Airborne drops

[kato13]

bigehauser 08-23-2008, 01:46 AM A is for Airborne

I is for Airborne

R is for Airborne

B is for Airborne

O is for Airborne

R is for Airborne

N is for Airborne

E is for Airborne


Airborne!


Airborne!!


AIRRRBORNE!!!


AIRBORNE!



Anyone ever done an Airborne drop in their games? Or something similar in coolness?


-Hauser

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Targan 08-23-2008, 08:41 AM Anyone ever done an Airborne drop in their games? Or something similar in coolness?The PCs in my current campaign are nearing the end of the "Armies of the Night" module and in late January 2001 in the game one of the PCs, a USN SEAL Lt Cdr, and an NPC USN SEAL CPO conducted a nighttime LALO jump from a helicopter into one of the reservoirs in Central Park, breaking through the ice and swimming submerged to the shore start point of a foot recce. I'm the GM in the campaign and even I was impressed by the audacity of it, and further impressed that the PC involved didn't stuff up any important skill task rolls during the mission. The two SEALS got into and out of Central Park undetected and didn't bump any hostiles while carrying out their objectives.

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TiggerCCW UK 08-23-2008, 08:48 AM :biggrin: [SIZE=1]Anyone ever done an Airborne drop in their games? Or something similar in coolness?


-Hauser


Coolness? Why would anyone ever jump out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft? If the pilot bails out I'll think about it, definitely not before then :biggrin: :biggrin:


Sorry, force of habit - I used to be a baby bootneck.


I've once used a helicopter in a campaign, and once had the players find a WW2 plane (P-47 Thunderbolt IIRC) that they used to bomb a bridge, but other than that there hasn't been much in the way of airpower in my games. General Pain and the others from his group are probably the most likely ones for this.

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bigehauser 08-23-2008, 09:20 AM :biggrin:


Coolness? Why would anyone ever jump out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft? If the pilot bails out I'll think about it, definitely not before then :biggrin: :biggrin:


Sorry, force of habit - I used to be a baby bootneck.


I've once used a helicopter in a campaign, and once had the players find a WW2 plane (P-47 Thunderbolt IIRC) that they used to bomb a bridge, but other than that there hasn't been much in the way of airpower in my games. General Pain and the others from his group are probably the most likely ones for this.


Hey now, I am going to be jumping from perfectly good aircraft once I PCS from here...so nyah lol.


The PCs in my current campaign are nearing the end of the "Armies of the Night" module and in late January 2001 in the game one of the PCs, a USN SEAL Lt Cdr, and an NPC USN SEAL CPO conducted a nighttime LALO jump from a helicopter into one of the reservoirs in Central Park, breaking through the ice and swimming submerged to the shore start point of a foot recce. I'm the GM in the campaign and even I was impressed by the audacity of it, and further impressed that the PC involved didn't stuff up any important skill task rolls during the mission. The two SEALS got into and out of Central Park undetected and didn't bump any hostiles while carrying out their objectives.



Targan, would that be the campaign on RPol by any chance?

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Targan 08-23-2008, 09:33 AM Targan, would that be the campaign on RPol by any chance?No, face to face campaign running for about eight years of real time now. Fairly gritty, deadly, dark kind of campaign. MajorPo who also posts on this forum is one of my players.

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Hangfire7 08-23-2008, 02:26 PM Yes in 93/94 but we made a campaign where the PCs are a commando type team going after a terrorist group who have an underground complex in the middle east/West Asia who had aquired nukes in conjunction with a rogue former Soviet General who had a plot to get the nukes flying and start a war. It was my way of starting T2K from the very begining of the conflict and letting the ICBMs fly. Of course the PCs failed in their missions and their helo crashed into the sea.


However, your idea has given me another idea.


Zepplins or Blimps used for airborne drops, as well as nighttime resupply of forces behind enemy lines or isolated pockets of troops. Of couse it has to be at night since the blimps are to valuable to use in daylight where they can be more readily observed and targeted.


Have the blimp come to the LZ, they drop a anchore line, then several rapel lines and reinforcements have a longer than normal FAST rope or just rapel down as reinfircments or insertion. As for resupplies, a zip line, put the gear on pallets and nets and slide it out one would off loading a C-130 and let it slide to the ground, I would think it would be a rather fast means of off loading large quantities of equipment and gear and a option to parachutes which I would think may be in short supply, not to mention a on use item in combat operations behind enemy lines.

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copeab 08-23-2008, 05:36 PM Zepplins or Blimps used for airborne drops, as well as nighttime resupply of forces behind enemy lines or isolated pockets of troops. Of couse it has to be at night since the blimps are to valuable to use in daylight where they can be more readily observed and targeted.



A few years ago I did a writeup of a small pulp-era zeppelin for GURPS. It carried 40 soldiers, who could disembark via ropes (like from a helicopter), parachute or, for half of them, board two gliders slung under the zeppelin and perform a "stand off" insertion.


