AAR OTT DYM - Mission 4 - "Some Mothers do 'ave 'em" (Italian Front variant)

[ShadowDragon]

Episode 4 of Daring Young Men: The Italian Front

“I figli delle madri”

A Mikeemagnus Production

(https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...by-Mikeemagnus)

Starring:

Commander of Flik 55J bis (The Emperor’s Baby Squadron): Hauptmann Michael von Taaffe



Flying for Flik 55J bis
1. Leutnant Wolfgang von Augustin (Aviatik D.I – 2 guns)



2. Feldwebel Günter Neumann (Aviatik D.I – 1 gun on top of the upper wing)



3. Leutnant Ryan von Taaffe (Rumple C.IV)



Flying for the Italian Squadriglia Caccia (three pilots on the left)



1. Tenente Giacomo dei Ferreti (SPAD XIII)
2. Sottotenente Pietro Guzzoni (SPAD S.VII in silver blue)
3. Sottotenente Franco Romanelli (SPAD S.VII in camouflage)

Prologue

[Scene: the young and arrogant Austrian aristocrat, Wolfgang von Augustin is writing a letter at his desk in the Flik 55J bis aerodrome. A glass of schnapps is beside the letter.]

Voiceover:

My Dearest Sister,

I am writing to you because I must tell someone in the family about my extraordinary last mission yesterday. Do not breathe a word about it to mama and papa. I want it to be a surprise, but more about that later as I must tell the story in its proper order.

First, I must thank you for visiting me and my fellow pilot, Günter, in hospital. Fortunately, our wounds were merely a few bruises. Everyone says how fortunate I was with my plane exploding. They say I landed in a farmer’s haystack. Thank God for farmers.

I know that mama and papa have been quite worried about me since then. Perhaps they will be even more worried when they found out what happened yesterday. I hope they do not prevent me from flying. I cannot completely explain the feeling I have while flying. It is as if the machine and I are one thing and that the air is my natural abode. Perhaps one day I will be able to take you flying and that you might feel a little bit same as I do. We’ve always been two of the same nature as children.

But to start at the beginning as I promised…

Yesterday morning, our Hauptmann, Michael von Taaffe, came running into the ready room where Günter and I were playing a came of cards. Apparently his cousin, Ryan von Taaffe, had taken in to his head to go and bomb an enemy airfield near the front line. I could tell you many stories of the antics of our dear Ryan. The Hauptmann says that Ryan is making his hair turn grey, but rest of us in the Flik quite enjoy Ryan with his tales and high spirits. Ryan took one of the German Rumplers with a few bombs. He did not have an observer to man the rear machine gun and no one was sure if his pilot’s gun was armed either. He was probably completely defenseless. The our observers on the front lines had reported his flight path and very likely he was soon to be returning chased by many enemy aeroplanes.

The Hauptmann ordered Günter and I to take two of the new Aviatiks and rescue Ryan.

“Bring him back alive….or dead…er, no, alive. Onkel would never forgive me”, said our exasperated commander.

I must say that I had a shock when I saw which of the aeroplanes the Hauptmann was assigning to each of us. Günter was to fly the newer Aviatik which had two machine guns while I was to fly the older one with just one machine gun on top of the upper wing.

I protested to our commander, “But I am an officer! Should I not have the newer Aviatik.”

However, our Hauptmann gave me a very stern look – like Opa used to give us when we were naughty children, and replied, “Times are changing, young Wolfgang. Show me that you can use one gun first and not your usual antics of flying through clouds as if you were a bird.”

I saw the hurt look on Günter’s face and was instantly sorry as I have become quite fond of my dear wingman. It all came out of me without a thought. Next time I will try to do better.

