Real WWII B-17 bombing mission report and a game within the game

[oboe]

Not sure how many will recall my little "game within the game" idea, but my MA bombing campaign is still proceeding.   You might recall I had made a deck of B-17G collector cards based on my B-17G skin promo pictures.  They're interesting enough to look at, but I wanted to figure a way to make real use of them.  Here is a storyboard of the procedure I follow.  Track charts and Mission Report forms are shown in detail earlier in this thread.


My mini-8th Air Force has just completed its 75th mission against enemies of the Knight Republic.  Here is how their performance plays out so far.  As a group, 225 sorties have been flown, dealing over 312,000 points of damage. 46 intercepting fighters were destroyed, and the overall loss rate was 28%.

There are still 5 lead aircraft left in the goal to survive a tour of 25 missions.  The leading aircraft, "Sleepy Time Gal" of the 381st BG, has completed just 7 missions (21 sorties for the Group as a whole).  It seems unlikely that any aircraft will make it to 25 missions at this point, unless I can arrange regular escorts.  I have developed a metric called "Rating" (short for Combat Rating), which is Mission Score x Survival Rate.   This gives a decent indication of the effectiveness of the Group.
 
       

There are a few hard luck outfits.  The 303rd, 100th,  and 388th BGs all have terrible loss rates, and the 452nd seems to have bombardier trouble, scoring the least number of points per sortie.

Here's the raw data:


I was so sorry to see "Snake Hips" go down.  She was a real hard fighter.  Highest score, best combat rating, most enemy planes destroyed, after 6 missions completed.  Her Group, the 92nd, was decimated on a recent mission.  Both drones were knocked down over the target, and ol' "Snake Hips" was hit hard, losing both ailerons, a flap, and fuel tank hits.  On top of that, both pilot and co-pilot were hit.   She set a down hill course for home, with pilots taking turns as they drifted in and out of blackout.   But their luck didn't hold, as her pilot blacked out for the last time just over the field and she crashed on approach.

That's it for now.  As long as I've gone on this long, I'll try to keep going.  Next update at 100 missions...

[oboe]

Well guys my mini-8thAF campaign in the MA just completed 100 missions.  With the ETOMA terrain up, I took advantage and finished 4 missions out of England.   It was brutal, with Thunderbird's group (303rd) getting wiped out again, and also the 447th lost "D-Day Doll" in what was supposed to be a milk-run from Norwich up to Stavanger, Norway - what appeared to be a real quiet sector of the map.  But the Luftwaffe experten were up and the Fortresses never made it home.   "Topper" from the 379th BG was also lost recently, on Mission 95, an HQ strat run on the Northco map - taken down by Me163s.   That was a tough loss as she seemed to have a first-rate crew with a real appetite for action - her card just kept getting drawn, and she piled up some pretty impressive numbers.

One bright spot, on Mission 98, the 92nd BG became the first group to reach Berlin.  They returned after suffering a 33% loss.   But they fought their way in, dropped on the target,  and back out again.  Flak was brutal over the target, with the lead ship of the group taking a direct hit.  I mean it was "12 O'clock High" brutal, very tough to concentrate on the bombsite approaching target, with all the flak bursts everywhere - it was nearly constant bombardment.   Very immersive.   

This campaign started in Dec '21, so its been a year to get 100 missions on the books.  "RATING" is determined as (SCORE * (1 - Loss Rate))/100.


There are now only three lead ships remaining in the quest to complete a tour of 25 missions: "Sleepy Time Gal" of the 381st, "She's A Honey" from the 305th, and "Carolina Moon" from the 490th.  The current leader, "Sleepy Time Gal", is nearing the halfway mark, having survived 10 missions.   Still a long, long way to go.



Finally, I'll leave you with a beautiful oil of the 305th BG dropping on target, "She's A Honey" by Charles Taylor:


<S>

[oboe]

2023 Spring bombing offensive is gearing up with the addition of 3 new replacement B-17s to the Groups.  "Nine-O-Nine" from the 91st, "The Floose" from the 303rd, and "Miss Conduct" from the 100th:



The Bloody 100th is living up to its reputation, with Miss Conduct's first mission resulting in the loss of all three planes in her flight.

