Gun Ho! - Part 1: Discovering the French Beast
"Ltn. Joachim! Please sit down. What an adventure, eh?!" "Indeed, Herr Hauptmann Gabriel." "So... Flying with less planes than you were ordered, changing orders and denying pilots to pilot their planes by telling them that they were sick..." "They seemed very sick, Herr Hauptmann Gabriel!" "To hell with that, Joachim!! Tell me everything without any lie!" "I wouldn't ever lie to you, Herr... Gabriel!!" "Very well! Tell me what the hell happened and what you and your clever friend Andrzej have been doing!" "We were ordered by the High Command to escort two bombers in a prolonged mission, first to discover and then bomb and destroy a gigantic French gun that the French brought to our area to help the British." "Ah yes!! La Marianne Chanteuse... Big Gun!" "As we received the coming bombers that would use our airfield and our help, I thought that it would be better to keep one of the bombers in reserve and take only one to photograph the positions where the French gun might be hidden..." "So you gave orders to a Rittmeister being you a Leutnant?! Not even a Oberleutnant?!" "It weren't orders... I just gave some suggestions..." "With the hand over your side-weapon I've heard..." "Well, after we talked it over, Rittmeister Gunthar accepted that I and Andrzej escorted his plane to photo-recon the enemy position..."
"You also told him the path you should follow, was it?" "We discussed all that in a friendly manner and we it decided together..."
"And you got yourself and the squadron in problems immediately, wasn't it?" "Well, there were four Spads guarding the place, so it was clear that we were right about that being the area where the gun was hidden..."
"I pointed to Rittmeister Gunthar where he should... where we previously accorded that he should take the photos and I and Andrzej moved against the Spads to protect the Rittmeister's plane."
"Two against four? You are at least a brave man!" "Ah, Hauptmann Gabriel... I had Leutnent Andrzej with me... The worst thing that could happen to us was that one of us would have to land in enemy territory to give a ride to the other..."
"And you were piloting your new plane, Joachim?! Untried?..." "Yes. But our mechanics painted it so beautifully that I was certain that it would be fine in my hands... We closed face to face with the Spads..."
Two of them fired against me, making a lot of damage to my new Albatros..." "And you?!" "Ah... yes... the other two fired against Andrzej with much less impact, I think..."
"And you?!" "I got lucky and things got much better than..."
"I fired a long stream of bullets that must have hit something important. I heard a crack and the Spad went down spiralling..." "Three against two now..." "Indeed, sir... Andrzej also fired but to little effect..."
"And then?" "Then we were both aiming at the last Spad... The pilot was trying to unjam his weapons... We saw him raised over the cockpit. We fired..."
"And this one also went down after a violent shake... I think it was the marksmanship of Andrzej... But he insists in sharing this kill." "He does this right, Leutnent Andrzej! But the rules state that one of you should have the kill..." "Very well. That was Andrzej's kill for sure." "It's decided then. So now two against two... The odds got better."
"Hmmm... Yes... We saw it crash in the ground... Rittmeister Gunthar's plane reached the first spot and took his photos while we were entangled with the remaining Spads."
"No fire from ground weapons?" "No. They didn't wanted to show themselves..."
"We were in their tails so I fired several rounds against one of the Spads, but failed to do any significant damage..."
"My guns jammed and we all moved apart to gain a better positioning..."
"Gunthar reached the second spot and we all prepared for another pass. I was frantically trying to unjam my weapons..."
"But I wasn't fast enough... Andrzej tried to protect my back and I was trying to maintain my plane in the tail of the other Spad."
But I wasn't fast enough. We both made an Immelmann."
"And now the roles were reversed and I was trying to shake him off and he was on my tail." "Go on. Go on!"
"Meanwhile the other Spad was returning and fired heavily against Andrzej's Albatros. But he gave back as hard has he took it."
"And..." "And?!" "He jammed his weapons... Luck was turning..."
Meanwhile, Gunthar was almost finishing his passage... If only we could hang a bit more..."
"I moved to protect Andrzej, with a Spad behind me and another in front of me... We exchanged a stray of bullets..." "Were you hit?" "Oh yes. My engine sputter, I felt the smell of oil leaking from the engine, but I think that I wounded him..."
"I had to leave... The other Spad fired at me for a while and then stopped... I wasn't going to wait for a better opportunity."
"Gunthar was going for the last spot to photograph it, Andrzej was near him... I had to leave..."
"I felt that in order to save myself, I had to make another passage... My engine was screaming in pain..."
"But I was able to save myself, as the Spad turned against Andrzej. They both fired at each other... The Spad looked like a Swiss cheese and Andrzej put some more hole in it... Still it kept flying..."
"Then the dogfight entered the finale..." "What?!" "That moment when, without words, everybody knows that they must leave the combat and go home..." "Ah yes..."
"A parting shot from the gunner of Gunthar's plane and it was the end... We returned home with two kills and the photos..."
End of Part One
Post Battle Information:
Where is the Big French Gun?
Where is La Marianne Chanteuse?
You pick a D4!
You throw it!
And a TWO gives you the position of the enemy gun.
The situation after the first part of the mission:
Two Spads Destroyed.
Two injured and damaged Spads:
Two damaged Albatrosses:
Combat Rooster:
Ltn. Joachim Marseille - 1 Kills (Has now 9 kills. 8 planes and 1 balloon.)
Andrzej Kohen - 1 Kill (Has now 2 kills.)
Teaser for the Second Part
"And Leutnent Andrzej grabbed the gunner from the bomber and took his place?!!" "Of course, Hauptmann Gabriel, he wanted to go with me..." "I must drink something..."
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