"The troops, similar to a Fallschirmjager platoon but with a 10-man HQ squad (including a 2-man AT-rifle team and 4-man 5cm mortar team) and three 10-man rifle squads, may be deployed in one of three ways. The preferred method, if conditions allow, is to descend to 75-100’ and let the men rappel down ropes hung out of the bottom. Troops may also parachute from the zeppelin; given it’s very slow speed (possibly even hovering) the dispersal of the troops would be much less than if they jumped from an airplane. Finally, up to 20 troops can be deployed via gliders (with 2 men in each squad trained as pilot and co pilot), with the remaining troops rappelling or parachuting. This last method is only used in special situations. "


Brandon

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Hangfire7 08-23-2008, 07:31 PM Cop;


NICE!!!


That is what I was thinking as well. I think also, a blimp is much quieter than a helo or plane and has more stability and greater loiter or even hover time over the target. And with an anchor or two on the ground it can remain rather stable to allow the off loading of equipment.


I am whole heartedly for fast roping, ziplines and rapeling which all can be done for a large number of troops in a very short time. The only thing is the craft needs to remain stationary for about a minute. And then of course for extracting or recovering the gliders they can be skyhooked if its a hot LZ <the movie Green Berets where they extract the NVA Colonel> or they can SPIE rig if the trops need to get out fairly quickly and this also keeps the aircraft aloft and out of to much enemy fire. Again, a blimp would be an expensive weapon you would not want to risk needlessly so I would have to say operations would be within range of freindly lines and his hangar where it can be protected, and where operations do not take them to far over enemy lines where they will risk being spotted and engaged with anti air artillery, or even operating in daylight where they can be spotted and tracked.


But, think of it. The PCs go on a comando mission way behind enemy lines. they are told hit point X and secure the LZ for extraction. However, the PCs know that there have not been working aircraft in years. And then about midnight they see the predetermined signal and they are guiding in a Blimp that lowers down ropes where the PCs attatch their carbiners and winched up into the cabin ever so slowly.

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pmulcahy 08-23-2008, 08:18 PM Never done a drop in any game I played or GMed -- one almost happened, but at the last minute, one of the PC's got proactive and scared up a couple of choppers.


I done real ones, though -- and as much as my airborne self hates to admit it, mass parachute insertions are pretty much obsolete in the modern world. (Panama was an aberration; there simply wasn't much effective ground fire.) Outside of special ops and training, there isn't much use of airborne ops in real life.

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bigehauser 08-23-2008, 08:47 PM Never done a drop in any game I played or GMed -- one almost happened, but at the last minute, one of the PC's got proactive and scared up a couple of choppers.


I done real ones, though -- and as much as my airborne self hates to admit it, mass parachute insertions are pretty much obsolete in the modern world. (Panama was an aberration; there simply wasn't much effective ground fire.) Outside of special ops and training, there isn't much use of airborne ops in real life.


Indeed very true...the way wars seemed to be waged these days, Airborne drops would just be ways of flexing our arms just as the enemy opened up the AAA on us.

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thefusilier 08-24-2008, 02:58 AM Didn't the Airborne drop near Mosul in the Iraq invasion?

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bigehauser 08-24-2008, 04:15 AM The Herd did a drop in Iraq...173rd AB INF BDE

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Headquarters 08-24-2008, 08:18 AM my gameing group and I are selfprofessed heretics in the T2K world-our canon is twisted and warped to make it even more bitter than the official one ,also a few other elements are added making up a game where PCs not only play as warlords for their little or big fief ,but also personally fight battles ,duels,and do the jobs noone must know about ..


They have had industrial capacity that has grown and diminished by skill , war and stupidity etc .


One idea they had to gain airsuperiority was to emulate the third reich in its death throes -pretty much their industrial situation if not their political one -they started projects making emergency fighter planes etc .


They have also had a few parachute insertions from a beat up old DC-3 they had got running and they also resupllied a besieged battalion a few times by air .Among other incidents -there has been dogfights ,bombing and strafing runs and even a PC fatality in aerial combat .


Full spectrum campaign -air,land ,sea and the abyss..space ? maybe...I find half the fun is making the combat about settling a feud that they are deeply involved in .

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pmulcahy 08-24-2008, 09:46 AM The Herd did a drop in Iraq...173rd AB INF BDE


And the Rangers did one on the airfield at Kandahar in Afghanistan. Again, aberrations -- no effective AAA.

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Gen.Lee 08-24-2008, 06:59 PM Re: Zeppelins, I'm told the Germans did a company- or platoon-sized drop from a Zeppelin in 1918 or 1919, in the Baltic Islands. I'm looking for more data, I think it's just kewl!


So, that leaves it as an option to the NA Ozarks fellers, or anyone else who builds a blimp.


