Sunday, November 29, 2020

WWI Western Front Aerial Campaign - Episode 10

Long Recce

This is the tenth episode of a campaign representing fictitious battles in the air over the Western Front during the First World War. It was initially planned to use the Wings of Glory rules, but these were modified to use hex based movement in order to facilitate remote play over the Internet due to Corona restrictions.

The cast of the campaign can be found here.

Mission Briefing

When Major Brackton returned to the Premier Escadrille International's aerodrome from his flying visit to the County of Dampshire infantry regiment; the back seat of the DH.4 was filled with bottles of beer. He jumped out of the cockpit, ordered a nearby officer to take the beer to the bar. He ran into the office looking for the intelligence officer, Major Redmond. Before leaving the Dampshire’s, their colonel had given Brackton a few pages containing the artillery plan for a new offensive. “We sort of discovered this by mistake”, explained the colonel, “so we aren’t sure if it is genuine, it was so easy to find that it could be a Hun attempt to trick us. But if you can check it out, that would be really helpful!” 

Majors Redmond (left) and Brackton (right) discuss whether the document is a fake! - by MW

Major Brackton showed the plan to Major Redmond, the squadron intelligence officer, and told him to organise a sortie to verify whether the plan was genuine or whether the wily Huns we trying to confuse us.

Redmond decided to send out the squadron’s Bristol F.2B Brisfit two-seaters flown by Captain Tsiolkovsky with Hank Snapmulder as his observer and escorted by Charles “Half Pint” Carruthers in a Sopwith Camel scout to check out the possible locations for the German artillery batteries.

As was his wont, Captain Tsiolkovsky stowed his Imperial Golden Vodka safely under the pilot seat where he could easily reach it. As this was likely to be a long mission, he took two bottles with him.

The Kaiserliche und Königliche und Kaiserliche Jagd-Schlachtstaffel had been warned that some enemy activity was expected and they sent up two of their pilots in Fokker Dr.1 scouts to stop the Engländer from scouting behind the German lines. Udo Lockbach's Fokker bore the Eisernes Kreuz and Gaspard Hauser's Fokker bore the Balkenkreuz.

Mission Notes

Four white markers were placed on the playing area. Under one marker was a German flag, this being the location of the German artillery. The Brisfit must fly over the markers to determine which flag they contain. Once the German flag (artillery) has been located, the Brisfit must return to its aerodrome (exit its board edge) with this information in order to claim victory.

The Action

As they approached the area where the artillery was thought  to be located, Captain Tsiolkovsky and Charles “Half Pint” Carruthers spotted two bright red triplanes in the distance.

Lockbach and Hauser spotted the incoming Engländer and headed straight towards them.

Captain Tsiolkovsky in the Brisfit wanted to avoid getting the very manoeuvrable triplane on his tail, so he decided to go for a head-on encounter. The other three pilots opted for the same tactic. 

All four pilots opened fire at long range, but despite the range they all scored severe hits on the opposing planes. A bullet from Hauser's machine-gun caused the rudder of Half Pint's Camel to stick and he wouldn't be able to turn left.

Captain Tsiolkovsky scored a lucky hit on Lockbach's Fokker which burst into flames.

Half Pint in the Camel turned tightly to the right. Captain Tsiolkovsky slipped the Brisfit right in order to start the search for the artillery.

Unfortunately the Huns managed to predict the Brisfit's manoeuvre. Admittedly it wasn't very difficult for them, because they saw some huge white hexagons on the ground. Looking back, this was probably poor scenario design.

Both Huns opened fire on the Brisfit and the Brisfit's observer, Hank Snapmulder, returned fire.

Half Pint in the Camel opened fire but his machine-guns jammed.

The hail of Hun bullets was intense and the Brisfit was in trouble. Its observer, Hank Snapmulder, was wounded. Another Hun bullet hit the Imperial Golden Vodka bottles stowed under Tsiolkovsky's seat and they burst into flame.

As Tsiolkovsky flew over the objective, he could see no artillery there. The only thing he spotted on the ground was a field hospital. Whether he would have been more observant, had not the Imperial Golden Vodka bottles directly under his posterior caught fire, is hard to say.

A hidden artillery emplacement - by MW

The Huns expected the Brisfit to continue towards the next objective so they headed towards it, chased by Half Pint. But Half Pint's Vickers were jammed, so he couldn't open fire, despite ending up on Lockbach's tail.

