Statement re Proxys
Due to the mission & what German 2 seaters I had available I considered all the 2 seaters to be Albatross C.III's with the same statistics.
Prologue
Uncle called the commander of C Flight Lt Reginald Fife-Brand to his office.
"Ha Reg, come in & take a seat, we have had a request from HQ. As you know the wily old Hun have started flying their Bombers over our lines, trying to destroy our reserve assets, in formations of 4 aircraft to overcome our scouts. Now HQ wants the Squadrons in the areas affected to come up with a plan to overcome this formation business. Needless to say individual attacks wont succeed! I want you to gather your scout pilots together & brainstorm to develop a plan that they think will succeed"
Lt Fife-Brand called the C Flight scout pilots to their usual outdoor meeting spot & explained the situation.
"Rightoh! Lets get some ideas going" F/Sgt Brandon Stark, C Flights only Ace, spoke up. "Well I think we must attack from different directions to split their fire. If we all come in from one quarter they can concentrate their fire!" "Yes Bran, said Reg, that's a good point & we should try to attack from a quarter where we can avoid the wide arc of fire from their Observers Spandaus". Other pilots contributed to the discussion & a decision was made to attack in groups of two aircraft from opposite sides at approx 45 degrees forward of the center section of the enemy formation which all agreed usually took the form of a Cross. Reg reported back to Uncle & was given the O.K. to put the plan in operation the next morning when the expected raid would be made. The British aircraft would take off early & gain height to watch for the incoming Germans & spiral down into position at the same altitude.
The Mission
Next morning say Fife-Brand in his new Nieuport 17 leading Jon Snow in DH-2 No.2 as his wingman whilst Bran Stark in DH-2 No.1 had the Aussie "Dusty" Rhodes in No.3 as his offsider.
Coming from the German side Oblt Dahlmann with Ltn Pozner as his Observer led a formation of Albatross C.III's in a cross formation which appealed to Dahlmann's Teutonic sense of order. What could be more appropriate than using a formation that echoed their Nation insignia!
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Stark & Rhodes came in on the Port side of the German formation as planned & Dusty got a good burst into the outside Albatross which sported white lines across its top wing.
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On the opposite side The N 17 shot at a blue & green painted Albatross but Jon was just out of arc but got some holes on his wing from the German pilot.
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Snow moved to close range & exchanged shots with the German aircraft but was horrified to suddenly hear his rotary engine loose a couple of cylinders. "Bugger!" exclaimed Jon "that's the end of my day!" Unbeknown to Jon his bullets had wounded the German Observer who slumped down in his cockpit. (NOTE: I rolled a D6 to see if Pilot or Observer was hit)
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The white striped wing Albatross now came under attack from both Bran & Dusty & while it shot & missed Bran he set it on fire while Dusty's shots damaged its rudder.
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Bran now exchanged shots with the Formation leader & while its Observer managed to damage his rudder he caused major damage to its engine with the last shots from his Lewis's drum.
Oblt Dahlmann was not amused. "Verdammit, bloody Britisher! @#^#*! Now I must nurse my darling Albatross home!"
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The fire on the Albatross continued to smolder but did little damage to the rugged aircraft.
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Dusty took a shot at the Tail End CDL Albatross but only succeeded in emptying his Lewis drum for no result.
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Jon Snow who was battling his damaged engine while preparing to head for home suddenly had the CDL Tail end Charlie right in front of him & he made it pay! The German Observer did get a shot at Reg's N 17 but did no damage.
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There was a very close shave for 2 of the De Havilland pilots & the CDL Albatross as they narrowly adverted a 3 way collision when suddenly the Albatross was no longer there!
Reg Fife-Brand had hit something vital & the German aircraft crashed to the ground in British territory.
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The White striped Albatross was managing to stop the fire from spreading.
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Dusty who had now changed his Lewis drum took a long range shot at the blue & green Albatross but missed. Its return shot caused black smoke to issue from his engine but it did not miss a beat!
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As Dahlmann turned for home he just avoided a catastrophic collision with the fiery Albatross whose pilot was blinded by the smoke & flames.
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The Blue/green Albatross shot at Dusty as he flew away but the shots went wide.
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The fire on the Albatross finally spluttered out to the great relief of both pilot & observer.
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Dusty continued to chase the 2 remaining Albatross & got a couple of good shots into the now fire free one but came under fire from both Observers with the blue green one only managing to jam its gun.
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As the 2 opposing aircraft with engine damage passed on their way home Jon managed to set the Formation Leader's Albatross on fire as he emptied his drum.
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The Observer of the Albatross gave Jon a parting shot which caused black smoke to pour from his damaged engine but it kept on working.
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The fire on Dahlmann's aircraft continued to burn as the German pilot nursed the stricken aircraft towards home.
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In the meantime the 3 other British planes continued to chase down the remaining two Albatross but it was a lost cause as they were not able to close the distance enough to try to shoot them down.
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With no British aircraft anywhere near him Dahlmann managed to safely land his fire & engine damaged Albatross at the Eagles Nest aerodrome. (Rolled 5 + 1 for crash possibility)
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OBSERVATIONS
Well it was great to finally get back to a game 3 months after the big move!
I found I was really rusty & made a few mistakes along the way like forgetting sometimes to use the 2 sideslips I had ready for use with the German Aircraft on fire. I noticed that when posting the photos in the AAR. I would not have penalised them anyway as it was my mistake. Probably missed 1 or 2 + 1's along the way as well.
I initially flew Jon Snow's DH-2 but switched to Dusty's when Jon got the engine damage. Did not fly with altitude & used Dave's D8 charts which always work so well. The Formation used the 2 straights + 1 stall as per the BRF.
I really enjoyed the game & it was interesting to see that the plan to attack the formation actually worked rather well.
Now to catch up with the other missions by the end of April!
Victory Points
German Forces
2 x Bombers exit Board = 4 points
British Forces
1 Bomber Shot Down = 2 points
1 Bomber FRTB = 2 points
Total 4 points
RESULT A Draw
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