| Algy Game 3 - Gone (Wal) Fisching (Jez & Kev Vs Max, Clive & Nige) |
Max, was gutted after not being able to attend the last Algy game and, as we were full of
enthusiasm for WW1 aerial, I thought it best to strike whilst the iron was hot and host
another Algy game at Wally HQ.
This time the German mission was to carry out a successful aerial reconnaissance of a
sector of the front. The RFC would be on an aggressive patrol tasked with preventing
any violation of its air space. The idea was essentially gleaned from Algernon's latest
antics recently published in the Too Fat Lardies 'Summer Offensive 2007' special.
Five areas of interest to the Germans were marked on the table accordingly, each
consisting of four markers. To fulfill its mission the Roland C.II Walfisch (Whalefish) would
have to be over a hex containing a marker, at altitude level 3 or 4, when the 'SNAP' chip
was drawn from the hat indicating a successful series of photographs had been taken.
There was upto a maximum of six successful series of snaps permitted before the Roland
would have to exit. Obviously the greater the number of snaps taken the greater the
margin of victory. One thing to take into account was that the German Observer/rear
gunner would not be able to fire in the turn that a successful snap had been taken.
The forces for the scenario are listed below. The Germans have more planes but
generally inferior to that of the RFC. I decided to give 'The Purple Helmut' his first run out
and made him a Top Ace. However, I then gave the Huns two sprogs to balance thing a
bit; Helmutt Rasch deciding this would be a good mission to give his new chaps some
experience. I decided again that whoever got to play as Aces also got sprogs. The chaps
randomly decided on the evening who got which German commander. I decided that for
the RFC Jez should get the opportunity to try out the British Junior Ace - Algernon
Carpet-Byrnes. Clive therefore found himself cast as the German CO and myself as the
British CO.
enthusiasm for WW1 aerial, I thought it best to strike whilst the iron was hot and host
another Algy game at Wally HQ.
This time the German mission was to carry out a successful aerial reconnaissance of a
sector of the front. The RFC would be on an aggressive patrol tasked with preventing
any violation of its air space. The idea was essentially gleaned from Algernon's latest
antics recently published in the Too Fat Lardies 'Summer Offensive 2007' special.
Five areas of interest to the Germans were marked on the table accordingly, each
consisting of four markers. To fulfill its mission the Roland C.II Walfisch (Whalefish) would
have to be over a hex containing a marker, at altitude level 3 or 4, when the 'SNAP' chip
was drawn from the hat indicating a successful series of photographs had been taken.
There was upto a maximum of six successful series of snaps permitted before the Roland
would have to exit. Obviously the greater the number of snaps taken the greater the
margin of victory. One thing to take into account was that the German Observer/rear
gunner would not be able to fire in the turn that a successful snap had been taken.
The forces for the scenario are listed below. The Germans have more planes but
generally inferior to that of the RFC. I decided to give 'The Purple Helmut' his first run out
and made him a Top Ace. However, I then gave the Huns two sprogs to balance thing a
bit; Helmutt Rasch deciding this would be a good mission to give his new chaps some
experience. I decided again that whoever got to play as Aces also got sprogs. The chaps
randomly decided on the evening who got which German commander. I decided that for
the RFC Jez should get the opportunity to try out the British Junior Ace - Algernon
Carpet-Byrnes. Clive therefore found himself cast as the German CO and myself as the
British CO.
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I had also decided that we should use blinds this time to disguise the German mission
somewhat. Obviously there was some cloud cover and so I decided that there would be
no heavy 'Archie' in this scenario. We had not used blinds before but I felt that we now
ought to try them out.
There would be one blind for the Hun escort, one for the Roland and one dummy or fake.
The RFC would have two small blinds, one for the Camels and a fake. According to the
rules as there were five planes in the German escort they would use a medium blind,
whereas the single Roland would operate on a small blind. The dummy could be either
small or medium I eft that choice up to the German CO allowing some scope for bluffing
and double bluffing, things that we at Wally HQ revel in.
I set up the 6' x 4' table using wool to mark a trench system of the front lines, black card to
mark BUA's (for interest and aesthetics) and placed five, well spaced, areas of German
interest using blue chips (see below). Both sides entered the table from their own lines
and each CO then rolled a D10 for the altitude band of each and every blind of their
forces.
somewhat. Obviously there was some cloud cover and so I decided that there would be
no heavy 'Archie' in this scenario. We had not used blinds before but I felt that we now
ought to try them out.