The Brisfit was now severely damaged, so Tsiolkovsky decided to half-loop and head for the safety of his own front line. This manoeuvre managed to throw off the chasing Huns. In the rear seat, Snapmulder opened fire as Lockbach's Fokker flashed past.

Nobody understands why, perhaps it was because of the half-loop manoeuvre, but the vodka bottles exploded and the fire spread like lightning to one of the Brisfit's fuel tanks: the rear tank which like the Vodka bottles was located directly under the pilot's seat. The fuel tank exploded and the Brisfit spiralled down in flames.

Lockbach and Hauser shared the Brisfit kill.

Half Pint chased after Lockbach, but he turned away from the fight and dived away.

Hauser turned left towards where he expected the Brisfit to be.

The flames finally did for Lockbach's Fokker and Half Pint could claim another kill.

Half Pint and Hauser passed head on, Hauser was wounded and his Fokker was now only held together by spit and a prayer.

Gaspard Hauser put his Fokker Dr.1 into a steep dived, headed away from Half Pint and back towards his own aerodrome. Hauser knew that the bullet-ridden Fokker couldn't stand another burst from the Camel.

Half Pint and Hauser returned to their aerodromes.

Both Tsiolkovsky and Lockbach managed to crash-land their aeroplanes, although whether it was luck, skill or just a plain miracle is still uncertain. They did however manage to stagger away from the flaming wreckage, and any landing a pilot can walk away from is a good landing.

Meanwhile back at the Premier Escadrille International, the French Inspector St Prix had invited all the officers to the mess and treated them all to bottles of wine from his own vineyard, St Prix Troisième Cru. He wanted to talk to the officers about his investigation of how efficiently the squadron was run and especially Major Brackton's way of leading the squadron. 

The Result

Central Powers Victory

Campaign results:

  • Captain Tsiolkovsky:  +1 XP
  • Hank Snapmulder: + 1 XP
  • Charles “Half Pint” Carruthers:  1 kill, +7 XP, +1 luck 
  • Gaspard Hauser:  ½ kill, +6 XP
  • Udo Lockbach:  ½ kill, +6 XP

Campaign Log

The Score:
1er Escadrille International 4     -     KuKuK Jagd-Schlachtstaffel 5     -     Draws 1

   Missions   Kills   XP   Luck   Notes 
Premier Escadrille International
Charles “Half Pint”
Carruthers (GB)
5 2 25 5 Skills: Sniper & Tough as Old Boots
“Dirty” Bertie Parker (AU) 3 1 20 3 Skill: Acrobatic Pilot 
Captain Jack Yates (GB) 5 1 19 4 Skill: Luck of the Devil.
Wounded miss missions 10 & 11.
Serious leg injury.
Alphonse Lacourt (FR) 3 0 3 2
St John
Featherstonehaugh (GB)
3 0 8 3  
Hank Snapmulder (US) 2 1 9 1  Wounded miss mission 11.
Captain Tsiolkovsky (RU) 2 1 9 1  
Kaiserliche und Königliche und Kaiserliche Jagd-Schlachtstaffel
Udo Lockbach (DE) 6 0 13 4  Skill: Quick on the Trigger
The 1st Erbprinz Rupprecht
zu Sachsen-Zenda (DE)
2 0 3 2  KIA Episode 6.
The 2nd Erbprinz Rupprecht
zu Sachsen-Zenda (DE)
1 0 2 1  
Florian Meier (DE) 4 0 11 3  
Jörg Fritzl-Falconi (HU) 3 0 9 3  
Gaspard Hauser (DE) 4 0 10 3  Wounded miss mission 11.
Freiherr Friedrich ”Dickie”
von Salzbach (DE)
2 0 4 1  
Slobomir Kraijnc (HR) 1 0 1 0

Note: 12 XP is required to obtain a skill.

Sunday, November 15, 2020

WWI Western Front Aerial Campaign - Episode 9

Dawn Patrol

This is the ninth episode of a campaign representing fictitious battles in the air over the Western Front during the First World War. It was initially planned to use the Wings of Glory rules, but these were modified to use hex based movement in order to facilitate remote play over the Internet due to Corona restrictions.

The cast of the campaign can be found here.

