OTT-EYM - Mission 9 - "Flash Marshalling The Yard" - March 5th 1917
It looked to be a straight forward job, on the face of it. Get over to Cambrai, stonk the railway yards and home for elevenses. Couldn’t be easier could it ? Just watch out for Archibald.
The flight consisted of a pair of Harry Tate’s with a Pup running along as escort should one be needed
(2Lt Robert (Bobby) Pynne - Sopwith Pup; 2Lt Chris Packett & AM.1 Jack Dawe - RE8; Lt Justin Hale & AM.2 Reg Sole - RE8 Green #14. Came in at 1, 4 & 5 respectively)
Things seemed to go wrong almost from the off, Hale signalled Packett to follow him and led him in a wide sweep attempting to avoid Archibald but he was wide awake and ready for their move; lobbing a round at extreme range toward Packett’s machine. Luckily it over shot and exploded harmlessly above them.
Clocking this, Pynne took his que from the tandems and swerved wide to the left keeping a weather eye all around, aware that Archie would attract the attention of any nearby Hun.
Getting a bit close for comfort, the tandem’s go long so as to cut back on the target. Archibald lets one go at Hale’s machine as he strays into the extreme range of the gunner’s but again their aim is well off.
The RE8’s make their turn but it's clear Hale has been forced wide of the mark by Packett’s proximity. He, on the other hand, seems to be on the money and toggles the first load of bombs. Pynne closes so as to cover their rear
Archibald offers Packett a welcome as the first bombs fall but, again, he's wide of the mark
Packett toggles his second load as the first crash into the yard, It’s not clear where they’ve gone exactly but it doesn't look bad (noted position and rolled adjustments at the end rather than attempt it on the table)
As thought, Archibald has attracted the Hun and they arrive between the Tommy & home, closing at speed.
(Ltn Hans Eberhardt Gossner - Albatros D.II w/red spinner at pos 1; Ltn Franz Werner Roland D.II to his right at pos 4)
To Werner’s right: Ltn Raven Busse Albatros D.II (blue spinner)
The second load of bombs strike home. At this point, with no real target's on his nose, Hale decides he has time to go round for another go at it; Pynne drops in behind them.
Archie throws another shot in Packett’s general direction – it goes wide again.
Jerry are closing fast though and we’re not sure who was the most surprised – Hale, when Packett didn’t follow him round, or, Packett, when Hale turned right and he turned left !
Werner is first with a shot, he’s not sure what happened but one of his Maxim’s jammed solid and it seems he had no effect on the tandem but the stuttering reply from the Vickers of his opponent ripped into his machine, he’ll have to be careful, this pilot means business.
Werner slips into the blind spot of the RE.8 opening a gap for Gossner to fire a damaging burst into the enemy but the response is equally stiff and he feels a jarrring blow to his arm. That’s going to leave a mark and he’ll need to head for the barn.
Busse meets Pynne head on at close range and they exchange pleasantries. He scores a heavy blow but he too loses a Maxim to a seizure and takes some rudder damage too.
Gossner hangs onto his trigger and continues to exchange fire with the tandem, taking further damage but causing none obvious, maybe the wound put him off ?
Packett opens up at long range on Busse who has strayed into his arc of fire, further damaging his rudder as Pynne turns to pass on his right.
With his own aircraft in the mix Archie sends his hate toward Hale as he runs in again. He takes a near hit from Archie, seems his aim has improved but no damage caused this time.
(this action caused the error as he should have been setting his drop on this card)
Pynne gets around Packett and pours a burst into Gossner using his sharp eye skill but without the major impact he was hoping for. Dawe does better with his Lewis, setting the Albatros on fire. Gossner keeps the pressure on his trigger sending more rounds into the RE8’s fuselage.
Busse reverses hoping to get on the tail of the Pup but he’s gone. Sideslipping, Packett can’t lift the nose of his machine to get a shot on his foe.
(Hale belatedly sets his drop in the background)
Pynne hooks in behind the Albatros and chews it up at close range, Gossner, in turn, lets go a burst that catches Dawe as he’s switched to fire at the closer Albatros as it passes, setting Busse on fire too !
