History Roleplay / ExcaliburSquadron

* NewMeat: For the most part, the squadron's newly revived Gold Flight (McTavish, Vegesacke, Eriksfjord, and Abram), whom are forced to act as TheCavalry to rescue the BigDamnHeroes in Operation Highwire.

** Stanford: [[UpToEleven Up to eleven]] doesn't even cover this guys lack of luck. The poor guy can't get a break, even from his writer. Poor Stanford has had three planes shot out from under him and almost bleed to death, in two missions.

*** Operation Guillotine plays this straight with the setting of the mission being turmoil spilt France under German invasion in mid 1940. An interpretation of the title taken [[UpToEleven up to eleven]] can have the squadron being sent in as the French government is decapitated once again in history, but at the hands of a foreign military than its own people.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Simply played straight [[UpToEleven up to eleven]] for the sake of practical convenience: all of the characters' vintage looking dossier photographs are in fact those of real world figures. Examples listed include:

* {{Bayonet Ya}}: Staff Sergeant Smythe really, really likes Bayonets. In fact, since he's also well and truly prepared to use it without the rifle attached, it probably comes into his {{Knife Nut}}-ness as well.

*** Finally, Excalibur Squadron itself. The name refers naturally to the sword of Arthurian legend, but less known is that Excalibur is the (semi-)official symbol of the [[BritsWithBattleships United Kingdom Special Forces]]. The [[http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/sas_badge.gif Special Air Service ]] cap badge is a 'downward pointing Excalibur, wreathed in flames (often incorrectly referred to as a winged dagger)' worn with a Sand beret. The [[http://www.loeser.us/flags/images/england/special_boat_service.gif Special Boat Service]] Cap badge is an upward pointing Excalibur superimposed over waves and oriented with the motto to appear as if it is an anchor, worn with a Commando Green beret. The [[http://www.militaryimages.net/photopost/data/563/SRRCapbadge_800x594.jpg Special Reconaissance Regiment]] Cap badge is an upward-pointing Excalibur with a corinthian helmet superimposed over it and the word 'Reconnaissance', this is worn with an Emerald Grey beret. Finally, the [[http://www.eliteukforces.info/images/sfsg/insignia.gif Special Forces Support Group]] Cap badge is a downward-pointing Excalibur with a red and black lightning bolt superimposed over it, worn with a Maroon (P-Company trained) or Commando Green (Commando trained) beret.

A NationStates RP created by [[http://www.nationstates.net/nation=the_tiger_kingdom The American Tiger Kingdom]]

[[http://http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=191383 Can be found here.]]

** Main protagonist and [[TheLeader leader]] of the titular BadassArmy, Robert John Page has a namesake that is a composite reference on behalf of the musical tastes of his creator; Page shares the first, middle, and last names of ''Robert'' Plant, ''[[OneSteveLimit Johns']]'' Jones and Bonham, and Jimmy ''Page'' - the members of the famous rock band Led Zeppelin.

** “Douglas Stanford” is the product of combining the first and middle names of two period RAF fighter aces: ''Douglas'' Bader and Robert ''Stanford'' Tuck.

** Geoffrey Talbot is also the name of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Talbot a medieval English knight]], while "Talbot" is the name of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talbot an automobile brand]], on par with the character's auto racing career. Additionally, in a rather amusing homage to the character’s [[OfficerAndAGentleman personality]], the Talbot name is also shared with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talbots a chain of women’s clothing stores]].

** Charles Fodder shares the name of a character from ''Clear Skies'', a machinima series based on the sci-fi adventure game ''EVE Online''. Additionally, if one abbreviates his first name, the result is C(annon).Fodder.

** Commander Smollett's surname is taken from Captain Abraham Smollett, of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel Treasure Island.

** Perhaps one of the most odd examples: [[AlliterativeName Sebastian S. Smyth]] is also name of [[http://glee.wikia.com/wiki/Sebastian_Smythe the homosexual villain]] of the musical TV series ''Glee'' after its second season. His creator maintains that this is unintentional, but the jury is still out.

** Carter's [[NamesTheSame name is the same]] with Larry Hovis's character in the World War II comedy series ''Hogans Heroes''; [[http://hh.wikia.com/wiki/Andrew_Carter Technical Sergeant Andrew Carter]], and with [[http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cartean01.shtml a pitcher]] of a much-loved baseball team of his writer, the Philadelphia Phillies.