Mission Briefing 

Before dawn, the squadron commander Major Fritz Detterman called two of his pilots into the briefing room. He explained to Udo Lockbach and the second Erbprinz Rupprecht zu Sachsen-Zenda that army headquarters had been complaining about the early morning patrols flown by enemy aircraft. So the KuKuK Jagd-Schlachtstaffel had been tasked with intercepting and destroying one of these dawn patrols in order to teach the enemy a lesson. Lockbach and zu Sachsen-Zenda would each fly a new Albatros D.V and the Major said he expected that the both would return with confirmed kills.

In the grey light of dawn, they took off and headed for the trench lines. As expected, there they found two Sopwith Camels flown by Captain Jack Yates (in two hearts) and Charles “Half Pint” Carruthers.

The Action

High up over the trench lines at 14,000ft, both sides spotted the other while still at quite a distance.

The Camels performed a U-turn in order to get the enemy on their right hand side.

The Albatros D.Vs headed straight in towards the Camels.

The aircraft turned in towards each other and both Camels opened up on the yellow-bodied D.V flown by Erbprinz Rupprecht zu Sachsen-Zenda who returned fire. 

A lucky shot from “Half Pint” caused the D.V's rudder to jam and Sachsen-Zenda could sense that he could only turn to the left!

Udo Lockbach in the black-bodied D.V was too far behind to take part. 

Sachsen-Zenda turned left and both Camels tried to get behind him. Yates in two-hearts opened fire damaging the D.V and wounding Sachsen-Zenda.

While "Half Pint" was concentrating on chasing Sachsen-Zenda, Udo Lockbach in the black-bodied D.V turned in and opened fire on him.

Both D.V's turned, in what appeared to be an attempt to trap a Camel in a pincer movement. But "Half Pint" sneakily avoided it and opened fire on Lockbach at point blank range. Some bullets tore into the Albatros but then the Vickers machine guns jammed!

Yates turned left avoiding the German trap.

"Half Pint" flew straight ahead, away from the dogfight, while trying to un-jam his machine guns.

Lockbach and Yates turned towards each other but neither got off a good shot.

Sachsen-Zenda fired a burst from his machine guns at close range, damaging Yates's Camel and wounding Yates in the leg.

"Half Pint" turned back, towards the dogfight, while trying to un-jam his machine guns.

Lockbach in the black-bodied D.V turned sharp left and opened fire on Yates doing severe damage to his Camel.

"Half Pint" opened fire on Sachsen-Zenda, but yet again his guns jammed.

With both Camels in trouble, Yates's seriously damaged and Half Pint's with no guns, both pilots decided to head for home and dived out of the dogfight leaving the two Albatros D.V's behind.

All four aircraft returned safely to their aerodromes. Both Captain Jack Yates and Erbprinz Rupprecht zu Sachsen-Zenda were dispatched to their local field hospitals. Captain Jack Yates leg wound was found to be serious and he will still be limping when he returns to active duty.

The Result

Central Powers Victory

Campaign results:

  • Captain Jack Yates:  +1 XP
  • Charles “Half Pint” Carruthers:  +1 XP, +1 luck 
  • Erbprinz Rupprecht zu Sachsen-Zenda:  +2 XP
  • Udo Lockbach:  +2 XP, +1 luck 

Campaign Log

The Score:
1er Escadrille International 4     -     KuKuK Jagd-Schlachtstaffel 4     -     Draws 1

   Missions   Kills   XP   Luck   Notes 
Premier Escadrille International
Charles “Half Pint”
Carruthers (GB)
4 1 18 4 Skill: Sniper
“Dirty” Bertie Parker (AU) 3 1 20 3 Skill: Acrobatic Pilot 
Captain Jack Yates (GB) 5 1 19 4 Skill: Luck of the Devil.
Wounded miss missions 10 & 11.
Serious leg injury.
Alphonse Lacourt (FR) 3 0 3 2
St John
Featherstonehaugh (GB)
3 0 8 3  
Hank Snapmulder (US) 1 1 8 1  
Captain Tsiolkovsky (RU) 1 1 8 1  
Kaiserliche und Königliche und Kaiserliche Jagd-Schlachtstaffel
Udo Lockbach (DE) 5 0 7 4
The 1st Erbprinz Rupprecht
zu Sachsen-Zenda (DE)
2 0 3 2  KIA Episode 6.
The 2nd Erbprinz Rupprecht
zu Sachsen-Zenda (DE)
1 0 2 1  Wounded miss mission 10
Florian Meier (DE) 4 0 11 3  
Jörg Fritzl-Falconi (HU) 3 0 9 3  
Gaspard Hauser (DE) 3 0 4 3  
Freiherr Friedrich ”Dickie”
von Salzbach (DE)
2 0 4 1  
Slobomir Kraijnc (HR) 1 0 1 0

Sunday, November 8, 2020

WWI Western Front Aerial Campaign - Episode 8

Balloon Busting

This is the eighth episode of a campaign representing fictitious battles in the air over the Western Front during the First World War. It was initially planned to use the Wings of Glory rules, but these were modified to use hex based movement in order to facilitate remote play over the Internet due to Corona restrictions.

