The grand offensive is to start this month, shortly after the start of it with the warmer springtime weather. Both sides are quite dug in, perhaps not as much as further south, but still to a noticeable and impressive degree in a form of warfare not seen before at this scale. The only thing remotely similar being some parts of the Varu-Cipantonese war. Still, there was much to consider. Requisitions were now available, and the S.U.D Type R had a new toy to be strapped onto it, proper bombs. And, of course, there was the chance to get more Dupont 6 C, the only thing that can reliably and realistically stand toe to toe with a Bergen outside of the Pretany's own fighter. And of course, there was the issue of if Adélaïde should return to the front and potentially die a hero or remain behind our lines on their propaganda tour to ensure we still have a living one. There was a myriad of issues and things to consider. This was a key moment. The Escadre had done quite a bit in service to the war effort. Quite a bit. Yet, every bit more was vital. The effectiveness of this push, while not relying upon you, could be made a great victory with just enough of a push...Perhaps a devastating one. Yet it could run out of steam like the Prußenmarkians own at the start.

There was a lot to consider, as you simply sat alone at your desk. Your only company being your pen, and a few sheets of paper and requisition forums. All waiting for ink to be put on the pages, and finished off with a signature. It was odd. Normally this was easy, yet you couldn't help but feel like this is was a pivotal moment. Where either death or glory would come from your decisions, the enemy's actions, and arguably a bit of luck...

(Give orders and requisitions. This is your first time truly assisting an offensive. Make it count. Link to the doc below.)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KT0JJxoLsbcNFC7RqtsWKke9iTnLQ8blSCf_8dZ4jWw/edit

>>5371398
Can you post maps and where the offensive is planned?

File: Western Front offensive.png (60 KB, 789x796)

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>>5371473
Here.

>>5371398
Requisitions:
> 64 RPs for 8x Dupont 6C
> 1 RP to resupply Vert

>5x 6C for Bleu
>2x 6C for Rouge
>1x 6C for Vert
>Equip Conley guns on all 6Cs

Orders:
>Blanc escorted by Vert carry out reconnaissance missions over the area around Maasberge, Woluze and Harelainde.
>Rouge and Bleu maintain air superiority over Maasberge and penetrate deeper into enemy airspace to pick off stray recons or fighters.
>Mission tempo will be intensive in the first two weeks of the offensive before we loosen it up a bit to allow pilots to rest and planes repaired.

>>5371398
Supporting >>5372029

>>5372029
Alright, seems good. Can run this plan later. Though gotta ask. Will Adélaïde keep on her propaganda tour or go back above the front lines?

>>5371396
Mostly agree with >>5372029, but I would allocate the aircraft as follows:
> Bleu 2x 4P, 3x 6C
> Rouge 1x 4P, 5x 6C
> Vert 1x 4P, 4x 6C

>>5372268
And keep Adelaide behind the lines.

>>5372268
Remain on the propaganda tour.

>>5372268
Yeah, have her remain on her propaganda tour.

Sorry about the delays, I'll get the turn out in at most 12 hours.

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Once the orders were sent, you simply waited for any report of how things were going, from both the air and from the boots on the ground. It was anxiety inducing. The preparations for this were months in the making. This couldn't end up like the first attempt to push. This had to succeed. If not so many things could go wrong. The entire western front was depending on the success of this. You just hoped your part in it was enough... You even sent the order for the Escadrons to take double the amount of sorties they usually did. That was how important this all was. And yet, you'd get nothing for hours. Just reports of missions...Days passed, and finally, you got news. The initial long bombardment had ceased. The main attacks were underway. Of course, you realized that the stress you were feeling was nothing compared to that of the generals who actually planned this advance, let alone that of the poor bastards who had to cross over no mans land to actually fulfil this mission. Even so, your reports would come in not from the soldiers on the ground but that of your pilots in the sky...

Initially, things were peaceful. Weather disrupted a few patrols planned by Bleu, yet they still did good enough work defending the sky, even if they didn't get into too much combat and mainly drove enemy aircraft away rather than actually managing to down any of them. However, they played their small part and finally got a bit of a break. What was more important was the work of Blanc, Vert, and Rouge. Blanc as usual ran recon patrol after recon patrol. Reporting on enemy troop movements, reinforcements, movements of artillery and of course logistics and supply hubs, protected by Vert. While Rouge ran various aggressive patrols deep into Prußenmark air space. However an important battle with Blanc occurred when the dreaded Unteroffizier Albertt Wickten, one of the enemies top pilots, struck with his own staffel.

The flight of Blanc aircraft were without escort, as a different Prußenmark staffel struck a bit earlier, distracting the escort and causing them to have fallen behind noticeably while the aircraft of Blanc continued to try and finish their mission. Needless to say, without escort the aircraft were basically just target practice for the enemies as swiftly the flight of three aircraft were dealt with before the escort could respond. While a harsh blow, it was the first in quite some time, and no other sortie from Blanc ended poorly. All others being more or less successful, with only one other loss reported from Blanc, that being from anti aircraft guns. However while Blanc most certainly is now made up of skilled photographers and has been vital for recon, they aren't directly destroying enemy resources, something Vert and Rouge have done quite successfully.

File: Dupont 6 C.png (2 KB, 121x59)

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The most notable pilots of these two Escadron's are Ermengardis and Amélie. The latter downed two Bergens as they were attacking her fellow pilots, making her little nickname of L'ange gardien stick. The former ended up in a fairly intense combat where they had to deal with not only an enemy Überkanonen, Braun Pfÿffers, but also had to deal with another Bergen. While they weren't able to down the rival flyer and had to evade after taking a bit of damage from them, they did down the other Bergen. They also engaged a myriad of other Bergens in combat that lead to them diving for the deck or searching for cloud cover to escape, though the only other victory they achieved was one of the new Frÿg CL.II's the enemy has, reporting that it took a far greater beating than the older Kronlein CL.I's and spit out far more firepower from the rear gunner. These recent actions however, have resulted in both pilots becoming aces. More interestingly though, Amélie has requested to be allowed to paint her aircraft, aiming to decorate it with wings and planning to give the aircraft a black and white color scheme with intricate designs. Of course, she would do this in the evening after her sorties for the day, but if it would be allowed by her superiors was another thing. The idea has spread to Ermengardis as well, as she is fairly certain the enemy Überkanonen she fought against had their aircraft decorated with some art, and she is well aware from Pretan newspapers that Garth Mathias has painted a playing card on his aircraft for every enemy aircraft he shot down.

(Pick one)
>Allow Aces to decorate their aircraft
>Disallow the practice outside minor additions.

However despite all the good work in the air the most important part of the battle was simply that of the war on the ground. And, thanks to the efforts of the Air Corps, extensive planning and bombardment, and a bit of luck, the offensive has thus far made major gains in the past two weeks, with fighting now underway in Maasburg and Steunlen. Part of this success is thanks to the Pretan Dominion of Vesperia, with the 1st Vesperia Division responsible for a number of key night raids in the north and quickly the Vesperian soldiers have made a name for themselves and brought fear to the Prußenmark soldiers forced to defend the area, all the while Pretany makes the various soldiers of it's colony north of the Confederacy into heroes, eager to make the reputation they were gaining stick. However, the Pretan Propaganda machine has gone full swing with a number of reports of barbaric actions by Prußenmark soldiers. The claims are absurd, from bayonetting babies to crucifying a Vesperian soldier. Things that you know would be reported directly to you given your proximity to the front if true. But, given the reaction the world seems to have from this propaganda, it's certainly doing it's job. Especially as war bond purchases in Pretany seem to have exploded. Yet despite all this good news on the ground, there is some concerning news about going on's in the sea. As the Ostasugeschwader fleet has raided a few bases in the Kalinnean Sea. They are close enough to potentially try and join the main Prußenmark fleet in a strike on the blockade... Also, another Daloyaume woman was murdered alongside a fresh Gallonian recruit in the same village in much the same way as the last double homicide... There's some slight worry it might happen to one of your pilots if it continues, though luckily the Escadron there is likely to redeploy soon with the major advances made...

Still, despite all of this, you still have your work to do, and the offensive is far from over. Already the gains are significant, and progress has most certainly been made. Yet, you have a number of opportunities now to potentially put more people on propaganda tours and capitalize on all the good news from the front even further. Though, it also might be good to continue going all in, despite the exhaustion that's building up. The better the initial stage of the offensive goes, the longer it is likely to last and the greater chance of fully reaching it's objectives and potentially surpassing them...Besides, you might get a short break after the meeting in April, merely a bit over two weeks from now at this stage. Likely not full leave, but an acceptance of simple defensive patrols or interception operations only to allow the pilots to rest most likely.

(Well, things went really well for you this turn. Only way it could be better is if you downed an enemy ace or two. Doc is below as usual.)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KT0JJxoLsbcNFC7RqtsWKke9iTnLQ8blSCf_8dZ4jWw/edit?usp=sharing

Bleu is at 80% supply and morale is still low, even though they have new airplanes and an easy turn. Descombes really has to go. Give Bleu escort duty since they seem to lack aggression and let Vert do air superiority.

>>5373675
>Disallow the practice outside minor additions.
Best not to allow easy intelligence gathering. Suggest they embroider their flight jackets instead; maybe issue some morale patches after the current operation is over.

>>5373676
>Propaganda Tour
Bring back Adelaide and let Ermengardis and Amélie enjoy a break. Ermengardis in particular looks tired.

>>5373675
>>Allow Aces to decorate their aircraft
Simple marks are fine as long as they aren't extremely distracting or visible

>>5373676
>Propaganda Tour
Bring back Adelaide and let Ermengardis and Amélie enjoy a break. Ermengardis in particular looks tired.

>>5373675
>Disallow the practice outside minor additions.

I have mixed feelings about allowing decorations. I like the idea of letting the pilots personalize their aircraft to improve morale and just because it seems cool, but I'd rather not let them be so easily identified and targeted because of it. Allowing the Prußenmark military intelligence to identify who they downed, who is in what area and how often will imply other things assuming they have knowledge of what unit X person belongs to and what Escadron, it makes it easier for pilots or AA to know who to prioritize as well.

I think allow embroidered flight jackets or minor additions to their planes is fine though.

>Supporting the other two in regards to the Propaganda Tour and who to pull back or bring back to the front.

>Requisition some real food to improve morale.

I think Bleu ought to adopt a more relaxed tempo and be used mainly for defensive patrols. I'm surprised that things are so bad despite our high tempo because we only have enough aircraft for half of each escadron, shouldn't they be rotating pilots through the limited number of aircraft to reduce fatigue?

I'll give ya another day with this, since I feel this is a bit major. Otherwise next turn should be quite fun. Also you might notice some Aces have nicknames now. They can tell you a thing or two about the pilot, personality, style or least their service history.

>>5373675
Allow basically anything that wouldn’t be considered too morally reprehensible. We’re not savages after all!

Just finished the crunch. Intended to do this earlier but, arg. Also, tie while I was working on said crunch, fun. I'll just...leave it be until someone else breaks it I guess and work on the turn as normal in the meantime. Should be up in a few hours.

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As the offensive continues at good pace further orders are sent out in the effort to ensure this breakthrough is one to win the war. Or at least be of major assistance to the overall war effort. Of course, you are fully prepared for a war as major as this to go for some time, after all despite the size and might of your allies in Pretany and Varuskie, the Prußenmarkians have held out and even pushed quite a bit in the east, and in the west, well...This advance is to retake lost territory. Still, in time they will be brought down low. That much is certain. But, your pilots need to keep doing their work in order to do that. And once you send your orders and receive word of some of the successes, you can clearly see that this is something you have managed fairly decently.

The situation in the sky was a...unique one. Despite initial concerns with regards to Bleu's performance, they did surprisingly well in their escort duties. Yet at the same time seemed to suffer from whatever curse or lack of luck followed them. Four pilots were downed, two by the top pilot of the war who we have the misfortune of having to deal with on this front. Luckily one of the pilots in question managed to survive the crash, though the other downed by Harthmann was not so lucky. Another pilot, Florent Gérin, was also was able to bring his wounded aircraft back home before eventually dying a week later from an infection, but at least his aircraft wasn't lost. Arguably the most embarrassing thing about this is the fact that Petrus Rapace was downed by a Königstein B.II...While flying a Dupont 6 C...His incompetency no longer being a problem aside, the only other thing of note with Bleu is the fact that Andry downed a Königstein, oh and Gabriel single handedly downed three Bergens...Essentially, the other pilots with him, Godefroy Jauffret and Anthoine Brosseau were downed and driven off with heavy damage respectively, leaving him alone guarding Blanc against a flight of three. All of which he downed. The first due to their focus on going after one of Blanc's aircraft, the second in a head on dive that got him hitting the pilot, and the last a long duel he finally won. All confirmed by the flight of aircraft from Blanc...Turns out he wasn't as useless as thought, and any idea's of getting rid of him are certainly shelved now for the time being...

Other than the work Bleu did, Blanc wasn't fully protected, as one of their aircraft was downed by Harthmann in the same mission that caused half of Bleu's losses. The other simply managed to get downed a effective shot of opportunity from a Bergen fighting another aircraft. Other than this, the Escadron has been forced to start reducing the increased sorties desired of this offensive as replacement aircraft are needed and engines are requiring extra maintenance and even replacement. Still, they have done plenty of work, though perhaps recon isn't the only thing needed by the airforce now. Or at least the Escadron. There is another thing that can be done though, provided it is requisitioned however. Something to allow Aircraft to do the job of artillery. Perhaps something to look into in the future.

The remaining to Escadrons did well, with Vert losing only a single pilot in exchange for downing six aircraft in separate incidents and Rouge managing to not lose a single pilot and Aude Gaume even finally becoming an ace. However, while they are doing a good job, they are limited by the number of aircraft available, and while not much of an issue for us given our escorts, it does mean that a number of Prußenmark aircraft can slip by our patrols and cause problems. Of course this is alleviated somewhat with the damage that our Escadrons are dishing out, but even then there is the simple issue of numbers. On the bright side, the advance isn't likely to stall at least for another month or two, but ideally the battle will set things back to or near the Prußenmark boarder.

While this is all well and good there is plenty of news from other fronts and other theaters of the war. To the north in the seas, the Ostasugeschwader managed to exploit an opening in the blockade caused by the main Hochseeflotte that Prußenmark has. This wasn't due to a battle or anything, but simply maneuver at sea, the Hochseeflotte deliberately getting spotted and leading the Pretans on a bit of a goose chase and giving just enough room for the Asu fleet to make it home for supply and rearmament. Something much needed given the time they had been at sea for. Regardless, given the fact they managed to get from Asu all the way to Prußenmark and cause great damage for a fleet of their size to both the Pretan navy and various infrastructure, the crews and the admiral, Jürgenn Lackendorf, has been hailed a hero in their propaganda. Similarly, the battle at Chersonipoli has run into issues, with a number of predread battleships running into a newly expanded minefield while chasing a few vessels, further, the front has completely stalled, with further attempts at advancement failing to do much damage to Sāriqīn defenses. The only other thing of note is a number of sporadic revolts by a few Bhavaku soldiers in Pretany's army, all of which so far have fairly swiftly been put down by Pretany itself or Cipanto.

Yet even with all of this, there is still something you have to do. The meeting about the war. You have no idea what might be talked about but it is important enough that all officers of units considered vital to the current offensive be brought to discuss strategy and speak of what will happen. Yet, you wonder what will be spoken about and how long it will take...But first, you need to get there. Something that will take a bit of time via rail. At most a few hours thankfully rather than almost a full day like the last time you needed to travel a fair bit away from your current headquarters. Though, given the nature of the front maybe you'll be redeployed to Maasburg once the city is retaken. Provided no major counter attacks happen anyway. But for now a brief moment to relax before a meeting of vital importance. Not just for Gallonia, but that of another country entirely.

(Will do the meeting post later, I'm exhausted and ran into a delay because of course I did. Arg. As usual current doc below. Feel free to discuss requisitions but it might change depending on how the meeting goes. Ideally I'll get that up as soon as possible so I can keep this going.)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KT0JJxoLsbcNFC7RqtsWKke9iTnLQ8blSCf_8dZ4jWw/edit?usp=sharing

>>5377498
What's the worst thing they could do, draw a pin up of their squadron commander?

After about four hours, the train stops and you disembark from the train at a small town where you swiftly are guided to a fairly fancy manner that has been made into a makeshift headquarters. There's a fairly large number of soldiers around simply for security, and the town in general seems almost abandoned by anyone not of the military, with only a handful of people who weren't military, mostly concentrated near the train station. You recall the deal you made with Conley as you walk to the makeshift headquarters, along with what Botrel had stated about this meeting. That aside, once you enter you are greeted with a soldier confirming your identity and letting you in where you can see a myriad of prominent Galtonian generals and officers. Most for the time being are relaxing or talking amongst each other. The meeting proper isn't to start for a few hours, mainly to ensure everyone is able to get here. Yet, it doesn't take long for you to be noticed by a tall gentleman with dirty blonde hair and a extremely full mustache.

"Ah, Miss Valmont. I've heard a thing or two about your Escadre. Most effective in the war I'm told. I believe we have similar goals, and as such I feel it's pertinent to ask something before the meeting proper starts. But where are my manners? I'm Général de division Natalis Lavigne. It is a pleasure to meet you." He seems very friendly, yet still formal. You aren't sure if he's genuine or just using flattery though.

"I'm glad to know the efforts of my pilots are well known. What exactly did you wish to ask though?" You ask, a bit curios as to what he specifically had planned.

"If you'd support me and those who are likeminded in our efforts to bring down the Prußenmarkians and their supporters. I'm sure that it is something a brave and noble lady such as yourself who values Gallonia will agree with. There are certain nations that are problematic in our war that we have the opportunity to deal with. Of course, I can understand some concerns with widening the front, but I can assure you I can provide a healthy bit of extra supply to your Escadre with your assurance for your support. More than the extra your ever growing number of aces will get drumming up support and warbonds back home." He says in a somewhat sly manner...You get the feeling you know what he wants out of you...

>"Your view of me is indeed correct. I am perfectly willing to support you with your plan, especially with such a generous offer."
>"I am interested, however I'd like to ask if you are interested in perhaps a method to change the nature of ground warfare through the use of armored vehicles. I know someone who could be helpful if so."
>"I see what you are doing but given the current state of things I must respectfully disagree."
>"I know a bribe when I see one. I am a woman of integrity and principle. I shall not be bought."

The conversation with Lavigne would end swiftly after, and you'd be left to your own devices for a time, able to focus your efforts on one thing or another. This would be something that took time, but would be more than a worthwhile use of your time. Especially if you could utilize it deftly to improve your position, not just in the military and carrier but also that of your Escadre. Of course, you only had so much time before the meeting proper would start, but it would be important nonetheless. It could also be useful to try and learn more about the strategic and tactical situation that your limited reports and view might not be fully aware of.

(Pick two)
>Meet with various generals and officers and try and see if they'd potentially be interested in armored vehicles on the ground.
>Meet with a few admirals and captains and try and see if they'd potentially be interested in armored vehicles on the ground.
>Meet with fellow members of the Air corps and learn how things are going for them, and their view on things
>Meet with various generals and officers and try and see how much they value the Air Corps and if they potentially would support further budget allocations.
>Meet with a few admirals and captains and try and see how much they value the Air Corps and if they potentially would support further budget allocations.
>Meet with various officers who have business connections and see if they can't introduce you to some people.
>Meet with various generals and officers to see what they currently think of the war.

(Right, feel free to properly vote now. I'll try and get the next part out later today provided we have votes and the like.)

>>5377971
...? QM what is he asking? Is he asking for our support in going to war with additional nations?

>"I am interested, however I'd like to ask if you are interested in perhaps a method to change the nature of ground warfare through the use of armored vehicles. I know someone who could be helpful if so."

For now I'll go with this. We desperately need more RP to actually get back up to full strength, we are really circling the drain in terms of aircraft. We have 4 people in Vert with high or very high FEXP but only 3 aircraft, all of Rouge has excellent FEXP with 4 notable stand outs like our new aces Catherine, Amelie, even Aude, - though she isn't quite as standout aside from the fact that she's lived this long - and there's Haydee and Calantha who I have high hopes for but we only have 5 aircraft there.

On one hand if by supply he means more RP then I'm very tempted, but opening new fronts not only sounds like a good way to lose but it sounds like he could be making a false promise. Unless he is directly in our chain of command or in a position to give up supply on his front in favour of ours or is in some sort of logistics position then I don't think he can necessarily do what he says he can. After all, opening a new front would logically require moving supplies away from our front or creating a new supply chain or whatever, we'd then be stuck with less supplies and a worsening area of operations with nothing to hold over the general in order to make him stick to his promise.

>>5377974
>Meet with various generals and officers to see what they currently think of the war.

We need info on how the war is viewed as going before we can actually make suggestions that will be accepted on how to alter the path the war is taking.

>Meet with various generals and officers and try and see how much they value the Air Corps and if they potentially would support further budget allocations.

We need to attempt to gain more budget, we've proven our worth, but we cannot sustain this tempo or apply the new methods of warfare like air-delivered bombs with more funding.

Sad we don't have room to fit in Conley's request for us to see if more people are interested in her vehicles, but I voted for asking Natalis. There may be an after party or whatever where we can shmooze more later.

>>5378016
Given your knowledge on the situation politically, including your own father's view, a sizable number of Gallonian people both high and low consider a few nations in particular as sabotaging the war effort and believe they are "tantamount to enemies" as your father put it some months ago. While you don't know what their exact plan is, you can guess that more or less is what he's suggesting. While Politicians are more united in this, diplomats are fully against the idea of expanding the war and the military is more divided.

So in short, from your understanding, yes, that's what he's asking for with the hopes that your name and success so far within the Air Corps will be enough to tip the scales in favor of his side of the argument.

>>5378065
Thank you for the context. I guess my only addition would be to indicate we are interested as the prompt suggests but to also mention that we need more specifics in regards to what nations we'd be attacking, what their military capability is, how that would affect the broader picture, etc.

We'd probably also like to hear his explanation of how ironclad his support in requisitioning us more stuff will when the scope of the war expands and our military capacity is split, it would appear that that would only hamper his ability to supply us, not help it. Though perhaps an Escadron is such a small unit - given there's like 4 or so different rank of general with the formations to go with that, a Escadron led by a LtColonel isn't actually that big a unit - that it is simply a matter of political maneuvering and prioritization, maybe even with a new front being opened it is no issue to give an formation like ours some extra help. We just need the guarantees.

>>5377971
>"I see what you are doing but given the current state of things I must respectfully disagree."
Bad idea; we need the Confederacy's support in the long run, and being the aggressor aids enemy propaganda. Also, I suspect that there are high-level cliques between Westerners and Easterners; that is to say those who want to focus on the Western Front versus those who want to win the war in secondary theaters.

>>5377974
>Meet with various generals and officers and try and see how much they value the Air Corps and if they potentially would support further budget allocations.
>Meet with a few admirals and captains and try and see if they'd potentially be interested in armored vehicles on the ground.
I suspect the Navy wants to make themselves relevant in the war, and having landships is one way to do it. Even better, maybe they can think ahead towards air-ground cooperation.

Pilot rotations:
Bring Duverger and Flandin back to the squadrons and send Descombes on the PR circuit. That guy has high fatigue., although I wonder how Bleu will fare without him. Did Catherine Hauet become an ace just now? Her entry says "V 5", but she is not on the Ace list. If she has the creds, give her an instructor tour -- our newbies suck, and she is likely to cause embarrassment in a PR role, just like Pappy Boyington.

