Friday, March 1, 2013

Von Schmutzer Returns


I haven’t posted about Karl von Scmutzer since his initial mission link. I played his second mission a few weeks ago. Here is his belated report.

With my success the day before, the Hauptmann chose me to for a more dangerous mission; I was to fly patrol over the trench line. Unfortunately, I did not have quite the success as my first mission.

Once again, I spotted enemy aircraft immediately after taking off. I first encountered an enemy bomber. I got in one good shot, which I believe struck the pilot, before he was able to escape into some clouds. Next was another bomber, which I severely damaged. Then I tangled with a pair of enemy fighters. I was able to damage one while avoiding getting shot by his comrade, but then they turned tail and fled.

[In three out of four turns, von Schmutzer encountered enemy aircraft. His superior stats enabled him to get in shots, but none were decisive. I “cheated” a bit. In the early phases of the battles, I kept forgetting to roll to see if the enemy fled so the battles may have gone on longer than per the rules. Oh well.]

I finally made it over the trench lines, when I spotted a pair of enemy reconnaissance planes. I dove to the attack. I tried to line up on the rear plane but could not get a clear shot. The tail gunner of his comrade got a clean view of me. Bullets rattled overhead. With a little maneuvering, I finally got a shot. I could see pieces of fuselage breaking up. His comrade once again managed a clear shot. This time, bullets bit into my craft, ripping open holes in the fuselage’s covering. We maneuvered some more. All the time, I tried to position myself so they could not fire back. I kept safe but only managed a few ineffectual bursts. Finally, they made a break for their home base. My orders forbade me from chasing them into Allied territory, so they were able to escape.

[The second turn of the battle was the only one where any damage occurred. Leutnant von Schmutzer rolled a 6 + 4 (the Eindekker’s bonus) + 1 (Ace status) = 11 vs. 1 + 2 (aircraft bonus) = 3. The damage roll only resulted in one structural hit. Against the other aircraft, von Scmutzer rolled a 1 + 4 +1 = 6 vs. 6 +2 = 8. The enemy’s damage roll indicated structural damage against the German.]

After this encounter, I patrolled a short while longer. Enemy AA guns sent up a volley, but they were wildly inaccurate. Finally, with my fuel reserves running low, I headed home. Alas, no victories today.

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