OTT Cocky Young Men - Mission 5 “Going Solo” - 5th August 1916
The Battle of the Somme has already been raging, on and off, for a month. For much of July 1916, the RFC has had a basic air superiority, which has caused much agitation amongst the Kaiser’s troops, but which has given British troops and their allies the confidence to move about without being overly concerned about threats from the sky. That included the knowledge that German aircraft were largely unable to direct their own artillery fire.
But towards the end of July, that all changed quite dramatically. Between 14th and 18th July considerable German reinforcements arrived. Two bomber-fighter squadrons (Kampfgeschwader) of the newly formed German First Army appeared. Aircraft were given duties such as so-called barrage patrols (sperrefliegen) behind and parallel to the German front, plus two squadrons of single-seater fighters (Kampfeinsitzer-Staffeln) also arrived. Reconnaissance, bombing, artillery spotting and the protection of those operations all became very much a problem for the Entente allies following this reorganisation. Air activity, therefore, went from being relatively quiet to being very aggressive. Many multiple aircraft fights began to be reported.
Your Mission
A flight of five friendly single seat scouts have been on an offensive patrol. They ran into trouble, had a dog fight and lost two of their number. Then the remaining three got split up, one (that’s you) flying off on his own and the other two as a pair.
The solo flier is making his way back west/east* to the barn when he sees, crossing his path, a flight of enemy scouts heading north east / south west*. Two up ahead and three together following a short distance behind. He will attack the three at the back and in so doing the two up ahead are alerted. * Depends which side you represent.
Equipment
Two mats – No Man’s Land and another representing enemy held territory. Lay these long edge to long edge.
Three friendly single seat aircraft of the period. (B damage only)
Five enemy single seat aircraft of the period (B damage only)
Set up
Please see following diagram and photos.
Objective
. To win, before he himself leaves, or is forced to quit. To achieve this, the solo friendly pilot must shoot down at least one enemy plus either shoot down, or force to quit, a second enemy aircraft.
. If he shoots down only one but fails to force even one other to quit, it is a draw.
. Forcing more than one to quit but failing to shoot one down is also a draw.
. Failing to shoot one down and forcing only one or none to quit is a loss.
. In any event, if he himself is shot down, he loses.
Special conditions
. The solo pilot will have the “Lucky Pilot” ace skill, plus one other ace skill of your choice, taken from the campaign list. (Lucky Pilot is just for this mission and will not carry forward, but see below for details of a possible reward regarding the second, chosen, ace skill).
. An enemy aircraft will be forced to quit on any engine damage, pilot wound, smoke or fire damage card, in addition to the need to leave if the aircraft has only three health points left. The friendly solo pilot however, will only be forced to quit under the normal rules for our campaign.
. The solo flier may begin his exit strategy the moment victory conditions are known to have been achieved and his victory will be complete if and when he has successfully quit the field of play from any edge of the no man’s land mat** (or the half of the playing area used that leads to the friendly side of operations).
. Success for the solo pilot will end the mission. However, should the solo player be shot down or be forced to quit under losing conditions, then the remaining two friendly pilots will appear together, from the same starting point as the solo flier, one half range measure apart and heading towards the nearest enemy aircraft. They can turn a lost game into a draw, by either shooting down or forcing to quit, two enemy aircraft before themselves voluntarily leaving. But all of the normal campaign / game rules will apply during this second phase. The game will still be lost if either of these two are forced to quit or are shot down.
**NB The following diagram and photos assume “Friendly” aircraft are RFC. If flying for another air force please adapt the mats according to necessity.
(Note – The mission is designed as a five v one, with the one possibly being replaced with two more. However, if you do not have sufficient aircraft then it can be played as a three v one by ignoring the two forward enemy aircraft and the friendly replacements.)
Set up - Hopefully the following four photos, plus the diagram which follows them, will be clear enough to see you through the set up process
Ace Skill Lucky Pilot
This pilot may choose to ignore a single damage card during the game after drawing and seeing it.
The ignored card is shuffled back into the deck.
To remember that this skill has been used discard its token.
Other ace skills and their details will be found in the CYM Campaign rules and the following link should take you to these.
https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...Campaign-Rules
Please note, that it has been agreed the “Other Skill” chosen for this mission will become a one use inherent skill, if your solo pilot survives the mission. However, if he is shot down, the enemy pilot responsible will take that skill instead.
Finally: If things get really rough for you, you have the option to bring in the extra two friendly pilots, as back up, after the first kill is achieved. However, the enemy FRTB, required for a clear victory, is still down to your solo pilot.
I hope you enjoy the mission. Please be aware that I shall try to answer any questions you may have about it, at least until the 3rd of July. After that I shall be off for a week on the canals
My thanks to Dave for proof reading the draft copy of this mission and for making some very useful suggestions for additional detail, including the reward scheme
Mike
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