If our RPs do not change, I suggest buying enough 6C's (10) to give six to each of the three squadrons, another SUD, and one 1 RP of supply for each squadron.

>>5378332
Oh and send Gaume on PR tour as well. She does not need rest, but it is an opportunity for Marchal to command Rouge.

>>5378332
Thanks for pointing out Cat wasn't on the list. I completely missed her. Also, for those who haven't already, feel free to still vote on if aces can decorate their aircraft. Since that was a tie. If you already did vote for it, don't though.

>>5378370
Left behind even in meta, har har.

>>5377971
>"I see what you are doing but given the current state of things I must respectfully disagree."
Opening another front? Are you mad? Escalating the war and widening the front will stretch us thinner and could backfire badly on us both strategically and diplomatically, with our earlier characterisation potentially being on the fence about this depending on the countries in question and to what degree they cooperate with the enemy.

>>5377974
>Meet with various generals and officers and try and see how much they value the Air Corps and if they potentially would support further budget allocations.
>Meet with a few admirals and captains and try and see if they'd potentially be interested in armoured vehicles on the ground.
We need more shit, to put it bluntly, and I hope we've ingratiated ourselves with the ground pounders as of late. Not only do armoured vehicles represent an important avenue of advance, they present opportunities for increases air-ground cooperation.
We can also give the Navy something to do and let them feel included. Maybe we can even pitch the preposterous idea of converting an old rustbucket ship into a floating airfield.....

>>5373675
>Disallow the practice outside minor additions.
This would just turn every battle into a pissing match between aces and personal grudges, leading to gangups and distracting from mission objectives. Sure they can do nose art, but not conspicuously enough to make their aircraft immediately identifiable.

>>5378546
> pissing match between aces and personal grudges
Well, this is an anime website. . .

Well, ideally everything is solidified on by tomorrow. I'm quite eager for the meeting to begin properly.

>>5377971
>"Your view of me is indeed correct. I am perfectly willing to support you with your plan, especially with such a generous offer."
Ve must fight the perfidious traitors and liars

>>5377974
>Meet with various generals and officers and try and see how much they value the Air Corps and if they potentially would support further budget allocations.
>Meet with a few admirals and captains and try and see if they'd potentially be interested in armored vehicles on the ground.

Well, we have a tie on if the deal should be taken or not and a solidification on what to do after the deal is accepted or not...If the tie isn't broken, well...I don't want to roll for it given how much it'll give and/or take from you but I also don't want to just be stuck here for days on end.

>>5380665
I'll switch to being disinterested in widening the front with perhaps some of the the other's write-ins and my doubts regarding how widening the front will somehow inexplicably result in - or be compatible with - him being able to supply us better included.

I still want to try and sell him some vehicles though.

>>5380183
support

Well tie broken, though I guess
>>5380703
Basically has final say if they want to switch back to their original vote or not, as it swings the vote to one side or another. Still, will ideally make a turn tonight or tomorrow.

>>5380833
Roll a die to decide. I was mostly interested in hearing out his reasoning and seeing if he was interested in Conley's stuff, I had quite a few reservations about him actually being able to follow through with supplying us or the benefits of widening the front actually, though I may not have articulated it well.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>5380849
Alright, fine then.

>>5380938
Support his plan it is. Turn will be out later. Will implement your questions in as well.

With the initial offer, you swiftly ask something that's bothered you about his offer. "I am interested but I'm not sure you can really provide what you claim. Opening a new front causes opens up a large amount of new logistical problems, something counter intuitive to getting more supply. Further, I want some specifics as to who we are going to war with. I can guess at least one but I'm unsure if you intend to strike at all of the northern neutral states or just one."

With this the man raised an eyebrow but says "I have a number of connections in the army already. At the talks I can use my connections to ensure a greater stock is sent to the air corps over colonial positions and garrisons. Besides, we aren't fools as to declare war on Agdemark or Jutden which would require opening up another front unexpectedly for Varuskie or marching through most of Prußenmark. No, we just intend to knock over the pushovers that are Lothring. The last war on the continent they have had was a civil one that resulted in them losing Daloyaume, their army is hardly a threat and the only thing that could be considered a threat is their navy which doesn't even have a single battleship. Trust me when I say, striking them will be just like when Daloyaume was initially invaded by Prußenmark except far more effective. Besides, it's also an easy excuse to increase the military budget even further, and more money into the armed forces means more aircraft for you and artillery for me." He was confident and clearly believed what he was saying, for better or worse...

"In that case I suppose you have my support." You weren't exactly the most keen on this, but supply was really throttling your ability to work effectively. Every Escadron under you had more pilots than aircraft, and if the budget was increased enough you might just have enough to add another under your command if you so wanted, or simply fully equip all your existing ones. You just hope that this doesn't make the war that much harder for you or your country. Still there was much to do after this, and so you swiftly went to speak with various generals and officers to try and see how they view the air corps, the general trend being they see it either as a minor asset or a moderate one equal to artillery. Naturally, you make use of the key recon you have done as leverage and a reason for why you should get more funding among those who you feel this would be most effective on, alongside pointing out the natural heroes that the air corps can make. Additionally, you speak to a few naval officers about the possibility of armoured vehicles, or landships. Something a few of them seem fairly interested in. Naturally, you get them informed about Conley and simply have to wait for them to contact her.

After some time speaking to the others the meeting proper starts, and everyone is brought into a sizable room with a extremely large and detailed map of the current front, showing defensive positions and the many trenches, rivers and cities. Once everyone is inside, and after a speech about how important their mission is to not only the men who serve under them but also the country as a whole and the need to crush Prußenmark resistance and win the war, the debate proper begins, and a familiar Général de division is swift to speak of a plan...

"It is my and many other's belief that the easy access to key military and civilian supply that Lothring grants to Prußenmark is a major threat to our future operations and that unless immediate action is taken, they will simply feed their ally while protected by their so called neutrality until this whole war is over! This cannot be allowed and cannot be accepted, and given the natural boarder and easy to attack terrain of Lothring, there is only one clear and concise action we can take not only to remove this breach in the blockade but also reclaim land we once held in the great revolutionary Gallonian Empire and that which was taken from us in the last war! Such a strike with our logistics and Pretan allies will allow us to easily move past any defensive line Prußenmark has set up as well, granting us the ability to outflank them as they have tried to outflank us. And given the weak military forces of Lothring and their lack of experience dealing with anything greater than South East Asun primitives there should be little trouble in forcing them to capitulate. Further, the politicians are well and truly in favor of such decisive action and we all are well aware how much more of the budget can go to the military thanks to such an operation. Now, the plan is to strike once the main offensive starts stalling with a quiet buildup behind our own lines before suddenly striking in a spearhead the moment war is declared to shrink the front and take as much of Lothring as possible and ideally utilize the surprise to encircle a number of Prußenmark forces, this spearhead will originate from..." He goes into detail on all the stages of the plan and the general push, objectives and how far it will go. Once he's finished, a number of other officers are quick to make their arguments against or for the plan, yet eventually Lavigne mentions how the Air Corps can easily deal with any perceived issues they have, pointing to you. And soon you are hit with a myriad of questions, including if you support his plan.

"I do support his operation...It's entirely doable, especially with air support. However, as with all things, funding is key. My own Escadre, despite the success we have had, can't even get ten Dupont 6 C's in a month with the current budget. Imagine if you were limited to only ten guns of artillery! And given my success, think of what my Escadre could do if I had the supply and funds to fully replenish my Escadre and potentially even expand it. Despite what some think, the airplane is not a toy of little military value, but key to the future of warfare." You say your piece and soon the debate moves on.

Given the most successful leader in the Air Corps gave their support to the plan, most of the rest of the Air Corps joins in support. Some simply due to thinking you know best, others simply for the hope that the budget increases will mitigate their own problems with losses. This is enough to get a moderate majority, and while it's up to the politicians to declare the war and not the generals, the support of the majority of the military on the front in question will certainly remove any barriers in place that potentially could get in their way. For better or worse, in the near future, the war will be escalated... With this, more talks are held including a bit on the budget allocated for the front, including the creation of Balloon brigades under the joint control of the air and artillery corps. Something that apparently has started to be seen in use by the enemy as well. Additionally, Lavigne certainly helps with the talks to increase the Air Corps portion of the pie as it were, as do some officers who you spoke to earlier. And after this would be yet more talks about various allocations of reinforcements, weapons, and so forth. Yet, once all of this is over everyone is allowed to enjoy their time with meals and fine drink before they are to retire to assigned quarters before returning to their duties and posts all along the front via train. This naturally gives you another chance to speak to others about some things before you have to return to your own headquarters and order your requisitions...Though you get the feeling you'll have a lot if everything that was planned was passed through.

(Pick two)
>Meet with various generals and officers and try and see if they'd potentially be interested in armored vehicles on the ground.
>Meet with fellow members of the Air corps and learn how things are going for them, and their view on things
>Meet with various officers who have business connections and see if they can't introduce you to some people.
>Meet with various generals and officers to see what they currently think of the war.

(Feel free to make a plan for missions and requisition as well. Intended for this to be up five hours ago but oh well.)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KT0JJxoLsbcNFC7RqtsWKke9iTnLQ8blSCf_8dZ4jWw/edit?usp=sharing

>>5381456
Wait, didn't we do this vote already in the last update?

>>5381607
Sort of. The option you picked + the budget ones are unavailable now though. Basically, >>5378016 was right about there being an after party.

Also do normal turn stuff if you want, enjoy your gigantic budget for this month.

>>5381456
>Meet with various generals and officers and try and see if they'd potentially be interested in armored vehicles on the ground.
>Meet with various officers who have business connections and see if they can't introduce you to some people.

May as well try and sell the armoured vehicles to the people who would have the most use for them. That and try and actually make some connections in our own country.

I suppose I'm fine with expanding the front to include invading ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶N̶e̶t̶h̶e̶r̶l̶a̶n̶d̶s̶ Lothring, I thought he was suggesting we go MUCH further afield at first.

>>5381456
>>Meet with fellow members of the Air corps and learn how things are going for them, and their view on things
>>Meet with various officers who have business connections and see if they can't introduce you to some people.

>>5381456
>Meet with various generals and officers and try and see if they'd potentially be interested in armored vehicles on the ground.
>Meet with various officers who have business connections and see if they can't introduce you to some people.
Tonks it is. I still really want to see an aircraft carrier. Maybe someone can sell the not!bongs on the idea like in OTL.

Seems like you got a plan, though feel free to give proper orders as well and check the doc. Mainly so I can do both the last bit of the meeting and get a turn proper out.

>>5382150
I won't have the time tonight as I just got back from a dentist appointment and am a bit tired, so I'll leave the detailed plan to others.

For now here is my preliminary plan.

>Fill all Escadrons to full aircraft. That is 161 RP for 23 Dupont C and 35 RP for 7 S.U.D Type R. I know we technically only need 21 Dupont C to have a full escadron, but I want everyone in a Dupont group to have a C variant, we'll keep the old versions as back ups but every pilot should have a C. Equip all our S.U.D Type R's with Bomb Hardpoints for 10 RP. Buy good quality rations and other confectionery goods to raise morale for our pilots. Max out supply for all our groups. Buy 8 pilots for 2 RP.

I was initially gonna just equip half our SUDs with bomb bays because I read the thing about them getting a massive bonus to Support when they are used in turn with Scout aircraft, so I thought I'd use half with cameras and half with bombs and just use the escadron together supporting one another as usual to get the bonus. But, then I went back to the 1st thread to check for what counts as a Scout aircraft, and technically all our current aircraft are scout aircraft including the SUDs since they aren't proper bombers so much as slow scout and camera-recon aircraft. (So our Duponts and Suds can be used as scouts to give the bonus to our SUDs) That is why I changed it to make it so every SUD got a bomb hardpoint.

Hareleinde Tilhof Woluzen

>We'll initially move out at maximum operational tempo again before cutting our operational tempo to 2/3s of our previous frantic tempo after a bit because we are going to be sending every escadron out at once rather than rotating them this time. Bleu will run a mixed distraction feint/air superiority mission in the direction of Tilhof and Woluzen so as to make it seem like our main effort is going that way, make sure they understand the intent of the mission and that they really have to fight hard and sell the feint, we'll cut them some slack in the next turn. Meanwhile we'll move our HQ to Maasburg and part of our objective is to give new HQ some new breathing room. Our main effort will be to support the ground troops in pushing out of Maasburg and towards Hareleinde and to claim air supremacy. To that end we'll send out all three of our remaining escadrons Blanc, Rouge, and Vert to conduct reconnaissance-in-force together around Maasburg and towards Hareleinde to gather photo intelligence both for the ground forces and for Blanc to bomb. Then, all three escadrons will then sortie again after refueling to bomb said targets, Vert and Rouge will escort Blanc and otherwise conduct air superiority. If that isn't the proper order-of-operations to get the big support bonus for the S.U.Ds bombs then instead Vert will do the recon-in-force ahead of the other escadrons and then Rouge will escort Blanc as they do the bombing, just whatever works to get the stat bonus. Rinse and repeat until we reach Hareleinde or our offensive culminates.

>>5382213
Whoops, left the names of various cities in on the sheet above my greentext. I was just writing them down to remember them but did it in the post itself instead of opening a notepad to put them in. Guess I'm just that tired.

>>5381456
>Meet with fellow members of the Air corps and learn how things are going for them, and their view on things
>Meet with various officers who have business connections and see if they can't introduce you to some people.

>>5382213
I support the general idea but some minor quibbles. Among other things, the math is off.
-- We only need 22 Dupont 6C's for 154 RPs
-- That, only with the SUDs and bomb racks, make for 199 RPs
-- For resupply, we can maximin resupply for {Bleu, Blanc, Rouge, Vert} = {1, 5, 2, 2,} RPs = 10 RPs.
-- That leaves only 6 RPs left for better chow and more replacements.

> Operational Plan
I like this, but feel that Bleu lacks the aggression for an independent mission. I think Vert would do better, and have Rouge do the recon-in-force (or BARCAP) if necessary.

> Leave
Cancel PR tour for Gaume; she is not that fatigued, and each squadron should have at least nine pilots to start the turn. Descombes and Hauet look tired, though.

Btw, I think we erred massively by attacking Lothring. The dikes will be blown, and that CN-3 looks scary.

>>5382332
Didn't expect a late night post from anyone. Probably bad for my chances of falling back asleep to look at my computer after getting up from a restless sleep but here I am.

Thanks for the math check.

I sort of agree that Bleu may not have the right mentality for this sort of mission, but I was more thinking of the FEXP stats of Rouge and Vert, I want our best to be going on the main effort. All our best pilots are in Vert and Rouge, with some great up and comers. That, and I think we just have to trust our subordinates to be professional and to try and match our intent regardless of their personal reservations or "style". Descombes has surprised us before.

Agree regarding Leave.

>>5382335
From a strategic standpoint, yeah, attacking Lothring is probably just a bad move. Still, it got us the RP we needed and made us some friends, plus it makes the story more interesting and the situation more dynamic and complex probably. I'm kinda mildly annoyed we weren't told who we'd be attacking before having to make a choice on whether to agree to help Lavigne or not.

Lothring has Aircraft Designer Connections, so naturally their aircraft would have higher stats, but they also have a low Pilot pool and low RP. Every pilot and aircraft we down counts for more against them, they'll have trouble replacing them, plus our pilots are more experienced than theirs this far into the war.

>>5382363
I was concerned about the low morale of Bleu; they may be less eager to go after the enemy as opposed to have the enemy come to them in a close escort role, but you may be right in sending in the best. I suggested sending Descombes on PR tour; do you want to rescind that?

>>5382378
Yeah, I don't really know what is up with Bleu, I'd have to go through their combat logs to see if they've just had it rougher recently or what is going on. I know they took some heavier losses this and last thread if I recall correctly, including a pilot losing a fight against a inferior aircraft, but I dunno if it is just that or Descombes being a downer or what. Funnily enough there was a point at the start of the war where they were taking the least casualties.

I think we kinda have to rescind Descombes PR tour if we are sending Bleu on an independent mission, he's their commandant and the best pilot in that escadron. We can promise to give him his PR tour guaranteed next turn and to only give Bleu light defensive combat air patrol duties until they've rested up.

Speaking of sending people back. I think at some point when we've built up a number of sufficiently skilled pilots or have a bunch of back-up aces that we ought to put some of our best pilots on permanent PR tour/Training new pilots. Preferably ones that are not only skilled but have the best qualities in terms of mental attitude and personality so as to impart the public/our new pilots with similar such qualities. It would be a crushing blow to morale to lose someone like Adelaide at this stage. Better to nip this issue in the bud and make sure they can improve our chances from the back-lines. Make an untouchable legend that the Prußenmarkers can no longer shoot down.

I sort of got the idea from something I read about how German aces in WW2 had way more kills than say their American counterparts because Germany never swapped them out to go do stuff like train the next generation of pilots or whatever, so they'd get like up to 40 kills before dying. Whereas the Americans would get less kills per ace, but said ace would take the lessons they'd learned and pass that on to the next generation of pilots. Don't know if there is any truth to that or whether I'm blindly repeating a myth, but it sounds like there is some wisdom there.

I think we ought to "retire" any Ace that gets either into the high teens in terms of kills or the mid twenties. Maybe we can keep some of the more problematic pilots that we don't want blabbing to the public or giving our new pilots the wrong ideas, like that one woman who thinks she is constantly being abandoned.

>>5382391
Think you might be thinking of Japan rather than Germany. But I could be mistaken. In WW1, Germany most certainly brought their best aces back for propaganda and training. Still, quite happy to see the activity. I'll give another 12ish hours give or take a few for the next post.

Also, one fun fact that you'd know given your connections, if you want. Carrillo-Norton is a Abmerykian Aircraft company that mainly supplies the Confederate States air corps and the civilian stunt aircraft. They also supply other Abmeryk states and recently spread to minor nations in Europa like Kartiia, Sveiterland, Lothring, and Agdemark. The Koerkamp T.II and C.I technically don't exist yet too. They are just the Koerkamp B.K. VII "Arend" and Koerkamp B.K. V "Mus". The former a passenger aircraft with a capacity for seven and the latter a small and simple trainer and mail carrier.

>>5382391
>We can promise to give him his PR tour guaranteed next turn and to only give Bleu light defensive combat air patrol duties until they've rested up.
Be careful about making promises we cannot keep. That said, with enough combat attrition, we will again have more pilots than planes. That will be a good time to rest Descombes.

We need a third guy to pipe in.

US pilot rotation was a function of a large pilot pool and a war that was over in less than four years. Neither holds here.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

Working on things.

File: Western Front.png (59 KB, 789x796)

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With the remaining time you have among the various other officers in the meeting, you speak with a number of other members of the air corps and try to learn how things are going for them. You find out that most are having issues in getting Dupont 6 C's. The majority having been forced to utilize modified versions of the 4 P which needless to say has caused a fair few losses. Those that are purely recon and support, those flying the S.U.D are a bit better off, though not by too much given the cost of the aircraft in question. Really, funding is actually quite low for the Air Corps, and most of the money in the military budge has gone into artillery, munitions, uniforms, guns, and research and development, and so forth rather than the air corps. Ideally that'll change soon given the meeting, but overall, things have been hard for the Air Corps, as while the media has constantly reported on the success of your Escadre and the moderate success of 15e Escandre "Marins du ciel", there was a reason it was silent on most others. And while now far more even trades of aircraft are being made thanks to the 6 C and even just the modified 4 P, due to the lack of the former the average lifespan of a Gallonian pilot is a month at best unless ordered to guard the channel. Most are a bit jealous of the amount that the Pretans have access to, with most of the early Faeco EL1's only used for the limited training they actually give their pilots or cheap recon. As for getting in contact with other officers who have business contracts, you do manage to get a few, including one who apparently has connections with Dupont and another with a carriage and motor company that is a rival of sorts to your brothers own business, Lilon Moteurs et Voitures. Oddly, one officer has connections with two companies that are arguably the strangest, one is Carrillo-Norton, an aircraft company that's been spreading in Europa recently and is prevalent and a household name in the Confederacy among aviation enthusiasts, responsible for a recent aircraft adopted as part of their own air corps and being sold to other nations militaries as well, along with a Vitulian gun company, Il fucile D'Alto funziona. These potentially could be utilized in the coming weeks, but how useful they are is debatable.

After this you eventually are brought to temporary quarters for you to rest in before the trip back, and after spending the night, a quick meal for breakfast and a moderately long train ride back you quickly are pleasantly surprised at the resources available before you utilize them to great effect in your requisitions before preparing your HQ and it's various staff for movement to Maasburg once it is safely under Gallonian control. After this you simply wait.

To say that you would be surprised by the results is an understatement, the diversion was fairly successful, if inconclusive. As a number of engagements occurred between the pilots of Bleu and that of Prußenmark. Even more surprising is the fact that no one from Bleu dies for once. A pleasant surprise for the pilots of Bleu as well, and combined with the better food provided thanks to both requisitions and Adélaïde alongside some other pilots hunting when no sorties were required of them has added far better rations to the Escadre. Regardless, Bleu's tactical successes were wanting, as while they engaged in a number of combats, only one victory was recorded. Though they did their job. The main force of Rouge, Vert, and Blanc most certainly did their own as well, especially Adélaïde who added two more Bergens and a Frÿg to their tally, and Liliane who accompanied her on these flights managed to get a Bergen of her own alongside a Konigstein. Something she is quite proud of. Other than this, a few other aircraft were downed but nothing particularly noteworthy. In all honesty, the reports from the various pilots and missions showed there was actually a surprising lack of enemy interference. There were certainly still enemy aircraft in the area of operations but far, far less than before. It was actually quite shocking. If it was due to luck, a lack of enemies, or simply the other Gallonian Escadre and Pretan Wings in the area took the brunt of the main chunk of enemy air power. Despite this however, there was an incident in which a flight of Bergens managed to jump a flight of Blanc bombers just before they reached the target, ignoring the escorts to focus on the S.U.D Type R's turned Type B's. One of these assailing pilots, Vizefeldwebel Hinrich Herremberg, became an ace in this combat after downing two of the three aircraft. Though, the fight broke up with a fair bit of damage traded on both sides and the flights breaking off...

With all of this, the rest of the air is quiet for your pilots who carry out their duties. However, on the ground things seem to be going excellently. The various bombing has had a great effect, and while the recon currently done is far less effective, it is still solid and extremely useful for Blanc which utilizes it to great effect in destroying supply hubs, artillery, and machine gun nests. However a new potential mission for the future seems to have formed as a number of balloons have been raised high into the sky, both for Gallonia along with her Pretan allies, and the Prußenmarkians. Although, not so much on this front just yet given the state of things... Further, what was expected to be a month long drawn out battle for the cities has managed to be finished far quicker, ending in only three weeks with a collapse thanks to our efforts, allowing us to push far beyond them in some places. Naturally, Maasburg was the place most effected, and while there is still fighting on the outskirts of Woluzen and Steunlen, they are now mostly under Gallonian control. Needless to say, the operation has been a complete victory, even if it isn't finished just yet.

