OTT-BYM Mission 3 - Help - Flash Help Me Please ! - 19th Oct 1916

[flash]

It's a simple task, Uncle had said, one of those 'Naval Johnnies' had gone down in Hunland and some Admiral or other had asked HQ if we could possibly pick him up if it wasn't too inconvenient.
Well it was inconvenient but that didn't seem to matter to HQ, grumbled Uncle; ours is to wonder why and all that so within the hour a motley crew had been rounded up to go and fetch the poor chap home !
2Lt Christopher Cross would pilot his Strutter C2 as his regular observer Richard Shaw was hors de combat 'and he needs to be doing something useful'... he would be escorted over by 2Lt Evan Keel, a dreadfully keen type with plenty of experience but yet to bag his first victory and a new boy 'who needs to be shown the ropes' 2Lt Barry Fife- Brand. Call me 'Baz' he'd said laconically... I'll do no such thing ! retorted Uncle as the rest of us suppressed a grin.


(Left - Right; 2LtBarry Fife-Brand; 2Lt Chris Cross; 2Lt Evan Keel)

Unbeknownst to us Jerry had sent out a patrol over the area. Maybe they knew our chap was hiding out there, or, maybe they just got lucky and flew over the remains of his kite by chance. Either way their timing could not have been worse.

(Left to right - Ltn Stefan Loerzer; Ltn Raven Busse in the Albatros; Ltn Max Manschott)

Spotting the target and the on rushing enemy Cross slid behind Fife-Brand as he & Keel charged ahead


The protagonist's close to firing range and unleash hellacious fire upon each other.. Keel scores well and sets the green Halerstadt on fire as rounds crash into his own airframe; Fife-Brand holds his own damaging the controls of the Albatros but taking some stick from the dope Halberstadt off to his right.


Cross dives steeply out of reach of the Halberstadt as it turns in for a pop at him. Fife-Brand bores straight ahead and crashes into the Albatros as they pass; both suffer some serious damage.


Keel then lights up the Albatros from close range leaving it shot about and trailing dirty smoke.


Keel passes over the top of the 'Strutter as it's lining up to land and clatters the Albatros with another significant close range burst..


It's too much for the Albatros and it spins to earth as Fife-Brand reverses looking to get on it's tail, Keel is jubilant, he's finally got a kill !




Take a breath, reload; Cross makes his landing, look for your next target


Coming out of his reversal Fife-Brand is caught by the green Halberstadt as he turns after them, fortunately no damage is obvious


His luck holds as the Halberstadt latches on to him at close range. Keel exchanges with the other Halberstadt, damaging it's controls


Cross runs out his landing, realising he'll have to taxi back towards the stricken Pup. He sees a figure running toward the machine. That must be the Naval Johnnie, what's he up to ?


Above and behind him Keel clashes with the Halberstadt again - the close range exchange is deadly for the machines of both participants. Fife-Brand looks behind him nervously..




Fife-Brand times his reversal to perfection, catching the green Halberstadt as it passes at close range then slipping behind it.




Fife-Brand recovers from the reversal then pulls round after the Halberstadt, apparently now running for home before getting a final burst into it, emptying his pan in the process..




Fife-Brand changes his pan and watches as the Strutter begins to move off


As Cross eases the Strutter into the air the Pup explodes behind them - 'Ah, that's what he was up to' thought Cross with an approving grin


The trip home is uneventful and unopposed.


Butcher's Tally:

Eagles:

Ltn Raven Busse: Albatros D.II - SD-FT 0 kills
Rolled 5 -1SD = 3 - Injured skip 1D6; Rolled 2 = Skip 2.

Ltn Max Manschott: Halberstadt D.III green - FRTB-D 0 kills
Rolled 3,4 - Landed safely.

Ltn Stefan Loerzer: Halberstadt D.III cdl - SD-EXP-FT 1 kill (Keel)
Rolled 7 -3EXP = 4 - Injured skip 1D6; Rolled 4 = Skip 4.


Bulldogs:

2Lt Christopher Cross: RTB 0 kills - Rescue made

2Lt Barry Fife-Brand: RTB 0 kills; 1 Probable (Manschott FRTB-D)

2Lt Evan Keel: SD-ET / WIA 2 Kills (Busse, Loerzer)
Rolled 6 -1SD -1WIA = 4 Injured skip 1D6; Rolled 1 = skip 1
E&E: Rolled 7 -1WIA -1WIC -1BEL = 4 - Captured & Escaped - skip 1D3. Rolled 3 = Skip 2


Victory Points:

Bulldogs:
Retrieved pilot = 10pts
2 kills = 10pts
1 FRTB = 2pts

Eagles:
1 kill = 5pts

Clear Bulldog Victory.


Kept the altitude simple for this one.. think the rescuer's could start a ruler further back, it was a bit tight dropping in so quickly and it would give the defenders a chance to engage further out with more time to turn. Busse was about to dive and get after Cross when he got chopped out of the sky, the other two were not given a chance to interfere.
Still and all a very interesting game, Keel finally got on the scoreboard and survived the effort; my Baz survived and very nearly got a kill too.

[flash]

Uncle says:

Well done chaps, HQ say the Navy Johnnies are well pleased with your efforts and the pilot has sent us a few bottles of rum as a way of personal thanks. Better make sure you save some for young Keel, word is he may have escaped capture.

[camelbeagle]

Good show Flash! The fighting was fast and furious! Good to see Baz on his first mission!

[ShadowDragon]

Yes, good show indeed, flash. Nice tally for Keel - and he managed to escape with minor injuries!

[Hu Rhu]

A very exciting rescue, with the escorts doing sterling work in keeping the Huns at bay, whilst the 2 seater picked up the downed pilot. A quite bloody exchange of fire resulting in a very handsome tally of opponents. And you managed to deny the downed plane as well. Great mission - just a pity you aren't flying for the right side!!

[Stumptonian]

.... think the rescuer's could start a ruler further back, it was a bit tight dropping in so quickly and it would give the defenders a chance to engage further out with more time to turn

I had the same issue - Fiedler had to turn away and come back to enable his landing.

Well done, Dave.
That was a nasty collision between Fife-Brand and Busse. He was lucky to survive the mission after that.
Two kills for Keel will have him caught up in no time.

[Baz]

Great game and AAR. Close run thing with major damage cards all over, which could have gone either way. Seems tight land and take-off area, did you turn whilst on the floor or before landing?

Baz

[flash]

... did you turn whilst on the floor or before landing?

Spun it round on the deck Baz and taxied back to the plane in first turn, remained stationary for the next turn, took off on the next.

[Baz]

Spun it round on the deck Baz and taxied back to the plane in first turn, remained stationary for the next turn, took off on the next.

Thanks

[malachi]

Well flown, Dave, and congrats to your Bulldogs Some brutal exchanges in this one!

[Vagabond]

Blimey that was deadly - especially if you were flying an Albatros.

Great game and a good result for your pilots. but not the result I was expecting, it'll be interesting to see how the other players went on.



Oh and a new word for the Oxford English Dictionary ......hellacious

[flash]

Seems that Keel's gunnery has improved by dint of firing at close range, as he somehow managed to do though out this encounter
The cards were kind to him too. Really looking forward to those double pans though.