The Balloon Busters: Game 3 Hammerhead 2nd March 2019
After lunch the third game was played. The scenario was slightly different in that the Germans had only one observation balloon but they still flew two Albatros D.III's and two Roland C.II's. The Entente pilots flew two Sopwith Camels, one rocket armed Nieuport 16 and an S.E.5a. You may recognise some familiar faces amongst the participants.
The Defenders
The Attackers
The combatants approached each other.
The striped Camel and yellow Albatros both flew straight ahead whilst the purple Roland and S.E.5a both turned right, which enabled them to attack their respective opponents without receiving fire in return.
The red Albatros, blue Roland, hearts Camel and Nieuport all flew straight on.
The S.E.5a flew straight on into fire from the purple Roland which had turned right. The striped Camel turned right into fire from the Roland's observer. The yellow Albatros turned left.
The red Albatros, the hearts Camel and Nieuport continued to fly straight ahead but the blue Roland turned right to move out of the line of fire of the Camel and yet still allow its observer to shoot at the Camel.
The striped Camel flew on towards the balloon. The S.E.5a turned right to also head for the balloon. The purple Roland flew behind the S.E.5a. Its forward gun was jammed but the observer could fire at the S.E.5a. The yellow Albatros turned right.
Meanwhile the Nieuport flew on towards the balloon. The other three planes all turned right. The blue Roland's observer's gun was jammed so it could not fire at the Camel.
The striped Camel performed an Immelmann turn. The S.E.5a flew on towards the balloon whilst the purple Roland turned right to stay behind it and allow its observer to shoot at the S.E.5a which burst into flames.
The yellow Albatros continued turning to the right.
The hearts Camel turned left away from the Roland. The Nieuport still headed for the balloon. The German aircraft turned right to try to intercept the Nieuport.
The S.E.5a performed an Immelmann turn to fly alongside the striped Camel and shoot at the purple Roland, which had turned right. The yellow Albatros also turned right towards the other planes.
The Nieuport, hearts Camel, blue Roland and red Albatros all started to converge on the balloon.
The Nieuport reached the balloon and squeezed in a shot. The balloon started smoking. The red Albatros continued to close in. As the hearts Camel flew on the blue Roland turned towards it.
The Immelmann turn was the third move of the turn, which meant that an illegal move had to be planned for the first move of the next turn because the plane was on fire. This attracted an extra A damage card as a penalty. The S.E.5a then turned right. The purple Roland turned right and flew on. Its observer fired at the S.E.5a. The pilot managed to unjam the forward gun. The Striped Camel turned left, flew towards the oncoming yellow Albatros and collided with it.
The Nieuport turned left and attacked the balloon at close range. The balloon caught fire. The red Albatros was closing in from behind. As the hearts Camel flew on the blue Roland turned left towards it and attacked.
Last edited by Naharaht; 03-24-2019 at 02:00.
More collisions! And it looks like another is one the way, with the Nieuport trying to imitate Willy Coppens.
The hearts Camel turned left to attack the red Albatros but received a burst of fire from the blue Roland's observer.
The purple Roland's observer fired at the burning S.E.5a.
The striped Camel was destroyed by the collision.
The S.E.5a flew away to the right. The yellow Albatros flew straight on whilst the purple Roland turned right.
The Nieuport turned hard right to avoid the balloon. The blue Roland flew straight ahead, the red Albatros turned right and the hearts Camel turned to the left.
Last edited by Naharaht; 03-24-2019 at 23:27.
The Nieuport turned to the right, away from the balloon. Both Albatros D.III's and the S.E.5a flew towards the balloon. The purple Roland continued turning right.
The blue Roland flew straight ahead as did the hearts Camel in the opposite direction.
The S.E.5a turned into a shooting position. The yellow Albatros flew towars the balloon. The purple Roland turned right again.
The Nieuport turned right to fly between the blue Roland and Red Albatros, which were approaching it. The hearts Camel performed an Immelmann turn.
