AAR / Bloody April 1918 / Scenario 2 / Turn 12 - Rollencourt Rumble!

[celticgriffon]

Bloody April 1918 / Scenario 2

A campaign using Terry Simo / GMT Games Bloody April and Wings of War
via Shawn (aka Diceslinger)

Turn 12 - Rollencourt Rumble!
It was another beautiful spring evening. Rapidly approaching evening meal time we needed to turn home. The lake below us was glass (for a change); the serenity allowed the late day sun to radiate its warm glow.
Soaring slightly above 4000 feet Leutnant Raeder and Shmeling were lost in thought. In a surprisingly short amount of time they had become Kamerades. Having trained together in the homeland this was now their 9^th mission in the skies (and fourth together). Both had entered service with the rank of Leutnant; Kaiser be praised for prestigious family ties.



During an earlier patrol Raeder’s plane had suffered some minor damage and was now leading a wispy trail of smoke.


With an arrogant flip of his hair and an intimidating sneer, Raeder pointed to a small blip straight ahead. "Could they have been any luckier?" he thought. A few hundred yards ahead was a lone Sopwith Camel. The opportunity was picture perfect; the Camel was at most two hundred feet below them.




Schmeling put up his thumb and pointed to his chest. As they had agreed prior to their flight first shot was his. With a shrug and a nod Raeder banked port. Schmeling kept course and tore a long range burst into his unaware adversary.




Saunders didn’t know what hit him. He felt a sharp sting in his shoulder. He looked about wildly in terror and saw a D. VII coming fast at 3 o’clock. In his next breath the German again peppered his craft. Saunders turned starboard as the D. VII flew past.







Gaining speed both planes performed an Immelmann. In another moment they were head-on. Confident, Schmeling felt his second victory firmly in his grasp; his mind drifted to thoughts of a fresh beer at his lips.




After a bit of maneuvering and a small break in the fray, Schmeling glanced to his 11 o’clock position. “Nix,” he thought, "that beer would have to wait. Oh well, it was a good Zig Zag last night.” Two more Sopwith Camels were quickly approaching from the west.




The original combatants continued to gain altitude as the “bouncers” noticed the lone Camel from 25 Squadron. “Two-on-one again. Those Boche never fight fair,” Whealy remarked. They would need to climb rapidly to get into the fight.


This was Blake’s first mission. He had spent much time in the Trenches but it wasn’t his bag. Well who could blame him. "What a hell of a way to die." He longed to feel wind through his hair. Sheepishly, he had asked for a transfer. Much to his surprise it was granted. Upon reaching the Aerodrome, with a rank of Captain and with little flight experience, there had been a few altercations. But with quiet dignity he held his head high. “Some of these pilots wouldn’t last a day in the trenches,” he mused.


Captain Blake considered himself lucky to be flying with Lieutenant Whealy. Whealy was a brutish sort who often jumped when formally addressed. Something in his past was deeply haunting him.

It was Whealy’s 12^th mission. He had already scored 3 previous Victories. Despite their differences, Blake felt encouraged to have such a seasoned veteran at his wing.



A moment later Blake snapped out of his dream. A brilliant white D. VII was at his 10 o’clock. Squeezing the trigger of his trusted gun they exchanged blows. Jumping inside his seat, Blake couldn’t believe how lucky he was as a bullet ripped into his seat.

At the same time Whealy and Saunders popped bursts into Schmeling. Schmeling returned fire at Saunders. As Saunders guns jammed he heard a cable go “twang”. In the next instant Schmeling’s plane lit up in a small ball of fire. “That will teach you Squarehead,” Saunders yelled.




Schmeling reversed direction as Saunders headed straight. Schmeling banked right and Saunders dove to avoid collision.




In the next instant, however, an odd air current moves the kites together. Both planes collide in the sky.


In my games as planes collide they also suffer structural damage. We take out any stall, climb, and dive cards and then lose half of the rest. The other cards then get re-added to the remaining; this becomes the new maneuver deck. This picture shows the maneuver cards which were discarded. At this point Zachary used a “shot” to regain one long straight maneuver to ensure he could Immelmann or Split-S.




Schmeling’s plane continues to burn. It is every pilots nightmare to die in a fiery inferno.




