Ares Games

Bloody April 1918 Campaign

Scenario 2 begins!

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[SIZE=4]March 5, 1918 16:00

Scenario 2[/SIZE]


The air was chilly and still. A light drizzle had fallen most of the day and a low fog had kept planes grounded. So many hands of Hearts had been played, that when the call for the pilots came, the complaints were half-hearted at best. As the planes were rolled out and fueled, the spotty cloud and still wind promised an evening of good flying. As two RE8s took off in succession, the aerodromes in the Arras sector were buzzing with life.
High above the RE8s (counters 1 and 2) three planes from 25 Sqn. Made their way towards the line from Lozingham. A joint patrol (counter 6) followed at about four thousand feet.
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99359&d=1373919106[/IMG]

Far to the south 29 Sqn (counter 4) and 60 Sqn ( counter 8) both set out on separate patrol. Another flight from 60 Sqn also was airborne. Equipped with cameras, they were flying over Cambrai for another set of pictures.


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[SIZE=3]

Turn 6[/SIZE]

North of Lens, 25 Sqn (counter 3) was beginning their line patrol when the air around them exploded with black smoke bursts! Several near misses rocked their planes, and the black burst alerted Shusta 4 (counter A) of their presence. The joint patrol (counter 6) headed deeper into German territory.
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99361&d=1373919108[/IMG]


Just a few miles south 16 Sqn (counter 1) had broken off their trench recon over Vimy. The pilot, Maltby thought he saw a flight of German planes, so he dropped below the broken clouds and wheeled back to the relative safety of the British side of the trench.
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99362&d=1373919108[/IMG]


[SIZE=3]Turn 7
[/SIZE]
The Rumplers from Shusta 4 (counter A) had seen the Camels from 25 Sqn. Fresh out of training, both pilots failed to realize how fast and maneuverable the Camels were and lost them in the sun. The Rumplers were caught in a bad position as the Camels bore down on them.

Near Auchy, 16 Sqn B (counter 2) began their trench recon. The joint patrol (counter 6) winged toward the dogfight to see if support was needed.
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99363&d=1373919109[/IMG]


Meanwhile, 16 Sqn A (counter 1) spotted six planes from Jasta 11 (counter B). Maltby’s blood ran cold as he swore he saw six planes heading straight for him. Near panic, Maltby abandoned any idea of continuing his recon over Vimy and flew low North towards the friendly AA he knew to be there. His gunner started shooting flares as fast as possible to signal the guns on the ground.
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99364&d=1373919110[/IMG]


Well over the lines, Ivans from 60 Sqn B (counter 8) had spotted a group of Albatri (counter C) six or so miles north of Pronville. Artfully he and his wingmen curved north and drew the attention of the Germans while maintaining the altitude advantage. Ivans wanted draw them off so that Reid and his boys (counter 7) can get by to Cambrai. The Albatri of Jasta B however had spotted and tallied flight A (counter 7) but would have to gain some altitude to mount a proper attack, seeing has how his German flight was 1200 feet below them. Ivans knew he would have to be clever with both British flight maintaining the height advantage and another flight (counter 4) moving south. His only hope was Jasta 1 (counter D) that had taken off from Proville. If he could just buy some time.
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99365&d=1373919111[/IMG]


[SIZE=3]Turn 8[/SIZE]
The Fokker D.VII
planes of Jasta 11 burst down through the broken clouds at 4,000 feet to attack the lone RE8 from 15 Sqn flight A.
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99366&d=1373919112[/IMG]


Out gunned and out matched the RE8 is damaged, and plummets towards the ground in a frightening spin. Fighting the controls the whole way Maltby desperately tries to regain control!
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99367&d=1373919112[/IMG]


Meanwhile, Sqn 25 attacks the two Rumplers near Lens. (This battle was resolved using the Bloody April combat mechanic.)
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99368&d=1373919113[/IMG]


Deegener and Boehnk hold off the three Camels long enough that Felder and Hasse in the other Rumpler can escape to continue the trench reconnaissance tasking. Deegener and Boehnk pay a steep price for protecting their observer as their plane is crippled. Even worse, with a coughing sputter, the Rumpler’s engine dies leaving them four thousand feet in the air and no means to stay there. (Deegener are now counter A and observer that escaped is now counter E)
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99369&d=1373919114[/IMG]


Northwest of Proville, Rohlander and Hessle from Jasta B(counter C) catch a break. A fortuitous cloud hides them from the British. (A random event, “Hide in the Clouds” allowed them to turn undetected. They can’t be detected, but also can’t visually sight any of the British flights this turn.) The observation planes from 60 Sqn (Counter 7) angle south a bit intent on staying away from trouble on their approach to Cambrai. Jasta 1 (counter D) has other plans, and slowly gains altitude to intercept.
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99370&d=1373919115[/IMG]


[SIZE=3]Turn 9[/SIZE]