Meanwhile back home, Amélie Flandin seems to be really be taking the "L'ange gardien" nickname quite well and embracing it extensively. She has shown herself off as a jane of all trades and has, among other things, helped sick and wounded soldiers brought to the back line in hospitals, made clothing and stuffed animals for children, and even made art that had the proceeds directly given to the Air Corps. The best part is she did all of this willingly and this was her idea. This naturally has made her far more well known as a kind guardian of sorts, and in public appearances she has shown herself to be excitable, incredibly kind and very friendly along with charitable, patient and humble, only solidifying the angel nickname further. Ermengardis meanwhile has done more traditional things, though surprisingly some press is actually suspicious of her due to her origins, and there is a far greater focus on the other ace back behind lines than her. Still, she has reportedly used the time to work on writing a book of sorts. Related to this, it seems the Prußenmarkians have had the same idea, as news has reached us that last week Harthmann Von Rútlingen was brought to Bärvitz to be awarded the highest honors by their Kaiser, and he apparently made a brochure for pilots called “Erfahrungen der Luftkampf” Though it's contents aren't known to us, we can guess what it contains.

All of this aside, a very good few weeks. Ideally this continues.

(So, power died for a AC cycle or two just as I was posting this. Luckily my computer has a good enough power supply to save it from fully shutting off from that. Same can't be said about my router. Anyway I almost lost at least a hour of writing. Fun.)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KT0JJxoLsbcNFC7RqtsWKke9iTnLQ8blSCf_8dZ4jWw/edit?usp=sharing

>>5383328
A few questions QM. Are the colours on the map meant to delineate elevation or is it supposed to be level of vegetation? Is paler colouration meant to indicate higher terrain or less vegetation? I'm thinking that if our current AO and intended path of maneuver is a less forested area then the ground troops may have an easier time and we'd be more effective, so we could push all the way to the river before swing down south into the more forested areas. If it is elevation indication then nvm.

How are the other two escadres that were near us previously? I believe one of them may have be 6e "Chevaliers" and I don't know if the other was 15e or if 15e was somewhere else further from us. Since we were rubbing shoulders with the other Air Corps commanders we should have an excuse to know. I'd like to know their status and location if possible, maybe we could coordinate together us lower level tactical officers without the burden of slow communication with our air brigade generals or whoever is just above us in terms of rank. (I don't know how we are organized or what our force structure looks like)

>>5383331
Hmm...I wonder if our diversion actually truly worked well or if the Prußenmarkians are taking an operational pause. Still, I'm pleased with Bleu. How intense was the opposition to Bleu? Did Descombes feel like he was facing a Gruppe or a whole Geschwader, rotated over time to wear Bleu down over time or all at once? I wanna get a better picture of how well our diversion actually worked or if the enemy is resting, gathering strength for a counter-attack.

>>5383333
We aren't getting new RP until next turn, yes? 'Cause we just spent this month's RP?

I think I wanna keep both Ermengardis and Amélie on tour. Amélie seems perfect in her current role and Ermengardis's book could prove very interesting or be useful for other pilots. Even with the suspicion on Ermengardis the damage done isn't that bad since she isn't getting much attention.

>As promised Descombes is allowed to go on his propaganda tour. Bleu is to take it easy and spend almost all their time resting and recovering, they are only to go on very light defensive air patrols near our airbase to make sure they retain adequate flight hours to remain proficient. Blanc, Rouge, and Vert are to do the same thing as they did last turn more or less, push toward Hareleinde, recon-in-force, bomb, etc, etc, take a modest tempo. At the first strong sign indication that an enemy counter-offensive may be beginning we'll adapt immediately rather than react and either conduct a deep recon-in-force/spoiling attack (mostly recon to find out what we are dealing with, with the attack focusing on logistics) on their massing forces that are far behind their lines if we catch the intel fast enough or if it seems like we are too late and the offensive is under way then we'll go defensive and do the best to find a mix between blunting their offensive and retaining our pilot's lives and aircraft.

>>5383381
1. Colours on the map are elevation. I will say though that generally speaking the higher elevations aren't as forested, but unless it's clearly mountains there's likely still some. Don't use this as a rule though, more a very vague guideline, at least when it comes to vegetation.

2. The other two initially were 6e "Chevaliers" and 4e "Corsaire". Both are present still, and 15e Escandre "Marins du ciel" is as well. They came in as your replacement when you went on leave and were kept on the front given it's importance when you returned.

3. Bleu's opposition was moderate. There wasn't specifically one Escadron that got more attention than the others really, though Blanc and Rouge didn't have too much attention ironically outside of one bad strike. The only bad strike this turn.

4. Yep, once per month.

>>5383381
Supporting

>>5383381
I say bring Ermengardis and Amélie back and give Hauet an instructor tour. The first two appear pretty well rested and Hauet is at 34 Fatigue.

>>5384326
I'm fine either way. We don't have quite enough Aces to be so blase about just leaving a bunch on tour I suppose, we'll probably need them. I was just persuaded by how well Amélie took to her role and the talk of a book by Ermengardis, kinda wanted to give her time to finish it.

I do agree that Hauet ought to get some leave as an instructor.

I'll probably work on the turn tomorrow, aka 16ish hours from now. Reason I give my self such a long time is because I fully expect it to take a while before I finish or in case I get caught up with anything. Still, plenty of time for you to finish up the last details, if you need to with regards to the aces anyway. Also, I presume when you say instructor you mean sending them to TRACOM rather than on propaganda tours.

>>5384403
Yeah, training our new pilots.

>>5384403
If you are waiting for an agreement on our aces on propaganda tour, I'll agree with >>5384326 for the sake of moving things along.

>>5385079
Appreciate it. Thanks. Just clarifies things. Working on the turn now.

Hey here's a seranade for Cat Hauet as she goes to the schoolhouse:
https://youtu.be/hJtjtK42Mws
Yeah, she has operational experience, but I think this will be her attitude. I expect a lot of students to be flunked out into the infantry.

Bit of a spoiler I feel the need to point out just because of how absurd it is. But the fucking guardian angel downed 8 aircraft this turn...And fought the 3rd worst ace to potentially end up fighting against and didn't die...

File: Western Front.png (59 KB, 789x796)

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While there was little time relatively speaking that Amélie was away, she was glad to be finally back. It was important that she...protect the other pilots. It was why her nickname was given after all. Still, the orders granted were simple ones, and she was to escort Blanc once more. Yet, swiftly she found her flight running into a problem. One of it's best pilots, Alicia Sardou, was struck down and Bele, another up and coming pilot, likewise was struck from the sun by a group of six enemy aircraft, one who's body was painted pure white with a crest of a noble house on each side near the nose, that of Wickten. Yet she was calm. She failed to protect them, but she wouldn't fail Blanc.

Utilizing the maneuverability of her aircraft and pushing it to it's absolute limits. She barely was able to dodge the fire of an enemy diving on her, and as they over shot she simply utilized a single quick burst to take them down, their engine set alight and the pilot killed by the flames soon after. Then, she looked around. Two Bergens were climbing again, three more were perusing the S.U.D's. She prioritized the closest one going after the bombers, and was able to get another clean kill, sending a few rounds, one which through the enemy pilots head and saving Commandant Françoys Wathelet's life. Yet after moving onto the third, she fired a simple burst that merely struck the canvas and found the Conley gun she was utilizing was out of ammo. Standing up to reload it, she would notice one of the enemy aircraft coming after her as she tossed the drum off and quickly fixed the new one on and the gun back into position before making a harsh turn just in time to have only a few bullets strike the canvas of her tail before she turned back and fired at the enemy who just finished off Lieutenant Verain Corne and his gunner, a few more rounds striking the canvas until the enemy in their own desperation to avoid fire saw their damaged wing rip off. Victory number three...

The remaining three aircraft turned their attention to Amélie. They could deal with the other aircraft once she was dealt with as clearly this was l'as or some other important pilot. And so, they focused on her instead, making her life much harder as she shot the last of her second drum of ammo in a shot of opportunity that damaged one of the aircraft. She struggled to get the breathing room to put a new drum in, and did something risky, twisting the rudder as she removed the old drum and put another into the Conley gun, sitting back down and using the next brief opportunity to push the gun up and lock it back in a firing position. After this, she was able to get another shot of opportunity on an enemy overshoot and broke the elevators off the aircraft she damaged earlier as a few rounds entered her lower left wing and she had to go evasive again. With this, she found herself hounded, taking more and more damage before she tried to escape, luring the two aircraft away. And, in her escape she managed to get into some cloud cover, and with a bit of luck ended up behind one enemies tail who she swiftly snapped the wings off and sent into a Gallonian trench. When Blanc returend, she was credited with four victories, and when soldiers in the trenches corroborated the location of the fifth victory she claimed, she gained it as well... She barely survived, and was certainly a guardian angel to those who she protected, even if she couldn't save all of them. Yet to Prußenmark she was a angel of death...

She would be the first pilot in history to get an ace in a day. And later would down three more aircraft, all Kronlein's, as ironic as it was...

Once more orders are sent out and you quietly wait for results, the current plain of assistance to the ground forces continuing to be of great success, and with backup plans in case of an enemy counter offensive. And while one doesn't exactly come, the methods used helps slow down the reinforcement of the front lines and allows the push to continue a while further before momentum finally stops as greater Prußenmarkian defenses are reached by the Pretan and Gallonian soldiers on the ground alongside the reinforcements delayed by your actions. And yet, with all this great success in the air it comes at a cost. One might think the losses were light, but not only was a pilot merely one victory away from becoming an ace lost but so too was a highly experienced pilot of Blanc. But even so, it is needless to say that all of it was worth it, especially given the actions of a certain pilot... Operations have gone fantastically and while the full extent of the operation's ambitious goals haven't been met, and stiff enemy resistance has stalled the offensive, another is planned. The one to remove Lothring as a problem. The plan is to strike fast and get across the river before they can mobilize a response, allowing a far easier avenue of advance into Prußenmark proper.

Those in command have applauded your exceptional efforts this month, and a medal in the near future is all but assured. However they have two requests. Firstly, should you remain focusing on the Prußenmarkian menace, to have a escadre on defensive patrols or interception specifically to target the enemies own aircraft. Our successes on the offence are hampered by our enemy's own successes. Secondly, in the future, targeting observation balloons would be appreciated by the artillery and men on the ground, as well as protecting our own. This shouldn't be too hard, especially given how little you need to replace. Perhaps it is time 14e Escadre Mixte "Liberté" gains another Escadron?

In other news, things in the Chersonipoli campaign are turning south and quite hard, with a well coordinated counter attack by Sāriqīn soldiers starting to push the invasion back at an alarming pace. This includes the use of aircraft imported from their Prußenmarkian ally. A heavy debate on if the campaign should be abandoned or not is underway, and the first ship bombed by an aircraft occurs when a Frÿg CL.II in Sāriqīn colors piloted by Ozkan Baykal managed to land a fifty pound bomb onto the deck of a Pretan Destroyer. The ship survived, but needs a gun replaced and suffered fairly bad structural damage. Further, another murder has occurred and in the same manner, this time taking the life of a Pretan Army Captain and another Daloyaume woman. There's growing concerns that someone in the armed forces of either Gallonia or Pretany is responsible for these heinous murders, given the proximity to the front. And currently a number of divisions and logistics companies are suspected, including one that serves your aircraft. In fact some think even your pilots aren't above suspicion... Ideally a serial killer in the army is the most you have to worry about, and the Prußenmarkians and their allies don't suddenly become a massive threat like they were back when the scourge started.

(Sorry for the delays. This by the way is where things get REALLY !FUN! Also, Amélie was both stupidly unlucky and lucky, depending on your view given how many encounters with enemy aircraft she had and how many she won.)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KT0JJxoLsbcNFC7RqtsWKke9iTnLQ8blSCf_8dZ4jWw/edit?usp=sharing

Meanwhile, in TRACOM...

It was the first day of training for Major Estienne Girardot and a number of others, and he was quite excited. He and a number of others were finally out of basic and he was lucky enough for his request to join the air corps accepted. Even more exciting, he was informed a ace pilot would be the main instructor around the base giving lessons and the like. He expected someone in the news, like Adélaïde or Amélie who, at least from what he was told about them, were stunners, the former like an Amazonian and the other like a sweet angel. Though he fully expected given his luck it'd be Richart or some other guy he never heard of. Once the train ride was over and he got to the air field though, he was in for quite the surprise as he saw someone that was...not exactly expected. A redhead woman with a bunch of scars. Not exactly what he was hoping for, and he had no clue who this person even was, but swiftly she would speak.

"Alright, let's get this introduction done quickly. I'm Catherine Hauet. Now, this ain't boot camp so I don't give a flying fuck if you curse or fuck about so long as you don't break anything or cause problems. I'm fairly relaxed, and if you do good, you'll love me. But if you fuck up, do a shit job, or intentionally piss me off. Then I'll become the drill Sargent out of your worst nightmares! Got it?" Catherine was clearly blunt, and honestly didn't care. She just wanted results, and if they did well she'd reward them. Poorly, and well...She said it herself.

Quickly the man decided he'd have a bit of fun with this and asked. "Can we call you Cat?"

This swiftly got met with "Oh fuck off with that. I've had enough of that from a certain angel of my Escadron. And before you try, no I will not be answering any questions about her other than she has little nicknames for everyone that I hate, and there's something...weird with her in my opinion. I will ask any other questions though..."

As the ace made trainer answered questions Estienne was quite curios about this strange so called ace. She certainly didn't have the personality he expected, though that was probably why she wasn't in the papers everywhere...In the initial stages of training she would emphasize the importance of staying together in a flight and not leaving behind a fellow pilot, and recount her experiences when exactly that happened and how it was only thanks to her skill and luck that she survived a myriad of encounters, along with more general maneuvers and the like. A few days later during training however, Estienne made a grave mistake during landing as the last pilot in training flying for the day, and the aircraft turned hard to the left on the landing, causing the lower wing to crash into the ground and break the spars and bay of the entire right wing. Once he got out, Catherine swiftly ran out to where his aircraft crash landed on the air field and swiftly spoke to him again...

"Estienne Girardot. Do you realize what you have done? Do you recognize how badly and spectacularly you have fucked up?" She swiftly said with clear annoyance.

"Yeah, I screwed up the landing. But I'm fine, a-" is all he got out before being interrupted.

"You gave me a fuck ton of paperwork to do now is what you've done, along with destroy an expensive piece of army equipment. One that your entire family couldn't hope to afford within your life! How do you think your fellow pilots in an Escadron will feel about this kind of fuckup? How pissed do you think the ground crew would be at you? How pissed do you think the logistic's crew would be? Everyone except the Prußenmark pilots who followed your sorry ass would fucking hate you and for good reason if you crash landed like this in a real situation with no fucking damage, and those Prußenmarkians? They'd be fucking laughing their asses off. In fact, maybe they'd be so distracted with your pathetic display they'd fuck up themselves and crash. It'd be just about the only way to redeem your fuck up here. Any other flight instructor would throw you right into the trenches after that god awful performance. What do you have to say for yourself, Pilot?!" This was incredibly cathartic to her, it almost made up for the fact she needed to do a fuck ton of paperwork now. Though for poor Estienne she seemed absolutely furious.

"Sorry..." he said, surprisingly not too upset by Cat's rage only for his superior to continue

"Sorry? Sorry!? That's it? Sorry for what? Your incompetency? Your inability to use your legs to actually use the god damn rudder? Or maybe your brain for that matter? Maybe you are as dense as the lead we use for our bullets..." She'd go silent for a bit expecting a response, yet when none was given would continue. "Oh, so you've decided to take up a career as a mime. How fucking wonderful. I bet your superior will be real happy when you start trying to make an invisible box to hide in. Maybe you'll decide to make invisible ammo and fuel to keep on flying forever and solve all our logistical problems! In fact, maybe you can make an invisible plane to replace the one you fucking broke! I'm sure we all would appreciate that, now wouldn't we?"

The ridiculousness of the situation described got a smile out of Estienne, and then a chuckle, which was swiftly met with a retort from Cat.

"Oh, you think I'm funny, you think I'm a goddamn clown now? You want something else that'll make people laugh? You are going to move this entire aircraft off this god damn air field all by yourself and if there is so much as a single splinter left from that plane on this field I will have you clean every single room in the dorms with your bear hands until they are spotless and maybe you won't be kicked off into the trenches for your little accident." She'd smile and give a chuckle as Estienne came to regret what he did before she said "Not so funny anymore eh? You are dismissed! Get to work! You wouldn't want to miss anything in the dark when the sun sets, do you?"

After this, he was able to watch as Cat went to another pilot and overheard her tell them that they were doing great for a recruit, and while not as good as a Prußenmarkian foe, it was great for a new recruit, and how she'd get them some cigarettes, a cigar, a drink or just an expensive meal as a reward. And with this, Estienne was kicking himself...He damn well could use any of those things right about now given how shit the situation he was currently in was...If not all four.

>>5385102
(Also yes, I made the entire extra thing with TRACOM just because of your post and the song in it. Cat is damn well taking out her frustrations on the pilots who fuck up.)

Amélie really is an angel. She's the equal of Adélaïde in victories, or near-equal depending on whether you look at her stat sheet or the Aces part of the document. The Aces section says she has 15, same as Adélaïde, but squadron section says she has 14. Still, she has really worked a miracle, her stats may not be equal, but she has performed a first in history work of art, easily the most impressive feat so far. I'm honestly thinking of just putting her on permanent propoganda tour/training for the rest of the war, she's the perfect fit for it.

Hauet's little section was fun. She seems to be quite the motormouth, I wouldn't say she is eloquent but clearly spewing such bile without stumbling requires a skilled tongue.

The serial killer stuff is scaring me. Who could it be? Commandant Gaspard Botrel? Some relative of Bourdon, the engineer we stressed out to death? One of our pilots? A Prußenmarkian spy? I say we do something about it.

A shame about Alicia, I was thinking about telling her specifically to rest while the rest of her escadron went out specifically because I think I remember her being near 40 fatigue, I'm sort of thinking the same about Liliane. Neither of them are aces, but they are (or were in Alicia's case) very good pilots, I think maybe we ought take greater care to nourish and retain our budding pilots.

>>5385181
Lots of RP to play with. First things first, requisitions.

>Requisition 10 new Dupont 6 C's to form a new escadron named Noir. 70 RP

Was thinking of saving Noir for another bomber-type escadron to complement Blanc but decided against it.

>Requisition 3 replacement S.U.D Type R's for Blanc. 15 RP

That isn't a typo, Rs not Bs. I don't intend to do much bombing this turn and I don't want to sink the upgrade into them until we need to do some bombing, lest they just get shot down in a month we aren't using them for bombing.

>Requisition a single Dupont 6 C for Vert as a replacement aircraft. 7 RP

Now, orders...

>Take some time to investigate these murders. Are they close by, within walking or driving distance of our airbase? Did the murders follow us in proximity after we switched airbases and moved to Maasberge? Who among our own personnel have been leaving the base if any, who would have had the opportunity to do so secretly? Consult our S-2 (staff intelligence/security guy) or whoever is the equivalent in our force structure. Anything she/he can do to lockdown the base/nearby area or work with local authorities in nearby communes to investigate this?

>According to the intel this month the enemy has fallen back into better positions and it is suicidal to attack. That means our ground forces will be in the process of reducing the enemy positions via artillery fire and there will be minimal assaulting for this month probably, thus we should follow the directives given to us by our superiors. Bleu is to continue to rest up, but they will act as a reserve or pseudo-QRF to help Vert should they be in dire trouble. (We'll coordinate with the observation balloons themselves or nearby ground forces in order to receive such information since our planes can't yet carry radios with them) Vert is to specifically defend our observation balloons and at a modest tempo, I don't want them going to hard or going on offensive operations owing to both the commandant and Liliane being quite fatigued. Blanc is to conduct recon on the enemy positions to help our artillery reduce priority targets and distinguish fakes from real morsels. Minimal bombings, if the enemy is truly dug in then the defences will be too extensive for our early bombs to really reduce at the same pace as artillery, simply focus on assisting the ground forces reduce them via recon, only bomb easy targets of opportunity that have been observed extensively, don't go too deep. Rouge will escort Blanc and during hours where reconnaissance isn't viable (night,cloudy days, etc) they will instead run defensive air patrols/interception missions. Noir as the newly inducted escadron draws the short straw this month as I don't want the others going too hard on a quiet month before the push resumes and the artillery is doing most of the work. They will be targeting the enemy recon balloons at every chance, when none are spotted they will instead be running aggressive interceptions. Max tempo.

>>5385236
>>5385181
Actually, I forgot that we lose have of our unspent RP that we don't use, so I may as well spend all of it.

>If Noir doesn't come with 100% Supply then max them out on supply, otherwise...

>Buy 2 backup Dupont 6 Cs for Rouge and 1 for Vert. 21 RP
>Resupply Vert for 1 RP.

If Noir does actually need the RP for supply then supply them to max first and then try and do as close to the rest of the requisition orders as possible with the remaining RP, basically prioritizing buying backup planes with the remaining 22 RP that I didn't spend in the previous requisition order in the previous post.

>>5385194
Heehee

>>5385241
Agree with the gist of the requisition, except I would change
> 1 less Dupont 6C for Rouge
> Resupply Blanc instead of Vert, because 1 RP buys 10% resupply for Recce/Bomber of 20% resupply of Fighter.
> That leaves 8 RPs. With another squadron, we need more replacement, so spend those on better chow and said replacements.

>>5385236
Sounds like a good operation plan, but I would make the following adjustments:
> Rouge to the rear, they earned it. Also they have an average Fatigue of 24.2, and Vert 21.8
> Bleu to fly escort
> Vert for CAP
> Noir for balloon busting
> Transfer the Dupong 4P's to Blanc. They can fly one for Bomb Damage Assessment right after the last bomb hits.

Pilot Rotations
> Bring back Descombes
> Cat Hauet to remain with TRACOM
> Amelie Flandin for another PR tour
Hopefully we can bring back Vert in tact in the second phase; several of those pilots do need rest.

>>5385545
Actually, I change my mind

> Vert on leave
> Rouge on CAP

> Bring back Descombes and Hauet
> Adelaide Guilloux on PR tour
> Ermengardis Duverger to TRACOM

>>5385181
>should you remain focusing on the Prußenmarkian menace
We have options?

>>5385580
Yep, basically you can focus on the initial stages of the Lothring offensive or you can just focus on denying counter attacks and ideally continuing long lasting bombardment on the Prußenmarkians. This only really applies to offensive operations though. At least for now.

>>5385181
This probably doesn't need clarification, but just in case I want to make it clear that >>5385241 is in addition to >>5385236

>>5385545
I'm fine with only one Dupont 6 C for Rouge, but we shouldn't leave any unspent RP if we can because according to QM in an earlier thread we lose half our unspent RP each turn, so we can't stockpile RP but we can stockpile pilots and aircraft and preemptively resupply to max supply.

I'm fine with resupplying Blanc instead of Vert.

If we are left with 8 RPs then again, we should spent it.

>Spent 7 of the 8 remaining RPs on another Dupont 6 C as a backup for Noir.
>Spend the last RP resupplying Rouge
>Just so it is explicit, I agreed with the other anon to switch Vert's resupply to resupplying Blanc

We are getting a lot of RP after agreeing to wage war of Lothring, we should have enough RP left over next turn to afford morale-boosting goods since I doubt we'll take enough casualties to need to spent our now massive budget on replacing new aircraft.

>I agree to use >>5385545 and >>5385553 changes to my plan though we are still using my plan as the basis for all this it seems.

Didn't notice Bleu was mostly recovered on fatigue except for Descombes and a couple of the relatively skilled majors. I kinda wanted to give Descombes a further chance to rest given we apparently ran him ragged, but you are right that Rouge and Vert are a higher priority in terms of giving people leave, we'll need them for the big push in a month.

