Staaken Fight

[Baxter]

Well the moment arrived. Last night a lone Staaken headed towards London. I was flying the Bristol F2B with a B/A gun set up, Doug flew a Spad with an A gun. We knew that 34 damage points would make this tough so modified the rules. Damage points on display for the Staaken. He flew straight up the middle of the 3 map mats and the was turned around to come back. As we knew his flight path no blind spots for him. If we attacked from his 6 we would always get hit by 2 B guns. We could re-spawn once from half way up the table. If he made it back to the start he would win.

Staaken won with 5 damage points to spare and a wounded co-pilot. My first plane blew up and we both had trouble judging our closing speeds. With the giant base even with the XA deck he moved further than we thought possible. My second plane was also shot down. The Staaken proved a very worthy foe but I think the Spad was very close to ending him.

Next we tried the HP 0/400 against DR1,s. A similar result except the HP had only 1 damage point to spare at the end. I think maybe a faster plane for the second choice would have seen his demise as the last DR1 was out of position and was too slow to catch the escaping HP at the end. Interesting games.

[Barkmann]

Interesting AAR. I though these Staakens were easier to destroy, but since I never encountered them, what can I say...
Well, im looking foward to see what will take down this beast. I still think those DH2s are a nice idea... hint hint hint
Thanks


Nick

[Teaticket]

6 maps distance is a long way to flybut it is a big beast. So 4 attacking planes sound like a close run thing. I'm working on a Shapeways Staaken now so I'll have to give this a try when I get it air-worthy. It will be interesting to try out all the different planes that were in the homefront defense squadrons.

[Marechallannes]

Sounds like two good fights.

Unfortunately - no pictures.

Did you use altitude rules or some optional rules (extended crew damage)?

[Baxter]

We did not use altitude rules but it was fun.

[LOOP]

If I were to go against a HP 0/400 I would choose a DVII. Every time. The unsteep stall makes it a virtual leech.
If you attack from the rear you can keep on shooting until you or the bomber is shot down.

[Teaticket]

If I were to go against a HP 0/400 I would choose a DVII. Every time. The unsteep stall makes it a virtual leech.
If you attack from the rear you can keep on shooting until you or the bomber is shot down.

Agreed.

[Baxter]

We found the hardest thing was the movement distance of the bomber. With those big bases it was almost as fast as the Dr1 despite the shortness of its long straight card. That meant it was easy to get out of position and difficult to catch up. Also, with no human bomber pilot and displaying the damage cards there was a tendency to take risks because we knew how many points were needed to kill the bomber. Chance came into it with many zeros being turned over

[diceslinger]

We found the hardest thing was the movement distance of the bomber. With those big bases it was almost as fast as the Dr1 despite the shortness of its long straight card. That meant it was easy to get out of position and difficult to catch up.

I've had this problem with the big bombers as well. Last time I played stalls instead of straights to keep the bomber from getting away so fast, but it still outpaced the Albatros D.IIIs. I've also had the bomber randomly turn left and right to make its path less predictable. That can help slow it down as well.