The cast of the campaign can be found here.

Mission Briefing

Before Dawn - The Officers’ Mess - Premier Escadrille International.

All the pilots had taken their places, Major Brackton addresses them, “Gentlemen. The German offensive at St Crupelle continues without slowing down. Day by day, step by step, the British and Canadian forces have been pushed back. Now only two small bridgeheads remain on the northern shore of the Juliana Canal; in the ruins of St Crupelle itself and at lock no. 9. The Dampshire Regiment has managed to resist repeated attacks, but in recent days, an increasingly accurate fire from long-range cannons has prevented reinforcements from reaching the two bridgeheads. In addition to these two bridges, all crossings have been blown up by our engineering troops. These two positions are therefore of utmost importance! If the Germans manage to throw us back across the canal, our counter-offensive will be much more costly than if we can launch the offensive from the north bank of the canal. ”

Major Brackton continues, "And now we come to you. The reason why the German artillery fire is so accurate is the balloons they use for fire control. As long as the Germans can use those balloons, our troops cannot save the bridgeheads - and then it's only a matter of a few days before they fall. We have therefore been assigned the rocket expert Captain Tsiolkovsky of the Imperial Russian Air Service, who has developed a new, more effective rocket weapon to shoot down balloons! ”

Out of the shadows rises a tall slender man with a cold piercing look and a huge moustache - "Da sssvedanya sssuckersss!"


Captain Tsiolkovsky takes off in his rocket-armed Nieuport 16 accompanied by a British Airco DH.2 piloted by “Dirty” Bertie Parker, they climb to 1,500 ft and head towards St Crupelle. 

Circling above the town, at 1,700 ft they spot a Halberstadt D.III flown by Udo Lockbach and an Albatros D.I flown by Gaspard Hauser.

The Action

Captain Tsiolkovsky spotted the balloon ahead of him, but also saw that their was a light anti-aircraft gun in front of the balloon to protect it.

As soon as the German balloon detachment spotted the enemy aircraft, they rushed to their winch lorry in order to pull down the balloon to safety.

Lockbach and Hauser headed towards the enemy.

Captain Tsiolkovsky turned right to distance himself from the Germans and get a clean run at the balloon.

“Dirty” Bertie Parker turned left towards in approaching Germans to place his DH.2 between them and Tsiolkovsky's rocket-armed Nieuport 16.

The Germans continued heading towards the enemy with Hauser in the Albatros D.I now taking the lead.

“Dirty” Bertie Parker turned in to face Hauser. Tsiolkovsky turned his rocket-armed Nieuport towards the balloon while hopefully staying out of range of the archie.

Hauser in his Albatros D.I continued straight ahead, diving down to the same altitude as the Engländer.

“Dirty” Bertie Parker slipped his DH.2 to the left, in order to confront Hauser.

Tsiolkovsky in his rocket-armed Nieuport continued straight towards the balloon while carefully staying out of range of the archie.

Lochback turned his Halberstadt D.III right, away from the incoming enemy.

Hauser and Parker opened fire on each other. A bullet from Parker's Lewis gun caused Hauser's Halberstadt to burst into flame.

Hauser in his Albatros D.I turned sharp left while “Dirty” Bertie Parker turned his DH.2 sharp right.

Tsiolkovsky in his rocket-armed Nieuport continued straight towards the balloon while carefully staying out of range of the archie.

Lochback continued to turn his Halberstadt D.III right, away from the incoming enemy, was he perhaps plotting a cunning trap?

Tsiolkovsky turned his rocket-armed Nieuport right for his final run-in at the balloon.

Lochback continued to turn his Halberstadt D.III right, now heading towards Tsiolkovsky.

Hauser in his Albatros D.I went straight ahead, evading "Dirty” Bertie Parker who turned his DH.2 sharp left.