The only thing that I think may be worth discussing is putting Adélaïde and Amélie to TRACOM instead of propaganda tour. Simply put, unless we take massive casualties this quiet month or we intend to create yet another escadron next month (Not a bad idea actually) then I don't think we will need the RP we gain from propaganda tours next month.

>>5385580
I think our commander means if we choose to focus on Lothring instead of the Not!Germans. I don't know how the fuck he thinks we have that option given that Prußenmark is blocking our advance into Lothring since they hold Hareleinde and Tilhof and are in our way.

Unless our aircraft have vastly more range then I thought they did? Perhaps we have the option of transferring to other fronts in the war or something and it just slipped our notice? I dunno. I think we are in the main spotlight right now and this is right where we belong, I'm not eager to face Lothring's super-planes anytime soon either.

>>5385615
Ah, that may changes things...or not. Having another look at the map, I was kinda being dumb and still thinking in the mode where the blue line meant neutral territory, despite knowing we'd soon declare war on them.

It was a whole weird cognitive dissonance thing where I thought of Lothring as hostile already (in my head), yet looked on the map and saw they weren't because we haven't yet declared war. That and I kinda thought invading through the narrow front on the neutral border would suck but that maybe we should focus on Lothring so as not to be flanked by the slight...I guess you'd call it a salient...it'd leave in our line.

Plus I was distracted by thoughts of "okay, we can focus on Lothring after we take Hareleinde and Tilhof and reach the river so we have a river to anchor our defence. That's the smart thing to do before declaring a new war front, right? I don't want to leave a goal unfulfilled, once I get an idea in my head I wanna finish it."

Alas, high command and the politicians have a mind of their own and their whims dictate our will and their ideas may not mesh with ours.

Do we know when the offensive into Lothring is actually planned for? This month, the next month, the month after that?

>>5385580
What do you think, should we form a alternate plan to support the offensive into Lothring this turn or leave it to next turn? I kinda want to stick with the plan I already made given we both already spent time making it and discussing alterations to it. On one hand there may very well be more glory in conquering Lothring then slogging it out with no gains for months on end on our current front, but I'd like to stick to familiar enemies and use the slow front as a chance to rest our tired pilots. Perhaps we can switch fronts part way through, though that may be disruptive.

>>5385648
The offensive is planned for this month. The plan is simply to strike fast while Lothring is unprepared and rush across the river and get a food hold before a response can be mustered by Prußenmark so as to make any of their defenses along the riverline moot given how miserable they are to attack across. Additionally it's hoped to draw further Prußenmark forces away from the last bit of the current spring offensive and make the taking of the west side of the river easier. But yes, technically Lothring is still neutral. But in a day or two they will unwillingly not be anymore.

File: Lothring Offensive Direction.png (76 KB, 789x796)

76 KB PNG

>>5385675
"Sigh" I wish I knew that earlier. I'll make up an alternate plan to discuss with the other anon and any others that revolves around pushing into Lothring. My vote is still for the other plan, this is just a preliminary alternate plan for discussion purposes.

>Same Requisition as the other plan with the alterations made by the other anon except we'll cut out my additions to his additions and instead spend the last 8 RP on getting morale-raising goods like good food and stuff and upgrading the newly purchase S.U.Ds into type Bs.

>We'll attack near the bend in the river to the west of Hareleinde into Lothring with the mixed aim of locating Lothring's local airbases and bombing their aircraft while they are still on the ground, the rest of our efforts will be assisting the ground forces by running interceptions, reconing enemy positions, bombing the enemy we've reconed, etc. The end goal will be to push to the sea, around the little curved bay area to the south-west of Hilvermeer to cut off the rest of the front west of the river from Lothring and eventually to take Hilvermeer itself. Pic related. Bleu will escort Blanc as they conduct deep recon together looking to find enemy airbases and then later important ground positions. They will later bomb said positions, though Vert, Rouge, and Noir will actually accompany the two other escadrons on the bombing mission against any airfields (If we discover any, if not then disregard this part) since knocking the Lothring airforce out of the war early is a priority. Vert and Rouge will be running offensive air patrols/interceptions since they are our best pilots and the #1 priority of the air force is air supremacy. Noir will get lucky this time around and run more defensive air patrols to protect the offensive into Lothring from enemy air forces, they are also to screen our eastern flank to protect against Prußenmarkian interference since we are attacking close to Hareleinde. At the beginning of the offensive, before any Lothring air forces know we are hostile, all escadrons will briefly be doing recon even those know aren't assigned to it for the rest of the month, this is to take advantage of the fact that it is not known we are hostile, we'll just pretend to be lost, having wandered over into their airspace from the Hareleinde offensive. Though of course we'll just signal we are lost and not obey commanders to turn around or land. The moment they shoot at us, we shoot back and the pretending stops and normal orders resume. We'll go at max tempo for all escadrons, since we need to take advantage of our surprise attack.

>Same PR tour/TRACOM stuff as previously, though this is still in discussion maybe.

>>5385719
Not to obey commands to turn around or land*

>>5385719
Oh, and the plan to investigate the murders is still the same too.

>>5385633
I am fine with another 6C, but spending the last RP on resupplying Rouge only makes sense if they were at 80% supply, not 90%.By the way, it is only a matter of time before Preussenmark gets a better plane, so we will see another period of attrition.

>>5385648
The Lothring offensive seems fun, if a bit much to ask of a new squadron (Noir). If so, we need all squadrons at the front and bomb racks on all SUDs; truly a maximum effort. Maybe Bleu and Noir for escort, and Rouge and Vert to strafe airfields.

Mind you, this is just a contingency idea.

Actually, here is an idea -- can we use our family's political pull to get another squadron to reinforce us for the Lothring operation? If so, then I am in favor of doing that. If not, then I will defer to Air Exec anon.

>>5385738
I'm just spending it since I assume we lose it otherwise.

Eh, we are sending them into the deep end with either plan. With my other one they are running offence at max tempo too, presumably the enemy will be protecting their own balloons with patrols. They'll suffer badly, but hopefully it'll be a good learning experience for those who survive. Though maybe they'll just end up permanently depressed like Bleu and terminally inferior to the women in this war like the rest of our escadre.

I do agree that it might be wise to pair them with another escadron though to give them an easier time.

I did do the upgrades for the SUDs in the alternate plan, and the escadrons are all on the Lothring front, though perhaps when I said vert and rouge are doing air patrols it wasn't clear it was in Lothring. Unless you just mean they should all go together for maximum effectiveness in the bombing.

I agree, this is just a side idea. Maybe we can do it next month instead of this month. We won't have the advantage of surprise but I imagine that Gallonia would still steamroll Lothring anyways, hopefully.

What do you think about sending Adélaïde and Amélie to TRACOM instead of propaganda tour as mentioned here >>5385633 for the original plan?

>>5385675
>>5385749
Yeah, if we could get the cooperation of the other two escadres in our area or whoever is devoted to supporting the Lothring offensive, then this idea becomes a lot more plausible and potentially worth losing out on the rest we'd afford our tired pilots in the other plan.

>>5385749
At least one of the four Escadre (including you) in the north west front will support the Lothring invasion.

>>5385756
Sorry, I missed
>>5385719

That plan looks good, and is pretty similar to mine except more fleshed out. If the Lothring operation is this turn, then go all in. Cancel all leave, and have G-2 collect intelligence on Lothring, especially the airfields, instead of playing detective. Mission planning is crucial here.

If we are not going into Lothring, then I am fine with TRACOM instead of PR, provided the pilots come from the reserve squadron.

>>5385769
What will the other Escadre be tasked with? Air superiority? Recce? Bombing? I want to avoid duplication of effort.

Actually, I wonder if Pretany is onboard with the Lothring invasion. Historically, Britain viewed control of the Low Countries by any of the Great Powers as a mortal threat, and entered the War against Germany partly for that reason. This could end up like Suez 1956: a military success, but a diplomatic fiasco that ends in a humiliating withdraw.

>>5386027
I wish we thought of that before we agreed to assist Lavigne. I could say all sorts of stuff that we might say if we were in charge of Gallonia to appease Pretany, that it is just temporary, that we are just doing it to ease the course of the war with Prußenmark and make them surrender more quickly without access to vital goods, etc, etc. Sadly, we are not a politician or leader of our country despite being from a political family, so what is said and done is really out of our hands.

Really, now we're just waiting on QM's response to your question before the final decision is made.

>>5386000
Depends on the Escadre. 6e "Chevaliers" is similar to your own and likely would be mixed. 4e "Corsaire" is basically purely fighter focused, so limited scouting with notebooks marking off what was seen at what position along with offensive and defensive patrols. 15e "Marins du ciel" is slightly more recon and bombing focused, with a 40-60 sort of set up. Do note though due to the nature of the front you can also divide your forces a bit and have some focus on Lothring and others on Prußenmark. It's still part of the North Western Front.

Sorry for the delay in response btw. Was busy with other things.

>>5386118
Also if it wasn't clear, which ones get involved depends on your involvement. If you put everything against Lothring for example, you'd mainly have 15e helping out with recon and bombing. Meanwhile if you sent just one or two of the S.U.D escadron's you'd have 4e providing escort and protection patrols. So don't worry too much about who will help the front. Only thing to really worry about in the case of escort is you have no clue the EXP of 4e in this example.

>>5386073
Yes, I thought it would be Salonika, which was a very debatable use of resources akin to the WW2 Italian Campaign, but at least they both ended in victory.

>>5386118
Bombers of 15e? Sounds good for plastering airfields and supporting a rapid advance. We might have to detach a fighter squadron to support them, maybe the noobs of Noir.

Alright, I'm making the call. I think we worked out most things we need to. Lets go with the Lothring invasion plan, it is simply too big an opportunity to pass up. We may very well suffer a death spiral of fatigue later on for not taking the more conservative plan or not guarding our flank super well but I'm going to use the recommended changes to my plan.

>The operational plan is basically >>5385719 with changes from >>5386000 we are cancelling all leave and instead of having our G-2 investigate the murders we are having him/her collect intel on Lothring, especially the airfields. We'll do the investigation next turn or something. The only other changes are that we are to coordinate with 15e so that if we happen to attack the same targets then Bleu and Blanc should meet up with them so Bleu can help escort their bombers with whatever escorts they have as well in order to have greater protection. The same applies to the the period when Vert, Rouge, and Noir are also escorting the bombers. Make sure 15e is also on the same page about our deception aspect with pretending to be lost aircraft that wandered from the Hareleinde North-Western front.

Sorry about the late reply, I saw your replies last night but I really had to sleep. There may be some last minute changes to discuss but I think we are basically decided on a final plan.

>>5386684
Concur. Make or break time.

>>5386684
> No prob about the late reply, this is just a game. . .

Alright. Everything seems to be in order. I'll work on the turn after I make myself food and eat it. Only thing that might need clarification is the orders for aces propaganda and TRACOM tours. But I'll reread everything to try and be sure before I start using the program.

>>5387044
>> 5386684
>we are cancelling all leave
Not sure about the other anon, but I meant cancelling all propaganda and TRACOM tours.

Rolled 2 (1d6)

Working on the turn now, First though, A fun roll out in the open. Also, one of you roll a D100 for the investigation.

1. Normal M
2. Normal F
3. GFL M
4. GFL F
5. Col M
6. Col F

>>5387200
Boo. Was hoping for one of the more fun options...

Also I realize technically the Noir price is wrong, given how creating a new Escadron works, but I'll let it slide since I kinda nudged you in that direction.

Rolled 54 (1d100)

>>5387044
Ah, sorry, I meant this >>5387082

>>5387200
I think we cancelled the investigation into the murders until next turn because we needed the G-2 to focus on his intelligence work in finding the enemy airfields and mapping out their positions since this offensive is so important. Was looking forward to it but unless the G-2 can do both consequence free or a spare S-2 is just hanging around for some reason I think we have to prioritize one over the other.

Guessing the roll is to determine the murderer? As fun as it would be, I'm sure glad we didn't roll a colonel or whatever a GFL is as the murderer.

>>5387215
Yeah, MP and similar are responsible for the investigation at the moment.

Also the roll wasn't for the Murderer, that was decided since before the first double homicide. It was for the type the New Escadron would be, Normal means a normal Escadron, GFL means Gallonian Foreign Legion, so they'd be volunteers from other countries, and Col means Colonial.

>>5387221
Ah, too bad then, would be interesting to have some foreigners in our midst. Still, at least we got a female escadron, that bodes better for their luck seeing as how the men just can't seem to match up to their fairer counterparts, bad luck perhaps.

>>5387295
Yeah, Bleu's luck seems to be either perfect or god awful. And Blanc, well. They have Recon aircraft. Kinda hard to dogfight in those things. Anyway, done doing rolls and such. Just gotta type out the turn results now.

Also I hope you like the murder thing. It was a part of my event list and was one of the more unlikely things to happen.

>>5387301
We'll have to see the results of the investigation before I form my final opinion, but I really like the spooky paranoid vibes it gives me. Nice to have a little side-story that brings worries of it one day affecting us. Breaks up the usual stuff of forming plans and just worrying about our pilots, or getting enough RP, or shaking our fists at the enemy aces in a pleasantly different sort of way.

>>5387206
How was that supposed to work?

>>5387221
So is 15e Colonial given their "Marins du Ciel" moniker? The old Colonial units are now called Troupes de Marine. I assumed they were more like the WW1-era RNAS squadrons that were detached for land-based duty in France.

File: Western Front.png (59 KB, 789x796)

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Today was one of the key moments in the war. The plan that you agreed to would be commenced now. A part of you wondered if all that was given to the Air Corps and your own Ecadre was worth dragging another nation into the war. Then again, even if you said no and spoke out against this, would this really be avoided? It was up to the politicians to declare war, not the generals. Maybe another month or two would go by before war was declared, maybe Pretany would solve the issue and ease tensions before that, or force your government to accept that it was a bad idea...But all of this was what could have been And thus, your orders were signed and sent off.

Initially, the scouting over Lothring before the proper invasion would be swift and easy. A few CN-III's would fly up and come over to your aircraft, simply following them, a single pilot occasionally flying down and pointing back towards the front lines or back home, but they wouldn't shoot, just trail. Their airbases in the area were fairly easy to find, though the ones nearby the front lines seemed to only have CN-III's, a Confederate companies design that was sold to some of the neutral nations as an interceptor aircraft. You knew they had a fast climb rate and limited range, but that was about it. When the time came to attack, with war declared, the fighting came quickly.

The aircraft with orange diamond shaped roundels, occasionally with a red tulip inside, swiftly rose to fly and fight against the aircraft of Gallonia. They only seemed to have CN-III's and this new foe would swiftly find its capabilities proven to Gallonia's airforce, Pretany completely uninvolved for the time being not having been informed of this little plan. These CN-III's were fast, very fast and surprisingly agile, yet hampered by their range. A true interceptor. And while it's pilots weren't given the same training as, say, Prußenmark. They certainly were at least equal in skill. And yet, despite that, they caused a lot of problems. Relying on their speed and maneuverability, unlike Prußenmark aircraft, they targeted the S.U.D's first, and then either dove for the deck and used their superior speed to disengage, returned to altitude to keep booming and zooming, or simply utilized the maneuverability of the craft to switch targets and keep moving. These aircraft would be responsible for most of the damage done to Blanc, managing to breach through the defending escort and get away. Though, this didn't always work, as a number of pilots would prove, with Oudinet showing as he downed the first CN-III of the war. Yet, it was clear these things were annoying targets, as many times they would take bad damage such as a shot off elevator and simply use their speed to escape. Once or twice they went faster than they should, and the aircraft ripped a damaged and weakened wing apart from the speed, but most of the time they managed to get out and land somewhere in the lowlands. Something the slower Bergen's were incapable of.

In this fighting, Blanc would be devastated quite a bit by these tactics, however in turn a number of enemy airbases would be bombed, with hanger and control towers bombed badly. At least a few aircraft were reported to be destroyed on the ground, but most CN-III's seemed to be in the air when Blanc reached their targets. Still, most air bases near the front line and a bit past it were destroyed and the enemies ability to maintain their short range interceptors is certainly hampered at the moment. However, the heartlands of Lothring that are more densely populated to the north east likely still have a number of intact airfields. And intelligence reports Lothring has rapidly started arming previously civilian aviation.

That isn't to say that Lothring was the only ones for our Escadron's to face, as Prußenmark was still active, and with Lothring now in the war on their side, some aircraft of theirs got involved, including Unteroffizier Konrad “Maat” Wanners. A flight of his responsible for the destruction of a number of Blanc's SUD's. The anchor on his aircraft that signified his origins not in the army but at sea clearly showing who was responsible. Yet this skilled enemy pilot would be put down once and for all by someone unexpected. Liliane Charbonnier. Adélaïde's favorite pilot in her Escadron. In a long duel, Liliane managed to, after some time and a fair bit of damage from both her foe and a separate Bergen, sent a number of rounds into Konrad's chest. Somewhat fittingly, his aircraft crashed into the river. Shortly after this, Liliane downed the other offending Bergen while Adélaïde finished off the remaining craft of the flight. And upon their return, Adélaïde was quite proud of her apprentice. Other than this, a few CN-III's were downed, approximately six confirmed Air to Air kills of the annoying things, two by l'as herself, one by Amelie and Catherine, and one by Ermengardis alongside the aforementioned Oudinet. It is also believed a further five to ten were destroyed on the ground, but this is less solid. Meanwhile, the newly formed Noir Escadron preformed their job decently, mainly fighting against Bergens, with the first victory of the Escadron's history being by Isolda Haillet downing a Bergen.

Still, while the losses taken are unfortunate, the gains made are major. The unprepared defenders easily overrun with support from the air and the support of 15e Escandre "Marins du ciel". However, the effectiveness of the CN-III as an interceptor cannot be understated, and the first Lothring ace of the war already has been made. Even so, a pocket was made and Gallonian soldiers aren't far from taking Hilvermeer. However, the defenders are surprisingly resilient, and seem to be refusing to surrender despite being surrounded. Pretany meanwhile, is none too pleased with our recent actions. And has sent a single demand to our government. When the peace talks come, other than the colonies, all Lothring land on the continent will remain as theirs. It won't go to Daloyaume nor Gallonia, and it won't be made a puppet of any nation. Prußenmark also has naturally used this as an opportunity to push their own propaganda. Another response from all of this was simply that, as a result of our recent actions, Sveiterland will now shoot down any and all military aircraft from any nation not of it's own military, and that said aircraft will be targeted by both it's own airforce and anti aircraft guns on the ground, just in case. This was announced in a statement, and a number of other neutral countries have followed suit. One thing is clear from all this though. While this is so far a strategic victory, Pretany is none too pleased with us, especially their general population. And Lothring is determined to protect their homeland just like Daloyaume. The only difference is that they have a historical claim to Daloyaume and plenty of colonies in south east Asu. Colonies that boarder Pretan ones that have little in the way of defenses due to forced being moved elsewhere given there was no enemy presence remaining there...

To be fair, we never liked Pretany anyway. The only reason we are working together is because of Prußenmark after all...At least given the quagmire that is this war Pretany will be forced to see it to the end whether or not they like the methods we use to ensure our victory.

Other than all of this, investigation on the murders has shown that there are plenty of suspects, yet there is a pattern to them. Obviously, all of those killed have had their eyes gouged out and buttons sowed in their place. Further examination shows every murder seems to be a strike to the eyes that leads to the brain, suggesting potentially a screwdriver or some other long and thin piercing object. A knife was considered, but ruled out as the eye sockets don't have any cuts outside puncture wounds likely inflicted post mortem to sow the new 'eyes' on. As for their location, the first few were within a few miles of the Airbase that Vert and Rouge were deployed at and close to the front line. They stopped for about a month as the front moved up and intense fighting occured along with the Escadrons being redeployed. It is entirely possible in the push forward more murders were potentially committed and the bodies simply not found. However, the most recent murder is around as close to the front as the last, and again is close to Vert and Rouge's airbases. All of this means that the soldiers held in reserve for any number of Gallonian and Pretan divisions, and even one from Daloyaume, could be responsible. As could someone simply following the front in the hopes to get away with their murders. The Pilots, maintenance staff, and logistics personnel of Vert and Rouge are also possible suspects. As for tabs on what personnel have left the base and returned, a number for various reasons throughout the days. Yet there aren't solid tabs on this. There are some staff and pilots it would be impossible for it to be among Vert and Rouge however, such as Catherine Hauet, who at the time of the most recent in the serial killings was in TRACOM or the newly initiated pilots, meaning if the killer is in fact a pilot, they are an older one who has survived at least a few months in the service of the various Escadrons. In short the investigation has found the following.

1. The culprit is either a soldier or other member of the army, or a civilian following the armys advance.
2. There are 6 divisions currently that the culprit might be from if from the army.
3. There are 2 Esacdrons under your command who's pilots and/or maintnence and logistics staff could be responsible.
4. The first murder was on February 28th and the second March 6th. The latest murder happened on the 29th of April.
5. The murders are always of a Daloyaume woman and a male soldier. The women seem to always be prostitues, mistresses or lovers of the soldier.

We likely will find out more when they strike again.

(Hope you enjoyed the turn. Things are getting interesting. Also, the Martins du Ciel is actually colonial. But Colonial just means the pilots are from the colonies. Not that they are part of the navy)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KT0JJxoLsbcNFC7RqtsWKke9iTnLQ8blSCf_8dZ4jWw/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks for the writeup, QM.

So do we remain on the Lothring front, or transfer back down south? I think 6e Escadre can take the Lothring operation from here? If Hilvermeer is within artillery range, only recon is necessary,

Either way, I suggeest the following:
> Transfer the 2x Dupont 4Ps to Blanc to try to make good some of the losses.
> Attempt a Circus mission with Blanc as bait and have all Fighter Escadrons jump on the unwitting attackers. This could be devastating against Lothring.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_offensive
> Reduce the optempo to medium

Pilots
Some of our pilots are really stressed now.
> Lilianne Charbonnier on PR tour
> Descombes to TRACOM. I am a little reluctant about this -- he is a good stick-and-rudder guy, but I have long been skeptical of his leadership.
> Can non-aces be sent to TRACOM? If so, send Francoys Wathelet and Sarra Anouilh.
I am tempted to send Guilloux on PR tour, but Vert does not have a deep roster with Maret and Charbonnier out.

Speaking of Maret, it is pretty unusual to have two wounded pilots in a turn. And Maret is now at 43 Fatigue. Must have been a heck of a fight.

Also, I wonder if 15e includes some crews transferred from the Bat d'Af, haha.

>>5387338
>Pretany will be forced to see it to the end whether or not they like the methods we use to ensure our victory.
Well, Pretan banks are orchestrating the billion dollar loans from Confederate banks, so we may find ourselves to be the third wheel sooner rather than later.

>>5387338
>Colonies that boarder Pretan ones that have little in the way of defenses due to forced being moved elsewhere given there was no enemy presence remaining there...
Actually, I wonder if the not-Japanese will snatch some of these colonies, moving up the timetable of the Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. . .

omg, was friggin' Konrad Wanners Liliane's 5th kill to make ace? Wow.

I have to say that the murderer is probably has to be one of our pilots, probably one we've talked to or has been talked about by one of our pilots, that is just how storytelling works. We'll probably be able to suss it out by doing some archive diving and some date comparisons or something.

Don't have time to go over the googledoc and plans, have to sleep, will catch up later today.

I have to say that the murderer is probably has to be one of our pilots, probably one we've talked to or has been talked about by one of our pilots, that is just how storytelling works. We'll probably be able to suss it out by doing some archive diving and some date comparisons or something.

