Weapon choice for women.

[Targan]

In my campaign the rules that we were using actually tended to favour female characters in one important area - encumbrance. You see, in Gunmaster/Harnmaster your body mass determines your clothing/armour's size factor, and in the version we were using both your Strength and Endurance stats are used to determine how badly you are affected by the load you are carrying. Sure the female characters tended not to have huge Str stats but their End stats were just as likely to be high as male characters. And the female characters were nearly always the smallest characters in mass so their uniforms and body armour weighed the least. The end result was that (assuming they weren't expected to carry the biggest weapons) they tended to have equal or less encumbrance penalties than most of the male characters.

Then there was Sgt LaToya Martinez. She was the USAF dog handler that Major Po brought into his team at Bremerhaven. She beat the crap out of Po during the mixed martial arts tournament he set up. They were in the same weight class and during their bout she fractured his jaw and knocked him out cold. No one in the party ever questioned her combat abilities after that. She was generally considered to be highly combat-effective. It helped that she was a naturally solidly built lass who came from a fairly rough part of Los Angeles, had six brothers and had worked in her family's tow truck business. She was definitely one of my favourite NPCs to play. She carried a G3 BTW.

[jester]

Christ, it's not like I'm suggesting a 40 kg cheerleader tote around a M134 and a few thousand rounds.

That would be a cool idea for a character or NPC. Make her into a NPC who is a combat monster but also a total girlie girl riight down to keeping her nails manicured and always having fresh lipstick.

She just finished letting loose with a MK 19 blasting a column of infantry with a MK 19 and clearing away empty casings and links only to become depressed,

"I broke a nail!" and then she goes inti "berserker mode" seeking BLOOD!

Oh make her a totaly hot petite suicide girl! Who happens to be a heavy weapons specialist on the side.

[copeab]

That would be a cool idea for a character or NPC. Make her into a NPC who is a combat monster but also a total girlie girl riight down to keeping her nails manicured and always having fresh lipstick.

She just finished letting loose with a MK 19 blasting a column of infantry with a MK 19 and clearing away empty casings and links only to become depressed,

"I broke a nail!" and then she goes inti "berserker mode" seeking BLOOD!

Oh make her a totaly hot petite suicide girl! Who happens to be a heavy weapons specialist on the side.

Ah, that's when I pull out the Macho Women With Guns supplement Bat Winged Bimbos From Hell

[pmulcahy11b]

Seconded .


Plus I have seen some brutally ugly women in the army that looked like they could rip one of my arms off and beat me to death with it ..

(That last one was a joke - I kid.)

Copeab - hope you change your mind about going.

I've met two women in the Army that I think could cut it in the Infantry - 2LT Jackie Treagre and Cadet Diana Stork. Both could do the job, and I wouldn't kick either out of bed (well, maybe LT Treagre -- she's a smoker.) I've met many others I trust with my back in a defensive position. They're out there.

[pmulcahy11b]

That would be a cool idea for a character or NPC. Make her into a NPC who is a combat monster but also a total girlie girl riight down to keeping her nails manicured and always having fresh lipstick.

She just finished letting loose with a MK 19 blasting a column of infantry with a MK 19 and clearing away empty casings and links only to become depressed,

"I broke a nail!" and then she goes inti "berserker mode" seeking BLOOD!

Oh make her a totaly hot petite suicide girl! Who happens to be a heavy weapons specialist on the side.

Reminds me of story in the joke section of my site about forming a "women with PMS" commando corps...

[Matt Wiser]

I had a female SEAL in the old CSU Fresno group: she was explained away as being in a prewar evaluation to see if women could handle being SEALS when the balloon went up; anyway, her preferred weapon was a CAR-15 (M-4 now), but had an MP-5 in the Hummer. And a SiG-Sauer 226 was her pistol.