A Commercial Break here

[Commentary: Any bad translations to a native Italian speaker makes this even better as it is completely in the tradition of bad subtitles used by low budget films – and even some high budget films. The planes were chosen mostly because I had not used these ones, but it seemed a good mix. The only real difference was that in the original OTT-DYM 4 scenario the ‘bomber’ has no forward machine gun while the Rumpler does. In the event the Rumpler never had a chance to fire its forward gun so I left it ambiguous as to whether or not it had bullets. The other question how far back to place the Rumpler. The original scenario has a slower plane so I placed the Rumpler as far into the NML mat as I could and still allow room for the pursuing airplanes. Other than that it worked pretty well as a 1917 Italian Front scenario.]

[ShadowDragon]

Act I – Ryan’s Retreat

[Scene – two Aviatiks flying over Austrian territory.]

Voiceover (Wolfgang writing to his sister):

Chagrined at my outburst I happily took a subordinate position with Günter as the flight leader.



Günter and I searched the skies for our comrade and spotted him flying over No Man’s Land chased by two enemy SPADs.



The enemy aeroplanes were gaining on Ryan and soon we saw bullets from their machine guns. Although it seemed that few hit Ryan’s planes as he was flying like a drunken Irishman and maybe he was as we all knew he loved his Irish whiskey.



Günter and I worried that we would not be in time.



But we could see that Ryan was still flying strangely almost as if he wanted the enemy to catch up to him. It seemed to confuse the Italian flyers as their planes came too close. I’m sure they were damaged.



Finally we were close enough. Günter banked left to get onto the flank of the Italians. I followed him but one of the Italian’s spotted us and turned to intercept us. Unfortunately for Ryan the other Italian was on his tail and we could see bullets hitting Ryan’s plane near the cockpit. I later found out that Ryan was only slightly wounded – a bullet only grazed his cheek. “More attractive to the ladies, I think”, he laughed when we are all back at the aerodrome.



The enemy SPAD flew straight at Günter but Günter wouldn’t flinch. It thought they would both be destroyed but the Italian banked away and I think little damage was done. Ryan, however, was having some trouble as the other Italian was hot on his tail. I could see he was doing much damage to the Rumpler.



I was so much concentrating on Ryan and the Italian plane chasing him. I forgot about the other Italian who must have not noticed me as we too nearly collide, but somehow my plane and I slipped past him.



Günter and I shook off the silver-blue Italian SPAD that had intercepted us and headed for the enemy camouflage SPAD chasing Ryan. We could see that Ryan was flying strangely – he would stall and turn his aircraft this way and that way. It gave the Italian no small amount of trouble but they nearly collided several times. It was at this moment that a third Italian plane appeared but neither Günter nor I noticed at first.



My plane was closer and I fired my first burst at the Italian but I don’t think I did much damage.



I fired again but what luck – my Schwarzlose machinegun jammed. It was not a very auspicious beginning for me.



I could only watch helplessly as Ryan and the Italian flew back and forth into each other. It seemed to at one point they would collide and destroy each other. Ryan later told me, “I just wanted to get back at the b..gg..r.” I should warn you, my sister, that Ryan sometimes uses quite colourful language.



Meanwhile, Günter had noticed the third enemy plane and was keeping this plane and the other Italian plane busy so that I could take care of the enemy chasing Ryan.



I should have paid more attention in the Schwarzlose class. I had some trouble unjamming my machinegun, but I could see that Ryan’s Rumpler was now safely behind where our anti-aircraft guns were positioned.



We had achieved our mission but I wanted to make sure that Günter was safe before returning to the aerodrome.

A Commercial Break here.

[Commentary: I’m still getting used to the rules and I’m adding more and more of the advanced / optional rules including OTT specific ones. But I sometimes forget about things like rookies take 4 phases to unjam their guns. On review of the photos I realized one of the shots was too soon, but it turned out not to make a difference to the outcome – and more importantly it made no difference on the course of action in the game. I have added inherent ace abilities for the Flik. All three A-H pilots in this mission were the ones in the Flik with inherent abilities. Ryan is ‘lucky’, Günter is ‘intuitive’ and Wolfgang is an ‘acrobatic pilot’. As there are limitations on rookies firing after an Immelmann turn I have allowed Wolfgang to be able to fire after an Immelmann just once in the game – using his inherent ace ability.]

