AAR CYM Mission 2--Bring Them Back if you Can--July 12th---gully_raker

[gully_raker]

Pre Game & Set Up notes.
I rolled a 3 & 1 for damage to the 2 seaters which gave One Damage point to each.
Rolled a 3 for the leading German Scout which meant he would attack the British Scouts
Table Set up as per BRF. (Note: the single German Scout is just out of picture on the RHS.)
I did not use altitude & used a small D6 to keep count of the Lewis Guns shots.

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The Mission

Lt. Archie Fife-Brand C Flight commander called 2nd Lt Dusty Rhodes & F/Sgt Brandon Stark to his Office.
"Right Chaps, as you know Hill & Quartermain in the Fe have been out on an important mission behind enemy lines to photograph what the wiley old Hun is up too. Downton & Abbey are acting as escort in our 1 1/2 Strutter as the Fee is loaded with photographic gear & has no armament. Now all being well they should be on their way back by now so I want you to jump into your De Havilands & find & escort them back home to base. Your DH-2's did not have the range to accompany them on the Mission.

Over at the Eagles Nest the phone rang & Fokker Staffel Fuhrer Caul-August Schwartz answered "Yaah?" It was a call from HQ to advise 2 British observation planes were expected to fly into his area shortly & it was vital to shoot both of them down. Quickly he called on Ltn Thiede to fly to the West sector & he would take the inexperienced Ltn Otto Schoenfelder to fly as wingman in the CDL Fokker E III to his own distinctive Green machine.

Wilhelm Thiede in his grey Fokker was the first to intercept the returning British 2 seaters & he fired at the Sopwith Strutter to no effect. The Strutter was unable to return fire as he was out of arc.

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On the other side of the battlefield Oblt Schwartz turned towards the on coming British Scouts & signalled Schoenfelder to fly towards the 2 seaters he could see in the distance.
Bran Stark took the opportunity to fire at the lead Fokker but his Lewis immediately jammed.

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As Ltn Wilhelm Thiede turned to attack the FE2b he opened himself to the Lewis gun of Max Abbey in the rear seat of the Strutter & suddenly black smoke errupted from the Obersural engine of the grey E.III.

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Max took another shot at the Fokker as it turned back towards him but missed.

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The German & British Scouts continued to dogfight & Dusty took a quick shot at the CDL Fokker but missed.

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Sgt Stark having changed drums on his Lewis fired at Schwartz but also missed. "We must be firing blanks" he cursed!

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The 2 groups of Aircraft now converged & the Strutter got a good burst into the E.III of Schoenfelder & was supported by Dusty in his DH-2.

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The battle intensified & Dusty came under attack from the 2 Fokkers & with his last shots from his Lewis drum hit the CDL Fokker who had pulled an Immlemann but Dusty came off the worst as his rudder suffered bad damage from the 2 German Aircraft.

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Dusty threaded the needle of the enemy aircraft but the 2 German planes now collided. Luckily for the pilots neither suffered damage.

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Max Abbey had another crack at Thiede's E.III but his Lewis also jammed.

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While this action was going on Lofty Hill had quietly snuck away from the danger & made for his aerodrome as fast as the laden Fee could fly.

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Dusty who had changed his drum & Theide now headed for each other & exchanged close range shots. Dusty felt a sting to his right upper arm & looked down to see a jagged tear in his flying jacket & blood seeping through the leather. "Bugger!" he thought "the blighter has given me a flesh wound!"

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The Fee with the precious photographs was now well away from the ongoing action & was getting closer to home.

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Two of the German Fokkers now collided with Oblt Schwartz suffering such heavy damage that he was forced to try to ease his aircraft back to home before it could no longer fly.

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Lofty Hill could now see the Bulldogs aerodrome approaching & he slapped Alex Quartermain on the shoulder & gave him the Thumbs Up.

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Schoenfilder now got a shot into Dusty's De Haviland as he was still feeling the affects of his wound.

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Meanwhile the FE 2b had landed safely at the Dogs Aerodrome & the photographs were quickly dispatched to Wing HQ.

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Obly Schwartz & Wilhelm Thiede who had also returned with a heavily damaged plane now made it back to their aerodrome.

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The remaining German & the Allied pilots called it a day as the DH-2's were running low on both fuel & ammunition & all made towards home & safety.

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British Victory

Thoughts & Observations

Well that played out pretty much as others have done with this mission. Once the Escort & Scouts got involved with the German Aircraft it enabled the Photographic plane to escape.
Using a double B Deck throws up lots of Zeros But interestingly no Booms or Fires this time but lots of Rudder Damage.