"Carolina Moon" was lost after a rough mission when the pilot (me) simply botched the landing.  My approach speed was too low and I cobbed on the power too late and tumbled in.  She was one of 3 Flying Fortresses remaining which still had a shot to complete a 25 mission tour.

[Dadtallica]

Super cool data oboe!

Can I borrow some of your time?

[svaalbar]

This is a really cool idea oboe. Great graphics you made too.

[Shuffler]

Reading intently...... cheering profusely.

[oboe]

My mini-8thAF MA bombing campaign has now completed 125 missions against the enemies of the Knight Republic.  With another replacement B-17G available and a handful of new terrains up (3Points, Atoll, Badlands, Crags and BlackSea) it was time to get in and wreak some damage.  Inexperienced crews have a tough time surviving in the MA, and 3 of the 4 most recently added B-17s have been lost.

"Our Gal Sal" recently took over as lead aircraft of the "Bloody Hundredth" bomb group.  She was lost to an
enemy Me110 fighter on the "Crags" terrain during her second mission.  MA combat is brutal for unescorted heavies.


The latest bombing report tells the story.   "RATING" is determined as (SCORE * (1 - Loss Rate))/100.



The 381st BG's "Sleepy Time Gal" continues to set the pace with excellent bombing results and good defensive gunnery.  She leads all aircraft with 13 missions completed.
The 305th's "She's A Honey" (8 missions) is back in the air after an extended term at the repair depot.  "Nine-O-Nine" has stepped in to lead the 91st BG efficiently and
now has two missions under her belt.  These three aircraft are the only B-17s who still have a chance to complete a tour of 25 missions. 

 

One recent high point of the campaign involved the 487th BG in the ETOMA terrain.  Departing from A92 (Ferrara) in Italy, the Group struck the Antiaircraft manufacturing plant near Presov in Czechoslovakia. 
Spending nearly two hours in the air over enemy territory, the Group fought their way in by taking out radar sites along their course, at Balaton (A46) and Cadca (V145) to blind the enemy's fighter defenses.


"Dinah Mite" of the 487th BG leads a strike into enemy territory.  She was lost on Mission #20; it was
only her second mission.

 

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

Reading intently...... cheering profusely.

Same. It's a great read.

[oboe]

Update to a continuing story, for those interesting in following.  Looks like we made the news!

                Click image for full-size version


I am closing in on mission number 150. Cumulative average losses per mission are running above 25%, but that's steadily down from a maximum of 45% after Mission 20.  I hope to have additional aircraft delivered soon.  The 91st BG is due to receive "Super Mouse", a late model B-17G-90-BO.   Her addition should help fill out the thinning ranks.

In other news, with the loss of "D-Day Doll" on mission 100, "Bit O' Lace" has stepped in to lead the 447th's effort.  She has now completed 2 sorties, and led the Group to a record-setting performance on Mission 135, landing 16,244 pts after bombing the Rook town of Ystad in southern Sweden on the Baltic terrain.
 


I've decided to stand down both the 100thBG and the 303rd for the time being.  These two Groups have been in the thick of it the whole time; the 100th is tied for most sorties (45) with the 381stBG.  But after having sustained 100% losses on four missions, the crews and aircraft of both these groups need to be taken off operations and rested.   In future, I've decided 3 100% loss missions will be the threshold for standing down a unit.  After a group experiences its 3rd 100% loss, it will be removed from combat assignments. 
 
<S>, next update after mission #150.

[oboe]

The latest statistics of my MA Bombing Campaign have been compiled and continue to show a bleak picture for my small, unescorted B-17 bomber groups in the MA.   My groups have now completed 150 missions (450 sorties) in a campaign that started almost two years ago, on 20 Oct 21.   Since that date, the Flying Fortresses have dropped 900,800 lbs of high explosive on enemy targets.   They've shot down 61 enemy planes in combat but suffer with a near-crippling average loss rate of 26.9% per mission.   I've gone back through the records to keep track of casualties, and my losses stand at 1,246 KIA.  These losses include entire crews when planes are shot down, but also damaged gun positions of planes that make it back to base-- it is assumed the gunner at that position was KIA.



