Lt. Reginald Fife-Brand had called 2nd Lts Jonathon Snow & James Lannister to the Flight Office.
"Right you chaps I have the opportunity to send 2 of our less experienced pilots to a new experimental Fighter Training course to be held at Upavon in Blighty.
Now you will fly two of our older DH-2s to use on the course & will bring back two new ones when the course has finished". "That's it, take off at 0800 in the morning & make landfall near Dover Harbour & follow these instructions to Upavon" as he handed them a sheet of instructions.
Next morning the 2 excited pilots took off & proceeded to cross the channel heading by compass to Dover.
As they flew on, waving & giving a thumbs up to each other, they spied the familiar white cliffs in the distance.
Almost immediately they noticed 3 aircraft ahead of them making directly towards Dover Harbour.
Jon Snow caught his breath! They were Germans. He recognised the distinct shape of a Roland painted in garish colours & one of the new Albatross C III's plus an older plane in CDL.
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This could only mean one thing. They were going to bomb the harbour installations at Dover. He looked across at James who nodded & pointed to the approaching enemy. They had no choice they may have been the only British aircraft in the area & it was their duty to try to disrupt the raid.
As he headed for the enemy James Lannister flying C3 came under fire from the front gun of the C III but fortunately the shots missed.
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James concentrated on the CDL plane in front of him & was thrilled to see a lick of flames from the enemy aircraft & he flinched as he felt bullets his his De Havilland as the Albatross fired again but did not do much damage apart from a few holes in his wing fabric.
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Jon Snow now joined the fight & both British planes gave the German aircraft which was an Aviatik a withering burst & it continued to burn whilst the Albatross again missed with its shots.
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The Roland which had been the lead plane in the German formation had avoided any attacks from the British aircraft now lined up for its bombing run on the Port installations.
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Jon Snow's DH-2 now had a minor collision with the burning Aviatik but fortunately no significant damage resulted to either aircraft.
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The fire on the Aviatik suddenly flared up & the German aircraft fell into the sea which extinguished the fire but the fate of the crew was unknown.
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The Roland released its bomb load which partially damaged the Power Station adjacent to the wharf.
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The Albatross was now approaching the harbour installations & finally got its range right & damaged Jon Snow's engine.
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"Bloody Hell!" exclaimed Jon as his Gnome started to vibrate & misfire. "I think he has wrecked a cylinder, I had better head for land!"
James Lannister who had taken time to change the drum on his Lewis gun now attacked the Roland which had turned for home. Unfortunately he came off second best from the exchange!
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The Albatross & Jon Snow very nearly collided as Jon struggled with this damaged aircraft.
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The Roland & James were not so lucky & also collided with the Roland suffering quite a bit of damage. (Note: I initially put a Engine damage token on the Roland until I realised my mistake & removed it!)
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As they separated the Roland's rear gunner gave James a parting shot but it went wide.
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The Albatross lined up on the large warehouse on the dock area & its aim was spot on & the warehouse exploded in spectacular fashion! (Note: due to the 3D scenery I had to juggle the cards so I show them alongside in the second photo)
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As the Albatross turned for home it again shot at Snow's aircraft & Jon felt a stinging blow to his right arm as a German bullet cut through his flying coat. (ignore the 1 on the dice as this was Turn 7 & I had not yet moved the 6 from the other side of the table)
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To add insult to injury the Observer of the Albatross further damaged the DH-2 as the both headed for home & safety.
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I somehow lost 2 photos of the end of the tussle between the Roland & James Lannister's DH-2 but after James pulled an Immelmann to chase the Roland he realised due to its speed he could not catch it so turned for the nearest landing strip to meet up with Jon Snow & discuss their adventure & make arrangements to travel on to Upavon after the engine of Jon's aircraft was replaced.
NOTES & Observations
Well that was a bit of Fun. I knew the Brits would be up against it with 2 Vs 3 & the speed of the Roland & Albatross. Quite a few collisions in this one but no Boom cards!
I rolled for the starting points for the DH-2's & got P6 for one & 4+1 = 5 for the second which was the mid point of the mat.
VICTORY POINTS
BRITISH: 1 downed Enemy Tandem +4
GERMAN: 1 scout forced from battle =1
2 bombers home safe = 6
2 bomb cards on Port = 6
TOTAL: 13
GERMAN VICTORY!
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