With a drained sigh Deegener slumped deep into his seat. He reached back with one gloved hand, and his gunner Boehnk grasped his hand briefly. The Rumpler had glided to the ground, and landed in a field near Lens.
Equally relieved, the RE8 begins to respond to Maltby’s stick, and he is able to level out at a few hundred feet above the ground. Scanning the sky around him, he heads back to Vimy to resume his trench reconnaissance.
Northeast of Proville, Ivans and his patrol from 60 Sqn B (counter 8) spot Jasta B. Ivans and Hale both remember the near fatal fight from the previous day. The opportunity to attack Jasta B (counter C) doesn’t present itself, and they didn’t push it. (60 Sqn tried to engage Jasta B, but both flights failed their engagement rolls.)
Stolte and his wingmen from Jasta 1 (counter D) move to the south in response to signal flares shot from the Aerodrome at Pronville. The men on the ground are tracking the British flight from 60 Sqn, and the signal is enough to pique Stolte’s curiosity.
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[SIZE=3]Turn 10[/SIZE]

The skies begin to cloud up, forcing any reconnaissance to be conducted below 4,000 feet. Anti-aircraft emplacements up and down the front watched vigilantly, knowing this sort of weather gave them a chance at easy shots. The billowing thunderheads soared to 10,000 feet above the ground, like giant cliffs in the sky.
Jasta 11 (counter B) is the first target for the eager AA gunners. While searching for the RE8 they had sent into a spin earlier (counter 1) the white puffs suddenly engulf the German aeroplanes. While undamaged, they still draw more attention than Albers would like.
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99372&d=1373919116[/IMG]


Rohlander played a cat and mouse game using the clouds as cover. Flying into a large cloud Rohlander was surrounded by white. Moisture condensed on every surface of his plane. He lost Hessle, who had been flying to his right. Turning his plane in a slow bank, Rohlander headed back in the direction he thought the British planes were. He looked down and his compass was spinning. Rapping on the glass didn’t fix it, and suddenly terror gripped him like a mouse beneath a lion’s paw. Clouds parted, and instead of the horizon he expected to see, his vision was filled with the ground spinning violently beneath him! (Counter C suffered a navigation check from turning in the clouds. Rohlander’s plane (now Counter F) entered into a spin, separating it from the rest of his flight, Counter C)
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99373&d=1373919117[/IMG]

[SIZE=3]
Turn 11
[/SIZE]
A cheer went up in the AA gun emplacement as one of the German planes is visibly hit and damaged. The plane doesn’t fall from the sky as the men hoped however, and the gunners are forced to hold their fire as the German Planes from Jasta B engage the British planes from 25 Sqn. Outnumbered 2 to 1, 25 Sqn fires signal flares, hoping that another patrol will see.
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99374&d=1373919118[/IMG]


[SIZE=3]Turn 12
[/SIZE]
Maltby and Claremont by this time had photographed Vimy and were working south again, close to Bailleul. With very little film left, they were just about to turn back when disaster struck! An AA shell rocked their wood and canvas craft flipping them over to plummet to the ground.
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99375&d=1373919118[/IMG]


Rohlander (counter F) strained with every muscle in his body. He held the rudder full right and held the stick as far into his gut as it would go. Sluggishly his plane leveled out to drunkenly bob only meters off of the ground! “If there was a single tree in this field I would be dead.” thought Rohlander. Wishing he could just land and collapse, he mastered his fear and resolved to find his wingmen, and more importantly those Englander planes! Adjusting his goggles, Rohlander pulled up and tried to gain his bearings.
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99376&d=1373919119[/IMG]


The signal flare had done its job. Between the flare and the white AA shells dotting the skies, the pilots of 43 Sqn saw something was going on and didn’t want left out. Six more aeroplanes piled into the furball over the trenches! Fifteen swooping, rolling, and diving planes tore the sky open with flashes of tracer bullets darting across the sky!
[IMG]http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=99377&d=1373919120[/IMG]


I broke this dogfight up into 3 Wings of Glory played. Celticgriffon and Moonsylver were kind enough to play one each, and I played the remaining one. After Action Reports are located [URL="http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/showthread.php?15851-Bloody-April-Campaign-(Scenario-2-Turn-12)-quot-Rollencourt-Rumble!-quot"][COLOR="#0000FF"]here[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/showthread.php?15703-Rigby-Gets-Pinched"][COLOR="#0000FF"]here[/COLOR][/URL], and [URL="http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/showthread.php?15768-AAR-Bloody-April-1918-Scenario-2-Turn-12-Rollencourt-Rumble!"][COLOR="#0000FF"]here[/COLOR][/URL].


Scenario 2 Turns 1-11 (you are here)
[URL="http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/entry.php?188-Scenario-2-Turns-12-and-13"][COLOR="#0000FF"]Scenario 2 Turns 12-13[/COLOR][/URL]
[URL="http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/entry.php?190-Scenario-2-Turns-14-15"][COLOR="#0000FF"]Scenario 2 Turns 14-15[/COLOR][/URL]

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Updated 08-06-2013 at 14:03 by diceslinger

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