One fine morning in 1917 Rittmeister Josef "Bwana" von Bierenstein is having a nice mid-morning weisswurst and beer when an alert arrives in the CP of the squadron. A Britisher two-seater is approaching the squadron's favorite brewery and beer garden. It's obvious those bulldogs are attempting a photo recon as a prelude to an attack to steal the recipes to the coveted dunkel and bratwurst. (Such a pity the British have such poor beer! Nothing beats a good Bavarian lager!) Bierenstein takes to the air to intercept his foe.
The British two-seater (flown by Lt. Lucas "Scribble" Churchill [no relation]) has made his run and is turning for home as Bierenstein catches him and pours fire into the side of the aircraft. The British rudder looks damaged and the pilot is beating on his guns. Curse the luck; the observer's guns are fine!
Bierenstein turns into his foe but now the observer's gun can trace a line of fire into the Royal Bavarian Air Service, uh, German, aircraft! Bullets rip into both machines. The German aircraft is rocked by the accurate fire. On of Bierenstein's guns is hit. No helping it as he can't reach it to fix it. Down to one gun now! In return the German bullets sail over the observer and the British pilot is hit. Curse short British observers!
Bierenstein is on his foe's tail now and pours fire into the aircraft. An oil line is hit and the plane begins to smoke. The triumph is short-lived as a bullet pierces his arm. How dare he, that was a new leather flying coat given to him by his Oma! The cowardly British dog fire-walls his throttle and quickly outpaces the German aircraft.
Well, it was a British victory as he got to photograph both spots and got off the board. (And one of my kids finally beat me. Curses!) We decided that since the German aircraft had unreachable guns a jam was for only one gun. Also explosion cards were half damage. Plus the DH4 was treated as A/A not AB/B. This was our first two-seater battle. In hindsight I should have been in position at his final objective long before I was. However the German plane is a LOT slower than the British one. Once I was behind the eight ball it was a foregone conclusion. That rear gun is a killer and if it wasn't for luck of three 0s I would have been toast. Maybe we need to string out some more objectives OR add another fighter going after the two-seater. Rematch soon and I will get to fly a German two-seater against a N28.
And this was my 500th post! Woohoo, beer on me!
Bookmarks