CAPRONI ON THE ITALIAN FRONT

[monse]

Escorted by a Hanriot HD.1, a Caproni Ca.3 bomber has to bomb several targets (Antsaintex at the controls).
Two Austro-Hungarian fighters (operated by Monse) Aviatik D.I and Phönix D.I oppose the Italian attackers.
The Caproni has five bomb loads.
The three fighters inflict A damage and the bomber B damage.
A cloud cover extends over the whole altitude 4.
The planes start at altitude 3.
The game is played on one game mat.



1. First shot of the Hanriot (5 points of damage) at short range on the Aviatik (3 points + right Rudder damage) which returns fire at long range.
The Caproni descends to altitude 2.



2. Ascent of the Aviatik to altitude 4 in the cloud layer.
The Phönix (2 points) shoots from the higher altitude at the Caproni (2 points) whose front and rear gunners return fire (the elevated platform at the rear of the Caproni allows a 360° shot at a target at the higher altitude).



3. Consecutive missed shot from the rear gunner on the Phönix.



4. After announcing the bombing, the Caproni performs a stall and drops a bomb from altitude 2 which falls in the center of the target.



5. The Phönix shoots at the Caproni from a higher altitude (3 points + right Rudder damage).
The rear gunner of the bomber is more than half a ruler away and cannot shoot.



6. Consecutive missed shot by the Phönix (1 point + Flame damage) against the Caproni which is close enough to return fire.
Second successful bombardment by the Caproni.



7. The Aviatik (1 point) performs a Descent (preceded by a stall) which allows it to get out of the cloud layer and to fire from a higher altitude at the Caproni (4 points) whose rear gunner returns fire.
Overdive target rule more difficult to aim at : the first damage card drawn is ignored and replaced by another damage card (the rear gunner jams).
The Hanriot shoots at the Phönix (3 points) which targets the Caproni from a higher altitude (2 points + left Rudder damage).



8. The Hanriot fires consecutively at the Phönix (2 points + right Rudder damage) which again targets the Caproni (2 points).
The Aviatik finishes its Overdive to altitude 2.



9. The Hanriot shoots again at the Phönix (4 points + left Rudder damage + 1 point of removal of a Flame counter).



10. Third consecutive shot by the Hanriot which eliminates the Phönix (10 points + Engine damage + Crew damage + Jamming damage), which shoots at the Caproni (3 points) before crashing.
Unsuccessful exchange of fire between the Aviatik and the front gunner of the Caproni.



11. Collision between the Aviatik (2 points) and the Caproni (3 points).



12. (Extension of the playing area to prolong the game).
Immelmann of the Aviatik (3 points) exchanging short-range shots with the Caproni (1 point + right Rudder damage).



13. New mutual fire between the Aviatik (3 points + Jamming damage) and the rear gunner of the Caproni (0 points).



14. The rear gunner of the Caproni eliminates the Aviatik (2 points + Smoke damage).

Conclusion : total Italian victory with the elimination of the two Austro-Hungarian fighters and two ground targets.
The Hanriot suffered 5 points of damage and the Caproni 20 points (the bomber has 25 points of structure).

[Paukenschlager]

Great AAR and pictures! I am soooo tempted to buy a bomber (provided I find one!).

Was the HD.1 painted by you? Don't recall seeing that colour scheme before. If yes - well done!

Also, one does not realise how good the Phonix's camo is until you nearly step on the mini when the game mat lies on the floor!!!

[monse]

Thank you Valerio for your kind comment.
The Hanriot HD.1 is an official Ares model.
pilot Fucini
WGF109B

[CrashCraig]

Well fought game and great bombing accuracy by Antsaintex

[Baxter]

That was pretty close with the Caproni having 20 points of damage. Good game and AAR. Well done.

[Windy Jack]

Using one mat certainly makes for an action packed game. (I did notice you had to 'stretch' the mat near the end.)

[camelbeagle]

Nice AAR! I love getting the bigger bombers out!

[Antsaintex]

Hello.

On photo 7, we can see the way imagined by the pilot of the Aviatik while he was in the cloud cover.
I really liked the choice of this part of the scenario because it leads to suspense when the said trajectory is revealed, for the pilot but also for the adversary. Here it was a masterstroke for a first experience of Monse I believe.

A question remains: is it right to leave your companion alone in front of the adversary when "it hovers for yourself" in the clouds ?

Here, the Caproni pilot is talking to you. This is the second time that I have practiced the sideways bombardment of a target. This seems easier to me because the diagonal is longer than the sides. Thank you Mr. Pythagoras. If you are not sure to cover the center of the target card, you have a better chance of hitting at least the target. And in this scenario, that led to having two targets in the line of sight. Cool.

[monse]

is it right to leave your companion alone in front of the adversary when "it hovers for yourself" in the clouds ?