Speaking of female fighter pilots, my cousin Jacqui is a Hornet-E driver for the USN; she was one of the first female USN combat pilots back in 1994-95. One story from OEF: she was one of the first over the beach in a C model, and they were hitting Kandahar airfield the first night. Someone sees a Taliban AF MiG-21 taxiing to the runway (they had a dozen or so airworthy MiGs and Sukhois until that night), and several Hornets began jockeying into position, hoping to jump the MiG as he takes off. But her CO (ex A-6 driver) puts a laser bomb into the -21 just as he reaches the runway. Too bad: if the CO had let the MiG get airborne, there would've been OEF's only air-to-air engagement....and some lucky guy or gal would've taken a scalp that night.

As for snipers: there were female snipers in the Red Army beginning in 1941, and all the way to the end. Plus tank crews, line medics (who also carried weapons and used them), combat aircrew, and so on. The only two female aces in the world were Soviet: One had 12, the other 10. Both were KIA.

[jester]

Matt, think of it this way, had that bandit gotten airborne with ALOT of hot to trot naval pilots wanting a scalp, imagine more than one letting loose with their amram or sidewinders. 1 target and multiple missiles and lots of freindlies. Thats what comes to my mind.

Ivan also had female mortar crews firing the 82mms and larger, their gear was hauled via horse drawn wagon.

The Sov female pilots were called "The Night Witches" they flew mostly at night in antiquated aircraft. And most if not all their kills were on "other" aircraft like scout planes <piper cub type> transports and cripples trying to make it home. But mostly they did night time bombing runs on the Germans. Did a report on em once for college.

As for female SEALs, my crew in the barracks routinely had a female SEAL, I based her on Dana Delany of China Beach fame, mmmmmmmm, hotness back in the day. She hefted a Glock 20 in 10mm and a MP 5 in 10mm as well, she beat the hell out of one of the PCs or was it two Who wanted the team to go with the .40 cal. After they were laying on the ground bleeding she pulled out the conversion kit for her lucky SMG, she was not about to part with "her" lucky SMG.

Alas, she was killed when their helo crashed at sea as they were returning from their mission. A Marine Helo don't ya know. She had taken a couple serious hits and was still in the metal stretcher when the helo hit the water. And none of the idiots on her team tried to save her. Then again what could I expect from retards from the 3rd Bn!

[Targan]

I had a female SEAL in the old CSU Fresno group: she was explained away as being in a prewar evaluation to see if women could handle being SEALS when the balloon went up; anyway, her preferred weapon was a CAR-15 (M-4 now), but had an MP-5 in the Hummer. And a SiG-Sauer 226 was her pistol.

I remember you having posted about that character before. If you happen to still have her write-up somewhere and would be prepared to post it, I for one would love to see it. An excellent drop-in NPC for any T2K campaign IMO.

Speaking of female fighter pilots, my cousin Jacqui is a Hornet-E driver for the USN; she was one of the first female USN combat pilots back in 1994-95. One story from OEF: she was one of the first over the beach in a C model, and they were hitting Kandahar airfield the first night. Someone sees a Taliban AF MiG-21 taxiing to the runway (they had a dozen or so airworthy MiGs and Sukhois until that night), and several Hornets began jockeying into position, hoping to jump the MiG as he takes off. But her CO (ex A-6 driver) puts a laser bomb into the -21 just as he reaches the runway. Too bad: if the CO had let the MiG get airborne, there would've been OEF's only air-to-air engagement....and some lucky guy or gal would've taken a scalp that night.

Respect to your cousin! Cool story.

[Targan]

As for female SEALs, my crew in the barracks routinely had a female SEAL, I based her on Dana Delany of China Beach fame, mmmmmmmm, hotness back in the day.

Hotness back in the day I saw an ad on TV the other day for Desperate Housewives and realised that Dana Delany is now in that series (I've never watched it). She's still looking pretty fine.

[Legbreaker]

Mmmmmmm, Dana....

Somebody pass me something to wipe up the drool.

