A Potential Recruit.....warning long read.

[Reggie]

Hi All, 

Thanks for your responses in the chat window - as per FoolTrottel's advice I am starting a thread to introduce myself, tell you all a few things about myself and why I am here - and lets see what happens. Apologies straight off for the long post. I thought this may be the best room for it, if not apologies again

Who am I and what is my history in sims and IL2?

So, I am 45 years old, living in the UK since 2001, but originally from Zimbabwe. Married with 2 children - and I brought my own woman, I didn't steal one of yours so don't hate me for that 😉 

Have been flying flight sims since 2000 (MSCFS) and was in an old European Air War squad before original IL2 came along. I joined the Tangmere Pilots in July 2002 and have been with them ever since. I have been heavily involved with TP and have built and run both their website and forum since 2010. http://www.tangmerepilots.co.uk/ and http://www.tangmerepilots.co.uk/NewForum/ for anyone interested. I am not looking to come here and take over anything related to your website or forum - it is fine as it is 👍

So - with 18 years of history with a group in which I am very heavily involved and invested, why am I here you may ask?

Simple answer is I am considering a move to a new home. Hopefully on good terms,  the focus and chemistry of the modern Tangmere Pilots is not what I loved and joined it for any more. I still have many good friends there, but do not look forward to the weekly campaign as I used to, and do not feel I fit as I used after several new recruits in the last year of so have drastically changed the chemistry.  I have not made this public knowledge to them at the moment, and will not do so until I believe I have found a good fit. I am sure you can understand why. 

I am very fortunate in that I am fairly well kitted out for IL2 GBS including VR and am an adequate virtual pilot - not an ace by any means. I am not hugely into full real simply because I don't like full real navigating on these maps. I do enjoy both public servers and private server campaign co-op missions which is probably where I get most of my enjoyment. 

What am I looking for?

In short a bunch of people who love the game, respect the history and the men and women who served and honour them through the campaigns and game they play, have fun together and get on well with each other and recognise real life is a real thing and has to come before the game. In a phrase a community who has fun and cares for each other and respects the memory of those we pretend to be when we jump into the virtual cockpits we fly in. Maybe delve into a few other games with like minded people too - fps, space flight, whatever goes. 

What am I hoping for from Danger Dogz?

I am not sure how your recruitment process works. I am hoping you would be open to giving me a go, run me through any competency tests you usually give new recruits (unless that involves relations with a sheep that could be construed as unusual) and maybe let me fly with you a few times over the summer to see if we may be a good fit for each other? You need to feel I fit with your community obviously, and I am looking for a long term home so need to feel comfortable I have found it before I fully commit. 

I hope that all makes sense, please feel free to ask me any questions, otherwise, I will wait to hear from you

[Crash]

Competency test??? Really? HERE? We are a very informal group. No C.O. No saluting. In general we make it up as we go along and are in it for FUN. We have pilots who mainly fly Axis or Allied. Some are more into bombing/ground attack and others who prefer taking on fighters. We use mods usually to make things slightly harder eg map showing only your aircraft or limited icons but non are compulsary. We use Teamspeak and sometimes separate the sides but not always Fens P38 campaign has no minimap or speedbar but your plane IS on the big map and is great fun. There have been issues with Pats generator not recording what happened. Attendance is whenever you want and you wont get kicked out if you miss nights. Try us , you may like us

[FoolTrottel]

 

No! Not another one!!  

 

Welcome Dave!

Thanks for the introduction ... 

To me it sounds like you will fit in, you do check all the boxes, being over 18 years of age! Oh, yeah, and the tone of your post as well ... 

 

 

[Painless]

Nope ! This man is far too sensible, honest and likeable. 😉

[Friar]

Welcome, no I am not from Wales, bit of a long story but as a group we had a practice known as "S.H.E.E.P" which stood for "Sufficient Height Emergency Exit Procedure"  Before entering SHEEP you need to be inverted, travelling at the correct speed with the correct angle of attack, but as I say, we are more experienced now and dont often find the need to get into a SHEEP.

I am the squad Chaplin (in name only). I come from the Priory of ST Oleg (if you are an old IL2 er, that name should ring bells, similar to Brother Andrew on a sunday morning.)