Flying his Nieuport dead straight to get a good aim, Tsiolkovsky fired off all eight of his le Prieur rockets at the balloon. He had bravely, if not somewhat foolhardily, waited until the last possible instance before firing. If the balloon exploded, his Nieuport would be engulfed in the flames. Two of his rockets hit the balloon and it burst into flames, but luckily for Tsiolkovsky it didn't explode.

Lochback in the Halberstadt D.III  head towards Tsiolkovsky, but came with range of the archie which mistook his plane for an enemy plane and opened fire.

Hauser in his Albatros D.I went straight ahead, now being chased by "Dirty” Bertie Parker in his DH.2.

Tsiolkovsky turned sharp left and fired a burst from his machine gun into the burning balloon. However, his machine gun quickly jammed.

Hauser had managed to extinguish his flaming Albatros, turned right and opened fire on Tsiolkovsky. The bullets from his lMG 08 machine gun hit the Nieuport's engine and it started to splutter.

"Dirty” Bertie Parker continued to chase Hauser, but the necessity of avoiding the archie delayed him.

Lockbach turned left towards the balloon, luckily for him the archie realised its mistake and stopped firing.

Tsiolkovsky turned right, leaving the balloon burning merrily behind him.

"Dirty” Bertie Parker turned in towards the balloon and the enemy aircraft.

Expecting Tsiolkovsky to continue machine gunning the burning balloon, Hauser and Lockbach turned tightly in to protect it.

His engine spluttering and his machine gun jammed, Tsiolkovsky turned his Nieuport for home.

Parker and Hauser open fire at each other.

Lockbach turned left away from the balloon.

Yet again, Parker and Hauser opened fire at each other, but surprisingly both their machine guns jam!

Lockbach turned back towards the balloon.

Tsiolkovsky was now out of sight and well on his way home. With his machine gun jammed, and facing two enemy, Parker decided to try and gracefully exit the fight and leave the balloon burning behind him. 

Lockbach turned left and Hauser performed an Immelmann turn.

Parker turned for home.

Hauser chased after Parker but misjudged the turn and he lost Parker.

Lockbach turned left and got in a parting long range burst at Parker.

The burning balloon exploded damaging Lockbach's Halberstadt D.III.

Parker dived and headed for home. Hauser and Lockbach attempted to catch him but neither had enough speed to overtake him.

Heading for the aerodrome, Captain Tsiolkovsky pulled out a bottle of Imperial Golden Vodka from under his seat were it had been safely stowed. He pulled out the cork with his teeth, and spat it out over the side of the cockpit. He proceeded to drink the vodka during the flight home. Tsiolkovsky had never really mastered the art of landing his aeroplane, but somehow after a taste of the Imperial Golden, this didn't seems to matter. And at least most of the time, the erks could fix the landing damage anyway!

The Result

Entente Powers Victory

Campaign results:

  • Captain Tsiolkovsky:  +8 XP, +1 luck, balloon kill 
  • “Dirty” Bertie Parker:  +5 XP, +1 luck 
  • Gaspard Hauser:  +1 XP, +1 luck
  • Udo Lockbach:  +1 XP, +1 luck 

Campaign Log

The Score:
1er Escadrille International 4     -     KuKuK Jagd-Schlachtstaffel 3     -     Draws 1

   Missions   Kills   XP   Luck   Notes 
Premier Escadrille International
Charles “Half Pint”
Carruthers (GB)
3 1 17 3 Skill: Sniper
“Dirty” Bertie Parker (AU) 3 1 20 3 Skill: Acrobatic Pilot 
Captain Jack Yates (GB) 4 1 18 4 Skill: Luck of the Devil.
Alphonse Lacourt (FR) 3 0 3 2
St John
Featherstonehaugh (GB)
3 0 8 3  
Hank Snapmulder (US) 1 1 8 1  
Captain Tsiolkovsky (RU) 1 1 8 1  
Kaiserliche und Königliche und Kaiserliche Jagd-Schlachtstaffel
Udo Lockbach (DE) 4 0 5 3
Erbprinz Rupprecht
zu Sachsen-Zenda (DE)
2 0 3 2  KIA Episode 6.
Florian Meier (DE) 4 0 11 3  
Jörg Fritzl-Falconi (HU) 3 0 9 3  
Gaspard Hauser (DE) 3 0 4 3  
Freiherr Friedrich ”Dickie”
von Salzbach (DE)
2 0 4 1  
Slobomir Kraijnc (HR) 1 0 1 0