombers fly across the water, the weather turns from a haze to thick cloud cover. It will make it tough for bombing but hopefully will hide the bombers from bandits during the flight. The planes cross into Yugoslavia and the weather doesn't improve, but no recall message has been given by command so the bombers continue on their mission. Fighter escorts stay close to the bombers in the thick clouds and compared to the first mission there are more of them which is a comfort to the crew of the Sally. And it's time for the escorts to earn their pay as a wave of fighters are spotted flying towards the formation. The gunners report ready as they scan the skies for the first sign of bandits...

So I rolled the dreaded "1" during takeoff which meant a possible engine failure but lucky for you the result of the second roll was a false alarm vs fiery death due to your bomb laden plane crashing on take off. Also for zones 2-7 we have "fair" fighter cover vs the "poor" cover we had on the first mission which means that we have a greater chance of driving off a fighter (or fighters) on the first two waves of a bandit attack. I haven't done the kill calculations from the last mission yet but I'll complete those before starting the first wave of attacks on the Sally. Here's the kill tally. If you think you deserved more credit blame take your complaint to the 15th Air Force Victory Awards Board! :P
Raydude=2
Daehawk=0.25
TheMix=1
Dbt=1
Gbasden=2.75
Zenn7=1

Kills are nice but in the game a solid hit resulting in a penalty to a bandits to hit roll and driving it away is almost as good! The game models shared kills since you have multiple guns firing on a target and even though I know which one had the "winning" roll, in the reality of battle it would be hard to determine who inflicted the fatal shot since you could have multiple gunners hitting the target. Also, fire from other bombers could have hit the fighter and the Victory Board could deny the kill on that basis or deny credit due to the lack of corroborating evidence.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2019 6:24 pm
by Daehawk
Besides a gunner position what do I as a engineer actually do? I cant seem to build turrets or ammo dispensers.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2019 7:41 pm
by dbt1949
AERIAL ENGINEER
Principal duty: Aerial Engineer
Secondary duty: Top Turret Gunner
Added duty: Qualified for Copilot Duties
Added duty: Parachute Officer
Added duty: First Aid Specialist
Added duty: Assistant Radio Operator

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2019 7:53 pm
by Isgrimnur
Same Source
The Flight Engineer typically manned the top turret as it was closest to his station, but that was not an absolute. Sometimes the flight engineer would be one of the waist gunners.
...
The engineer perhaps knew more about the B-24 than any other member of the crew, including the airplane commander. In emergencies, the airplane commander turned to the engineer. The duties of the flight engineer were to assist the pilot and copilot in monitoring the performance of the engines and to keep track of fuel burn. The engineer was usually also the top turret gunner, a position that allowed him to monitor the four engines.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2019 8:19 pm
by Daehawk
Oh we're screwed :) Im kidding. We'll probably be ok.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2019 12:02 am
by $iljanus
Isgrimnur wrote: Sat Nov 16, 2019 7:53 pm Same Source
The Flight Engineer typically manned the top turret as it was closest to his station, but that was not an absolute. Sometimes the flight engineer would be one of the waist gunners.
...
The engineer perhaps knew more about the B-24 than any other member of the crew, including the airplane commander. In emergencies, the airplane commander turned to the engineer. The duties of the flight engineer were to assist the pilot and copilot in monitoring the performance of the engines and to keep track of fuel burn. The engineer was usually also the top turret gunner, a position that allowed him to monitor the four engines.
The next time there’s a need for a fuel check due to damage or one of the engines goes awry I’ll weave Daehawk into the narrative. Assuming he’s still alive or not severely wounded of course.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2019 12:43 am
by Daehawk
At least I probably wont get shot in the butt. I mean who gets shot in the butt. Oh wait.

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2019 8:21 pm
by Archinerd
Daehawk wrote: Sat Nov 16, 2019 6:24 pm Besides a gunner position what do I as a engineer actually do? I cant seem to build turrets or ammo dispensers.
:)

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2019 9:34 pm
by dbt1949
$iljanus wrote: Sun Nov 17, 2019 12:02 am
Isgrimnur wrote: Sat Nov 16, 2019 7:53 pm Same Source
The Flight Engineer typically manned the top turret as it was closest to his station, but that was not an absolute. Sometimes the flight engineer would be one of the waist gunners.
...
The engineer perhaps knew more about the B-24 than any other member of the crew, including the airplane commander. In emergencies, the airplane commander turned to the engineer. The duties of the flight engineer were to assist the pilot and copilot in monitoring the performance of the engines and to keep track of fuel burn. The engineer was usually also the top turret gunner, a position that allowed him to monitor the four engines.
The next time there’s a need for a fuel check due to damage or one of the engines goes awry I’ll weave Daehawk into the narrative. Assuming he’s still alive or not severely wounded of course.

So he gets to climb out on the wing and fix the engine like in Bomber Crew ?

Re: Flight of the Sack Time Sally (Target for Today)

Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2019 10:21 pm
by Daehawk
No I have a pet gremlin for that. The guy who sold it to me says he can do a lot of stuff to planes.