[Targan]

Somebody pass me something to wipe up the drool.

*Hands Legbreaker rumpled, torn out pages from the 2.2 combat rules* Here you go. I won't be needing these.

[copeab]

The Sov female pilots were called "The Night Witches" they flew mostly at night in antiquated aircraft. And most if not all their kills were on "other" aircraft like scout planes <piper cub type> transports and cripples trying to make it home. But mostly they did night time bombing runs on the Germans. Did a report on em once for college.

Well, the Night Witches were one of the all-female Soviet groups. They mostly flew the U-2 (renamed Po-2) biplane on nighttime harassment raids; they didn't do much damage but kept Germans up all night.

Another group flew the Il-2 ground attack planes (usually with male rear gunners). The third group flew medium bombers (the Pe-2, i think),

The only problem I remember the female pilots having was with the Pe-2; it had rather heavy controls and a few female pilots had trouble keeping the stick back for takeoffs. Another crewman (usually a woman and the rear gunner) would grab the pilot and pull back on her for takeoffs, returning to her position once in the air.

[Adm.Lee]

Well, the Night Witches were one of the all-female Soviet groups. They mostly flew the U-2 (renamed Po-2) biplane on nighttime harassment raids; they didn't do much damage but kept Germans up all night.

Another group flew the Il-2 ground attack planes (usually with male rear gunners). The third group flew medium bombers (the Pe-2, i think),

The only problem I remember the female pilots having was with the Pe-2; it had rather heavy controls and a few female pilots had trouble keeping the stick back for takeoffs. Another crewman (usually a woman and the rear gunner) would grab the pilot and pull back on her for takeoffs, returning to her position once in the air.

IIRC there were 3 female air regiments: night harassment Night Witches , light bombers (Pe-2) and a night fighter outfit. There were a few individual daytime fighter pilots, too, notably Lidia Litvak.

[kato13]

Reworked to add "new" wiki links-- Neat!

Aren't they I hope they get traction.

[Matt Wiser]

If I can find the stuff, I certainly will. We were using V. 1's rules. I still know the gal who played the SEAL: she's my girlfriend, and a 2nd LT in the CA ANG. She's currently in F-16 training at Tuscon with the Arizona Guard (which handles F-16 training for the Guard, Reserve, and some foreign operators). Her PC was one tough cookie; and others in the unit called her the Ice Maiden-you didn't try hitting on her.

Actually, the book A Dance with Death, which tells the story of the SAF's female combat pilots, says that the three Regiments were the following: an air-defense fighter unit, a night bomber unit (the famous 46th Guards "Night Witches"), and a Pe-2 dive bomber unit. The latter had a male CO as Marina Raskova, the founder of the unit, was killed in a crash ferrying a new Pe-2 to the Regiment, and no other women could be found who had the needed flight hours in her logbook to be considered for the job. There were also women flying in all-male SAF units, including Il-2s and Tu-2s. The author interviewed a number of surviving vets to tell the story, and she's a former WASP herself.

Jacqui had another story from a 1994-95 deployment (the first one to have women) on Eisenhower: she was flying wing on another Hornet when the lead had to land at a base in Saudi because he was having problems with his oxygen system. So they land, and taxi to the transit ramp (where aircraft on stopovers are parked), and the RSAF ground crews come out. Lead gets out of the plane, takes his helmet off, and shakes hands with the RSAF people. They get to Jacqui's plane, and when she pops the canopy and takes her helmet off, they all were about to have a coronary. These RSAF guys had never seen a female flying a tactical jet. Female pilots in transports, helos, AWACS, etc. in DESERT SHIELD/STORM, yes. But this was the first time they had seen a female fighter pilot. Base CO said "treat her like she's a man", and the two were put up for the night until a repair crew from the carrier arrived the next morning via a C-2 COD aircraft. The RSAF pilots were much more tolerant, as some of them had trained here, and had female USAF flight instructors.