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The Principality of Pren Gwyn

6 (37.5%)

The Empire of Schwarzes Holz

6 (37.5%)

Actually, aircraft are more scary then the people who hunt draft dodgers like me

4 (25%)

Total Members Voted: 16

[stabbymcstabstab]

I declare for the Kaiser, the leader of a actual nation of people not flightless birds.

[piratejoe]

Battle Report, Early Summer 1915

This turn both sides have improved their aircraft, abet in drastically different ways, and both have worked on their image. Starting with Schwarzes Holz, or rather, the Kaiserliche Luftjäger, they have done work very apt and fitting for their name, installing onto their aircraft something called a Förden Mount, a special mounting on top of the wing of an aircraft that allows the pilot to easily pull down a machine gun to reload or unjam along with easily able to lock it into any placement along the rail that they desire. The machine gun in question they have is taken from the army and called the GL-11 Donnerkanone, which occasionally jams, but is easily fixed...

The Pren Gwyn, or Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol, meanwhile, have done work on the AGC-AMD "Saeth" Biplane, a heavily modified Saeth biplane created after the merger of Awyrennau Gwynt Cryf with Atebion Mecanyddol Deinamig. Its wings are modified to have the fancy things known as ailerons and also the craft are made more aerodynamic. Not only is the craft more maneuverable, but it has greater lift and speed, although, while noticeable when compared to the older model, its not too much of an increase in these capabilities, the main increase being in maneuverability.

Both sides have made a nice roundel, but the Kaiserliche Luftjäger have also made an official flag, Emblem, and an additional stamped roundel.

Spoiler: Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Kaiserliche Luftjäger (click to show/hide)

While the Roundel that Pren Gwyn's Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol made is very fitting and looks great, Schwarzes Holz's Kaiserliche Luftjäger and their work on both stamped roundel, normal roundel, flag, and symbol is very admirable and fills their Pilots with pride and as such they win 2 PP.

The Eastern Front

On the Eastern Front, little changes, and little happens here. Both sides have deployed a single squadron, and both squadrons don't actually meet each other in the air. Here, both pilots don't actually suffer any casualties, mostly due to the range involved resulting in the Kaiserliche Luftjäger unable to engage enemy aircraft where they are normally spotted, over land. If a group of aircraft where to find each other over the sea between the two landmasses, combat certaintly could happen, but for now, by the time an aircraft is spotted, whether due to luck or judgement, its either heading home or the fuel gauge is too low to risk combat.

It should be noted however, that a decent amount of Pren Gwyn port activity went on early in the month before ceasing, but what exactly was happening is unknown at this time. The Schwarzes Holz can feel safe however, as it certainty isn't an invasion, as there would be a lot more activity then what went on, though some kind of important transport was taken elsewhere.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Central Front
Here is where things get interesting, the Kaiserliche Luftjäger is ordered to do normal recon here, but to engage any aircraft they spot, and here, it seems there is no shortage of Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol aircraft to shoot at. The first Aerial victory happens only a few days into the month, with Leutnant Arnntt Grundlers from the squadron Rote Geschwader shooting down Major Adda Bevans from the squadron Esgob Adran, although the latter returned to service after a few days as he landed with minor injuries as his engine was broken over his own lines, and not his wing. The first casualty, however, is Captain Gwynlais Mower from the same squadron as the major, who was killed after his wing was shot off by Vizefeldwebel Pawl Sprengers, while the first casualty from the Luftjäger is Vizefeldwebel Thonges Zaiser who died shortly after his aircraft collided with the shot off wing of his first victory. Still, despite this, half of the aircraft here are actually quite difficult for the Schwarzes Holz Pilots to actually shoot down, and one of the Pilots in the newer AGC-AMD's of the squadron Gwerinwyr Adran, Flight Sergeant Garth Mathias, actually managed to score the first victory for Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol, by managing to get a lucky shot with his pistol, hitting Feldwebel Detertt Rotenburg in the head as he was unjamming his gun.

Despite this however, the pilots of Pren Gwyn, flying for the Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol are able to do their recon duties more then the Pilots of the Kaiserliche Luftjäger, mostly due to the fact they have twice the number of aircraft and they tend to be able to fly away and around the aircraft of the Luftjäger before they are spotted in return, and half of the pilots of Pren Gwyn need only keep enough of a distance away from them to be more or less safe. When two aircraft actually engage in combat, really, its more of a show of the Brenhinol Pilot dodging and the Luftjäger Pilot shooting until either the Brenhinol Pilot getting shot down or the Luftjäger Pilot running out of ammo, and the latter tends to happen if the Luftjäger Pilot happens to be fighting a AGC-AMD, though, one or two AGC-AMD's have been shot down, yet Gwerinwyr Adran has not taken any casualties.

So, this month, minor advances from Pren Gwyn happen on the road between Nachtburg and Bont Gwyn as they have better intelligence, however, in the highlands, the Bergsteiger continues to have success in the highlands, making another large push and securing almost all of the highlands...

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Western Front
Here, air combat is less likely for two reasons, those being there are less aircraft, and there is more ground to cover here. Despite this, that doesn't stop combat from happening, or another very rare incident of a Pren Gwyn Pilot killing an enemy pilot while in the air with a pistol, this time with Vizefeldwebel Henrick Bendel as the one getting shot and Flight Sergeant Samlet Belling being the one doing the shooting. Still, a few more aircraft are sent to the ground in rough fashion here like in the central front, but its much rarer, and like in the central front, Pren Gwyn Pilots usually keep a fair distance away from enemy aircraft. However, this actually hampers their efforts more then in the central front, as without having twice as many aircraft and with more ground to cover there is much more work to be done, especially when you have to fly around the enemy least you risk your life.

Schwarzes Holz advances slightly on the march to Gwag Du thanks to having more Intel then Pren Gwyn, although, its only a minor advantage like in the central front. Meanwhile, on the western side of the mountain, General Dremidydd Rosser with the help of his tactical genius coordinates a large offensive toward Dunklerfelsen.

Spoiler: map (click to show/hide)

The Outside World:

The Great War continues in Europe. HMS Formidable, a Royal Navy battleship, is sunk by a German U-boat on the first day of the year. The United States Coast Guard is formed as a branch of the military by an act of Congress. Russian forces defeat the Ottomans at the Battle of Sarikamish, and the British draw up plans for a campaign in Gallipolli. The Corpo Aeronautico Militare is established as a branch of the Royal Italian Army. Two German Zeppelins make the first successful raid on the United Kingdom, dropping several bombs and killing four.

It is now the Design Phase, Late Summer 1915.

[Aseaheru]

Damn, not one but two kills using pistols? I assume these arent even things akin to artillery lugers, but pistols in the more modern stockless sense?

[piratejoe]

Well, one of them was a revolver and the other was a semi auto pistol. Your Pilots have the ability to borrow a good number of different of pistols, especially the pilots of the Kaiserliche Luftjäger if they decide to land and take the pistol of a Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol aircraft as proof and as something to add to a collection.

[piratejoe]

Battle Report, Late Summer 1915

This turn, both sides have shown off new additions to their aircraft, but one side has worked on something a bit different that finally has been sighted by Schwarzes Holz's forces. Starting off with the Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol, they have created the C15 Tŵr Awyr, a hydrogen balloon with capacity of four when fully loaded that is painted white on the bottom half and green on the top half that  ascends quite quickly and is very stable even at its max altitude. The crew have a few bits of equipment to make spotting easier and the balloons have a Telegraph and a GW "Galw Allan" 78 radio for communication with the ground. Other then the balloon, the Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol have created the AGC-AMD "Saeth" Mod 2B Biplane, which is basically just a AGC-AMD with a radial engine called a Rhodri 10-140 D15 and with two DG TyD machine guns strapped onto its upper wings at the spars, which tend to over heat as they are water cooled and are considered 'too heavy' with water loaded on it. The guns are hard to aim, have limited ammo, and are otherwise hampered by their positioning, but at the very least their pilots aren't forced to use pistols anymore...

Meanwhile, the  Kaiserliche Luftjäger have made and installed the AVD Motors Dehnert SMT 915, which is a powerful and light radial engine that can be equipped onto a Motte, said Motte's being refereed to as a Motte-SMT's. Needless to say, this improves their aircraft's speed a good deal, making them a fair bit faster then normal Motte's, though they still turn the same way they always did. Additionally, they created the GL-11b Luftdonnerkanone, which is simply a modified GL-11 that comes with a lot less jamming, they also managed to make tracer ammo which will certainty help pilots with aiming.