The mini-8thAF Bomber Command welcome two new Fortresses to its ranks since my last update.  The 91st BG received a very nice late model B-17G-90-BO, 43-38642, named "Super Mouse", assigned to the 323 Bomb Squadron, while an entirely new group, the 306th, was added to the roll.  The 306th is comprised of the 369th Bomb Squadron led by a well-worn B-17G-5-BO, 42-31143, named "Satan's Lady":

Click on images for full-size versions
     

"Super Mouse" has already logged a couple of sorties.  While "Satan's Lady" has a flown only once, it was one for the record books.  Fuel refineries were the target for the 306th's combat debut of 13 Sep, but during the climb out enemy radar enroute to the primary had become active, so the Group was re-routed to secondary target.  During the mission, Knight numbers fell and air superiority was lost.  Waves of enemy fighters buzzed below the Group as it made it's course change to the secondary target, and several fighters were able to climb high enough to make attack runs on the formation.  The 'Lady's gunners answered and knocked down 4 enemy fighters; the tail guns expending all of their ammunition in fighting off the attacks.  The mission lasted more than 3 hours of game-time and scored 11,834 in a bomb drop on A77's town.

The 447th's most recent addition, "Bit O' Lace", was lost on her 3rd sortie.  Lifting off from A25 Newbury on 7 Sep 23, the Group was bound for Berlin.   Designated bombing altitude was a comfortable 24,000 ft, but an IP southwest of the city put the Group on course between two deadly flak batteries.   The German 88s below were ready and zeroed in on Bit O' Lace's formation.  First one, then the other of her drones were hit and destroyed by accurate fire.  After the drop the 88s concentrated on the sole surviving Fortress as she tried to make her escape, but within minutes she was also hit and plummeted to earth in flames.


The mission on 15 Sep 23 saw the loss of the 305thBG's "She's A Honey".  Attacking A70 on the Black Sea terrain, she was set upon by a tag team consisting of a Hawker Tempest and a P-38 Lightning, who in a masterfully coordinated series of attacks, decimated the formation, destroying all 3 planes in her flight.   This was an especially tough loss as she was a veteran of 10 sorties.   


Four Fortresses remain in the quest to complete a tour of 25 missions.  The 381st's "Sleepy Time Gal" is hanging on with 17, followed distantly by the 91st BG's "Nine-O-Nine" and "Super Mouse" with 4 and 2 respectively.   The 306th's "Satan's Lady" brings up the rear with just one mission.  Life continues to be brutal for my small unescorted bomber groups in the MA; even altitude restrictions as high as 24,000 ft did not save the 447th BG as it attacked the heavily-protected Bish capital Berlin.

The 381st BG has been granted R&R, and the majority of the upcoming missions will be flown by the Groups with surviving Fortresses.   Previously I had been including Groups in the mission rotation even if they had already lost all their named aircraft, assuming the mission would be lead by some unnamed generic aircraft.  But I'm going to try to build the mission count of the planes that still have a chance to complete a 25 mission tour.  If I lose the rest of the surviving Fortresses, my MA Bombing Campaign will come to an end.

Next update will be at the 500-sorties mark.   

[streakeagle]

LOL, a long time ago, I owned a copy of this Avalon Hill solitary game, called "B-17 Queen of the Skies".   The goal was to complete a tour of duty in a bombing campaign taking place in 1943-44 over NW Europe.   Lots of tables and dice rolls, from mission selection to flak and enemy fighter attacks, location of damage and severity.  I don't think I played it more than a dozen times, but I do remember reading an article about a young man who had actually done 25+ missions and written mission reports.  He even named all the members of his crew, IIRC.  Might've been from article in Avalon Hill's old gaming magazine, the "General", not sure.

(Image removed from quote.)

