September 1915 Basement campaign month 4

[STICK]

Today was an exciting day, our Jasta got it's first shipment of Fokker E IVs. Helmut and I immediately asked to take them up. While we waited for the decision we asked the pilot that flew them in what their reins were like. They seem to have been a little faster than the E III but less maneuverable. The orders came in a little later and our wishes were granted. The planes were given a once over by the mechanics and quickly fueled. As soon as I got into the cockpit I noticed not a single machinegun in front of me but TWO. Surely the French would suffer this day. We took to the skies and carefully put the new planes through the motions. They seemed adequate albeit a little less maneuverable. The rudder didn't quite slip the plane as hard as I would like but the extra gun had me excited. I motioned for Helmut to lead the way to the front and settled off his left wing. We climbed to 4000 feet and soon came into contact with two French Moraines. We signaled to pair off and I flew towards the one on the right. The creazy frenchman flew straight ahead obviously not expecting the additional firepower we now had. We both executed stalls just inside maximum range and I could see pieces fly from his plane. His gun also found it's mark and my plane burst into flames. I pushed the fear down and focused on the task at hand. I turned around as fast as possible to continue my pursuit of the moraine when Helmut closed with him and unleashed a burst at close range from his left. The Moraine went immediately into a death spiral and I was elated for Helmut. He was always a gifted pilot and that was his fourth kill. There must have been some oil or grease on my engine that caused the fire for it went out soon after with very little damage to my plane. Together Helmut and I turned to purse the last remaining french plane. I must say I half expected him to flee when faced with two planes both better armed but this frenchman obviously walked the line between insane and fearless. He turned and brought his guns to bear and we exchanged shots, then he got lucky and circled in behind Helmut as I turned in the other direction for another pass. His single machine gun chewed into Helmuts airplane and I feared for my flight leader but alas Helmut shook him off. The Frenchman was far away and head towards his lines. At this time the Frenchman again had a chance to leave and turned to face us. His bravery was incredible. Perhaps he could tell that my plane was close to falling from the sky and Helmut's appeared no better or perhaps he was truly insane. Our pair of planes ended up almost wingtip to wingtip with Helmut just aheaed of me. The frenchman pulled an immelman to turn and fly directly at us. He was just out of my range when the shooting started. His bullets went wide of Helmuts plane but Helmut's bullets found their mark destroying the second Moraine. By this time we were low on fuel and bullets and limped our damaged planes back home.That night we celebrated Helmut becoming an ace and toasted the two brave frenchman. The next morning Helmut parlayed his newfound fame to bring in a couple of excellent mechanics very skilled in working with our new planes.


Helmut Kroll One mission Two kills Ace skill awarded "gifted mechanic"
Wulf Hansen One mission 0 kills

Olly Waffle (Amateur pilot) KIA
Jacque LaFerrier KIA

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Another grand report on what was obviously a very close run thing. I have the feeling that when we get the models of the earlier planes they won't prove as booring as some people seem to think. That is why I am going to build a few of the early planes not on the WoW list.
Keep those reports coming Paul. I am sure they will eventually inspire someone from our side of the lines to reply in kind. The Allies seem to be getting hammered just lately.
Rob.

[Shiraz68]

Great AAR - and I especially like the fact that you were flying early war kites.

[MayorJim]

Yep...early war is actually, IMHO, a bit more challenging...waiting for some early war models from Nexus as well...

[STICK]

We started a campain in June of 1915 and we play a random generated mission once per "month". We roll for who flies which side and fill pilot slots according to the rules based on how many people we have there that day. The result is a very flexible campaign that so far has been alot of fun. I didn't do AARs on the 2nd or 3rd missions but we've had a baloon mission, two photo recon and a dogfight so far. It appears the germans will have a distinct advantage until the newports come out but this last one could have went either way due to some incredible flying by the Moraines and some lucky (or unlucky dependiing on who you are) damage cards. Both E VIs finished with 9 pts of damage. We require each person to have a name for their pilots and so far Helmut Kroll and Klaus Von Hommer have 5 and 4 kills respectively. Players are allowed to chose from a roster of pilots on the list so some good storylines should develop here. Check back next week for another installment.

[Goering Ace]

Excellent AAR, Paul!! I very much enjoyed the story! Keep 'em coming!!