OTT BYM Mission 4 - Fly By Night - 27 October 1916 - malachi

[malachi]

Fly By Night

Wilhelm Schnecke feigned rapt attention and a deadpan stare as ObLtn Krallen droned on to he and Hauck about the importance of this mission, something about retrieving an agent deep in enemy territory who had vital information about enemy weapons development. But Schnecke hadn’t heard much beyond the words “night mission” as they rang again and again in his head like a gong. He’d not flown many night missions, and those had been comparatively safe excursions patrolling the sector surrounding their airfield. He had no idea if the newly arriving Hauck had much night-flying experience.

Schnecke hid his discomfort as Krallen referred to the map and continued: “You will rendezvous with the seaplane near the refueling point here. The extraction point is near this island. Navigation will undoubtedly be difficult as the night is moonless but that may provide concealment.” He paused. “You leave tonight. The crews are preparing your scouts. Be careful, mein Freunde, but do not fail. The Kaiser and the good people of Germany are counting on you.”

Schnecke spent the next hour writing a lengthy letter to his parents, omitting any mention of tonight’s mission, but inquiring after their health and the latest events of his hometown. He also penned a letter to Elise, his one love, and wondered inwardly why he hadn’t committed to marrying her before now. But what could this war teach us of love? Then, a fine meal with the other officers. One beer, to calm his nerves, and he strode towards the hangars.







2nd lieutenants Earl Lally, Hugh Hales, and Philip de Roeper find their pleasant leave abruptly interrupted by the training field unit commander’s pleas to intercept approaching enemy bombers. Without hesitation they run to their aircraft.


Schnecke searches for the seaplane in the darkness near the rendezvous point.


The Bulldogs prepare for a fight.


Hauck is a bit discombobulated in the dark but hopes he is near the rendezvous point.


Lally gets airborne as Schnecke bypasses Unger in the seaplane.


The enemy appears from nowhere as Schnecke and Lally nearly collide.


Hauck is unsuccessful in the search for his fellow pilots and decides to change course.


Hales lifts off as Schnecke passes unawares.


Bulldogs are in the air as Lally pursues the seaplane as Hales turns to find Schnecke. In the distance an FE2b returns from its training flight.


Hauck pays dearly as he unwittingly flies too close to the airfield. Its machine gun crew exacts a steep price.


Schnecke Immelmanns to face the enemy.


Lally chases the FF33e as Unger continues, purposeful yet clueless.


Latta returns from his training flight, low on fuel.


Hauck is woozy from his injuries and the MG makes him pay once more as bullets rip through the full length of the plane. He feels the controls jam and a horrible fire spews forth.


Somehow a pack of Bulldogs and a lone eagle pass each other like ships in the night.


Hauck catches a break but it’s little consolation.


The fire rages and he is afraid this may be the end.


Another lucky break as he begins a steep dive in an attempt to squelch the flames.


Meanwhile Schecke appears suddenly in front of the returning training aircraft as it attempts to land. Latta fires reflexively.


Latta adds a bit more pain as Hales looks on (out of arc).


Lally sees his target silhouetted against the beach and adjusts course.


Wondering if the aircraft will come apart, Hauck pulls out of his dive, which has had no effect on the fiery mass that was his plane. He heads for the ground careening violently with little control.




Lally closes in as Unger eases toward the water.


Seeing the fireworks in the sky Schnecke heads to investigate as some Bulldogs also reverse course. Latta has a sinking feeling as he realizes he’s misjudged the airfield.



Unger brings the FF33e to rest when suddenly wood, fabric, and water spray all around him.


Lally overflies the seaplane cursing his luck and unable to bring his gun to bear.


Latta eases the FE2b nearer to ground…


And runs out of room as the plane rocks up onto its nose then over.


Schnecke closes on Lally as the latter prepares to Immelmann.



Bulldogs de Roeper and Hales in pursuit.


Lally and Schecke exchange fire, both jamming their guns (I missed a couple of photos here: 1 damage to Schnecke, 2 to Lally who was unable to target the seaplane. Meanwhile Unger has loaded the agent and is taking off).


Unger gets the seaplane into the air as everyone regroups.


Schnecke sends Lally a message but the Bulldog has no reply.



Schnecke gets a lucky shot on Hales who takes his first damage.



Lally tries to regain position on the seaplane.





De Roeper just out of range.




Hales and Schnecke barely avoid a collision.


Lally between the escaping seaplane and Schnecke.


Smoke billows from Lally’s engine as he curses his luck.


Things get serious quickly for Lally as fire spreads from his ruptured fuel tank. Schnecke feels the sting of the expert machine gun crew as his guns jam yet again.


Lally’s plane can take no more as the fire burns out of control and he gets it to the ground as best he can.


With the fight ended both sides make their way for home.





