OTTBE Mission 25--Germany's Last Gasp-4th November 1918--gully_raker

**gully_raker** · 10-01-2018 23:27

Captain "Bon" King called all the C Flight Pilots & Observers including the Sargent Pilots into the Officers Mess for a briefing.
"Gentlemen as you know we have the old Hun on the Run but HQ need to turn the screws even more to hasten the end of this bloody War".
"Our mission is to bomb a village where the German Infantry are holding up our advance. We will need our two DH-4's crewed by Ralph & Lionel in their red tailed bird & Sgt Case with Phil McGlasson as Observer/Gunner will fly the brown one. They will have as escorts Tiny Large's Dolphin & Anthony March in SE 5a "G" for George. Algy Smyth-Brown in the Camo SE will take Sgt Simon Short in one of the new Snipes as back up". "You can be sure that the Eagle Jasta will be patrolling their lines to assist their ground troops so keep a good look out for trouble. Take off time is 8 am tomorrow morning so try to get a good nights sleep & Good Luck"

The next morning the 2 bombers & their two escorts took off & headed off over the Trenches.

Click image for larger version.

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On the other side of the lines a Kette of 4 Eagles headed towards the front lines led by Ltn Karl Wacher in a Red & White Fokker D.VII accompanied by his wingman Ltn Simon St Mont in another D.VII with lilac stripes & band.
They were followed by Ltn Otto von Tagenheim in a Fokker D.VIII & Fwbl Paul Naeke flying a SSW D.III. The state of problems for the Germans was shown by the number of new pilots in the group.

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As the British flight crossed over the trenches the Observers checked their maps to locate their target while the 2 scouts proceeded ahead looking out for any enemy aircraft.

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Lionel Rare shouted to his pilot. "That's the Village just on the other side of that bridge over the river. See its just off to our Port side ahead".
The German Kette were just at that time approaching the Target area.

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(As this was now Turn 2, I rolled for the arrival of the other British Scouts. A 6 resulted in them coming on to the table & another D6 roll resulted in the Center of the RHS of the British mat)

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Two groups of opposing Scouts now fired the first shots in the battle & although not much damage was done Tiny felt his rudder tighten up.

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The Bombers now came under attack from two of the German Scouts & they exchanged fire.
Disaster now struck the British as bullets from the D.VIII destroyed the engine of the Red Tailed DH-4 & it crashed into the British forward trenches which had been captured from the German's yesterday.
Sgt Justin Case took revenge by hitting the fuel tank of the Lilac Fokker D.VII which exploded & crashed in No Mans Land.

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As he flew past the D.VIII Justin's Observer Phillip McGlasson damaged the rudder of the German Aircraft.

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von Tagenheim's Fokker suffered further Rudder damage from shots from both the DH-4 & Sgt Shorts Snipe.

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"Quick" March in the SE'5a "G" exchanged close range bursts with the SSW D.III with both causing considerable damage.

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Justin who had already commenced his bomb run had lined up on the target perfectly & dropped his bombs in the main section of the defended village causing causalities & confusion to the German troops.

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A real dogfight now developed between Tiny in the Dolphin, Algy in the Camo SE & The German Fok D.VIII & the Red & White D.VII.
Tiny felt his rudder become exceedingly sloppy but not before he dispatched the D.VIII using his Marksman's ability along with assistance from Algy who wounded the unfortunate von Tagenheim whose Fokker spun into the ground.

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In the aftermath of that fight Tiny struggled with controlling his Dolphin & collided with Simon Short's Snipe but fortunately neither aircraft sustained any damage just brushing their wings.

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As the remaining DH-4 turned for home Justin had a great shot at the SSW D.III & managed to damage its engine!

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Fwbl Naeke extracted some revenge on the DeHavilland but his guns jammed & McGlasson returned the favour.

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The now defenceless SSW came under attack from both the DH-4 & "Quicks" SE but both British planes guns also jammed!

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Those last shots were just too much for the German plane & it spun into the ground in German Territory. Phil McGlasson was ecstatic as he had just claimed his first kill.

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The remaining Fokker D.VII & the 4 British Scouts now manoeuvred for advantage but the German pilot must have been thinking this was a loosing battle & should he break for his home base.

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He had drifted way over the British Trenches & there was a circle of British Fighters circling like sharks between him & safety!

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He made a break towards German Territory but Algy Smyth-Brown cut across & set him on fire.

