This week saw the Entente counterpoint to last week's experiment with 2-seaters against a balloon position. The CP 2-seaters proved inadequate to the task; would the Entente's prove any better?
The answer was a resounding "Yes", and demonstrated the importance of the twin-0.30 mount.
Round 1 saw my personal favorite 2-holer, the Breguet Br.14, taking a swing at the sausage. Three of them with three A-decks and three B-decks, coupled to one of the highest HP-totals outside of _FotG_, proved utterly devastating; in the opening pass they wiped out one entire flank of the German ground defenses (one cannon, two MGs); shredded the balloon and ground gear in two more passes; and for good measure swatted the pair of D.Vs activated when the ground defenses were destroyed, all without loss (one Br.14 took an engine hit, but that was it). Most people look at the Br.14 and think "Ugly -- can't possibly be effective"; guess again, slick. The Br.14 is the textbook definition of "flying brick with a hefty throw-weight".
Round 2 was the turn of the De Havilland DH4 -- not quite as many HP as the Br.14, but similar guns. The effect was much the same as the previous round: The ground guns and balloon died horribly; but the twin-B-deck DH4 was lost before the D.Vs were shot down.
Round 3 was the turn of the Heavies -- but not the expected 0/400s; instead, I let the flying boats have a whack at it. The Felixstowe and Curtiss seem to be better with guns than they are with bombs; they knocked out the ground guns quickly enough, then proceeded to completely miss the balloon and its equipment with bombs, and so had to shred the balloon with MG fire to accomplish the mission. The D.Vs didn't accomplish much here, either; the flying boats' slow speed meant the fighters tended to overshoot -- and end up in the A-deck front arc of the Curtiss resulting in one loss and one shot half to pieces.
(On Tuesday, I ran the RE8s through the gauntlet; their performance, or lack thereof, could only be described as "embarrassing", as none of them even got within firing range of the balloon before being shot down. So, one is led to wonder why the RE8 got a mini release, when far-superior units can't even get a card deck.)
Very simply: These experiments illustrate one should never use a B-deck unit if an A-deck version is available; and for attacks against defended ground targets, go for the maximum HP available.
Final score: Entente 3, CP 0.
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