Victory Points
Eagles
Agent extracted = 10
1 enemy plane shot down = 5
Total 15 points

Bulldogs
Training plane lands safely = 10 (not sure if I did this right – it crashed but saved its C/W roll)
1 enemy plane shot down = 5
Total 15 points
Draw

Butcher’s Tally

Eagles

Ltn Wilhelm Schnecke: Alb D.II yellow: RTB 1 kill (Lally)


Ltn Matthias Hauck: Alb D.II skull: SD-FLM-ET 0 kills
C/W 11 -2FLM -1WIA -1DRK = 7 skip 1D2 scenario, rolled 6, skip 2
E/E 3 -1FLM -1WIA -1WIC -1BEL +1DRK = 0, Captured. The war has ended for this pilot.


Fwbl Eugen Unger: FF33e gray: RTB 0 kills - agent retrieved



Bulldogs

2Lt Earl Lally: DH2 CDL: SD-FLM-FT 0 kills
C/W 3 & 3 -2FLM -1DRK = 3 skip 1D6 scenarios, rolled 3, skip 3


2Lt Hugh Hales: DH2 PC10: RTB 0 kills
C/W 5 & 4 -1WIA +1RTB = 9 All’s Well When You Land Well


2Lt Philip de Roeper: DH2 CDL tail: RTB 0 kills


2Lt Sydney Latta: FE2b CDL tail: RTB 0 kills
C/W 9 -1DRK +1RTB = 9 All’s Well When You Land Well



NOTES:
This was a different experience and fun mission for me despite taking a long time to play out. It was definitely an intense feeling as the Intruder side flying deep into enemy territory. I think this was also my first time using an XC deck, and I had to laugh at how pokey the FF33e was at getting around the board. The feeling of doom was enhanced by the custom “tweener” medium size 68x66 base (for planes between 16 – 22 meters wingspan) which felt like a big target lol.

I somehow missed taking a couple of photos, apologies for that. I elaborated on the move in the text.

Despite my best efforts I couldn’t get the training pilot lined up on the airstrip and found landing a lot tougher than taking off, as it should be (center of plane in safe area for 3 cards vs 2 for take-off).

I flew this with the Simplified Night Fighting Rules listed in the brief, but without searchlights as they were under Optional Rules. However, I failed to notice until after playing the scenario under Optional Rules: “The simplified rules above assume that there are searchlights around the airfield and the town.” So not optional? I don’t think it much affected the outcome of this mission except for one (possible) long-range shot by Lally on the FF33e just before he went down or possibly one of the MG’s on same, assuming it became caught in a searchlight.

Thanks for the fun scenario, Paul!

[flash]

Well played Chris, a lively mission and a lot of work for what turned out to be a score draw !
Like you, I expect, I didn't like the +1 on the fire damage, I can't see why a fire would cause more damage when it's dark
Like the night sky by the way, it made quite the backdrop.

Onkel says:

Well done Eagles, mission accomplished and at least most of you made it back to the nest, we thought it might be touch and go but you have demonstrated great skill and tenacity in the service of the Kaiser.
In spite of our loss we still have much to celebrate

You were right you may not have played the training plane's crash right - I don't expect many will. "landing is outside the designated safe area take two A damage cards if after a stall card..." I would think the plane would have ended up damaged rather than destroyed but the somersault story sounds good.

Ltn Wilhelm Schnecke earns his Pilot's badge for his first victory

PM me a replacement for Hauck

[Baz]

Nice AAR and models, enjoyed the night time backdrop board too. Adlers did their job in and out extraction but those Tommy MG crews were hot unfortunately for Haucke. Having the seaplane made the pick up easier, adding the searchlights would have added more time to the gameplay.

REP given

Baz

[Stumptonian]

All that for a draw?!?


I thought you were going to pull off a victory, Chris.
Well done in any case.

Really like your FF33 - wish I had had one for my own effort.
The 'night sky' backdrop was very effective as well.

I was going to ask about the +1 on your fire markers, then I saw Dave's comment.
Guess I am lucky I didn't have any fires to deal with because I totally missed that. (not sure of the logic for it)

I see Hauck will be joining my Baumann at 'camp' for the rest of the campaign, but at least he survived.
REP inbound.

[malachi]

Well played Chris, a lively mission and a lot of work for what turned out to be a score draw !
Like you, I expect, I didn't like the +1 on the fire damage, I can't see why a fire would cause more damage when it's dark
Like the night sky by the way, it made quite the backdrop.

Thanks, Dave. The +1 fire didn't make any difference to Hauck I'm afraid. His Alb D.II was a glowing meteor against the deep space backdrop

You were right you may not have played the training plane's crash right - I don't expect many will. "landing is outside the designated safe area take two A damage cards if after a stall card..." I would think the plane would have ended up damaged rather than destroyed but the somersault story sounds good.

Ahh yes, I forgot to post his damage, a 5 & 1. The ground crew is not very happy.

