Wings at The Portal in Manchester Ct. this Saturday
Just a heads up, there will be Wings of Glory WWI flown at The Portal this Saturday the 23rd at 10 am. Bill (NewFlyBoy), Chris (fastgit) and I will be there with others. Anyone reading this is invited to join in.
The Portal, 60 Hilliard St, Manchester, CT 06042
Last edited by Teaticket; 09-18-2017 at 14:03.
I'm really looking forward to it -- should be loads of fun !!!
Tomorrow should be a blast ! Looking forward to seeing you all.
B.
To all that will attend, bring your favorite planes to fly. 1st game I will supply the planes, 2nd game you can fly what you want against...!
WOO HOO !!!Originally Posted by Teaticket
Thank you Peter for a great day of flying at The Portal == I know everyone appreciated the effort you put in to provide us with a fun day.
Bill
Well it was a fine day to fly in The Portal in Manchester. We had seven pilots including myself. We were myself, my wife Deborah, Chris, Bill, Roland, and two more Bill will have to name as I can't remember. The venue had an amazing gaming room with at least 12 4' x 6' tables. There was quite a bit going on so I'm glad we grabbed a corner table as soon as we got in.
First bout was an infantry contact patrol. 2 American DH4s escorted by a pair of N28s. They were harassed by 3 German scouts, rotating through Albatros DVas, Fokker Dr.Is and Fokker DVIIs. My ipod battery was dead (shame on me for not charging it overnight) so I got no photos of this encounter. My wife (the Welsh Dragon) in a DH4 shot down two Germans but could not locate any of the infantry positions, not for lack of trying. Chris (fastgit) did locate the position of an infantry unit while fighting a German or two. I flew escort and shot down one Hun while protecting my wife. (needless to say it was something I had to do!) The Germans did not have a lucky outing this time...I'll let Bill (NewFlyBoy) chime in after he climbs out of the wreckage and brushed the burning embers off of his flying jacket.
The second game was a German Gotha night raid on London using the night fighting rules I wrote recently. 3 Gothas (1 flew AI) tried to cross the length of the board to reach London while 5 aircraft sent up by Home Defense did their best to spot and attack the bombers. Home Defense put up 3 Sopwith Snipes, an SE5a and a Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter comic.
I charged my ipod during the first game and did remember to take a few shots of the night raid.
I flew one of the flank Gothas (E1) and came up against Chris in the 1 1/2 comic. He quickly positioned himself under me and made me aware of his position as he put a few bursts into me. My rear gunner fired as best he could through the lower well. By some some brilliant unpredictable flying (even to me as I picked an opposite turn to what I wanted) I threw off the comic. The AI Gotha was immediately put on fire by the Welsh Dragon in her new Sopwith Dragon Snipe. The third Gotha flew a bit close to the AI Gotha and nearly collided with it but managed to put a little distance between them as they got closer to London. With my evasive maneuvering I fell far behind the other Gothas and drew the attention of two of the Snipes. Bill relentlessly hunted down the AI Gotha and within view of London shot it down. The third Gotha made it off the board to bomb London with 2 hit points remaining. As the sole Gotha in the air I became quite popular. Trying to avoid getting shot by a trailing Snipe I turned and the 1 1/2 comic once again got under me for a brief burst. Once past him I had a Snipe and an SE5a between me and London. One Snipe overshot, one did spot me and got in a shot while another overlapped with neither of us spotting the other. I did spot one Snipe but did not shoot to keep my position in question. (when you fire everyone spots you) The overlapping Snipe immediately Immelmanned and went up a level while I dived in desperation to escape. Needless to say as I lived to tell this tale you must have realized that I evaded the enemy, dropped my bombs on London and returned to Belgium with my wounded Gotha (20 damage) and happy to be alive crew.
Chris on left next to Roland. Guys on right and in corner I forget their names.
Whew, I manage to slip the pursuit.
Bill and Chris, please add in any photos you can.
Last edited by Teaticket; 09-23-2017 at 17:47.
First time flying a Strutter... and first time with a Comic. Verdict...? Darn tough to stay with your target. And you need to be patient... but quite a bit of fun. The Gotha is a tough little bird, and that ventral MG is... annoying. Great flying by Peter kept me guessing, and I just didn't have the legs to make up for his shiftiness.
A great time, despite the fact that I spent most of the day flying lazy circles looking for things I couldn't see!
I'll get some photos posted tomorrow.
I'll try to post photos tomorrow as well -- my pilot recruits were Hank (in red shirt), Roland (in blue shirt), and Al (not visible in any of these pictures I believe). Thanks again for a great day.
Teaticket wrote: "The Germans did not have a lucky outing this time...I'll let Bill (NewFlyBoy) chime in after he climbs out of the wreckage and brushed the burning embers off of his flying jacket."
I just want to say that there is no truth to the rumor that my new nickname is "Flame-o Kaboom"...
Hats off to Bill and Peter for facilitating my first game since June 2016... it's great to be back!
It's good to see you back, Chris.
Quite the scenario for your re-introduction.
Fantastic day of gaming by the looks of it, great to see. Well done Peter and the gang !
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
Teaticket said: "I flew escort and shot down one Hun while protecting my wife. (needless to say it was something I had to do!) "
May I just say that she required no protection, quite the contrary it was WE that needed protection from her (I believe at one point I referred to her an "Annie Oakley"...)
Here are some of my photos from the first game "Infantry Contact Patrol" -- remember I am the world's worst photographer...
Here are some photos from the second game -- the night bombing raid on London
I think I can safely say a great day of flying was had by all...thanks again to all who participated and a special thanks to Peter for designing and running such interesting games.
Last edited by NewFlyBoy; 09-24-2017 at 07:08.
Nice pictures there, Bill and Peter.
Many thanks for posting them!
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
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