OTT-FYM Mission 2 – Close Air Support – 12 April 1917 {Stumptonian}

[Stumptonian]

Original Briefing HERE


The Adler had received a ‘scramble’ order from an area very near the front lines.
A flight of British aircraft were approaching the Ballonsperrfeuer <balloon barrage> protecting a tactical command post inside a small town between Arras and Cambrai.

Ltn Felix Eisenhardt was the first to arrive in the area.


The British flight consisted of two Nieuports: one an N.16 armed with Le Prieur rockets, flown by 2Lt George Whitney, and the other an N.17 armed with incendiary ammunition, flown by 2Lt Malcolm Eddy.


Eisenhardt starts a climb in order to cross over the balloon barrage netting.


Whitney lines up with the balloon to the left (Balloon #2) while Eddy turns toward the second balloon (Balloon #1)


Whitney gets within range and fires his first pair of rockets.


A direct hit!

[Ignore the second card with a zero – I mistakenly drew two cards for the attack]


Eisenhardt jumps Eddy and fires using his Sniper skill.
He does some serious damage but also jams his guns.


Da da da da

Eddy fires incendiaries at Balloon #1 and jams his Lewis!


Balloon #2 burns.


Obltn Bernhard Wienand arrives from the northeast.


Ltn Jens Höfer arrives from the southeast.


Ltn Dietrich Oelker arrives from the west, just past the balloon barrage.


Höfer climbs as he approaches the barrier.


Wienand also starts a slow climb.


Oelker is just out of range.


Whitney performs a Split-S in order to get another attempt with his rockets.


Overview at the end of Turn 2.2


Eddy clears his jam.


Eisenhardt pulls off a perfect Immelmann turn.


Balloon #2 fire has slowed down.


A second N.16 arrives: F/Sgt Alexander David is also armed with rockets.

Also appearing is a Bristol F.2A flown by Canadian Charles Johnsen with American Observer, AM3 Percy Kilroy.


Eddy pulls off a Split-S confounding Höfer.


Da da da da
Eddy fires incendiaries again at Balloon #1 but sees no damage for his efforts.


Dakka dakka

Eisenhardt’s Sniper skill hits Eddy’s Nieuport for some serious damage.


Whitney fires his second round of rockets and starts another fire on Balloon #2!
[Camera was acting up – there should have been a photo showing Whitney played a stall before this pic but it had a partially closed lens cover blocking the shot.]


Dakka dakka
Oelker and Johnsen trade shots and David adds his 2-bits worth, but all have missed their mark.


The two fires burning Balloon #2 suddenly flare up in a catastrophic explosion!


Wienand and Whitney eye each other.
Wienand is livid that he has failed to protect the balloon.


Dada da da
Kilroy fires at Oelker and sees smoke begin to stream from the Albatros.


Da da da da
Eddy tries again with his incendiaries and does some damage to Balloon #1 but sees no sign of flame.


Eisenhardt is just out of arc so has no shot.


Dakka dakka

Höfer starts Eddy’s Nieuport smoking.


KRAK!

Whitney is startled by an unseen AA gun.
Luckily his Nieuport does not seem to take any noticeable damage.


David fires his rockets at Balloon #1


Dakka dakka dakka dakka
Both Adler use their Sniper skill on David but only do minor damage.


Dakka dakka
Oelker fires a second burst at David but to no avail.


KRAK!

Another AA gun takes a shot, this time at Eddy’s N.17
What looked to be just a close shot is, in fact, the proverbial ‘straw’ ….


Eddy’s day is done and he falls into German-held territory.


David’s rockets hit home and now Balloon #1 is also set ablaze.


Dakka dakka

Höfer fires a long burst that jams his guns, but is pleased to see flames begin to stream from David’s N.16!


The flames are under control for the moment.


The fire David started on Balloon #1 is growing.


KRAK!

AA has crack at the Bristol but does only superficial damage.
[Saving the next poor sod to do a fire check from a nasty result!]


Johnsen dives the Bristol and Kilroy prepares to release their bombs on the target (which is just under Whitney)


Höfer considers firing his one functioning gun at Whitney but continues working on getting the jammed gun working instead.


