So now that everyone has got their shiny new N11, some decided to make them even better looking. Here are some of the HA planes Achille is flying with:




And in the morning they were all woken up by strange noises coming from the road. They all came to look and this is what they were greeted by.

Journal Entry: November 24, 1915
Bertincourt

I feel the men are finally coming together as a team and today's sortie only proves it to be true. Ernst, Gustav and I escorted Leutnant Mau on a artillery shoot up to a position west of Lens. The enemy was out and about in force but nothing came close enough to threaten Mau and so I ignored them and continued our mission. After about an hour had passed Mau signaled that he had completed his work and was heading home. Since there were so many enemy aeroplanes in the area, I decided to stay a little while longer in the hopes that we could gobble up some fat two seaters. It wasn't long until two lumbering BE2cs came flying along heading back home after completing their work. I signaled the others and we turned to start stalking them. I can only assume that the Tommies were tired because they never saw us stalking them and that was their fatal mistake. The skies above the front are not that different than the savannahs of Africa, it's eat or be eaten, and one must always be vigilant. Anyway, I signaled Ernst to take the right one and I took the left and Gustav covered both of us just in case someone was stalking us. By the time the Tommies were aware of our presence they were already plunging earthward. We turned for home and upon landing I congratulated Ernst and Gustav for a job well done. At dinner, I stressed the importance of continually scanning the sky for enemies and had today's enemy done that, then they would be enjoying their dinner right now just as we are.

Lederhosen, you are quite the artist, I like your new skin.

Good reports and nice screenshots, everybody! I agree - lederhosen makes some great-looking skins.

The Diary of August Ege.

27.XI.1915. Frescaty-Metz.

Weather's been better this week, with a couple of almost sunny days! Consequently, the Abteilung has been flying very actively. As usual, most of our flights take us to the Verdun salient - either its central area with the big forts, or one of its flanks. There's no doubt that something big is being planned to take place here in the near future. As it gets dark quite early now, we have plenty of time to discuss things in the evenings. Everybody agrees that all these preparations can mean only one thing - a new offensive operation!

Verdun seems like the obvious target. Generals dislike big bulges in the lines, and Verdun fits that definition perfectly. The day before yesterday I was at a supply depot at Metz and had the opportunity to talk with some of my old friends from Kraftwagen-Park 5. They've been busy hauling men and materials to the rear areas of 5. Armee. Apparently they are building new roads, railways and dugouts there, and are using Russian prisoners of war (plenty of them available!) as laborers.

I suppose I shouldn't even be writing these things in my diary, but everybody here seems to know that something's afoot, so what's the harm? Something has gone terribly wrong if the enemy manages to acquire my diary!

But it makes me wonder - if everybody here seems to know about the preparations, then what about the enemy?


A comfortable dugout.

***

This DID campaign has been very relaxing so far compared to the crazy fighting of 1918 in the other DID! I'm greatly enjoying this change of pace.

Hasse, I agree, but don't get complacent because it will change before you know it.

Yeah, I'm sure it will change for the worse as soon as the first Nupe 11s appear in the Verdun sector! But I still have a couple of easy months left.

It's funny, but I feel more confident flying the Aviatik C.I against Nupes than if I had an Eindecker! I learned some decent defensive tactics in the other DID when my pilot was still in a two-seater squadron. The Aviatik has two guns and it isn't much less manoeuverable than the Eindecker, so I'm not too worried.

But at this point, an engine failure behind enemy lines is what troubles me the most!

You are correct, the Aviatik C.I can handle the N.11 fairly well. I found that if I acted aggressively when they attacked that it confused their attack and gave me a good chance of going on the offensive. Remember, you can also fire forward to some extent and that really messes with their heads.

Yeah, it does! My intrepid pilot had a scrap with two N10s the other day and nearly bagged his second victory. I do get a little upset with my gunner though, when he fixates on the one that's further away. Also, he tends to forget about his second gun!

H

Here is the latest status report. HarryH, there is a little confusion in your report, last week you were French and this week you're British. Which is it? I went ahead and left if like last weeks, but I'll fix it for next weeks when you let me know which is which.

Ah, pardon Monsieur, Bastien est Francais!!

Harry

Weather cleared up for Bastien, finally. However, when I loaded today's mission I had that old bug come back to haunt me, where your aircraft fails to appear on the field! I've seen other people say it's something to do with some airfields being below sea level or something, so your machines sometimes start underground! My TrackIR didn't initialize, either. Sigh. Guess I'll try again tomorrow.

H

I know that's frustrating because it has happened to me.

.

Banjoman, we discussed several months ago the possibility of my "Intrepid Fliers" pilot, Allard Tremblay, coming back from his capture in the "Warbirds Rising" group so that I would not have to wait yet another four months. Is this still a possibility because if so he can begin flying again. I'm not sure how you would handle this in terms of showing when he actually began his career, but I imagine you have a way.

Let me know, and thanks again for running this to-do, it is much appreciated.

.

Of course that would be fine, just start flying again. Don't worry about when he began, the dates really just represent when that particular group started.

Monsieur Tremblay, the time traveller!

Journal Entry: March 29, 1916
St. Pol-sur-Mer

I think if the Huns don't get me then the monotony of our daily lives will. Don't misunderstand, I still love flying, not war flying mind you, but soaring amongst the clouds on a fine spring day flying. Anyway, we arise in the morning and fly the same missions that we flew the day before and now the Huns have gone scarce. When we do see a Hun he almost always turns and flees. I assume it is because he knows that our machines are superior and it would be a losing proposition to stay and engage us. I fear this situation will not last forever. Roderic and I did have something interesting happen today while we were flying a DOP over Ghistelles. Normally, Archie would throw up a few desultory rounds in our direction when we would fly over one of their gasbags, but today he seemed quite intent on destroying us. As a matter of fact, we both had to dive and jink around to avoid being hit. I wonder if this is a sign of things to come or maybe Archie was just having a bad day.

Journal Entry: December 3, 1915
Bertincourt

The men have been having an ongoing discussion concerning which is better, to shoot down the enemy’s observation craft or their scouts. There are two definite camps in this discussion and both groups make very persuasive arguments for their position. One group argues that without the observation craft the enemy’s army is blinded and therefore that would give our army a noticeable advantage and might even be the deciding factor that would lead us to victory. The other argues that by first eliminating the scouts then you can eliminate the observation machines at your leisure and thereby achieving the same goals. Needless to say, our dinners have been very lively and entertaining. Ultimately, their debate is moot because all we have seen are blasted Nieuports. I had hoped that when we received the new Fokkers we could wreak some havoc on the enemy’s two seater machines, but that has not happened. Usually, when we do encounter an observation craft it turns and flees before we can even engage and so we are left with dueling with Nieuports. It is only fitting then that yesterday I scored my eighth victory against a Nieuport and today we fought an inconclusive engagement against a pair of Nieuports. We will continue to perform our duties but I sure would enjoy meeting some fat juicy BE.2cs at some point.