The Eastern Front

Here at the Eastern Front, the first aircraft to hit the water and sink beneath the waves happens to do just that, and somewhat fittingly, its due to a pistol shot, but this time by a Luftjäger Pilot who did it after he ran out of ammo for his machine gun. Otherwise, only one other bit of air combat happens here, with the Brenhinol Pilot dodging long enough for the Luftjäger Pilot to run out of ammo. Still, these two minor incidents are simply a side show to the main event that happens almost half way into the month thanks to the combined efforts of the Pren Gwyn Llynges Frenhinol and the Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol...

Early in the morning, at 06:00 the city of Stilles Wasser was starting to get the day going, people waking up and getting ready for the day of work ahead of them. However, the army was wide awake already, with a shift change to happen in two hours, watching the waters for any sign of ships flying the colors of Pren Gwyn, and at 06:18 an alarm was raised, a small task force of enemy ships made up by destroyers a single light cruiser, LFM Penhwyad, and oddly enough a few cargo ships, had been sighted heading for the city. The defenses quickly where made ready to fire, waiting for the ships to get into range. At 06:20, balloons seemed to rise up and shortly after at 06:21 shots where fired. The fight against shore defenses and naval ships went on for an hour before the guns on the ground where silenced, followed by two hours of intense bombardment on the port and industrial facilities that where a part of the city. At about 10:30, the balloons went down and the ships sailed away, with a few torpedo boats arriving to late to do much of anything other then look at the city.

Meanwhile, with the sounds of large caliber gunfire having stopped, and a siren sounding the all clear, civilians got out and where able to see the destruction that had rained down upon the dock and industrial district, a raid that had destroyed less houses then raids before it, but one that was devastating to the trade and production output the city had...and more importantly, its defenses as well...

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Central Front

In the Central Front the situation changed in the Luftjäger's favor, as the AGC-AMD Saeth's have flown away leaving the normal Saeth's to do recon on their own, and while they don't need to go too far to get things done, the threat of enemy aircraft is ever present, and it becomes clear to the pilots of the Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol they cant just keep flying around the Motte's, and even if they could, the Motte's are faster then the aircraft they currently have and as such they really have to be careful about where exactly they are flying when they spot a Motte or two. Because of this more Saeth's are shot down then before, and needless to say, less work gets done by the squadron of Saeth's here then before.

Still this has resulted in one thing of note, one thing very much of note. A pilot named Nicholas von Rheinbach was promoted from Vizefeldwebel to Feldwebel after his fifth victory, and a local newspaper in the city of Nachtburg ran an short article on his exploits calling him a Überkanonen. Though, Hauptmann Clauwes Mutzhas of Gold Geschwader was reported to have dismissed his accomplishments by simply saying he was the winner of the local duck hunt and hadn't been in any danger unlike himself and his own pilots, there also is a rumor that he was so dismissive and even angry about this accomplishment due to the death of Jesge Foltz, Gold Geschwader's best pilot.

Needless to say, the Luftjäger has a good amount of sucsess here and are able to undo the work the Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol had done earlier this summer. Meanwhile, the Bergsteiger starts to slow down in the highlands, taking full control of them, but not advancing much beyond that.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Western Front

Here, the sky has much more in it then before, with not only the brand new Mod 2B here, but also the C15 as well. And the Mod 2B shows its worth here and then some, having more maneuverability and more or less equal speed than its rival, proves to be a pain to deal with, and a deadly one at that. They manage to keep the skies mostly clear with few casualties, although they do lose a few aircraft, mostly due to one pilot constantly crashing and yet surviving who has since been nicknamed Cwrs Damwain Caledfwlch. Still, the pilots in Marchog Adran are quite happy to have a relaxing and mostly safe time this month, happily marking down their observations with little worry. In fact, they report only two casualties this month. Meanwhile, the Gold Geschwader suffers in their ability to preform their mission, having to deal with the Pren Gwyn aircraft hunting them, usually getting downed when they are writing on their notepad or when otherwise distracted.

Meanwhile, while all these aircraft are buzzing around, a few C15 Tŵr Awyr observers make bets in between artillery fire on what aircraft will go down when they happen to spot them. They happen to be even safer then the pilots in any of the aircraft, and are quite safe thanks to the air cover, communicating both by radio and telegraph to the artillery that rains down upon the soldiers of Schwarzes Holz from afar.

Due to the inhibited intelligence gathering of the Luftjäger, the uninhibited intelligence gathering of the Brenhinol, and the support Artillery has with the C15's, the Pren Gwyn's manage to push forward closer to the city of Sprungburg, meanwhile, General Dremidydd Rosser continues to make advances on the western side of the western front.

Spoiler: map (click to show/hide)

The Outside World:


A regiment of sepoys in Singapore mutinies amidst rumours of being sent to Turkey to fight fellow Muslims, the mutiny is put down with the assistance of Japanese, French and Russian sailors. Further attempts by the Germans to mount Zeppelin raids on England meet with failure, with some airships lost. The Imperial Russian Navy begins seaplane carrier raids on the Ottoman Empire’s Black Sea coast, while British ships attempt to force the Dardanelles strait. In the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the Royal Flying Corps photographs the entire attack front, creating mosaic maps that allow British forces to achieve local surprise. The SS Manica is converted into the Royal Navy’s first balloon tender.

It is now the Design Phase, Early Autumn 1915.

[piratejoe]

Battle Report, Early Autumn 1915

This turn both sides have unveiled their aircraft, one having a flashier entrance into service than other, and that aircraft being the Kaiserliche Luftjäger's AvDD.I Adderbolt, a aircraft using the Dehnert 9C, a slightly more powerful version of the Dehnert 9B, as an engine. Additionally, it is armed with two brand new GL-12 Luftblitzkanone machine guns, which are specifically designed to eliminate jamming and also fire much faster then the old guns did, has a fancy new sight, and arguably look much fancier. But this is just getting sidetracked, the Adderbolt is an odd aircraft, and not because its in the pusher configuration, but instead because while one can say it is a biplane for having two wings, their positioning is quite...unorthodox, and some engineers argue that because its a tandem wing aircraft the name should be VD.I (Verdrängeindecker) or the Zw.I (Zweindecker). The aircraft is fairly small, very maneuverable, fast, and durable due to being made entirely out of wood. Needless to say the aircraft is very distinct and unique, unmistakable in the sky.

Of course, the Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol haven't been lazy either, and have made the ACG-AMD AC15 "Saethydd", a two seater biplane with a Rhodri in a pusher configuration and mounts two machineguns, one locked in the front connected to a trigger on the flight stick for use by the pilot and one for the observer on a ring mount sitting forward of the pilot. The aircraft is constructed out of the traditional wood and canvas, but its frame is designed to last and be durable, as to make sure that a few seconds of fire won't shear a wing off. Speaking of, the craft is equipped with a AGAA AC15, which is a light, very reliable, and most importantly, air cooled. The most noteworthy thing about the aircraft though, is that it is actually surprisingly maneuverable for its size.

The Eastern Front

Here, nothing much actually happens between aircraft, mostly because the Luftjäger is the only one to actually send airplanes here, and they certainty do their best job in scouting out Dinas tywod, although, while they are the only airplanes in the area, they aren't the only thing in the air. Another raid, this time on Nordosthafen, is carried out to very damaging effect. Though, unlike last time, the bombardment is interrupted by enemy ships, which where spotted by the balloons before they approached. The balloons helped to an extent in the combat that ensued, but there where losses and the tenders weren't exactly the hardest targets. Still, in the end the Pren Gwyn's won the engagement and where able to continue the bombardment until completion, but it wasn't without cost like the last raid.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Central Front

The battle in the skies here is between the newly made Rudel Gescgwader and the not so newly made Ydfran Adran, both equipped with new aircraft. Here, the two aircraft show their straights and weaknesses compared to each other, and, at a first glance it would seem like the Rudel pilots would have an easy time dealing with the Ydfran pilots with their AvDD.I Adderbolt's, but this isn't exactly the case. The adderbolt's guns are more accurate and the aircraft more agile and faster, but the Saethydd can fire at any enemy at any position except when behind the Saethydd and level, slightly above, or bellow, meaning while the Saethydd isn't as maneuverable as the Adderbolt, it just needs to keep them off their tail, and when not alone, the aircraft is able to cover friendlies. Additionally, while still not exactly experienced, Ydfran Pilots are more experienced than the newly created Rudel ones, and none of the Ydfran pilots are caught distracted looking at the ground and writing what they see. Still, over all, the Adderbolt comes out on top this month, mostly due to the better accuracy.