>>5387355
>So do we remain on the Lothring front, or transfer back down south?

Technically remaining on the North Western front means you'll be dealing with Lothring planes occasionally. Depending on where you are flying anyway. Obviously if you are flying in the northern most area's you'll run mainly into Lothring aircraft, and the south Prußenmark aircraft. It also depends on the range available. So, right now for example, there will be Prußenmarkians in Lothring Airspace far more often than Lothrings in Prußenmark due to the range.

>>5387373

Yep, Liliane managed to get the 5th best Prußenmark ace. A bit of a shame too IMO. I kinda liked him. If you couldn't tell from his nickname and the anchor, he was ex navy. Also, you might have noticed by now that the Prußenmark's aircraft have gone for the "Let the pilots paint their aircraft" method.

Also, if you think one of your pilots is the murderer, I'm curios which one. I won't give hints, but with the information available you can narrow down a few prime suspects. Provided of course, a Pilot is actually the murderer.

>>5387355
Huh, I was just thinking of doing a circus offensive but against the Not!Germans since I was thinking of doing it this turn back when the only plan written up was the slow plan for wearing down the Hareleinde defences. I was gonna say something about specifically targeting Aces if at all possible. Guess we thought sort of alike.

I concur with the recommendations made by you.

>>5387413
I'll do some archive diving later either today or in the next couple of days to try and figure out who I think the best suspects are, for now I'll just focus on the campaign.

~*~Musings and thoughts~*~
A relative of Alicia Sardou just joined Noir, there's probably a story there. Speaking of Alicia, I'm mildly saddened by her loss, aside from her nearly being an ace and having good potential, she was with us from the very start, same with a few of our pilots in Vert and Rouge especially. Lucie Maret, Liliane, Aude Gaume, Haydée Marchal, Hauet. We've also had Descombes Wathelet a while now, or at least it feels like it, probably not that long. Actually, we've had a Wathelet before too. Probably some others I didn't notice.

I think we ought to continue fighting in Lothring despite the deadly planes, we are the best escadre and the best should go where the best opportunities are, this area is seeing some progress, whereas the siege of Hareleinde is static for the moment. Though, perhaps after we cut off a couple of cities and make some progress we ought to focus elsewhere, for the sake of retaining our pilots and giving them some leave if nothing else.

More thoughts later. I'll also come up with a preliminary operations plan later today for discussion.

File: Lothring Offensive phase 2.png (64 KB, 789x796)

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>>5387340
Whoops, got distracted by other things. This plan may be less detailed this time as I'll be busier IRL until the start of next month.

We'll be following >>5387355 basically.

>Transfer our 2 Dupont 4 P's to Blanc to fill out their inventory, maybe they can use them as scouts or something.

>We'll coordinate with 15e since we don't have enough bombers currently to force the Lothring Air Corps to focus on us with just our meagre reduced escadron's worth of bombers. We'll perform 2 large circus offensives in cooperation with 15e in order to crush the Lothring Air Corps in battle, one will push north to finish cutting off Hilvermeer from the rest of Lothring by land, the second will take place afterwards pushing east behind the defensive lines of Hareleinde to both give us more depth on the east side of the river and to threaten the Prußenmark supply lines and dislocate their defence of Hareleinde. They'll be forced to defend Hareleinde from multiple directions without time to dig in to face the new direction of attack hopefully. While the main objective for both attacks is primarily to use our bombers as bait for the enemy in order to destroy their air force, our bombers will not be merely bait, they will of course be reconnoitring targets in support of our ground forces and subsequently bombing them as will 15e's bombers - assuming we get them to help us - enabling the aforementioned trapping of Hilvermeer and dislocation of Hareleinde. These operations will utilize our entire escadre plus 15e all at once. Tempo will be moderate for the entire escadre.

Was gonna write another phase of missions* should the circus offensives achieve our goals quickly, but then thought better of it and decided to leave it until next turn. Better to leave the time in the turn devoted to these operations rather than charting out extra paths for the off chance we achieve our goals so quickly that we have unallocated time to use for alternative missions.

If we technically achieve our goals but still have time left in the turn then just have Blanc cease operations so they aren't decimated going on unneeded missions supporting the army/or suffering fatigue, we'll just use 15e for the remainder of the turn as the bait. Just keep pushing in the designated directions

*I mean that if we achieved the aforementioned goals or stuff in the related pic before the turn ended. I was gonna focus back on the Hareleinde area where we were before and do some micromanaging of assigning each individual escadron to specific tasks like before.

> Lilianne Charbonnier on PR tour
> Descombes to TRACOM.
>Francoys Wathelet and Sarra Anouilh to TRACOM if possible

Sorry I didn't really add much of anything that wasn't already in >>5387355 I am a bit distracted right now.

>>5388149
This is good, and hey, this is the work week.

It would really be something if Lucie Maret or Aude Gaume were the murderer. Or even Adelaide? Here's a question: do we really want to solve the murder? Or is it better to keep a really good pilot fighting?

>>5388185
I was wondering when the predictions would start to be made... Happy to see them.

I'll work on the turn likely around this time, or a bit before, tomorrow. Provided everything is in voted for and in order. Also I really am enjoying where we are right now. I find it quite interesting. Especially knowing some of the events that'll happen soon, given I rolled them for the next two months of the game.

>>5388149
Only aces can go to TRACOM or on PR tours. I might add a reserve system for pilots though, so you can rotate active pilots from non actives, if people want it. Though I'd probably limit it to 5 reserves per Escadron and maybe make it that losses from the turn are replaced by these reserves rather than the full pilot pool. IE the pilot pool replaces losses at the end of the turn, but while working through it, any losses are replenished by those in reserves going to the active portion of the Escadron. But I'm not sure if I should do that or just have a general pool of pilots in reserve.

>>5388216
Or maybe allow Capitaines and Commandants to spend a tour on Wing Staff? As for reserves. how about overstaffing of squadrons, with pilot Fatigue to be managed by squadron Commandants?

>>5388185
I was thinking we could brush it under the rug assuming the culprit was willing to live with the knowledge that we knew what they did without trying to panic-murder us, if it was a really skilled ace. It'd be bad for the public morale for that sort of news to come out. This would depend on them only keeping to their current MO, probably we'd demand that they stop any further killings to avoid the chance of them getting caught, we wouldn't allow them to continue if they changed who they were killing to anyone important or if they had previously murdered anyone of note.

Haven't had the time to archive dive, so I'll avoid speculating on who it is just yet.

>>5388216
Yes, I would like a reserve system to preserve the morale and fatigue of up and comers, those who have a high XP or are near making ace. It is more management but it gives more depth to our pilot pool system and makes having a bigger or smaller pool or pilots that are requisitioned have more impact.

Alright, in a few hours I'll start working on the turn. Though just before then I'd like to know what reserve system you want. General pool or a pool for each Escadron.

>>5389162
How would the general pool work? We can just use any pilot from the general pool and switch them out with an active pilot? Or would the reserves also be limited to 5 or 20 for the whole escadre just without the limit of each escadron having only 5 slots to choose who to switch out from with?

I think the escadron reserve system sounds vaguely more realistic and balanced but I imagine the general pool reserve system is more powerful. Both seem adequate for our needs though, since any reserve system is better than none. That way we can preserve talented pilots who are getting fatigued or are low on morale and are close to making Ace, otherwise we are forced to send them out turn after turn until they either make Ace or die, or we put the entire escadron on leave or rest, which is obviously an extreme measure when we just want to retain some talented pilots.

I guess I'd want a general reserve system because of its presumed utility, but that depends on the details of it. It is your choice though, I'm fine with either if you feel the general system is too strong.

>>5389187
General pool means you basically could put every pilot in a 'pool' that's just made of reserves, and all new pilots would go into that pool, only separated by the pilots sex. Anyway I'm personally more in favor of the 5 reserve system as well, and I'll probably get that up and running by the time the turn is done. I'll start working on it soon though.

So uh, doing the turn and all that. Had a delay sadly but I'm almost done with the crunch now and...Well...All I'll say is Jesus Christ murphy, calm the hell down.

Anon that pushed for suicide-mission to get technological secret out of Bergen.
Alright bros, I caught back the thread. Time for me to push for a way to get one of those neat CN-III for our own plan to get upgrades for an interceptor.

>>5389470
Oh hey, nice to see you back. Uh, you might need to wait on doing that again though given...things...You'll see in an hour or two.

>>5389235
I'm fine with either like I said, if you prefer the 5 reserve system then lets just go with that.

I assume everything that could go wrong went wrong given you mentioned Murphy. Guess we pushed it too far.

>>5389470
Welcome back.

plz, nothing too crazy right now, we are pushing high fatigue right now and couple of our pilots are wounded and I want to nurse our up and coming high skill pilots that haven't made ace.

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It had taken a fair bit of time to set up the new Jagdgeschwader XIV "Eidgenossen" out of a variety of volunteers from Abmeryk, however they were eager to prove their worth and fight for what they thought was right. While the number of sign ups was slim initially, it was enough for a few units to be formed, and the recent invasion of Lothring by Gallonia certainly aided the number of volunteers. Still, Hauptmann Franz Von Küngßhain was proud of the Abmeryk pilots under him. They had been deployed to Lothring to defend the countries air space and aid their small yet highly effective air force. From the reports they had, they arrived just in time for some major action and to help get some of the pressure off of the Lothring pilots who were mauling the Gallonian recon and bomber aircraft. Yet they had some trouble with the actual fighters. And while losses weren't too high in the air, bombing of their air bases and ops losses were the real thing that was causing problems for them, something exacerbated by the continued attacks by Gallonia. Yet all these thoughts were dropped when an alarm was raised and the pilots were ordered to scramble. The navy blue aircraft with red rudders and white stars next to the cross on the body of the aircraft telling just what Jagdgeschwader they were from. And thus, they took to the sky. There were plenty of SUD's and Duponts to shoot down...

The battle was unique in that by the time they engaged, a number of CN-III's were already fighting, and this proved to be quite useful in preventing the enemy from escaping for a short time. While a good few of the SUD's were already damaged, going down, or crashed, there were still plenty of escorts. Far more than there really should. Regardless of this, a Pilot by the name of Reginald was confident. He had dealt with this before. And it seemed those CN-III's were so annoying to the Gallonians they were trying to compensate by having a disproportionate number of escorts to actual SUD's. Maybe it was to force conflict, maybe it was to try and ward off Lothring pilots through the weight of numbers. But to Reginald it didn't matter in the end. It just meant more targets. And, seeing a good opportunity, he fired a burst at an aircraft that was targeting a CN-III which was diving away. The shots hit the pilot and the engine. Meat or metal was the saying after all...The aircraft didn't take long to start going down, and Reginald noticed that the pilot was clearly still alive. Unfortunately for them, their landing on uneven muddy ground did not end well.

Five hours later, Reginald walked around in the woods, looking for the sight of their fifth victory. They recognized where the aircraft went down, and it was safely behind their lines. Besides, he wanted a trophy from the craft, aiming to maybe use the metal cowling to send to a smith to make into a proper trophy as some had done, or maybe just taking a mostly intact piece of the plane to mount on a wall in the future. He got close, and noticed that the pilot was still in the cockpit, slumped over. Clearly, they had died from the impact, but there were a few traits he could clearly see, such as the fact that the pilot in question was a woman. Fairly short, even by Air Corps standards, and with hazel hair. He checked what her name was, as clearly she'd have some sort of identification on her, and once he found her rank and name he'd soon realize just whom he managed to down. Just some commandant...No one important anyway. If only it had been that Adélaïde or Amélie. Then he'd really have someone to write home about. Still, he certainly confirmed his fifth victory at least...

He was in for a bit of a surprise when he was informed they were a bit more important than he originally thought. Though, not long after, another air raid alarm went off...Those Gallonians didn't know when to quit did they?

The reports you get back from the front are...mixed. On one hand, the support given to the men on the ground is vital, and keeps them moving forward and applying further pressure on Lothring and Prußenmark. However it comes at an extreme cost...Sixteen pilots were killed or missing in action after the intense fighting. While the use of the SUD's as an attempt to bait Lothring aircraft into attacking and being easy targets, their doctrine simply meant they'd strike the SUD's and then run, or utilize superior rate of climb and altitude to harass Gallonian Duponts until the CN-III's returned to base due to a lack of fuel, the Dupont's left, or one of the two aircraft was shot down in one way or another. Worse is the loss of Aude, who was killed in action by a volunteer of all people...Needless to say it's all very frustrating. But all of this is quietly ignored by the army, even if the pilots are shaken a bit. After all, the men on the ground were able to move forward, and that was all that mattered to them. At least the funding you gained was able to replace and sustain these sorts of losses.

In terms of a total tally, in fights against the Lothring Airforce alone, Twelve CN-III's were downed in exchange for Nineteen SUD's and Eight Dupont 6 C's, most of the SUD's being from 15e and one Dupont being from the fellow Escadre as well. This, combined with a major increase in Prußenmark activity elsewhere on the front has caused a major casualty ratio of three to one losses due to inexperienced pilots being thrown quickly into combat combined with the SUD's inability to defend itself effectively. While not so much of a problem against Bergens which it can match roughly in speed, they are still driven to fly away or into a fight by heightened Prußenmark patrols, and against CN-III's, there is no escape...

In other news the city of Hilvermeer has been cut off from Lothring mainland. Unfortunately, the city has had little time for the civilians to evacuate. Though it wasn't like those of Daloyaume had it much better. Even if there wasn't as much heavy fighting until later on. Still, this likely will annoyingly be used as propaganda against us. In better news, it turns out the Trans-Terra Nova expedition to the icy south by some Pretan's pre war has had a bit of an incident and their ship sank. A few survivors managed to get to a whaling port on a eight hundred mile journey and the other survivors are to be picked up soon thanks to Agdemark. Additionally, the Cipanto Empire is dealing with the KLIL in south east Asu. They are facing some resistance but should take it. And that would be just about everythin-

"Miss Valmont! I have news of extreme importance!" Botrel bursts in, clearly a bit distressed. Then again, he always seems like that when he bursts in to bring bad news. At least, you presume it's bad news.

"What is it? Another murder?" You ask, concerned that another murder occurred and took the life of one of your pilots, or a bombing run on one of the airfields occurred. Speaking of the former, maybe you should ask some of your pilots if they know anything? Later of course, now is probably not the time.

"No, worse. A major naval battle occurred yesterday! It's...Well...Here." He lays down a report. Horrific losses from the Pretan Navy...Four battlecruisers and battleships sunk along with numerous cruisers and destroyers. Even a few predread's...Additionally, a new superbattlecruiser apparently was discovered in the battle. The Kreigärgern... Wasn't Pretany supposed to rule the waves?! Still, this isn't that good...There's only so many losses the Pretan Navy can take. It's a major blow to their national pride for sure...You hope that the enemies losses are high as well but you aren't sure. The only thing you are confident of is that most likely quite a few in the Royal Navy are going to get sacked...At least their navy has the absurd amount of ships to sustain losses like this...

(Sorry for taking so long to get the turn out. Also I feel bad for Pretany. Their navy has rolled a 1 in all the out of theater events...)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KT0JJxoLsbcNFC7RqtsWKke9iTnLQ8blSCf_8dZ4jWw/edit?usp=sharing

>>5389591
Damn, another long-term pilot we've lost. Rest in peace Aude.

No chance of an op plan from me today, I have an appointment to catch.

I think we should restock on Dupont 6 C's and the new S.U.D variant that just became available, it'd be helpful in the environment we are currently fighting in. We should also buy some more pilots to fill our reserves, we are taking heavy losses.

I'm split between staying in Lothring for one more turn in order to help take Hilvermeer or going to the slower moving siege of Hareleinde, but I think I prefer the latter. Our pilots just took a morale hit, though that doesn't seem to have affected them as badly as I thought it would, but more importantly our pilots are tired.

Also, wtf Pretany, this shit is supposed to be your jam. Do better.

>>5389644
I'll go with taking Hilvermeer. Once again, this could allow us to get the airbase where the CN-III are from... And we have a friend over at SUD whom will love to get his hand on that airplane to create a Gallonian Interceptor.
Agreeing with requisitions.

>>5389644
Well, it's kinda hard to do that when you keep rolling a 1...It's funny desu, and kinda sad.

But yeah, I was kinda sad when Aude died. I liked her. RNG is RNG though. I just hope something retarded doesn't happen where a high level ace just dies because they rolled a nat 1 and some nobody rolled a nat 100

Lastly, it's not a SUD variant, it's a new aircraft. The original was just the SUD Type R/B, first aircraft from SUD.

>>5389654
I will note, each of your Escadrons operate out of their own air base. At most there's two at the same one at a time. Still, you did bomb the fuck out of their air bases. The biggest issue with dealing with the CN-III's is simply the fact their job isn't to escort or do CAP but to take off quickly and shoot things. And when you are in a ww1 biplane, just about any field is a runway. Still, you have done a good blow to their CN-III fleet. Even if they are supported by Bergens now.

>>5389673
Oh, I know it is a new aircraft, I just derped and was lazy with my language.

The damage we did to their CN-III fleet and airbases is all fine and dandy, every loss they suffer hurts them far more than a loss for us does thanks to their low pilot pool and requisitions, but I'm starting to get a bit casualty-adverse myself.

Winning the war may be what matters and we are likely to triumph over Lothring in the long-term but I don't want to keep losing planes and pilots at a bad ratio to them. Really, most important of all to me as a player I just don't want to lose many more aces, high skill pilots, or names we actually recognize because they've been with us so long.

>>5389654
Personally I think Hilvermeer will fall in a matter of time anyways, 15e is the other escadre aside from us that is actually doing well and Lothring is their front now. The reason I want to go back to the more familiar and slow moving front sieging Hareleinde or even somewhere further south away from Lothring's hellplanes is so that we don't face up against such superior planes and so we don't have to take such a high op tempo owing to a slow moving siege. I want to rest our pilots basically, our original plan was to start rotating entire escadrons out on leave/rest two turns ago before we realised just how soon the Lothring offensive was.

I'll admit another daring operation to steal an intact CN-III is tempting though, not sure it is needed though. There is probably enough downed planes and overrun blown up airbases that are intact enough for our engineers to get a mostly clear picture of how they are built. Didn't we roll a crit 100 or something close to that to be able to pull off the previous insane plane snatching op?

>>5389593
Damn. They need to hurry up and fire Seymour already. Also fuck, we made the Kreiegy too cool for our own good.
Hmm, maybe one of their most heavily damaged BBs, BAs or BCs could be reconstructed as a CV instead of repaired as-is or scrapped, since given our demonstrated good performance in air raids thus far the ability to strike beyond conventional range could be of great value. I will never give up on this idea

>>5389756
If you were Pretan (Or even Prußenmarkian if they have/had a badly damaged ship) you could suggest that course of action to the Admiralty. Alas, you are not.

>>5389644
Agree with this; time for 4e or 6e Escadre to step up. And where was Noir during the Circus battle? Why did they not take any casualties?

Requisitions:
Not enough RP's to recover losses, so:
7x Dupont 6C's = 42
> Each fighter squadron to have 8x aircraft
6x SUD Caraque B = 60
1 RP resupply for each squadron except Noir = 4
4 RP for 16 replacement pilots

Pilots:
Bring back Decombes, Wathelet, Anouilh, Charbonnier
Dejardins on PR tour
Duverger to TRACOM
Chaney, Brosseau, Vaugrenard to Reserve

Deployment:
Blanc: Standard bomb/recce runs on Hareleinde area with some bomb-damage analysis by Dupont 4P's
Bleu: Offensive Counter-Air
Noir: Escort, time to take and dish out losses
Vert: Defensive CAP
Rouge: Reserve

Or if we decide to go for Hilvermeer again, then keep Vert and Rouge in reserve and throw Bleu and Noir into the fire.

>>5390114
Is there some remnant of the Jeune Ecole left in the Gallonian Navy? They would lend an ear to any shiny new toy.

>>5390127
PS -- Put Blanc's Giradot and Deschanel into Reserve as well.

By the way
> Lieutenant Ernault Cazal FEXP 14 MEXP 2 V 0 M 96 F 3
MEXP 2? Is he really that bad?

>>5390153
MEXP of only 2, I mean

>>5389592
I'll support this >>5390127

We ought not to take too hard an op tempo. We were pressing our luck 2 turns ago when we decided to take part in the offensive in Lothring, now our fatigue is even higher I think.

Again, probably won't have much time later today or tomorrow, but we'll see.

>>5390127
To put it quite simply, Vert and Rouge got one under the max number of encounters with enemies they possibly could. Which is why their losses were so high. Noir got the least, and most of their fights were inconclusive. Also, they did lose exactly one pilot, I just forgot to remove the aircraft they lost.

>>5390153
This is an error. It's meant to be 12. Fixed now. Sorry about that mistake.

>>5390114
Has the Marine Nationale been in any scraps lately? Still, I'm sure our navy must have some very obsolete CAs or BAs the Jeune Ecole holdouts would love to get their mitts on to play with, like the Charlemagne class which would have been just taken out of service at this time in OTL though they might be a bit small. Else there's no shortage of large commercial vessels to convert into CVEs.

>>5390660
Yes, actually. Mainly around the Chersonipoli campaign. Which I think you can guess what our real world equivalent is. You and Pretany rolled a 1 there, unlike Varuskie and Sāriqīn. Think you can guess what that entails

>>5390773
OK QM, you can tell us. For real, you're flipping coins, not rolling dices, right?

>>5390773
.....that we have crippled capital ships hogging our naval dockyards? Sounds like an opportunity to me.

>>5390329
Crud, we need one more replacement airplane, then. I feel like the kid who reminded the teacher that homework was due.

Change >>5390127
to only 5x SUD Caraque B. That gives room for:
-- Two more Dupont 6C (9x total)
---- All fighter squadrons to have 8x aircraft, except Noir, which keeps their 9x.
-- Resupply only Vert and Rouge with 1 RP each.

>>5390786
No, I am actually rolling a die for out of front area's. Pretan has had god awful luck outside of what is basically the equivalent of north Africa where basically nothing has happened really.

>>5390811
A few, though mostly Predreads atm.

Anyway I'll likely work on the turn sometime tomorrow.

>>5390292
Re: Lothring, I wanted to knock out a minor country quickly and tighten the blockade, but now I feel the whole operation has been made irrelevant by the naval battle.

>>5391165
Yeah, the whole point was to knock out a country who's neutrality allowed them to ship vital supplies into our enemy. By denying them access to trade we'd essentially pull off more or less the same strategy as historical WW1 (if I remember correctly) or any number of similar scenarios from history. Now circumstances have just rendered a lot of it pointless and damaged us both diplomatically and militarily as we have to face a dangerous - though small - opponent and may have lost us the peace so to speak. Still, by going through Lothring we can potentially pivot around some of the tougher fortifications of Prußenmark, though I'd have to look at the map and get some more info out of QM to see if that is really true.

At least the war will be more interesting with it not just being a straight repeat of WW1, plus we at least it secured us most of the RP we needed, though at terrible cost.

Didn't have the time to participate recently but it's great to see that we're still a girlbossing warmonger.

>>5391344
Always and forever. Whatever disagreements we have about war with Conley it seemed she judged our nature better than we judged ourselves.

> Vaandeldrager Quintijn Van Rosenvelt. Lothring. Plane: CN-III. VIctories: 5
QM, are names picked at random? Or is this the alternate universe where TR is pro-Preussenmark instead of pro-Pretan?

