Excalibur Squadron OOC 2: The Song Remains the Same

[Monfrox]

Which means if a certain female happens to get an attitude or the wrong idea, there's someone to set the record straight.

OH NO YOU DI-IN'T
*does sassy neck roll that somehow, despite being a 19-year-old white boy, he can actually do*

Oh hell yes, I did.

[Carathon]

So, erm two questions.

First, what exactly is currently going on. I caught something about a transport and half the Luftwaffe.

Second, do I simply jump in or..?

[United Kingdom of Poland]

So Pol's character was the only one, so far, who knows exactly what happened to Samantha in terms of how she got shot down.

only that Sam's hit, kind of to busy with the 10+ jerry fighters to worry about what hapened after.

[Monfrox]

So Pol's character was the only one, so far, who knows exactly what happened to Samantha in terms of how she got shot down.

only that Sam's hit, kind of to busy with the 10+ jerry fighters to worry about what hapened after.

I'm sure he saw her pull her Spitfire right behind his target to block the fire

[United Kingdom of Poland]

only that Sam's hit, kind of to busy with the 10+ jerry fighters to worry about what hapened after.

I'm sure he saw her pull her Spitfire right behind his target to block the fire

except I attacked from 12 o'clock low.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

So, erm two questions.

First, what exactly is currently going on. I caught something about a transport and half the Luftwaffe.

Second, do I simply jump in or..?

It would probably be best at this point if you waited until the next operation, as there's probably simply too much catch-up work for the both of us to work you in now.

[Goram]

I'm sure he saw her pull her Spitfire right behind his target to block the fire

except I attacked from 12 o'clock low.

Frankly, it doesn't matter that much. Once everyone gets home and an aircraft is missing, it'll become readily apparent that Samantha is missing. When she doesn't come home, she'll be listed as MIA and probably presumed dead.

[United Kingdom of Poland]

except I attacked from 12 o'clock low.

Frankly, it doesn't matter that much. Once everyone gets home and an aircraft is missing, it'll become readily apparent that Samantha is missing. When she doesn't come home, she'll be listed as MIA and probably presumed dead.

or after the last jerry plane leaves/ gets shot down, kind of hard to miss he smoke cloud from that explosion.

[Carathon]

So, erm two questions.

First, what exactly is currently going on. I caught something about a transport and half the Luftwaffe.

Second, do I simply jump in or..?

It would probably be best at this point if you waited until the next operation, as there's probably simply too much catch-up work for the both of us to work you in now.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Grenartia]

except I attacked from 12 o'clock low.

Frankly, it doesn't matter that much. Once everyone gets home and an aircraft is missing, it'll become readily apparent that Samantha is missing. When she doesn't come home, she'll be listed as MIA and probably presumed dead.

Of course, if she survives, she could try to join up with French Resistance, and from there SOE would hear about her.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

It would probably be best at this point if you waited until the next operation, as there's probably simply too much catch-up work for the both of us to work you in now.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I mean, if you REALLY wanted to, you'd basically have to reread the entire op and maybe some of Tempsford to get an idea of what's actually happening...

[Goram]

Frankly, it doesn't matter that much. Once everyone gets home and an aircraft is missing, it'll become readily apparent that Samantha is missing. When she doesn't come home, she'll be listed as MIA and probably presumed dead.

Of course, if she survives, she could try to join up with French Resistance, and from there SOE would hear about her.

Indeed, but that would take some time as F Section haven't really got going yet. They won't insert an agent in France until May of this year.

[Grenartia]

Of course, if she survives, she could try to join up with French Resistance, and from there SOE would hear about her.

Indeed, but that would take some time as F Section haven't really got going yet. They won't insert an agent in France until May of this year.

True, but still.

[Kassaran]

Let's just say this, I don't and won't think or believe she is dead until we have a body. Jonah isn't going to readily loose a squadron-mate this early in his career, however he did go "missing" over the Channel, he's going to have to be towed back to Tempsford when he sets down by Winchester.

As for my opinion of Sam, here it is.

[Monfrox]

Let's just say this, I don't and won't think or believe she is dead until we have a body. Jonah isn't going to readily loose a squadron-mate this early in his career, however he did go "missing" over the Channel, he's going to have to be towed back to Tempsford when he sets down by Winchester.

As for my opinion of Sam, here it is.

That reminds me...I should really work on the tropes page a little for us.

Some help would be appreciated.

