His Majesty's Dragons: World at War

[JimmyTheCannon]

For a minute there I really thought Haakon was ripping Jimmy a new one. I was mentally preparing his counter when I read the rest. :-)

[dragnl0rd]

I figured I'd have to be here longer before I saw a quote worth stealing for my sig. :P

I have to admit, I was actually kinda afraid people would think I was trying to upstage the GM or something.

[rhoenix]

I just think it's hilarious that Franklin's still known for being taciturn due to his breed as a Typhon, even after he just talked a momentous amount of shit to the Cauchedor. ;)

[Comrade Tortoise]

I just think it's hilarious that Franklin's still known for being taciturn due to his breed as a Typhon, even after he just talked a momentous amount of shit to the Cauchedor. ;)

Enraged insults are different from regular talking.

Cyncat, what do you take me for? Of course the radio man speaks english, and a few other languages. The Lt. just delivered the message.

[rhoenix]

Also - Frigid? Charon? We're up to make nice with the Spaniards for their dragon return policy.

I'd have my Captain speak up, but... it would be appropriate, as he just got there. If neither of you do though, Captain Maximilian will be happy to try his hand at diplomacy. ;)

And CT - Franklin wasn't enraged, he was trying to enrage the Cauchedor with insults. So, close enough. ;)

[Cynical Cat]

Cyncat, what do you take me for? Of course the radio man speaks english, and a few other languages. The Lt. just delivered the message.

I take you for the dude who clearly has a guy in his chain of radio communications who doesn't speak English.

[JimmyTheCannon]

Cyncat, what do you take me for? Of course the radio man speaks english, and a few other languages. The Lt. just delivered the message.

Does he speak Yiddish?

[Comrade Tortoise]

Cyncat, what do you take me for? Of course the radio man speaks english, and a few other languages. The Lt. just delivered the message.

I take you for the dude who clearly has a guy in his chain of radio communications who doesn't speak English.

Sure, but not the guy with the headset. I only have about a dozen crew, and the Lingua Franca of europe is, if I am not mistaken, still French. I cannot expect everyone who might need to deliver a message to Haakon on foot to speak english. Someone delivering a message to say, Captain Reynolds, would be one of the few english speakers.

Does he speak Yiddish?

Unless I randomly have a jew as an enlisted man in my crew, no. No one speaks Yiddish. The jewish population of Norway was only a few thousand in 1940, and... well... it is about to get a lot smaller.

[General Havoc]

The jewish population of Norway was only a few thousand in 1940, and... well... it is about to get a lot smaller.

And that's four and a half pages before the first Holocaust comment lands.

Not bad, considering :)

[Comrade Tortoise]

The jewish population of Norway was only a few thousand in 1940, and... well... it is about to get a lot smaller.

And that's four and a half pages before the first Holocaust comment lands.

Not bad, considering :)

What? It DOES get a lot smaller!

At this point, jews are being smuggled across the border into Sweden...

[Charon]

Also - Frigid? Charon? We're up to make nice with the Spaniards for their dragon return policy.

I'd have my Captain speak up, but... it would be appropriate, as he just got there. If neither of you do though, Captain Maximilian will be happy to try his hand at diplomacy. ;)

And CT - Franklin wasn't enraged, he was trying to enrage the Cauchedor with insults. So, close enough. ;)

Probably better to let your commanding officer try his hand at diplomacy first.

[Cynical Cat]

Sure, but not the guy with the headset. I only have about a dozen crew, and the Lingua Franca of europe is, if I am not mistaken, still French.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this time called the Victorian Era, where Britain was at the apex of its power? It's also known as the 19th Century and while French is still widely spoken by the educated, English has been the Lingua Franca for a hundred years. Also using a guy as a runner on an English speaking island who cannot so much as ask for directions or explain himself at any given checkpoint in said language is a poor choice.

[General Havoc]

It is perfectly reasonable for there to be Norwegians in Haakon's crew who do not speak English. Particularly given the circumstances that led to his leaving Norway. What he chooses to do with such men is up to him, but I wouldn't recommend cutting them too far loose on an English speaking base.

On another note:

After much work, and with the invaluable assistance of both Comrade Tortoise and Charon, the wiki's listing for Italian and Turkish breeds has been finally completed. The Turkish dragons are unlikely to come into play immediately, but the Italian ones, given the situation, are probably going to be important fairly soon. I would... suggest at least looking over the vital statistics of the various Italian breeds whenever you have a moment, as they might mean the difference between a victory and a fatal mistake.

[Comrade Tortoise]

What he chooses to do with such men is up to him, but I wouldn't recommend cutting them too far loose on an English speaking base.

Naturally. My impression is that the distance involved to travel in this particular case was no more than a couple hundred yards given that the starting distance to Haakon's "camp" when the brawl began was around 20 yards.

No one is stupid enough to send the guy who does not speak english over to the PX for smokes. However, when the crew is in battle prep (which they were the moment the message was received) you send who you can spare. Bjorn is not there (he is with Haakon), the surgeon is still in prep, the 2nd Lt is comm officer (runner was 3rd), the rest probably dont speak english well, if at all and are enlisted men . The ground crew are enlisted, not officers, and as a result are less educated and less likely to speak english.

The situation may have changed by 1940, but historically, dragon officers were not as well educated as naval officers because they come from the lower classes.

Discounting that, Steinkjer is a small town of about 4k people in 1940, and also at this time is largely agricultural. The people he has to pull from for his ground crew and even most of his flight crew are typically not well educated. Even when you consider the rest of his Dukedom at a population of some 40k. The ones who are well educated, or have been in his service for a long time speak english fluently. He promotes from the enlisted men (remember, he is only secunded to the formal norwegian military), so the third Lt is relatively new by the standards of his officers. The enlisted men are learning english, but they are nowhere near good enough at it to try to relay orders in the language. They are probably at the point where they can ask for directions and exchange pleasantries like a first year language student.

Also keep in mind: Haakon is from a different military tradition, so Jr. Officers like midwingmen dont really exist as a formal rank. Not with a crew this small. The ranks are also analogues.

I did think about how this situation would work before I posted that. It is definitely sub-optimal, but it is also realistic given the situation and time period.

[JimmyTheCannon]

Tuscan Raider? Really?

[rhoenix]

Tuscan Raider? Really?

What? They're from Tuscany, and they're raiders.

[frigidmagi]

They fly in single file to hide their numbers.

[General Havoc]

Tuscan Raider? Really?

Laugh it up, fuzzball!

My Tuscany was here before Lucas'. I might even go down to Tunisia and create a dragon from Tattouine. Yes it's there. Look it up.

[rhoenix]

Are there moisture farms there?

[Comrade Tortoise]

Are there moisture farms there?

Its Tunisia. There really should be.

[LadyTevar]

Gods below... the Italians are crazy. From what I've read the only useful ones are the Centurians and the Decrimators. At least the Tuscans are honest mercenaries. I have to wonder what happens if a Nemesis thinks his captain has slighted him.

The Turkish, on the other hand, are beautiful. I love the image of the Dervish and the Cataphract as partners in the air, and I feel sorry for the fact the Cataphract may die out from their own genetic weakness. The Jannisaries I have no pity for, however, and hope Turkey can get better Heavyweights bred to replace them. Maybe they should start purchasing American breeds ....

As a Historian, the Byzantine history of the Turkish dragons is well-done. It might need to be repeated, however, that Byzantium was already cracking even before the Venetians besieged Constantinople, and the Ottoman victory was more of a mercy-kill of a beast too stupid to know it was dead.

[LadyTevar]

Tuscan Raider? Really?

Laugh it up, fuzzball!

My Tuscany was here before Lucas'. I might even go down to Tunisia and create a dragon from Tattouine. Yes it's there. Look it up.

The Krak Dragon. Very serpentine, with large horns. Finds nice large sand dunes to lay out its deceased upon, so that the bones can be seen for miles.

[Cynical Cat]

The Italian dragons are problematic with trying to match things to real history. Historically, the Renaissance is an era of Italian military weakness and Florence is far from preeminent military in Italy and yet we have two fairly powerful breeds becoming prominent in that region. And what of Milan, the most military powerful city in northern Italy for almost all of Italian history?

Drag queen jokes referencing a fact (Milan being a fashion capital) that is post WW2.

There needs to be some serious surgery on the Italian dragons. If you want, I will do the work.

[JimmyTheCannon]

The Diavollo page doesn't say anything about how they fight...

[General Havoc]

The Italian dragons are problematic with trying to match things to real history. Historically, the Renaissance is an era of Italian military weakness and Florence is far from preeminent military in Italy and yet we have two fairly powerful breeds becoming prominent in that region. And what of Milan, the most military powerful city in northern Italy for almost all of Italian history?

Drag queen jokes referencing a fact (Milan being a fashion capital) that is post WW2.

There needs to be some serious surgery on the Italian dragons. If you want, I will do the work.

Of the two breeds you're referencing, only one comes from Florence, the Diavollo. The Raider is a Lombard dragon that got its start trying to fight off Charlemagne (unsuccessfully). It's native to the entire peninsula, and was used by largely every city in Italy for a thousand years prior to the unification. I only called it the Tuscan Raider because, like Hotfoot, I wish to cause everyone pain with terrible, terrible puns. Because I hate everyone.

As to Milan, I confess, I don't know Milan as well as I know other parts of Italia, but I agree it would be nice to have a Visconti dragon (or some such) running around. If you've ideas on that tone, I'm certainly interested in adding a Milanese breed to the mix. It's all more "fun" for you guys, after all :)

Equally, if you have suggestions for some of the other breeds I posted, particularly in a historical sense, I'm open to them. The history of Italy in the last thousand years or so was um... complicated. Any adjustments that better preserve the history of the region in question are welcome, though I think I will be keeping the basic concepts with the existing Italian breeds