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In the meantime Tiny Large was nursing the unresponsive Dolphin towards his home 'drome with the badly damaged rudder making things very difficult!
The remaining Fokker weaved from side to side in an effort to control the flames.

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However he could not avoid Simon Short's Snipe & they exchanged fire which resulted & both aircraft suffering engine damage.

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With misfiring engines both aircraft headed home.

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As the lone German Aircraft weaved its fiery way home all the British Aircraft turned to fly back to the Bulldogs Aerodrome.

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The German pilot was lucky as not withstanding the fire he was able to bring his damaged aircraft to a safe landing at the Eagles aerodrome & jumping out hoped the ground crew could extinguish the fire & save the valuable plane.

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Comments & Observations

Well my average of losing a 2 seater at the beginning of a game continued to climb. Very sad to lose my most experienced & decorated crew in the first exchange of fire.
One can only hope they could be lucky & survive the crash. I guess the fact that the other DH-4 took out a German plane in the same turn certainly helped!
For once I did not use altitude in the game but did use Dave's D8 charts.
All aircraft were AI controlled except for when the Bomber made its Bomb run.
It was a pretty quick game considering the number of aircraft involved. Thanks Carl for a fun game

VICTORY POINTS

BRITISH FORCES:
Direct Hit on Target = 4 points
3 Enemy Scouts s/d = 6 points
1 friendly a/c forced out = -1 point
TOTAL 9 points

GERMAN FORCES:
Enemy 2 seater shot down = 3 points
1 friendly a/c forced out = -1
TOTAL 2 points.

RESULT: ALLIED VICTORY

**gully_raker** · 10-01-2018 23:28

British Forces

2nd Lt Tiny Large: (Dolphin) RTB / 1 kill (von Tagenheim)

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2nd Lt Quick March: (SE5a "G") RTB / 0 kills

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Ltn Ralph Medium: P (DH.4--Red Tail B1) SD-EXP-FT / 0 kills (by Von Tagenheim)
Rolled 8 -3EXP = 5 Injured - Skip 1D3 Scenarios. Rolled 5 = Skip 3 - His war is over.

Ltn Lionel Rare: O (DH.4--Red Tail B1) SD-EXP-FT / 0 kills
Rolled 6 -3EXP = 3 Injured - Skip 1D6 Scenarios. Rolled 5 = Skip 5 - His war is over.

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Sgt Justin Case: P (DH.4--Brown) RTB / 1 Kill (D.VII Lilac)

Cpl Phillip McGlasson: O (DH.4--Brown) RTB / 1 Kill (Naeke SSW D.III)

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2nd Lt Algy Smyth-Browne: (SE 5a Camo) RTB / 0 Kills

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Sgt Simon Short: (Sopwith Snipe No.2) FRTB / 0 Kills

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German Forces

Ltn Karl Wacher: (Red/White D.VII) FRTB (Engine + Fire) / 0 kills

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Ltn Simon St Mont: (Lilac D.VII) SD-EXP-NML / 0 kills (downed by P McGlasson)
Rolled 9 -3EXP -1NML = 5 - Injured - Skip 1D3 Scenarios. Rolled 1 = skip 1
E&E: Rolled 11 -1EXP -1WIC +1NML = 10 They didn't even see me !
Total skips 1 - The war ends before he can rejoin his unit

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Ltn Otto von Tagenheim: (Fokker D.VIII) SD-WIA-NML / 1 Kill (DH-4 B1) (downed by Tiny Large)
Rolled 4 -1SD -1WIA -1NML = 1 Dead - KIA

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Fwbl Paul Naeke: (SSW D.III) SD-FT 0 kills (by P McGlasson)
Rolled 3 -1SD = 2 Dead ! KIA

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Dave may I impose on you to again roll the Survival Dice please.
(Fingers Crossed for my DH-4 crew!)

Voila !

**flash** · 10-02-2018 03:23

Bloody Nora Baz, that was one one heck of a first pass & what a ding dong knock down drag 'em out fight that turned into !
Well played

I was looking at your bombing - looks like you didn't put the straight card in before the bombs but looking at the pic I think you would still have nailed the target. I have put a bombing diagram in the rules section if it helps anyone.

Uncle says

Well done you chaps, things seem to have gone our way but it was damnably close & we had better luck than the Huns.
Tiny Large seems to have made double ace this campaign so there'll be a party tonight ! Sadly Medium & Rare won't be joining us, they were badly knocked about & will be off to Blighty - with any luck this will all be over before they can get back.