[Grenartia]

Let's just say this, I don't and won't think or believe she is dead until we have a body. Jonah isn't going to readily loose a squadron-mate this early in his career, however he did go "missing" over the Channel, he's going to have to be towed back to Tempsford when he sets down by Winchester.

As for my opinion of Sam, here it is.

That reminds me...I should really work on the tropes page a little for us.

Some help would be appreciated.

Somebody offered to post a list of tropes for this thing, and I told them to go ahead, but they haven't done so yet.

[Monfrox]

That reminds me...I should really work on the tropes page a little for us.

Some help would be appreciated.

Somebody offered to post a list of tropes for this thing, and I told them to go ahead, but they haven't done so yet.

I would greatly appreciate that if it ever happens, as I a having a hard time finding tropes without being biased towards my own character.

It's not that I don't read your guy's posts, it's just I don't think I read into them enough.

[Grenartia]

Somebody offered to post a list of tropes for this thing, and I told them to go ahead, but they haven't done so yet.

I would greatly appreciate that if it ever happens, as I a having a hard time finding tropes without being biased towards my own character.

It's not that I don't read your guy's posts, it's just I don't think I read into them enough.

Same here.

[Morrdh]

Boxing Day Treat.

Video of the Fleet Air Arm Museum, chiefly their WW2 stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjABNcOKxmU

[Grenartia]

Boxing Day Treat.

Video of the Fleet Air Arm Museum, chiefly their WW2 stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjABNcOKxmU

Everytime I hear 'Boxing Day', I keep thinking of that episode of M*A*S*H where the officers and enlisted personnel switched places.

[Gibberan]

Boxing Day Treat.

Video of the Fleet Air Arm Museum, chiefly their WW2 stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjABNcOKxmU

Everytime I hear 'Boxing Day', I keep thinking of that episode of M*A*S*H where the officers and enlisted personnel switched places.

classic

[The balkens]

You had one job FedEx. ONE FUCKING JOB!

I WILL RESURRECT MONTEZUMA TO SHIT ON YOU AND YOUR CEO'S CAR!

[Le-Quebec]

Well, from what my Dad has told me, his father didn't like to talk about it. I do know though, that perhaps the only reason he survived the Nuremberg carve up was to abandon the bomber stream and make his own way to the target. I'm pretty sure several authors tried to talk to him before he died, about his experiences, but I think he refused them all. To me, that is entirely justifiable. You had a one in four chance of surviving a 30 op tour. If you went back for a second tour of duty, the odds got even worse. You say my family knows and indeed, I think I have a better understanding of it than most, but I'll never know what it was like. No one who wasn't there will. I can imagine that ops on day bombers would be bad. Ops on USAAF heavies would have been terrifying, but at least you've got friendly aircraft and escort around. You've got to think that operating alone in the dark, where you mightn't know a fighter is there until your aircraft falls apart around you would have been unequivocally worse. How those men, no older than me, managed to go out and do that job every night is absolutely beyond me.

He continued to fly after the war, mind, for BOAC. He is, pretty much, the reason I've got a fascination with air power (particularly strategic bombing), why I'm learning to fly and the reason I want a career in aviation.

The war in the Pacific isn't something I know very much about. Never really got into it myself. The only part of it I feel I could talk about with any authority is the bombing campaign against mainland Japan and some of the major naval engagements. Really ought to know more about that part of the war.

Given your account, it sounds as if Bomber Command was going through Stalingrad with its night time doctrine. My point here is that, at least in the eyes of an American, the RAF was only trying to reduce casualty figures amongst expensive and valuable pilots. I once had the opportunity to talk with a B-17 veteran at a regional air museum; he joked that the USAAF was willing to go daylight because glorious 'Murica had all the reserves for bomber pilots to spare, and that Harris and his people had the sense to let the Yanks eat all the bullets and flak whilst they were able to conserve the fragile number of British airmen in the process.

The Pacific war is more of an enigma to study than the European theatre, at least personally to me. It should be noted that many of the well known aspects of the war there have been written by the victors; in this case, Westerners from the US and Commonwealth states. Whilst I'm not stating that they're biased in their interpretation of history, I'm trying to say that the Pacific also involved an easily overlooked clash of cultures alongside more appealing and understandable mechanical battles often confusing to those outside of Asia. For example, it's a common motif to hear that the Japanese were so obsessed with their warrior Bushido values that they neglected the study of supply and logistics. This is both true and misinterpreted - note that I didn't say "false" - depending on which spectrum of the military you're looking at.