[ShadowDragon]

Act II

Scene: The action continues in the sky with Günter and Wolfgang fighting the three Italians.

Voiceover (Wolfgang writing to his sister):
I looked over at Günter to see what I should do. I waved at him. He signalled that he was alright and that he was going after the enemy on his tail. It looked similar to the SPADs we had encountered but it was faster. I hoped that Günter would be able to handle this new aeroplane. Meanwhile I was not having much luck with my target. I was still on the Italian plane’s tail but I think I need more practice shooting!



Finally my bullets hit the enemy aeroplane. Some seemed to hit his engine and I could see that the Italian pilot was having some trouble.



Sometimes I forget that my aeroplane and I are not birds but man and machine. I pulled the plane into a turn that I should not have done. I heard a crack but everything seemed to hold together. I was so focussed on this that I forgot about the Italian until his bullets hit my rudder giving me some difficulty controlling my machine. Günter in his combat had side slipped to let the Italian in the new SPAD shoot past him so that Günter had a good shot at him.



I had forgotten about the silver-blue Italian until suddenly he was in front of me. Fortunately, I was able to get a good burst at him and I could see small flames from the side of his aeroplane. The firing had stopped from the Italian SPAD behind me. Perhaps his gun had jammed, but my luck hadn’t quite changed as mine jammed too. Günter’s experience fighting his enemy was similar – a good shot at the enemy but jammed guns as well.



My enemy and I circled each other not knowing whether or not the other was able to fire or not. The SPAD I had set on fire flew over to intervene in the combat between Günter and the new type of SPAD.



The fire burning the enemy SPAD was still there but the Italian seemed to have it in control.



While this enemy struggled to control his fire, Günter and flew together. We both had jammed guns. I looked at Günter with an expression as if to say, “now what?”. He shrugged, smiled and then circled his hand in the air to point at the enemy. We turned our machines to head back into the fray.



I caught up to the burning SPAD. We exchanged bullets but I think I got the better shots in.



The enemy finally got the fire under control. Luck did not seem to be on my side today.



Günter, however, just behind me and hit an oil line in the silver-blue SPAD as dark smoke poured from his machine. The Italian got a shot back at Günter. I think both of them had jammed guns as they both stopped firing.



Then I did something that Günter later said was amazing. I don’t know what as it was more instinctual than conscious. Somehow, sensing the wings of the aeroplane as if they were my own arms I flipped it around and fired my Schwarzlose into the silver-blue SPAD. Great flames burst from the enemy aeroplane.



Then the camouflaged SPAD was in front of me. I fired again but as you might have guessed, my sister, my gun jammed again. I think the Emperor is not well served by some of his industrialists.



The flames then engulfed the silver-blue SPAD and it went into a steep dive. I hoped the pilot would somehow survive this. Although it seemed unlikely that he would. I crossed myself and said a small prayer for him.



The two remaining enemies came after me. Perhaps to avenge their comrade. Cornered I again flipped my aeroplane around, but the new SPAD was immediately in front of me. Again, doing something more instinctual than conscious I twisted my machine out of the way, but I must have hit something quite important on the SPAD as it spiralled towards the ground. Günter later said he could not believe his eyes – “You were flying like a fiend”.



The remaining Italian SPAD was now outnumbered and tried to escape. He nearly collided with but he managed to exchange fire with Günter.



In his desperation the Italian also nearly collided with Günter, but I was on his tail – firing and firing.



…and firing. Flames burst from the SPAD as it became the third to plummet from the skies. I prayed for all three of these brave pilots.



Can you believe it, dear sister? Three enemy aircraft kills to my credit. It all happened so fast. Günter and I were facing three good, brave Italian aeroplanes and then in a minute all three had fallen.

