Uncle called Acting Lt. "Dusty" Rhodes to the Squadron Office. "Ah Dusty I have just had a call from HQ, seems the old Hun is strafing the PBI in our sector with two 2 seaters & we are requested to put an end to their antics. Now we are a bit short of pilots due to wounds & Sgt Stark is already out on patrol so I want you to take the available pilots, 2nd Lt John Snow in the camo N 17 & young Sgt Foyle in the N0.2 De Havilland & I have allocated you Fife-Brand's Blue nosed N 17 which has just had a new engine fitted & tested. You are now effectively C Flight leader so get your lads together, explain the mission & get airborne ASAP.
Soon after Dusty led the 3 British aircraft towards to co-ordinates supplied by HQ & sure enough below they spotted a colourful Rumpler & a brown & cream Albatross attacking the Allied trenches. Giving the signal after waggling his wings the two Nieuports dived on the German 2 seaters. [NOTE: My old Nexus I decks do not have dive & climb cards!]
Before he followed the 2 N 17's Sgt Foyle who was on the far port side of the formation had spotted two Halberstadts approaching from German territory & wisely decided to climb to meet this threat hoping that Brandon Stark would also have seen the German scouts & would come to his support.
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The two nieuports completely surprised the German Aircrew who were concentrating on their task. However it did nothing to the disappointment of the Allied pilots & Jon Snow had the added problem of his Lewis immediately jamming.
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Their second attack was much more successful with Dusty causing good damage to the Rumpler whose return fire missed completely.
The German Scouts were also now nearing the action but were at a much higher altitude.
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A general melee now occurred with aircraft narrowly avoiding each other due to the altitude difference. Al Foyle was heartened to see Bran Stark closing in on the action from the opposite side. Jon Snow with a jammed gun could only grit his teeth & take what the enemy dished out!
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As the aircraft separated the 2 De Havillands had the opportunity to make their presence felt by the two Halberstadts, flown by the Eagles Staffelfurher C-A Schwartz in his CDL D.II & Ltn Otto Schoenfielder in the grey D.II.
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Bran Stark took a close range shot at the German Scout leader but to his chagrin somehow managed to miss completely!
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He was more successful in attacking the grey Halberstadt & Sgt Foyle's shots set the CDL D.II on fire. Even more importantly they had successfully kept the German Scouts from attacking the Nieuports who were concentrating on the 2 seaters who had turned to make a run to safety in German lines.
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Continuing to chase down the 2 seaters they exchanged fire & whilst the German Observer caused Dusty's N 17 to omit smoke Snow's shots damaged the engine of the Albatross.
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Both British pilots had managed to get into the blind spot of the German planes & Jon Snow now set the Albatross on fire.
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The DH-2's & Halberstadts continued dueling but this time the luck was with the German pilots & Bran Stark had his rudder damaged while all the British shots did no damage at all.
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The 2 German aircraft continued to burn as they maneuvered to keep the fire away from the cockpits.
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With the last shots from his Lewis drum Dusty managed to wound the Observer of the Rumpler whilst Jon Snow was out of arc but got a slight flesh wound from the Albatross' Rear gun.
[ I used a D6 to determine who was wounded--1/2 Pilot, 3/4 Observer, 5/6 both crew--Rolled a 3]
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The Fire on the Halberstadt died down but the one on the Albatross flared up arlarmingly.
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Ignoring the flames the pilot of the Albatross fired at Dusty's Nieuport but did little damage & only succeeded in jambing his gun.
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The fire on Schwartz's Halberstadt flared up but suddenly died completely. He was being shadowed by Sgt Foyle who was busy changing the drum on his Lewis.
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While Dusty was busy changing his Lewis Drum the pilot of the Rumpler could see safety so close but it was not to be. Dusty's first shots from the reloaded Lewis damaged the engine of the German aircraft & accumulated damage caused it to crash in friendly territory.
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Things suddenly went "pear" shape for the Germans as with his reloaded Lewis Sgt Al Foyle put a close burst into Schwartz's Halberstadt, set it on fire again & caused it to crash in No Mans Land.
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While Dusty was dispatching the Rumpler it allowed the damaged Albatross to sneak past him & land safely at the Eagles aerodrome.
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Schoenfielder in the grey D.II continued to spar with Sgt Foyle but suddenly realised he was alone in the sky with 4 British planes & decided discretion was the better part of Valour & broke away from the fight & made his way back to the Eagles Nest as fast as possible. The British pilots were happy to let him go as they were getting low on both fuel & ammunition & had the satisfaction of downing 2 German planes & sending the second 2 seater home in a damaged condition.
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Thoughts & Observations
Well that was an enjoyable game on my new high games table!
Things went "West" for the Germans when I managed to set 2 on fire & damaged the engine of one of the two seaters. Still it was a close game with not a lot of Victory Points difference.
I used the Altitude set up as per the BRF & rolled a dice for the position of the German Scouts who came on pretty close to the middle of the mat.
I used Dave's D 8 charts & Zoe's modified Altitude rules. I flew Dusty's N 17 & all others were AI with an occasional "I" input to make sense & cover aircraft on fire.
Still having an occasional over exposure problem with the camera when using the flash (?) No NOT you Dave!
VICTORY POINTS
BRITISH:
2 German planes shot down (inc 1 2seater) = 6 points
GERMAN:
1 x 2 seater crossed objective line for home = 3 points
BRITISH VICTORY 6 to 3.
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