Historical latewar mission

[Pooh]

On October 14, 1918 the US Marines flying 8 DH4s and DH9s attacked the German held rail yards at Thielt Belgium (about 10 miles south of Brugge). On the way back they were jumped by 12 German scouts. 1 or 2 of the DH4s (sources vary) were separated from the rest and the Germans concentrated on them.
One of the DH4s was piloted by Lt. Ralph Talbot w/ Cpl. Robert Robinson gunner. The gunner shot down 1 German but 2 scouts attacked from below wounding Cpl. Robinson. Despite being wounded he continued to fire until wounded twice more. The pilot dove and managed to cross German lines at 50 feet and land at a hospital.
Both pilot & gunner survived and were awarded the Medal of Honor.

Senario
Since 20 planes is a lot of planes, I suggest picking the action up after the plane(s) have been seperated and are trying to escape.
2 DH4s (one with engine damage) set up 1st starting near one the edge of the board. The remaining players (4 to 6) are all flying late war German scouts (Albatros DVa or Fokker DVII). They start near the same side of the board at least 1 foot away from the the DH4s. The DH4s have to cross the table and get over German lines (placed at least 2/3 of the way accross the table).
Once over German lines they are safe.

We've used DH4s and they are tough. I've given 1 DH4 engine damage as this is historical and it prevents the DH4s from simply outrunning the German planes.
I haven't played this senario yet but will try to do so 1 week from Friday (on Nov. 13).

Pooh

[Jmac]

2 DH4s (one with engine damage) start anywhere near the same edge of the board at least 1 foot away from the DH4s.
Pooh

Is this a typo?

[Pooh]

Yes, The DH4s have to cross the table. The German scouts set up at least 1 foot away from the DH4s. I envision the DH4s more or less being surrounded at the start. According to one account I read, Lt. Talbot's plane was pretty much shot to pieces.

Pooh

[The Blue Baron]

I would imagine that the length of the table decides if they can get away or not... Six Fokker D.VII should be able to stop 2 DH.4 if the tble is long enough. With four Fokers I would expect a very close game. (Close game? Can you say this in english?)

I am curious about your report next week.

[Pooh]

We have long tables but the DH-4s are tough with those A/A guns. We will likely have less than 6 Germans, probably 4 or 5, and they will be flying a variety of latewar German planes; Fokker D-VII, albatros D-Va and possibly a Siemen Schukart D-III. The game of the week is decided over Monday knight dinner which i don't attend so I put my vote in and await the verdict.

Pooh

[Poliorketes]

We did a game with two DH4 against 3 german fighters once, the DH4 have been nasty but when the germans found out how to use the dead spots they shot both down.

Have fun and tell us how it worked

[Pooh]

I put it to the group and it looks like the game is on. Let you know Saturday how it went.

Pooh

[The Blue Baron]

We did a game with two DH4 against 3 german fighters once, the DH4 have been nasty but when the germans found out how to use the dead spots they shot both down.


OK, how do you use the dead spot? It is not very big and most of the time you try to go for it you end up in the front or back arc...

[Pooh]

The way we play, if you are at the same altitude, at close range and the line of fire (center to center) goes through the tail section of the 2 seater, fire is blocked. This is pretty tough to do.
However, if you are lower,and we count even 1 altitude chit as lower, and fire goes through the rear side of the 2 seater's aircraft stand then fire is blocked at any range.

Example: If the 2 seater is not at an even altitude (say alt 3 and 2 chits) and the scout is behind it (altitude 3) then according to the rules the scout can fire at long range but we play firing is blocked for the rear gunner because the scout is lower.

If you're not using altitude then you have to get in close. Also, my suggestion, if your not using altitude make the rear blind spot anywhere through the rear side of the 2-seater's stand.

Pooh

[Poliorketes]

OK, how do you use the dead spot? It is not very big and most of the time you try to go for it you end up in the front or back arc...

