C/1, see them all…

Sunday 1st August, 1915

“What the Hell are these?”, murmured Schafer as he watched the rest of the abteilung coming in to land, “I thought we were getting Roland two-seaters?”

Zimmermann sighed, “Evidently there has been a change”.

The first aeroplane, an Albatros, had landed and was taxiing to the hangers, the pilot giving a cheerful wave. The other aircraft soon followed and minutes later the air was full of chatter as the crews compared notes on their new aircraft.

Zimmermann was more sanguine, taking his time to inspect the aeroplanes in detail.

“Franck!”, he called, “Come here, please”

Vizefeldwebel Franck ran over to his C/O and saluted smartly, “Yes, Herr Commandant!”

“How are they?”, Zimmermann asked whilst still tugging at wires and casting his eyes along the lines of the new planes.

“They’ll do all right, Mein Herr; though Vogel says the Aviatik is underpowered”

Zimmermann nodded absently and dismissed him.

“We’ll have our work cut out protecting these crates, Max”, he said quietly to Schafer, “We were supposed to get the new Rolands but it seems that we’ve been screwed over by someone in High Command”

Schafer smiled, “Don’t worry, Mein Herr; we have the E/IIIs – what have the Tommies got? Be-2Cs? At least the Albatrosses have a decent field of fire”

Zimmermann appeared to have made his mind up, he nodded and addressed the flyers as a group, “Gentlemen”, he said, “We start offensive operations tomorrow. I know you’re all tired from your journey, but you need to get these aeroplanes in the air again today and practice some manoeuvres. I don’t want you caught out by any quirks they may have.

He saw the men’s shoulders sag, “We have a duty, Gentlemen, and we must ensure that we fulfil that duty”, then, with the slightest hint of a smile, he added, “And I will stand drinks in the mess tonight”

* * *

So we now have all our forces to start our 1915 campaign; the Germans will have two Eindeckers, two Albatros C/Is and two Aviatik C/Is. Originally I’d got some Rolands but when I looked at the stats in the Wings at War: Eindecker rules I felt that it was too much of an advantage. I only ordered these on Sunday so I was amazed that Paul at Tumbling Dice had got them to me by Tuesday, and I was equally amazed how it galvanised me into action – within an hour I’d converted two of the Albatros models to Aviatiks (sort of – I just filed the tail down to give a different profile) and after dropping me Julie back at her’s and having the house to myself I got them painted up.

The featured image at the top of the page is the Albatros of Lt. Jung and Vzfw. Berger, below is the Albatros of Lt. Hoffmann and Vzfw. Franck.

Then we have the first of the two Aviatiks, piloted by Vzfw. Konig with Lt. von Lubberstorf as observer/commander. My ‘conversion’ was rudimentary in the extreme, involving no more than filing down the tail a bit to change the profile.

And finally there’s the Aviatik of Vzfw. Vogel and Lt. Meyer.

The Aviatiks have, essentially, the same performance and issues as the BE-2C, i.e. that the observer is sat in front of the pilot and therefore is not able to fire directly behind. They are not as stable, though. The Albatrosses have a bit more power and have a better field of fire as the observer is sat behind the pilot, so they do have a small advantage.

Hopefully the first game will be on Sunday.