Family Game Store Wings of War/Glory, 14 March '16
The usual chronicler of these reports was unable to attend this evening, so I brought a camera and notepad to document the events. This is a placeholder until I get my narrative written.
The pilots (from left to right) Bill, Paul, Mike, Robert (yours truly), Will and first-timer Cameron.
Someday I'm going to make this trip. Maybe next month.
The first mission of the evening was an early war dogfight while we waited to see if more players would arrive. Mike, Bill and I flew Fokker Eindeckers against a mixed bag of Entente aircraft; two DH2s and a Morane-Saulnier Type N. The latter were flown by Will, Cameron and Paul.
Here the sides are closing on each other
We seem to have maneuvered around each other, but some Immelmann maneuvers would but the DH2s back on course.
Two monoplanes against one pusher. It doesn’t look good.
I’m afraid I don’t remember what is going here, but Paul’s Morane appears to be surrounded.
The Entente draws first blood when Mike draws the dreaded ‘Boom’ card. Having a magnetic base certainly makes the action look better.
Now Paul’s Morane succumbs to accumulated machine gun fire. The sides are even again.
After much jockeying for position, the Central powers score a second victory when Cameron takes too much damage.
At this point with a two airplanes versus one, the first battle was called with a victory for the Central Powers. I'll post the second mission of the night tomorrow.
Looks great as always Robert and thanks for putting faces to the names involved.
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
Hey, that looks like a fun time, and you guys have a nice looking mat.
Very funny, John.
There had been a request to see a Kickstarter Staaken R.VI so I brought mine to the event. Anthony had joined us while the dogfight was in progress. Together, he and I lead a bombing mission into rural France with five Entente aircraft against us. Should be interesting.
The bomber and escort had to fly about five feet into the mat to reach the targets. The Entente aircraft lined up about a foot and a half in front of the bomber. Here some of the Entente aircraft are trying to circle around the bomber to attack from the rear. Is that wise with all those rear facing machine guns on the bomber?
Let's fly under the bomber. (We were not using altitude rules).
The dreaded 'Boom' card takes out Paul's Comic Sopwith Camel. He respawned at the far end of the table and took awhile to rejoin the action.
Perhaps the safest spot is in front of the Staaken.
Bill's airplane succumbs to accumulated points and that fire damage. Can the bomber be stopped?
A third Entente fighter goes down, but the bomber has numerous gun jams and one wounded gunner. This could be a very close match.
Now the bomber is smoking! The Kickstarter add-ons are a nice touch, especially the smoke and fire markers.
My Albatros D. Va escort, which had engine damage and hadn't been attacking for awhile, draws the 'Boom'. The skies are a lot lonelier now. But the mission must continue.
After an unsuccessful bomb run on our secondary target, the Staaken crashes from battle damage. The three cards on the bottom were +1 damage.
I didn't want to stand my model on its nose, but it was quite dead.
Since it was 8:15 we decided to call it an evening. Someone suggested next time we have two Staaken. I think the Entente will need more than five fighters to deal with two bombers.
Great game Robert. I really enjoyed following the action.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
I actually think the best planes for attacking that monster would be two seaters... with the rear gunner doing all the attacks. Letting yourself get into the firing arcs of three machine guns at the same time (at close range yet!) was not the smartest thing I ever did since I started playing the game! My snipe was shot down with only two rounds of fire.
--
Bill
I think a Caudron R.11 with two observers using A guns would be more effective. I'll have to decorate mine and make some cards for it.
The one thing that helps when fighting the Staakens is when they suffer gun jambs.
We had that happen in our club game & its definitely better to attack from the front!
Great AAR, Robert! As time had been my enemy of late, the pics are most appreciated... that way I can live vicariously through you and the lads. Love the early war action!
Oooooh, early war followed by late war, and a Giant to boot! One day, I"m going to get to one of these meets.
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