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Infanterifllieger!
Mission 11 Lone wolves, October 1917 and Mission 12. Infantry fliers over Cambrai, November 1917,
This is an after-action report from our ongoing 1917-18 campaign for In Clouds of Glory. The September mission (described in detail here: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/699132/schlachtflieger-air-i...) saw the German ground attack planes interdict a British supply column with great success – The egress however was very costly as all the escorting Albatros fighters was lost.
October 1917 – The last of the lone wolves
The last quarter of 1917 saw the last of the lone wolves. One by one they succumbed to large group tactics and the tempo of the material war. Wolff, Voss, Guynemer, Ball.. all perished. In this mission In the October mission we tried out a new format and played two 1-vs-1 missions. For these missions we tried an expanded initiative system. This system adds a bit more tactical depth in terms of adding more situations where advantageous positions over the opponent triggers modifiers to the initiative roll, but at the cost of some speed of play. This slowing down was not noteworthy as only two planes were involved. The mission dispended with the normal 10 turn time limit we normally impose in the games but instead had a time limit of 2 ½ hours of playing time.
The first combat saw the Andreas pitting his top dog Montrachet,against Thomas´ best man, Johan Juncker. The pair were evenly matched on paper, but Montrachet had the combat experience on top.
Montrachet was flying the excellent up-engined 180 hp, Spad S.VII and Juncker flew the only of the coveted Fokker Dr.I triplanes in the campaign until this point. The planes could not be more different: The SPAD is very fast, rugged and with excellent dive, climb and acceleration characteristics. Firepower is somewhat lacking with only one synchronized Vickers MG. The Dr.I on the other hand is unsurpassed in a turn fight, well armed with two MGs and a good climber. But the triplane has a much lower power to weight ratio and thus has a lower top speed and less ability to regain lost speed.
The combat was long, tense and both players really had to analyse the capabilities of their own and the opposing airplane and fly accordingly. The SPAD could not afford to be drawn into an energy draining turn fight but had to keep the energy up. The Dr.I on the other hand had to try to utilize the manoeuvrability advantage and make bold aerobatic moves to get into position for a shot or to get a sufficient position advantage.
Pic: Turn 8: Montrachet in the beige S.VII sacrificed speed and made an immelman turn in (reenversement) to get a shot on Juncker. The shot jammed but Andreas used his Montrachets re-roll in order to avoid the jam. The re-roll missed.
As the combat progressed Montrachet kept the upper hand, keeping his distance and at the same time used the powerful SPAD to repeatedly get a position advantage on the slower Fokker Dr.I.
Pic: Turn 9: Montrachet taking a tight “E” turn after a successful Flying skill test. The succeeding salvo rips parts of the Triplane making it structurally unsafe to manoeuvre – Effectively ending the combat as the German plane was unfit for turn fighting.
Pic: The combat in short…
At this point after 10 tense turns, Thomas seeded the victory to Andreas if he could fly home unscathed. In that manner the first combat ended with a French victory both in the air and morally – “I hit him hard and then I let him go, he was such a fine pilot”.
In the combat Andreas rolled very good initiative dice but also managed to use it to his advantage. In the end 3 salvoes were fired – One by the Dr.I and two by the SPAD one of which did count. Had Andreas pressed on the Dr.I would have been easy meat, robbed of its one forte - The manoeuvrability.
The second combat was between my brand new SE5a flown by Lt Saunders-Roe and Reinhardt Ritter flying a Albatros D.Va. This combat was rather uneventful, even though I at times got pressed tactically as Thomas used the limited abilities of the D.Va to the max, while I did not use the powerful and well balanced SE5 properly. This game ended in a tie.
With the French victory in the first combat the October combat was an Entente victory.
November 1917:
Cambrai 1917 saw the first massed use of tanks. In this mission the Germans desperately tries to stop the oncoming British army and tanks before the enemy achieves the coveted breakthrough to the green fields beyond. With the German infantry desperately holding the line, the CL planes of the ground attack Schlachtstaffeln are deployed to try to break up the attack at critical pivot points.