A Commercial Break here.

[Commentary: The one error in position of the silver-blue SPAD is because I forgot to take a picture at the end of that phase and had moved the planes for the next phase. I remembered I had to take a picture, moved the planes back but I guess I forgot to again move the silver-blue SPAD for the following turn, but that wasn’t relevant as fire consumed at the start of the next turn.
I finally have some the aerodrome store flight bases. I will order more as I’m done with the Ares bases which are a real pain to pick up and move around when there are a lot of planes close together.
I almost had the two A-H planes fly off because it didn’t look like it would be that interesting after the Rumpler left – especially with a lot planes with jammed guns, but I just kept thinking I’d play another turn with the intention of re-starting the mission another time. It’s why I hadn’t used the fire / smoke indicators and had to put them into the photos using a photo editor, but it’s looks okay.
I’ve tried to make the photos as self-explanatory as possible so that the writing around it would be more what someone might write in a letter.]

[ShadowDragon]

Epilogue

Scene: The Flik 55J bis aerodrome. The Aviatiks land.

Voice over: Wolfgang continues his letter to his sister

When I landed Günter jumped out of his plane. He ran up to me and gave me the biggest hug anyone could give. “Wolfgang, where did you learn to fly like that?”

Ryan was there too. He had one hand bandaged but clapped me on the back and said, “well done, young man.”
The Hauptmann approached with a very stern look on his face.

“Your mission was to rescue Leutnant von Taaffe and not to engage in frivolous, risky combat.”

I was crestfallen, but the Hauptman then broke into a huge grin.

“You’ve gained great credit for the Flik, Wolfgang, but I got a full report from the ground and I think you still need to learn how to use a machinegun. Using your aeroplane as a battering ram is not the purpose of the machine. Now, go to the mess. The drinks are on me.”

The three of us, Ryan, Günter and me walked towards the mess.

The Hauptmann called after us, “I forgot. Thanks for bringing the aeroplanes back this time….oh, and Ryan too…for his father’s sake.”

Apparently I am to get some kind of award, sister. Don’t breathe a word of this to mama and papa. I want this to be a surprise.

Roll credits.

[Commentary: I’m getting a better grip on the game and can now do a little better than Dave’s AI charts. I liked flying the Aviatiks with their tight turns. They had an advantage over the SPAD S.VII. The SPAD XIII could have been deadly but with its speed it was more suited to fly-by shooting and wasn’t able to assist the S.VII in the close in dogfighting.

There were lots of collisions and near collisions – 4 collisions and at least 8 near collisions. There were lots of gun jams too. Each Italian plane had 1 gun jam, Günter had 2 and Wolfgang had 3.

As I mentioned I nearly just ended the game with the intention of restarting as I thought the official mission was over when the Rumpler exited. However, looking over the victory conditions, if the two Aviatiks had exited then it would have been an Italian victory as they would have gained points for each A-H plane voluntarily exiting. That doesn’t apply to the Rumpler’s exit, so the Aviatiks exiting after the 1st Italian plane downed would have been a marginal victory of 3 points to 2 points. As it was it was a 7-0 victory for the A-H which is after two tough missions - #2 and #3.]

[ShadowDragon]

Butcher’s Bill

Leutnant Ryan von Taaffe – pilot Rumpler C.IV / RTB / WIA / 0 kills
C&C: Roll 7 + 1 (safely landed) – 1 (wound) +1 (used lucky git) = 8 (injured); roll 5 = skip 2
Special – grounded for 3 missions
Result: OK / 0 kills / skip 3




Leutnant Wolfgang von Augustin – pilot Aviatik / RTB / 3 kills
Result: OK / 3 kills / MMM (Military Merit Medal) + (?) Pb (Pilot’s Badge)