Meanwhile Reg has a pop at Werner and leaves him trailing smoke as Hale toggles the first drop)
Hales first load impacts the yard area as he decides for one last go round, (if he’d started where he was meant to he could have go two loads away without a go around – c’est le guerre)
As Hale turns right once more, Packett decides to break for home as he’s now defenceless from the rear. Fire consumes something vital on Gossner’s Albatros and it spins away earthward. (That rudder marker should have come off Busse)
Archie has another crack at Hale’s machine but is wide once more, Werner reverses to cut them off, Pynne glances over his shoulder and knows he must head that way quick sharp.
Werner catches a break and slams a burst into Hale’s RE8; Reg Sole unusually misses his mark.
Werner turns into the blind spot of his quarry and coolly administers the coup de grace at point blank.
Too late Pynne reverses his course, Packett heads for home, safe from further molestation.
Pynne sets his sights on the flaming Albatros of Busse and sets off in pursuit, Busse is sufficiently damaged that he must head for home. Archie has also set his sights on Pynne and sends a shot past his top plane
Werner sees the danger and moves to protect his wingman, exchanging blows with Pynne as he rushes in and damaging his rudder
It’s not enough though as Pynne uses the last of his Sharp Eye skill on the remaining Albatros, striking the engine and finishing it off
He's not done though and even as the Albatros falls away Pynne whips round onto Werner’s Roland unleashing a burst at close range but his gun momentarily jams and no damage is apparent
Having just cleared his gun Pynne reversed course eager to have another go at the Roland, which is also in the act of reversing direction. Archie has other ideas though and with his comrade momentarily clear of the area has another go at the Pup – This time to some effect as the shrapnel slices through both the airframe and the pilot.
Pynne must head for the barn, he dodges around the Hun before he sets course for home
He has opened a gap and is in no danger from the Roland but Archibald reminds him he’s still about though, thankfully, the shot goes wide once more
As Pynne passed out of range of Archibald and Packett had made it to safety, I called it there.
Butcher’s Tally:
Eagles:
Ltn Franz Werner: Roland D.II: RTB 1 kill
Ltn Hans Eberhardt Gossner: Albatros D.II (red spinner): SD-FLM-FT / 0 kills
C/W Rolled 7 -2FLM = 5 - Injured - skip 1D3 scenarios; rolled 5 = Skip 3
Ltn Raven Busse: Albatros D.II: (blue spinner): SD-FT / 0 kills
C/W Rolled 10 -1SD = 9 - All well when you land well !
Bulldogs:
Lt Justin Hale: (P2) - RE8 (Green #14): SD-FLM-ET / 0 kills
C/W Rolled 7 -2FLM = 5 - Injured - skip 1D3 scenarios; rolled 4 = Skip 2
E&E: Rolled 8 -1FLM -1BEL -1WIC = 5 – In Hiding! - skip 1D2 scenarios; rolled 5 = Skip 2
AM.2 Reg Sole: (O) - RE8 (Green #14): SD-FLM-ET / 0 kills
C/W Rolled 8 -2FLM = 6 - Injured - skip 1D3 scenarios; rolled 6 = Skip 3
E&E: Rolled 8 -1FLM -1BEL -1WIC = 5 – In Hiding! - skip 1D2 scenarios; rolled 5 = Skip 2
2Lt Chris Packett: (P2) - RE8: RTB / 0 kills
AM.1 Jack Dawe: (O) - RE8: RTB / WIA / 1 kill
C/W Rolled 5 -1WIA = 4 - Injured - skip 1D2 scenarios; rolled 2 = Skip 1
2Lt Robert (Bobby) Pynne: Sopwith Pup: FRTB-W / WIA / 1 kill
Rolled 2+1 = Stuck the landing
C/W Rolled 10 +1RTB -1WIA = 9 All well when you land well !
Bombing Results:
On table: 3 drops marked in black
Adjusted: 3 drops confirmed marked in red.
Packett was hoping to target the rail gun and looking for pull back on the adjustment but rolled 9 so got nothing, similarly rolled 10 on the second set so they landed as first shown.
Hale must've had his sights knocked skew whiff by Archies near miss as he ran in as he rolled 2 and a 6 for a 6cm deviation to the right ! (I'll pick the X target somewhere near the middle when it comes to it).
Thanks Mike, didn't go to plan for me but great fun trying. I still think I could drop all the bombs before the Hun got anywhere close but the random set up and missing the drop marking messed it up for me.
I flew Pynne, all the rest were AI driven with a bit of directional help to the RE8 to help do the dog leg. I used my charts and usual rules.
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for his continued outstanding service to King & country 
Originally Posted by Baz
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