** Operation Lancer, which takes place at the start of the war in Poland, is a reference to the popularly known aspect of World War II that elite Polish cavalry undertook futile charges in defiance of German tanks. The reality was actually a half-truth with a dose of misinterpretation; a Polish horseback regiment actually did launch a charge in the opening shots of the war, but against a battalion or so of German infantry instead, not a full on armored unit. Despite suffering losses, the Poles came to be successful in driving their dismounted opponents from the field, but were eventually forced to withdraw as the odds came against them. In the aftermath of the battle, a German panzer division swept the area to secure it, bringing platoons of international journalists and reporters along with it. Seeing the corpses of cavalrymen strewn across the field now marked with tank and vehicle tracks, they misinterpreted the sight as the result of courageous but futile Polish defiance against the industrial war machine of the Third Reich - and thus the popular mythos was born.

** Operation Falkland is an overt waving of the operation's Atlantic South American setting, with the British controlled Falkland Islands being in the geographic proximity of the hunt for the German warship Graf Spee.

** The creator's reasoning for this title (which he has gone on record as regretting) was actually pinned on a reference to the Battle of the Falklands in World War One, where the forces of Admiral Graf von Spee were annihilated by the battlecruiser squadron of Admiral Frederick Sturdee. The author, in reflection, thinks that the name of one of the battlecruisers present (Inflexible) would have been a much better name for the operation.

** Operation Guillotine plays this straight with the setting of the mission being turmoil spilt France under German invasion in mid 1940. An interpretation of the title taken [[UpToEleven up to eleven]] can have the squadron being sent in as the French government is decapitated once again in history, but at the hands of a foreign military than its own people.

** Operation Mordred bears the name of the Arthurian character whom betrays Arthur and dies fighting him at the Battle of Camlann. The role-play itself takes place at the height of the Battle of Britain on British soil, with 319's home base at RAF Tempsford under assault by elite German special operations raiders led by none other than Major Konrad.

** Operation Cambyses shares the namesake of the great Persian emperor who expanded his empire into the role-play's primary setting of Egypt and southern North Africa.

** Operation Taurus can sprout many interpretations over the intent of its name due to the fact that the astrological symbol of the bull can mean different things. First off, the physical constellation of Taurus is one of the largest and most prominent in the winter skies of the northern hemisphere, with the annual Taurid meteor shower radiating from the general direction of the constellation in late November - the timeframe of the operation.

** Secondly, the constellation Taurus has strangely come to be accepted as closely associated with various romance and fertility goddesses despite gaps in time and culture; to the Mesopotamians, the Bull of Heaven was linked with Innana, to the Greeks, it was Venus. Here's where things can get a little weird: In the Mesopotamian ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', one of the earliest works of literature, the goddess Ishtar sends Taurus, the Bull of Heaven, to kill Gilgamesh for spurning her advances - one can interpret this as a rather darkly humored joke regarding the strained relationship between Page and Isabelle.

** A much more serious theme could be seen in the ancient Egyptian Taurus, which was associated with the renewal of life and fertility in spring. This was because when the spring equinox entered Taurus, the constellation would become covered by the Sun in the western sky as the season began; thus, one can interpret the use of Taurus in the sense that the squadron, or more specifically, its commander Page, will plunge into a dark winter in its history to be reborn in the spring - which can easily correlate with the latter's captivity in German hands and ultimate rescue weeks later.

** It should be noted that Operation Taurus was also the name of a planned prosecution by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the British police force in Northern Ireland from 1922-2001, against the Sinn Féin (Irish republican) politician Martin McGuinness.

** The creator later revealed, somewhat flattered by the level of analysis demonstrated here and embarrassed by the relative simplicity of his actual reasoning, that the actual line of logic that led to the name was "Spain -> bullfighting -> bulls -> Taurus". There's also some underlying relation to the metaphor of a bullfight to the actual outcome of the operation, with Excalibur being the bull and the SS force the matador. Hes comfortable with any of the other interpretations, however.

** Operation Highwire's decisive meaning can be deciphered simply by glancing at a dictionary: a high wire is a tightrope that is stretched very high above the ground, referencing the climatic hijacking scene in which Noble leads the squadron in breaching the German transport plane carrying their captive comrades mid-air using grappling lines shot from harpoons. It also is a metaphor for a risky job, undertaking, or operation.

** Operation Southern Cross draws its name from the constellation of stars known as the "Crux". This constellation is easily visible from the Southern Hemisphere and it's distinctive shape earns it the commonly used nickname "The Southern Cross". The Southern Cross is most usually associated with Australia, New Zealand and Brazil (appearing on all three national flags) but it also can be associated with South Africa (the host nation for OPERATION: SOUTHERN CROSS) and it's people, particularly the Afrikaans. There is also a small town, located in the Western Cape of South Africa called "Suiderkruis", which, in English, translates to "Southern Cross". [[spoiler:Its also meaningful because Excalibur gets betrayed (i.e., crossed) during the operation.]]

