7th Solitaire game with Richard Bradley solo rules - There is no Shame in Love or War

[Blackronin]

There must exist an equilibrium between good and bad things, good luck and ill luck, happiness and sadness. After my fifth kill, I was granted a medal and... much better than that, a leave for one whole week. As I had promised, I went to see Willarm, who was almost recovered, at his family home and we made our back to the front line together. It was a perfect week. I met his parents - and thanked them their kindness and provisions - I met his younger brother - to whom I told how it is to fly a war plane - and I met his sister Ina - and in her green eyes I dove like a swallow in a cold stream to kill the thirst. It was with a promise of returning as soon as we could that we left - to come back to the war. And with this return to the front, we also returned to the harsh and ugly voice of our Hauptmann.

"Rittmeister Joachim, you look rested! Good! I have good and bad news for you. Do you want to hear them?" "Jawoll, Herr Hauptmann!" "As you just became an Ace, I was ordered to give you two more pilots and planes for you to command! You are now responsible for three airmen, God save us." "Jawoll, Herr Hauptmann! But I must say that under my command, my wingman has always returned alive and now with one kill under his wing." "Are you talking back to me, Rittmeister Joachim?!" "Jawoll, Herr Hauptmann!" "Hmmm! Good!! It was damn well about time!" "Jawoll, Herr Hauptmann! And the bad news?" "You'll be given two old planes. Two Pfalzs. We must wait until we receive new planes." "I see, Herr Hauptmann." "But that's not the worst of it. A spy informed the High Command about a place where where the enemy trains the new pilots near the front lines in old planes. We must cover all that area and take down as many pilots as we can while they're still green." "Her Hauptmann! That is a very low, despicable and honourless plan!" "I know Rittmeister Joachim. But this is war. There is no shame in love or war."

We took off, near touching the trees that protect our aerodrome, watching the other planes moving alongside. This time I'll take Willarm only , since the pilots I was just given are very young and I think that I'll have to inspect those Pfalzs before I consider them combat ready. "What are we doing?" I asked Willerm, "going against cadets..." He smiled while he put his gloves on. "We have to. We have to go, shoot them down and return. I've promised my sister that you would come back alive with me every time." We laughed together. But as I was entering my cockpit I remembered the Hauptmann words. In love and war...

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We split our Jasta over a big area trying to find the training planes. I was hoping that we would find none, but we did, and very soon. A Sopwith Camel leading two old Bullets. This was going to be a massacre, so I went against the Camel, hoping that the enemy cadets would fly away.

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I thought that the Camel would protect the escape of the Bullets - at least long enough for me to decide that it would be unwise to pursuit them - but the Bullets pushed their way against us, following the Camel.

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We passed each other heads on, firing freely. Willerm, showing promise as a combat pilot fired against the Camel and away from his guns. I wasn't that lucky. Both the Camel and one of the Bullets raked my Albie with a string of bullets. But our combined fire did make some visible damage to the Camel.

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I felt sorry for them. There was bravery and a promise of good piloting in those two. And I always hated to fire against a teacher - be it a flight instructor or an algebra teacher - and I knew that I was going to try to shoot down the Camel's pilot. We regained distance and speed and a poem revealed itself to me. "Like a child in squat, like a butterfly in silence, the scorpions wait under a hot forgotten stone."

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As I finished an Immelmann, I opened fire again against one of the Bullets and the fragile plane opened up like a flower of fire. The pilot didn't stand a chance. The other Bullet fired, but he missed me by a mile. I guess that he was rightly scared. I saw it in his face as I ran along beside him. I made a sign with my hand for him to go away, but I just don't know if he saw it.

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The already damaged Camel was returning and I cruised alongside him, very near, and as we looked at each other he made a sign of disgust with his head and I understood him well. But I banked my plane to get his under my aim.

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We fired against each other, but we both failed.

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Then, very suddenly, as the Camel's pilot was worried about me, Willarm fired a terribly effective stray of bullets and the Camel went down with the engine smoking. His second kill! We joined formation while we saw it crash land in an abandoned crop-field.

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We approached slowly against the last Bullet, giving him the possibility of leaving, but the foolish pilot kept moving towards our lines. I fired a lazy stray of lead against the last enemy bird and his engine died in mid-air.