The Sisters of the Priory are a friendly bunch and are often sent round on birthdays etc.

Should you step out of line, we can call on Sister Johnathan for "re-alignment" training.

We do not require you to pass any flight skills test to gain entry.

We just ask that you have an open mind (some of the banter on TS can get a bit weird), you treat people with respect, have fun when we are flying and just turn up whenever you can. We all know real life gets in the way sometimes and it wont be held against you.

Out of courtesy if you have put your name down for an event that you are then not able to attend, a quick note in the forum is welcomed.

Above all, have fun, watch out for Painless and say good bye to your self esteem.

Welcome. 

[Sid]

Come and put a toe into the water....it's lovely.

99.9% of us are in the Dogz because of the lack of formality, tests etc. I say 99.9 because Painless isn't always sure if he's all together, FT is Dutch, Sweper is from Sweden and the Canadian contingent are more than one complete person each. I think that's all the discrepancies... 

[Jabo]

Sorry that you've decided to move on from your original squad, but rest assured, you're more than welcome here if you decide to stay.

As you might have gathered, things around here are fairly...well...'informal' to say the least.

In game our realism settings are pretty relaxed although it is preferred if you don't use the minimap radar to call out targets BVR. Most of us fly either icons off or really short but for navigation purposes the majority have the plane on the map - no-one's that keen on getting lost deep in enemy territory. We do though have complex engine management on so you'll need your throttle, pitch, mixture and radiators set up for the planes that require it.

Our dedicated GBS nights are Sunday and Tuesday evenings starting around 8:00pm for 2-3 hours or until people get bored. This Sunday though is a campaign session but if you've done some P-38 flying you could definitely join in with that if you wanted to. In addition, the Dogz GBS dogfight server is up 24/7 (mostly) and a quick note in the chatbox will often find people willing to fly. I'll PM you our teamspeak server details so you can join in the chat too. If you're also into flying DCS, then Mondays and Thursdays are the dedicated nights for that.

As the guys have mentioned, there's no barrier to entry and the only requirements are to get involved and have fun.

Cheers

Jabo

[DD_Arthur]

2 hours ago, Sid said:

, FT is Dutch, Sweper is from Sweden and the Canadian contingent are more than one complete person each. I think that's all the discrepancies... 

Don't forget our Americans, our Croatians....and our fart jokes......

[Painless]

11 hours ago, DD_Arthur said:

Don't forget our Americans, our Croatians....and our fart jokes......

OLD fart jokes ? (Colin) 🤪

[Reggie]

Thanks guys, appreciate the warm welcome, you definitely sound like a great bunch with a great sense of humour going on between you. As I said to Jabo in response to him pm, I am looking at 2 potential squads over the summer, you chaps and one other, both of you are very different in how you operate as they are full real, full military role play almost, something tells me the decision is going to be a tough one 🙁

By the way, if Dave is a problem - as I know it is too common, comes with being born a peasant  I suppose - I blame my parents. You can always call me "Reggie" - that doesn't clash with anyone else so much, or "Amanda" if you have had a few pints too many, I have heard I look remarkably attractive after a few pints 😀

I am fine with full game complexity and have a fair amount of time in full real - just a terrible navigator. I do sort of understand that the pointy bit with the big spinny thingy on it is the direction you are going in, and if the spinny bit stops spinning something is wrong, but that's about it....

Have never tried DCS to be honest, the price they charge for aircraft and the prolific bugs the chaps in my current group are constantly moaning about have kept me away for now, but after my forays into Elite Dangerous, I never say never any more 🤔

[Crash]

You cant have too many Daves . DO NOT let Painless call you Amanda. He might get carried away

[FoolTrottel]

53 minutes ago, Reggie said:

(...)

 and if the spinny bit stops spinning something is wrong, but that's about it....

(...)

Very Cool, you are ignoring all Jets... very cool

[Friar]

You will soon come to realise that once you have become a DangerDog and get to prefix your tag with DD_Reggie, that is it, you are in for life. The Eagles wrote a song about us, ..."you can check out, but you can never leave..."

Dont let all this banter fool you, we can switch it off and fly a serious mission if the need calls for it.