Advancements are naturally done by  Schwarzes Holz, mostly due to the simple fact that the Pren gwyn's don't have anything supporting their army. Meanwhile, the advance of the Bergsteiger halts in most places, due to a number of factors including increased enemy defenses and supply issues.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Western Front

Here, the poor pilots of the Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol, at least the ones flying near sprungburg to gain Arial superiority suffer terribly from enemy Adderbolts, and because of this, a decent amount of C15 Twr Awyr's are shot down as well. However, things aren't all that bad, a decent amount of balloons survive, and more importantly, a pilot, already well known for his skills with a pistol, managed to shoot down two Adderbolts in his Saeth, the only two shot down by a Saeth. His name, which should be familiar, is Garth Mathias, still a Flight Sergeant and still alive despite the harsh conditions he and his aircraft has to go through to not get shot down. Like with the first ace the other side had, a news paper mentioned his exploits as a star turn pilot, and a few people start talking about the airforce of the principality.

Meanwhile, things are different on the other side of the mountains, with General Dremidydd Rosser leading his advance with the support of aircraft and balloons now, and while the Adderbolts seem to be able to appear anywhere at any time, they still can't be everywhere at once, and naturally with better aircraft the Pren's do a bit better here then on the other sides of the mountain, however they still do have issues. Regardless, the march to Dunklerfelsen General Dremidydd Rosser leads is ahead of schedule thanks to the support from the Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol, while the advance toward Sprungburg slows due to losses of balloons and enemy intelligence.

Spoiler: map (click to show/hide)

Behind the Frontlines

In the mid day on the first day of the new month, a grand show was planned by the Luftjäger, and a fairly decent amount of people showed up, interested about this new aircraft they planed to show the citizenry and make them awe at the many innovations made by the empire. When the people who showed up heard the sound of engines in the distance, they looked up and where shocked to see a very special aircraft, one with a black fuselage that had a contrasting, skewed line pattern tail, gold wing tips, and the Luftjäger's detailed stamped symbol on the side of the aircraft. One that had the Überkanonen, the Feldwebel and hero known as Nicholas von Rheinbach. After the aircraft in the show did some fairly basic maneuvers some of the aircraft, including the ace started truly showing off what the aircraft could do, and at the end, the last one doing tricks in the sky was the Überkanonen, ending with aileron roll just before landing. Needless to say the press who where at the event practically mobbed the poor ace to try and get his story and any information they could about the new aircraft, and he didn't disappoint coming off as a confident hero that the people need. Several more shows like this went on over the early autumn season, and the Kaiserliche Luftjäger Magazin saw a increase in readership. But more importantly, more war bonds where sold by patriotic people who look to the sky, knowing that they will be a little safer with the knight of the sky the Kaiserliche Luftjäger was so luckily graced with... Additionally, Nicholas was found to have, in his spare time, looked into engineering so he could know his aircraft better, and was able to speak with Andreas and learn the limits of the new aircraft a bit more, which certainty helped him get use to the aircraft during the airshows, and this possibly part of the reason why the shows went so well.



The Outside World:

The French pilot Roland Garros scores the first kill achieved by firing a machinegun through a propeller, using armoured deflector wedges on his propeller. He is later shot down and his aircraft captured by the Germans. Another French pilot, Adolphe Pégoud, scores his fifth kill and becomes the world’s third fighter ace, some even arguing he is the first. The United States Navy launches the first aircraft from a catapult on a floating platform. The Germans begin the large-scale use of poison gas on the Western Front at the Second Battle of Ypres. British forces start the Gallipolli Campaign with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles. Italy signs the Treaty of London, secretly agreeing to join the Entente Powers in exchange for parts of Austria-Hungary and Dalmatia. The ocean liner RMS Lusitania is sunk by a U-boat, causing tensions between Germany and the United States to rise.

Event: The nearby Kingdom of Shirohon had what was reported by both the Principality and the Empires reporters as shocking aerial display using what are clearly outdated aircraft that must have been pushed to their limits to preform the graceful movements they did. After this showing, the God King of Shirohon himself came forth, to make an announcement. He acknowledges that he no longer owns most of the archipelago, but says it is still Shirohon soil. Therefore, he offers the service of his pilots to the nations, though at a price. The price of each crew is at 5 PP, but he says this season is blessed, so he offers a 4 PP price for the rest of Autumn. Naturally, these pilots are not of the normal stock, and won't have the traditional traits of Principality and Empire pilots, though they certainty are more skilled than the average pilot both nations have...

It is now the Design Phase, Late Autumn 1915.

[piratejoe]

Battle Report, Late Autumn 1915
I finally have my pilot roster back and such, so this is possible.

This turn the uses for aircraft in the war have increased, especially for the Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol who have created two things that are intertwined with each other. Firstly, the Deg punt Tri modfedd mortar shell, which is more or less exactly what it says on the tin. It is a 76.2mm or 3 inch mortar shell that weighs in at a fairly light ten pounds that was quite obviously borrowed from the army. And secondly, the Fasged Addasiad, a bomb clamp that can be adjusted to hold different numbers of things and different sizes that can release those things it holds with the pull of a lever. Needless to say, with both these combined, its fairly obvious the result of the Pren Gwyn's work.

The Kaiserliche Luftjäger of course, hasn't been idle either, having worked on the Schlanke Beleuchtung Adderbolt, often abbreviated to SBD, it is a upgraded variant of the Adderbolt that is both more durable and aerodynamic than the earlier versions. Additionally, this version has a new engine as well, or rather, an upgraded engine called the AvD Motors Dehnert SMT 915 'Blitz 230'. The engine actually only has a horsepower of 229, but for the sake of the numbers being even and nice to look at, they set it to be 230 instead. They also have worked on things other than the aircraft, they have worked on the FEiV-12M, a radio that weighs 20 kilograms and uses the power of an engine instead of a battery. Finally they also put in some effort to make their pilots just that bit more comfortable, better equipped, and least most importantly very stylish.

The Eastern Front

On the eastern front, new pilots take to the skys, identifiable by their aircraft having a sword inside the roundel of the nation who's aircraft they fly, and a wing behind it. These pilots, along with other more traditional ones, take off and hunt for any enemy aircraft...for about three days until they find that nothing is here for them to shoot at. So, much to the new pilots disappointment, not much in terms of action happens here as they are forced to fly over enemy lines and simply write down and draw what they see. Though, that isn't to say nothing of note happens here, as once again, near the end of the month, another naval raid strikes the coasts, this time however after thirty minutes of bombardment, a group of aircraft from the aforementioned new pilots came in and quickly shot down the bombardment's balloons, one of them claiming to even have forced one down by using a sword rather than their guns. After this, with arriving naval forces and artillery on the ground given time to reorginize, the forces Schwarzes Holz are able to drive them off and badly damage a few ships and sink a few others.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Central Front

The fight here is a interesting one to say the least, for it is where a new way for aircraft to support the men on the ground is dropped right onto the Schwarzes Holz's heads. Shortly after the aircraft of Ydfran Adran were equipped with the new mortar shells and the things to hold them, they went right to work. At first the ordinary officer of the Schwarzes Holz army would learn the hard way the aircraft mean bad news by looking up into the sky and see a bunch of aircraft going over their trenches, curios as to why there was so many of them, only to be shocked to see their artillery go up in flames soon after. Of course, the aircraft have their limitations, due to the size of the bomb, its only really effective when used against targets that have a tendency to explode violently if disturbed harshly like ammo depots and any artillery battery's. However, that's not to say they can only hit those targets, its just they aren't as effective when dropping them on entrenched positions, and such thing for the moment is best left to the artillery.

In the sky, the battle goes in the favor of the Brenhinol as the Luftjäger, while in better aircraft, have to split their attention between balloons, recon aircraft that just so happens to have a particular ace with them, bombers, and worst of all, escort aircraft. For the most part, they focus on the balloons, though occasionally one of the escort aircraft would break off to drive them away. They do engage bombers and recon aircraft as well, though they do this less often due to the simple fact that they wish not to engage while outnumbered. The results of these fights usually goes strategically to the Brenhinol's favor as even when enemy aircraft do shoot down a number of aircraft, they usually are shooting down the escort, allowing their enemy to complete their mission. This is especially apparent with the bombers due to the simple fact that the Pilots have little way to tell which aircraft is a bomber or an escort unless they get a look onto the underside of the aircraft, which is needless to say dangerous.

