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Thread: The Yanks in Italy

  1. #1

    Default The Yanks in Italy

    This was an air battle held at the Cowards wargames club at Hoveton, Norfolk on Friday 17th January 2020. It was run by Mark. The Entente had an Italian Hanriot and an American D.H.4 flown by Richard and an American SPAD XIII flown by Bill. The Central Powers had an Albatros D.Va and an Aviatik flown by Mark and a Siemens-Schuckert D.III flown by myself.

    We were using Standard Rules but climbs and dives were included. However, since Mark only had a Duel Pack, there were not enough climb counters and a climb or dive changed altitude by one level (altitude was marked by dice) and all guns were A firing.

    Mark
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    Richard and Bill
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    After three moves the two sides were getting close to each other.
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    Last edited by Naharaht; 01-18-2020 at 16:45.

  2. #2

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    Posting to keep a closer eye on this thread-looks interesting so far, things are just starting to get tense.

  3. #3

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    The die has been cast. (or set for altitude)

  4. #4

    Thumbs up

    Looking forward to the next installment!

  5. #5

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    The SPAD XIII turned to engage the Siemens-Schuckert whilst the other two Entente aircraft flew straight on.

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    The Albatros and Aviatik continued their approach.

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    The fighters closed almost to firing range.

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    The Siemens-Schuckert turned to the left and flew underneath the oncoming SPAD XIII. Since the Siemens-Schuckert was at a lower altitude there was no collision.

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    The Hanriot almost collided with the Aviatik. Neither was able to fire at the other but the Albatros was able to open fire.

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    Meanwhile the D.H.4 flew serenely by.

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    Last edited by Naharaht; 01-18-2020 at 16:44.

  6. #6

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    Nice one David and I look forward to the next episode. Posting soon I hope!

  7. #7

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    The Hanriot, Aviatik and Albatros performed Immelmann turns without changing altitude and shots were exchanged.

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    This gave the D.H.4 a 'free run'.

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    Meanwhile the SPAD XIII turned to the right whilst the Siemens-Schuckert flew straight ahead.

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    Bullets from the Aviatik set the Hanriot on fire.

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    The SPAD flew straight towards the D.H.4 whilst the Siemens-Schuckert performed an Immelmann turn and used it to increase altitude.

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  8. #8

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    Giving the DH 4 a pass is probably going to turn out to have been a bad decision...

  9. #9

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    I love the playing surface. If you have been asked in the past, my apologies, but how did you make or acquire your gaming surface?

  10. #10

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    Looks like you guys play the Immelmann differently. You have the front of the base on the movement card's arrow instead of the rear base arrow.

    Giving the DH4 a pass as Sam said looks like trouble. It's so fast you might not get to catch it again.

  11. #11

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    I do not play the Immelmann card differently. It was not my game. I shall have to watch more closely the next time we play and correct any errors.

    The mat is owned by the club. It was bought from Deep-Cut Studio, who produce a wide range of mats for wargames in different sizes and different materials. That particular one is called Aerial Fields.

    Yes, letting the D.H.4 through was a mistake because a D.H.4 is as fast as the fastest Central Powers fighter.
    Last edited by Naharaht; 01-20-2020 at 09:24.

  12. #12

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    Back with the battle, the D.H.4 headed deeper into enemy territory. The SPAD XIII flew straight towards it whilst the Siemens-Schuckert flew straight ahead after its immelmann turn. The Albatros turned left towards the D.H.4. The Aviatik flew straight ahead and the burning Hanriot turned to the right.

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    The SPAD XIII performed an Immelmann turn to perpare an attack on the Siemens-Schuckert, which had turned right.

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    As the Siemens-Schuckert came on the SPAD turned left and narrowly avoided a collision.

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    Last edited by Naharaht; 01-21-2020 at 16:15.

  13. #13

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    Bah! The attachment gremlin is back!

  14. #14

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    I think that I have fixed it, Sam.

    The D.H.4, having reached the end of the mat turned back.

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    The Albatros turned right, the Aviatik turned left and the Hanriot turned right to fire at the Aviatik.

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    The SPAD stalled and the Siemens-Schuckert turned left. This put the Siemens-Schuckert into the line of fire of the left turning D.H.4.

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    The Albatros and Aviatik both flew straight ahead whilst the Hanriot turned hard left and was just able to fire again at the Aviatik.

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    The Albatros and Aviatik then turned right whilst the Hanriot turned left and found itself facing and exchanging fire with the Siemens-Schuckert, which had performed a wide sideslip. The D.H.4 turned for home. The SPAD flew straight on.

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    Last edited by Naharaht; 01-22-2020 at 20:20.

