OTT-CYM Mission 2: Bring Them Home (If You Can) - July 12th 1916 {Stumptionian}
12 July 1916
A lone Albatros C.III is flying back to base.
The escort, a Roland C.II is slightly ahead, just out of view.
Pilot Fwbl Lukas Himmel-Spaziergänger keeps the Roland in view and tries not to fall behind.
Observer Ltn Roland-Reinhart Dietrich-Daimler nervously scans the sky around them.
He has very good reason to be nervous. He is unarmed!
In order to facilitate an additional camera and photo plates he had to remove the MG14 Parabellum machine gun.
Now, with a full load of photos the C.III crew are very anxious to return to their airfield in one piece.
Speaking of the Adler airfield …
Rookie pilot Ltn Burkhard Baumann is getting his photo taken to send home to his family.
Ltn Felix Eisenhardt yells at him “Beeilen Sie sich - wir haben eine Mission zu fliegen!“
< Hurry up – we have a mission to fly >
Eisenhardt and Baumann have been tasked with rendezvousing with the returning C.III and providing additional protection.
Minutes later, Eisenhardt lifts his Fokker E.III Eindecker of the grass and looks behind him to see if Baumann is following.
Baumann is not far behind, and gives him an enthusiastic wave.
This is only Baumann’s second sortie. For the last few months he has been relegated to office duties.
With several of the regular pilots still recovering from recent injuries, he will finally get a chance to prove his worth.
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Setup:
The Adler 2-seaters are at Level 4 and the Fokkers are at Level 5.
I am again using my ‘Chit’ system to track altitude.
I rolled 2 D8 to for each aircraft to add chits to the base values of 64 and 80 respectively to set individual altitudes.
I rolled a D6 for the Bulldogs as well: 1-2 will be level 4, 3-4 will be level 5, and 5-6 will be level 6.
The single DH.2 of Lt Robert Lewis drew Level 5, as did the tandem of 2Lt Percy Herbert and 2Lt Stanley Pateman.
I again rolled 2 D8 to add to the base level of 80.
Baumann and Eisenhardt arrive just at the point that No Man’s Land gives way to Entente territory.
The Albatros and Roland start at the lower left per the briefing.
Himmel-Spaziergänger and Dietrich-Daimler have closed the gap between their Albatros and the Roland, piloted by Ltn Justus Raucheisen, accompanied by his usual observer, Ltn Max Jungbauer
Pateman and Herbert start from the opposite side of the same mat.
Lewis enters at the mid-point just inside Entente territory.
Although he has been climbing steadily, Himmel-Spaziergänger is just out of range due to altitude difference.
Pateman dives toward the Albatros.
Raucheisen climbs slightly, while Lewis has dropped his DH.2 readying to take on the C.III – much to his disadvantage.
Da da d…
Jungbauer’s Parabellum has jammed, but Lewis has been hit seriously enough to warrant a hasty return to base!
Not a good start for the Bulldogs.
Da da d…
Tikka tikk ….
The air is blue with curses in two languages as both Eisenhardt and Herbert jam their respective weapons.
Lewis feels his flying boot filling with warm blood as he dekes off out of harm’s way.
Da da da
Pateman fires a burst at the blue C.III but appears to have missed entirely.
Herbert slips behind Eisenhardt as both pilots begin to deal with their jammed armament.
Da da da
Pateman’s second attempt is more successful.
Himmel-Spaziergänger feels his rudder slacken.
Raucheisen sets his sights on Pateman’s DH.2 using his Sharp Eye ability.
Tikka tikka
Suddenly, flames rip through the DH.2 followed by an explosion!
Pateman never knew what hit him.
His DH.2 was shredded and fell earthwards like a wounded sparrow.
He braced himself for the worst but then the remains of his aircraft came to rest as if on a pillow.
Herbert has cleared his jammed Lewis and looks up to see Eisenhardt has flown a reversal and is heading straight for him.
He has also cleared his jam and is ready for action.
Da da da
Herbert’s Lewis springs back to life with a quick burst but misses the grey Eindecker.
