OTT DYM Mission 2 - Coming and Going - 14 January 1916 by Vagabond
I was waiting in the ante room to see the CO when 2nd Lieutenant Ruairidh MacNair emerged from the inner sanctum and gave me a wry grimace and said “he’s ready for you now, better not keep him waiting”.
I stood with some trepidation, I’d only joined the squadron yesterday, made a complete arse of my initial landing, had my mechanic to be, walk the full length of the airfield to help me restart the engine and taxi him back to the hanger. My first mission had gone reasonably well but my Flight Commander Lt George Drummond had been shot down in the process of attacking 2 enemy balloons, I had been tasked with eliminating the AA guns which I had achieved but only after my initial bombing runs had totally failed and my Observer and Gunner Jack Cowan had made good my ineptitude by strafing the buggers into silence. The other Pilot on the mission was Rory MacNair on secondment from the French Air Service and he had covered himself in glory by shooting down an enemy plane and balloon and I have to say I was a bit in awe of his flying skills.
C.O. Major Kyte.
I knocked on the door and entered promptly on the command to “enter” this was my first sight of the renowned Major Kyte, my CO. “Well my lad, I saw you land yesterday and I hope you improve because we can’t afford to lose any more planes to our own pilots, we have enough trouble with the enemy shooting them down without our own side helping him”.
“No Sir” I stammered “but the wind sock wasn’t flying” He ignored my excuse and continued “Air Mechanic Seaforth doesn’t need the exercise walking the full length of the airfield to bring you back, especially at his age, he’s far more valuable to us keeping planes in the air” “Yes Sir – I understand and it won’t happen again” “No I don’t expect it to” he replied tersely.
“Well look here, we have a bit of a problem, George Drummond was shot down, yes I know you were there but it leaves me with a difficult decision. You are now the senior British officer in the flight, but having just joined us I am not inclined to let you lead other men to their deaths and have decided to let one of the seconded French pilots lead the flight. Having discussed it with MacNair and DeLacy, MacNair is going to be the Flight Commander, does that cause you any difficulty, because if so, speak up now and I can ship you out straight away”.
Kyte was renowned for his plain speaking and he was certainly living up to his reputation. I didn’t consider this for an instant, I might be an ambitious young pilot but I wasn’t as stupid as I looked, “No Sir that perfectly fine with me” by jingo I wanted to serve in this front line unit, more than anything. This just goes to show how naive I was in those early days.
“Well you show a more mature attitude than many” was all the response I got. “Off you go and see Lt MacNair because he has a mission that we both want you to participate in”.
Lt Ruairidh MacNair
“OK lad we’ve had a phone call telling us that there is a German bomber returning from knocking the sh*t out of Deauville railway sidings and if we get up there quickly there is a good chance we can catch him before the illegitimate son of a gun gets back over his lines. I want you to go up with Henry DeLacy and knock the Hun out of the sky. Henry will be your leader and mentor, he is not a particularly good pilot as he’ll be the first to admit but he’s a bally efficient Hun killer, follow his lead and you’ll not go far wrong”. I was wondering what had happened to his Scottish accent but didn’t think this was the right time to ask.
Henry De Lacy sucked on his pipe contemplatitively.
“Ok Lad” I was getting a bit fed up with this Lad business but I let it slide, “We know the Hun is on his way back home, you stick on my left hand side, I think that’s port but just be there where I can wave my left hand at you and we’ll catch the bugger as he tries to get back to his own lines”. “We need to take off in 5 minutes, are you OK with that?”
“Ready to go right away, I’ll just get Jack”
“Before you do” Henry said “I want you to remember, if you are closing head on to a German plane, you get a short time to inflict damage, by the time you have turned round to chase after him, he’s long gone and you’ll never catch up. The best thing to do is approach in a circle, get behind him as he flies past and stay on his tail, your gunner gets a field day and will thank you later.
Lieutenant John Vagabond still has a lot to learn, he had survived his first mission flying against the German Air Service and this has improved his flying skills so that on this, his 2nd mission he is still using a reduced manoeuvre deck but it is slightly better than on the first mission, It is minus one turn right and one left; one straight and he still can’t Immelmann and also still can’t keep up with the other pilots and so uses one stall card per turn as well as the usual Rookie penalties.
2nd Lt Vagabond
Well 5 minutes is not a lot of time but I managed to get my flying kit on and be ready on the grass by my plane a rather spiffing FE2b, I was very proud of the fact that I had managed to acquire a plane with the V marking on the body and wing, almost like my own personal plane.
My flying suit had been commissioned by my Father from the local village Blacksmith, he was as pleased as Punch with this and assured me that it would save my life. I had promised to wear it but was mortified that I was going to get a lot of ribbing about the suit.
The things we do for our parents.
Jack Cowan
I was a bit worried by my newly acquired Observer and Gunner Jack Cowan, he seemed a bit eccentric to me, and had a slightly mad, far away look in his eye but we both liked Bunnahabhain malt whiskey so he must be OK - perhaps.
Of course I later found out that he liked anything with alcohol in it, even antifreeze, but by that time so did I.