In this mission the German Schlasta attack airplanes is caught off guard, while strafing advancing British infantry. Meanwhile
German offensive fighter patrol has seen their predicament and is trying to get through a few Entente aircraft protecting their comrades attacking the German attack planes. The full Scenario can be downloaded as a PDF here in the Files section: http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/75439/icog-mission-novembe...
Picture: Letters denote starting areas – See text below.
Pic: part of the set up showing set-up area A (the Germans to the left) and B (the three RFC scouts coming in from the right)
A: The German ground attackers.
Starting Altitude is 10 Move units.
This group consisted of:
Feigling, Gunner XXX in a Hannover CL.IIIa “Arrow”
Heinrichs, Gunner Rotter in a Halberstadt CL.II “Red tail”
B: Entente intercept group.
Starting at altitude 15 Move units.
This group was comprised of:
Second Lieutenant Hastings - Sopwith Pup
Lieutenant Saunders-Roe - SE5a
Second Lieutenant Thatcher – Nieuport 24
C: Entente high cover
The starting altitude is 25 Move units.
This group consisted of:
Sous-Lieutenant Morbier – Spad S.VII “12” (180 hp)
Lieutenant Camembert – Spad S.VII “7” (180 hp)
D: German Offensive Patrol
The starting altitude is 25 Move units.
From the rear:
Geier – Albatros D.III “Red stripe”
Günther – Albatros D.Va “tail stripes”
Stürtz – Albatros D.III “checker stripe”
Set-up and mission
This was a straightforward air-combat mission. But the mission had a few twists. First of all had the Germans already done their ground attack work and now they tried to get away with it. Because of the work done, the German side already had 1 Victory point from the game start (2 points in surplus after round 10 giving a victory). The set up was in 3 layers from the start: The German ground attackers were down on the deck with 3 RFC scouts closing in fast and from a higher altitude. On top the two French SPADs were trying to intercept the German offensive patrol before it could meddle in the affairs going on below.
The sides were rather evenly matched but perhaps with a slight bias towards the Entente side as both French pilots were of good quality and flying the excellent, up-engined 180 Hp version of the Spad S.VII. I had the excellent SE5a and an old Sopwith Pup. Lars pilot Thatcher flew the Nieuport 24 – The last of the Nieuport V-strutters in RFC service. The Germans had their usual mix of Albatros scouts and the two slow, but manoeuvrable (for their class) two-seater both of which were carrying a rear gunner.
The overall mission set up was very tactically challenging: the distance between set-up area A – the German attack planes and B – the intercepting RFC group was very short, promising action from the word go. At the same time the was a marked altitude difference between the low flying group A and B and the two opposing high level patrol groups, allowing the high level group to decide when to engage the lower level planes but at the keeping each other checked.
The Action
Turn 1:
Turn one opened up with Feigling in the the Hannover CL.IIIa taking a wide turn. Hastings in the Sopwith Pup was poised to get in postion for a ear aspect attack on the two-seater, but he would then expose himself to the other CL machine (red nosed Halberstadt) positioned behind the Hannover. Instead I chose to make, what seemed, a defensive move with my Pup. In the process I got greedy, in order to position myself advantageously to the next turn and pointed the Sopwiths nose a bit too much in the direction of the oncoming high level Albatrosses. The Halberstadt took a wide sweep and got into a rear aspect firing position.
At the same time my new SE5a flow by Saunders-Roe got into a long range firing position behind the Hannover.
Thatcher in the Nieuport followed the action in a wide turn, trying to find a way in.
High up the Albatrosses pushed forward towards their beleaguered two-seaters while the two Frenchmen in the SPAD VIIs blasted towards the Albatrosses at high speed.
