It was unbelievable. Having barely escaped with their lives once already here they were, barely a week later, faced with going back into the gates of hell to do the same thing to the other end of the tunnel.
2lt Justin Hale took a deep breath and awaited the response of his fitter and observer AM.2 Reginald Sole who was not looking best pleased. "Arse" he responded , then resignedly "Well, we better get on with it".
At the briefing Uncle introduced them to a replacement crew 2Lt Christopher Cross & AM.3 Richard Shaw who'd only just had time to find their billets and unpack before being called to action.
2Lt Robert Pynne was there also - assigned as their escort, the rest of the scouts already being out on patrol, he'd been delayed by a dodgy magneto so at least was available to support them, though he too looked a bit dubious of the assignment having heard the stories of the last run on this objective.
As they got into the area Reg was pleased to see the area was socked in with thick cloud which might curtail any ideas of another suicidal daisy cutter run at the tunnel entrance, it might even call for the mission to be scrubbed.... No such luck. As they proceeded the pilots spotted a hole in the cloud and made a beeline toward it in the hope of letting down through it or at least getting their bearings
2Lt Robert Pynne in DH.2; 2Lt Christopher Cross & AM.3 Richard Shaw in FE2b #6; 2lt Justin & AM.2 Reginald Sole in FE2b #4
It quickly became obvious they were close as a pair of Eindeckers were circling in the vicinity - maybe they could see where they were or maybe as lost as they were ?
Ltn Walter Gandert in the dirty red Fokker, Ltn Raven Busse in the Green
Pynne eased upward to meet the Fokkers as they broke their circling and turned to meet the Tommy threat,
Hale weaved into a position astern of Cross.
Meantime, far below, a train chugged through the yards toward the tunnel
Rick Shaw charged his Lewis gun and took a bead on the fast approaching green Eindecker as it nosed down toward them - they opened up simultaneously.. Shaw was on target and saw splinters fly..
Tracking his target Shaw let fly again - the results were devastating but not quite enough it seemed - a fraction of a second later the Eindecker took a drunken lurch as rounds from Sole's Lewis lanced through its vitals.
Fee #4 did not escape unharmed and smoke blew from it's engine; rounds clattered through #6 too as the red Fokker dived upon them but Pynne, stalling his DH2, caught it with a snap shot wounding Gandert and leaving it smoking.
Below the target is unmasked by the hole in the cloud; beneath which the train rounds the bend leading to the bridge
As the green Fokker spins downward Archie speaks - Krak ! - no damage but they can see the Tommy now and their own are not in the way.
Cross readies to release his eggs as Pynne rolls his DH.2 round to cover his tail but he finds the green Fokker falling in a spin and the red Fokker dropping steadily toward the cloud cover
More Archie gets in on the action - getting a view of #6 - Krak ! - Another miss.
Bombs away ! Cross toggles their release and the entire load falls from his machine
Cross turns his machine away from the target but keeps an eye on the target area long enough to see a train steam into it in time for the impact of their bombs.
Behind him Hale readies for his release
Kaboom ! Even as the explosions fade and the debris falls a second load of bombs is on the way
A near miss perhaps but the damage has already been done and the FE's are on their way home, chased by Archie
Kaboom !
Pynne only has a chance to see the dirty red Fokker slip away
Butchers Tally
FE2b #4 2lt Justin Hale (P2) RTB 0 kills
AM.2 Reginald Sole (O) RTB 1 kill
FE2b #6 2Lt Christopher Cross (P2) RTB 0 kills
AM.3 Richard Shaw (O) RTB 0 kills
DH.2 2Lt Robert Pynne RTB 0 kills
Ltn Walter Gandert: (dirty red E.III) FRTB-W / WIA / 0 kills
Rolled 8 +1RTB -1WIA = 8 Injured - Skip 1D2 Scenario. Rolled 4 = Skip 2
Ltn Raven Busse: (Green E.III) SD-EXP-FT 0 kills
Rolled 8 -3EXP = 5 Injured - Skip 1D3 Scenarios. Rolled 6 = Skip 3
1 x Ammo Train & load - Kaput !
Victory Points:
Destroying the tunnel = 10
Destroying the ammunition train = 5
Shot-down a single-seater = 2
Single-seater FRTB = 1
Total 18pts to Bulldogs, 0 Points to Eagles = Bulldog victory
Well there you have it.
The train I printed came out bigger than I wanted - it was about 37 mm long but looked the part so I resolved to count only the first 22mm, most of which made it onto the target card in time for impact of the bombs. Whether this is enough to do the job I don't know but it looked good to me !
I measured the railway with the distances given and started the train in the tunnel and ran it into the yards, got the timing about right if not spot on !
Bombing was from level 3, I boosted the defenders up for affect and used my Altitude rules (so only a +1 on a dive not just for shooting from above)
Thanks for the game Sam.
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