**Vagabond** · 10-02-2018 09:16

Bad luck to lose your lead bomber right at the start, and 2 boom cards in the same turn makes things exciting.

I see what you meant about the similarities between our two games. 3 Axis down and one running home as fast as he can. Don't blame him either.

Great write up and an it looks like an enjoyable game.
Cheers

**gully_raker** · 10-02-2018 16:30

Originally Posted by flash

Bloody Nora Baz, that was one one heck of a first pass & what a ding dong knock down drag 'em out fight that turned into !
Well played

i was looking at your bombing - looks like you didn't put the straight card in before the bombs but looking at the pic I think you would still have nailed the target. I have put a bombing diagram in the rules section if it helps anyone.

Held for Uncle !

Hi Dave!
I played two straights before the Bomb card. Do you mean I should have put another straight & then the Bomb card??
Bugger! Just checked the Bombing Diagram again & yes I did it wrong.
However I would have got at least a Partial so Victory Points would have been 7 rather than 9 so still a British Victory.

**Setarius** · 10-02-2018 20:47

What a shoot out Barry. I don't think I've seen a pair of BOOM cards on the first turn during these missions. Also plenty of special damage cards to go around.
Well done.

**gully_raker** · 10-02-2018 21:27

Originally Posted by Setarius

What a shoot out Barry. I don't think I've seen a pair of BOOM cards on the first turn during these missions. Also plenty of special damage cards to go around.
Well done.

Thanks Dale! Yeah pretty unusual to draw an A & a B Boom in the same action.

Thanks too for the Rep mate!

**Stumptonian** · 10-02-2018 22:02

Crazy! Crazy! Crazy!

I've had Booms in consecutive turns a few time, but never two at once.

At least not that I remember.
The engine damage and flames reminded me of my own version of this one.

You pulled off a clear victory, even with that unlucky draw for your DH.4

I see Dave hasn't rolled for you yet - the suspense must be killing.

With only one more to go there is no room for bad luck.

P.S. I tried to give you some rep, but not enough time between AAR.

I will try to come back later in the month and give you some.

**gully_raker** · 10-02-2018 22:27

Originally Posted by Stumptonian

Crazy! Crazy! Crazy!

I've had Booms in consecutive turns a few time, but never two at once.

At least not that I remember.
The engine damage and flames reminded me of my own version of this one.

You pulled off a clear victory, even with that unlucky draw for your DH.4

I see Dave hasn't rolled for you yet - the suspense must be killing.

With only one more to go there is no room for bad luck.

P.S. I tried to give you some rep, but not enough time between AAR.

I will try to come back later in the month and give you some.

Thanks for the thought anyway Pete!
Yeah that turn certainly brought up the Booms!

Medium & Rare have been a standout 2 seater crew with heaps of experience & Gongs galore so will be really sad to loose them at the 11th Hour.

Looking forward to seeing what Rob has in store for us for the final mission.

Its going to be a long wait until a new campaign next year.
Might have to replay some of the old ones again.

**mikeemagnus** · 10-04-2018 05:04

Hey Baz, I promise I did not even look at this before I had completed my own AAR - are we twins or what!!!! You even lost your best two seater crew and took a boom early on. And I think our choice of aircraft pretty well matched bar your Snipe. Well, well, how strange

Well fought the Bulldogs. Pulled one out of the bag there with some excellent shooting. Hope everyone survives ok . REP inbound

**gully_raker** · 10-04-2018 16:43

Originally Posted by flash

Bloody Nora Baz, that was one one heck of a first pass & what a ding dong knock down drag 'em out fight that turned into !
Well played

I was looking at your bombing - looks like you didn't put the straight card in before the bombs but looking at the pic I think you would still have nailed the target. I have put a bombing diagram in the rules section if it helps anyone.

Uncle says

Well done you chaps, things seem to have gone our way but it was damnably close & we had better luck than the Huns.
Tiny Large seems to have made double ace this campaign so there'll be a party tonight ! Sadly Medium & Rare won't be joining us, they were badly knocked about & will be off to Blighty - with any luck this will all be over before they can get back.

Many thanks Dave for doing the Rolls for me.
Really happy Ralph & Lionel survived the Boom & did not end up "Overdone"!
The Officers Mess will be happy to hear that news & celebrate Tiny's achievement.

The Eagles did not come out so lucky loosing two more Pilots.
Will have to see how many Germans are needed for the final mission.