The Mighty Eighth B-17 Interactive Dynasty
 

I have been contemplating doing an interactive dynasty for some time. I have always enjoyed flying in this game, but the squadron commander is just not in depth enough for me. Part of this reason is a lack of interaction with the success of the bombing campaign and the campaign mode. So i think that I can use the interaction between forum members and myself to help create a more realistic environment.

My role in this game will be the part of squadron commander. I will narrate the current situation and provide the information needed for the plane commanders to make their decisions. I will fly the missions etc. I will also compute the points, more on this feature later.

Your role in this game will be the part of Flight Crew leader. You will make all decisions regarding your plane pre-flight and post-flight. However since this game is real time you will not be able to make any decisions in flight. I will mainly use the AI to control the planes most of the time. There are some problems with doing it this way, but I cannot control all 6 planes all the time. The AI usually does a decent job, but if your plane gets shot up and loses 2 of your engines you will probably not make it back. I wish that I could change this in some way, but it would be unfair for me to manually fly one plane back, and let the others go down.

There will be some key decisions that you will make. You will volunteer for missions, decide which parts to fix, etc.

Now this is all standard stuff so far, but I have one other twist. I have decided to also make this a sort of competition in an indirect sense. I will award points to each plane based on several stats likes enemy planes shot down, crewmembers killed, etc. It will be a players job to try and amass the most points possible. Of course alot of it is upto the AI, but the players will be able to take on missions, and some missions will be worth more, of course they will also be alot harder to complete. I havent finalized the points system yet, but will finish it before we start.


B-17 2 allows for 12 planes to be kept. So the first 12 people to sign up will be picked, all the rest will go on a waiting list. I dont think you will have to wait long though.
I can do custom names to begin with, but i can only change the original 12 planes, I cant change them after they begin. Players will be able to name their plane, however the crews will be random. Each mission will have a maximum of 6 planes. However missions that involve less planes are possible, even missions with just one plane.

We will start out in december 1943. Which division and group will be left up to the users, this really doesnt have much bearing except for where are airfield is located.

401st division Includes the 612th thru the 615th group. 306th Division includes the 367th to 369th and the 423rd. 381st division includes the 532nd to the 535th group. and the 92nd division includes the 325th to 327th and the 407th group. When you signup please include your division and group preference if any.Otherwise I will simply select one for us. Once I have enough volunteers we will begin. I will post the points shortly.

Also provide me with the name of your plane.


Points


Difficulty 1x-3x Modifier

Completion of mission 5 Points

Succes of bombing

Miss 0 points
Low damage 1 point
Medium damage 2 points
High damage 3 points
Destroyed 4 points

Special Missions 10 points max

Killed crewmen -3 points each

Enemy Aircraft killed 2 points each

Let me know if there are any you can think of before we start

Yo

Cloudsplitter

I would love to join.

"The Four Horsemen" ride against the Nazi horde!!!

I vote for the "Incredible 306th"!

"Rust Bucket" ready for action!

"The Flying Plantain" wants to see some action!

"Crawling Chaos" reporting.

I'm with sachmo71 in voting for "The Reich Wreckers" and would prefer the 369th squadron in hopes that their luck from 1943 will carry over to us.

"The Mighty Madness" reporting for duty.

Anyone remember who was running the pen and paper bomber game? That sure was fun too.

I'm in.

"The Stormbringer" is ready for action.

Airhog: Great idea! I'd love to be in, but life is too hectic right now for me to keep up regularly. I'll be reading, though! Good luck!

"Hitler Sucks" - aren't I original:D

I don't really have a preference

Pick me Pick me!

TommyKnocker is ready!

I am game. My call sign will be "Golden Bomber".

Square Root of Snoopy fleet ready to go, with captain MC² on the lead.

Okay since we have more than six we can go ahead and run a mission soon. Here is the rest of the information.



We are almost ready to begin here. Just a few more notes before I forget. I have the game set to navigate flawlessly, I never liked having to navigate. Ammo is set to unlimited since I like to shoot at the planes from time to time. I have also installed an unoffical patch which makes the casulty rate more in line with the real war. It also changes a few other things but these are unimportant to you guys. The causulty rate was a bit high on the severe injuries, and deaths. This patch tones it down a bit, but makes slight injuries more common, and also makes the chance of instant kills possible, which wasnt possible before.

I have decided to only intervene in the proceedings in the case of an emergency, like bandaging the wounded, etc.Most of the stuff I will leave upto the cpu. I think its more interesting when im not controlling the bomb site. I can usually hit spot on with the simplistic site. This also means that I will probably use the plane with the most experienced bombadier as the lead plane. The lead plane actually drops the bombs, all the rest of the planes just drop when they get a signal. This is an incentive to the longer lasting planes, since your crew will gain experience and can improve their skills.

I would like your input on the scoring system. I do think its pretty fair, but im not sure if there are other things I missed that could easily be added. I might add a bonus for medals, and maybe a small bonus for the lead plane.

As for the actual campaign, I dont really plan to adhere to history very accurately. I'm pretty sure that d-day will happen as planned and the war will end if we make it that far. But everything in between will be mostly made up. I think that targets slowly disappear to simulate the forces liberating the countries, but im not certain. If they dont then I will create an imaginary line loosely based on history to select targets.


Current Roster

I don't think there should be points for lead plane if crews are random.

I counted 11 in....if I'm right I'd like to be the 12th.

Wind Dancer

Me too. Good luck, gentlemen.

Fond memories of my old B-17 board-game dynasty.