Ltn Wilhelm Schnecke earns his Pilot's badge for his first victory

PM me a replacement for Hauck

Will do

Nice AAR and models, enjoyed the night time backdrop board too. Adlers did their job in and out extraction but those Tommy MG crews were hot unfortunately for Haucke. Having the seaplane made the pick up easier, adding the searchlights would have added more time to the gameplay.

REP given

Baz

Thanks, Barrie. Just the one over-achieving MG crew, the other never fired a shot and may have slept through the whole thing. The backdrop is a space one I got for BSG photos but it works well for night missions I have 3 of them tacked to a strip of lath board that I can flip and use as needed. Holes in each end and supported by fishing line and small eye-hooks in the ceiling. I made some wire leader "extenders" so I can adjust the height of some backgrounds to fit the mat.

All that for a draw?!?


I thought you were going to pull off a victory, Chris.
Well done in any case.

Really like your FF33 - wish I had had one for my own effort.
The 'night sky' backdrop was very effective as well.

I was going to ask about the +1 on your fire markers, then I saw Dave's comment.
Guess I am lucky I didn't have any fires to deal with because I totally missed that. (not sure of the logic for it)

I see Hauck will be joining my Baumann at 'camp' for the rest of the campaign, but at least he survived.
REP inbound.

lol, I'll try harder next time, Pete. I was relieved to get a draw after the brutal way things started. Did they have 'smores in WW1? If so, they're offering some to Hauck in hospital, a cruel joke.

[RJG173]

I like the red wounded pilot token shown in several of the photos. Is it custom made?

[malachi]

Thanks, Robert. Those are actually upgrade pieces to the Dead of Winter board game. I think I got mine through: meeplesource Their Orleans board game technology gear tokens work great for engine damage.

[ShadowDragon]

Great AAR. Loved the FF33 and backdrop.

Some points:

1) You did the searchlights bit right. All I meant is that you can assume that there are searchlights providing a bit of ambient light. The optional searchlight rule was to provide an option for lighting up planes so other planes could shoot at them at long range.

2) The +1 damage for a plane on fire is for when it's being shot at and not for fire damage cards. I took it from Peter's rules....I think. I presume it's to represent planes on fire being easier to see and target. At least it didn't make a difference here as the two planes still would have gone down. Dave - I've added that clarification to the BRF.

3) When the peg for the 3rd landing card (the stall) is off the end of the airstrip one could argue lesser damage (i.e., a 'B' card) or even no damage at all (i.e., you're on the taxiing area). All that means is that I'll take it as the plane 'landed safely' - a bit of damage but nothing that can't be repaired and the pilot was AOK.

[flash]

..2) The +1 damage for a plane on fire is for when it's being shot at and not for fire damage cards. I took it from Peter's rules....I think. I presume it's to represent planes on fire being easier to see and target. At least it didn't make a difference here as the two planes still would have gone down. Dave - I've added that clarification to the BRF...

Noted, that makes more sense now.

[malachi]

Thanks Paul, very helpful

[ShadowDragon]

Noted, that makes more sense now.

The other interpretation never occurred to me until now - which is the first time I noticed the +1 for fire damage in an AAR.

[flash]

Likewise, as it read, to me and Chris at least, as +1 to fire damage. Probably because preceding rule was no +1 for Aim or Alt - not that I had any intention of playing it that way if a fire occurred !

[Vagabond]

I like your interpretation of Latta's landing. His plane is upside down at the end of the runway having run out of road but "it's all well when you land well". I must remember that one for the next time I'm hauled up before the C.O. for pranging a plane on landing.
Nice one Chris, as the others have said the background worked really well and your FF33e looks a little more streamlined than mine but those floats don't look too substantial, maybe you should add some balsa wood!

Another enjoyable read - cheers

[malachi]

lol, thanks, John. I'm not sure Latta is off the hook, but he's a brazen lil Bulldog.

It just so happens I got in some 200 x 100mm balsa for another project so I can probably use some to craft some respectable floats

[Vagabond]

lol, thanks, John. I'm not sure Latta is off the hook, but he's a brazen lil Bulldog.

It just so happens I got in some 200 x 100mm balsa for another project so I can probably use some to craft some respectable floats

200mm x 100mm should do it. I look forward to seeing the improved version.

[Hu Rhu]

Great set of planes and a nice AAR. Loved the seaplane and would like one myself, but not sure I would use if very often. Backdrop was a nice touch too.

[malachi]

Thanks, Gary! I love the seaplanes so any excuse to see them in action works for me lol. For the Germans it'd be hard to do better than the FF33e for its length of service and number produced.

[Teaticket]

Well done Chris. The night sky is very effective! Very nice planes as well.

A tough outing to come out with just a draw. Tougher for Hauk.

[malachi]

Thanks, Peter. The backdrop is actually for my "someday" BSG battles, but works well for a night sky I think.

Hauck who? We barely knew him.

[Teaticket]

Hauck was certainly in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hope those RFC boys will be treating him well before he heads to prison.