Two major things happen in the sky this month in terms of combat however. Another Überkanonen for the Luftjäger emerges, his name being Tabbart Friedrich Fuchs. Similarly to the other Überkanonen, Tabbart was promoted from Vizefeldwebel to Feldwebel, however, unlike the other Überkanonen, Tabbart currently has more victories, mostly due to the fact that Nicholas hasn't had anything for him to shoot at. If this will become a friendly rivalry between squads, something seen as a competition, or simply recognition and cold indifference remains to be seen...As for that second major thing that happens here, a flight of three Adderbolt's seeing an easy target in the form of a slightly larger flight of four Saeth's that happened to lose their escort. Unfortunately for this Luftjäger flight, one of the aircraft happened to have a particular star turn pilot. Despite their aircraft being highly limited, Garth was able to shoot down one of them as they shot down the leader of the flight and another went down maneuvering out of the way of fire from one of the other Saeth's. The last one attempted to get away using its superior speed, possibly to get an altitude advantage, but Garath was positioned not too far ahead of him, and thats when Garath entered a spin. The pilot of the last Adderbolt thought that Garath was an easy target and dove to engage him, but overshot, and that was his last mistake as Garath exited the spin in the right position to pull the nose up and fire away at the last enemy that went after his flight. This event meant that Garath was no longer the only Pilot to kill an Adderbolt with a Saeth, though the two other times a flight of Saeth's weren't escorted it was a slaughter... Despite this, Garath was not promoted...

All in all, with their missions to bomb important targets and preform recon over enemy lines being mostly successful, and while a good deal of balloons get shot down, enough survive to change the tide of a few battles further to the west and to the east the Pren Gwyn are able to retake the land they were pushed out of.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Western Front

Over the western front, aircraft on both sides fly over and do vastly differing jobs. The pilots of the Brenhinol strafe the ground, making the lives of soldiers fighting in the fairly open, if high, terrain just that little bit worse, while the pilots of the Luftjäger fly high above and report troop movements and guide artillery from the comfort of their aircraft thanks to the new radio. While a different form of aerial recon, it is an effective one, although it weighs down the aircraft its installed in a bit, it doesn't need to have maximum performance, especially considering the fact that the aircraft rarely engage the Brenhinol pilots strafing the ground down below. Though a few pilots do go after Brenhinol aircraft, to varying degrees of success, the most common target are balloons, but for the most part both sides operations have little in the way of opposition.

For the time being, this front is the place with the lowest number of casualties on either sides air force, not including the eastern front anyway. It would almost be like the old days, if flying too close to the other sides aircraft didn't result in anyone getting shot at with machine guns anyway. Still, many of the newer pilots on both sides are able to more or less relax and worry less than they would on the other fronts as every day isn't a fight for survival but just another flight. That's not to say they don't know whats at stake or that this will likely change in the coming months, but it is a nice change of pace for once.

Regardless, while strafing is good at times, radio reporting is better, and as such, on the eastern side of the island, the Schwarzes Holz are able to advance a bit, on the western side however, with Balloon support and General Dremidydd Rosser, the Pren Gwyn's find themselves closer to Dunklerfelsen than ever before, and soon enough they will be at the gates of the city.

Spoiler: map (click to show/hide)

The Outside World:

The Imperial German Navy carries out its first airship raid on London, killing seven. China agrees to the Twenty-One Demands made by the Empire of Japan, furthering their economic dominance in Manchuria. A Zeppelin is destroyed in air-to-air combat for the first time over Ghent, Belgium by a pilot dropping bombs. The Allied forces make slight advances with heavy casualties at the Second Battle of Artois but fail to break the German lines. The Gallipolli campaign enters a period of stalemate as well, after an Ottoman counteroffensive fails to retake Anzac Cove.

It is now the Design Phase, Early Winter 1915.

[piratejoe]

Battle Report, Early Winter 1915

This turn the Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol have decided to start dropping more than artillery shells on the Schwarzes Holz's heads and have made the Deg punt Tri modfedd Bomb which is still exactly what it says on the tin. Its a bomb based off the mortar shell that they used last autumn but it now has fins, more explosives in it, and also still weighs the same though packs a bit more of a punch. The other thing they made is the Cadwynog ŷd AGAA CD15 or Cadwynog ŷd AGAA C15 Mark 1, which is a slow firing gun that packs a bit of a punch and comes with a few bits and bobs that make aiming easier for the pilots who use it. Its specifically armed on something called a AGC-AMD "Saeth" Mod 2C DG TyD Biplane, which is basically a Saeth but with the new guns instead of their older ones.

The Luftjäger has made only one thing this turn that they put out to the pilots, and that's the Fallschirm, a somewhat heavy backpack like parachute that replaces the back of the pilots seat. When the Pilot has their wing shot off, they can actually survive and not fall to their death, instead they can use the Fallschirm and fall down to the earth with, at worst a broken bone or two, but usually just a slight bruise so long as nothing happens to the Fallschirm.

The Eastern Front

Over the sky's of the eastern front, only a few birds fly over the northern shores of Brimnach as balloons fly over a couple docks and harbors on the southern shores of King Cadigan's land, occasionally causing a bit of harassment to any ships flying the flag of Schwarzes Holz but otherwise serving only as a slight bit of comfort and protection for the soldiers, and sailors there. Regardless, it is an uneventful start to winter here as the snows start falling in the higher parts of both islands...

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Central Front

Now here is quite the opposite from the eastern front, with quite a few aircraft flying for both sides, though only one side has them doing different things. The majority of the Brenhinol's aircraft in the area simply drop bombs and mortar shells on the heads of soldiers below. However, they are hampered by two things, the lack of proper intelligence that has to go through the officers at the front as there are no aircraft doing recon, and the many Adderbolts flying about and causing problems for the bombers. Most of the time the bombers are flying they either drop their bombs on targets of opportunity they find like artillery, or they go for targets that where suggested by officers in the trenches, which is usually artillery, in fact most of the time they are just targeting artillery and its rare for them to hit an ammo depot. Though they have to make it to the target first.

The battle in the sky is a bit of a mess, the squadron of Saeth's on aerial superiority suffer many losses of newer pilots, and a few older ones. In fact the Saeth is considered a kind of trial by fire for pilots. If they can survive a week in the thing, they are either extremely lucky, a quick learner, a skilled pilot, or usually a combination of the three. Regardless, only the most experienced in the squadron still breath, including Garth who had a close call when he ran out of ammo when fighting an entire squadron of Adderbolts with his own squadron, relying on his pistol for the last minutes of the fight while dealing with machinegun fire...and before anyone asks, no, Garth has not yet been promoted. The Saethydd's have an easier time, as the Saethydd is much more sturdy than the Saeth and also tends to fly in larger formation when bombing its targets, but they do still suffer moderate losses. Meanwhile, the Adderbolts suffer more losses of aircraft then they do pilots due to a few of them having parachutes, though the squadrons without the parachutes tend to have a a more expected aircraft to pilot lost ratio. The Pren Gwyn's balloons are hit a bit too, and aren't really able to contribute simply due to the amount of enemy aircraft only having to really worry about the bombers and the Saeth's only really engaged when needed or when the Luftjäger pilots want to add a few more easy victories to their tally.

Regardless, the war on the ground progresses at a slow pace, the Bergsteiger manages to make a few breakthroughs and finally breaks the stalemate as light snow starts to fall. Meanwhile slightly to the east due to the efforts of the bombing, while quite hampered, allow the army to get just that bit closer to Nachtburg.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Western Front

The battle in the sky's here is similar to that of the central front, with a similar number of aircraft from each side participating. Much the same to the central front, the squadrons of Saethydd's band together to bomb without any recon and suffer from the same problems. The main difference is that there is less Adderbolts here actively hunting, as at high altitude, a few relay important recon messages to the forces below. This gives some breathing space to the Saethydd's, and means that the Adderbolts cant quite simply overwhelm large groups of the bombers through weight of numbers. Additionally, it should be mentioned that the bombers here are all using proper bombs.