David’s fire continues to burn.


As does the one on Balloon #1.


Oelker’s smoke has dissipated.


The Bristol’s bombs have hit their target!


KRAK!
The AA is wide of the mark this time.


David is preparing for an Overdive to, hopefully, deal with his flames.

Dakka dakka
Oelker’s Sniper skill comes through, but he has jammed his guns.


That last burst was enough to send David down to No Man’s Land!


Dakka dakka..
Da da da da..
Wienand and Kilroy exchange fire.
The Bristol starts smoking and Kilroy has jammed his Lewis.


Dakka dakka
Wienand gets a solid hit on the Bristol.


The fire on Balloon #1 rages on.


Dakka Dakka
Wienand stays on the Bristol like a Rottweiler but this time his bullets miss entirely.


Dakka dakka
Rottweiler or Pitbull?
In any case it’s another miss.


Dakka dakka..
Da da da da
Wienand gets a hit on the Bristol’s rudder controls, but Kilroy has cleared his jam and gives as good as he gets.
More smoke – this time on Wienand’s Albatros.


Balloon #1 continues to burn.


Dakka dakka..
Dada dada
Wienand and Kilroy exchange bullets again – it’s the Albatros that takes rudder damage this go-round.


Dakka dakka..
Dada da da
Some serious damage to the Bristol at last, and Kilroy jams his Lewis again!


But that was the least of his worries ….
Johnsen guides the stricken Bristol to a smooth – well as smooth as one can get in No Man’s Land – landing.


Dakka dakka
Eisenhardt is tracking Whitney, hoping for his first kill of the day.
Verdammt! Gun has jammed.


Eisenhardt slams his jammed gun in disgust and decides to fire the working barrel.
Nichts!


The fire on Balloon #1 is raging now.


Dakka dakka... Flammen!
Eisenhardt finally sees something from his effort!


Whitney manages to slip away from Eisenhardt.


Frustrated that he does not have a confirmed kill, Eisenhardt joins the other Adler pilots and they fly past the still-burning balloon.

Not a good outcome.
At least Obltn Wienand was there to see their futile efforts to stop the British Bulldogs ….


Whitney manages to perform what David had attempted – an Overdive.
His effort did not slow the flames at all, but he managed to survive the fire.
Two balloons blazing, with one confirmed kill for him, and a likely second one for his wingman, David.
He only hopes that his comrades will have survived the day and will actually make it back home safely.


Butcher’s Tally

Bulldogs


Nieuport N.17


2Lt Malcolm Eddy: SD-ET / 0 Kills
C&W: 10 -1SD = 9 - All well when you land well.
E&E: 8 -1BEL = 7 - Landed Almost Home – Skip 1 scenario


Nieuport N.16


2Lt Richard Glen: FLM-NML / 1 Kill (Balloon #1)
C&W: 6 -2FLM -1NML = 3 - Injured - Skip 1D6 Scenarios, rolled 2 = Skip 2
E&E: 7 -1FLM +1NML -1WIC = 6 - In hiding! - Skip 1D2 Scenarios, rolled 3 = Skip 1
Skip 2 Missions


Bristol F.2A


2Lt Charles Johnsen: (P2) SD-NML / 0 Kills
C&W: 10 -1SD -1NML = 8 - Injured - Skip 1D2 Scenario, rolled 4 = Skip 2
E&E: 7 +1NML -1WIC = 7 - Landed Almost Home – Skip 1 scenario
Skip 2 Missions


AM3 Percy Kilroy: (O) SD-NML / 0 Kills
C&W: 6 -1SD -1NML = 4 - Injured - Skip 1D6 Scenarios, rolled 3 = Skip 3
E&E: 8 +1NML -1WIC = 8 : Landed Almost Home – Skip 1 scenario
Skip 3 Missions

Bombing Target Destroyed


Nieuport N.16


2Lt George Whitney: RTB / 1 Kill (Balloon #2)
(Note: not FRTB-F when he left the battle area)
This was Whitney’s second balloon tally. Is he looking to be a ‘Balloon Buster’?