There would be one blind for the Hun escort, one for the Roland and one dummy or fake.
The RFC would have two small blinds, one for the Camels and a fake. According to the
rules as there were five planes in the German escort they would use a medium blind,
whereas the single Roland would operate on a small blind. The dummy could be either
small or medium I eft that choice up to the German CO allowing some scope for bluffing
and double bluffing, things that we at Wally HQ revel in.
I set up the 6' x 4' table using wool to mark a trench system of the front lines, black card to
mark BUA's (for interest and aesthetics) and placed five, well spaced, areas of German
interest using blue chips (see below). Both sides entered the table from their own lines
and each CO then rolled a D10 for the altitude band of each and every blind of their
forces.
Jez peeled off to attack the Roland,
whilst I tried to mix it with the German
scout escort....
Unfortunately, 'The Purple Helmet' was
everywhere...
Being a Top Ace the bugger seemed to
be all over us and was leading his
fledglings by example. He appeared on
my sprogs tail and in an effort to shake
him I was forced into an uncontrolled
spin. 'The Purple Helmut' followed me
down causing severe engine damage...
After leaving my sprog, still falling at
altitude level four, the German Ace then
pounced upon the RFC Junior Ace,
Carpet-Byrnes who had managed to
get on the tail of the Roland C.II ...
Algy had been firing long bursts into the
Roland two-seater, but had caused
little damage due to its robustness and
being thrown off the tail a couple of
times by the valiant German
rear-gunner. Helmut arrived in the nick
of time just as Algy had got back onto
the tail. After a sustained burst Algy's
plane burst into flames and spiralled
downwards...First kill to the German
Ace.
Major Short-Cummings had at last
managed to do something aggressive
and had lined up a German sprog in his
sights. Gotthard Boner raced to the
rescue of the panicking and
increasingly desperate sprog only for
his guns to jam as well.(...notice Max
again!) Short-Cummings managed
deftly to shake Boner off his tail. It
must be imagined that there can be
little as unnerving as having a Boner
coming up behind you!...
My sprog had managed in the
meantime to regain control of his
stricken aircraft and, though unable to
climb, had actually got on the tail of the
Walfisch...Bullets at last casued
serious damage to the two-seater
forcing it into a shallow dive towards its
own lines...
Hans Tandt managed to successfully
crash land the two-seater behind the
German lines and walk away with the
vitally important photographs.
British Lines
German Lines
South
The action that followed is typical of WW1 aerial; a very confused melee with both sides
fighting for their lives in a pell mell running fight. It is hard, if not impossible to describe
what occurred in any detail. Here is an account of what I can recall.
Both sides gingerly edged forward. The British quickly spotting the Hun escorts in the
first turn with some lucky rolling. As the remaining German blinds moved behind the
screen of Albatros scouts they successfully managed to spot the British fighters but in turn
the RFC identified the Roland C.II. Both sides climbed for height as they advanced
towards one another. The Camels then swung to the right, refusing their left, to allow
them to make snap turns covering their flank. The Albatros's climbed into the attack,
whilst Nige detached his Albatros from the formation to accompany the Roland more
closely on its mission....
fighting for their lives in a pell mell running fight. It is hard, if not impossible to describe
what occurred in any detail. Here is an account of what I can recall.
Both sides gingerly edged forward. The British quickly spotting the Hun escorts in the
first turn with some lucky rolling. As the remaining German blinds moved behind the
screen of Albatros scouts they successfully managed to spot the British fighters but in turn
the RFC identified the Roland C.II. Both sides climbed for height as they advanced
towards one another. The Camels then swung to the right, refusing their left, to allow
them to make snap turns covering their flank. The Albatros's climbed into the attack,
whilst Nige detached his Albatros from the formation to accompany the Roland more
closely on its mission....
The Roland crew even managed to take a couple of photographs whilst attention on them
was relaxed. We had decided halfway through the game that it was too difficult only being
able to take photos upon the arrival of the 'SNAP' chip and so decided that the observer
could take photographs on his 'FIRE' chip too. This seemed to meet with everyone's
approval.
Elsewhere the manoeuvrability and handling ability of the Sopwith Camel had meant that
Short-Cummings had managed to avoid the attentions of the other German Albatros pilots,
even though heavily outnumbered. This was inspite of the fact that I seemed unable to
tell left from right at one stage and had to be reminded!....
