Early Doors Mission 15: March 1917. ‘Beware the Hun in the Sun’.
14th March
- German forces withdraw from the Somme sector to the Hindenburg Line
31st March
- The Emperor of Austria makes secret proposal, conveyed in a letter to prince Sixte of Bourbon, to the French President (M. Poincaré) to open conversations with a view to peace (see April 11th, 1918).
With the German forces withdrawing to the Hindenburg line the Emperor of Austria had decided that they had had enough of the war and wanted to start peace negotiations with the Entente. After weeks of talks it was agreed that a representative of the Austrian Emperor, carrying the secret dispatch, would be picked up by a Caproni and flown to France. Bad weather forced the Caproni crew to change their original flight plan and instead headed further north than they intended. The Caproni was escorted by 3 Spad VII’s as they crossed the Alps.
However 4 Albatros DIII’s on patrol have spotted the bomber and its escort and are swooping in for the attack.
Set up: 2 mats joined by SHORT edge. 4 randomly placed cloud formations (not too large) 2 on each mat.
Right hand edge is German territory Left hand edge is Entente territory.
Entente Player/AI set up: 1 Caproni bomber 1.5 rulers in from middle of right hand edge. Either side 1 Entente scout. 3rd Spad (roll 1d6) either to front (odds) or rear (evens).
Mission: To exit the left hand edge of the playing area.
Central Powers Player/AI set up: 4 Albatros DIII scouts enter on right hand mat edge. Roll1d6:
1-2 Enter in top right corner
3-4 Enter directly behind Entente aircraft
5-6 Enter in bottom right corner
Mission: Shoot down the Caproni bomber.
Victory Points:
Shooting down a CP scout 1 point.
Shooting down an Entente scout 2 points
Shooting down the Caproni 5 points.
Caproni exits left hand edge 5 points
Special Rules:
1. If any Cp aircraft can draw an imaginary line from the right mat edge, through its rear base edge, out of its front edge and to the left mat edge with any Entente aircraft within its gun arc then the CP aircraft can add +1 to firing at short and long range.
Hence Beware the Hun in the Sun. Entente aircraft caught this way can only fire at short range.
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