Adler



Albatros D.III


Obltn Bernhard Wienand: RTB / 1 Kill (Bristol F.2A - Johnsen/Kilroy)


Albatross D.III


Ltn Dietrich Oelker: RTB / 1 Kill (David),
A claim for Eddy FRTB-F disallowed as kill awarded to AA.


Albatros D.III


Ltn Jens Höfer: RTB / 0 kills
A claim for David FRTB-F disallowed as kill awarded to Oelker.


Ltn Felix Eisenhardt: RTB / 0 Kills


Balloon #2
Destroyed by fire started by Whitney’s rockets.


Balloon #1
Still burning when the Adler left the field, but succumbed to flames started by rockets shortly after, with draws of 1 & 3.
Claimed as ‘Probable’ by Glen but awarded as a confirmed kill when the news came through


Victory Points:

Bulldogs

Bombing : full load on target, 4 points destroyed at 5 points per target point destroyed = 20 points
Barrage Balloons Destroyed at 5 points per: 2 = 10 points
Total : 30 Points

Adler
Enemy aircraft shot down : 3 x 10 = 30 points
Total : 30 points

A bloody draw !

[flash]

Firstly, what a great game, full of tension and action !
Secondly, what a Tally... also full of tension !!
Took a while but I think Uncle pummelled it into shape in the end - please don't include probables that aren't if they're kills for others just messes things up, including Uncle's head !
Turns out it was a bloody tie when the smoke had cleared.


Onkel says:

Not the best of outcomes for us, balloons downed and the local tactical command post destroyed, but you all made it home intact and have made the Tommy pay for their efforts by downing three of their number between you and the flak troop. They won't be able to keep that up indefinitely, so to the Mess to celebrate our small victories

ObLtn Bernhard Wienand is awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class on the occasion of his third victory for the Kaiser & fatherland

[camel crew]

That was a tough one for the Bulldogs. Successful mission but only one plane returned home. Loved the flames burning on the balloons, great effect. As Onkel said at least all the Adlers returned home. great mission Peter. REP sent

[ShadowDragon]

A good show, Pete. You achieved the 'Bloody April' effect of successful support of the ground forces but at a cost of aircraft. Fortunately, the C&W/E&E rolls went well.

The 5 points cost for the balloon versus 10 points for aircraft is to emphasize the cost of 'Bloody April' for the RFC and, equally, for the Germans since they were numerically inferior. If they had been observation balloons the point costs would have been 10 points - or more.

Hope it was reasonable scenario to play. Rep jammed at the moment.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Looked like a jolly good show all round Pete.
Well done with the commentary and the superb photos.
Rob.

[Stumptonian]

I totally messed up the tally calculations, so it did turn out to be a draw after all.


Makes sense - that's what it felt like to me.
Thanks for clearing thing up, Onkel.

[mikeemagnus]

Well done Pete. An all round really good fight. Your Eagles may not have stopped the Tommies from achieving their objectives, but you shot plenty of them down. Pretty much in keeping with Bloody April. And on top of that you managed to mess with Onkel's head. Now that in itself must warrant some form of bravery medal! Certainly deserves a placatory pint - for Onkel that is

Congratulations to ObLtn Bernhard Wienand for his gong. Further celebrations required I think - mines a whisky - several in fact

REP inbound

[Stumptonian]

Further celebrations required I think - mines a whisky - several in fact

Thanks, Mike. Perhaps one of these days you can make a side-trip from Vancouver and explore my single malt collection.
Oh, and my WGF collection while doing so

[Hu Rhu]

A great action, with some super commentary and wonderful photos all adds up to a superb AAR.

Very costly to the British, although they all managed to home safely (or will do). However despite shooting three down with no losses the Adlers didn't get a decisive victory but a draw!!

Well deserved rep on its way.

[mikeemagnus]

Perhaps one of these days you can make a side-trip from Vancouver and explore my single malt collection.

Now that would be great. One day, perhaps I'll look forward to it.

[Vagabond]

Wow Pete, nearly 70 pictures for the fight alone, another marathon game, well done with the write up, an exciting tale with an equitable result for both sides although I imagine you would have far prefered a win for the Eagles.

Cheers

Sorry Rep gun seems to have failed again, I need twin guns, these single ones are too vunerable.