>>5392190

Names are randomly generated with few exceptions. Though, Van Rosenvelt is the original Dutch name for Roosevelt. If they were a CSA volunteer they'd be listed as such.

Also turn will be worked on soonish

File: Western Front.png (59 KB, 789x796)

59 KB PNG

With the past month being a harsh one in regards to losses, you give your far more conservative orders with a focus on Hareleinde, leaving Rouge to rest and Bleu to go on offensive patrols while Vert defends the lines. However, the Escadron expected to take the most losses is not what is expected in the slightest...

On one of the routine defensive patrols Vert had, a strange sight would grace the pilots of the flight. A large multi engine aircraft, a full flight of them. It appeared almost as if a passenger aircraft, yet with clear Lothring Roundels on the thing it and the formation, it was clearly an enemy of some sort. Diving down on it, they soon found the large and lumbering aircraft an easy target, and pumped bullet after bullet into it. Yet, it didn't go down. And, the flight mainly made of newer pilots of Vert soon found themselves easy targets for the gunners in a little compartment at the top and rear of the aircraft, flying in a predictable and direct attack making them just as easy targets as the large bombers, all except one. Mahildis actually struck at an angle and continued on her passes, not getting behind the large aircraft where the powerful engines disrupted their own aircrafts handling and where they were an easy target, slowly whittling away on the thing until she was able to pump enough fire into the craft that the spars connecting the left wing broke, and slowly but surely part of the upper wing rose higher and higher up before finally snapping off, sending the large aircraft to the ground in a slow dive before the forces of gravity ripped more and more of the craft apart before the lumbering machine struck the ground. Low on ammo, she returned as the three other aircraft flew to their target. Dropping bomb after bomb on an airbase, one belonging to 4e "Corsaire" and demolishing many hangers and destroying a large amount of aircraft on the ground.

It seems Lothring has a new toy.

File: Koerkamp T.II.png (5 KB, 400x200)

5 KB PNG

These Koerkamp T.II's, nicknamed “Arend” by the Lothring pilots, is a heavy and large bomber that causes a lot of problems. Due to it's vast size it is surprisingly durable. Further, it is quite clear this craft is converted from a civilian transport made into a sort of heavy bomber. The craft is extremely hard to shoot down for the average pilot. And while an ace will likely have little trouble with the thing, lesser pilots certainly will. It doesn't get an escort half the time, thankfully, but when it does it's near impossible to down. Then again, given how the only one reported to be downed was by Mahildis, it might not even need an escort against most. Despite this new threat things went well, mostly. Blanc had no losses and was able to do significant damage to artillery positions along with some structures in the city of Hareleinde, and the recon also done by them has also been useful, ensuring that the city would actually fall. Though, pushing much farther behind that has proven very difficult for our troops. Bleu meanwhile has had limited success. Dealing with Bergens and CN-III's their greatest contribution was the destruction of a few observation balloons but little else. On the bright side, while they lost three aircraft, they only lost two pilots, unlike Vert which single handedly had to defend against Bergens, Koerkamp T.II's and Frÿg CL.II's. Joiha managed to down a Kronlein, and a number of these recon and smaller bombers were driven off, but the T.II's were unimpeded mostly, both by our forces and Pretan's when they got involved. Though even so the advance continued. Though, currently, with the city of Hareleinde taken plans are to prepare for an assault on Tilhof once Leeuwenborg and a bit more of Lothring has been taken, along with once the various pockets in Lothring are dealt with.

Needless to say, it's been quite costly these past few months, but on the bright side contribution these past few months is still doing very well. So long as the enemy's efforts to use their air power are disrupted and our own succeed, it doesn't matter how many aircraft we lose. Though it would be better if your Commandants under you didn't need to write so many letters informing the families of the pilots under them that their son or daughter isn't going to come home...

Elsewhere, there is quite a bit of news. The Chersonipoli Campaign has become a complete disaster and quagmire, as attempts to abandon the front and evacuate the troops due to the increasing Sāriqīn presence has failed horribly with the enemy attacking while the evacuation was underway despite attempts to disguise the forward trenches as fully staffed and manned. However despite this Pretan forces in Kumat along with the efforts of a man named Labhrás have caused the limited Sāriqīn forces in the far south to completely collapse under both Pretan and Partisan forces. And in the north the Varuskie forces have completely conquered the mountains dividing them from the Sāriqīn empire, and have managed to win a minor naval battle and secure their inland sea, shipping reinforcements and supplies to the front by sea rather than land. Further north, the Varuskie forces have engaged in a major counter offensive against Prußenmark and the Steyerland-Magyria Empire, one that has been lead personally by Tzar Nikita the Second himself. The offensive has met minor success against the Prußenmarks and made a major breakthrough against Steyerland-Magyria. This is especially surprising as Tzar Nikita is well known to be a poor statesman as he was never taught how to rule by his father before he passed and the crown given to him. Yet despite this, he has proven a charismatic, inspiring, and kind yet firm commander. And these successes along with those against Sāriqīn have actually managed to help the unrest and shaky morale the country had entering the war and had been facing for some time. Perhaps the Varuskie Tzardom will stabilize and Nikita learn how to properly rule before this war is over.

More closer to the front lines however, there is one thing that happens once more. Another murder. Once more a Daloyaume woman is murdered along with interestingly a CSA Pretan Volunteer. A pilot part of the Royal Air Corps Squadron 17... On the bright side the murders are scaring soldiers into not trying to enjoy themselves with prostitutes and potentially getting the clap or something similar. Needless to say an investigation will be under way shortly to try and find more information. At the very least this posthumously absolves Aude from being a suspect. Lastly, other Escadre further south are reporting sighting new aircraft by Prußenmark, apparently called a Falke D.II. Initial combat reports with the thing are grim. But ideally this isn't the case. Further, it seems that the aircraft by Prußenmark are becoming a lot more colorful. And more than just the aces. We believe this to be a way for their pilots to tell what staffel is which. Though it aids us as well if we can figure out who's who.

(Welp. Vert got struck hard by bad luck. On the bright side Pretany finally rolled good, and Varuskie can't stop rolling good.)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KT0JJxoLsbcNFC7RqtsWKke9iTnLQ8blSCf_8dZ4jWw/edit?usp=sharing

So, a few thoughts first.

The Arend has an armor stat, unfortunate. That one Arend apparently single handedly made Ace off our the new pilots in Vert.

Descombes and Liliane REALLY need rest and frankly I think we should take Amélie and put her on PR tour or TRACOM as well just to be safe against fatigue spirals. Yes, it'll worsen our escadre's performance, but we have to get ahead of this fatigue spiral, the next Christmas is months away and that is what the reserve system is for.

The Falke D.II is making me shit myself.

Calantha appears to be duplicated in the roster, she is apparently both on PR tour and in active service all at the same time, might wanna fix that.

My thoughts on the present course of the front are that while we have the initiative and our ground forces are the ones on the offensive the Lothring forces is trying to force us to culminate and gain back the initiative by going on the offensive with their new bombers and have a major sudden pendulum swing by destroying large swathes of our air force while they are still on the ground. In other words, if we keep taking normal losses it is bad but bearable and we can sustain the attrition and present tempo - we being the Gallonian Air Corps as a whole on this front, not just our escadre - and our victory will eventually be assured since our RP gain is enough to sustain these losses, but if they can destroy a large amount of our aircraft all at once within a month - the aforementioned "pendulum swing" - then our losses aren't sustainable and the initiative will swing back in their favour once their Air Corps can focus on our ground forces.

I say we do another conservative turn. We take all fatigued Aces and put them on PR Tour/TRACOM to rest them and build RP for aircraft and bonuses for the next batch of newly purchased pilots. Just accept the reduced effectiveness and high casualties, we'll make up for it by having Bleu, Vert and Rouge all do defensive CAP together as one big unit, with Noir escorting Blanc on our sole offensive component of the operation. We mostly just focus on getting used to these new bombers and reducing their effect on our offensive while Blanc continues to assist our ground forces. We'll steadily gain ground which is all that matters in the end while preventing any major disruption being forced upon us. We'll recce/bomb Leeuwenborg, then Tilhof the following month as planned by our superiors.

Don't have time to dig through the archives for clues on the murderer today, maybe later.

>>5392482
>Commandant Gabriel Descombes Lieutenant Calantha Desjardins Sous-lieutenant Amélie Flandin to TRACOM, Major Liliane Charbonnier Lieutenant Adélaïde Guilloux on PR Tour. If Calantha is already on PR tour rather than on duty (googledoc is messed up) then keep her there. If Adélaïde can't go anywhere while wounded then just keep her in the hospital but put her on PR tour when she gets out.

>Lieutenant Jacquot Girardot, Sous-lieutenant Ambroys Deschane, Major Sarra Anouilh to their respective reserves, replace them with the best non-fatigued/non-wounded/non-ace pilots from their reserves.

We're retaining the talented non-ace pilots that we have instead of pushing them into their deaths with high fatigue.

>Bleu, Vert, and Rouge will all perform defensive CAP all together at once as a big unit to make up for our current lack of strength and to put extra effort on stopping these new bombers and preventing the enemy from regaining the initiative. Since we took out the super fatigued pilots from our roster and put them on leave or reserve we will have these escadrons go at maximum operational tempo.

>Noir will escort Blanc. Blanc recce/bomb Leeuwenborg. Max tempo for both escadrons. Since we are going back into Lothring make sure to coordinate with 15e.

I know I said this would be a conservative turn and I do actually still think it is but I know the high tempo will raise some eyebrows. I think by putting all our fatigued aces and tired regular pilots in the reserve we can afford the high tempo. I also know that the move to put our aces on leave is not self-evidently a good move to some, especially since it was specifically noted that aces would have no problem with the new bombers but new pilots would struggle, however I believe it very important that we get ahead of the fatigue curve, and Vert has no spare reserve pilots as of right now to replace aces that are resting. The no spare reserve pilots thing may not seem to matter considering we have less aircraft than pilots at the moment, but I intend to do this for more than one turn, probably two turns if I get my way. I want our aces all rested up so they can do extended bursts of activity without having to rotate all of them in and out ad nauseam while they are on the edge of acceptable fatigue. I intend for there to be a couple turns of our skilled non-ace pilots and the new batch of pilots holding the line while this happens, including through next turn when we get our RP.

>>5392773
*forgot to put "and" or commas between each ace going on PR tour/TRACOM. My bad, sorry.

>>5392773
Hmm, I would suggest the following with regards to Pilots:

-- Flandin to TRACOM
-- Descombes and Charbonnier on PR tour
-- Bring back Brosseau, Desjardins and Duverger from Reserve
-- Ponce, Wathelet, Giradot, Deschanel, Anouilh and Hemery to Reserve

Deployments:
Blanc, escorted by Noir, to recce the Leeuwenborg-Hareleinde-Tilhof salient, and potentially bomb interesting targets.
Rouge and Bleu on Defensive CAP. If Noir takes heavy losses, transfer Bleu to Escort duty.
Vert in Reserve/Standby
Transfer aircraft 2x from Noir and 1x from Rouge to Vert
Moderate Optempo

PS -- This is assuming Adélaïde Guilloux is still wounded. Maybe visit her and Lucie Maret in the hospital? The latter is an old friend.

>>5392886
She is. She got a round put in her proper in her side by a CN-III. But she didn't get killed from it. I believe I forgot to mention it when she was first wounded, something I regret because your top ace getting wounded is kind of a big deal, but yeah, it's why she's been out for more than just two weeks. She can't go anywhere while wounded though.

Also do an investigation roll if you want. Given there was another murder.

Also hope you like the pixel art of the Koerkamp T.II.

Rolled 88 (1d100)

>>5392928
The art was great.

Here's the roll.

>>5392879
I'm fine with bringing Duverger back, Desjardins and Brosseau back. Don't know how I missed Ermengardis in my decisions, it could be because I'm just very tired today or it could be that I was thinking too narrowly in regards to "we have to rest all our pilots to avoid fatigue death spiral and have them all available fully rested in 1-2 turns" that I didn't realise not all our aces are in critically bad fatigue and we could afford to have some on leave and some in the field.

I do think it is better to have Rouge, Bleu and Vert all together on the same missions though because of how depleted our escadrons are. I'd also just want to focus on Leeuwenborg this turn and leave Tilhof until next month. From what I understand Tilhof will be the focus of the offensive later but the brass want to take Leeuwenborg and some more Lothring territory first, no need to premature bombing, we should focus our efforts.

Not sure about having Vert is standby once we've put most of our Aces in PR/TRACOM, we can afford to run them hard once most of our fatigued pilots are no longer in that escadron for the moment. I also don't know if there is a point to bringing Duverger back from TRACOM only for her to be stuck on the airbase in reserve when she could instead be training our pilots some more.

Didn't think to transfer aircraft to Vert for some reason, it is a good idea. Though I'm not sure about doing it just to have Vert on standby. If we are having them in reserve then we should specify conditions for when they'll be moved off that status and when they are to move out to help other escadrons or perform some missions. Unless by reserve you mean put the entire escadron in the reserve slots, but I don't think you mean that as it would be pointless.

>>5392998
How about this -- Operational Reserve, means that the squadron does not fly regular patrols, but if there is a massive effort by the enemy, or if there is a large enemy formation exfiltrating from our AOR, then send them up.

With all the casualties Vert has suffered, I like the idea of giving Duverger an early command opportunity, even if she is not doing much. It is good for her long-term growth as an officer, *if* she survives the war. That said, I agree that Vert does not seem that battered. How about this then:

-- Blanc to bomb/recce Leeuwenborg
-- Noir and Bleu on Escort
-- Rouge and Vert on Defensive CAP

If Blanc gets bounced, I do not think a green, understrength squadron will be enough. This way, 12 fighters will be assigned to both missions.

Some thoughts:

Of all the squadron leaders, Descombes has the lowest MEXP. Could that be the cause of Bleu's lackluster performance? I put Rouge on Standby last turn, because Capitaine Aiker did not seem fit to lead in combat.

Given all that 14e Escadre has done, is it going to get a Fourragere? Given that our buddies in GHQ was willing to give us more RPs in return for supporting the Lothring invasion, maybe they will be willing to give us a bauble to boost morale. That will make Descombes' PR tour more meaningful -- the gallant Escadron CO with the cords, a symbol of a successful command (snerk).

Given the way the war is going, I can see the alt-history end game. Varuskie continues their successes and drives Preussenmark and not-Austria to the brink, only for President Wilson to tell the Federal Reserve to reign in JP Morgan's billion dollar loans to the Entente and force a compromise peace (Wilson really did attempt this in 1916). In the aftermath, Gallonia maintains the alliance with Varuskie to maintain strategic depth. Pretan continues to play the balance-of-power game and revives the old Pretan-Preussenmark alliance, In the Second World War of 1930, the CSA, frustrated by Pretan-Cipanto dominance in Asu, sides with the Entente. Will Marechal de l'Air Helene Valmont firebomb Pretan and Pressenmark into submission and defend her bureaucratic empire against a butthurt General Descombes? Find out in Bomber Command Quest. . .

>>5392928
+1 for the art!

>>5393231
Actually, I change my mind about the air raid. Given Lothring tactics and the short range of the CN-III, I propose this.

-- Blanc to bomb/recce Leeuwenborg, with Noir as Escort
-- Bleu to follow behind 5-10 minutes and catch the interceptors as they try to land.

I wish we had more planes to execute this operation with, but oh well.

>>5393234
Heh. Could be fun, though note the war can go in a variety of ways. There's a number of events that can happen to swing things back to the central powers side, and given the damage you've been taking your successes in the west might start to cease. This is still the early mid game I'd say. And unless out of front events continue to really help your side, the war might not be over by Christmas.

Still, it's not a idea for a future game, even if I have something else in mind ATM.

>>5393321
Not a bad idea, I meant. Even if not what I had in mind. Only just noticed some how the bad bit was deleted or eaten or whatever...

>>5393231
Sure, that is sort of what I did with Bleu here >>5385236 and it is part of what I thought you might have meant, but I was confused by you saying reserve/standby.

I think with your transfers from Noir to Vert here >>5392879 that this split of responsibilities should be at least okay.

>>5393234
I gotta say, I'd love for this to continue into an alt-history WW2.

>>5393257
Cunning, I like it.

>>5393673

You know what? Fuck it. I had a different idea in mind after this game, but I think my next qst will be a ww2 game that's a continuation of this one. Maybe a game focused on managing an aircraft carrier and it's taskforce.

Will make a turn tomorrow, just FYI.

Just a heads up, crunch is done but I've had a very busy day so I'm gonna take a nap before continuing.

File: Western Front.png (59 KB, 789x796)

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While the past few weeks despite best efforts have been a bit harsh, you continue giving out orders to deal with the thorn in the side Lothring and their air corps has become. And so, you come up with a clever little plan to strike at their air fields with Bleu...You find out very quickly just how effective the plan was.

While Noir defends Blanc admirably, and the new S.U.D Caraque works wonders, the actions of Bleu are...mixed. The aircraft in question are still faster than our own, and while Blanc does on occasion catch some of the aircraft while landing and manages to down a couple such as what Bourseiller or Boulle did, Bleu finds out that there is a reserve of these aircraft specifically for the defense of the airbase, and a lot of anti aircraft guns around them now. Likely a response to our constant bombing of them earlier. Unfortunately, one of these response pilots is Sjef, and he alongside some unknown pilot downed Audouin Bourseiller and Evrard Rousseau, with anti aircraft guns taking out Aliker with a direct hit. Despite this, a few strafing runs has certainly put some of the CN-III's out of action if not for a while permanently, though Anti Aircraft warded off most strikes. The action did however suppress the CN-III and leave them far more defensive, limiting their strikes on the S.U.D flights. In fact, most of the combat the S.U.D Caraque's from Blanc and the Dupont 6 C's from Noir had to face were Bergens, mainly from Jagdgeschwader XIV "Eidgenossen", though given the coloration of some others, we believe Jagdgeschwader XI is also active in the area.

A few notable success in air combat come in as well. One of Blanc's pilots, Dufresne, managed to down a Bergen that was attacking him. And Tourneur and Ermengardis managed to down a Koerkamp T.II. In fact, Ermengardis managed to down another two Bergen D.I's and a Kronlein as well, and despite the small limited numbers Vert had at this stage, they managed to do quite well, and Ermengardis even got a promotion. Though, the loss of Regina Massé, who ended up downing a Kronlein and a Bergen before being shot down herself is a bit poor, and Ermengardis seems to blame herself for two of Vert's losses, despite her surprising effectiveness leading her flights. The last few successes of note are Petronilla Noir who downed two CN-III's, Isolda Haillet who also downed a CN-III and Hawis Lefeuvre who downed a Koerkamp C.I. Despite all of this though, we suffered fairly bad losses once again. Though at least we shot down more than we lost, and Blanc was able to do their work practically flawlessly and without much interruption.

However, despite our efforts, the advance seems to be slowing down. Perhaps due to reduced damage output from the beating that 15e Escandre "Marins du ciel" has taken of late. Perhaps because of increased Prußenmark presence in Lothring, or Lothring's mobilization. Maybe because the Inundation lines in Lothring are flooded now. It also doesn't help that Hilvermeer is still holding out, drawing our own forces away from the main push. In fact Hilvermeer has become something of a quagmire as hundreds if not thousands of civilian casualties are reported, including women, and children...Needless to say the army is doing it's best to keep this under the rug and not let it out to the wider world, as our diplomatic reputation has already taken enough of a hit. In other news, Pretany has the blockade back up and running, much to the annoyance of the CSA and other nations who hasn't been able to trade with Prußenmark since the blockade was established, especially given that even foodstuffs are considered war supply. On the bright side, in the east, Prußenmark has apparently decided to use chemical weapons against Varuskie, ensuring that with enough propaganda about it, pro Prußenmark opinion in neutral nations will decline faster than our own...Ideally... Speaking of, Varuskie's push into Sāriqīn is starting to slow down significantly as more forces from a certain disastrous landing are starting to flood in, and supply is becoming a problem. Still, Pretany has had a wonderful time continuing to push in the south along their colonies at least. Additionally, Lothring civilians are being evacuated from Yāvaka to escape the Cipanto Empires advance. They are going to the CSA apparently, since they can't get to Lothring proper for the time being. This has been made public knowledge and a request for the ships to fly the CSA flag for the time being so as to not be mistakenly sunk by Pretan or Cipanto naval forces has been granted.

The last thing of particular note and interest is, well, the murder. Further investigation of the murders, especially the most recent one has narrowed things down extensively. Only someone from the 1st Vesperia Division, logistic teams, 14e Escadre Mixte "Liberté", or 15e Escandre "Marins du ciel" could be responsible. Among those of your Escadre who could potentially be responsible, only the maintenance team of Rouge and a few of her pilots could be responsible due to the location of the corpse. Further, logistics investigations into Ecadron Rouge has shown that there has been a common occurrence of screwdrivers being reported as missing during the time of the murder...

File: Classified sketch.png (270 KB, 720x1280)

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Currently, it's believed to be one of the members of maintenance staff, as most of the suspected pilots make no sense. Amélie's personality is nothing like what one would suspect from a killer and is an upstanding person along with outstanding pilot. Haydée would have needed to escape from her hospital bed for a time to commit the latest crime, something extremely hard to do unnoticed. Roselyne is arguably the most likely given her paranoia and aggression, but she's never been seen off the airfield alone. Calantha is theoretically possible given the dates the crimes were done on, but personality also doesn't match up and she would have needed to sneak away while traveling, though she did have a delay...Regardless, Rouge has the most suspicion at the moment. Perhaps it would be best to speak with some pilots of the Escadron... In fact maybe it'd be best to speak with more than just them, given a few only just got out of the hospital, like l'As herself.

(Pick one)
>Speak to Rogue Pilots.
>Speak to all important pilots (Pick who you view important)
>Keep to yourself for now.

Other than this you receive a telegraph from an old business partner shortly before the end of the month.

Dear Lieutenant-colonel Helene Valmont -(stop)-

I have recently received a number of telegrams from members of the Gallonian Navy -(stop)- I appreciate the contacts yet would still like more -(stop)- As something to motivate you I have sent a document in the mail -(stop)- It should reach you within a day or two from now -(stop)- I am sure the information contained within will be of importance to you and Gallonia as a whole -(stop)-

Best regards, Monica Conley -(stop)-

After this, you soon receive a letter with a simple diagram. The former of the two saying the following.

To my friend in the clouds.

I have come across more information regarding the works of the industrious Lothring engineer we have followed. A rough sketch of the engine I spoke of before is provided in this letter. I've paid quite good money to learn about this marvelous machine and I wish to share it with you. With direct government funding due to the sudden thrust into war Lothring has found itself in, this could be on aircraft by the end of the year. It is believed this could potentially produce an absurd and frankly unheard of six hundred and thirty horsepower, making it quite the opposed piston engine. I never knew how right I was in the obsolescence it might grant to other engines. But there is little more on it's intricate workings I can find. The one I paid for such a work of art is no longer employed for obvious reasons I'm sure you can gather...

-From your trusted associate.

The diagram itself has lines pointing to the size of the various parts of the engine, including the whole thing having a diameter of 756.5 mm. All of this hastily scrawled into the design...

Yeah you probably should do something about this. And fast...