And your old B-17 dynasty

The crews are only randomized to begin with. you crew will only change when someone is injured and not able to fly or is killed. Crew members will also gain experience. But I do see your point, and Now that I have a chance to think about it you may be right, especially since the Lead plane will usually be the crew with the best bombadier.







Okay, and if anyone else wants to join, it will work alot like the X-com dynasty. There will be a waiting list, and once a slot opens up you will have a plane.

I will be in. The Flying Crawfish.

Afoci: you are our first reserve. Once somone loses their plane you will added to the game.

Sign me up as a reserve as well the "Ragin Cajun" is ready and waiting!

Render: Your on the list. One last question for everyone. Do you think we should retire planes after they complete a successfull tour? (25 missions). Or should they stay in the group as long as possible? Im thinking that if we retire them, it might give a bit more turnaround. However I think we will probably lose on average 1 plane every mission, which should be enough to allow everyone a chance to participate.

Absolutely. You survive the 25, you retire. Maybe any Captains that make it get to be appointed as advisors to the Squadron Commander or something. :)

Thats a good idea coffee warlord. I can always use help thinking up ideas. Also, In order to keep the game moving, I am thinking about a 24-hour time limit on mission acceptance. This will allow me to fly one mission a night. If I dont have enough volunteers for a mission, then I can just randomly pick those planes with the least amount of missions completed.

I have to disagree here. If we are likely to lose a plane per mission, I would like to see how far people can get. If there is a backlog of replacements waiting in the wings when (if) we start having planes hit 25 missions, then fine retire 'em, otherwise see what they can do.

I agree with Nyarlahotep

Perhaps if we get someone to 25, we give them an option?

Be promoted and placed as advisor to the command staff, or sign up for a 2nd tour of duty, to make a run on 50.

Edit: Obviously, one could weigh this decision based on both the size of the waiting list and personal preference.

well thats something we dont have to worry about for now. I am also thinking that I will add a few more things. I may include some missions that are not volunteer, due to the their difficulty and such. Also Im thinking about doing around 1-2 special missions during each game month. Anyways, here is the first mission. There will be several easier missions like this to begin with, so that i can get used to flying again, and to get all of the bugs worked out. Just a reminder, but it might be difficult for you to fly many back to back missions. It really depends on how damaged your plane is. I will try to give each planes damage rating after the mission, and it will be up to the commanders to decide what to fix, and to send it back up again so soon, or fix everything.


Operation Overcoat

November 28th

Welcome to Thurleigh and the home of the 369th Heavy Bomber Group. In a few days the first b-17's will fly over german soil as we being the long road to liberation. Olny hard work, courage and dedication will see us through these difficult times. I wont lie to you, but most of you will not make it home alive. However, without your service this war will not be won.
We have recieve orders from high command to being Operation Overcoat. The first phase of Operation overcoat is too remove the threat of the V-1 rockets and drone bombs the germans have been attacking England with. We have located several facilities that produce the weapons, and Hopefully we can stop the bombings. Most of the missions will be conducter over france for the time being. This will give our crews time to gain experience before we penetrate deep into the heart of the Reich.

Here are the first mission details

Primary Target: Watten Special Weapons Site
Secondary Target: Wizennes Special Weapons Site
Flak Strength: Low
Fighter Strength: Low
Mission Difficulty: 1x
Planes needed: 6

First come first serve boys.

MC² here, the Square Root of Snoopy will be ready to fly for ya.

I'll take the tail

Count me in!!

We're in!

bomber wings usually fly in the echelon formation. the tail would be one of the back left or back right spots. Im not sure if I can set who goes where in the formation other than the lead bomber. If so I might just award a few extra points for being in the deadliest part of the formation.

I'm in, put me wherever...Cloudsplitter is ready.

I hate counting...I'm so bad at it...but I think 5 are signed up. We'll be the sixth.

Woohoo!!!! Now we can start. Do we get to find out about our crews now?

Put me in coach, I'm ready to play.

Sit down.
Coach, you need one more.
My team is on the floor.

Well, thats what studing for a dif eqs test gets me, I miss out on the first mission. My crew will be with you guys in spirit.

Good luck and godspeed.

Ill try to post the crews before the first mission update. It is a bit time consuming, because the inteface is a bit clunky.

Dammit, I hate work.

I got dibs on the next mission...

JeeberD: okay, luckily after these first missions we should settle down into a routine. most planes will not be ready to fly two missions in a row, so it will make it that much easier

So it's going to be first come, first serve for every mission? Looks like I won't be flying much... :(

You will be able to get in when other planes get stuck making repairs.

scahmo71: and not every mission will be on a volunteer basis. I will do my best to try and keep everyone invovled in the flying.

Damn, missed out on the chance to volunteer... oh well. Good luck everyone!

Okay, I finally got finished typing up the 120 crewmen and their stats. I will definately fly the mission this evening.


The key for this is as follow M/S=Married Single Pos=Position(B=bombadier, N=Navigator, P=Pilot, CP=Co-Pilot, TTG=Top turret Gunner, RO=Radio Operator, LWG=Left Waist Gunner, RWG=Right Waist Gunner, TG=Turret Gunner) G=Gunner Stat, P=Pilot Stat B=Bombadier Stat, N=Navigator Stat, FA=First Aid Stat, T=Technical Stat

Jacob G. Federicci, Cap'n of the Rust Bucket.

The Nazis shall tremble in fear, for we have the Mafia on our side!

Yeah, the Nazis were pretty afraid of Italians in WWII.