[Sid]

6 hours ago, Reggie said:

You can always call me "Reggie" - that doesn't clash with anyone else so much, or "Amanda" if you have had a few pints too many, I have heard I look remarkably attractive after a few pints 😀

 

I'm happy with Reggie although my daughter in law has a tortoise called Reggie so maybe Amanda...oh no, that's my sister in law's name....

I think I will wait to see what happens when you fly and wait for a nickname to emerge.

[Painless]

 “As I said to Jabo in response to him pm, I am looking at 2 potential squads over the summer, you chaps and one other, both of you are very different in how you operate as they are full real, full military role play almost, something tells me the decision is going to be a tough one 🙁”

I have heard that this other squad are all degenerates and only days away from being arrested and charged for Hamster related crimes ! Something to think about ?

[Pooka]

If I had to decide between taking orders or having a fun time....  wouldn't take me long.

[Reggie]

Hey all, just checking how your mission went last night. Based on the feedback it sounds like it went well

Just looking at the post by DD_Fenrir here http://dangerdogz.com/forums/topic/13668-pwcg-p-38-lightning-strikes-co-op-campaign/?do=findComment&comment=139790 you only fly campaign missions once every 2 weeks rather than every Sunday - is that correct or am I missing/misunderstanding something?

[Pooka]

It is set up to fly Sunday one week, the Tuesday the following week and then back to Sunday again.  It started as such.. 31May Sun    09Jun Tues,  14Jun Sun and so.  The open dates on Sun and Tues we fly various Coops.   So we always fly on Sunday and Tues but the PWCG P -38 campaign is flown every other Sun and Tues. 

Have I confused you know more so ?

[FoolTrottel]

Check the Calendar:

Calendar

[DD_Fenrir]

1 hour ago, Reggie said:

Hey all, just checking how your mission went last night. Based on the feedback it sounds like it went well

Just looking at the post by DD_Fenrir here http://dangerdogz.com/forums/topic/13668-pwcg-p-38-lightning-strikes-co-op-campaign/?do=findComment&comment=139790 you only fly campaign missions once every 2 weeks rather than every Sunday - is that correct or am I missing/misunderstanding something?

Hey Reggie,

Welcome to the pound!

Next P-38 Campaign mission is Tuesday 21st July; if you'd like to take part just shout and I'll get you assigned to one of the squadrons.

[BluBear]

Welcome Reggie, by the sounds of it you'll fit in just fine around here. I see most of the warnings about certain members have already been mentioned.

We don't do parade drill, ranks, saluting and all that jazz here, it gets in the way of the fun. We do however take things seriously when required for the benefit of immersion; Fen's P-38 campaign for example.

[Reggie]

20 hours ago, DD_Fenrir said:

Hey Reggie,

Welcome to the pound!

Next P-38 Campaign mission is Tuesday 21st July; if you'd like to take part just shout and I'll get you assigned to one of the squadrons.

Hey Fenrir, yes please if you could that would be great. I will jump into the next P38 mission with you guys and see how we get on. 

I will be doing a campaign op with the "other chaps" - who seem to carry out criminal activities with Hamsters according to Painless on Sunday this week to give them a try 👍

[Reggie]

21 hours ago, FoolTrottel said:

Check the Calendar:

Calendar

The calendar is empty - at least for me it is 🤔

[FoolTrottel]

Oops ... sorry, never realized it has specific permissions on it!

 

[DD_Fenrir]

3 hours ago, Reggie said:

Hey Fenrir, yes please if you could that would be great. I will jump into the next P38 mission with you guys and see how we get on. 

I will be doing a campaign op with the "other chaps" - who seem to carry out criminal activities with Hamsters according to Painless on Sunday this week to give them a try 👍

Excellent!

Be sure to be in TS before 2100BST on the night so I know to allow an airframe for you. You'll be David Reginald for admin purposes if that's ok?

There's some skin packs we'd like you to d/l so you can be dressed appropriately. They're linked in the 1st post  of the Campaign thread, which is worth a read if you haven't already read it: http://dangerdogz.com/forums/topic/13668-pwcg-p-38-lightning-strikes-co-op-campaign/