(Well, nap was more akin to proper sleep but I digress. What is a sleep schedule anyway? Regardless, hope a motor head is happy with the insanity that you'll potentially be dealing with in the future. Also, fairly alright turn for you IMO, at least given the amount of aircraft you have. Hope you enjoy this turn though.)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KT0JJxoLsbcNFC7RqtsWKke9iTnLQ8blSCf_8dZ4jWw/edit?usp=sharing

>Send telegram to motor-industry brother and make him an offer he cannot refuse

>>5396379
Ah the engine picture is pretty neat. I vaguely recall from the "Wings for the Baron" boardgame, that transitioning from rotary to radial engines required two Research cards instead of one, making it the big technological hurdle in the game.

Given that the Pilot Pool is empty, do the Pilots we purchase this turn immediate report to squadrons in the coming turn, or the turn thereafter? That might affect which squadrons should get new planes.

>>5396843
Yes, they do. It's empty slots, so they go into their reserve.

Also technically the engine in question isn't a normal radial engine. It uses a planetary gear and a opposed piston engine setup for increa-actually I shouldn't spoiler this stuff... I'll let you figure it out. You guys are smart after all. Regardless It's kinda an insane engine that actually could work IRL

>>5396373
I'll have to request at least another day before the vote is decided because I simply haven't had the time to go back and look through the archives to see who could be the killer, nor have I had time to form a requisition or ops plan for this turn.

Dufresne doesn't seem to have gotten credited for his kill in the googledoc. I know not many Blanc pilots get kills, so it easy to miss.

We should bring back Adélaïde from the reserves as she seems to be fully healed and her fatigue has gone down.

Broadly I would say that we need more pilots and replacement planes, nothing too out of the ordinary for a standard turn. The details of the op plan may need some fleshing out in terms of details but the general idea I think is still the same in terms of overall direction. I still think taking Leeuwenborg before moving on to Tilhof is the right idea. The failure to defend that city and the loss of a transport node should hopefully cause some moderate degree of morale and supply shock and disrupt Lothring's efforts on the ground. Maybe we could split our efforts between Hilvermeer and Leeuwenborg given that we are likely to be almost fully reconstituted this turn.

I'm guessing the killer is probably Commandant Gaspard Botrel, the logistics commandant from the beginning of the first thread, since he is a named character who only really shows up briefly but doesn't appear much afterwards and so is easy to forget. Alternatively it is probably one of the pilots we talked to near the end of the first thread, there was probably some detail in there that matches with the M.O of the murders or relates to some grudge against a certain type of person.

>Talk to Commandant Gaspard Botrel and get to know him, then at a later separate date interrogate him after talking with the others. Talk to our S-2/G-2 ask what s/he thinks about who it could be, ask how to go about interrogating the personnel, get more specific details about the times and locations specific suspects left at and went to, ask about what they have heard just in general about the character/personality or various suspects. Talk to Amélie, I don't suspect her at all, but I just want to make sure we can cross her off the list of suspects, she's so perfect that it would make too good a twist for her to be the killer. Talk to Roselyne, of the pilots she is perhaps the most likely just going on personality, we also can't rule out that there is more than one killer or that there are accomplices, interrogate everyone she has went out with since just before the murders started happening. Talk to Calantha, do it casually at first, maybe even two separate times with the first just asking how her leave went.

I don't necessarily suspect anyone in particular yet because as I said I haven't had the time to archive dive, but for now this is okay as a write-up to start who to talk to. It is mostly just Gaspard plus all the pilots mentioned in the most recent story post, relying on the investigators.

>>5397130
Requisitions:
-- 20x Dupont 6C's for 120 RPs
---- That gives 8x aircraft for each fighter squadron
-- 1 RP of resupply each for Bleu, Blanc and Vert
-- 2 RPs for eight pilots. Given the +4, I wish we could get more, but alas. . .
---- 4x Replacements for Vert, 2x Replacements for Bleu and Noir each. They get to have operational slots immediately, as seen below.

Pilot Rotations:
Bleu:
-- Bring back Chaney, Vaugrenard, Ponce
-- Brosseau to Reserve
-- Descombes to remain on PR Tour
Blanc:
-- Giradot is listed as both Active and in Reserve, with different Fatigue levels
-- Giradot, Rigal, Le Sueur to Reserve
-- Bring in Bouhier and Deschanel
-- Unfortunately, this means no Active pilot has MEXP >= 20. Maybe put in the less Fatigued of Wathelet or Giradot.
Rouge:
-- Bring back Chastain, Anouilh and Flandin
-- Chopin to Reserve
-- Hauet to TRACOM
-- Desjardins on PR Tour
Vert
-- Bring back Guilloux and Maret
-- Duverger to TRACOM
-- Charbonnier to remain on PR Tour
Noir
-- All active

I was tempted to send Descombes and Cat Hauet to TRACOM on the same turn. I expected loud arguments in the briefing room, with Ermengardis cringing in the corner.

Operational Plan:
-- Blanc to recce/bomb Leewenborg AOO.
-- Bleu to escort
-- Vert to fly Offensive Counter-Air 1-5 minutes before Blanc to clear out CAP and other airborne targets of opportunity.
-- Noir to follow Blanc 1-5 minutes behind to chew up disengaging interceptors.
-- Rouge on Defensive CAP
-- Moderate Optempo

Interviews:
-- Commandant Marchal. Her squadron; her responsibility.
-- Given the sheer amount of Pilot turnover with casualties and non-flying tours, I suspect the ground crew.

Good to see some elan and cran from Bleu and Noir. There seem to be quite a few Alikers in the Doc: two active, one KIA.

>>5397248
I can get behind that. But what's the plan with the amazing motor that can output constant torque?

>>5397248
Sigh, scrub the OCA mission for Vert and put them back on Defensive CAP. Also, tell Noir to beware of pursing the intercepts too aggressively.

>>5397261
I agree family is a good place to start; maybe encourage some industrial espionage. That said, the brother is probably more interested in inline engines, which are more applicable to autos. What about contacting our man at SUD, Morelet Pasquier?

>>5396906
From skimming the Wikipedia article on Rotary Engines, this looks like the Siemens-Halske engine. Interesting. That said, it seems like castor oil will still be used for lubrication; a major contributor to pilot fatigue.

>>5397263
And keep Maret in Reserve and put in Hemery instead if Vert is on Defensive CAP. Maret's leadership is needed for an OCA assignment possibly the turn after next.

I'll probably do the next turn sometime tomorrow. Want to give time for the one other main player time since they are busy.

>>5397248
I honestly think it is worth dropping a plane or two for a couple RP's worth of +4 pilots. It is a big bonus given that new pilots generally start off with stats in the low teens. Maybe I'm overvaluing pilot stats and the the bonus we are getting but any pilot we have that has an advantage over new enemy pilots is one I'd like to take. Hopefully it translates to them living longer and eventually becoming a veteran pilot that has the potential to one day make Ace. Though I understand that pilots without aircraft don't exactly convert into combat power and that it may just be better to have another couple planes in the air and to just treat our pilots like items on a conveyor belt that have a short lifespan that we freely use up and discard.

Otherwise looks good to me.

>>5397263
Why the sudden change of heart? If you wanna go with it, I'm fine with it I guess.

I'll also think >>5396713 and talking to Pasquier to get a better idea of what we are looking at on the sketch might be good.

>>5397832
Sorry, I just cannot find the free time to be able to contribute very much. Still no guesses from me as to the culprit, haven't had time to archive dive yet. I'll wait until we do our interviews, that'll probably give us a good idea on who it could be if it is indeed someone under us.

I wonder how Estienne Girardot and the other guys in training reacted to the angelic Amélie coming to train them given how excited he was when he first heard an ace pilot was coming to help train them.

>>5397832
+1. For him and the lurkers, I wonder what you guys favor:
> 3 Fighter squadrons on the attack, 1 on Defensive CAP
> 2/2 even split
> 1 on Escort, 3 on CAP

Re: Investigation, maybe we can assign a Reserve Commandant like Wathelet or Maret to take it over for a turn and let G-2 devote more attention to analyzing enemy CAP timing and airfield locations.

>>5398268
Ah sorry, I missed your post. I will let your vote and others decide whether my loss of nerve in >>5397263 is the wrong move.

I am okay with one less plane for Bleu, even though I am confident the batch after next will still be pretty good. Thus, the revised requisitions will be:

-- 19x Dupont 6C's for 114 RPs
---- That gives 8x aircraft for each fighter squadron, except Bleu, which gets 7x.
-- 1 RP of resupply each for Bleu and Vert, and 2 RPs for Blanc
-- 7 RPs for 28 pilots.
---- At *least* 4x Replacements for Vert, 2x Replacements for Bleu and Noir each. That will cover the minimum operational needs.

Rouge is an outlier, in that it actually kept many of its original pilots alive right until the start of the Lothring invasion. I see Vert as the norm for future -- a few extraordinary aces rounded out by a bunch of scrubs. I view this as an attritional game, so yes, I see an advantage to throwing lots of raw recruits and husbanding the few that emerge as winners. Compared to the cost of an aircraft, new pilots are really, really cheap. To make an analogy, think of the Escadre as a Big Tech company or top Investment Bank that hires a lot of new college grads but only retains a few of them after few years.

>>5398271
I mean, I'm not sure the Commandants have the training to conduct such an investigation, that is why we have G-2's at all. Plus, if they need to multitask then they have assistants for a reason.

>>5398286
I don't disagree that this is an attritional game, I just had a burst of sentimentality starting a while ago.

As to whether or not to have Vert perform OCA ahead of the rest of our escadre...

...I honestly hesitate myself. Based on my reading of the results of the last op I think we'll be mainly encountering planes from Jagdgeschwader XIV and Jagdgeschwader XI more than CN-IIIs. Perhaps Lothring will mindgame themselves into putting too many planes on the defensive reserve thinking that we'll do a repeat of our last attack on their airbases or perhaps they'll adapt by putting greater emphasis on CAP, in which case the choice to have Vert fly ahead and protect the attack may pay off.

It is worth keeping in mind the effect on morale and the mentality of the enemy commanders us bombing their airbases directly previously and now chasing them all the way back to their airbases may have, I think they'll play it safe. Better to have Vert defending us against Arends or from Prußenmark planes crossing into our AO in the first place.

It is good you noted Noir not to pursue too hard, I don't think pursuing all the way to their bases is necessarily worth it anymore from a strictly numbers game perspective. Maybe it is worth it to weaken their nerve and affect their decision-making, but I'm not actually sure we are killing more planes than we are losing. Well, we probably aren't actually, given how good their planes are, though each loss for them is harder to recover from.

I think we'll need a second bomber escadron to perform primitive SEAD and to really damage their planes on the ground and any facilities. That's a big investment though, one we may not be able to afford for a while and which comes with the opportunity cost of not getting a new escadron of fighters. May not be worth it considering our first duty is air supremacy.

Anyways, the revised requisition looks good and I think I agree with all your other revisions as well in the end.

Alright, so working on the turn now. You are talking to Haydée Marchal, Gaspard Botrel, Amélie, Roselyne, and Calantha. That all correct? Or are you just going for the first.

Also think unlike how I normally do this I'll keep going without much of a pause.

>>5399261
All of them please, plus getting our G-2 to help out as mentioned in my greentext.

>>5398681
I was thinking of a second bomber squadron too, but just for more bombs on target. That said, our RPs cannot really sustain five squadrons, let alone six.

Bit of a spoiler for the turn so far, but I think that the volunteers have become more of your enemy than the actual Lothrings or Prußenmarkians for this turn at least.

>>5399577
"Sigh"

Fucks sake, is it that Ace that killed Aude? Or are there more aces popping out of the woodwork? Or did we somehow just dodge all the proper pilots and miss out on our chivalrous duels in the sky - as Morelet more or less put it - leaving us with the rabble volunteers?

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>5399597
To put things simply. You rolled a lot of encounters in the air...And a bunch of Vert's ran into Jagdgeschwader XIV's better pilots...And yes, one of them was the Ace that sent Aude to a very sudden unscheduled landing.

You kinda got fucked by RNG desu. On the bright side, l'As and L'ange gardien combined downed 11 aircraft, so...that kind of makes up for it. Speaking of, the former is now over 50 FEXP. The only one who stands a reasonable chance of killing her is the best of the best enemy aces. And they are currently further south, so you got that at least. I will say, I felt bad about this given you had so many pilots with decent stats fresh from TRACOM.

Anyway turn will be out soon. Crunch is almost done. Also, the roll above is totally not related to anything. Don't fear it in the slightest.

>>5399606
Uwaaaaaah! I hope low is good in this case.

I just keep repeating to myself that we can afford more losses than our enemies can. Hopefully even if we faced superior foes we took a down an equal number or more of them what with our actually decent pilots to buffer our aces.

I know I had the idea of eventually putting aces that get into the mid teens into permanent PR Tour or TRACOM, but with the knowledge that there is little chance of flukes where randoms actually have a decent shot at killing even top aces I think it is best if we keep them as we've been using them. Better to have them to deal with newly developed planes, other aces, and swarms of chaff pilots. We can have some minor ace or two always on PR or TRACOM nowadays anyways.

Going back to sleep now.

Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>5399613
Only time an ace can get fucked over by a rookie or minor ace is if the disparity of aircraft quality is major. Imagine if l'As was still stuck in a Dupont 4 p going up against Falke D.II's or the next scout (fighter) they make.

Also crunch and map is done. Just got to do fluff...

Ignore this roll too. Totally not to something extremely important.

File: Western Front.png (59 KB, 789x796)

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It was a simple patrol. A sweep to ensure that their balloons would be safe from the enemy and no pictures of the front line would be taken. Major Hadvisa Barbeau was confident despite this and despite the fact she was a fresh pilot, never having seen battle proper. After all, she was top of her class, and had the advice of actual ace pilots who visited her training fields. Still, she was eager for her first proper mission flying in the same Escadron that had l'As herself. She was a bit upset her flight didn't have the famous pilot, but it was understandable. She'd fly with her eventually after all...

The flight was fairly boring and simple, simply heading over to where the front lines were and just trying to find any Bergen D.I's or even CN-III's if they for some reason came over that were attacking the area so the soldiers on the ground and in the balloons would have an easy time. It was fully expected that this would be a peaceful flight with no combat, almost disappointing to her. Then, suddenly, the flight leader, Capitaine Ragenilda Favre, was shot down in flames. She swiftly pulled her aircraft away from the formation just in time to see bullets wiz past below her craft. Looking around, from the direction of the sun came three Bergens. All decorated oddly. They had white stars painted next to the cross that all Prußenmarkian aircraft had on the fuselage, yet one caught her eye. One that had an ornate rose painted on, and a number of thorny vine like bramble that went along the aircraft and abruptly dropped in detail in certain area's, clearly unfinished. She was confident this person was an ace, unlike the other aircraft. Not one she ever heard of, but still one clear as day. She turned, to face this ace and get on their tail as they turned and dived on the other aircraft of her flight. A single burst sent the last ally Barbeau had to the ground with a lower wing missing. Worse, a bullet flying past showed she was being followed by this ace's allies. And she was forced to evade...

Then, she looked behind her to see the enemy pilot who had downed her two allies was just finishing some sort of turning maneuver she hadn't seen before to swiftly get a shot on her. And soon after she felt the impact of three bullets striking her back and one her shoulder. Almost immediately after slumping over before her aircraft uncontrollably flew down to the ground.

Vincent was mildly annoyed when not thirty minutes after he landed back at his base he was forced to scramble as many more aircraft and their escorts were arriving over a vital area of the front...This was going to be a long day wasn't it?

The fighting of late seems extremely harsh. While earlier months saw quite good success and low pilot losses, the past while has been extremely brutal. Why, you don't know for sure. Maybe it's the greater number of enemy aircraft in the area? Maybe it's poor luck. Maybe it's the greater aggression committed by your Escadre and greater resistance posed in response. It even could be something as simple as the Prußenmarkians having better training. Something claimed for a while now. Really, it's hard to tell. Regardless, the past while hasn't been the best with the high pilot turn over. And while the star pilots who have managed to become great fliers have done well to stay alive and slay the enemy, the rank and file have had less than stellar performance. With the exception of Blanc anyway, though even they have started suffering losses from enemy action and more than just occasional damage from anti aircraft guns...

There's a bit of worry in you with all of this, including the whole issue there might be a murderer among your ground crew or even pilots, but regardless of this, all that matters is how far the soldiers on the ground push. You are army after all. Part of you wishes you had more funding, but you know that's probably what every one in every branch of the army would beg for. It's practically a universal constant. Still, all of this aside, a lot of good pilots and expensive aircraft fall from the sky. And once again, Vert takes the brunt of it, ironically mainly due to skilled Prußenmarkians volunteers trying to be glory hounds chasing after damaged aircraft from the various raids. Though, given how more or less everyone preformed, they didn't do too much worse than anyone else.

In terms of victories these past few weeks, Amélie and Adélaïde did extensive work, with the former downing three Fryg CL.IIa's and three Bergen D.I's in some very aggressive flying and the latter downing two CN-III's and three Bergen's. Muriel Vandame also downed a Bergen before she herself died. Helisent, Lucie and Oudin also managed to down one Bergen as well, without dying after. And lastly Tescelina actually downed two of them. Other than this though a fairly sizable tally of victories has been given to the enemy. Though the fact that most aircraft encountered at this stage are Bergens is at least somewhat promising.

Relating to the front however, in the east, the Prußenmarks have managed to reverse some of the gains made by the Varuskie Tzardom thanks to extensive use of chemical weapons. Though, they have retreated in good order and avoided any major losses while things continue to go poorly for Steyerland-Magyria. Speaking of, the Kingdom of Vitulia has, due to border disagreements and a number of secretive talks, joined the war against our enemies!...And so far they are completely bungling it by throwing thousands of soldiers to their deaths along the Sontius, where despite superior numbers, they are being cut down like wheat to a scythe due to the defensive positions. It'll do well to distract and further tear apart our enemies though. The most important news however is that Leeuwenborg has fallen, and our soldiers are stopping the offensive for now due to a need for reinforcement, resupply, and simply preparation for further advancement along with simply solidify the gains made. However, some concerning news has come in from the battle at Hilvermeer. While the city has indeed fallen, it's really become a slaughter. Tens of thousands of civilians are dead from the action there due to the extensive bombardments, and outside of running or swimming, there really was no escape for the civilians as the ports were bombarded early to prevent resupply. The city is a graveyard and complete ruin now, with plenty of men, women, and children buried under the ruble alongside the soldiers that tried holding or taking the city...Luckily, we have kept this under wraps and no one in the outside world knows about what happened there. Ideally, it stays that way.

However, as the middle of the month comes in, you speak with those part of intelligence and try finding who it could be. Of course, you ask who are suspects, and they repeat the same people from before. The only pilots it possibly could be are Amélie, Haydée, Roselyne, and Calantha. Though they doubt that it's any of them as Amélie is an upstanding pilot and national hero who is quite caring for others, Haydée would have needed to commit one of the murders while wounded and admitted to an hospital and doesn't really fit a killer, Roselyne has quite a strong alibi and hasn't ever been recorded being off the airfield without someone or multiple people with her, and Calantha would have needed to be really fast to commit one of the crimes while in transit to her PR tour. However, they are mostly dismissed as not being responsible, and currently it is believed that one of the maintenance crew or someone from the 1st Vesperia Division is responsible. The only other option being someone from a logistics team. Still, thinking it over, you have your own suspects in mind, and decide it would be best to clear them all or find out the one responsible properly. There is one who hasn't even been mentioned after all who is with logistics... The real question is who to speak to and investigate first...

(Pick one.)
>Speak with Haydée Marchal first
>Speak with Gaspard Botrel first
>Speak with Amélie Flandin first
>Speak with Roselyne Chopin first
>Speak with Calantha Desjardins first

(Also, just to note. I think once you get the time to look over the archive and the past in this thread and such, you might be able to notice a few things about a few pilots or just in general and piece a few things together. Sorry about the harsh turn btw. Bit of bad luck.)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KT0JJxoLsbcNFC7RqtsWKke9iTnLQ8blSCf_8dZ4jWw/edit?usp=sharing

>>5399730
>Speak with Gaspard Botrel first

Probably won't be able to go back and look for a little while if I can't get it done this weekend, but that should be okay since speaking to people takes a long while usually.

>>5399922
I can go with speaking with Botrel first, and maybe Marchal afterwards.

>>5400065
Agreed.

OP, is the Tilhof attack next turn, or will it be Quiet on the Western Front? That might affect my thinking about pilot rotations and squadron missions next turn.

I think this was actually a pretty good turn. Two ports were finally secured, and we achieved a 1:1 loss ratio with only a minor commitment from our aces. Also, CN-III activity was pretty sparse, so I think we broke the Lothring Air Corps. My concern is that the Escadre will be understrength for its test against the top Preussenmark aces.

How are the other Escadre doing? Given there is only one Gallonian ace outside 14e, I imagine they suffer attrition too.

Re: the murders, I recall Cat Hauet calling Amelie "weird" offhand. Was that a clue?

>>5399597
When I saw that the volunteers were causing trouble again, I assumed another of our aces was downed. Hence, my relief at this turn's results.

>>5399728
>Helisent, Lucie and Oudin
Helisent has zero kills in the Googledoc. Also, did Lucie already have two kills before this, was this her second?

>>5400371
Never mind, I looked at Helisabeth Azais instead of Helisent Brassard

Hmm, it seems we lost 20 pilots this turn, but only 13x Dupont 6C's, 2x SUD Caraques and 1x Dupont 4P. Did I miscount somewhere?

>>5400360
I think this turn (the one we are on now while investigating the murder) is being used for reorganization, resupply, and reconstitution by our ground forces. Tilhof offensive is probably the next turn after this one, or maybe even the turn after the next turn even.

I think we should be fine against the enemy aces as long as we don't run into too many of them at once. The thing about our escadre is that practically all of Gallonia's aces are concentrated in our unit. We should be able to achieve local superiority in a sense because of that.

That depends though, how far south are the enemy's top aces? Are they near Tilhof, or are they actually on the southern front of the entire line of contact?

I also feared we lost another ace when I heard QM handing out spoilers and rolling dice.

>>5400430
Strange. At first I assumed something weird happened with the system and QM put the pilots that overflowed the reserves into the dead bin by accident instead of the pilot pool. Or perhaps there was some freak occurrence where many pilots were killed but their aircraft crashed in a salvageable state or where they managed to land after being wounded before perishing from their wounds or something?

Are you sure you didn't miscount? I'll have to check more carefully myself, though perhaps the QM can cut out the need for that by clarifying.

>>5400447
From >>5398286
> ---- That gives 8x aircraft for each fighter squadron, except Bleu, which gets 7x.

I assume that made the starting strength to be 31x Dupont 6C's, 5x SUD Caraques, 2x SUD and 2x Dupont 4P's.

>>5400360
The next turn will be quiet for Gallonian soldiers. As stated, resupply and reinforcement is needed after the months on the offensive.

As for the other Escadre's? Not too well. A bit worse than you but that's not terrible. Those further south are basically just falling like flies though. Think you can guess why. Also there technically isn't only one Gallonian ace outside 14e. Just one in the north western lowlands front.

>>5400430
>>5400447

It's entirely possible and probable I screwed up somewhere and forgot to remove a few aircraft...I'll just count it as 'died from wounds on return' for a few of them and pretend I'm being merciful and not just a easy fix to a fuckup.

As for how far south the enemy aces are, below Eberding

Oh also I'll get a post out after I get something to eat. So, probably twoish hours as I cook something for myself.

Deciding to first check in on the person you think could be responsible, you decide to speak with Gaspard Botrel, the logistics officer directly under you who manages supplies for aircraft parts, bullets, bombs, engines...Everything down to even the boots and scarves the pilots have. He was someone that slipped under the radar, perhaps for good reason, perhaps not. Still, you decide to meet him and knock on his office door. Swiftly, you hear the sound of a chair moving before the door is opened, and Botrel is clearly a bit surprised to see you.

