BARKER’S LAST FIGHT, 27th October 1918
Historical facts
On October 27, 1918 Maj. William Barker, one of the highest scoring Allied aces of WWI, took off from Beugnatre on what would become one of the controversial flights of the war.
Flying a new type of aircraft, the Sopwith Snipe, Barker crossed over the lines in an attempt to score another victory before returning to England.
He found what he was looking for near the town of Valenciennes, scoring a high altitude victory over a two seat reconnaissance aircraft high above the Mormal Forest.
In the process, however, Barker himself was attacked from below by Fokker DVIIs from an unknown German Jasta. Wounded and disoriented, Barker lapsed in and out of consciousness as his plane fell from the sky.
As he fought for his life among an unknown number of German aircraft, he even attempted to ram one of the Germans. In the end, Barker managed to bring his Snipe down inside of the Allied lines.
William Barker was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions that day.
The scenario
Three players : 2 on the German side, one in the English side.
Betadouglas will control the Udet Fokker DVII and Monse the Fokker Schäfer plus a Rumpler CIV.
Waxfrance has the heavy task of facing this pack at the command of a Sopwith Snipe, its pilot benefiting from 4 ace skills, chosen in relation to Barker's fight, who had been wounded several times while continuing the fight and shooting down 4 opponents:
- dodging specialist (he cannot be chased by the opponent). This situation will not occur during the game.
- resistant (ignores the effect of the 1st injured pilot card).
- daredevil (can execute 2 successive dives - cards with a diamond).
- sniper (chooses the damage suffered by his target between 2 damage cards).
Moreover, the English player benefits from the surprise effect: the cloud cover rule is applied -> Waxfrance notes on a sheet the position of his plane which does not appear on the mat at the beginning of the game and he programs his movements without playing them until he makes a dive, the goal being to surprise the opponent.
The objective of the Germans is to land the Rumpler on the East mat airfield, which is returning from an observation mission, carrying strategic photographs for the Konprinz's General Staff.
The British mission is to destroy this two-seater.
The game
Three German aircraft returning from a mission.
The day was fruitful in pictures and trophies for the German hunting. In spite of the overcast weather, the relaxation is of setting, the base is only with 2 widths of mat :
Waxfrance brings his Snipe into play on the 2nd move, the secret position initially chosen was just behind the Rumpler.
Not expecting such a quick attack, Monse's Fokker turns back to the Snipe, but the latter is exposed to the Rumpler's rear machine gun, without any major damage to the Englishman:
A few moves later, Waxfrance uses his "sniper" skill on Betadouglas' Fokker : a motor damage which will prove to be disabling for the rest of the game, the Snipe and the Fokker DVII having the same basic speed.
The Rumpler has made a successful approach to land on the centerline, except that it is still on level 2 near the runway threshold (landing: be on level 1 - descent - straight down - dive).
Was ist los ?? Everything has to be redone (definitely, controlling 2 planes at the same time is a job).
Rather than taking the easy way out by turning left on the inside of the mat, the Rumpler turns right near the edge, hoping to fool the Snipe pilot who certainly doesn't expect such a bold maneuver.
No such luck. Waxfrance is an ace with 40 victories, he does not let himself be impressed, offers himself to the fire of the infantry of the Trench card (without damage) and empties his machine gun on the German two-seater which does not even have his opponent in line of sight in spite of its 2 arcs of fire :
Long range shooting because the two planes are separated by one altitude level, the Snipe already at altitude 1 having anticipated the landing of the German. Waxfrance decides not to use his Sniper skill, reserving it for a possible short range shot.
The damage card suffered by the Rumpler will seal its fate : it is forbidden to turn right for the next 3 moves, with the edge of the mat to its left:
Schweinhund! Himmelstoss!!! Totenkopf!!!
In a desperate attempt to slow down, hoping to program a right turn at the end of this round of play, 2 stall cards separated by a straight will not prevent the two-seater from exiting the playing area. A fireball ignites the woods south of the airfield.
The Feld-General did not get a report from the observation mission that day.
The Snipe had only to return to his camp thanks to an Immelman made in spite of the edge of the mat, under the amazed eyes of his opponents, who quickly gave up an attempt of pursuit, quite useless with a damaged engine Fokker which moves less quickly than a Morane-Saulnier N.
Victory with panache for Waxfrance.
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Well done everyone & nice to see Barker remembered.
REP inbound
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