Pic: The firing phase: In the blurry foreground Hastings (Sopwith Pup) is getting hit by Heinrichs in the red tailed Halberstadt CL.II. The Pups fuel line caught fire and the engine died … behind the CL.II, the gunner in the green Hannover CL.IIIa (flown by Feigling) and the SE5a in the background (Lt. Saunder-Roe) exchanges long-range fire to no effect. Below on the ground the British Mark IVs are brawling towards the German lines with rows of troops taking cover behind.
Pic: Hastings is out of the action..
After this fatal blunder by my side the Entente was 3 points behind: 1 point for the ground work done by the Germans from the start of the scenario, and two more for a victory over the old Pup. All the Germans now had to do was to get away with it.
Turn 2:
Turn 2 saw the Entente side rolling good initiatives and at the same time both Thatcher (Nie.24) and Saunders-Roe was in a good position to get at the two-seaters. Unfortunately the two two-seaters flew in a tight group and getting at them would require closing in slowly from the rear aspect. Thatcher decided to go for a frontal aspect shot at Stürtz diving down from his perch in the high cover group.
Pic: Top left - Günther rolled inverted in his Alb.D.Va. In the middle altitude layer – Stürtz, also inverted, getting attacked by the oncoming Thatcher in his Nieuport 24. On the right side, also at middle altitude, the two beige SPAD S.VIIs comes screaming in at 230+ km/h. Down at the deck the two German CL craft are seen banking towards the centre of the board- the brown SE5a (Saunders-Roe)coming in for a side attack on the green Hannover CL.IIIa two-seater (Feigling). In the bottom of the picture Hastings is seen diving away, his plane in flames.
In the firing phase Thatcher hit Stürtz D.III hard in the rudder and rear fuselage causing 5 in Structural Damage and causing it to turn badly – Adding two template sizes from the turn taken at a given speed.
After that he Gunner in the Hannover tried to fend off Saunders-Roe in the oncoming SE5a but missed the shot. The SE5a in turn hit the Hannover in the fuselage, causing light damage.
Hastings in the burning got very lucky as I rolled a “1” on 1d6 and the flame died out. A “6” had caused a fuel explosion and all other results (2-5) had been added as structural damage subtracted from the 15 starting points of the Pup.
Turn 3:
Turn 3 saw the fast Frenchmen entering the combat in earnest. Günther in the D.Va misjudged the speed of the oncoming SPAD S.VIIs and made a wide turn and both SPADs pounced on him. Morbier swooped up from below, making a long vertical climb, and ending close to a stall, just below the Albatros, while Camembert was able to inch himself in position for a rear aspect salvo.
Pic: Günther in trouble..
Saunders-Roe in the SE5 was in no position to get at the two retreating two-seaters as this would have meant slowly inching in from the rear while getting shot at by two gunners at the same time.
Pic: Thatcher took a tight turn and again met Stürtz in the less agile Albatros D.III for a head on shot – this time missing his mark.
In the firing phase Günther got hit hard from behind by Camembert. The Albatros received a damage roll of 26 which is a engine hit with at high probability of a fire (3-6 on 1d6 ) but Günther got lucky and just got his engine knocked out. Fortunately for him he was above his own lines and would only have to make a successful emergency landing. The damage however counted as a “driven home” result for 1 victory point in the favour of the entente.
Turn 4
Pic: Turn 4: This turn saw both sides flying defensively and no damage was caused.
Down below Hastings in his charred Pup was silently gliding over the friendly side of the lines looking for a place to land.
Turn 5
Turn 5 saw a mixed melee unfolding just behind the German lines. Note that the engineless Albatros D.Va (Günther)in the middle is not within the fire cone of the tailing SE5a (Saunders-Roe).
At the side of the combat Thatcher (Nie.24) got of a quick burst at the front of Feigling (Hannover CL.IIIa) but only caused light structural damage.
Turn 6
Pic: Morbier blasting by the Halberstadt.