Whew, this is a marathon of action. Will the balloon be destroyed? Will the outnumbered British fight off the closing Hun aircraft?
The burning S.E.5a had to turnturn left away from the balloon whilst the yellow Albatros and purple Roland both flew ahead.
As the blue Roland and red Albatros came on the Nieuport passed between them despite receiving shots from the Roland's observer, whose gun then jammed. The hearts Camel was coming forward in support.
As the S.E.5a turned left the flames went out but its troubles weren't over because the red Albatros and blue Roland turned left around the back of the balloon. The Albatros turned too far to shoot but the Roland could. The purple Roland turned right towards the balloon. The Nieuport flew straight ahead to escape. The yellow Albatros trying to cut off the Nieuport met the hearts Camel turning left and they exchanged fire.
The S.E.5a turned right to attack the balloon. The red Albatros turned right and passed behind the S.E.5a but the blue Roland still approaching was still able to shoot at it. The Nieuport continued to try to escape. The yellow Albatros heading for the Nieuport collided with the hearts Camel. The purple Roland flew on towards the balloon.
The Nieuport flew on with the yellow Albatros in pursuit.
The blue Roland and red Albatros flew straight ahead. The S.E.5a turned right and looked like it would collide with the balloon. Its guns were jammed. The purple Roland flew towards the S.E.5a and attacked it. The hearts Camel moved straight ahead to attack the purple Roland but ran into a hail of bullets from the Roland's observer.
The S.E.5a turned hard right to avoid the balloon. The purple Roland turned left behind the S.E.5a, almost colliding with it. The Roland's observer could not shoot at the S.E.5a but he could continue firing at the oncoming hearts Camel.
The red Albatros made a gentle turn to the left. The blue Roland turned left and fired at the S.E.5a.
Meanwhile, the Nieuport turned right towards home as the yellow Albatros continued to fly towards it.
Last edited by Naharaht; 03-27-2019 at 15:36.
The shots from the blue Roland finished off the S.E.5a and it fell from the sky.
The two Rolands and red Albatros all turned left whilst the hearts Camel flew straight on.
The Nieuport turned right, away from the edge of the mat. The yellow Albatros headed straight on.
The Camel performed an Immelmann turn and opened fire on the balloon. The red Albatros continued turning right to try to get behind the Camel. The blue Roland turned left to avoid the balloon whilst the purple Roland turned right.
The Nieuport headed straight for home whilst the yellow Albatros turned right to get behind it.
The Camel shot down the balloon and flew on towards the wreckage. The red Albatros turned left to pursue the Camel. The two Rolands turned to the right.
The Nieuport ran for home with the yellow Albatros in pursuit.
The Camel flew over to assist the Nieuport. The yellow Albatros broke off its pursuit to meet the Camel. The two Rolands blocked the Camel's port flank. The red Albatros also turned to the left.
The yellow Albatros swung to the left as the Camel flew in to attack it. The two Rolands turned to the right and the blue Roland was in position to shoot at the Camel. The red Albatros continued to move over to the left.
The yellow Albatros flew straight on. The Camel turned left to continue its attack at close range but the blue Roland turned left and flew past the Camel's tail allowing its observer to shoot at the Camel. The purple Roland flew straight ahead allowing its pilot to shoot at the Camel. Meanwhile the red Albatros turned right to close in on the action. The Nieuport Immelmann turned to try to assist.
Hit by a hail of bullets, the Camel blew up and the wreckage fell from the sky. This ended the action.
The Entente force had shot down the balloon but at the cost of three aircraft.
I would again like to express my appreciation and gratitude to JohnBiggles for bringing his equipment and running the games. Without his intervention there would have been a much poorer display. Also Whispering Death once again showed her skills as an implacable foe in her deadly purple Roland.
The End.
Another epic game. You people must have been exhausted after running three games.
You are correct. We were exhausted.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks