For those of you who didn’t read my earlier post on aerial wargaming, I am embarking on a solo play narrative campaign of Too Fat Lardies’ Bag the Hun ruleset accompanied by the campaign rules found in Squadron Forward. Today we are going to set up the basic cast of characters, this may expand over the campaign but at the outset we will follow eight brave (fictional) US Naval Aviators in the Pacific Theatre. These pilot profiles were randomly rolled from tables found in Squadron Forward. Most of these pilots have been inspired by friends from the Ultramodern Wargaming Discord server where I originally posted the idea and had people ask to be involved. Names have been changed (well one is pretty on the nose). Without further discussion read on to meet the cast of characters.

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Lt. Evan Richards

We start with the leader of our small band of pilots. He is the shameless self-insert into the campaign. He also by chance happened to roll up a Veteran skill level as well as a Crack Shot special trait. The Veteran skill level will lend him some aid here and there and the Crack Shot skill will allow him to roll an extra dice when firing on the enemy.

Squadron Forward has you roll up three factors to form a character for a game, some of these contain boons or penalties for campaign related actions. First of these is their Personality type, Lt Richards rolled ‘Optimistic’ which actually lends him a hand when dealing with other characters in the campaign. An example of this might be petitioning a senior officer for newer planes.

Next to be rolled for is the characters Motivation. This is what drives their actions. These are vague enough to leave some room for an interesting RPG type storytelling. Our fictional Evan rolled ‘Government’ which for our campaign means he is motivated by loyalty to his country, a noble motivation for a military man.

Finally is a characters Background. These all allow bonuses for non-game actions when dealing with different groups of people. ‘Up From the Ranks’ was the result this time. This means that Lt. Richards has climbed his way through the Navy to his position, which confers a bonus when dealing with enlisted men.

Additionally I have used a custom roll to determine a pre-allocated amount of kills. I’ll be using these to inform upgrades of the pilot’s skill level over time during the campaign. Since the campaign is not starting on day one of the war there was a chance some of our characters could have seen combat before the start, Evan is one of those.

In review:
Lt Evan Richards
Veteran Pilot – 2 kills
‘Crack Shot’ Skill
‘Optimistic’ Personality
‘Government’ Motivation
‘Up from the Ranks’ Background

Lieutenant Evan Richards is always upbeat and optimistic. His attitude makes him easy to get along with. Enlisted men find extra reason to like him as he’s a rare officer who started in their ranks. He was motivated to join the Navy out of school to serve his country as so many others had only a few years earlier in the Great War. Richards has been flying longer than many of his squadron peers and as such is a respected veteran, and wildly known as an excellent shot in the air. Proof of his skill is no doubt found in his two kills acrued during the the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Ens. Ben Wilson
Average Pilot – 2 kills
‘Daring’ Personality
‘Position’ Motivation
‘Average Joe’ Background

Ensign Ben Wilson is the typical fighter pilot. His daring personality no doubt led him to the successes he has already had earlier in the war. Fueled by his success he is motivated to further his position by becoming an ace and one of the best pilots in the fleet. Among his peers his story is typical, a Naval Academy graduate of the 1930s Ben chose to take the “brown shoe” approach to the US Navy.

Ens. Dan Fletcher
Average Pilot – 1 kill
‘Foolhardy’ Personality
‘Hedonism’ Motivation
‘Military Family’ Background

Ensign Dan Fletcher might best be described as the squadron’s party boy. Dan lives for the celebrations and port calls associated with life aboard a ship. Some consider his relaxed attitude foolhardy, and indeed that attitude makes him a poor wing man (one of the Squadron Forward rules). Perhaps the lackadaisical attitude comes from the fact that Dan comes from a military family, and despite his following the tradition he has always chafed against the strict discipline of his household growing up. Despite that his “live for the day” attitude brought him success at the Battle of the Coral Sea where he claimed one kill.

Ens. Mike Charge
Average Pilot – 0 kills
‘Jovial’ Personality
‘Engineering’ Motivation
‘Privileged’ Background

Ensign Mike Charge is the good natured son of a wealthy English businessman who immigrated to America in the late 19th century to find new opportunities. A likeable chap, Charge is an analytical mind and is likely to be found in the hangar decks helping tinker with the aircraft. With family connections he had no issue getting an appointment to the Naval Acamedy in the 1930s, where engineering was his primary concern. Yet he found himself drawn to flying machines and now finds himself at the sharp end of the proverbial stick in the Pacific.

Ltjg Calvin Digty
Average Pilot – 1 kill
‘Liberal’ Personality
‘Revenge’ Motivation
‘Average Joe’ Background.

A 1930s graduate of Annapolis, Lieutenant Junior Grade Calvin Digty is likable amongst his peers. An easygoing and liberal attitude to life makes him easy to get along with and lends itself to his position as a leader in the squadron. Known for his eye-rolling puns his positive atttiude masks a darker side brought on from his experiences at Coral Sea. His best friend and then wingman was shot down and killed, and Calvin has vowed revenge on the Japanese in turn. His single kill was not enough to satiate his desires, leading him on a personal mission to down as many enemy planes as he can.

Ens. Vincent Priest
Rookie Pilot – 0 kills Speed Demon skill.
‘Egotistical’ Personality
‘Family’ Motivation
‘Privileged’ Background

Everything is bigger in Texas they say, and certainly this rings true for the personality of Ensign Vincent Priest. New to the squadron his ego has already made itself well known. From a wealthy Texas oil family he is here to add “war hero” to the list of titles in his family, and he knows he will. Before the Navy Vincent had a penchant for racing automobiles and as such is an addict for speed. (Functionally this means he add one to his speed roll in Bag the Hun. This may very likely to be to his own detriment but alas he’s gotta go fast.)

Ens. Paul Paulson
Rookie Pilot – 0 kills
‘Obnoxious’ Personality
‘Wealth’ Motivation
‘Average Joe’ Background

Ensign Paul Paulson is obnoxious. A rookie in the squadron he constantly talks about his plans to “make it big” after the war. Money is the name of the game for Paulson and he constantly attempts to get others in on some sort of gambling action to maximize his gain while at sea. A 1940 graduate of the Naval Academy Paulson was raised in a poor family that struggled through the Great Depression. Among his peers that often come from privilege he’s perhaps overcompensating in his desire to look and act successful.

Ens. Dick Blanchard
Average Pilot – 0 kills
‘Evil’ Personality
‘Alcohol’ Motivation
‘Military Family’ Background

Everyone calls Ensign Dick Blanchard “Bastard”. Not to his face of course, although he knows about his nickname. Dick doesn’t care though. He’s here to kill the enemy plain and simple. A tough man from rural Montana, Dick Blanchard lives to fight and drink. His father was a veteran of ground combat in the Great War who spent his evenings with a bottle, and Dick is on a path to be no different. A hard person to work with, rumors even abound that Dick shot at a Japanese pilot in his parachute, no one has any proof though.

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There you have it, our cast of eight brave pilots provided by the random tables in Squadron Forward with a little narrative fleshing out from yours truly. Join me again in the next prelude article where I will discuss how the campaign functions, the narrative background, some assumptions we will be making and the few tweaks we will be making to historical events (after all the point is to have a good time and make a good story!)

-Evan