Due to this, the Adderbolts focus on the bombers, occasionally being harassed by the Mod 2C Saeth's which prove to be slightly more accurate and tend to last longer in a fight in terms of ammo yet do similar damage to the enemy as the older model. This is due to a number of factors, specifically the fact that the gun is powerful enough to do more damage and the sight that it has helps better than the older one, but its rate of fire means that its ammo lasts longer and also means that the amount of bullets hitting the enemy per second is less. Technically speaking, its an improvement, but not particularly a noticeable one, especially considering that the aircraft has to still be flying and not going to make a landing nose first without a wing or with a burning engine to be of use in shooting down aircraft. There are balloons on this front, but they get off easier than on the central front with most enemy aircraft focused on the bombers, and as such are able to do their job fairly often.

So, with radio recon warning about incoming attacks from troop build ups on the other side of the lines and directing artillery to the Pren Gwyns, the lines on the eastern side of the island remain stagnant as the bombers are still hampered quite a bit. Meanwhile on the western side of the island, General Dremidydd Rosser manages to just reach the city before heavy snow fall comes. Close enough that the defenders can't simply relax and build up defenses...

Spoiler: map (click to show/hide)

The Outside World:

A German pilot, Kurt Wintgens, becomes the first person to shoot down another plane with a synchronisation geared machine gun. This event heralds the beginning of the Fokker Scourge on the Western Front, during which Fokker Eindecker fighters give the Germans air superiority with the use of synchronization gears. In the United States, the Navy opens the Office of Naval Aeronautics, recognising the growing importance of aircraft to naval forces. The Battle of Manzikert sees a rare Ottoman victory, while the Gallipoli campaign continues in a bloody stalemate. Charles Edmonds launches the first air-dropped torpedo against a Turkish merchantman, while Max Immelmann shoots down the first of many Allied planes.

It is now the Design Phase, Late Winter 1915.

[piratejoe]

Battle Report, Late Winter 1915

Oddly enough, for once one of the sides airforces don't seem to have a new trick to use this month, that airforce being the Luftjäger. Of course, they have done one thing of major note, but it is not related to equipment...

The Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol on the other hand have more than just a trick or small minor little thing to gently nudge things in their favor, for this month sees a new threat for the Luftjäger take to the skies, the ACG-AMD AC15 "Nodwydd", a small, fairly fast and agile single seater aircraft powered by a Rhodri 10-180 D15, which for those in the Luftjäger who have been keeping track of the naming convention can easily tell it has 180 horse power. But this isn't the main noteworthy thing about the Nodwydd, for the main noteworthy thing about the craft is its duralumin frame, giving it both inertia and a bit more weight than it otherwise would have, and a bit more durability. Lastly, its armed with two sets of the Cadwynog ŷd AGAA C15 Mark 1, which other than fixing a bureaucratic error in the name, also gives quite a major increase in fire rate, at the expense of making it run out of ammo faster. Additionally, they put the thing onto a Saethydd among other things in what is called the Saethydd ACG-AMD AC15 Mod B, which is basically a Saethydd with the forward pilot fired gun removed, a new engine, the new gun replacing the gunners old one, a pair of Llygad Hir cameras, and a Bloeddiwr 79 with a small wind generator for power. All of this makes it not as fast as it otherwise would be with the engine, but its an overall improvement to the old Saethydd in most respects. Needless to say, they have been quite busy.

The Eastern Front

Once more again, the sky's of the eastern front remain filled with only birds and balloons. Despite the relative quiet on this side of the lines, the Navy of the Prens seems content to use the balloons purely defensively at the moment as civilians on both sides of the channel are able to relax, abet the ones on the shores of King Cadigan's land with the extra reassurance of the balloons, which still occasionally help artillery do more than just harass ships flying the flag of Schwarzes Holz that stray too close to the Pren's shores. Still, once again the front is quiet, with both sides getting more and more entrenched, waiting for the inevitable invasion that seems to never come.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Central Front

Once again the Central Front is full of areal activity from both sides, and its here where the first bit of combat with the Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol's new Nodwydd partakes in. Compared to a modern Adderbolt, its a slower aircraft, yet its just as agile and while its engine isn't powerful enough to bring it to such speeds, the Luftjäger quickly learns that it can fly faster than an Adderbolt in a dive if its high enough above them. In a one on one fight between equally skilled pilots and at the same altitude, generally speaking, the Adderbolt has a advantage due to its average speed so long as it utilizes it, however, the frame of the Nodwydd makes it take more passes to down and one mistake on these passes can be devastating for the Adderbolt pilot due to the heavy firepower the Nodwydd has that will almost guarantee more than just a scratched paint job and a few meaningless holes as damage if it is aimed properly. Of course, in reality, things are never even, and usually Pren Gwyn pilots after spotting enemy aircraft will maneuver to make sure they have a better altitude at the start of combat. Over all, things would be for the most part even between the Adderbolt and their new rival aircraft, or they would be if it weren't for one thing. Numbers.

The skies here are filled with Adderbolts, and for every one Nodwydd, there are three Adder's hunting for Pren Pilots to add to their tallies. Most of the time, the Nodwydd is outnumbered, and its biggest weakness comes into play here, its ammunition count. The Cadwynog ŷd AGAA C15 Mark 1 is highly effective and fast firing but this, even with more ammo compared to its predecessor of a gun, is not enough for longer bouts of combat, and with so many Adderbolts in the sky, should a Pren pilot be outnumbered, unless they are very careful with their ammo, they can find themselves with no real offensive capabilities, and like the old days of summer, find themselves dodging and waiting for their enemy to run out of ammo while using a pistol and nothing more. In a sense, the Nodwydd is mainly hampered by its speed, as once it gets into combat it cant easily get out of it unless it is at a high altitude, and as fights go on, altitude tends to decrease. Of course, thats not all, there is still the new Saethydd mod B, which is quite a nasty shock to any Luftjäger pilot who happens to think they are dealing with the older Saethydds and finds the power of the guns mounted on it like a few did, though while better than the old Saethydd, its still not as maneuverable or fast as the Adderbolt.

A few noteworthy things happen however, specifically in one of the first times the Luftjäger encountered the Nodwydd. A small flight of three aircraft, lead by Major Maldwyn Griffin with Flight Sergents Pryderi Penry and Garth Mathias engaged a flight of eight Adderbolts from Rote Geschwader, one of which had Nicholas von Rheinbach. While Maldwyn was shot down after shooting down two of the Adderbolts, he survived, unlike Pryderi who died shorty after getting his first victory. Garth, during the fight however not only managed to shoot down the flight leader, but also badly damage the Adderbolt Nicholas was in, and using their altitude to keep up with Nicholas, managed to shoot the enemy Überkanonen down, though Nicholas survived mostly unharmed. Needless to say, this made the remaining three pilots for the Luftjäger quite angry, so angry in fact that, for quite some time as he was out of ammo both for his main guns and his pistol, they kept attacking him until they ran out of ammo, in which they tried to actually ram him, which ended quite amusingly for one who crashed into another Adderbolt in their attempt, while the other managed to gently hit him but didn't manage to down him before he himself crashed. All three pilots managed to survive and escape capture, but their aircraft remained, and Garth claimed their aircraft as victories...And yes, he actually was promoted this time.

It should be mentioned however, that Major Maldwyn Griffin shortly after the events described above, managed to get his fifth victory, specifically a pilot too distracted sending a radio message to notice Maldwyn before it was too late. He decided to mark the achievement by painting the aircraft white with a red nose and two swords crossed with a wreath around them on each side of the fuselage. Naturally, this decision was unopposed due to being the flight leader. He stated he did this as he wanted something nice and something that stood out like Garth's aircraft, which recently had playing cards painted onto its top wing, specifically four aces, one of hearts, one of clubs, one of diamonds, and one of spades, along with a king of hearts recently added after shooting down Nicholas. It should be noted however, that with all the activity, Major Maldwyn wasn't the only new Star Turn Pilot, or rather Überkanonen in this case. As not one, not two, but three of them seem to have made a dark shadow across the skies for the Brenhinol. Hauptmann Brunhilde von Bothmer along with Oberleutnant Irma Raedler and Katherein von Loffen of the newly created squadron Kriegsmäid managed to prove effective Saethydd killers, even the newest Mod B wasn't safe from their strikes, though why female pilots even took to the skies in the first place will be addressed later.

Still, taking a step back and directing focus away from the battle in the sky and to what is happening on the ground, the Pren Gwyn general lucky enough to have access to the fruits of the labor the new Mod B has done finds it is wonderful for one reason and one reason alone. Areal Photograph Reconnaissance. With the camera's, it is able to take pictures of things on the ground, and when on bombing runs like it is with another squadron of Saethydds it is able to show the damage done which can be useful and can take photos of things of strategic or tactical value on the way to or back from the target. Meanwhile, the Luftjäger has a squadron of Radio equipped adderbolts, which for the most part are unopposed in their mission, relaying what they see up above to their side of the lines...