It's well known that the IJN, unlike the USN and RN, was forced to use active warships and destroyers as supply transports because of the lack of vessels specialized in that role. Thus, the IJN neglected naval supply as apparently dishonorable because such a field didn't involve nobly meeting the enemy face to face. This is more of a misunderstanding by foreign observers than an actual falsehood; the mentality prevalent within the IJN ever since the Meiji Restoration was that the production of more vessels that could actually return fire and engage the enemy guaranteed national security more effectively than having to spend strained resources on supply ships that would easily be sent to the bottom in the event of a major conflict against the Home Islands.

In essence, their argument was this: say a zombie apocalypse is imminent, and that you and your neighbors must defend your property from an inevitable zombie horde sooner or later. However, your budget is tight, and you only possess the funds enough to purchase more weapons and ammunition for your garrison, or splitting the budget between weapons and foodstuffs. While choosing the latter seems logical in the sense that you would be able to last out a siege of the undead longer, you will sacrifice the effectiveness of your garrison in actually repelling or breaking out from the zombie horde. While the first option will give you less food and water in exchange for a number of rifles and magazines, the increased firepower of your garrison will enable it to not only overcome a zombie attack, but also aggressively forage and search for needed resources if required, potentially bringing back even more weapons and ammunition in the process. Thus, if wielded correctly, the first option can enable a win-win situation in terms of both physical safety and secure supply.

In summary, the IJN's attitude towards supply and logistics was that it was less about maintaining an empire, but more so about defending it from foreign threats to maintain it.

Another case with the Japanese Army; statistics and comparison of archives show that the Japanese were the most starved and malnourished Axis military compared with their European allies. The common motif is the same as with the IJN; Japanese strategists were less concerned about supplies and logistics because they were more obsessed over combat effectiveness.

It wasn't so much that the Japanese Army neglected supplying its troops altogether - it was more that the IJA believed in a different method of supply and logistics than its Western counterparts. Western armies, such as those of the US and Commonwealth, typically envision supply lines as linear routes and channels funneled by long columns of trucks/lorries, transport aircraft, and naval convoys. In this manner, field combat units along the battle front were only branches of a tree in which supplies flowed to them from a central root around the home front.

The Japanese, knowing that the Home Islands possessed rather miniscule natural resources and young industrial assets compared to the United Kingdom (whom ironically served as the primary role model for the land of the Rising Sun), felt that such a system of centralized management was not only cumbersome, but also rather impractical given the aforementioned inappropriateness of the Home Islands to do so. Instead, the IJA opted for a strategy involving essentially a military autarky; instead of long and predetermined supply routes, Japanese army units at least on the operational level were expected to be self-sufficient in feeding themselves. Essentially, this meant that IJA troops had to forage and live off of the lands that they were deployed in, as to ease the wartime burden upon the resources and economy of the Home Islands. This is reflected on the tactical level in the sense of how Japanese troops weren't issued canned and preserved field rations, unlike their Western counterparts; instead, they were simply given a small portable stove set in which they were to cook their own obtained rice with.

This mentality can also help explain (note that I said explain, not justify) one of the reasons for the large numbers of Japanese war crimes against the populations of their civilian subjects: unlike the Germans whom were reasonably well fed and thus on even terms with their conquered domains, the Japanese had to make do with not only the less fertile soil and arid climate of the Far East, but also the fact that they had to obtain their daily meals from local sources whom were less than willing to hand it over to them. Add the anger and frustration of being sniped at by said conquered peoples, and you've got the recipe for serious repercussions against disloyal populations under the Empire.

I would greatly appreciate that if it ever happens, as I a having a hard time finding tropes without being biased towards my own character.

It's not that I don't read your guy's posts, it's just I don't think I read into them enough.

Same here.

Men of Sherwood: The LRDG troops in Operation Cambyses and the British Commandos in the first half of Highwire; both units aid Excalibur through a respective mission and suffer casualties for the Rule of Drama. It should be noted that although the LRDG end up bearing the brunt of the losses during Cambyses (an entire platoon is decimated over the course of the operation compared with Excalibur's relatively minor casualties of only a single injured member), they were still competent enough to last the mission to not be deemed as a Redshirt Army.

Paris: The setting of the final showdown of Operation Guillotine: Excalibur is forced to evacuate the city during the very hour that German forces enter it on 14 June, 1940. A fun fact: the city's distinctive ". . . wide boulevards also had the rather unfortunate effect of leaving the city wide open to attacking armies - including [German] tanks - who could use the wide boulevard to march right to the heart of the city."