Undaunted at the loss of his Junior Ace, Jez manoeuvred his sprog onto the tail of the
'Walfisch' only for 'The Purple Helmut' to arrive just in time, yet again. This time however,
his guns jammed!...
It was just a temporary setback though, and with guns soon unjammed, Helmut Rasch
cooly shot down the RFC sprog for his second kill of the evening, though it was the last of
his ammunition...
was relaxed. We had decided halfway through the game that it was too difficult only being
able to take photos upon the arrival of the 'SNAP' chip and so decided that the observer
could take photographs on his 'FIRE' chip too. This seemed to meet with everyone's
approval.
Elsewhere the manoeuvrability and handling ability of the Sopwith Camel had meant that
Short-Cummings had managed to avoid the attentions of the other German Albatros pilots,
even though heavily outnumbered. This was inspite of the fact that I seemed unable to
tell left from right at one stage and had to be reminded!....
Undaunted at the loss of his Junior Ace, Jez manoeuvred his sprog onto the tail of the
'Walfisch' only for 'The Purple Helmut' to arrive just in time, yet again. This time however,
his guns jammed!...
It was just a temporary setback though, and with guns soon unjammed, Helmut Rasch
cooly shot down the RFC sprog for his second kill of the evening, though it was the last of
his ammunition...
Another interesting and absorbing game of Algy had come to an end.
The game was very different from last weeks one. The RFC were outnumbered but their
aircraft were actually much more manoeuvrable than the German Albatros's. This did not
nullify the fact that the Germans had a 'Top Ace' leading them however, which made a
real difference. Clive had run out of ammunition by the end but had acquired two kills.
Friday 13th was not a good day for Jez. He managed to have both his aircraft shot down,
accounting for both of Clive's two kills. He had also rolled very poorly and his chips had
not come up when he needed it either. We all get days like that!
Max and I had spent much of the game shadow boxing with our aircraft and giving
demonstrations of how not to fly, thereby causing little damage. I had got lucky though as
Max had managed yet another gun jam in a critical situation. Technically, I had got a kill,
though the aircraft had actually been forced to land. On my part it was a case of more by
luck than design though and it was definately a fisherman's tale of the 'one that got away'.
Nige had performed adequately, managing to take photographs of two areas of interest
and getting them back to HQ, even though his aricraft was forced to crash land. His
Roland rear gunner had proved a valuable asset and had saved his neck a couple of
times when Camels had been on his tail and has got him bang to rights. He had reason to
be very thankful to Clive too though. Nige's other Albatros had become too embroiled in
the Max Vs Kev air show to do much damage!
A great game that everyone enjoyed, well unless your name is Jez that is. There will be
time for revenge though however, a new kitchen now beckons at Wally HQ so no action
for Algy next week. I shall be painting up more aircraft for a flight of RE 8's and FE 2's,
and Nige has now purchased some Bristol Fighters so new challenges abound.
The game was very different from last weeks one. The RFC were outnumbered but their
aircraft were actually much more manoeuvrable than the German Albatros's. This did not
nullify the fact that the Germans had a 'Top Ace' leading them however, which made a
real difference. Clive had run out of ammunition by the end but had acquired two kills.
Friday 13th was not a good day for Jez. He managed to have both his aircraft shot down,
accounting for both of Clive's two kills. He had also rolled very poorly and his chips had
not come up when he needed it either. We all get days like that!
Max and I had spent much of the game shadow boxing with our aircraft and giving
demonstrations of how not to fly, thereby causing little damage. I had got lucky though as
Max had managed yet another gun jam in a critical situation. Technically, I had got a kill,
though the aircraft had actually been forced to land. On my part it was a case of more by
luck than design though and it was definately a fisherman's tale of the 'one that got away'.
Nige had performed adequately, managing to take photographs of two areas of interest
and getting them back to HQ, even though his aricraft was forced to crash land. His
Roland rear gunner had proved a valuable asset and had saved his neck a couple of
times when Camels had been on his tail and has got him bang to rights. He had reason to
be very thankful to Clive too though. Nige's other Albatros had become too embroiled in
the Max Vs Kev air show to do much damage!
A great game that everyone enjoyed, well unless your name is Jez that is. There will be
time for revenge though however, a new kitchen now beckons at Wally HQ so no action
for Algy next week. I shall be painting up more aircraft for a flight of RE 8's and FE 2's,
and Nige has now purchased some Bristol Fighters so new challenges abound.