The cloud cover rule will certainly be of more interest in a fighters battle.
With a bomber, its mission and trajectory being known in advance, its opponents must multiply the possibilities of aiming at it in order to reduce its numerous structural points, rather than attempting an occasional shot by emerging from the cloud cover.

[mikeemagnus]

Just seen this one. Nice fight. good to see the Caproni in action. A large aircraft for a fight on just the one mat - well played. Thanks for sharing, Simon

[Marechallannes]

Nice mission & well presented.

There will be some Caproni action next weekend, too.

[Spoonfrog]

Another excellent AAR from Monse. Nice Italian front action. I'm surprised that the Austro-Hungarian fighters did not descend quicker - they would have been a lot less vulnerable to the Caproni's higher platform gun.

[flash]

Good to see a Caproni in the thick of the action

[monse]

I'm surprised that the Austro-Hungarian fighters did not descend quicker - they would have been a lot less vulnerable to the Caproni's higher platform gun.

The Caproni doesn’t have a rear blind spot.
So, it wouldn’t have changed to attack the bomber from the same or lower altitude, as the Caproni arc of fire is the same at these altitudes.

The rear MG fires 360° at targets at a higher altitude.
A plane at a higher altitude in front of the bomber can be fired from both front and rear MG. It would be the only case of a penalty for the fighter to be at a higher altitude.




HOW TO ATTACK A BOMBER ?
The base of the bomber is wider than that of the fighter.
By attacking the bomber from the side (or from one of its four corners), this allows the fighter to escape a long-range shot (or a short-range shot at a closer distance) from the bomber while still being able to hit it.
But this configuration can only occur exceptionally and is played at less than a centimeter.


Standard attack from the rear : mutual fire has the same range.



Attack from the side (or one of the angles) : the mutual fire has a different range.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Attack from the side (or one of the angles) : the mutual fire has a different range.

Good morning Simon.
Because of this anomaly, and the fact that if an aircraft could really return fire because in real life the distance between aircraft would not vary, we always use peg to peg in our games when measuring.
Rob.

[monse]

I don’t think it is an anomaly.
As the bomber has a wider wingspan, it is more exposed. The fins at the end of the wing are à vital part.
So, that gives a little advantage to the fighter in a few occasions.
And the approach toward the bomber can be more tactical.

[Le Piaf]

The distance between the tail of a two-seater/bomber or the tip of its wing and the machine gun of the fighter is often less than that between the gunner(s) and the nose of the fighter :



(On the other hand, the fighter may concentrate fire on the engines of the bomber or the crewmen of the two-seater/bomber.)

[monse]

Actually, Wings of Glory doesn’t take into consideration the localisation of the shot.
The miniature’s base is the reference for the range.
The larger base of multiengines includes the larger size of the plane.

There used to be an official optional rules with Wings of War card game (published on Nexus website, deactivated), which proposed to aim at the plane picture on the card and not on the whole card.
But it so easier to use the base as a reference.

[Flying Helmut]

Don't forget that the Bombers (Caproni, Gotha and larger) don't shoot back from the central peg - the gunners' positions are marked on the red firing arc, and are quite a bit closer to the edge of the base.
This often negates the advantage held by the fighters in shooting at a larger plastic bomber base plate.

[Le Piaf]

Actually, Wings of Glory doesn’t take into consideration the localisation of the shot.

Players having a direct impact on the aircraft's trajectory, but not on the shooting, most of it being ruled by random damage cards (beside the short/long range and the ace rules) may seem somehow 'odd'. It has its charm though.

[Paukenschlager]

direct impact on the aircraft's trajectory, but not on the shooting, most of it being ruled by random damage cards (beside the short/long range and the ace rules) may seem somehow 'odd'. It has its charm though.

I agree Luc and in my opinion the combination of base as a target and randomisation of damage through cards is a very good way to represent the hit or miss nature of air-to-air firing in a stage of technical development when there was little science about the firing solution (especially if compared, e.g. with contemporary naval and land gunnery). Shooting and actually hitting the enemy was a matter of knowledge of your weapon and reflexes shooting in the general direction of the enemy aircraft!

[monse]

Don't forget that the Bombers (Caproni, Gotha and larger) don't shoot back from the central peg - the gunners' positions are quite a bit closer to the edge of the base.

More precisely, the rear machine gun of the Gotha and the Handley-Page is not on the center point of the aircraft (blue point on the Aircraft card).
It is located slightly forward of this center point and is a bit further of the rear edge of the base.

The rear machine gun of the Caproni and the Zeppelin Staaken are placed on the center point of the plane (or just beside it for the two machine guns of the Staaken).

This often negates the advantage held by the fighters in shooting at a larger plastic bomber base plate.

Actually, not.
In the case of the Gotha and the Handley-Page, be careful to place the ruler from the red dot of the rear machine gun and not from the center support.
When attacking from the rear at a specific distance, this allows an attacking fighter to avoid the rear machine gun fire.


Correct position of the rear gunner's ruler


Incorrect position of the rear gunner's ruler