As bits of both planes go hurling, both Saunders and Schmeling begin to spin. Further away, Raeder climbs to 6000 feet with Blake trying his best to pursue. His aircraft simply cannot match the lift of the D. VII, however.


A moment later the stress of the spin tears Saunders plane. A piece of debris rips into his body and he slumps forward. Schmeling’s plane also tears but his extensive pilot training keeps him cool. He manages to control the spin despite losing altitude.




Blake lifts his nose to shoot at Raeder. He winces. “I really need to work on my timing,” he says as he re-calculates the deflection. “Firing a machine gun in the sky is not even close to being on ground.”




Schmeling makes a sharp over-dive with expert precision. With a shout of triumph the fire goes out. With a sigh of relief he believes discretion may be the better part of valour. Perhaps he can still run home for his beer yet?


In the next moment Whealy drops altitude and pops a precision burst into Schmeling. The plane can take no more and Schmeling nose-dives into the ground.



Blake manages to find Raeder’s tail and he pops a short-range burst into the white falcon.



Remaining on Raedar’s tail he lands another burst. “It is so much easier when you can follow,” he marks in his internal “must do” list.




Flipping his hair arrogantly, Raeder decides to make his way home. As he leaves the battlefield Captain Blake sends him one final message.




Butcher’s Bill

Central Powers
Leutnant Schmeling (crashed) / +1 Victory (2)



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Leutnant Raeder (altitude six)
*pls note +3 damage for aimed fire (not included in picture)


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Entente
Lieutenant Saunders (crashed)

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Lieutenant Whealy (altitude 3) / +1 Victory (4)

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Captain Blake (altitude 6)

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My brave young German pilot - Zachary (10yrs) and our cheering section - Kieran (4 yrs).





Notes:
At the beginning of the mission it was stated the Central Powers would have two shots. As such, we decided to a) Give the Central Powers a distinct early advantage, b) give them more ammunition (8 shots each as opposed to 6 each for the Entente planes). In addition the CP's would have one other option as we felt appropriate during the game.. Zachary decided to use the other shot to regain a long straight as he lost all three during his collision. I thought it was a very good decision for such an inexperienced player.

It was stated that Raeder was flying a damaged plane. As such, he began the mission with 2 smoke counters.

To determine the re-enforcements we drew a B Damage card at the end of each turn. First turn we needed a “4” or explosion. Second turn a 3, 4, or explosion. Third and all remaining turns the Entente side needed a 2, 3, 4, or explosion. In hindsight, perhaps this was a bit too aggressive. When the re-enforcements arrived we rolled a d6 for their entry. I got very lucky as the planes were placed almost immediately into the action.

It was a wonderful match and Zachary played a great game. Thanks Diceslinger for the opportunity to partake in your campaign! I very much look forward to future installments.
Here is the link to the campaign narrative:

http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sho...-2-Sortie-list


Thanks for having a look everyone!
Michael (aka celticgriffon)

[celticgriffon]

Sorry everyone - could someone move this to the Mission section... eeeeek...

[Kaiser]

Cool AAR. And interesting house rules you use

[MoonSylver]

Looking forward to giving this a thorough read when I'm not on the run!

[Dwarflord22]

Excellent AAR with great pics and narrative!

[Brambo]

Great AAR Michael, enjoyed the story and I must get me some of those cool goggles

[Lt. S.Kafloc]

NIce and tight AAR. Loved the action and your trainee pilot(s) look keen to get involved in the action.

[flash]

Good AAR Mike - gripping action, pilots look so young these days..!

[gully_raker]

Very gripping AAR there. Most enjoyable, thank you!

[diceslinger]

Wow Mike! I have to say you have taken this beyond my wildest expectations! You breathed life into these random names I generated! Now I want to know why Whealy is jumpy, and will the other guys in the squadron have the back of a one flight "Captain" leading them? Nice use of the Shots per side, I highly approve! Great stuff, and a very well done first AAR! I'll roll for the pilots and link the campaign to this sortie. Thanks for playing the mission!

[Flying Officer Kyte]

A very impressive AAR Michael.
Full of incident from start to finish, with a good back story which makes one identify with the characters at once.
I'm sure that we have not heard the last of Whealy, Blake, Raeder and co. Who knows one of these days they may even turn up in the Mess of Kyte, Bouncer- Smythe, or even at HQ. in the company of Cpt. Triggers.
Rob.

[calm]

Great AAR !!!