Guess its just my past catching up with me?   I'll try to get one of these bombers through 25 missions.  That means I can't have a 100% loss rate on any mission - as long as 1 makes it back, that Group is still in the running for the 25 mission goal.  I think there are 2-3 BGs already out of the running - I'll have to check.

I owned that game. Even though it was supposed to be solitaire, my friend and I would take turns flying B-17s and rolling for the Luftwaffe attacks. We always named our planes and crews. Some missions were epic. I was interested in the bomb run than trying to get kills with my gunners. My favorite campaigns were the ones where I not only completed 25 missions, but didn't lose any crew.

[oboe]

That's great, Streak - probably brought back some fun memories for you.  Do you remember the names of any of your B-17s?

Its odd, but when I go back and read some early mission reports I've written, I can remember the events like they were very recent.   It's very tense manning guns, fending off fighters when you know you also need to get to the bombardier station and calibrate the bombsite, maintain the course on the track chart, make notes about the mission.  I think that tension in those moments help create the long-lasting memories.

 

[oboe]

I was blessed with some free time this past week so I went back to my Main Arena Bombing Campaign game and flew enough sorties to reach my next milestone - 500+ bombing sorties overall in the MA.   My first mission overall was dated 21 Oct 2021, so I've been at this for more than two years!   It's been more than a year since I posted the storyboard for this weird little "game within the game" I devised, so "for the benefit of the uneducated among us"^* I shall repost.

Click image for full-size version


As odd as it is, I still adhere to these principles - only difference is now, if a B-17 skin's entire flight of 3 is destroyed on a mission, I stand the Group down, removing it from further combat (unless there are multiple skins for the group; in which case the Group can keep flying missions, lead by one of the remaining skins.  The 91st BG is the only remaining group with multiple skins.  I have 100s of pages of printed mission reports and track chart maps, and they now exceed the holding capacity of a 3" 3-ring binder.   I am surprised I have stuck with it this long, but I am uncontrollably curious to see if any of the B-17 skins can survive a 25 mission Tour of Duty in the MA.   As I have only completed B-17G skins from the 8th Air Force, I've been calling my force "The Mini 8th"...

I was also stunned to learn that another vintage newspaper has apparently picked up the saga of my MA Bombing Campaign and begun reporting on it.  I counted two front page stories in this issue from Feb 1944 (Still only a dime!)

Click image for full-size version


The statistical analysis division is hard at work compiling meaningful stats, but I can tell you a couple of nuggets right now.  First, we have one bomber that is getting agonizingly close to finishing her Tour - "Sleepy Time Gal" from the 381st has managed to rack up 21 completed sorties - only 4 more to go!  I don't know what it is about her crew, but their card keeps coming up.  I had actually removed them from the rotation back in September as "forced" R&R to let some of the newer Groups build their mission count.  As soon as I let them back in, their card starts getting drawn again.  The Gal flew 4 of the last 11 missions.   There are only 5 cards in the mission deck, and her card was drawn 4 of 11 times?   By my calculation, random chance should've assigned her only twice out of 11 draws.

Secondly, the newest crews seem to start out scoring the highest points per sortie.  As they fly more, their score comes down.  It just seems odd, as I create the mission BEFORE I randomly assign the group to fly it, but somehow the new groups seem to get milk runs.  Must be beginner's luck?  It happened with "The Creamer" most recently, but also with "Satan's Lady" before her.

^*Line from 1969 "Battle of Britain" movie.  Recognize it?

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

That stuff is so cool. Thanks for sharing.

[noman]

So after looking and looking I finally found out what missions and bombers my grandfather was on in WW2. He flew 25 combat missions. In B-17's he was the Top Turret gunner and Flight Engineer on each mission. He flew on "War Horse", "Remember US", "Sweet Chariot", "Miss D-Day", "Hot Chocolate", "Hit Parade,Jr", "Slick Chick", "Back to the Shack", "Lenora Linda", "Miss Fortune", "Barbara B", "Hell's Belles", and "In Like Flynn". These missions were from June 21 1944 to April 16 1945. First Mission was to Berlin.

http://www.385thbga.com/records/b-17/