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Well we just wrapped up what was the most exciting game I have seen online!!
Tonight pitted Dennis Elliott (Fokker DVII 185 pilot ?) and John Buckland (Fokker DVII 185 pilot: Roland Ritter 0/0 from Mr. Carr’s ‘Centennial Pilot’ list) defending against an artillery observation by Mike Barker (R.E.8 w/ 0/0 crew) escorted by Chris O’Halloran (Camel 130 pilot 0/0) and AP (Camel 130 pilot: Gareth Keenan II 29/9).
The Allies suffered from bad initiative rolls the entire game and right out the gate were moving into defensive positions. The Germans came right in for the attack and damage was dished around to all the first few turns. On turn 2, John and Dennis sandwiched AP and dished out 6 hits each, 4 of which pummeled his engine and caused a smoking oil leak. The next turn AP tried to escape, but John was ‘hot on his tail’ and pulled in for the 200ft side shot. John jammed a gun on the shot, but was able to do two points of damge to the Camel…BOTH of which went into the engine, knocking AP into a glide!
Turn 4 Dennis climbed into the clouds with BOTH his guns jammed, and would spend the rest of the game attempting to unjam, going ALL 8 turns with BOTH guns becoming permanently jammed. Turn 4-9 saw John rolling amazing initiative rolls and beating both allies almost every turn, but still trading shots with O’Hal. They both received a few crits, and as the battle neared the ground, John got stuck in a bank and offered the Allies the opportunity to scram. Being bold and honorable wingmates, both Mike and O’Hal followed their flight leader to the ground, and as Mike lined up with AP to land, O’Hal tried to intimidate John into leaving.
Both the Camel and RE8 landed successfully in a sparsely concentrated area of German territory on a nice little road. The three men had a VERY brief conversation, and the British observer (name unknown) saluted his comrades and made a run for Allied lines. Mikes pilot climbed into the observer seat, and APs pilot took the helm of the RE8. As they took off, they saluted the observer who was making his way into the brush.
The RE8 was able to slip over the front with very little ground fire and made it home. Both pilots put a call into the front to watch for their lost comrade, and a patrol was even organized that evening, but alas, the observer was not seen or heard from again until the end of the war… The three men continued correspondence well after the war was over, with the two pilots purchasing a plot of land for the observer in Cantebury to raise sheep. When the Battle of Britain broke out in 39′, the three men worked together at a radar station in Cantebury and assisted in fending off the Blitz!
O’Hals Camel, seeing his wingmates making for home, drew the Fokker away and then tried desperately to shake the pursuing German. John was relentless though, rolling nothing higher than a ‘5’ for about 4 or 5 turns in a row. Stuck at one gun almost all game, John peppered away a O’Hal, until, just reaching his own lines, the Camel cut its engine after his fourth crit. With only a 35% chance to land, the Camel plowed into the ground just past his trenches, and as infantry rushed to the wreck and pulled the pilot away, he was overheard muttering “the mission – we had to complete the mission” with his final breath…
Roland Ritter flew back to his home Aerodrome, confident that his luck of the day was a beginning of an illustrious career. With a record of 1 mission and 2 kills, he HAD to be the leading Centennial pilot so far… but alas, with all his initiative luck of the day, he was so excited that he failed to notice how serious the strut hit on his DVII was, and as he touched down to land, the wing gave way and his aircraft crashed (rolled a 91 on a 90% landing chance) Jasta mates rushed to the wreck, only to find their comrade lost to the unfortunate mishap (John rolled 82 on 70% chance to live).Quite the exciting mission!!
Mike and Chris, should we ever get the opportunity to play in person – drinks of your choice will be on me for saving my pilot!!!Wow, that’s incredible! I’m sorry I missed that one. And thanks for a great AAR, Andy. You’re setting a new standard by covering the after-war activities of each pilot. ; )
One question – why did you leave the observer behind instead of trying to take him too?
I lied … One more question. Any medals for these illustrious gentlemen?
Mike and Chris – great job guys!
Graham
Graham
WIth the -15% take off with extra passengers, the good of the many was put in front of the good of the few, and the low man on the totem pole was the rookie observer, so the decision was made to send him running for his lines.
Which, leads me to a question – the rules say unless you are ‘rescued immediately’ it is capture… we were only 8-9 squares from the front in sparse concentration, so couldnt the observer roll 8-9 times for 5% roll and ‘immediately’ escape? I mean, if Snoopy was always able to sneak away, some of our pilots/observers should be able to as well, right?!? Yet another rules interpretation piece…
I have never been good with medals – but if there is a British medal for bravery, both of these guys deserve it!!
That must have been one brave observer!
I think the point on evading capture isn’t just staying away from the enemy in sparsely occupied terrain. He would have to cross the German lines, too, and presumably it wouldn’t be “sparse” there!
I believe the British medal rules have mission requirements, so they likely don’t technically apply. That said, since this is just a game anyway, I would nominate them for something!
Graham
Seeing that observer run off into the brush was a touching moment for all of us, I think. Somewhere between Rick saying goodbye to Ilsa in Casablanca and Harry staying on the asteroid so AJ(!) can take care of Harry’s daughter in Armageddon. I still tear up when I think about it. (sniff).
Great mission!
That turn Chris hit me I rolled 01 and 02 for the wing crit checks. I was jammed in a bank, climb cut by 50, dive by 400, no fancies + 1 HF. I should have learned a lesson and flew off. But the dice were hot. My left gun still wasn’t jamming at 45%!
I guess they cooled off on the way back to the airfield.
My pilot, Roland Ritter, might be the first dead of the 4 for 4 Centennial Pilots. He may not win anything, but his Kill to Mission ratio is excellent!
For the medals for the British, what we usually do is to halve the chance if the airman didn’t meet the minimums, and just to note, the first 4×4 pilot to go down was at Nexus Game Fair, it was Ken Mrozak’s 185 pilot, whom I pilot hit
I think we need a separate thread, or even website section, to record the exploits of 4×4 pilots! I’ve flown three of mine so far, and they’re all still alive. Would be great to have a place where we can watch their careers develop (and end!).
Graham
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