OTT-CYM Mission 5: Going Solo - 5th August 1916 - by Tikkifriend
RFC
2Lt Paul Henry DH2 O
2Lt Charlie Parrot DH2 P
S/Lt Guy Bordeaux Spad VII
Central Powers
Ltn Werner Thomas Blue Halb
Ltn Paul Wenzel Red Halb
Ltn Karl Schafer EIII Grey
Ltn Hiendrick Barnekow EIII Blue
Ltn Bernard Wenzl EIII Green
Guy Bordeaux found himself separated from the remains of that mornings flight.
Things had not gone well with 2 planes down and nothing to add to the Bulldogs tally . Looking around he spotted the familiar landmarks that would lead him back to the airfield and a welcoming mug of coffee , with some Cognac added he mused. he calculated he was some 20 mins flying distance from his lines, which put him over German lines . Tilting his wings to get a better view of what was below his Spad he saw 5 German crates below and moving towards him. hopefully they were unaware of him as there were patches of cloud around him.
"Time to even the score " he muttered in broken English, He set his sights on the the last of the triple planes , wiping his goggles and cranking back on his gun lever to prime his weapon, after all he was feeling Lucky today.
Surprise was on the Frenchman's side for while , but as he banked to attack a glint of sunlight reflected off the Spad, enough to attract the attention of several of the Germans below him. They turned to meet the lone attacker.
Bordeaux fell upon the nearest EIII A short burst and black smoke billowed from its engine. It turned for home
Wenzel turned his Halb and began to climb as did Barnekow , Bordeaux did the opposite hoping to use the faster Spad to weave through the enemy planes before they could swarm him. shooting wild he missed Wenzls plane completely
Barnekow and The Frenchman exchanged a few shot (2)
A Swarm of planes were heading for the Spad.
Using the Spads superior speed Guy got round behind the German flight before they knew it
.. An untimely jam robbed Guy of a perfect opportunity to strafe several planes .
Wenzel strained to get his red Halb round on the Spads tail Werner opted to Immell
A final blow with his hammer released to damaged round and freed Guys gun. Suddenly the Frenchman was confronted by 3 planes bearing down on him, and another raking high on his tail.
Guy pointed his plane skyward firing as he climbed (1) hitting Thomas.
( side note at this point Bordeaux was hit by Wenzels red Halb with a boom card, which forced the lucky pilot card to be played)
Barnekow pressed home his attack hitting the Frenchman in the shoulder (3+pilot, 0)
Some 10 miles south Henry and Parrot had managed to hook up with each other and started to scan the horizon for there fellow flight buddy. Parrot thought he saw a trail of smoke moving west and tipped his wings , pointing towards the thin trail. Henry nodded and lead the flight towards it.
Brodeaux was a sitting canard his plane stuck in a long right turn. The Eagles converged on the stricken pilot. But Lady Luck was certainly on his side that day, Thomas's shots jamming his gun (0+GJ)
Guy managed to pull out of his circle of death. Thomas was on his six working hard to free his gun.
The rest of the Eagles were trying to avoid colliding with each other,
not noticing that a pair of DH2s had suddenly appeared on the scene.
Bordeaux swung right to allow Parrot and Henry some maneuver room before pointing his plane for home. Flames spurted from the guns on both sides and from Henrys engine (2+Fire)
BarneKow felt his engine stutter as the rounds slammed into the casing
Parrot and Henry managed to get passed the milling EIIIs only to be met by the red Halb of Wenzel.
Firing at the burning DH2 Wenzel failed to make any impression on the sturdy plane.Then a round hit the engine causing it to stall (0+GJ,2+Engine) Fortunately for Henry Wenzels gun jammed.
Henry looked around desperately for his wing man and way out of his increasingly dangerous predicament. A blue E111 loomed ahead and above him, A second just behind that one.
The fire was out but his engine was stuttering badly, Henry dove for the deck Parrot took the lead from his flight leader and turned for home The dive saved Henry's bacon as Wenzls was too high to get a mark on the DH2 The tactic worked While the German planes tried to get a shot Henry kept on heading for the floor till he was back over his lines.
Parrot sneaked of the battlefield without the Eagles even noticing but he made sure that his wing man was safe in the Allied sector before hanging on his port wing.
Results
RFC
2Lt Paul Henry: (DH2 O) FRTB-E 0 kills
2Lt Charlie Parrot: (DH2 P) RTB 0 kills
S/Lt Guy Bordeaux: (Spad VII) FRTB-W / WIA 0 kills
Rolled 6 +1RTB -1WIA = 6 Injured - Skip 1D3 Scenarios. Rolled 5 = Skip 3
Central Powers
Ltn Werner Thomas: (Blue Halb) RTB 0 kills
Ltn Paul Wenzel: (Red Halb) RTB 0 kills
Ltn Karl Schafer: (EIII Grey) RTB 0 kills
Ltn Hiendrick Barnekow: (EIII Blue) FRTB-E 0 kills
Ltn Bernard Wenzl: (EIII Green) FRTB-S 0 kills
Cocky is as cocky does and when Dave rolls for Guy Bordeaux we shall see if he is a hero or zero. Lucky he was with being able to dump the boom card but unlucky for Henry with a fire and engine damage. Was Parrot ever in this fray ?
Great game much enjoyed, but a loss for the RFC.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by tikkifriend
And I was enjoying the run around it was giving the hun - nice to see altitude being used (tried it once in testing and decided to avoid it thereafter) - then a string of bad luck took over. Avoiding the Boom card was good (my guy avoided 8 damage on a collision) but then taking a 3 wound and your back up getting poor treatment - that was harsh. But there you go, impossible to win 'em all (and that would be boring too I reckon). So, despite the result for the RFC, well played. Lovely visuals, an entertaining 
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