I didn't say it's easy. First it depends on the rules you use. With altitude and the optional dead spot just go in from behind & below. Without these keep in mind that the DH4s only have long turns. So if you approach from about 60-90 degrees from the front and turn in on the DH4 it can only counter this with a stall. A long turn in your direction won't give it's guns LOS, and a turn away should get both planes out of reach. The main problem will be approaching the undamaged DH4 as it's as fast as you.

[Pooh]

Good point about the speed. I don't think the Germans have any really fast planes like the Spad XIII or the SE-5a.
The key for the Germans, I think will be to gang up on 1 plane with 2 or more of their own without comming in range of the 2nd DH-4. If they come in singly against both of them, the Germans are going to have a long afternoon.

Given the senario, I think you can expect the DH-4s to trade altitude for breathing space. I intend to start the DH-4s at alt 4 and the Germans at any altitude they choose. They'll probably choose 4 too.

Pooh

[Oberst Hajj]

I think we may play this mission on Thursday.

[Pooh]

Cool, let us know how it goes. We use altitude straight out of the book and you said you don't use it. It will be very interesting to see if it makes any difference.

Pooh

[Oberst Hajj]

Well, we do use my S.A.R. so, it should play out close I would think.

[Pooh]

We played the senario last night and found it plays very fast, less than an hour.

We had the 2 DH-4s (mine had the crippled engine) vs. 5 German scouts, 3 D VIIs, 1 Siemens Schukart D III and an Albatros D III ( I don't know why he chose that plane as there were other choices available). We decided that both DH-4s had A/A guns as this was the historical armament.

The 2 DH-4s started about 6 inches apart, mine at altitude 4 and the other at 4 and a pip) and the Germans placed their aircraft around us about a foot away. At first 4 of the Germans went after me and only 1 after the healthy allied plane (they didn't know which was which). I began to take a horrible beating and after one turn all the Germans were saying this was going to be a slaughter. I gave out a bit of damage too.

On the 2nd turn I manouvered a bit which caused the Germans to get in each others way which helped though a burst from one of their planes set my on fire. Again the DH-4s were dishing out damage but it was being spread out among the German planes.

On turn 3, I dove to altitude 3 and only the SS DIII got a shot at me. The others started after the healthy DH-4.

On Turn 4, The SS & I exhanged fire again and the SS guns jammed. The other DH-4 burst through the German ring and began to distance himself from the Germans as they tried to manouver.

On, Turn 5, I dove to alt 2 and the SS dove to Alt 3 but it was to no avail. The last card from the fire gave my plane exactly 15 damage and it went down. The healthy DH-4 got clear of the German planes and as he just as fast as them, they weren't going to catch him.

It was a fun if brief senario. We decided that had the damage gods been just a little kinder to me (I only got 1 zero damage card) it was likely that both DH-4s would have gotten away. The German planes are just not fast enough to manouver for their shots and if they try, the DH-4 just runs away. Also the healthy DH-4 didn't not provide any supporting fire for the crippled one. He used stalls to try and fool the Germans and draw them away but it turned out they just went for the nearest plane which was mine.

Pooh

[Zeppelin]

Sound like a cool scenario. Thanks for the battle report.

[Oberst Hajj]

It does sound like a fun game. My group did not get to this mission last Thursday... they all wanted to try out WWII with my new minis :D

How long was the table the DH-4s had to cross?

[Pooh]

We game on a 9 foot table but there was a 6' X 4' game matt on the table. The DH-4s had to cross the matt the long way with about a foot on one end being cut off to show the German lines. In our battle the length wasn't a factor because the healthy DH-4 was clear of the German scouts by the time he was 3 to 4 feet out. A longer table would have just meant frustration for the Germans as all they could do was watch him fly away. If my plane, with the crippled engine, had still been in the air, it might have been important. Even so, the speed difference caused by the one stall would not have been enough for them to do much manouvering.

Pooh