Feldwebel Günter Neumann – pilot Aviatik / RTB / 0 kills
Result: OK / 0 kills




Tenente Giacomo dei Ferreti – pilot SPAD XIII / SD COL / WIC / 0 kills
C&C: Roll 8 – 2 (COL) = 6 (injured); roll 6 = skip 3
E&E: Roll 8 -1 (ET) -1 (WIC) = 6 (in hiding); Roll 5 = skip 2
Result: WIC / 0 kills / skip 3




Sottotenente Pietro Guzzoni – pilot SPAD S.VII / SD FLM / WIC / 0 kills
C&C: Roll 8 – 2 (FLM) = 6 (injured); roll 5 = skip 2
E&E: Roll 7 -1 (FLM) -1 (ET) -1 (WIC) = 4 (captured and escaped); roll 1 = skip 1
Result: WIC / 0 kills / skip 2




Sottotenente Franco Romanelli – pilot SPAD S.VII / SD FLM / WIC / 0 kills
C&C: 10 – 2 (FLM) = 8 (injured); roll 4 = skip 2
E&E: Roll 7 – 1 (WIC) = 6 (in hiding); roll 2 = skip 1
Result: WIC / 0 kills / skip 2




Victory Points

Wayward Rumpler returns safely: Central Powers +1
Three Entente Airplanes shot down: +6
Total Points: Central Powers 7 – Entente 0

Really nice scenario, Mike! Thanks.

[zenlizard]

A pilot thirsting for a way to redeem himself, another getting away with what is, after all, a foolhardy action, a chase scene, a tense battle, and the enemy given a bloody nose in the end. You're right this does make for a great movie script.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Another good show Paul.
Your Austrian Eagles are going to need watching, It is a pity that my Italian Cano Corso are not in action this time round or we could have had some real fun together.
Rob.

[ShadowDragon]

A pilot thirsting for a way to redeem himself, another getting away with what is, after all, a foolhardy action, a chase scene, a tense battle, and the enemy given a bloody nose in the end. You're right this does make for a great movie script.

At least one of those ‘B’ movies starring a cheesy actor like Errol Flyn.

[ShadowDragon]

Another good show Paul.
Your Austrian Eagles are going to need watching, It is a pity that my Italian Cano Corso are not in action this time round or we could have had some real fun together.
Rob.

Yes, that sounds like it would have been fun. I think I saw a couple of your AAR - at least one had a nicely painted Italian plane with the undercarriage blown off.

I quite enjoyed the Aviatik versus SPAD S.VII action. Both with B gun or both with A gun would be a relatively good fight. Perhaps player controlled SPAD due to the Aviatik having a tight turn.

[Naharaht]

thank you for the very thorough and imaginative A.A.R., Paul. It sounds like you had a lot of fun.

[Shiraz68]

Great AAR with lots of detail. Thanks for sharing.

[mikeemagnus]

They say I landed in a farmer’s haystack.

OK this guy is really the Baron von Munchaussen, right? Love your take on the mission Paul. REP worthy indeed. Not quite sure why it isn't posted on the OTT thread itself but presumably you have your own reason for that As Adie says - thanks for sharing.

[ShadowDragon]

thank you for the very thorough and imaginative A.A.R., Paul. It sounds like you had a lot of fun.

Thanks, David. ‘Surprise’ cards in the game really help the write ups.

[ShadowDragon]

Thanks, Adie.

[ShadowDragon]

OK this guy is really the Baron von Munchaussen, right? Love your take on the mission Paul. REP worthy indeed. Not quite sure why it isn't posted on the OTT thread itself but presumably you have your own reason for that As Adie says - thanks for sharing.

Baron von Munchaussen? Hadn’t thought of that but one draws on these things (archetypes) consciously or unconsciously with characters.

It’s not on the official OTT thread as a mutual decision with Dave when we discussed my joining the OTT Round about mission 2. At that time I had 10 planes and was on a learning curve for the game never mind the OTT rules. I’ve now got over 100 planes and am adding in rules each mission. Not yet ammo restrictions though!