In the end, due to having one squadron on aerial superiority for every Brenhinol squadron in the air, not including balloons, the Luftjäger are able to push back and retake the land they lost, continuing the tug of war that never really gets anywhere. If they will break it and continue advancing, or if the land they took will be back in Pren Gwyn hands again by next month remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the Bergsteiger halt their advance, and try to solidify the gained ground.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Western Front

On the Western Front, due to the harsh snowy weather, both sides find there is less times when they can go up into the air and do things without being too dangerous due to wind, the cold, or both, though in the instances with the cold, the Luftjäger are able to go up safely due to their nice warm clothing specifically designed just in case such a situation arises. Though, it should be mentioned, such situations are rare as most of the time, its the latter. Still, despite the cold and snow, plenty happens here, like the battle for Dunklerfelsen that everyone reading this probably was waiting with bated breath for. There are plenty of factors to take into consideration, but an important one is that Nodwydd's are here and they are only outnumbered two to one instead of three to one. This means its much easier for them to actually cause issues for one squadrons hunting, specifically one squadron as the other tend to cause issues for the Nodwydd's instead, and it means that there are less aircraft to disrupt the Pren's missions. Both sides can more or less cause trouble to the other's missions that support the soldiers on the ground, that being bombing and artillery spotting for the Prens and radio recon for the Luftjäger, but the Luftjäger is a bit less effected by this due to having better control in the air while the Pren's have a particular squadron less effected specifically because the other is prioritized by the Luftjäger.

The bombing campaign in Dunklerfelsen is one that results in a bit of a realization. The bombs that the Prens have aren't that effective at destroying buildings. Yes, the average house will probably lose its attic, but the rest of the structure will remain relatively intact and defensible, meaning that the main way of breaking fortifications down, be they minor or not, is by artillery, and the balloons the Prens have aren't exactly hard targets. This is especially for the skilled pilots of foreign stock with the special identifier of a sword inside the traditional roundel of the Luftjäger who are also the ones who are the ones to cause issues for the Nodwydd using squadron of Ysbļwr.

Of course, the action while not as intense still gives rise to special pilots this season, with Gunso Seiichi Katagiri managing to get his tally to seven at the end of the season. Needless to say, not many Schwarzes Holz citizens really cared about the news, other than feeling happy that they were on their side, though citizens of Shirohon were quite happy about the news. The other special pilot is one flying for Brenhinol and Pren Gwyn's prince, specifically Captain Gruffudd Taaffe, who managed to get a total of six victories at the end of the season. He decided to do what Garth and Maldwyn did but take it a bit further by painting his aircraft entirely white and green, with a checker like pattern near the nose, and a box pattern down the rest of the fuselage while having the lower left wing entirely white and lower right wing entirely green with the upper wing green with white stripes and a box where the roundel is. The bottom of the wings were white, and the elevator of the craft was painted similarly to the upper wing. Lastly to finish it off and add the last patriotic touch, a red dragon on both sides of the fuselage...

The Squadron leader was just as surprised as you probably are...though he didn't force him to paint over the aircraft due to the simple fact of all the effort he put into it, and because Aces painting their aircraft seems to be a growing tradition for the Pren Gwyns. Also, it should be mentioned that the pilots are not the only special and skilled people in the air here as a Star Turn Gunner has arisen in the form of Flight Sergeant Shuhrat Kessikbayev, a immigrant and Saethydd gunner who once flew the Saeth. He managed to get his fifth victory in his gunner position, becoming the first pilot, erm, gunner of the war to do so. Though admittedly, in less than spectacular fashion than most others, and even more so considering the Schwarzes seemed to rarely go after him or his squadron.

At the end of the month, the flag of Schwarzes Holz still flies over Dunklerfelsen thanks to the snow, the areal radio recon, and the fighters prioritizing the aircraft over Dunklerfelsen and leaving the aircraft on the road to Sprungburg alone for the most part. Though, it was at a minor cost of land...

Spoiler: map (click to show/hide)

Behind the Frontlines

Meanwhile, in Schwarzes Holz, a controversial move has made headlines, what could be so controversial? Simple, the Kaiserliche Luftjäger allowing women to fly and fight for their country. Now, one might ask how this came about, and it all starts with a man named Wolfram Von Bothmer, a mediocre pilot who managed to get one victory. Now, how did this man cause all of this? Simple, he died. No, really, he died and his death is what set the dominoes in motion. Shortly after his death, the Kaiserliche Luftjäger ended up getting a request by a relative to buy an adderbolt with spare parts and ammunition. This would have been the end of the story, but an engineer named Ernest von Arnegis sent this relative a letter offering them to join the airforce, and two weeks later, the Überkanonen named Brunhilde showed up and to the surprise of many, was accepted into the airforce. Her training was practically unneeded, and it seemed as if flying was as natural to her as breathing. This set a precedent and resulted in the creation of Kriegsmäid Gescgwader, the first all female squadron for the Kaiserliche Luftjäger... Needless to say, reception to this action is...mixed between the population.

Meanwhile, on the Pren Gwyn's side, Garth decided to spend some of his saved funds to buy his Saeth and save it from being turned into materials used elsewhere, not wanting to have the fighter that kept him alive for half a year turned to scrap. Oh also, their air force has decided to have their pilots ignore the enemy pilots who have bailed out, being quite honorable.


The Outside World:

The German Navy fails to destroy Russian forces in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga, hampered by a British submarine attack. Adolphe Pegoud, the first French Ace, is killed in action by his former student, now flying for the Germans. Airship raids on London result in mixed successes. The British deploy poison gas of their own in the Battle of Loos. Overhead, the Fokker Scourge continues, and German pilots such as Oswald Boelcke and Max Immelmann continue to add victory after victory to their tallies, while the Allied media feeds the panic over the purported capabilities of the Eindecker.

It is now the Design Phase, Early Spring 1915.

[piratejoe]

Battle Report, Early Spring 1915

This month, the Luftjäger have been hard at work and have unveiled a aircraft known as the AvDD.I/15 SBD.II Adderbolt, a much more aerodynamic, maneuverable, durable, and heavier armed aircraft that has not two, not three, but four machine guns. The most noteworthy feature about the craft is its odd landing wheels that actually seem to retract into the craft for better aerodynamics. It also contains a radio as well. Oddly enough however, despite all the additions, it still uses the same engine as its predecessor. Another important thing to note is the new Durchfallen Bruchpunkt M-11-50, which is a fifty kilogram or one hundred and ten pound bomb.

The Brenhinol meanwhile have shown the ACG-AMD AC15 Mod B/B "Psygotwyr" to the front lines, or rather the sea lanes. Its a Mod B Saethydd that has been converted into a float plane with little hassle and little change outside of the pontoons it has.

The Eastern Front

Despite what one might expect given what has happened here for half a year, or rather the lack of what has happened here, one might believe that the skies once again are filled with only birds and clouds. That isn't the case. Both the Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol and the Luftjäger have both sent aircraft here with very similar missions, spotting shipping and radioing it in. This leads to an important battle in the middle of the month. At 13:05, the observer of one of the new Psygotwyr's, a man by the name of Bradwen Beavin who has proven themselves quite the skilled gunner, spotted a group of enemy vessels heading east by north, specifically toward a small fleet with the newly launched LFM Marchog heavy cruiser, the first of its class. Little did he know this was because a pilot by the name of Bertolt L˙ndow flying for the other side had spotted the fleet and radioed in their coordenints after flying closer to one of the fleets in the area, specifically the one that was heading to engage. Quickly, Bradwen informed the pilot and started to work the radio. Luckily, they would make it in time to warn the fleet of the impending attack, mostly thanks to the range of the radio they had, but it wasn't in time to allow them to get into position to counter this.