My apologies about the photos, I played the game 2 days before moving house and had partly dismantled my playing area, particularly the lighting and most of these are poor shots because of this, nothing to do with my camera work, I assure you
We were flying at quite a distance from each other, Henry De Lacy off in the distance, flying the petite Morane N monoplane and Jack Cowan and I in the FE2b nearest the camera. Henry’s idea was that we could cover more sky like this and provided I kept a sharp eye out for him I wouldn’t get lost. Henry waggled his wings and off in the distance I saw a plane I wasn’t familiar with, although back then I wasn’t familiar with many planes. Jack waved his hand in front of my eyes and pointed at the plane and made a rude gesture, as if I had no idea of what I was seeing.
The problem was that he insisted on wearing the top hat when we were flying and I couldn’t see through it, or even around it, I hoped the wind would blow it away until I realised it was tied on with bailer twine.
I turned slowly to starboard remembering Henry’s words of wisdom about following and chasing rather than head on, but Henry seemed taken up in the drama as he and the German 2 seater fired on one another. I later found out this was a Rumpler, a Reconnaissance and Light Bomber, quite common and also quite deadly.
Jack was gesturing with his left hand, I think he was encouraging me to go faster, there was a loud staccato sound that made me jump until I realised he was test firing his Lewis gun to warm the barrel.
We got closer and Jack opens fire for real but I can see his tracers are going behind the Rumpler, Henry turns to port and almost collides with the German plane.
Fortunately they miss each other by a whisker, however Jack and the German observer exchange fire and I can see Jack’s bullets stitch a long line of holes down the enemy plane, I note, almost subliminally the Red Dogs Head on the body and top plane of the plane and wonder if this identifies them and who they are. I also note the plane lurch to the right and see the pilot slump forward in his seat before jerking back upright. I think Jack must have hit him. Good shooting Jack.
Jack continues to fire into the Rumpler but the return shooting is accurate and deadly, all of a sudden there are flames erupting from behind me. Good grief, I don’t want to fry, I try and remember what was drilled into me back in training. Try and blow the flames out, I take a deep breath and blow but it has no effect.
I swing the FEE to starboard trying to get the wind from the slipstream to blow out the flames, this seems to have more effect than me blowing on them and we suffer no further damage.
Jack is ignoring the flames and continues shooting but it is ineffectual, however Jack’s gun goes silent, he gets out a wooden mallet and starts to hit the Lewis Gun. I asked him later if it was standard practice to try and clear jams like that, he gave me a very strange expression and said “No but it relieves the tension and some times it seems to work”
I do worry about him.
I’m continuing to chase after the German, but later when Jack asks me why I did this knowing his gun was jammed I don’t have a reasonable answer. The killer instinct, or harrying the enemy seems pretty lame in these circumstances, I guess I just didn’t think too clearly.
Jack is still hitting the Lewis Gun when I see him jerk back and there is a red mist over my goggles. My God what was that, I realise it can’t be too bad because he hits the Lewis with renewed energy although I can see his leg is covered in blood.
I’m not letting the bomber get away and I’m on his tail even though he continues to fire on us and we can’t fight back.
My manoeuvring is not as successful as previously and the fire causes significant damage. For a split second I wonder if I should try and land, but Jack’s determined hammering on the Lewis makes me realise we are fighting for King and Country and sacrifices will have to be made.
The Rumpler Gunner fires a short burst and then his guns stop. Thank goodness for that, maybe I can keep the crate in the air after all. I get chance to look over my shoulder for Henry and he is way behind, trying to catch up and get back into the game. I can see the advice he gave me about circling and following rather than a head on attack has proved most valuable and I’m determined to keep Jack close enough to eliminate the enemy plane now we are in such an advantageous position.
Jacks hammering has been successful and he opens fire on the Rumpler, there are flames and holes all over the plane. He’s obviously hit something vital.
The fuel tank most likely, no loud explosion but the plane falls earthwards in a ball of flame.
I’ve been throwing the FEE all over the sky to try and put out the flames and am finally successful, we lose a small amount of damage from the last bust of flame, but it is finally out.
As I’m writing this I’ve realized that I failed to take account of the +1 for shooting at the same target on a subsequent move, we’re just going to have to put that down to me being a Rookie.
I also seem to remember another rule that interrupts this if the firer takes damage. My rules are still packed away and it will be a while before they see the light of day.
Henry must have decided to extend the patrol and was flying back closer to the lines. We were flying some distance away from each other, when I saw a couple of shark like shapes appear from the German side of the lines, at this distance I couldn’t decide if they were returning British planes or a German incursion, maybe checking on the damage the Bomber we had shot down had done.
As we got closer I recognised them for Albatros Cl two seaters, one appeared to have a Red Unicorn on the top wing and the other some other heraldic emblem, maybe a Blue Griffon? We were closing quite fast and then the lead plane turned to starboard.
We didn’t know at the time and actually still don’t but the Red Unicorn was flying the photographic mission and the Blue Griffon was the escort.