  15. #15

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    The Hanriot pilot decided to use a left sideslip to avoid the oncoming Siemens-Schuckert.

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    The D.H.4 flew straight for home, whilst the SPAD performed an Immelmann turn without increasing altitude and narrowly avoided a collision with the D.H.4.

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    The Aviatik turned right and the Siemens-Schuckert turned left. Were they about to fly home?

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    Meanwhile the Albatros had turned around and was heading back towards the other aircraft.

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    The fire on the Hanriot finally went out. It followed the D.H.4 as it headed back towards its own lines. Following its narrow escape, the SPAD turned left only to see that the Siemens-Schuckert had made a ninety degree left turn and was coming back.

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    The Aviatik performed an Immelmann turn without increasing altitude. It also was returning to the fray and the Albatros was flying in from the left.

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    The D.H.4 and Hanriot continued heading towards their home. The SPAD flew straight across the front of the approaching Siemens-Schuckert, which just managed to squeeze in a long range shot. The Albatros and Aviatik were also flying in.

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  16. #16

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    The D.H.4 and Hanriot continued towards home with the Albatros in pursuit. The SPAD turned left. The Aviatik and Siemens-Schuckert turned slightly to the right to follow.

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    Two moves later the SPAD had flown straight and the Immelmann turned to face and exchange fire with the Aviatik, which had climbed and the Siemens-Schuckert, which has turned to approach from the oppositr direction.

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    The D.H.4 was almost home with the Hanriot close behind.

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    The Albatros was too far behind to stop them.

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    The massive collision did not occur. The SPAD flew behind the Aviatik, which narrowly missed the Siemens-Schuckert.

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    The D.H.4 reached home with the Hanriot close behind and the Albatros trailing far in the rear.

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  17. #17

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    Utterly unsurprised that the D. H. 4 got away-but now, the SPAD pilot is looking at a one-on-three. Things are getting tense for Bill.

  18. #18

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    As expected the Hanriot reached home safely. The Albatros flew straight on. The Aviatik turned right and the Siemens-Schuckert flew straight ahead, as did Bill in his SPAD XIII. Bill now had a choice to make, battle three enemy planes to the death, head straight for home battling through the enemy machines or use the fact that he was flying the fastest type of plane in the sky to outrun the enemy and return to base the long way.

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    Bill chose the latter course of action and there began a long chase.

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    As the SPAD flew along the mat the Central Powers craft pursued it.

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    As they pursued, the Albatros and Siemens-Schuckert began to converge.

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    The Spad's lead slowly increased as the Central Powers aircraft flew closer together.

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    The Albatros flew across the front of the Siemens-Schuckert but there was no danger of collision because the Albatros was at a lower altitude.

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    The Aviatik flew on a parallel course to the right.

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    As the other aircraft flew straight on the Albatros turned right to chase the SPAD.

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  19. #19

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    As the others flew straight on the Albatros turned right in an attempt to cut off the SPAD.

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    The SPAD turned right whilst the Central Powers machines all flew straight ahead. Could the Albatros get in close enough in time to fire?

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    As the SPAD ran flat out for home, the Albatros climbed and the Aviatik and Siemens-Schuckert turned right to try to cut off the SPAD.

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    As the SPAD thundered onwards, the Aviatik and Siemens-Schuckert flew straight ahead but the Albatros unexpectedly began to turn left. Would there be a collision?

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    The SPAD flew on. The Albatros and Aviatik flew straight on and the Siemens-Schuckert made a tight right turn to avoid the Albatros. Would it now collide with the Aviatik?

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    We shall never know for certain because the game ended at that point. However, the collision is doubtful because unless the Aviatik played a stall the Siemens-Schuckert would have avoided it.

    The SPAD would clearly reach its home edge of the mat in the next move.

    Who won? No-one had been shot down. However, the Central Powers could claim that they had driven the Entente aircraft back to their own lines and the Hanriot was badly damaged. The Entente could claim that their fighters had successfully engaged the enemy fighters and kept them away from the D.H.4, which had flown over to the enemy side of the battlefield, taken a look and successfully returned home unscathed.

  20. #20

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    The best thing about speed is being able to get away and head for home when needed, or to chase down that enemy trying to escape.

    Nice battle report David. Love the mat.

  21. #21

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    A very nice report Dave, and I notice you have adopted the system I intend to use myself until the Error Gremlin is sorted out. Posting in short blocks seems to be the way to go with long reports to avoid losing an hour of pictures you just tried to add.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  22. #22

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    A draw, but a tense, nerve-wracking one. No wonder both sides can claim victory. Thanks for teh aAR!



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