For the next hour, a fight between the two fleets ensued, with neither side having an edge over the other and both having plenty of shells splash harmlessly into the water. However, at 13:24, a message from one of the Luftjäger pilots was sent, but not to the ships below, rather, to his own air field. Soon enough a small squadron assembled quickly, with the new bombs loaded. If it was luck or not, a similarly sized flight of Psygotwyr's sighted the Luftjäger and engaged, though the only result was some damage to one of the Luftjäger's aircraft and a Psygotwyr getting shot down, the first naval bombers of the war focusing on getting to their target rather than shooting down the other slower aircraft that tried to keep up with them. Eventually, they reached their target, and unleashed their bombs...all but four of which missed. The four that did hit however, hit the superstructure of the Marchog, the deck of the Marchog, the gun of one of the destroyers, and, be it by luck or judgement, the torpedo launchers of one of the destroyers which at the time were being reloaded. The destroyer in question was certainly not going to make it back to port, though the Marchog was likely to be able to shrug off the damage for the most part.

This attack was useful, and it did tip the battle in their favor, in the end however, it was a tactical victory for the Schwarzes Holz, and a strategic victory for the Pren Gwyn's as the Marchog, while damaged, was able to escape. Some similar instances like this happen during the month, with both sides having careful maneuvering of ships as aircraft detect them and Schwarzes usually sending in a strike after detecting anything. However, the Prens aren't ever taken off guard with all their aircraft in the area focused on recon and with a longer ranged radio. Some Schwarzes pilots fly with bombs and while trying to search for shipping but the extra weight has to be compensated, and usually the squad is roughly split into Naval strike aircraft and recon, which is useful against shipping, though would be better if there was a full squadron dedicated to each.

All in all, the life at seas just got a lot more active, and Pren Gwyn shipping takes a bit of a hit, but proper battles with proper warships is still fairly inconclusive, abet with an extra occasional loss for the Prens.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Central Front

Here the new AvDD.I/15 SBD.II Adderbolt is able to show its effectiveness compared to the older versions and many Brenhinol pilots find this out the hard way. Due to its aerodynamics, its more maneuverable than before and the speed it has, well, speed has always been able to prove to be a pain to the Nodwydd Pilots, and that continues now. However, not only does this make it more difficult for the Brenhinol pilots to keep them off their tail, but the new edition of the Adderbolt also makes the amount of time they need to hold the trigger down significantly less. Usually however, the method of a Nodwydd's demise seems to be the engine getting shot to bits rather than the wings coming off, though usually if this happens the pilot best hope its fallen off the air frame or simply managed to break the engine into something nonoperational rather than it bursting into flames... Despite this, the new Adderbolt can be shot down...but its not easy at all in the slightest.

Something of major note is a horrific bombing run gone wrong for the Brenhinol squadron of Marchog. After they had dropped the bombs on a ammo depot, they started flying back, and once over the front lines, started to split off from Ydfran. Shortly after they split off, one of the gunners noticed something, a single Adderbolt high above them and far away. At first, they thought nothing of this, but it got closer, and closer...He warned the other aircraft with hand signals before quickly getting on the guns...A few minutes later, the first shots rang out. The aircraft let out a short burst, and the top wing of one aircraft was split into two at the middle...then another aircraft lost its lower right wing...then another lost its engine...another its pilot and so on. To Brunhilde, this was a simple lone patrol, to an extent she was hoping to meet one of the aces in the area in a duel in the sky, even if it wouldn't be too fair for them considering the aircraft she was flying. Using her aircraft's speed, she would dive on her enemy and aim carefully at where she needed. She was by no means a expert shot, she was more of a tactician really, but she was good enough...By the time she was done, the entire squadron either hit the ground in flames, or were forced to land. She would have to get proper proof of her victories, of course, so she would land at the wrecks quickly, taking some of the more intact bits of each along with anything that properly could identify the craft as unique from the others, usually the tail that had the serial number no matter how damaged as definitive proof. After she headed to the ones that landed more safely, making sure the pilot and observer in them had left first, before quickly doing what she did with the others before quickly flying off once she was done taking her trophies. Needless to say, her squadron was surprised when she came back from her loan patrol with so many parts of Saethydd's...

Of course, that wasn't all, as Leutnant Romke van Bergenaar did something else of note. Part of Rote, he managed to down a flight of four Nodwydd's while flying with two others and taking some inspiration from some of the reports of fancy designs on Pren aces, decided to have a Hercules beetle painted on both sides of the fusolage of his aircraft. Despite how bad things may sound for the Prens, the new Adderbolt is not invincible, as Garth Mathias who is now a major and flight lead of his squadron after Maldwyn was reassigned to a newly made one, managed to shoot down two, and Maldwyn Griffin managed to shoot down one as well. In total, four of them are shot down on this front, abet for many more planes the Prens fly.

With their support rarely opposed and superiority in the air firmly in the hands of the Luftjäger and with the prens efforts badly hampered, the Schwarzes advance.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Western Front

Over the cold skies of Arvendon, the situation is somewhat similar to that in the north, abet with only one squadron of the adderbolts actively hunting. This makes things much easier for the Prens as the aircraft mostly focus on the defense of Dunklerfelsen rather than at Sprungburg. Of course, when the Adderbolts do come after the Prens, it doesn't tend to end well for them, though two are shot down, one by Gruffudd Taaffe, the other by Maelgwyn Parcells. Despite the less amount of aircraft, the Shirohon pilots that fly the adderbolts seem to be extremely effective, in fact, through the many sorties they are put on, Gunso Ikku Takamaru, Taii Natsume Hayashi and Magobei Hada, and Shosa Torazo Fujioka manage to get to or past five victories and continue their zero loss rate, much to their pride. It should be noted that Torazo claims that they downed one of the Prens aircraft with only their sword, though while his squadron mates claim he did in fact do such a thing, not many believe his claim, even if they do believe that he shot down the aircraft he claimed do down with his sword...

That isn't to say that the other Adderbolt Squadron here does nothing, quite the contrary, giving the Prens a taste of their own medicine in dropping bombs on their heads, and they do a good job radioing artillery for adjustments as well. They are bothered occasionally by Pren aircraft, but it doesn't happen often enough to interfere with them in the grand scheme of things.

The front is actually quite slow moving despite what one might expect, mostly due to the tactics done by general Dremidydd Rosser in the west mitigating the damage inflicted the best he can and the lower level of Adderbolt activity in the east still taking its toll. It should be mentioned quite a few balloons are shot down as well...

Spoiler: map (click to show/hide)

The Outside World:

A joint German-Austro-Hungarian force attempts a second invasion of Serbia, aided by the Bulgarian army in return for the promise of Serbian land after the war. The invasion is a success, and Belgrade is captured along with the rest of Serbia, but some of the Serbian army is evacuated by Allied ships to Greece. RAF pilot John Slessor is the first to intercept a German Zeppelin over England, but the bombing raid is still an overall success, killing 71. The Loos-Artois Offensive in France fails, resulting in heavier casualties for the Allied forces as compared to the Central Powers. “Snowball marches” take place in Australia: these are recruitment drives across Australia to attract recruits for the war effort. In naval news, the Russian Navy bombs Varna, Bulgaria with seaplanes operating from seaplane tenders, and the USS North Carolina becomes the first warship to launch an aircraft by catapult.

Event:

An interesting news report that seems to have spread from one of the Southern Shirohon Territories newspaper agencies and written by a self proclaimed 'honest and trustworthy' reporter. The report is about how tensions in the Shirohon Capitol Region between the nobles and the peasants reached a boiling point after an assassination attempt was made on a peasant named Onishi Shika who was forced to flee to the SST after the attack. The reason for this assassination attempt is believed to have been caused by besting one of the noble warrior class in a duel of the skies, causing the peasants and even noble woman to demand changes. Apparently, their god king has refused to comment on this, for better or worse...

The news story was picked up by a lot of Schwarzes Holz news papers, abet with the story changed or butchured to verying extents and some even claiming that this Onishi is the 'Brunhilde of Shirohon'. Only a few Pren Gwyn news papers have reported on it, mostly due to the distance involved, but it has certainty made an impression.

It is now the Design Phase, Late Spring 1915.

[piratejoe]

Battle Report, Late Spring 1915

This month, the Luftjäger have a new aircraft to contend with, one designed to stop what is believed to be the start of a adderbolt scourge, and they have created what is called the ACG-AMD AC15 Mod2 Nodwydd, a Nodwydd with what is called the Rhodri 18-300 D15. As one can guess, this new, larger version of the Rhodri is a bit heavy, and quite powerful, however it should be noted that this weight does make the aircraft a bit back heavy, making it more difficult for pilots not use to the weight to use. Still, in the hands of a skilled pilot, it makes an excellent boom n zoomer. Additionally, they have worked hard and long on what they call the Parasiwt, which is like the parachute the Luftjäger have, just with a lot more time and care put into it, and with a lot more pilots using it, much to their relief.