Henry opened fire on the lead plane, as I turned to port and closed, Jack fired off a short burst to check his gun was working, it seemed fine and I did wonder how tough these Lewis guns were, after all he had been hitting it with a wooden mallet. I also realised with a small start of surprise that I hadn’t jumped out of my skin when he did this, maybe I was getting the hang of things?
Jack opened fire for real but didn’t seem to do any damage that I could see. Henry had flown past his previous target and was coming to our aide, at least I think that’s what he was doing. Then I realised I was flying directly at the Albatros and he was flying directly at me.
There’s a lot of guff talked in training about never giving way if flying head on to an enemy plane, some mark of courage apparently, it’s easy to say that on the ground, especially when there’s no chance of a collision but much harder to do in the air, both the Albatros pilot and I sideslipped. Fortunately we both went to port and missed each other Jack stitched holes all the way down the fuselage of Red Unicorn, his observer was shooting at Henry who was shooting back to little effect it appeared.
We’ve continued past and Jack turned his attention to the Blue Griffon, Henry was still firing at the Red Unicorn but the return fire was boring straight into the Moraine’s engine. Henry said later it sounded like a can of marbles, the plane started shuddering and he knew something bad had happened and decided he had to leave for home or risk the engine packing up all together.
I banked to port and Jack was firing at the Blue Griffon but again his gun jammed and I could feel the thud of the return fire from the Albatros Observer. However because I am a pedantic sort of bloke I had checked all the rounds put into the Lewis guns drum and the jam didn’t occur. I have the bullet checker ability and this was my one use of it.
You will notice I still forgot about +1 for subsequent shots, I’m really going to have to sharpen up if we’re going to survive this campaign.
The Albatros continued to pour lead into us but Jack was returning a very effective fire and suddenly there was a loud explosion and a ball of flame as the Blue Griffon exploded in mid air.
Henry’s engine damage means he is heading home, my overall damage means I also need to head for home and this leaves the way clear for the Red Unicorn to fly on and photograph the bombing damage.
By my reckoning this is a draw.
In retrospect I have a number of questions about my interpretations of the rules, and maybe my notes of the game. I completely overlooked the +1 for subsequent periods of firing, I haven’t unpacked the rules yet after my house move so can’t check but I believe it wouldn’t have affected the result of the 1st half of the game, Vagabond would still have been flying and Jack Cowan would have his kill.
For the 2nd part of the game I’m not sure if Vagabond would have had to bug out and go home due to taking extra damage from the +1, or if this had been cancelled by the return damage rule cancelling out the +1 so I’m not sure by the time Jack Cowan got his 2nd kill, what the situation was. Dave you may want to call the 2nd kill unconfirmed or maybe it’s OK I’ll leave that to your decision, all I can say was - it was all done in good faith and with lots of Calvados to lubricate the faith.
Reading my notes the writing gets very spidery towards the end, maybe the sign of lots of adrenaline or maybe, just maybe, too much red wine and Calvados.
A most enjoyable scenario and a close run thing.
The Butchers Bill
Dave I am sorry but I don’t have my notes to check this out or dice to be able to roll for survival, would you mind confirming this stuff?
Paul Averes P2 SD in Flames. WIA. - No Kills
Dietrich Beer O SD in Flames - No Kills
Crashed in enemy territory.
Ltn Karl Grassmann: (P2) RTB 0 Kills
Ltn Hans Brandt: (O) RTB 0 Kills
I didn’t have a 3rd 2 man crew so used Martin Gallwitz and an unnamed mechanic as gunner, You may want to change this.
Ltn Martin Gallwitz: SD-EXP-ET 0 Kills
Rolled 5 -3EXP = 2 KIA
Cpl Alfred Engelfried: SD-EXP-ET 0 Kills
Rolled 2 -3EXP = -1 KIA
Obltn Paul Averes: (P2) SD-FLM-ET / WIA 0 Kills
Rolled 10 -2FLM -1WIA = 7 - Injured - Skip 1D2 Scenario. Rolled 3 = Skip 1
E&E: Rolled 7 -1FLM -1WIA -1WIC -1BEL = 3 Captured and escaped! - Skip 1D3 Scenarios. Rolled 2 = Skip 1
Ltn Dietrich Beer: (O) SD-FLM-ET 0 Kills
Rolled 6 -2FLM = 4 - Injured - Skip 1D6 Scenarios. Rolled 5 = Skip 5
E&E: Rolled 10 -1FLM -1WIC -1BEL = 7 Landed almost home! - Skip 1 Scenario = Skip 1
2Lt John Vagabond: RTB 0 Kills
AM1 Jack Cowan: RTB / WIA 2 kills
Rolled 11 +1RTB -1WIA = 11 All well when you land well
The top row of damage chits with the black outline are A damage from the fire.
The 2nd row are from the 1st part f the game so at the end of the 1st part their plane suffered 9 damage points
The 3rd row are from the 2nd part of the game
2Lt Henry De Lacy: RTB 0 Kills
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Well somehow against all odds Mr Vagabond survived his second mission & Mr Cowan got a kill or two.
and tidied the title. 
Originally Posted by gully_raker
Can't help but wonder what effect the extra weight of Vagabonds' armour would have had on the aircraft performance 
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