** Finally, Excalibur Squadron itself. The name refers naturally to the sword of Arthurian legend, but less known is that Excalibur is the (semi-)official symbol of the [[BritsWithBattleships United Kingdom Special Forces]]. The [[http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/sas_badge.gif Special Air Service ]] cap badge is a 'downward pointing Excalibur, wreathed in flames (often incorrectly referred to as a winged dagger)' worn with a Sand beret. The [[http://www.loeser.us/flags/images/england/special_boat_service.gif Special Boat Service]] Cap badge is an upward pointing Excalibur superimposed over waves and oriented with the motto to appear as if it is an anchor, worn with a Commando Green beret. The [[http://www.militaryimages.net/photopost/data/563/SRRCapbadge_800x594.jpg Special Reconaissance Regiment]] Cap badge is an upward-pointing Excalibur with a corinthian helmet superimposed over it and the word 'Reconnaissance', this is worn with an Emerald Grey beret. Finally, the [[http://www.eliteukforces.info/images/sfsg/insignia.gif Special Forces Support Group]] Cap badge is a downward-pointing Excalibur with a red and black lightning bolt superimposed over it, worn with a Maroon (P-Company trained) or Commando Green (Commando trained) beret.

** Carter's "Long Shot"
* NewMeat: For the most part, the squadron's newly revived Gold Flight (Carter, Vegesacke, Eriksfjord, and Abram), whom are forced to act as TheCavalry to rescue the BigDamnHeroes in Operation Highwire.

** Carter's appearance is based off American television actor Larry Hovis (''Hogan's Heroes'', ''Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.'')

* ShellshockedVeteran: The whole squadron will inevitably become this, however the process had speeded up regarding Page, Talbot, Pat, and Michael after their brutal ordeals as prisoners of war. Noble grows from an uptight intelligence officer to an active field agent, engaging in the same brutal violence as her male comrades. Talbot does so after a personally insisted reconnaissance wrong ends up killing his copilot, whilst Page, Vegesack, and Carter both do so during the Spanish Civil War. In the case of the latter, the Second Sino-Japanese War ends up making him so.

* SouthAfricanThatIsNotAGirlfriendKiller: Nils De Broen is a slightly obnoxious, but experienced ground fighter and pilot. He has fought in secret colonial bush wars for the Union of SA and he has a personal relationship with Jan Smuts. He uses a lot of 'Saffie' slang.

* {{Badass}}: Pretty much everyone on the squadron's flight roster can make a claim to this trope.

* BritishAccents: Plenty, also including Scottish and Irish variants accents, with one of the most pronounced being Smythe's 'almost unbelievable' Received Pronunciation.
* BritsWithBattleships: 319 Squadron operates under RAF jurisdiction - it's a British military unit. Thus, a large number of its personnel, including its commander will be . . . That should be enough.

* {{Paris}}: The setting of the final showdown of Operation Guillotine: Excalibur is forced to evacuate the city during the very hour that German forces enter it on 14 June, 1940. A fun fact: the city's distinctive ". . . wide boulevards also had the rather unfortunate effect of leaving the city wide open to attacking armies - including [German] tanks - who could use the wide boulevard to march right to the heart of the city."

* SouthAfricansWithSurfaceToAirMissiles: Jonah Mackenzie. [[spoiler:The historical figure Adolph Malan in a future installment of Airman of Fortune.]]

* SwedesWithCoolPlanes: Played straight with Vegesack.

* WrenchWench: Kaya whom serves as the squadron's de facto mechanic.
* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII: The setting.
* YanksWithTanks: Oddly for the fact that the United States has yet to enter the war for another winter, the squadron consists of a rather large number of American personnel, including Pat, Silva, Abrams, Melody, Thibodeaux, and Carter.

* WorldWarII: The setting.

* CoolBoat: HMS Llamrei (formerly TP-2112), a Q-Ship 1st Class, is incredibly cool. It has booze in it, you can sleep in it, it's owned by the SOE, and it's basically a clandestine aircraft carrier. Basically, it's an important fucking boat.

** Noble's is one of the British actress Keira Knightley (Atonement, The Duchess).
** The Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones, Oblivion) serves as Page's.
** Isabelle uses the appearance of the French actress Léa Seydoux (Inglorious Basterds, Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol)
** Carter's appearance is based off American television actor Larry Hovis (Hogan's Heroes, Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.)
** Jimmy's photo is that of B.J. Novak's character, Private Utivich, from Inglourious Basterds.
** Lev has the same facial makeup of that of Maximilian Schell, an Austrian actor (Despite Lev being Russian) who starred in the films Judgement at Nuremberg and A Bridge Too Far.
** It should be noted that Melody has the distinction of being the only character whose "photograph" is in fact animated; she is modeled off the character Jisuri from the Japanese manga and anime series Upotte!!.