Morbier (Spad VII) tried a tight turn in order to get at the tail of the red tailed Halberstadt Cl.II. Morbier missed his Piloting Skill roll and ended up in a wide turn without a shot at the Halb. The rear gunner however had a clear field of fire and damaged the passing SPAD.
Günther was in trouble. His engine was out and he was being tailed by Saunders- Roe in the SE5a giving him a -4 modifier on his initiative roll. Fortunately for Günther he was endowed with the special skill “Survival instinct” allowing him to, once in a combat, to give himself a +4 modifier to his initiative roll but trading this for a -4 in the following roll. Now was the time and it worked out. Saunders-Roe did not roll a high enough initiative, having his bonus negated by Günthers instinct, And the SE5a lost his chase, allowing Günther to get of the hook.
In the end a lot of holes were shot in the air…
Off board and far away from the combat, Hastings made a successful emergency landing. The plane was a write-off but Hastings could sleep in his own bed that night.
Turn 7
Pic: Morbier in the middle firing at Geier… Left: The green Hannover (Feigling). Rigth: The red-tailed Halberstadt (Heinrichs) and Saunders-Roe in the brown SE5a.
This turn saw more confused melee, but without any of the sides being able to get a firm grip on the counter-part so no tailing shots were obtained. Feigling in the Hannover CL.IIIa saw an opportunity to get a side shot of at Morbier who was in turn firing at the side of Geier. At the same time Heinrichs were firing at Morbier. Feigling pushed hard to get a shot and had to use a re-roll to avoid damage to his crate.
Saunders-Roe found himself without viable options and Heinrichs passed close by, allowing his gunner Uffz. Rotter to get a glimpsing, passing shot but nonetheless he hit the SE5a in the fuselage, cutting the fuel lines. Saunders-Roe now had 4 turns of fuel remaining and as he was behind enemy lines there was a limit to his tactical options from now on as the Germans was retreating further inland.
Turn 8
In turn 8 the pressure was on the Entente side. The German aircraft was getting away and was winning. But again the Germans underestimated the speed of the French SPAD S.VIIs and Camembert pushed around, all spars creaking, and got on the tail of the Stürtz in the checker striped Alb. D.III. As the Albatros had already been damaged in turn two by Thatcher, the structural strength was down to 12. In the ensuing firing phase the Albatros got hit hard in the wings and fuselage and Uffz. Stürtz duly abgestürzt towards the ground.
Pic: Stürtz getting shot down.
This brought two more victory points to the Entente – and a game heading for a tie with 3 points to each side. And this was at the same time the first victory for Camembert, who is by now a force to be reckoned with as he has both the track-record and the stats to make it big.
Turn 9-10
The last rounds saw Camembert trying to get another last minute victory bay making a low level attack on the retreating Geier but to no avail.
Saunders-Roe passed over the frontline with enough fuel to get off-board for a successful emergency landing behind his own lines.
In this manner the game ended in a tie. Giving a slight lead in this campaign quarter (4Q1917) to the Entente, as the first one-on-one mission was won by Montrachet. In order to get a tie for the campaign quarter the Germans will have to win the December mission, unless the German side can win the “tie breaker” points by having a higher scoring (and living) pilot by the end of the last combat, in which case both a tie and a win in the last mission will give a German fourth quarter campaign victory.
Pic: The aggressive Lieutenant Camembert making a last attack in the game, his time on Geier.
Pic: Saunders-Roe passing over the attacking British troops, running on fumes with his severed fuel line.
On another note: All scenario set-ups will be published in English from now on in order to support the release of the core rules in English due easter 2012. We wil try to make a comprehensible and free PDF package containing the necessary files (rules, templates, Tables, Cockpit panesl) along with a blog linking to all the available Scenarios, and 1/350th scale miniature planes suitable for the game.
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Michael Novak
United States
Charleston
South Carolina
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Looking forward to seeing the rules and the rest of the material. Nice work!
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Posted Wed Feb 8, 2012 12:02 pm