Baumann is relieved when none of those bullets find his Fokker.
Tikka tikka tikka
Eisenhardt fires at Herbert and gets some solid hits.
Da da da da
Sandwiched between a pair of Fokkers Herbert gets a last chance to fire at Baumann’s grey bird and does see some effect this time.*
“Gotchya ya bastard!”
Tikka tikka tikka
Eisenhardt wipes the smile off his face right sharply, as a bullet nicks his forearm.
“Aaargh! Now that’s put a sock in it ….”
The grimace on his face tells the story for him.
The wound is serious enough to force a return to base.
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* The 4 on Baumann should have been +1
Jungbauer fires at the DH.2 as Raucheisen flies the Roland past the crowded airspace.
Da da d…
“Um Gottes Willen!”
< Oh for Christ’s sake >
He has jammed the Parabellum again.
But the DH.2 is suddenly making a godawful racket.
He has hit the Le Rhône engine!
“Back to the sheep dip for sure now, I reckon …”
Herbert will definitely be forced to retire from the action.
Having some difficulty controlling his DH.2, between a wonky engine and his wounded arm,
Herbert nearly runs into the Eindecker and won’t get a second shot.
At least not yet.
Tikka tikka tikka tikka
Eisenhardt fires again at Herbert and takes away any chance of finishing off the Fokker ….
“Zwei!” he shouts as he sees the British machine shudder and plummet.
Eisenhardt has his second kill.
And just like that, the Bulldog’s day come to an abrupt end.
Having cleared the air of any competition the Adler regroup and head toward their airfield.
There will be great celebration in the mess tonight ….
Butcher’s Tally
Bulldogs
DH.2 (CDL)
2Lt Stanley Pateman - EXP FT
C&W: 12 -3 EXP = 9 : “All is well”
DH.2 (CDL No. 4)
2Lt Percy Herbert - SD FT WIA
C&W: 6 -1 SD -1 WIA = 4 : Injured 1D6{1} : Skip 1
DH.2 (PC 10)
Lt Robert Lewis – FRTB-W
C&W: 4 +1 LAND -1 WIA = 4 : Injured 1D6{3} : Skip 3
Kaiser’s Adler
Albatros C.III
Pilot Fwbl Lukas Himmel-Spaziergänger – RTB
Observer Ltn Roland-Reinhart Dietrich-Daimler – RTB : Photos survived
Roland C.II
Pilot Ltn Justus Raucheisen – RTB : 1 Kill DH.2 (Pateman)
Observer Ltn Max Jungbauer - RTB
Fokker E.III (Grey)
Rookie Pilot Ltn Burkhard Baumann - RTB
Fokker E.III (CDL)
Pilot Ltn Felix Eisenhardt – RTB : 1 Kill DH.2 (Herbert)
______________________________________________________
Results
Bulldogs
2 shot down
1 forced to retire
Adler
All aircraft RTB
Photos successfully returned to base.
Complete Adler Victory!
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Well that certainly was a quick one!
Over in the 4th turn - I think that was the fastest mission I have played in over 4 years.
It was a really interesting scenario to play, Peter.
I liked the extra damage you had the two-seaters take at the beginning - luckily for me both aircraft rolled for only 1 damage - but it added a bit of realism to the scenario.
It seems the Bulldogs got what is usually 'Adler Luck' in this one,
A lot of gun jams in these 'B' decks, that's for sure. Seems everyone is drawing them.
For once I didn't get any fire (or even smoke)
And I couldn't believe the C&W rolls ...
Lewis (who was FRTB-W) ended up worse off than Pateman, who drew the Boom card.
He now will have to wait at least three more missions to get that one more kill and become an ace.
I am getting the hang of my altitude rules and can't imagine going back to playing without them.
All in all an enjoyable days gaming.
Well, half a day anyway ...
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for his victory & service to the Kaiser 
Originally Posted by flash
Certainly was all over and done with very quickly. Mine was the same I have to say, although the result in my case was more due to collisions than anything else 
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