** Talbot and the British actor Leslie Howard (Gone with the Wind, Of Human Bondage)

* CoolBoat: TP-2112, a Q-Ship 1st Class is incredibly cool. It has booze in it, you can sleep in it, it's owned by the SOE, and it's basically a clandestine aircraft carrier. Basically, it's an important fucking boat.

* AnOfficerAndAGentleman: Talbot - it’s small surprise that various young women take up important roles in his life. Vegesack in a more elderly form, as he drops womanizing as a feature of his declining youth; instead however, he manages to blurb out a rather complicated and articulate vocabulary, even during stress of combat.

** Geoffrey Talbot is also the name of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Talbot a medieval English knight]], and as well as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talbot an automobile brand]] on par with the character's auto racing career. Meanwhile, in a rather amusing homage to the character’s [[OfficerAndAGentleman personality]], the surname Talbot is also the title of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talbots a retailer of women’s clothing]].

* CompleteMonster: Joshua Benson, a bigshot at the Bank of England whose hobbies include committing high treason, murdering prostitutes, and dating women for the sole purpose of mining them for intelligence.

* FragileSpeedster: The German HE 100s seen in Operation Guillotine fit this trope. They're monstrously fast, but can barely turn, and aren't particularly heavily armored.
** This is purely extrapolation on the part of the author. There is remarkably little firsthand information on the combat performance of the Heinkel HE 100/112/133, due to a combination of factors. These include the extremely small numbers in which they were deployed, their role in a German misinformation scheme to deliberately exaggerate their numbers and capabilities, none actually surviving the war to test these capabilities, and finally, the destruction of the Heinkel factory carrying most (if not all) of their production documentation. As a result, the author based his characterization of its abilities on what little there is known of it, and exaggerated it a little for dramatic purpose.

* AttackAttackRetreatRetreat: Alix, in response to Lev's suggestion, demands everyone to stay where they are and fend off the attackers; however seconds later, it becomes apparent that the UDF has air support, and she orders everyone into the basement.

** Operation Southern Cross draws its name from the constellation of stars known as the "Crux". This constellation is easily visible from the Southern Hemisphere and it's distinctive shape earns it the commonly used nickname "The Southern Cross". The Southern Cross is most usually associated with Australia, New Zealand and Brazil (appearing on all three national flags) but it also can be associated with South Africa (the host nation for OPERATION: SOUTHERN CROSS) and it's people, particularly the Afrikaans. There is also a small town, located in the Western Cape of South Africa called "Suiderkruis", which, in English, translates to "Southern Cross".

* SidequestSidestory: Played straight with the series' one-shot episodes, a system of optional background stories for each character as influenced by that of Elfen High's. These are usually tales of the various squadron members before or off-screen from their exploits with the main line plot; Forging the Sword, for example, accounts Page's time in Spain, whilst the Talbot Files and Stanford's Story deal with the other two respective character's runnings during the Battle of Britain. Setting of the Sun details Fodder's post-WW2 service, Bloodstained Memories reruns the Zilorski brothers' escape from Poland as it falls to the Germans, while Airman of Fortune revolves around Vegesack's career as a mercenary in reverse chronological order. Many more examples follow.

* YanksWithTanks: Oddly for the fact that the United States has yet to enter the war for another winter, the squadron consists of a rather large number of American personnel, including Pat, Silva, Abrams, Melody and Carter.

* ChekovsGun: The grappling hook harpoons used by the British Commandos to scale the French cliffs in the first half of Operation Highwire end up as the inspirational source of Noble's radical plan to save Page and the captured squadron members in the second. A more minor example in the same synopsis involves reusing the Wellington bombers captured from Konrad's raiders in Operation Modred.

* ShellshockedVeteran: The whole squadron will inevitably become this, however the process had speeded up regarding Page, Talbot, Pat, and Michael after their brutal ordeals as prisoners of war. Noble grows from an uptight intelligence officer to an active field agent, engaging in the same brutal violence as her male comrades. Talbot does so after a personally insisted reconnaissance wrong ends up killing his copilot, whilst Page and Vegesack both do so during the Spanish Civil War. In the case of the latter, the Second Sino-Japanese War ends up making him so.

** Carter's [[NamesTheSame name is the same]] with Larry Hovis's character in the World War II comedy series ''Hogans Heroes''; [[http://hh.wikia.com/wiki/Andrew_Carter Technical Sergeant Andrew Carter]].