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We saw him landing his plane and leaving it alive. Willarm waved at him and we left to go back to our aerodrome. I had Ina in my thoughts and two more kills under my wing. Shameful kills and the words of the Hauptmann did not gave me any comfort.

After Action Report

I played my seventh solo scenario with my pilot - Rittmeister Joachim.
I wanted to use my recently made paper Bullets and as I haven't yet finished my Eindeckers I invented this (almost believable) scenario. All planes except mine were using the Richard Bradley Solo rules with my home-made table:

Die Roll: --------- 1 --------------------------- 6 --------
1/12 Stall/Straight/Stall --------- Straight/Straight/Loop
2/3 Hard Turn R./Stall/Hard Turn R. -- Straight/Straight/Loop
5/4 Straight/Loop/Straight -------- Straight/Loop/Straight
6/7 ---------------------- No changes ----------------------
8/9 Straight/Loop/Straight -------- Straight/Loop/Straight
10/11 Hard Turn L./Stall/Hard Turn L. -- Straight/Straight/Loop

I played with two aces rules:
Deadly Aim. One of the cards of damage I deal gives +1 damage if it's not a zero.
Gritty Luck. I can negate one card of damage per scenario.

Characters in the Campaign:

Rittmeister Joachim - 7 Kills Ability: Deadly Aim, Gritty Luck
Leutnant Willarm - 2 Kills
Leutnant Hans Zakopious
Leutnant Andrzej Kaut

Hauptmann Schroeder (Jasta 23 Operational Officer)

How will they perform in the next scenario? :)

[Flying Officer Kyte]

How indeed will they perform in the next encounter. I cannot wait to see what will come to pass when next Joachim meets his Ina with the liquid green eyes.
See I have got some heart after all.

Kyte.

[Blackronin]

How indeed will they perform in the next encounter. I cannot wait to see what will come to pass when next Joachim meets his Ina with the liquid green eyes.
See I have got some heart after all.

Kyte.

Who would think for a minute that you don't have a heart, Rob?
Can I use the Flying Officer Kyte in one of my next scenarios? It would be a blast to go against him and I would give him some Ace rules. :)

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Who would think for a minute that you don't have a heart, Rob?
Can I use the Flying Officer Kyte in one of my next scenarios? It would be a blast to go against him and I would give him some Ace rules. :)

As you wish Joaquim, only don't kill or capture him, as he finds it hard to do his job on here from the grave, or even under house arrest in Holland, although it was more like Drinking Club arrest as it turned out.
Rob.

As you see Rob has a heart, only the pilots under me think I don't.:smack:
Kyte.

[Blackronin]

Revamped.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Read it again. Like it. This is the hint of amour that all adventures should have. I await to see if it developes into a story of devotion and love. Will it be blighted in its prime by death and sadness, or blossom into a great love story that will echo down the ages whenever men of courage meet to drink and tell tales of famouse victories.
Rob.

[Blackronin]

Thanks, Rob. I am having a lot of fun (roleplaying my pilot) without knowing if he will survive the onslaught.
I'm thinking about creating further more along the story an Ace ability that I call: Always Returning Home - The pilot, against all odds, doesn't die. He always returns home alive. God Ex Machina, I know, but it does keep the story alive.

[Blackronin]

Thanks, Rob. I am having a lot of fun (roleplaying my pilot) without knowing if he will survive the onslaught.
I'm thinking about creating further more along the story an Ace ability that I call: Always Returning Home - The pilot, against all odds, doesn't die. He always returns home alive. God Ex Machina, I know, but it does keep the story alive.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

It is one of the problems I'm having with the adventures of Nigel. My son Stuart who flies as Nigel Bouncer-Smythe. has the luck of the Devil, but after nearly two years sorties, even his luck is going to run out sooner or later, and he will buy it bigtime in a game.
even his super tooled up Biff can't last forever. So far a couple of crash landings and a bullet in his bum are the only signs of trouble, but it will all end in tears when we get onto the Fokker DVII years.
Rob.

[Blackronin]

Indeed. But I guess that our hero doesn't have to die (if we want it that way). If he's a bigger than life character, we can give him an ability that will keep him alive. I'm thinking about giving my pilots the first ability at 3 kills, the second at 5 kills and one ability per 5 kill from there after. Giving him the Always Returning Home per 5 kills is a fair trade, I'd say.

[Blackronin]

The same-same story about uploading again the photos.