Well, in a moment of weakness Evan exploited me into ramping up to a demo game/ solo campaign start of Bag the Hun. It started innocently enough with him probing my defenses asking me to pick a year and country. 1941, Italy. Next thing I know my phone is blowing up with charts and demands that I fill out my flight of four Italian aviators of the 22º Autonomous Ground Fighter Group.

Evan knows I am defenseless when I comes to exotic World War II forces. Eastern Front Italians fit the bill perfectly. When he sent me the plane my boys would be flying… it was game over.

The Saetta is so Orky I couldn’t help but fall in love with it. The bright yellow engine cowling called to me. Now from my basic understanding of Italian aircraft on the eastern front is that, despite its name, the Lightning was rather slow with a top speed 313 miles per hour. However it was very nimble and excelled in the dive. Unfortunately it was underpowered and underarmed. The Saetta was used as a fighter and a ground attack aircraft due to it’s sturdy metal airframe construction. It flew more sorties than any other Italian aircraft in WWII. The M.C. 200 seemed like a rather solid workhorse of an airplane for my Bag the Hun squadron.

The 22º Autonomous Ground Fighter Group was broken down into 4 Squadrons (Squadriglia) the 359ª, 362ª, 369ª and the 371ª. In the second week of August 1941 the 22º was relocated to the airport at Tudora Romania. Their aircraft were painted in ochre and green camouflage with a yellow band behind the cockpit, yellow engine cowlings, and yellow lower edge of the wings.

With my aircraft, squadron, area, and date of operations selected I began the fun part of creating my four airmen. Lucky for me Evan was nice enough to send me all the necessary charts from Squadron Forward (and an Italian name generator) that I needed to set up my group. Their experience level, personality trait, motivation, and background were randomly generated using the Squadron Forward tables. I really enjoyed creating them randomly as it gives an interesting and unexpected dynamic between the squadron members. After I found out what each aviator was like I gave them some backstory to really push my immersion into the game. So without further adu, or further rambling, I present my four pilots of the 369ª Squadriglia part of the 22º Autonomous Ground Fighter Group.

Squadron Leader – Didimo Monzo

• Rank: Maggiore (Major)
• Age: 27
• Experience: Veteran
• Personality Trait: Likable
• Motivation: Government
• Background: Military Family

Born on the outskirts of Rome Didimo was the son of an Italian Army Major. Ever since he was a boy he dreamed of flying, but his father made sure it was in service to the Crown. A career airman, he has flown with the Regia Aeronautica since 1932. He is a veteran of the Abyssinian conflict and just recently he flew in invasion of Greece. He recorded 3 kills including one Hellenic PZL.24 fighter, one Henschel Hs 126 reconnaissance plane, and his most impressive kill being one of Greece’s top of the line Bloch MB.150 fighters.

All three planes were downed during interception sorties. He has recently been promoted to a squadron leader and he is well liked and respected by his peers and superiors.

Flight Lead – Gervasio Piccirilli

• Rank: Capitano (Captain)
• Age: 24
• Experience: Sprog
• Personality Trait: Aggressive
• Motivation: Artist

The son of a painter Gervasio was a professional ballet dancer before joining the Regia Aeronautica. While he is a less experienced pilot, he has earned a reputation as a cut throat flyer welding his aircraft as nimbly as a dancer on fire. His aggressive and skillful flying has earned him a promotion to Flight Leader. He has an appreciation for the arts and is usually found listening to his classic record collection in the officers club. Most of the time he is able to ignore the jeering of the other officers in the club who he has concluded are uncultured neanderthals.

Section Pilot – Dalmazio Chiodo

• Rank: Tenente (First Lieutenant)
• Age: 22
• Experience: Regular
• Traits: Optimistic
• Motivation: Position

Despite his short stature Dalamazio has a bright outlook on the on the expansion of the Italian Empire and what it means for his family’s shipping business. He lives for rivalry and while he’s liked enough by his peers, Dalamazio has been known to push the limits of his friendships to rise in the ranks. A competent pilot and veteran of the Abasinian and Greek Campaigns Dalamazio is conflicted. He can’t help but put his eye on his best friend Gervassio’s flight lead spot. He dreams of the Chiodo name being a household name for fighter aces just as his father’s business, Chiodo Expedited, is synonymous for delivering freight on time. Unfortunately for Dalamazio he has a long way to go to ace status as he has yet to shoot down an enemy plane by himself.

Section Pilot – Ulisse Facchini

• Rank: Tenente (First Lieutenant)
• Age: 25
• Experience: Regular
• Personality Trait: Corrupt
• Motivation: Avarice

No one knows who the squadron pissed off in order for 25 year old Ulisse Facchini to be sent to them. Ulisse is a replacement for Ulderico Galati, Didimo’s close friend, who was shot down over Greece in the closing days of the campaign. Rumor has it that Ulisse was born on the streets of Rome and he became a street urchin at a young age. Truth be told he was orphaned at a young age. Ulisse was deeply resentful of his upbringing and he grew to be jealous of people who had a normal childhood. While he is an experienced pilot, in fact a prior Flight Leader, he was known to have stolen from his previous squadron’s officers’ club. His theft earned him a demotion to the rank of Tenente and he was sent to Monzo’s squadron in the hopes he would be straightened out by the hard pressing military man. He has yet to score an aerial kill although there is another rumor amongst the men that he stabbed one of his previous ground crewmen after all of his machine guns seized in a one sided dog fight with a Hellenic Avro 626.

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Evan here. I finally got Ben on the hook for some tiny planes. We’re going to do the demo game soon but for now I rolled up four motley Russian pilots. If you aren’t familiar with the history of the air war during Operation Barbarossa the Soviet air forces (VVS) did not have a good time. I’m ready to guide Ben through a demo game and see if he can trump my four pilots in their trusty I-16 “Ishak” fighters!