OTT FYM Mission 4 – And The Show Must Go On – April 26th 1917 - by Mikeemagnus
April 1917 came to be known as “Bloody April” because it was a period when the see sawing of air superiority over the western front had swung, once again, in favour of the Luftstreitkräfte, the German air service. The Battle of Arras was under way and the Generals wanted reconnaissance, artillery spotting, bombing and ground co-operation from their airmen, no matter what the cost. The fact that the latter’s resources were out of date and under strength made not a jot of difference. The jobs must be done.
So, young men, barely out of school, with very little training and no experience at all, jumped into various pushers, under gunned scouts and the likes of the BE2c and flew off into the blue yonder never to return. Life expectancy was very short indeed.
I believe that the true heroes of that period were not just the experienced guys; the hawks that lay in wait for the weak, successfully doing all the killing, although the daily strain they were under must have been enormous. No, for me the other true heroes of that month were those who learned very quickly indeed that they stood virtually no chance of surviving more than a couple of weeks at most, but still went ahead, following orders and trying to do the best they could for their fellows and their country, whichever side they were on. They did it successfully too , but more often than not they died in the process, having experienced nothing that life has to offer. Naive, yes, but very brave, certainly.
So, whether you represent the Bulldogs or the Eagles, your mission is to act as Flight Leader and lead two other scouts, one a rookie, in support of a single tandem that is spotting for the artillery, up and down no man’s land, for ten “Turns” of the mission (including any of the moves during which their spotting may be disrupted). At the end of the runs across the mat, assuming it survives, the Tandem will leave the mission as if it has completed its patrol. So will the scouts, but only if the skies appear to be clear of enemy aircraft, or unless they are forced to do so.
During the mission, the tandem will be assumed to be getting on with its job all the while it remains undisturbed by EA, regardless of the results of its efforts. But the moment it has received ten or more points of damage, it will dive away, its patrol incomplete, and head west (east if an Eagle) and home, leaving you and your flight to deal with the enemy alone.
NB The mission set up photos have an Entente orientation. When flying for the Central Powers just reverse everything, as in a mirror image, so that your enemy is attacking from the north west, from their territory and No Man’s land is on the east side of the mission.
Set Up : Two mats or their equivalent laid long edges together. One mat representing No Man’s Land, the other mat enemy territory. Then as below.
In keeping with “Bloody April”, all Entente aircraft will be “B” firing. Central Powers aircraft may be “A” or “B” firing.
Friendly Tandem:
The friendly tandem (whatever you like so long as it was available at the time), is placed at the south end of the No Man’s Land mat, in the centre position of the short side of that mat, facing north. It will fly, initially at altitude 4, on nothing but straights, unless forced to use a stall because of engine damage, or side slips because of fire damage. If attacked by enemy aircraft it “may” break off from its mission and fight back or retire (10 or more points of damage) using its normal movement deck. Once any enemy aircraft have ceased to attack, the tandem will attempt to resume its job, again using straights only for movement unless forced to do otherwise or unless forced to retire because of damage.
When space runs out at the end of the south north run, simply turn the aircraft through 180 degrees and re commence the patrol in the opposite direction, again, from the centre of the short edge of the NML mat. If out of position having been attacked whilst flying north, but subsequently able to continue spotting, head for the nearest north edge of the NML mat, then having reached it, move the model back to its correct line and continue as above. Repeat this process until the end of turn 10. After that the tandem will head for the nearest friendly edge and leave, hopefully having completed its mission.
NB. Do not be surprised if the tandem remains unmolested throughout. This will only mean that the escort has done its job well.
Friendly Scouts:
The nearest friendly scout (again, whatever you like so long as it was available at the time) to the tandem is placed on co ordinates 1 ruler length to the east (west if an Eagle) and 1 ruler length to the north of the tandem. The remaining two friendly scouts are placed east (west if Eagle) of that in a “V” formation, so that the flight leader is in the forward position, with a half ruler distance between each aircraft, as shown in the photo. This “scout” flight is facing north and is flying initially at altitude 6 (4 if you are not playing altitude).
NB One friendly scout pilot will be treated as a rookie. Use your least experienced pilot or treat one as a rookie because they are distracted by really bad news from home. Either way they are not permitted any ace skills and will fly as the rookie. – (See page 22 of Rule Book) but in a nutshell:
A rookie pilot can't shoot on a steep manoeuvre, Immelmann turn, Split S, or a climb.
A gun jam lasts 4 turns, 5 if wounded.
A rookie fires after all other non-rookie simultaneous fire is resolved; if he is shot down he doesn't get to return fire unless shot down by another rookie (not applicable in this game)
Enemy Scouts
Three enemy scouts (again your choice as above) appear in a “V” formation, at altitude 6 (or 4 as above), heading south west (SE if you are an Eagle) with the EA furthest north at co ordinates 1 ruler west (East if Eagle) and 1 ruler south of the NE (NW if Eagle) corner of the mat representing enemy territory, facing the SW corner of the NML mat (SE corner if an Eagle). Place the other two EA scouts a half ruler distance between each of the flight, again as shown in the photo. (In brief – the heading is 12/1 on the D8 charts, for all three EA).
You may assume that the scouts have spotted one another from the outset.
Objectives:
Friendly scout flight – protect the tandem for ten Turns. Enemy scout flight, stop the tandem from doing its job. (Remember, no matter your objective, AI controlled aircraft always target the nearest EA).
Victory points:
Friends: Each enemy scout shot down or Forced To Return to Base = 10 points
Artillery spotting patrol completed = 10 points
Enemy: Each scout shot down or FRTB = 10 points each.
Artillery spotting mission terminated before completion (SD or left the area early) = 10 points.
That’s it. Hope you enjoy the mission and watch your six!
For those interested but not with us in the campaign, the original intention was to fly only one experienced pilot on the friendly side. Two scout pilots and the tandem crew were to be rookies. I play tested it this way with interesting resultsTry it yourself, solo or not.
For practical reasons I present it as above.
Mike
The Original Thread is here.
And if you want to see how it's done:
ShadowDragon (Bulldog):
https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...y-ShadowDragon
Flash (Bulldog):
https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...6th-April-1917
Mikeemagnus (Bulldog):
https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...by-Mikeemagnus
Stumptonian (Eagle):
https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...17-Stumptonian
..
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