MudWasp: I thought I would love the E.III when I started a campaign with them, but on my second mission I was just climbing out of my takeoff and thought I'd begin my 'circle to altitude'. Spin. Stall. Boom. Ugh.

Hasse: Bad luck with the Aviatiks. I've come to the conclusion that running away is bad (unless you know for a fact you have a speed advantage, or are injured and desperate.) Try wearing them down by making them chase and turn with you. I've never tried the Aviatik so even that might not work... I've saved my life a few times with the 'dive to tree-top level and run' strategy.


July 9, 1916
Sgt. Bilbo Baggins, RFC 70


Today we flew a six-plane mission intended to patrol the border and recon for a bit. As usual in these things, we didn't make it.

While flying near Loos, Flight Leader Cruikshank suddenly began diving and weaving back and forth, trying to drain his energy. We weren't very high to begin with (6K feet), so this drop was a bit surprising.

After a few quite graceful arcs on his part, we saw his prey: Four Eindeckers. One thing I've learned in QC is that, whereas in many situations the disadvantaged machine will run for it, the AI doesn't realize the Eindecker really is that much worse than the Strutter. The two flights charged into each other.

That's when I noticed...these aren't Eindeckers. Monoplanes, yes. Hostile, yes. But the fuselage is wrong. Who are these guys?



Oh dear.

The next few minutes are a blur. I get behind one of the Nazgul and fire a few shots into it, but there's another Strutter flying a little too close to my comfort, and he's leading me away from the melee. Both of us let him go, and I realize we're in a full fledged furball.



One of them turns away, so I begin settling in to a rear chase but my Strutter buddy is right there with me. In fact, he cuts me off at about 10 or 20 yards distance. No, this is far too dangerous. I turn away, disgusted.

Two left: I fire one burst into Nazgul # 3 and he goes into a death spiral - I must have hit the pilot. # 4 goes into a flat spin before I can even get to him. I follow him down: He tries twice to reverse his spin, but can't quite pull it off. Down he goes.

The melee left me at about 700 feet altitude, so I slowly circled my way back to 5000 waiting for my flight to form up. Two of the Strutters are still with me. I don't realize it at the time, but a third crashed and burned. This leaves two friendlies missing.

I stick around for a good 10 minutes, as do my Strutter buddies, but the call to form up never comes. I finally go home and submit a claim for two Nazgul. Following interviews with witnesses and a visit with the flight surgeon to determine whether I've lost it, Command awards me one E.III instead.