Of course, the Luftjäger has worked hard too, and the most obvious bit of work is to their own parachute, the Sicherheitsnetz Fallschirm Modell Ende des 1915, which includes an emergency extra chute and also is a bit smaller than the old version. It also includes a 0% chance of broken bones and a reduced chance of sprains as well! The also worked on the FEiV-15M, which was a general overall improvement to the old radio with the most important upgrade being range, which is now roughly equal to the Pren's own radio range. Other than that, they made the Luftunterstützungspaket, which adds fins for accuracy to their arsenal of bombs, and a few other tweaks.

The Eastern Front

Over the course of the month the strait has seen a lot of activity, mostly by the Luftjäger who have three total squadrons in the area, one with radios, one with bombs, and one with guns. The Prens meanwhile have only the same Psygotwyr's they had here last month. There really is no contest here, especially considering one of the squadrons the Luftjäger has is specifically ordered to hunt for anything with Brenhinol roundel on their wings. The fighting for the Brenhinol pilots is almost hopeless when they encounter their enemy's hunting for them, and only one Adderbolt is shot down in the entire month, however, the one who shot them down was Captain Bradwen Beavin, who before this had four victories to his name, becoming an ace despite the unfortunate circumstances. On the other side, Hauptmann Clauwes Mutzhas managed to come out with a total of five victories after the month was at its end.

For the Pren Gwyn's transport ships, life becomes quite difficult, with every once and a while a squadron of aircraft coming in and bombing them or with some torpedo boats or a destroyer or two coming in, or both. All with help of radio communications informing home of their location. Eventually the shipping transport is ordered to stay close to the shore as to keep farther away from the patrols of the Luftjäger and to be able to be protected from enemy ships and to have a better chance of the crew being saved, though this does cause slight issues, with the Luftjäger's radio's not being able to cover the distance on the more eastern parts of the strait, though some friendly ships are able to relay the info back to the mainland, even if there is a bit of delay. The result of this is more goods are diverted over land routs to be safer.

Unfortunately for the Luftjäger however, they are unable to find any enemy surface combatants outside Torpedo boats. Still, this is quite annoying for the Prens.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Central Front

The skies over the central front show the first bit of conflict between the new and improved Mod 2 and the SBD.II Adderbolt. The conflicts show one simple trend, whoever has the first strike usually wins. If the Brenhinol pilot can engage from an altitude advantage or from behind, should they get the first shots off, they will usually manage to shoot down their enemy or at least damage them enough that they abort their mission and start flying back to their lines. The same is true for the Luftjäger pilots. The one major difference here however is that the Brenhinol pilots flying the new Mod 2 are all doing one important task, protecting their aircraft. They do a good job at this, and are able to prove a nasty surprise for the Luftjäger who had been getting used to the older version of the Nodwydd, however, despite this, whenever a Luftjäger pilot does manage to get a strike off on the Saethydd's, it doesn't end well in the slightest for them, however, unlike the east, there are two squadrons worth of aircraft dedicated to hunting, and two squadrons supporting the ground forces...

Some noteworthy things happen here however, the Ace Nicholas von Rheinbach once again had a duel in the skies with his adversary Garth Mathias looking for revenge and his eleventh victory. He would have dove against his enemy who was at a lesser height and Garth would carefully maneuver his aircraft to avoid the fire coming from Nicholas, suffering only some minor damage for a while before managing to get his guns trained on Nicholas and, with only a few shots, downing him before flying off to deal with Nicholas's wingmen who were engaged with Garth's own. He'd target another aircraft, one with a Hercules beetle painted on both sides of the aircraft, and surprisingly, soon after fly away from the conflict after suffering some bad damage to his engine by Romke van Bergenaar. Nicholas would have survived and once again forced to bail out, however, unluckily, he'd be captured over enemy lines and held in a PoW transfer camp for a short amount of time before he managed to escape in the night. He'd return with some information about a few pilots who were MIA and now confirmed to be POW's. Romke meanwhile was quite proud of his achievement of driving the gambler with an ace up his sleeve back, and would be a bit mocking to Nicholas over the fact he was shot down twice by the same guy he drove back... Meanwhile, once his aircraft was repaired, Garth would add another king to his deck, with a sixth full hand almost finished, missing only two cards, or rather, two victories...

Meanwhile, Kriegsmäid continues to have great success, mostly with their top three pilots who happen to be the top three aces of the Luftjäger, and a friendly rivalry between Oberleutnants Irma and Katherein seems to have started, both of them being tied at twenty one victories by the months end with a desire to surpass each other and prove that firing from far away, or at knife fighting distance is more effective. Meanwhile Brunhilde herself is only two away from matching the Prens greatest ace...

Over all, the battle in the sky however, goes to the Luftjäger, while the bombing runs the Prens do are good, they are a bit annoying to set up having to go through the middle man of army commanders usually, and its only occasionally that one of their aircraft manage to find a target of opportunity to snap a picture of. Additionally, none of the Luftjäger's support aircraft are really targeted, and are rarely disturbed from their missions, and while the new Mod 2 is good in a fight, and a decent amount of the Saethydd's are still able to be picked off even with the escort. So, over all, the Schwarzes Holz marches forward.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Western Front

The western front, apart from the highest peaks, is now mostly cool or pleasantly warm as summer draws near, but the skies here still have some conflict. The most, and really the only noticeable thing to happen is that the Shirohon pilots of Angesehen Gescgwader suffer their first lost aircraft to combat, however, it is only one, the pilot survived, and they were shot down by the ace Gruffudd Taaffe instead of some random unknown pilot. The pilot in question quickly went back into the skies to 'regain his honor' which he can still do 'unlike someone who lost to a woman in a high stakes duel'...Moving swiftly on from that, the battle here is quite similar to that somewhat to the east, with the forces of the Brenhinol protecting their aircraft, or in the case outside of Dunklerfelsen, balloons. Nothing much else of note really happens however, and other than the one Shirohon pilot being shot down, the battle isn't particularly noteworthy. Again, similar to the central front, the aircraft belonging to the Luftjäger are mostly free from being bothered or distracted by Pren aircraft, however the Prens are able to minimize their losses a bit more with only one squadron actively hunting them, though they still have losses due to the pilots out on the hunt being the skilled Shirohon ones, and the archers and balloons they aim for aren't exactly the hardest of targets to down for them. In the end, the Pren are being pushed back for very similar reasons on the central front.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Outside World:

British pilot Richard Bell-Davis receives the Victoria Cross for performing the world’s first combat rescue mission by an aircraft, saving another pilot Gilbert Smylie after the latter is shot down by ground fire. The Senussi begin engaging the British in a guerrilla campaign on the Libyan-Egyptian border, encouraged by the Ottoman Empire. At the Second Chantilly Conference, the Allied Powers agree on a strategy of co-ordinated attacks on Eastern and Western Fronts, to render the Central Powers unable to shift reserves between them. In America, the one-millionth Ford car is produced at the River Rouge Plant in Detroit. The collapse and withdrawal of Allied forces in Serbia allows the rail line from Berlin to Constantinople to be opened. In Germany, the first practical all-metal airplane, the Junkers J 1, makes its maiden flight, achieving an altitude of almost 3m.

Event:

As the year comes to a close, the nation of Shirohon once again has a grand and exquisite air show that surpasses their last, showing off their advances in both skill and technology with their aircraft now, despite using wing warping, are able to reach speeds similar to that of the nearby nations and they even joust and duel in the sky using live ammunition, and odd cloth tugged behind the crafts as targets for their shots. Once these displays are done, the God King came forth once again and spoke of how the Samurai have become much more skilled, and that for the more skilled pilots, they cost would be 9 PP, and additionally offers a squadron worth of the aircraft, at 6 for plane. However, with the new year comes a blessed summer, lowering the price to 7 PP for pilots and 5 for planes. Finally, the old standard of pilots will now cost only 4...Journalists note that despite all the celebration taken place, the general population seems...distant...and despite the celebrations there seems to be a lot of tension in the air.

In other news, with the war having officially dragged on for an entire year, the generals and admirals are calling a series of meetings to discuss the war effort and the situation of both civil and military fronts. Within these meetings, there may be an opportunity for deals to be made with the army and navy to gain more funding or possibly even raise the command status of the air force. During this whole turn, you may address messages to the army, navy or both, asking for and promising certain things in return for bonuses in the coming year.


It is now the Design Phase, Early Summer 1916.