Caproni Chase
Looking at scenarios on the ‘Drome, specifically those by Carl_Brisgamer, I thought his “A Rough Reception” look interesting. But instead of the Western Front, I thought I’d modify it slightly for the Italian front. When I tested positive on my Covid test this week, I thought I would try to bring some joy to my isolation by gaming it out.
There is a Caproni returning to base in an westerly direction over the Adriatic after a successful bombing run. It is intercepted by an Austrian Macchi M.5 and a Phonix D.1. My “ocean” mat was a little short in length by 46 cm. So when convenient I would shift the planes that distance in the westerly direction to compensate. The Caproni objective is to escape off the western edge while the Austrians try to shoot it down. I flew both Austrian planes and the Caproni was on auto-pilot heading east as fast as its XC deck would allow.
The Caproni is heading due west while the Austrians come down from the north.
First blood – well not really, everybody missed! The Caproni’s rear gunner has ability to fire forward if the enemy plane is at higher altitude but not the same altitude or lower than the Caproni. Since I don’t use altitude but wanted to let the rear gunner have the potential of firing forward, a die roll of 5 or 6 and the enemy plane is a target. In this case, the roll was a three so no shot.
The next turn all heck broke loose. The Caproni took some hits and its rear gunner rolled a five so it could engage the Macchi which took a boom card. Damage is halved rounded down, but ouch! The Phonix escaped the lead.
The Caproni continues as the Austrians regroup and try to get on the Caproni’s six. The Caproni fires its rear gun to no effect except a gun jam.
More hot lead exchanged between the Phonix and the Caproni. The Phonix gun is jammed while the Macchi misses.
At this point I shifted the planes 46 cm to conform to the playing area in Carl’s scenario. The Macchi gets a gun jam for its efforts. Next turn the Caproni rear gunner does likewise.
The regrouped Austrians get on the Caproni’s tail but only the Phonix can use it guns which it does to great effect causing the Italian to catch fire.
The Caproni now has to bank right and left to keep the fire at bay which will slow its advance to the western edge and home. The Phonix continues to punish the Italian while it takes revenge on the Macchi.
Finally the Macchi exacts its revenge with its own boom card on the Italian. That’s enough to down the Caproni just a couple moves from the edge of the ocean.
The Macchi had four more damage points left while the Phonix was barely scratched.
It was an enjoyable scenario. Next time I may try it with the original Gotha & Sopwith Pups setup and some additional humans.
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Originally Posted by flash
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