Over Flanders 1917

The Hostile Aircraft rules were in use. As the program book sums it up, "The tiny Belgian air service takes to the skies. Edmond Thieffry leads the Spads of the 5e Escadrille against the Pfalz metroplanes of Jasta 10."

Well, that was the plan, but when the referee found himself with 18 people ready to play, the scenario needed some tweaking. The battle was broken into two engagements on different ends of the tabletop, and in the east I was the end-man in a line of Belgian Hanriots (5 planes, 1 machinegun each) vs. German planes (4 planes, 2 machineguns each, I forget what type they were, with a height advantage).

Still a bit unsure of maneuvering, I started off with a gentle climb and a bit of acceleration. My wingmates, being eager to strike the enemy, accelerated and left me behind! It then looked as though two German planes were about to combine against me, so I sideslipped to force one German to block the other's approach. However, one of the Germans instead turned to dive on my impetuous near-wingman, leaving a single German and myself to have a head-to-head confrontation.

Meanwhile, first fire of the game was from a Hanriot on the other end of our line...whose guns jammed! He then flew on past the enemy, beating on his guns to unjam them. My impetuous neighbor shot up a German plane, but fired too often and his guns too jammed (and broke -- he was out of play!).

As for my confrontation, my move brought us within medium range of our guns. If we fired now, then our chance of jamming our guns if we fired in the next turn (when range would be close) would be very great. Knowing that I had half the firepower of the German aircraft, I chose to fire...and scored a lucky critical hit! The German player (a young teenager) rolled for his damage...and suffered a bullet to the head of his pilot! I'd knocked out the first plane in the fight!

Following this, the German plane which my impetuous friend had previously shot up, disengaged from its fight, shot me up a little bit, and then held on to an advantageous position out of range but above and behind me. I was doubly worried, since this player was the mother of the player I had just shot down! I studied the rules, looking for some maneuver that would give me the edge, and still my enemy was behind and above me.

Fortunately, it was about that time that a friendly Spad from the dogfight at the other end of the tabletop ambled along. I crossed in front of him, forcing my enemy to give up the pursuit. I then tried to turn and give chase (failing to find a maneuver which would let me turn on a dime, I instead sacrificed speed for a very sharp turn), but the Spad struck first and shot her down.

Meanwhile, a very complicated fight had ensued among the other Hanriots and the Germans, but the weight of numbers aided the Belgians. Another German plane fell from the skies. In the west, a large dogfight had resulted in no losses yet, but it was clear that the Belgians were losing.

Time was then called (after four hours), with top honors being given to my Belgian colleagues who had shot down their German foes. It was a great fight, and kudos to the fellows at Goblintooth for being willing to fit so many players into one game (a record number, they told me).