Redshirt Army: the Spanish Maquis partisans in Operation Taurus; these are the final leftovers of the Republican faction(s) of the Spanish Civil War before World War II who continue to resist the dictatorship of the victorious Generalissimo Franco against all odds. The resistance group that Excalibur fights alongside in particular is the same one that rescued Page during his service in Spain, being led by his former love Isabelle Seigner. Sadly, they end up being the ultimate victim of Von Sporrenburg's Evil Plan that lures the entire Allied task force into a trap; in the ensuing chaos, Isabelle and her fighters are destroyed as a fighting force at the hands of the Spanish government and German troops sent to ambush them, with the former being executed in front of Page by Sporrenburg after he delivers a poor bluff to the her captor.

Hellhole Prison: The old French castle in which the captured Excaliburs are held and tortured under Konrad's overseeing.

Determinator: Several squadron members, but Captain Page and his arch nemesis Major Konrad especially; both will go to the greatest of limits to foil each other's plans. Both will stop at nothing to ensure that their respective sides of the war end up winning.

Lady of War: Noble in this trope's purest form.

Crowning Moment of Awesome: Operation Highwire, where Noble has the squadron rescue their captured comrades bound for Berlin by executing a maneuver reminiscent of the grand finale of Air Force One; using Wellington bombers captured from Konrad's failed raid in Operation Mordred, the squadron would insert into the Junkers transport plane carrying Page, Talbot, Pat, and Michael via harpoon launchers obtained from the British Commandos in the early half of Highwire.

Big Damn Heroes: The moment when the captured Excaliburs are presented to their rescuers in both Operations Cambyses and Highwire.

Action Girl: Isabelle and Samantha especially (the former was literally born into war while the latter was a mob con agent beforehand). Kaya to an extent.

Good Scars, Evil Scars: Both Page and Konrad end up getting them in their repetitive clashes against one another: Konrad displays a hand chewed up by shrapnel during Operation Guillotine, while his sworn enemy is tattooed with his prisoner ID number just under the armpit.

Heroic BSOD: Page is the victim of many as he glosses over Isabelle's death in the aftermath of Operation Taurus. It gets to him so severely that he hallucinates seeing her standing alongside Konrad at one point.

Large Ham: Konrad especially with his mad speech over the values and great goals of the Reich during Page's interrogation in The Prisoner. Birch in a much more mild extent in Operation Cambyses. Vegesack with his unintentional habit for being overly articulate with his vocabulary. Churchill for real, because he is real.

The Squadette: Kaya and Samantha respectively; although lower ranking than Noble, they nevertheless fight alongside their male counterparts effectively.

Brits with Battleships: 319 Squadron operates under RAF jurisdiction - it's a British military unit. Thus, a large number of its personnel, including its commander will be . . . That should be enough.

Yanks with Tanks: Oddly for the fact that the United States has yet to enter the war for another winter, the squadron consists of a rather large number of American personnel, including Pat, Silva, Abrams, and Carter.

Those Wacky Nazis: It's a World War II themed role-play, 'nuff said.

Swedes with Cool Planes: Played straight with Vegesack.

Norwegians with No Ammo: Eriksfjord

Shell-Shocked Veteran: The whole squadron will inevitably become this, however the process had speeded up regarding Page, Talbot, Pat, and Michael after their brutal ordeals as prisoners of war. Noble grows from an uptight intelligence officer to an active field agent, engaging in the same brutal violence as her male comrades. Talbot does so after a personally insisted reconnaissance wrong ends up killing his copilot, whilst Page and Vegesack both do so during the Spanish Civil War. In the case of the latter, the Second Sino-Japanese War ends up making him so.

New Meat: For the most part, the squadron's newly revived Gold flight, whom are forced to act as the Cavalry to rescue the Big Damn Heroes in Operation Highwire.

Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys: the conspiring French troops in Operation Guillotine, whom intend of handing over the French naval fleet at Toulon to the Germans in an operation overseen by Konrad.

Master Race: Konrad during his Large Ham speech to Page regarding the righteousness of the Third Reich's expansionism - he is so enthusiastic about the need for Aryan racial purity against the barbaric Slavs, "Negroids", and Asiatics to the point where he utterly exhausts himself in the process. Justified in the sense that he is a Nazi anyways, what more could you expect from him?

Elites are More Glamorous: Both Page and Konrad command elite special operations units on their countries' behalf. The role-play does revolve around one after all.

