rockyr
02-27-2011, 13:50
Upon hearing that German Headquarters were being established along a particular road, the British sent out a RE8 to take pictures to confirm the report with a camera. A Nieuport 17 escorted the ugly two seater. Near the target, an Albatross DIII rose to meet the mission. The N17 swept off to one side to avoid a head on pass with the V-strutter, exchanging a long range shot before turning on to the Bosche's tail. That took quite a while as the N17 is not as nifty as its reputation, and it is a bit slow. In that time, the RE8 unimaginatively approached the first photo target and the German got off its first shot. The wily Kraut then took up the tradition placeclose on the tail of the two seater and saw the ungainly recon plane explode. By that time, the N17 had showed up and began riddling the V Strutter from behind, at least seeking revenge for the downed photographers. The Albatross seemed to soak up all the little Nieuport could put out. On the other hand, in one long range exchange, the Nieuport took almost half the damage it could handle. Wheeling in the air, turning, and twisting, both planes sought to bring the other into range and sights. While the Nieuport got off a few more shots than the Albatross, and wounded the pilot, it suffered several jams which required tricky flying both to clear and to stay safe. After several close calls, the two planes exchanged unpleasant close range fire. Although the Albatross had taken far more shots, and form two planes, the paper mache Nieuport fell to flaming pieces at the same time as the V Strutter finally disintegrated in the air.
The sky was very clear with all three planes down...
Gaming notes:
One of our players has great 11x17 full color prints of aerial photography, four of which we put under plexiglass for out playing surface.
Another irritating bit about overlapping stands as the N17 twice out maneuvered the DIII, but touched so could not shoot. That rule also excluded what would have been an unpleasant close range exchange.
The sky was very clear with all three planes down...
Gaming notes:
One of our players has great 11x17 full color prints of aerial photography, four of which we put under plexiglass for out playing surface.
Another irritating bit about overlapping stands as the N17 twice out maneuvered the DIII, but touched so could not shoot. That rule also excluded what would have been an unpleasant close range exchange.