OTT ED Mission 16-Prelude to Arras-April 8th 1917 (diceslinger)
Getting back to squadron life wasn’t an easy thing to do for Roland. He had never had his hand shaken so often, nor had so many toasts proposed in his honor. The whole flight was in high spirits. With his return John Henry could really celebrate his pair of aerial victories. Ernest was one of the guys again. The flight had come together, rebounding quickly from the depths of despair. Roland’s escape from German captivity made him a hero. He didn’t feel like a hero however. The Germans walked away, leaving him. During his escape he never even saw a German soldier. Then there was the experience of meeting an enemy pilot. The airplanes fighting in the sky were faceless, but meeting Erich had put a human in the cockpit in the German planes. In any case, Roland was eager to get back into the air and fly again. The urge to fly was like an itch under his skin.
“Roland, I need you to take some new recruits up. They don’t have much experience, so keep it simple, keep it safe.” Joe said as he outlined the mission. “If you see any Boche, don’t engage. We don’t need anyone getting killed.”
Roland met the new pilots, Duncan Green and Lewis Springs. They were rookies, that was for sure, but they both seemed eager to please and willing to follow orders. Both had been assigned Nieuport 24s. Roland had teased Joe about his strange affinity with the Nieuports. He had however been fairly impressed, particularly with their maneuverability. Roland had intended to start flying one of the Nieuports as well, but John Henry had insisted that Roland have his plane, painted just like Roland’s old plane. Who was he to refuse? Roland did like the speed of the Spad better anyway.
It had been an uneventful trip. Activity in the air had been scarce, so Joe thought he might as well take them over the lines. Giant billowy clouds were forming and it was over one of these that he glimpsed a red biplane. Certain that it was German, Roland decided to use the clouds for cover and dive down below them hoping to give them the slip. With any luck they hadn’t been spotted yet. With the German planes at a higher altitude already it seemed the only way to avoid dragging the rookies into battle.
Duncan flew below and behind Roland’s silver Spad as he had been instructed. Several thousand feel below them, he saw dots in the sky. As they drew closer he knew they were a trio of German planes, and he looked to his leader for an indication what to do.
Duncan didn’t see the trio of planes above screened as they were by a cloud. It was with amazement that he saw Roland dive. “He must think we can take them.” The truth was that Roland couldn’t see the lower planes and didn’t know they were there. Any pilot a thousand feet higher would have seen the scene for what it was. Three German planes down low as bait, and three German planes up high to pounce upon any planes willing to take the bait.
It was too late that Roland saw the trio of D.IIs. Committed to their dive, Roland saw Duncan heading right towards the German formation, guns blazing. “At least he isn’t afraid to fight,” Roland thought as he gave his own Lewis gun a quick check to make sure it was operational.
The higher German flight had spotted the Bulldog planes. Diving through the clouds to spring on them was a sound strategy. If it worked it would both cut them off and surprise them.
Duncan was fearless. As Roland banked his plane around to get behind the D.IIs, Duncan flipped his plane into a tight turn and caught the yellow D.II broadside. The German plane lurched and slowed, clearly the motor was not running properly.
Duncan wheeled again to rake another D.II with gunfire. The plane instantly rolled over and spun downwards.
The trap sprung in a half hazard fashion at this point. Spraying gunfire towards one of the diving turning D.III planes joining the fray.
Lewis had enthusiastically dove when he saw Roland do so. He had spotted neither flight of planes. Diving through the cloud, he came out on the other side. Looking around, he saw nothing. “Oh you dunce, he told himself, they must have turned around already.” He reversed the direction of his Nieuport 24 and flew back into the cloud.
Little did he know that and Albatros was above him, also heading into the cloud.
As Lewis emerged from the cloud he couldn’t believe his eyes. When he dove the first time, two other planes had shared the sky with him. Now there were planes everywhere! He saw an Albatros tearing the silver Spad apart with streams of bullets. Grabbing the trigger he sprayed bullets at the firing Albatros.
And just like that, an opening appeared. Roland glanced behind him. Most of the German planes were flying away from them. Waving his arm forward he motioned for Duncan and Lewis to break for home. If the Germans really wanted to fight Lewis might be in trouble.
It worked! The Germans, stung by the botched trap and the loss of a plane so quickly, were turning back. Better yet, Lewis and Duncan had both disengaged when necessary. Roland had a good feeling about these two pilots.
-FIN
The Butchers Bill
Roland Walker / RTB / 0 Victories
Duncan Green / RTB / 1 Victory
Lewis Springs / RTB / 0 Victories
Harry Buhl / RTB / 0 Victories
Josef Klingenschmidt / RTB / 0 Victories
Erich Seywald / RTB / 0 Victories
Knud Bielefeld / RTB / 0 Victories
Karl Niederhoff / RTB / 0 Victories
Peter Myers / EXP FT / 0 Victories
Crash: Rolled 6 -3 EXP=3 Severely Injured, Skip 6 scenarios
---Afterword---
This one sounded like a meat grinder, so I thought I would try some clouds on the board. I also wanted to break the altitude up a bit, so I thought I would have one trio of Germans high and one low with the Rookies flying right into that classic trap. I hope that didn’t bend the scenario too much. I couldn’t believe it when the boom card came up so fast, and not against me! So when I saw an opening I decided to get those rookies home safe rather than press my luck.
This was also the first game I’ve played in my newly remodeled family room. It has taken months to get done, but I laid the carpet the day before I played this game. Satisfactory all around!
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Well Shawn that was "short & sweet" for your Bulldogs!
Originally Posted by flash
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