An encounter over the Countryside.
OVERVIEW
Last Friday Dal & I decided to try out some of the new Series 7 Aircraft. In particular the Albatross D.II & the Spad VII
I already had done a Shapeways D.II (See if you can pick which is which in the photos) so we decided to play the 2 D.II's against a Spad 7 & a Shapeways Sopwith Triplane.
Noah who had played in the Gotha Game last games night was keen to play again & Cameron who had watched the last game also wanted to give it a go. We rolled to see who would play with Dal or myself & Dal chose Cameron & so Noah took over the Tripehound. We set up with Dal & myself facing off & Noah facing Cameron.
Pics of players below (except me.)
This is Noah
Cameron (LHS) with Dal explaining the moves!
The Game
The Honourable Ltn Percival Laurence Utrecht Michael Peverill RFC Fourth son of the Earl of Somerset was feeling very chipper this early March morning of 1917. Universally known in 23 Squadron as "Plum" both from his initials & his Public School voice he had just taken possession of a shiny new French Spad VII which were replacing the old pusher FE 2b's the Squadron had flown for the past months.
"Plum" had also just been promoted to lead C flight so the world was good.
The C.O. had told him to take the new kite on a flight around the countryside nearby to get acquainted with his new steed. There had been no enemy activity in their area for some days due to bad weather but today, a Sunday, had dawned fine & clear.
He opened the throttle on the V8 engine & was surprised at the difference in feel to the old rotaries of the FE's. The Spad felt strong & capable & responded to the controls well. He tried a few basic loops, rolls & dives until he felt quite at home in the new bus.
Off to his port side he spied a khaki coloured Sopwith Triplane obviously from 1 Naval Sqd which operated in the same area. He waved & received the same response from the Naval pilot.
As they flew on for some time he suddenly noticed two aircraft approaching from the West & soon he recognised the shape of two Albatross D.II's the latest model from the Albatross factory armed with two machine guns.
The Hun aircraft seemed keen to test themselves against the British pilots & Plum soon recognised the aircraft as belonging to the well known Jasta 2 led by the renowned Oswald Bolcke.
The Sopwith pilot also seemed keen to get into a scrap as he immediately headed for the Albatross nearest his plane.
"Oh what the heck" thought Plum "in for a penny,in for a Pound" "Might as well see what this new crate can do!"
The German aircraft to his front closed rapidly & Plum knew it was better to do a head on pass rather than expose himself to a side attack. With his gun blazing he attacked.
Both pilots scored hits but nothing vital seemed to be affected. As Plum turned back towards the enemy he was surprised to find the Albatross had preformed an Immelman turn & managed to score a really long range hit but the Spad showed no sign of damage.
In the meantime the Naval pilot had manoeuvred to get a good raking shot into the side of the other Hun aircraft.
Plum & his opponent again headed towards each other & exchanged shots without any apparent serious damage.
Plum realised his opponent was obviously an experienced hand & he needed to be really careful in his manoeuvres.
All 4 Aircraft now manoeuvred for advantage after some turning dogfights had not resulted in an advantage. The Spad & Albatross seemed well matched! Plum's Hun now headed towards the other fight with Plum following.
As the 4 aircraft closed Plum saw "his" Hun go on to attack the Triplane whilst he was able to get in some good shots at the other Albatross.
A general dogfight ensued with Plum getting more shots into "his" Hun who in turn hit the Naval aircraft.
Using the Sopwith's superior manoeuvrability the Tripehounds pilot quickly got a return shot at the Albatross.
Unfortunately for Plum the Hun managed to turn in behind him & rake the Spad with a volley of close shots.
The Spad shuddered but flew on.
In the melee that followed Plum narrowly avoided a collision with the other Albatross which seemed to be having some problems in his manoeuvring.
The Naval Pilot now attacked "Plum's" Albatross & was gratified to see Flames burst forth from its engine bay.
The dogfight continued with Plum scoring on the other Albatross which also scored hits on the Triplane. The fiery Albatross was busy weaving to keep the fire from the pilots face & cockpit area.
Plum got more close range hits on that Albatross but his Vickers jammed so he flew off to try to get it cleared.
In the meantime the other Albatross had succumbed to Fire as another fire had broken out after an exchange of shots with the Triplane.
The now lone Albatross bravely continued to fight!
A burst from Plum's now cleared Vickers caused the Hun aircraft to commence smoking as the Triplane also headed into the fight.
The unequal battle continued as the Hun machine showed signs that the Pilot may have been wounded & was having engine trouble although the smoking had subsided but he pressed his attack & again shot at Plum's Spad which was now looking very second hand! Suddenly the Albatross's guns fell silent. He had jammed! Plum returned the favour with his own burst!
As the Aircraft continued to circle the Albatross stalled & Plum's Spad hit the top wing of the German aircraft with its undercarriage. The wing of the Albatross cracked, bent & fluttered free as the doomed aircraft spun into the ground.
"Thank the Lord" cried Plum ."Now to nurse this Spad back to the 'drome & try to explain to the C.O, why its in such a sorry state!" "Maybe the demolition of two of Bolcke's planes might go some way to pacifying him!"
Waving to the Sopwith's pilot he headed home impressed with the ruggedness of his new mount.
Well wasn't that a great set too!
Both the "New" chums acquitted themselves well & Dal had the misfortune to get hit with two Fire damages which gave him no let off. Both Noah & Cameron are keen for more Wings action in the future.
My Spad got back with just ONE damage point remaining.
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Originally Posted by fast.git
G'day Col!
It just goes to show its not necessarily the number of cards you draw or (shots you take) but the amount of damage on the cards you do draw! 
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