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View Full Version : Mission 9: Lotti Strikes Back! (After Some Problems With The French)



Wolfbiter
10-22-2010, 09:18
France, 1917
Dear Mother and Father,

It has been a grueling two weeks since I was discharged from hospital and have returned to the squadron. We have been in constant action against pilots of the French Escadrille des Cigognes, or "Stork Squadron," and it has been pretty fierce!

Of particular concern to us is a Spad pilot, Pierre Benjamin Lord, who the French newspapers are calling "Le Sabreur" for his favored tactic of one lethal, high speed straight pass against opponents. I can attest that this flyer is dangerous; he is the same pilot who wrecked my plane "Lotti" and shot me down a few weeks ago.

I had the bad luck to encounter him again my first time in the air since my return. With Lotti still heavily damaged, I was assigned to go up on patrol with Oberleutnant Horst in a pair of Fokker Dr. I triplanes. No sooner had we taken off but we were immediately ambushed by Spads sporting the colors of Stork Squadron. Immediately this "Le Sabreur" made a pass above me and struck my engine, and my plane began to stall sporadically. Worse, as soon as he passed me, he lined up a shot with the devil's own luck on Horst. The damage seemed insignificant...until to my horror, Horst's upper wing sheared off completely as he tried to turn and he crashed into the ground.

One of the Spads broke off at this point. Lord and I made two more passes, and I think I gave him something to remember me by, as I hit his cockpit at least once--but then my guns jammed. Deciding that it was foolhardy to continue, I broke off and landed. Seeing other pilots preparing to take off and pursue, "Le Sabreur" broke off as well and escaped.

This pilot is proving most troublesome! Of the four Jasta 11 pilots who have fought him so far, two have been killed, one (myself) wounded and driven down, and only one--Von Klepperman--has faced him successfully, and even then they did not directly engage each other. A day prior to my own encounter, this French scoundrel was escorting a D.H. 4 attempting to take pictures of our airfield. Kleppi and Ziegert scrambled to meet them in Pfalz D.IIIs. The encounter was brief--Kleppi skillfully gunned down the D.H. 4 (his fifth victory!) before it could escape--and "Le Sabreur" retreated before they could resolve their differences. Kleppi's recent successes have put him on the fast track for promotion--I hear he will be offered command of one of Jagdgeschwader 1's four Jastas when the next position becomes available.

The recent heavy losses of Fokker Dr.I's led to quite an uproar in the squadron. Engineers from Fokker have discovered a structural weakness in the struts causing the wings to come apart under stress--which Ziegert narrowly escaped with his life and poor Horst did not. All triplanes have been ordered grounded and we are currently flying only Pfalz IIIs and Albatros scouts. What's more the ground crew chief, Blevitz, has been transferred out...but this turned out to be good fortune for me!

The new chief mechanic, Wetzel, is an odd young fellow who apparently has made quite the name for himself at the University of Berlin in mechanics. He is peculiar in his habits--in his free time, he sequesters himself in a hut on the edge of the airfield filled with strange mechanisms, beakers of chemicals and electrics. We often hear strange explosions and cackling, see colored smoke and other peculiar sights around Wetzel's hut!

But the fellow is a brilliant engineer! Yesterday I was called up alongside Ziegert and Kretzschmar to attack a barrage balloon position. Wetzel approached me and said he was eager to test out an experimental electric rocket array he has copied from the French LePrieur design. I was a bit skeptical, until he ushered me over to the hangar--and there stood my dear old "Lotti" ready for flight and looking better than ever! Wetzel explained it was easier for him to build the firing system into Lotti while she was being repaired rather than tearing apart someone else's intact plane, so he decided to take the liberty of attaching his experimental rockets while fixing her up.

