This is something I have legitimately pondered numerous times since falling into this fandom and I'm surprised this is the first instance of such I've yet come across.
This is something I have legitimately pondered numerous times since falling into this fandom and I'm surprised this is the first instance of such I've yet come across.
Read Kanto-o-Celle quest for air-dropped shipgirls, amongst other shenanigans.
This is something I have legitimately pondered numerous times since falling into this fandom and I'm surprised this is the first instance of such I've yet come across.
It's actually a pretty common trope, used way way back in the early days
Hell, there have been other methods like moving them through train and at least I remember one doujin here where the shipgirls use a high speed command ship, can't remember the name but it's the kind that has an inflatable base, and they use it to ram Tenryuu, to get her back on the ship, and a RE, to get her away from the ship
there was another doujin that had the shipgirls using some old tiny military motorcycles to move around in base when needed. Not sure if it was posted here, but the artist had some sample images in their twitter years ago
EDIT Found the page in question, they are using a L-CAC, landing craft air cushion
So what happens when you get your transports shot down mid flight or the parachutes fail for your irreplaceable ship girls.
I mean dropping from a few thousand feet will be ... interesting.
I imagine that the shipgirls would be a bit disoriented. Besides that they’d probably be fine since a shipgirl in her rigging is quite a lot tougher compared to a regular human.
TouToTheHouYo said:
This is something I have legitimately pondered numerous times since falling into this fandom and I'm surprised this is the first instance of such I've yet come across.
dandan said:
It's actually a pretty common trope, used way way back in the early days
Hell, there have been other methods like moving them through train and at least I remember one doujin here where the shipgirls use a high speed command ship, can't remember the name but it's the kind that has an inflatable base, and they use it to ram Tenryuu, to get her back on the ship, and a RE, to get her away from the ship
there was another doujin that had the shipgirls using some old tiny military motorcycles to move around in base when needed. Not sure if it was posted here, but the artist had some sample images in their twitter years ago
EDIT Found the page in question, they are using a L-CAC, landing craft air cushion
In the Belated Battleships fan fic air travel was generally an unpleasant experience for shipgirls. Reason being they were quite literally out of their element. It was speculated that travel by Ekranoplan or ground effect vehicles might be tolerable.
This is something I have legitimately pondered numerous times since falling into this fandom and I'm surprised this is the first instance of such I've yet come across.
Recently I listened to historians discussing airborne tactics, at least in WW2, for being less than ideal if not done right useless. Basically you have your best trained, highly motivated elite troop sent to battlefield by some of the worst pilots. Once the paratroopers landed they would be surrounded, ill-supplied, disorganized, suffered from high causality because the they were completely off the drop zone. One could argue they would have more uses serve as an elite frontline unit. Funny how Ido's gag somehow reflects that. Truly life imitating art.
there was another doujin that had the shipgirls using some old tiny military motorcycles to move around in base when needed. Not sure if it was posted here, but the artist had some sample images in their twitter years ago
I was mistaken, it was not a doujin but a series of vehicle themed pics
Here's Tenryuu riding the vehicle I was thinking about
Recently I listened to historians discussing airborne tactics, at least in WW2, for being less than ideal if not done right useless. Basically you have your best trained, highly motivated elite troop sent to battlefield by some of the worst pilots. Once the paratroopers landed they would be surrounded, ill-supplied, disorganized, suffered from high causality because the they were completely off the drop zone. One could argue they would have more uses serve as an elite frontline unit. Funny how Ido's gag somehow reflects that. Truly life imitating art.
I’d argue that being a paratrooper is serving as an elite frontline unit.
Recently I listened to historians discussing airborne tactics, at least in WW2, for being less than ideal if not done right useless. Basically you have your best trained, highly motivated elite troop sent to battlefield by some of the worst pilots. Once the paratroopers landed they would be surrounded, ill-supplied, disorganized, suffered from high causality because the they were completely off the drop zone.
During the Normandy landings, it was said that the Germans were unable to mount an effective defense against the disorganized nature of the paratroopers' attacks, as skirmishes occurred everywhere and there was no "main axis of attack" to concentrate their forces on.
BTW, the transport aircraft are performing LAPES rather than a standard parachute drop. This technique was first utilized during the Vietnam War.
ALso, there was an online interactive fanfic where the shipgirls were inserted to the operations area by helicopter or Osprey instead of large four-engined aircraft.
During the Normandy landings, it was said that the Germans were unable to mount an effective defense against the disorganized nature of the paratroopers' attacks, as skirmishes occurred everywhere and there was no "main axis of attack" to concentrate their forces on.
It was basically a case of: “Hans, why are the bocages speaking English?”