The Lancer: Noble to Page.

Chekhov's Gun: the grappling hook harpoons used by the British Commandos to scale the French cliffs in the first half of Operation Highwire end up as the inspirational source of Noble's radical plan to save Page and the captured squadron members in the second. A more minor example in the same synopsis involves reusing the Wellington bombers captured from Konrad's raiders in Operation Modred.

Private Military Contractor: Vegesack in a way; he's a Swedish aristocrat turned mercenary airman. However, he initiates himself into blood and combat in Spain out of a promise with a related German family (he's of noble blood after all) to protect his cousin Frederick more so than the salary involved.

Blood Knight: Given the fact that they're an elite military outfit, it's little surprise that 319 will have several of these: the two Zilorski brothers certainly qualify, whilst Stanford has an icy reputation from his time with 41 Squadron. Even Page slowly dips into the realms of this trope as his personality darkens after his imprisonment.

South Africans with Surface-To-Air Missiles: Jonah Mackenzie. The historical figure Adolph Malan in a future installment of Airman of Fortune.

Sidequest Sidestory: Played straight with the series' one-shot episodes, a system of optional background stories for each character as influenced by that of Elfen High's. These are usually tales of the various squadron members before or off-screen from their exploits with the main line plot; Forging the Sword, for example, accounts Page's time in Spain, whilst the Talbot Files and Stanford's Story deal with the other two respective character's runnings during the Battle of Britain. Setting of the Sun details Fodder's service as he's trapped in the Israeli-Arab conflict, Bloodstained Memories reruns the Zilorski brothers' escape from Poland as it falls to the Germans, while Airman of Fortune revolves around Vegesack's career as a mercenary in reverse chronological order. Many more examples follow.

Beauty Equals Goodness: This trope is heavily prevalent in the Excalibur universe: Noble, Isabelle, Ellie, Alexis, and maybe even Vera Lynn qualify.

Kick the Dog: Isabelle's death at the hands of Konrad in Taurus' climax; the latter attempts to lure out a hiding Page in exchange for her life. When Page responds with a poorly managed bluff, his nemesis simply makes him pay the price for it. It also leads to him exposing himself and blowing his cover anways in a fit of rage.

A Father to His Men: Page - unlike the much resented Cutler, he insists on bunking with his subordinates during the trip to Africa in Operation Cambyses.

An Officer and a Gentleman: Talbot - it’s small surprise that various young women take up important roles in his life. Vegesack in a more elderly form, as he drops womanizing as a feature of his declining youth; instead however, he manages to blurb out a rather complicated and articulate vocabulary, even during stress of combat.

Forced to Watch: Excalibur is forced to do so altogether when they are captured by an Arab warlord, Al-Rafiq, in the middle of Operation Cambyses. Al-Rafiq promptly gives them a live demonstration of the effectiveness of some World War I German nerve gas, which includes a batch that brainwashes its victims rather than killing them, using members of a captured Italo-German task force as guinea pigs.

It happens to Page in Operation Taurus when Isabelle is executed in front of him.

Chest of Medals: most of 319’s members have earned at least some sort of awards for military merit along the lines. This trope is referred directly by Birch in Operation Cambyses, who visually scans the RAF personnel for signs of overt “pomp” as they arrive to support his troops at El-Arouk.

Majorly Awesome: Played straight with Birch, the LRDG commander who befriends Page and whose troops play their part aiding Excalibur over the course of Operation Cambyses, and Royce, one of 319’s two handlers alongside Cutler, who is his personality opposite and well liked by the squadron.

This trope can be applied to Cutler as well, at least once you see through his rather unforgiving outer shell.

I Let Gwen Stacy Die: The squadron as a whole suffers a minor wave of this trope when McArvon is suddenly killed during Operation Guillotine.

Noble notably when her copilot bleeds to death in front of her in the aftermath of the raid on the Italian fleet at Taranto in the opening of Operation Taurus. She suffers a panic attack and is hit by survivor’s guilt as a result.

Perhaps the most prevalent and plot important example: Page resents the nature in which Isabelle dies in Taurus to the point where he hallucinates seeing her standing besides Konrad when the latter interrogates him. Konrad himself notices Page’s apparent weakness regarding the female partisan, purposely waving her death in front of his defeated enemy as a physiological card.

[Monfrox]

Stand by. I'm about to do some serious attrition.

[Gibberan]

Hey, can I edit the TV Tropes page to add the name of Carter's Hurricane?