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B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th!
By Len "Viking1" HjalmarsonTIP: Transferring a Crew Member
Unfortunately, the B17 manual doesn’t tell you how to make a crew transfer.
First, identify the officer you wish to transfer using the crew file in the SCO’s office. His performance should be above average or good.
To make a transfer from one bomber to another, first proceed to examine your bomber via the SCO office window or the Operations Room window. Select your bomber from the list in the jeep. Hit ESC when you get to your bomber and you will find yourself looking at the hood of your jeep with three folders.
Next open the Crew Management File, and assign the officer you wish to replace to Ground Duty. The officer will now appear in the Crew Replacement File. Exit back to the list in the jeep, and select the bomber where the officer you wish to transfer is serving. Hit ESC again when you reach the bomber.
When you arrive back at the hood of the jeep, select the Crew Management File and ground the officer you wish to obtain. He will be transferred to the Crew Replacement File. Now exit again and go back to the jeep to select your own bomber. Hit ESC and arrive back at the jeep, and this time select the Crew Replacement File.
Find the officer you want on your crew, and click in the blank box of the position you desire him to fill. The Ground Duty box will go blank. This officer is now on your crew!
After you fly a mission, you will have to take care of transfers and rest any men whose morale is very low, assigning them to ground duty. As SCO, you also have to read the mission mail, which will include information on strategic priorities as well as evaluating your performance and assigning decorations and promotions. You’ll use this information to adjust your targeting strategy and even your crew assignments.This image shows BDA for the target area. As you can see, the bombs did not fall on target.
Originally the design plans for B17 included the ability to add custom markings to the bomber, and mission markings were to appear after each flight. The latter feature isn’t likely to be added at this stage, but the custom logos may yet be enabled by a utility that is practically ready to go.
If you are only in the game to get to the target, you may not find B17 a very compelling experience. Hitting the ENTER key to time-skip your way to the goal line is not conducive to immersion in the game, but on the long flights will save you hours. If you try out the different crew positions and man the guns when the bad guys arrive, and if you live the life aboard the Fort and get to know your crew over a half dozen missions or so, you will start to feel differently when Bob Strang doesn’t make it home. There is plenty here to keep you involved.
