terms for morale / bravery

[dglewwe]

not a serious issue: just looking for some brainstorming help from the group.

i have an (optional) morale rating in my game that can be used to modify the actions of pilots so that a single player doesn't have an unrealistic control of more than one aircraft. it would reflect / represent the bravery of a pilot...though i think his level of "gung-ho"-ness would be a better description of the quality being rated: along the lines of the poor neophite mentioned in the beginning of the movie "Blue Max" (can't recall the name offhand) whom Fabian said was "too keen" and ended up an early casualty.

JFL, i'd like to have a different term for each nationality. "elan" comes to mind for the French, and i was considering "pluck" for the British...but i can't think of anything for the Germans. anyone have any ideas?

like i said: no big deal...just thought it might make a good weekend trifle.

[Romani]

dglewe,

A great idea! I too have had similar thoughts specially when you read about "hunnish behaviour" , "french timidity" .. etc. The fact is that it that it took a lot of courage to fly in these machines, and that usually it is overlooked pyschological strain of flying alone (for scouts), with no communication (no radio), without the contagious example of comrades (buddy group factor) or the coaction of a higher ranking leader.

To this we add the certain knowledge of oneself's own mortality, no armor for the pilot, the fear of the fuel catching fire, and last but not least the factor of not having a parachute to bail out if things go awry.

All of these explain the poor performance and lack of aggressiveness and scores of squadrons wich didn't have a leader to show the way, the reluctance of many a fighter pilot to press on the attack against the defensive fire of an alert observer in a 2-seater, the panic that gripped formations when attacked by surprise, even if they outnumbered the attackers, and the reluctance to give battle if not having a clear advantage, either in position, numbers or technical qualities, to name a few. To wich we can add things like the "Triplane Terror" that gripped German airmen when confronted with the Sopwith Triplane, or that balloons were considered very dangerous targets wich were attacked only by the cold calculating experts or the reckless.

Yes! Certainly moral factors have to be considered. Usually a flight didn't fight to the last airplane, but tried to break contact as soon as things started to go badly for their side. There's no point in fighting once caught at a disadvantage, the sensible thing to do is to flee to live to fight another day.


One thing I hve also noted is that 2-seater crews tended to have a higher "morale breaking point", and would push on with their mission braving dangers that would make scout pilots turn back. In part this comes from their more demanding orders received, typically "flew over grid XYZ and don't come back without photos of the trenches there / having spotted for artillery / dropped bombs" . Having read about the way bomber raids were conducted in the Second Worldwide Unpleasantness, this too is simply a matter of: "if you don't accomplish the mission today, you will have to try again tomorrow"

Also, a pilot in a 2-seater has the moral support and incentive of being responsible for his observer.

So yes, in addition to the usual skill/experience rating, for example Green, Experienced, Veteran, Ace, there should be a morale rating to reflect aggressiveness or steadfastness, for example:

Fearless, Confident, Reluctant, Cowardly


So a novice full of aggression and dreams of glory could be Green-Fearless, while a burnout ace that has been too much time at the front could be classed as Ace-Reluctant

PS: As for a german word, I asked a German friend,
Willensstärke but keep looking

[dglewwe]

"...in addition to the usual skill/experience rating...there should be a morale rating to reflect aggressiveness or steadfastness..."

agreed. i also distinguish between flying and shooting skills as well as experience: different combinations of the three (four, if morale is included) can create interesting individuals that lend more of a storytelling nature to the games by giving the pilots a bit more personality.

like the other three characteristics, the morale rating would be a numerical modifier (everything for a game has to be squished into a usable form!) that would --along with experience-- affect whether a too-eager pilot would go off on his own to win the war (and most likely a posthumous award...) or a timid fellow would miss the signal to attack (because he was busy looking for something he dropped in the cockpit...?).

my game doesn't give players complete control, and this rule / facet injects a little more of the chaos --and resultant risk-- that i feel is an important part of establishing the mood of a dogfight.


"As for a german word...Willensstärke "

possible...i'm hoping for something that has the feel of unjustified bravery: the sort of thing that will get you in trouble more often than not.


thanks for the reply!

[shackleton]

I think the first world war slang term for a courageous, brave and perhaps foolhardy pilot was a fireeater ( I think Yeats uses that in Winged Victory)

How about 'Blutlust'.

The German equivalent of a fire eater is Feurschlucker.

Die Moral is the German for morale so virtually the same word would do for the French, English and German.

[dglewwe]

"Die Moral is the German for morale so virtually the same word would do for the French, English and German."

agreed. i'd prefer to use something, however, that communicates the potential rashness --more like the "foolhardy" you mentioned.


"The German equivalent of a fire eater is Feurschlucker."

i'd like to avoid straight translations and stick to idioms. "pluck", for example, has a certian meaning (at least to me...) that doesn't really translate directly --nor does "elan" carry its special connotation outside its use by the french.

i was just wondering if there was a similar term used by germans to describe that sort of misty-eyed (non-thinking) glory-seeking.

[shackleton]

There is the scandinavian word used in the old Norse sagas for the sort of reckless and ruthless bravery - beserkers

[Catfish]

Hello,
i only accidentally read this thread, but maybe another word of continuing attack against the odds, put together with some daring, could be "draufgaengerisch" - coming from "Draufgaenger" like daredevil or go-getter, or if attacking without holding anything back would be "Hitzkopf", like hothead, hotspur or spitfire.

Imho the word "Blutlust" is wrong, because this implies a direct lust for killing someone, and see him die. While this happens on the ground during a battle even from the battles of the greek hoplites until the Gulf war(s) I would say this seldomly applies for those early aviators, even if the urge to get a higher "score" was seemingly common on all sides.

But there is also anger against another pilot attacking you, even more if the first attack was not realized in time - certainly only if you survived the first strafe ...

Greetings,
Catfish

[dglewwe]

"...maybe another word ...could be "draufgaengerisch" - coming from "Draufgaenger" ...or ..."Hitzkopf", like hothead, hotspur or spitfire."

thanks for the suggestions. it would appear from the responses that there were no idiomatic words/phrases used by the Germans. i don't want to use just a straight-up definition --sort of defeats the purpose of the thing-- but it seems that's all i have to work with. unless i use some mile-long word as an inside joke...? dunno.

[Catfish]

Hello,
maybe the term you look for is something like "esprit de corps" (?).
Germany had strong bonds to England, due to the Kaiser and the royal family, but it was "chic" and elegant in Germany to use french terms for all kinds of things ("wilhelminian style"), so "esprit de corps", "pour le mérite" etc. etc, were quite common, especially in the military.
Greetings,
Catfish

[dglewwe]

i agree that there are plenty of terms / words i could use. i was really hoping that someone knew of one that was of common usage that would be recognized / understood as readily as "pluck" or "elan", rather than to choose one myself and impose it on the game. oh well...like i said: no biggie.

thanks to all for the responses.