During the Normandy landings, it was said that the Germans were unable to mount an effective defense against the disorganized nature of the paratroopers' attacks, as skirmishes occurred everywhere and there was no "main axis of attack" to concentrate their forces on.
BTW, the transport aircraft are performing LAPES rather than a standard parachute drop. This technique was first utilized during the Vietnam War.
ALso, there was an online interactive fanfic where the shipgirls were inserted to the operations area by helicopter or Osprey instead of large four-engined aircraft.
Pretty much this. If you have to disperse your army throughout the country-side, you don't really have an army anymore. It becomes a battle of attrition, which tends to work in the favor of an attacker.
As with the Op. Overlord examples, paratroopers are best use as forward skirmishers to weaken defense lines/grids *right before* the main army move in to attack, since they're small in numbers and are no where near supply lines, thus have no staying power to occupied areas/defend against eventual counterattacks.
Shipgirls on aircrafts also raise another problem that's usually got handwaves away : their ,and their riggings weight, which even if able to be lift into the air would cause a lot of tipping on flights.
Recently I listened to historians discussing airborne tactics, at least in WW2, for being less than ideal if not done right useless. Basically you have your best trained, highly motivated elite troop sent to battlefield by some of the worst pilots. Once the paratroopers landed they would be surrounded, ill-supplied, disorganized, suffered from high causality because the they were completely off the drop zone. One could argue they would have more uses serve as an elite frontline unit. Funny how Ido's gag somehow reflects that. Truly life imitating art.
That's why the Germans used gliders in Eben Emael in 1940. The Fort was captured so fast, that the Allies assumed that the Germans used chemical weapons.
Recently I listened to historians discussing airborne tactics, at least in WW2, for being less than ideal if not done right useless. Basically you have your best trained, highly motivated elite troop sent to battlefield by some of the worst pilots. Once the paratroopers landed they would be surrounded, ill-supplied, disorganized, suffered from high causality because the they were completely off the drop zone. One could argue they would have more uses serve as an elite frontline unit.
That's a...curious...conclusion to draw, considering World War II was the last hurrah for large scale airborne drops. Sure, better weather forecast, GPS, and communications, made for more precise landings, but advancements in radar and AA defenses means that a peer opponent would devastate any modern day drops at the scale of Operation Neptune. The conditions that made massed parachute drops viable during WW2 are gone. Nowadays only commando units do parachute drops, and only in small numbers.
Generally, the lesson from WWII is that small-scale airborne operations could be very successful at achieving limited objectives (Eben Emael, Gran Sasso) but large-scale operations either fail or succeed at great cost (Market Garden, Crete). The main factor influencing success is the element of surprise. If objectives could be achieved in a short amount of time and the paratroopers link up with friendly forces shortly thereafter, then all is good. If not, paratroopers are little more than a very underequipped, poorly supported, and generally outnumbered infantry unit cut off from friendly forces and supply lines.
That said, this is something that is less applicable to shipgirls, who are sentient floating artillery batteries.
Generally, the lesson from WWII is that small-scale airborne operations could be very successful at achieving limited objectives (Eben Emael, Gran Sasso) but large-scale operations either fail or succeed at great cost (Market Garden, Crete). The main factor influencing success is the element of surprise. If objectives could be achieved in a short amount of time and the paratroopers link up with friendly forces shortly thereafter, then all is good. If not, paratroopers are little more than a very underequipped, poorly supported, and generally outnumbered infantry unit cut off from friendly forces and supply lines.
Pretty much this and a few more besides Crete and Market Garden. Operation Husky, out of 300 some gliders only one landed on target. The average flight time for each glider pilot is about an hour. And a mention of a smaller scale battle of Dombas, how the Norwegians annihilated a company of German paratroopers. Even for D-Day,everything could go wrong went wrong for the airborne operation. Only the bravery and training of the individuals came through and eventually won the day. I think the comment section got digressed when I called airborne useless. I misspoke. The sentiment is Airborne is high risk high reward in WWII. But the allied already had air supremacy and overwhelming firepower, so is the risk a necessary one to take? Especially the airborne always got the worst pilots(best went to fighters or bombers), therefore often calling the entire operation into question. Anyway, it seems to me Ido actually drops the shipgirls right onto the boss node. If that's case, sign me up, airborne for the win.
OoyodoNow, this is just an idle thought... but wouldn't it be possible for shipgirls to air drop?DROP!!DROP!!Both the enemy Air Corps and the shipgirls have suddenly appeared together!HAH!?Southern Battleship New HimeHah?We've entered into the Enemy-controlled zone.Shipgirls, prepare to drop.We actually did it!!Quick, get into formation!It's a surprise attack!After this, the Abyssal Fleet went on an all-out offensive towards transport aircraft, so the shipgirls were no longer able to be a part of the airborne forces.