Only when I was checking the photos for the AAR did I realise I added the damage from Thiede's Fokker to his total rather than to Dusty's as I should have done. See Photo 9. Dusty should have 3 more Damage points & Thiede 3 Less. (Stupid Me!)

Thanks Peter for an interesting game.

[gully_raker]

British Forces

FE 2b Photographic Aircraft
Pilot Lt Lofty Hill
RTB/No Kills
Observer AM3Alex Quartermain
RTB/No Kills
Photos Successfully Landed
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Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter (Escort)
Pilot 2nd Lt Johnathon Downton
RTB/No Kills
Observer AM2 Maxwell Abbey
RTB/No Kills
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DH-2 No.2
F/Sgt Brandon Stark
RTB/No Kills
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DH-2 No.3
2nd Lt Dusty Rhodes
RTB/WIA/No Kills
Rolled 4 -1WIA+1RTB=Injured--Rolled 4 = Miss 4 Missions.
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German Forces

Oblt C-A Schwartz--Green Fokker E.III
FRB-C/No Kills
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Ltn Otto Schoenfelder--CDL E.III
RTB/No Kills
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Ltn Wilhelm Thiede--Grey E.III
RTB/No Kills
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Sorry Dave about the STUFF UP with the damage cards between Dusty & Thiede!

[Stumptonian]

Only when I was checking the photos for the AAR did I realise I added the damage from Thiede's Fokker to his total rather than to Dusty's as I should have done. See Photo 9. Dusty should have 3 more Damage points & Thiede 3 Less.

Funny how often that happens - the photos never lie.

Happens to me a lot, so don't feel too bad.
(In fact I did it today with my first AAR in the Battle of Britain campaign:
Push for the Channel Ports )

What counts is you got the precious photos back and all except poor old Dusty Rhodes made it back without a scratch.
(Your Easter Bunny delivered his basket's contents intact - no chocolate for the Adler today!)

[gully_raker]

Funny how often that happens - the photos never lie.

Happens to me a lot, so don't feel too bad.
(In fact I did it today with my first AAR in the Battle of Britain campaign:
Push for the Channel Ports )

What counts is you got the precious photos back and all except poor old Dusty Rhodes made it back without a scratch.
(Your Easter Bunny delivered his basket's contents intact - no chocolate for the Adler today!)

Thanks Pete! Nice to know I am not the only one to make mistakes during a game.
I put it down to excess adrenaline generated by the intense action!

[flash]

Nice job Baz - you got the pics through but poor old Dusty was hurt worse than we thought !
At least your damage confusion did not effect the outcome for any pilot - we've all done it in the heat of the action, caught myself a couple of times recently.
We're all getting similar results - If I run this again I might add an extra Eagle to the mix & see if that changes things, or, use a BE as the photo bird

Uncle says:


Well done you chaps ! Looks like Dusty is going to have a long rest according to the M.O. Still I'm sure he'll be back spitting fire and epithets before we know it.
Good news from GHQ, AM3 Alexander Quartermain is awarded the military Medal for his service to King & country. Well done that man.

[gully_raker]

Nice job Baz - you got the pics through but poor old Dusty was hurt worse than we thought !
At least your damage confusion did not effect the outcome for any pilot - we've all done it in the heat of the action, caught myself a couple of times recently.
We're all getting similar results - If I run this again I might add an extra Eagle to the mix & see if that changes things, or, use a BE as the photo bird

Uncle says:


Well done you chaps ! Looks like Dusty is going to have a long rest according to the M.O. Still I'm sure he'll be back spitting fire and epithets before we know it.
Good news from GHQ, AM3 Alexander Quartermain is awarded the military Medal for his service to King & country. Well done that man.

Thanks Dave. Good to know I am not alone with that problem.
Yes poor old Dusty gets a "flesh" wound & in each case pulls a 4 mission rest!
I am sure the lads will celebrate Alex's Gong in proper fashion in the mess tonight.
I am also sure the CO will manage to get a bottle of Scotch into Dusty's bed tomorrow.

[mikeemagnus]

Nice one Baz - that worked out to be a very efficient encounter for the Doggies. Congratulations to Quartermaine for his Military Medal - Mines a pint Enjoy the celebrations and the REP

[Vagabond]

A fairly uneventful mission, well done for that, Dusty was very close to being carted off in a blanket so a 4 mission rest is probably good news for him.