I'm sure you're worrying about me taking off with some madman's flying explosives strapped to my plane just after getting back on my feet, but I can assure you Wetzel knows his work! Well, mostly. While Lotti was a touch heavy from the additional weight, she handled beautifully. As we approached the targets, I took a straight, medium-speed approach on the first balloon as Ziegert and Kretzschmar made strafing runs against the ground infantry positions guarding it. I depressed the firing lever--and nothing happened for a few moments. I admit I began to perspire a bit as the balloon loomed closer and I nervously pressed the lever a few more times--and suddenly the entire volley of rockets let loose, billowing smoke and striking the balloon in a mighty burst of flame and scorched canvas! As multiple fires ignited, I pulled above the gasbag, coughing and choking from the billowing smoke, and swung around to attack with my machine guns. Wetzel seems to have tinkered with them as well, to my benefit--they fired a vicious, rapid burst and the burning balloon listed, suddenly collapsed and plummeted to the ground.

Ziegert and Kretzschmar were flying low to the ground, suppressing the infantry with tight, ruthless strafing runs. As they passed around it and turned away, I banked left and lined up the second balloon. I don't know what chemical Wetzel added to my bullets--but the second balloon was suddenly engulfed in a fireball after only two or three shots!

Needless to say, the three of us were exuberant after our victory! We forcibly dragged Wetzel out of his hut for a round of schnapps at our favorite bar in the nearby town. Kleppi has said we've been put forward to be decorated for yesterday's work, and I've personally recommended Wetzel for a commendation--but I think I'm happiest that I am back flying my well-loved Lotti again.

My only disquiet is my adversary, this French pilot Lord. I suspect we have not seen the last of him--and we will need to watch our backs closely when he reappears!

Your son,
Wolfram Von Thun-Hohenstein
Leutnant, Jasta 11

(Game notes: A very busy campaign session yesterday evening! We flew three sorties in a row. Dave Z successfully shot down a D.H.4 piloted by me on a photo mission escorted by his son Ben, but then Ben turned the tables in the second game, shooting down one of my two Triplanes in a dogfight against his two Spads. We finished up with a double-balloon buster mission in which we decided to try out the rocket rules--which succeeded spectacularly for me in my initial attack, followed by a lucky draw of the explosion card immediately afterward when I went against the second balloon. I like rockets, and I like flying my favorite Albatros again even more!) ;)

Pope
10-22-2010, 09:38
Great write up again David and I'm glad to read Lotti is back on patrol. Cheers Aled

Flying Officer Kyte
10-22-2010, 09:38
Another stirring adventure, you nasty hun pilot you. It will be a great loss when you are eventually shot down, as you enevitably will be, if you continue to risk your neck like that. What will your parents think when they get a letter, not from you, but from your C.O. regailing them with the story of how you died gloriously defending the Fatherland. Still a jolly good show all round.
Kyte.

DaveZee
10-22-2010, 09:42
A fantastic evening of flying last night. The best part of the night for me was the coordinated flying we pulled off against the balloons. Everyone was given a job, and worked to execute as a team. A close second was Kleppi becoming the first ace of the group. :)

I can't wait to tell Benjamin he has a nickname - and he earned it! That boy can fly a SPAD...

p.s. We potentially recruited another player - it's amazing how much of a magnet those miniatures are!

Wolfbiter
10-22-2010, 09:44
Thanks, Kyte! I tell you, these French pilots are making me quite nervous! I'm getting a crick in my neck trying to look in all directions for them...I never know for sure what direction they will appear from to cause trouble!

It's funny--in our campaign so far, I think the Allies may have shot down more fighting aircraft (balloons excepted), but the Germans are getting much higher mission success rates.

Artack
10-22-2010, 14:25
Great stuff! Pulp adventures via WoW.

Don't let your ascot get in the way!:)

Hamburger
10-22-2010, 17:31
Uber awesome!!!

Goering Ace
10-23-2010, 14:19
Once again you've outdone yourself. Fantastic story telling as usual!! I'm just glad you play all the time because that means more mission reports!! :D

Great job!!

Scott