“Jawohl, mein Herr.”
Obltn Bernhard Wienand slammed the telephone down.
He was obviously frustrated.
The Jasta 24 pilots were already stretched thin with ever-present reconnaissance patrols and now were expected to provide ‘protection’ for a drachen “Ohne Bodenunterstützung!”
< without ground support >
The only two pilots he felt confident sending were his top aces, Ltn Günther Giesebrecht and Ltn Till Huebner.
They had been given a short leave and had just returned to the unit that morning.
The rest of the group were worn out from the daily grind over the front.
“Ich bin sicher, dass Ihre Erfahrung die Möglichkeit der Unterzahl überwinden wird.“
< I am sure your experience will overcome the possibility of being outnumbered. >
Giesebrecht and Huebner nodded in unison.
“Wie schwer kann es sein?“
< How hard can it be? >
Giesebrecht was feeling cocky. He was leading the Jasta with 15 kills, after all.
„Die Engländer werden nicht wissen, was sie getroffen hat, wenn sie es wagen, in unser Territorium einzudringen.“
< The English won't know what hit them if they dare to intrude on our territory. >
Huebner smiled in agreement.
Wienand did not share their mood.
“In Ordnung, meine Herren, Sie haben Ihre Befehle.“
< All right gentlemen, you have your orders.>
With that the pair of aces saluted and headed out to change into their flying suits.
“Geben Sie mir ein paar Minuten, um meine Munition zu überprüfen.“ Huebner shouted at Giesebrecht across the field.
< Give me a few minutes to check my ammunition. >
„Immer der Perfektionist ...“
< Always the perfectionist > Giesebrecht thought to himself.
45 minutes later the Adler aces were airborne and flying a circular pattern around the drachen.
There was movement over the area just beyond the German trenches.
“Englander!” Huebner shouted. He waved his Albatros about hoping that Giesebrecht had noticed the trio of aircraft approaching.
“Drei Nieuporte …”
Yes – Giesebrecht had seen them as well.
Three Nieuport 17s were closing fast.
F/Sgt Alex David, 2Lt Duncan Moore, and 2Lt Richard Glen were line abreast.
Da da da da
Moore and Glen fired in unison.
Glen hit the basket with his burst, wounding one of the observers.
The Germans ‘hit the silk’ as it came to be known in a future conflict and drifted out of harms way.
The wound was slight and they both were able to scurry away from the shadow of the drachen.
Giesebrecht prepared to defend the balloon and eyed Glen warily.
Da da da da
Moore’s second burst.
Smoke slowly turns to flame.
“Gotchya!” he shouts, very pleased to see results so quickly.
Huebner charges David with Spandaus chattering.
Tikka tikka tikka
Da da da da
Crack!
Huebner feels his wing collapse as a strut is sheared by a perfect hit.
David has his first kill!
“Was zur Hölle?”
Before he can properly asses his situation, Huebner finds himself on the ground!
His Albatros starts to burn as he gingerly removes himself from the wreckage.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the drachen, Giesebrecht takes on Glen.
Tikka tikka
Da da da da
Giesebrecht’s sniper skill seems to be a bit rusty.
His eagerness to get off the first burst [Itchy Trigger Finger skill] seems to have thrown off his aim, while Glen’s Lewis rounds rip through the Albatros.
Round One definitely goes to the Bulldogs.
The combatants pass by each other warily.
The drachen fire is contained to one panel at the moment.
Giesebrecht performs a Split-S, while his counterpart pulls out of an Immelmann Turn.
David and Moore circle back toward their main target.
Da da da
Moore empties his first drum of incendiaries and is rewarded with a visible stream of smoke!
The smoke quickly turns to flame.
There are now two fires licking up the drachen.
Suddenly …
…there is a mass of smoke and fire!
Whooomp!
The drachen becomes bratwurst as the flame erupts into a giant fireball.
Moore can’t believe his luck.
He has his first kill as well!
He realizes there is still at least one Albatros to deal with, and must switch out his Lewis drum from incendiaries to regular ammunition.
“Definitely don’t want to risk going down with incendiary ammo still loaded …” he muses out loud.
Moore knows what happens to pilots caught firing incendiaries at aircraft.
[Note: Game was played as 'Gordon', hence that label. Onkel pointed out he was not available so I have switched to Moore]
Da da da da
Tikka tikk …
Glen and Giesebrecht exchange volleys and the Adler’s gun has jammed!
[Note: In a cruel twist of fate, Giesebrecht has drawn two gun jams while using his sniper skill. One is the green version.
If Giesebrecht and Huebner had switched draws, Giesebrecht would have been saved from the Boom by his Lucky Pilot option, and Huebner could have used his Bullet Checker skill to negate the jam!]
Giesebrecht passes close by Glen’s Nieuport and sees two more closing on him!
Hoping the smoke from the drachen will at least partially cover him Giesebrecht hopes to get past Moore and David.
Still swapping his Lewis pan, Moore nearly collides with his wingman!
The Nieuports regroup and see that their opponent is slipping away.
[Missed a photo op between these moves]
Moore has flown an Immelmann while David turned.
Giesebrecht glances back over his shoulder, pushes his Austro-Daimler engine to the limit, and makes his escape.
Moore, David and Glen regroup and head back over No Man’s Land feeling pretty chuffed with the day’s results – especially Moore and David who will both be buying rounds in the mess tonight!
Butcher’s Tally
Adler
Albatros D.II
Ltn Till Huebner SD EXP FT
Rolled 6 -3 EXP = 3 : Injured 1D6(2) Skip 2 missions.
Albatros D.II
Ltn Günther Giesebrecht RTB
Bulldogs
Nieuport N.17
F/Sgt Alexander David RTB 1 Kill (Huebner)
2Lt Duncan Moore RTB 1 Kill (drachen)
* label says "Gordon"
2Lt Richard Glen RTB
Bratwurst
The wounded observer received a minor injury and survived the destruction of the drachen.
[ Rolled 11 -3 EXP = 8 : Injured 1D2(3) = Skip 1]
Results
Bulldogs
Balloon destroyed : 20
Scout shot down : 10
___
30
Adler
Not a sausage (pun intended)
Total Entente Victory!
=========================
Well I have been saying for a while that I was waiting for the ‘other shoe to drop’.
This was more like a hobnail boot!
The incendiaries made short work of the drachen. Seems to be the norm in this scenario.
If Huebner had not been taken down on the first shot, maybe I could have salvaged a draw, or even a victory out of it, but once he was downed I decided to lick my wounds and get back to the barn.
Speaking of Huebner, I count myself lucky that he came out of the Boom Card with minor injury and the hobnail boot did not become an anvil!
I was definitely dreading the dice roll.
And finally, a shout out to Chris (malachi) for the excellent drachen model used in this scenario.
Sorry that it got to spend so little time aloft, but I guess that’s the “first time to the table curse”.
Looking forward to what Mike has up his sleeve for July.
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