[Windy Jack]

A great AAR, Paul. Thanks. I liked the way the captions on the photos supported the story line above the photos.

[ShadowDragon]

A great AAR, Paul. Thanks. I liked the way the captions on the photos supported the story line above the photos.

Thanks, Doug. I was doing this in photoshop but switched to PowerPoint as it’s far easier copy and move things around. I’d like the photos to tell the story on their own and sometimes to also show the truth behind a characters embellishments.

[flash]

Interesting to see how the game translates to a late war scenario - the major difference is that the pursuing aircraft were quicker than their quarry so the game has a quite different dynamic to the earlier versions where the speeds in play are closer if not the same.
Lively little late war game though and an equally lively AAR.

[ShadowDragon]

Interesting to see how the game translates to a late war scenario - the major difference is that the pursuing aircraft were quicker than their quarry so the game has a quite different dynamic to the earlier versions where the speeds in play are closer if not the same.
Lively little late war game though and an equally lively AAR.

Thanks,Dave.

Yes, it is a very different dynamic which affected the knowledge is power mission as well. I didn’t show a number of pictures with Franco trying to keep from overrunning the Rumpler. A lot of missed opportunities for a shot at close range.

[Stumptonian]

Finally got to finish reading this AAR.
I started it when it was first posted and got interrupted and decided to read it on the weekend.
Lost track of it until it showed up on my feed today.
What a furball! Are you sure this wasn’t WWF instead of WGF?

You style really makes for an entertaining read.
Well done!
REP on the way.

P.S. I must try out my Aviatiks some day. 5 years in their boxes is too long.

[ShadowDragon]

Finally got to finish reading this AAR.
I started it when it was first posted and got interrupted and decided to read it on the weekend.
Lost track of it until it showed up on my feed today.
What a furball! Are you sure this wasn’t WWF instead of WGF?

You style really makes for an entertaining read.
Well done!
REP on the way.

P.S. I must try out my Aviatiks some day. 5 years in their boxes is too long.

Yes, it easy to lose track. As for fur balls Gunter should get credit for keeping two SPADS occupied for most of the time, although he got no kills. So maybe a little WWF in there.

And, 5 years is too long to keep any plane in their boxes. They need to get out more often to meet airworthiness requirements if nothing else.

[gully_raker]

Very inventive AAR Paul.
Loved the graphics you added & the random comments in the blocks.
I enjoyed that very much.

Rep on its way.

[ShadowDragon]

Very inventive AAR Paul.
Loved the graphics you added & the random comments in the blocks.
I enjoyed that very much.

Rep on its way.

Thanks, Barry.

Forgot to use my fire and smoke marker stuff so had to do graphics. The rest is just being a defence department PowerPoint Ranger.

[Vagabond]

Great stuff Paul, a cracking game and enjoyable report of it. As already said by others I liked the text boxes on the photos, it adds another dimension to the visual story and the shopped flames look brilliant, well done.
Do you have planes now to join in the DYM campaign or are you still short on early wars ones?

[ShadowDragon]

Great stuff Paul, a cracking game and enjoyable report of it. As already said by others I liked the text boxes on the photos, it adds another dimension to the visual story and the shopped flames look brilliant, well done.
Do you have planes now to join in the DYM campaign or are you still short on early wars ones?

Thanks, John. I was quite happy to find suitable flames and smoke on the online site I use (2 free downloads per day but 8. Sure that will eventually change to $$$). Easy to rotate, reshape and rescale to snuggle them into a plane.

I’ve got 2 balloons on the work bench. They’re nearly finished but I’m on a business trip. Head home tonight.

Other than that I’m good on the German side (E.III and Albatros 2-seaters) but still short on the Entente side - just 3 Moranes. Need some 2-seaters. Will get there but - argh! - I’ve spent a small fortune. I had wanted to see how the prof plastic Friedrichshafen and Curtis turned out in prof plastic but maybe I should just order some revireseco ones.