I think in at least one Merc:2k game I ran, there was airborne insertion. The players wanted to buy their own plane, so I think I used the stats for the Albatross or a smaller amphibian. There must have been expectation for airdrops after that, anyway.

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Hangfire7 08-24-2008, 07:19 PM Well what was that 60s movie it was similiar to 20,000 leagues beneath the sea, except with a Blimp.


And then there was a movie another 60s flick with that one guy, nuts whats his name? He played d'Artangne in the 3 Musketeers, where a Zepplin was going to raid the crown jewels I think that were hidden in a Casltle in Scotland, it landed a comando unit of German troops and well, it was a interesting movie.


Another good movie was "The Red Tent" that featured a rather large blimp. Imagine if the PCs actualy aquired one. What could they do? Or any group, we are talking tran-Atlantic crossings once more. I am thinking though that such a craft would just be to powerful a weapon for any PCs to have unless you want to make them all powerful operating from a mountain top fortress.

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copeab 08-24-2008, 11:24 PM Re: Zeppelins, I'm told the Germans did a company- or platoon-sized drop from a Zeppelin in 1918 or 1919, in the Baltic Islands. I'm looking for more data, I think it's just kewl!



One distinct advantage a blimp or zeppelin has over a helicopter is that, for a silenct approach, you can simply turn off the engines and drift in with the wind.


Try that with a Chinook


Brandon

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Hangfire7 08-25-2008, 01:33 AM One distinct advantage a blimp or zeppelin has over a helicopter is that, for a silenct approach, you can simply turn off the engines and drift in with the wind.


Try that with a Chinook


Brandon



ARGH!!! Shifting off the engines of a Chinook or Ch-46 normaly results in bad bad baaaaaad things A blimp or zepplin well they still remain aloft without an engine which is a good thing in my book. Chinooks or Ch-46s with engine failure is muy muy malo....been there done that, trust me. And thus my comment about loiter time, or basicaly time on station. If its overcast or cloudy you can shut down the engines and hang out in the clouds all day without reguard to fuel. You can't do that with other craft.

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Mohoender 08-25-2008, 01:48 AM Blimp or Zeppelin still have a serious drawbak in the case of wind. Ask JL Etienne who was preparing a Zeppelin for a north pole expedition. The wind was strong that day (but not at tempest level) and one of my neighbour just received it on his roof.


You might well end at Irkutsk when you want to be at Berlin (especially without engine) and you might still have trouble with the engines on (if your stuff goes 100 miles/h and the wind is 120 you go backward, Oops). You also need large storage house to hold them or they will be blown away some times.

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kota134 09-04-2008, 12:29 AM I run a lot of small 4 hour blocks for the game conventions here in Denver, and one of them, was "Operation Pegasus" from the RDF Sourcebook. Players were one squad from C 1/75 making the first drops in front of the 82nd Airborne. I think its one I can run a couple more times as the scope of the scenario was so large, and my players had a hoot of a time.

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kato13 09-04-2008, 12:50 AM I run a lot of small 4 hour blocks for the game conventions here in Denver, and one of them, was "Operation Pegasus" from the RDF Sourcebook. Players were one squad from C 1/75 making the first drops in front of the 82nd Airborne. I think its one I can run a couple more times as the scope of the scenario was so large, and my players had a hoot of a time.


Welcome to the board someone with a name confusingly close to mine

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Headquarters 09-04-2008, 01:34 AM I run a lot of small 4 hour blocks for the game conventions here in Denver, and one of them, was "Operation Pegasus" from the RDF Sourcebook. Players were one squad from C 1/75 making the first drops in front of the 82nd Airborne. I think its one I can run a couple more times as the scope of the scenario was so large, and my players had a hoot of a time.



to the boards

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chico20854 09-04-2008, 05:17 PM I run a lot of small 4 hour blocks for the game conventions here in Denver, and one of them, was "Operation Pegasus" from the RDF Sourcebook. Players were one squad from C 1/75 making the first drops in front of the 82nd Airborne. I think its one I can run a couple more times as the scope of the scenario was so large, and my players had a hoot of a time.


Welcome, Kota!


It sounds like an exciting fire to jump out of the frying pan into!

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TiggerCCW UK 09-05-2008, 01:40 AM I run a lot of small 4 hour blocks for the game conventions here in Denver, and one of them, was "Operation Pegasus" from the RDF Sourcebook. Players were one squad from C 1/75 making the first drops in front of the 82nd Airborne. I think its one I can run a couple more times as the scope of the scenario was so large, and my players had a hoot of a time.


Welcome to the boards.

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pmulcahy 09-05-2008, 01:36 PM What really made me wonder about Operation Pegasus was the mention in RDF Sourcebook about a reporter filming the drops. To me, that's carrying journalist embedding a little too far!

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