Albania - bombing of Kuchi Bridge

[Spoonfrog]

This was the most complex game I have designed and run so far - altitude, AA guns and bombing. I played this with some friends and everyone had a good time, so I judge it to be a success. Here is the scenario info that I gave to the players:

Attack on Kuchi Bridge
July 1918, Albania

The Italian forces in Albania are preparing
for an offensive against Austro-Hungarian
positions. British D.H.4 light bombers
based at Otranto in South Italy have been
flying across the Adriatic Sea on bombing
and reconnaissance missions in support of
their Italian allies fighting in Albania. The
bridge over the river Semeni at Kuchi is a
key target - rendering this river crossing
impassable to traffic will seriously hamper
Austro-Hungarian troop movements.

British Forces:
2 x D.H.4 (one B/B and one B/A) at any
altitude, starting at the British end of the
table. If one D.H.4 is destroyed whilst both
D.H.4s are within the Austro-Hungarian
half of the table, an Italian Hanriot H.D.1
(B) appears at the British end of the table.
One of the D.H.4s is equipped with a
camera. This is agreed by the British
players at the start and indicated by a
token (kept secret).
The British players have 3 bombs
available. They can decide how to allocate
these between the two aircraft at the start
and keep their choice secret.

British Objectives:
- Bomb the bridge from an altitude of 1.
Score 1 direct hit (target card red dot
covered by a bomb card) or 2 indirect hits
(target card overlapped by a bomb card).
- Take a photograph of the destroyed
bridge (the camera-equipped aircraft must
start a stall manoeuvre with its red dot
within 1/2 ruler of the bridge card's red dot
at altitude 2, 3 or 4. The observer may not
fire whilst taking the photograph).
- Reach the British end of the table with
the photograph.

Austro-Hungarian Forces:
2 x Aviatik D.I (A) at any altitude, starting
at the Austro-Hungarian end of the table.
2 x AA guns placed anywhere in the
Austro-Hungarian half of the table.
1 x machine gun (A) placed anywhere in
the Austro-Hungarian half of the table.
1 x bridge target card placed on the
centreline of the table, 2 ruler lengths from
the Austro-Hungarian end.
There must be a minimum of ½ ruler
distance between the target card and each
of the AA gun cards.

Austro-Hungarian Objectives:
- Prevent British players from achieving
their objectives.

Historical result:
After flying several missions attempting to
bomb Kuchi Bridge, the British bombers
finally managed to score a direct hit by
flying at low altitude, returning to base with
photographic evidence to demonstrate to
the Italians that the bridge was
impassable. One bomber was shot down
by an Austro-Hungarian Aviatik D.I. The
British pilot and observer survived were
captured, only to be liberated days later by
advancing Italian cavalry.

The defenders placed their AA guns either side of the bridge and their machine gun behind the bridge. The attackers secretly distributed the camera and the bombs between the two aircraft - a B/B D.H.4 and a B/A D.H.4. The British bombers headed for the target and the Aviatiks came out to meet them, with a few bullets thudding home as they passed:



One D.H.4 was too high to bomb (bombing runs had to be at level 1 in this scenario) and the other was misaligned, so the first pass was a wasted opportunity:



One of the bombers circled behind the AA machine gun and then managed to score a partial hit on the bridge, taking some damage from the machine gun and one of the Austro-Hungarian fighters:



The other D.H.4 pilot made a run, only for his bomb to fall too long and hit beyond the bridge:



The only consolation for the British players was that they managed to silence the AA machine gun:



One of the Aviatiks poured a good burst of fire into the B/B D.H.4, wounding the observer. According to the house rules, bombing and photography are unaffected:



Mercilessly pursued by the Aviatik on its tail, the British bomber is brought down (this triggers the arrival of a Hanriot H.D.1):



The surviving B/A bomber scores another partial hit and the bridge is finally destroyed:



The Italian Hanriot got into contact with one of the Austro-Hungarian fighters. With this escort protecting him, the remaining D.H.4 pilot headed back towards the bridge (at this point it has not been revealed whether the surviving aircraft has the camera or not):



The Austro-Hungarian fighters have no difficulty staying on the tail of the British bomber as it climbs slowly above the target. The Hanriot attacks then, but it cannot prevent the D.H.4 from taking damage:



It is just a matter of time before the two Aviatik pilots have fired enough bullets into the D.H.4, and down it comes:





The Aviatiks had 11/14 and 7/14 hit points at the end. The British players successfully destroyed the bridge but lost both aircraft and did not bring back the photograph (the first D.H.4 to be downed was the camera aircraft, flown by me, but we decided to dummy the enemy into thinking we still had a camera!) The Hanriot did not take any damage.

[CrashCraig]

Great historically-based scenario Dom. Very enjoyable

[Flying Officer Kyte]

An interesting game Dom, and one which shows how vulnerable the aircraft could be when on this type of mission where they had to overfly a target whilst under attack.

Rob.

[Spoonfrog]

Thanks! It would have been a different story if we (the attackers) had planned our bombing runs a bit better. I feel the scenario design worked well though, forcing the attackers to fly over the target at different altitudes.

[Windy Jack]

An interesting scenario in a theatre that is not often chosen. Thank you to you and the other players.