"Miss Valmont! I was not expecting to see you. I figured a pilot was going to request something, not you...I take it this isn't purely a social meeting, as much as I wish it was, is it?" He seems actually a bit happy to see you, rather than upset.

"Actually it is more of a social call. I simply wish to talk to you about a few things, if you don't mind.' You respond, seeing him smile a fair bit as he steps out of the door and gestures to let you enter his office.

"Come right ahead in then! I'm glad you have put aside some time to speak with me! I can understand why you haven't however. The pilots need more morale than officers like me. Logistics may be the unsung heroes who keep the engine of war fueled and properly working, but while our job is fairly boring it is very comfortable compared to what those in the air or god forbid the trenches have to go through." He soon goes back to his desk, opens up a drawer, and takes out a lighter and two cigarettes, handing one to you. "I don't know if you smoke or not, but I feel it is good manners...Despite the relative calm of my position I usually am quite stressed about the war..." After saying this, he sighs before he speaks quite a bit about one of those worries.

"Specifically my younger brother and two sisters... The former, Noel, got shot in the stomach and leg for his trouble and was re-assigned behind lines after he healed as his wounds made him unfit for frontline combat. Luckily I was able to meet him in the hospital while he was still there. Got him some Daloyaume chocolate as a gift. It's his favorite, and really brightened his day...My sisters though, they didn't have to join but...they did, and they are pilots. Both got in the same Escadron too, 8e "Fées". They have had to deal with a dreadful new aircraft of late. I'm glad the two both have managed to survive unscathed though. Well, mostly. Wimarca did have a crash landing that left her bruised not too long ago, but otherwise she's fine..." He gives a pause after saying all this and realizes he just spouted all of this out without even being asked or really prompted. With a bit of awkwardness he swiftly adds "Sorry, I...I suppose I should have let you ask something of me first before I just tell you things you might not be too interested in...I guess I'm just a bit eager to speak with someone for anything other than requisitions, logistical forms or delays..."

"It's fine, don't worry about it." You reassure him, and he seems to let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you...As I said, I've simply been stuck speaking about nothing but my job, logistics, for months it feels like...It feels like the only time I ever get any interaction otherwise is when I'm telling you bad news." he says a bit somberly, and gives a slightly sad laugh with his last comment. Though, after this, he lights the cigarette he had before looking to you and the cigarette he handed you, seemingly wanting a confirmation or decline of the cigarette.

(Pick one)
>Accept the cigarette
>Decline the cigarette

(Pick as many or as few as you want)
>Ask about the mans family.
>Ask about what else worries him.
>Ask about the murders and what he knows of them.
>Ask about what he did before joining the army, if anything
>Ask about something else... (Write in)

>>5400771
>>Decline the cigarette
>Ask about something else... (Write in)
Daloyaume Chocolate. Where did he found it?
If inconclusive, speak about missing screwdrivers, and in order to be thorough, any idea who could have abscond with among a list of people.

>>5400771
> Accept the cigarette
> Agree about asking about the Chocalate

Will wait for another post or two. Also surprised you are only asking about the chocolate.

>>5400771
>Accept the cigarette

I'm not really interesting in characterizing Helene as being a smoker so much as I am just wondering about the brand and flavour of it, maybe it'll be a clue or something obscure where "this brand of cigarette is only sold in this one village in Dayolaume" or something funny like that.

Just be be polite and take a few breaths in and let it burn itself out.

>Ask about the chocolate, where'd he get it, what brand was it, is he fond of chocolate himself, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or white chocolate, blah blah blah, etc, etc.

Could be important in connecting some of the dots.

>Ask about the mans family.

"I'm surprised your brother survived a stomach wound, he is lucky to be alive. Medical technology must have come a long way. I hope he's well."

Chat a little more in general about his family overall.

Maybe have that lead into if his family was always a military family or if they had a family profession or if they did all sorts of different jobs...

>Ask about what he did before joining the army, if anything

>How is he personally doing? It doesn't seem like he has had many people to talk to given he enthusiasm for a chat and his social awkwardness. Is he writing letters to anyone special back home, some childhood sweetheart perhaps?

This is both to boost his morale and make it seem like we care but also to get some insight into his love life. I have no idea what is the motivation for the murders but given the recurring aspect of the victims being soldiers and prostitues, lovers of soldiers and such I wonder if he hates prostitutes or soldiers or if he was cuckolded by soldier or something.

>Ask about what else worries him.

Any general worries or specific issues he wants to bring up?

>Ask him about the missing screwdrivers and anyone who could've absconded with them or has been hanging around the planes at the place and time where they are maintained or has been visiting the logistics peoples work spaces a lot.

Make it seem like just general concern for theft of military property.

>Ask about the murders and what he knows of them.

Make it seem like we are just gossiping and chatting up some rumours in order to have something to talk about since most of what we both do is paper pushing and planning and things get boring. Don't tip our hand just yet.

Sorry for being late.

>>5400771
>Ask about the murders and what he knows of them.

Then, when we find him, we can grant him amnesty if he infiltrates the foe, finds the families of their aces, and murders them. Of course when he comes back he gets executed to tie up loose ends and for plausible deniability. I mean, no civilized nation would EVER do something like that! Never!

With the cigarette offered, you simply take it and let Botrel light it. You put it to your lips and after taking a drag cough a bit. The flavor is a bit hard to put down, given you don't really smoke, though it's certainly herbal and potent. With your inexperience, Botrel simply says "I take it you don't smoke often." To which you simply nod in response.

"Yes, I don't...I must ask though, where exactly did you get the chocolate? Given their country was invaded I doubt there's much in production right now." You ask casually, trying to only seem interested in perhaps getting some yourself rather than the real reason behind your question.

"Oh, it was actually quite difficult. I had to go to a number of stores across the country but with the war there was none. I ended up going to Damlaas and searching there where I found some. Luckily the place never got conquered, and while it took a while I did find a place that sold it. Cost quite a bit though, given the war driving down supply significantly. Still I would say it was worth it in order to get Noel's spirits up. Certainly worked like a charm. He honestly didn't think anyone would be able to visit him other than the nurses and doctors." He smiles a bit as he seems to reminisce about the event, though you swiftly move to ask further about his family.

"I'm surprised your brother survived a stomach wound, he's lucky to be alive...I suppose medical technology has come leaps and bounds in the past few years. I hope he is well though...You mentioned your sisters though, how exactly have they been doing? Or the rest of your family for that matter?" You inquire to which Botrel swiftly responds.

"Yes, it was quite lucky. Both rounds that struck him were from an officers pistol. And despite the wound he managed to ride back with the rest of the unit most of the way before collapsing, where upon he was taken behind the lines after a bit of front line first aid. Apparently, his leg got infected, and while I feared they might chop it off, he was able to recover decently. He's mostly recovered now, as it's been eight months since he was wounded, though he can't walk or run like he used to, and needs some assistance still. Ideally he'll not be bound to using a cane everywhere he walks, but apparently a lot of muscle was damaged from the bullet to the leg...As for my sisters, Well, Wimarca is doing quite well. She might become an ace even! She'd got plenty of experience, given how she's actually managed to survive even the latest birds the enemy has sent up, but I still worry for her. She joined up with the army at the start of the war, but requested transfer to the air corps shortly after miss Guilloux got in the news. Amabilis, my other sister, similarly joined with the army, though she took a bit longer to join the air corps...She's...a bit bull headed and I'm concerned she'll get herself killed. But, ideally Wimarca will keep her in check. She has since Amabilis was born after all..."

He gives a slight pause thinking for a bit before adding "I'm unsure what exactly my mother has been up to. I wouldn't be surprised if she's trying to do some pro war activism and push more people to enlist. My father I'm fairly sure is doing what he can to support the war as well. He's a manager at a munitions factory, and while he wanted to join the army he was declined on account of his age and eyesight. Combined with the fact his work is fairly important. I have a few cousins who I'm not really in too much touch with, as well as my grand parents, but like with my mother I'm unsure what they are up to at this moment in time. I suppose I will need to write them a letter or similar and check in on them if I can..." He seems a bit lost in thought after saying this, his mind clearly going to what to potentially write and who to write to first.

"So, what history does your family have with the military?" You ask after a bit of silence, to keep the conversation going. Snapping Botrel out of his thoughts.

"Oh, it's fairly prominent. Over the years my family has volunteered to join the army whenever a major conflict has arisen between Gallonia and her enemies, all the way back to the time of kings ruling over us. Though, none ever joined the army outside of times of war. Even if none were ever conscripted...When at peace, my family has had a variety of work. Though for the past few generations it's mostly been factories as managers, clerks, and occasionally mechanics. I believe one cousin who moved to the CSA, Jacob, is becoming an electrician though. Or was. I'm not sure how the war has changed things for him and if he volunteered or if he's stayed overseas." Botrel says before taking a drag of his own cigarette.

"Alright...Well, how are you doing? You mentioned you've not had many to talk to outside of logistics...Have you had anyone to write to other than family perhaps? Maybe good friends or childhood sweethearts?" You ask with curiosity, though a part of you worries that last part might give Botrel a wrong idea or two.

"Oh, I've just been busy...I mean, it's understandable. It is war after all and war runs on the rifles, bullets, and food brought to the front. But still...It's tiring when everyone asks you for logistical forms, or to order replacement parts and so on and never just...take the time to talk...No one really talks to me outside of business really. Or to pass on information to you. I suppose letters have helped, and while I don't really have anyone I'd consider a childhood sweet heart, I certainly have plenty of friends and family to write to. Of late with the losses and increased supplies though, I've had less and less time for such things though..." He seems a bit somber speaking about this... Although he does add after a pause "It could be worse though. The Escadre has great food after all. I'm especially thankful for mr Girardot when he's around. Blanc's expert chief. But it's rare Blanc is based near our HQ..."

"Well, I'm glad you have good food at least. I take it the main issue is you just don't have much time to relax then?" You ask hoping to potentially have a fix for his little issue.

"It's only part of it. Another is just...I suppose I don't just want to talk to someone out of the blue...No one approaches me, but I don't want to just randomly start up a conversation with someone else...I think you can understand. I know there's an easy fix but I don't want to make things weird or awkward with anyone..." He gives a sigh after this. And you give a knowing nod.

"Is anything else bothering you though? You mentioned plenty of things have you worried after all." A simple question, but one that ideally would show a lot.

"Well, I mentioned my brother and sisters. I am concerned for the latter's safety more than the formers as he's recovered and will be behind the lines from now on, but still...Other than them, the war in general really, alongside the murders. I want Gallonia to come out strong from this war, and some of the decisions the politicians and generals have made leave me questioning. Gallonia has a smaller population than Prußenmark. Yes, the Kingdom of Vitulia, the United Principalities, and Varuskie help offset the numbers disadvantage, but adding more enemies and alienating our allies to an extent and neutral powers doesn't help this disadvantage. Nor does widening the front. I know you supported it for some reason. I presume for your father and funding. But...I'm worried. Imagine if the CSA joined Prußenmark? Or Kartiia? I'd not be surprised if Bulģhakia joined the war on their side due to their conflicts with Illyrpsja not three years ago. And Elada while divided on who they support have certainly become far more split of late what with our recent actions...At least we didn't do something incredibly foolish like invade Sveiterland..." He seems genuinely concerned, from what you can tell. Which is good. Though, his mention of the murders aids your movement to the next point you wanted to bring up...

"You mentioned your worry about the murders, and I don't know how much you know about them, but I'm curios what your thoughts are on it." You ask with clear curiosity before focusing intently on what he has to say.

"I honestly hate the fact that it might be a member of logistics. I have reports that a number of screwdrivers have been reported as missing. Ones believed to have been taken and used for such a foul action...I've been spoken to by a number of people about what I know and for files relating to missing items and from what I know I'm afraid it might be a pilot, engineer or one of my own staff doing these horrible things. I've not been informed too much outside of what is reported in the news outside that it's been narrowed down a fair bit. But it just..." He pauses before sighing and continuing "I hate the fact that someone under my supervision could be responsible. And I'd have no way of knowing...I pray it isn't anyone from my section though..."

Interesting, so he's spoken to others about potential involvement...Maybe that is part of why he isn't a suspect? Regardless, he soon continues, saying "A few important things were found out though, unrelated to the case however. It was found going through the long, long, long list of forums, papers, and similar bureaucratic work... Stuff we were told to burry...Apparently, miss Guilloux isn't actually miss Guilloux. I wasn't able to read much but apparently that is just an alias, and she wasn't even born in the country...I feel this is of some importance to share to you. Just...don't inform anyone else, if you would be so kind..."

Well, this was unexpected...

(Pick as many or as few as you want)
>Ask how exactly he got that last bit of information and what lead to it's discovery.
>Probe further about his knowledge of the murders.
>Casually chat a bit more about his interests and hobbies.
>Bid Botrel farewell, as you now need to do other things.
>Ask or talk about something else (Write in).

(Sorry about the delay. I hope this massive post makes up for it a bit.)

>>5403496
>>Ask how exactly he got that last bit of information and what lead to it's discovery.
>>Probe further about his knowledge of the murders.

>>5403496
>Ask how exactly he got that last bit of information and what lead to it's discovery.
Or rather who told him to bury the information. Remember, the Dreyfus affair was not too long ago.
>Casually chat a bit more about his interests and hobbies.
>Ask or talk about something else (Write in).
Not much socializing in the Officer's Mess? Sounds like it needs to be run like a Pretan Mess.

>>5403496
>Ask how exactly he got that last bit of information and what lead to it's discovery.
>Probe further about his knowledge of the murders.


When we are mostly done with talk of the murders...
>Casually chat a bit more about his interests and hobbies.

and supporting >>5403895 write in.

>>5403496
>>Ask how exactly he got that last bit of information and what lead to it's discovery.
>>Probe further about his knowledge of the murders.
>>Casually chat a bit more about his interests and hobbies.

>>5403895
>Dreyfus affair
This isn't the real world

"How exactly did you manage to get this information on Guilloux? What even lead to it's discovery?!" You swiftly ask with a fair bit of confusion.

"Essentially, it boils down to personnel files. Apparently, just before the war she tried getting admitted to the Air Corps, however was denied due to her height and to a far lesser extent her weight being far too great. As you are well aware she is taller than most men. Apparently, some how or some way, she was accepted later on, likely through bribery or the use of connections, and this lead down to a bit of a rabbit hole for myself and the intelligence community. Of course, I only have access to the more military records. But in the investigation I was ordered to undertake I was able to hear and come privy to some snippets. Like Guilloux not actually being Gallonian, simply due to a comment that she should be in the foreign legion. Due to her reputation and prestige, along with I believe the only technical crime she did was getting into the air corps when she shouldn't have been able to, the information was to be left in the dark. Ordered by intelligence operatives who ordered me to do the search in the first place. I wish I could tell you more, given you are my superior commander, however I don't have access to government records from the civilian sector like they do...Though I suppose if you wanted to you could ask her about it...Though, technically I'm unsure if those in intelligence want anyone to know about it outside those directly involved. Something I accidently managed to end up as." He states the last bit with a little worry, though the rest of what he stated was fairly calm and collected.

"I'll keep it in mind. Thank you, Botrel...Though, all of this was to try and get information to discover more about the murders possibly, correct?" You ask swiftly, to which he nods.

"Yes, the original intent was to potentially find information pertaining to the murders. The screwdrivers missing being an example of the possibility it's a member of maintenance, logistics or even a pilot. Unfortunately, nothing too much was discovered outside of the fact that no horses or vehicles went missing during the times the murderers occurred, meaning that the one who did it had to do so on foot or had to take a minor diversion while transporting materials before hand. There are some who's delays match up with the murders, some more likely than others due to their routes. But, nothing that can solidify who's done it. I'm not sure how much knowledge you have on the situation. Honestly, probably more than me, but I hope this helps you if you plan on trying to do some detective work yourself. I'd not be surprised if you managed to do the job for the intelligence folks, given what happened a bit over ten years ago now." He seems a bit hopeful, potentially that you'd solve this issue that's joined the others that worries him.

"Once again, thank you. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do their job like you think I might be able to, but I appreciate your confidence and trust in me. On a more bright note, what exactly are your hobbies? I've not really seen you do too much outside of your work. And I'm unsure what you like to do in your free time." You ask politely, Botrel seemingly quite pleased that he gets to talk about what he enjoys doing.

"Oh, I quite enjoy reading with a nice cup of coffee or tea. I did a bit of writing too before the war started, though it was more for practice purposes than anything particularly worthwhile. I do hope I can make a work of literary art in the future though. Some works I've thought about are speculative fiction about the future, but I am unsure at this moment in time. Another thing I quite like is a small skill my grandfather taught me. Whittling. I'm not the best, certainly not as good as my grandfather, but it's nice. Something I wish I could do but never got the chance to is learn how to play some musical instrument, perhaps a piano. A good walk during a sunny day or night is also quite enjoyable, as is watching the rain. I suppose my interests aren't too unique or special, mostly just more artistic sorts of things. But it is what I like." He says fairly cheerfully.

"What sorts of books specifically do you enjoy?" You ask trying to get a better feel for what he might be interested in.

"Oh, most books really. Non fiction and fiction both are quite good provided they are well written but I personally must admit I prefer the latter more often, especially if it's a non fictional work fitting of an adventure, such as a depiction of exploration of a real place, like Terra Nova or some mysterious mountains in Asu. Though, there is one amazing work that is a bit of a blend of both, making you question if it's just the characters superstition or actual supernatural going on's following a Pretan expedition through Vesperia Internal Waters, where one of the members of the expedition is actually working against it, and they never explicitly confirm or deny if the superstition's are true and they are utilizing some sort of foul magic or not. Though I personally have a bit of a soft spot for Abmerykian literature, I feel most of their works are quite... I'm not sure how to put it. But they feel less restrained and more free and individualist. Along with quite willing to experiment. In a way I feel it's also more honest. As they don't just paint everything as perfect." He quietly seems to ponder what else to say, and after a bit of discussion on literature and he mentions a few books he quite likes. Soon after he asks that which you are fond of before eventually you find a good chance to say something you wanted to.

"Speaking of, given you haven't had much socializing in the officer's mess, I think it also needs to be run more like that of a Pretan one!" You say such fairly jovially, and it gets a laugh out of Botrel.

"If it was like a Pretan one I bet I'd be begging for silence! But yes. I know I likely should speak to some others rather than wait for them to come to me. Perhaps I should speak to a few Pretan's if I ever get the chance to. I'd not be surprised if they are far more friendly and approachable than some of our own. Then again, I'd not be surprised if they try and poke fun at us as well given our previous history with them." The conversations seem to have left him in quite the good mood. Which is nice. It seems to have helped him at any rate.

(Write in as many as you want, otherwise I think now's a good time to move on.)
>Slowly wind down the conversation and prepare to visit Rouge or Vert (Pick who of rouge you speak to first, or if you want to speak to l'As.)
>(Write in)

>>5404184
"S-Speculative fiction? You mean like Jules Vern and...what's that Pretan man's name...Wells something, something about metals that make you float and aliens from other worlds waging war on us? That sort of thing? Hah, imagine that, our Air Corps would send them packing back to Mars in no time."

"Abmerykian literature more free? I'm not so sure, give it a couple of decades and I'm sure time will reveal that there are certain lines they aren't willing to cross that Gallonia will allow through the presses. There is no country more blessed with freedom then our very own country, I'm sure of it."

Maybe express that we are regretful we didn't hop on the detective novel bandwagon when it first started, had we read Leroux, Lupin and Herlock Sholmes perhaps we'd have already solved these murders.

Maybe reveal with some trepidation that we tried to do some writing or painting of our own but no one liked it. We don't really know how to explain our tastes but people from the future might recognize it as something modern-IC people might find weird, like some surrealist writing or expressionist painting or something. Maybe something to do with our anxieties caused by the war or the feeling of leading people but not fighting ourselves or something.

>Slowly wind down the conversation and prepare to visit Haydée Marchal

>>5404186
>Slowly wind down the conversation and prepare to visit Rouge
> See Haydee Marchal first

With the conversation winding down, you ask a bit further about his interest in literature and slowly bring the conversation to a close. The mention of how the air corps would send any alien invaders packing getting a laugh from Botrel, though the question of what lines Abmerykian literature wouldn't cross is one that gets Botrel thinking, but he would express how he hadn't much else in mind for how to explain it. Still, after a while the conversation would end with you bidding him farewell, and him likewise matching in high spirits. After this though, you prepare for a trip to Rouge's air base. Something that would be a sizable boost to morale, and something that would ideally get a far greater deal of information as to who is responsible for the detestable actions that have been committed behind the lines. The trip is a moderately short one, by train at least. And following a modest trip on motor car. The arrival is one unannounced in advance, but bound to be a pleasant surprise. You make your way into the main building on the air base before many notice you though.

When you go to visit the Commandant of Rogue, you find swiftly that she is at her office, and knocking at the door, she simply says "Come in..." before you are able to see she is writing a letter, not fully focused on you. Going over to her, she puts her pen down and looks at you before swiftly standing up and giving a salute.

"Lieutenant-colonel! I was not informed of your arrival! What brings you here?" Haydée asks with a bit of surprise. Though, looking down you notice what's clearly a letter.

"I simply wish to talk about some things and visit your Escadron. I feel it's necessary given some things." You say calmly before sitting down yourself. Interestingly Marchal seems a bit worried and is swift to respond.

"Is it about the losses, ma'am? The performance of the Escadron? I was actually writing a letter about one, if you were curios..." She'd turn the paper over so you could read it, and slides it across the desk into sight. Looking over it, it's clear that the letter in question is one of condolence to the family of one of the pilots under her service who went missing in action. After this, she simply sighed, before adding "I wish none of this happened...Aude's death, that is. I feel she was a better leader than I was, certainly far more charismatic, and...I miss her. I was happy to be her subordinate, not so much her replacement...I'm sure you didn't come here to listen to my regrets though..."

"I can understand the feeling. She was a fine ace and commander and it was a shame she was slain by our enemies supporters..." You state with a bit of somberness. Lucie Maret was the only Commandant left who was with the Escadre since the start of the war...Well, the only one who wasn't promoted anyway. "But yes, I've come here for other reasons..."

You certainly had a fair bit to talk about. Though how you would start was it's own question.

(Pick as many or as few as desired.)
>Ask Haydée how she's managing as a Commandant
>Ask Haydée about Rogue and how things with the Escadron are going.
>Ask Haydée about her thoughts on the pilots under her and what they have been up to.
>Ask Haydée about what she knows about the murders.
>Ask Haydée what she has been up to for a while and about herself.
>Ask Haydée about something else. (Write in)

(Bit short, but I think it's decent as a springboard to the fun stuff)

>>5404825
>Ask Haydée about Rogue and how things with the Escadron are going.
>Ask Haydée about her thoughts on the pilots under her and what they have been up to.
>Ask Haydée about her thoughts on the pilots under her and what they have been up to.
Be blunt that her squadron is under suspicion.

>>5404825
>Ask Haydée about Rogue and how things with the Escadron are going.
>Ask Haydée about her thoughts on the pilots under her and what they have been up to.
>Ask Haydée about what she knows about the murders.

Business first, we need to know more of the details of the comings and goings of her escadron if we are to catch the killer.

We'll chat more casually with her afterwards, it may even give her a degree of plot armour perhaps, wouldn't that be something...