Paul F. Baer - Ace of Aces

Paul F. Baer

Born on January 29, 1894 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Paul F. Baer was the first United States Air Service "Ace of Aces." Baer, much like Frank Luke later in The Great War, went on a scoring tear from March 1 to May 22, 1918 that saw the destruction of nine confirmed and eight probable aircraft in less than three months, all while serving with the 103rd Aero Squadron.

Baer did not have any victories as a member of the Lafayette Flying Corps in Spa.80 but would have gained valuable experience, serving with the French squadron from August 1917 to January 1918. He also received an extensive amount of training prior to joining Spa.80. Some histories Baer is listed as a member of Spa.124, the famous Lafayette Escadrille, and while he was assigned to the unit in January 1918, it was during the period in which Spa.124 was transitioning from a French to an American unit - seeing no flying - and hence Baer is not listed as one of the thirty-eight Americans that made up that famous squadron.

While in French service Baer flew this patriotic themed SPAD VII

The 103rd Aero, formed from seventeen former Lafayette Escadrille pilots, would initially be assigned to Groupe de Combat 21, a French group in which the 103rd formed the only American component. The 103rd would not be assigned to an American group until July 1918 as part of the Second Pursuit Group, before moving to the Third Pursuit Group. The four squadrons each took on a squadron distinctive Indian head design with the 103rd retaining the Sioux Indian head from the Lafayette Escadrille.

Baer's beautiful 103rd Aero SPAD VII 

Baer was described as fearless and an accomplished pilot, having attacked larger formations of enemy aircraft on at least two occasions. Due to his aggressiveness and success in the skies over the Western Front, Baer would be highly decorated by both the French and American air services, earning the Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Légion d'honneur, and the Croix de Guerre. Baer was described as fearless and an accomplished pilot, having attacked larger formations of enemy aircraft on at least two occasions.  Unlike some more accomplished aces, Baer shot down mostly signal seat fighters. However Baer would be shot down on May 22, 1918 and taken prisoner until the armistice. This last action is captured as a scenario in Colorful Skies 2 (titled American Ace).

Confirmed and unconfirmed victories

After the war Baer continued flying in a variety of capacities, even trying to form a squadron of American volunteers to fight in the Polish-Russian War. His final flying employment was in China, piloting floatplanes, and while flying a floatplane at Shanghai on December 9, 1930, upon takeoff Baer's plane hit the mast of a junk in the Yangtze River and crashed. Baer's body was eventually returned to Fort Wayne, where he is buried in Lindenwood Cemetery.

There is one book that features Baer's life, what little is known about it. In 2017, Tony Garel-Frantzen released his book Hoosier Aviator Paul Baer: America's First Combat Ace (History Press). It is an okay effort, relying a little too heavily on a letter Baer wrote after the war that focused on his time as a prisoner of war, the letter being printed in full, which takes up several pages of the book. The author could have used other primary sources (such as Gorrell's History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917-1919) to add more to Baer's story as a combat pilot with the 103rd Aero. However, the book is a solid effort and is, as mentioned, the only currently available title on Baer.

Delving Into 1/200 - First Order

YouTube video HERE

In reviewing the several scenarios I have for The Great War (from both Colorful Skies and Billy's Boys) and after having an excellent chat one evening with Mike at Table Top Flights, I have placed my first order for 1/200 scale planes that are printed with a 1/144 scale post in order to use with the Wings of Glory peg system. I also ordered several of Mike's clear propeller blades to use on these planes.

Nieuport 28

I have decided to go late war Western Front for now, with eleven Nieuport 28s, eight SPAD XIIIs, and eleven Fokker D.VIIs. This gives me the flexibility to create ten scenarios featuring Nieuports vs. Fokkers, and another sixteen featuring the SPAD XIII, again against those same Fokkers. I think this is plenty to work on at this time, although eventually I'd like to recreate some Belgian and Lafayette Escadrille actions.

SPAD XIII

The SPADs will be painted as the 103rd Aero, the Nieuports as the 27th Aero, and I might do a quasi-historical Bavarian scheme for the Fokkers as a bit of an homage to my Bavarian heritage, unless I can get some late Jasta 18 decals made, which I think Bernhard at Sieben Schwaben Spiele Decals will be getting around to creating due to recent conversations. These various squadrons are not specifically featured in all twenty-six scenarios I will be able to host, but the two American choices are some of my favorites from the war. 

Fokker D.VII

Romanian Barbarossa After Action

One of the scenarios I have been wanting to game for some time was a file I obtained from the Check Your 6! forum, called Romanian Barbarossa and written by Keith Burnett. After having the planes painted by Miscellaneous Miniatures recently, I hosted this scenario, with my usual tweaks and such, for the Southwestern Ohio group. My version is a five player scenario, based on the historical even which saw the destruction of a pair of Soviet I-16s by the Romanians.

The initial Soviet deployment

The Soviet I-16s have just taken off from their airfield, guarding by a pair of light anti-aircraft guns, and being the target for the Romanian players. The Soviets had both a height and speed disadvantage as the Romanian players moved in. It was interesting to see the unplanned coordination between the Soviet players - one pair of I-16s went for speed while another pair nearby went for height, these four focusing on intercepting the incoming enemy. The third pair of I-16s, being a bit more on their own, maneuvered around the airfield itself.

A pair of beautiful Heinkels

The Romanians not only had a height advantage, but their Heinkel He 112s and I.A.R.80s had an edge in robustness and maneuverability. To be honest, as the game master, I was concerned - the I-16s were being ran by three very experienced players while the Romanians were a pair of newer players - but also concerned that the poorer maneuverability and robustness of the Soviet planes would result in many of them shot down. However, the balance of player experience and plane performance seemed to work well.

The pair of I.A.R.80s stayed along the southern edge of the board, while the Heinkels made their way towards the center of the playing surface. The I.A.R. player was going to turn and line up his planes to strafe the airfield. That plan worked well, but the Heinkel player lost his skilled aircrew early on as three Soviet fighters ganged up on him, causing an engine damage hit, before finishing the skilled pilot the next turn. 

The beginning of the end of the skilled Heinkel

Meanwhile the I.A.R.s dealt with some ineffective flak and the third pair of I-16s, which was trying to defend the airfield. Hot rolling by the Romanian player on his strafing run resulted in the complete destruction of the airfield, and gained the Axis 12 victory points. After successfully blowing the shite out of the airfield, the Romanian player turned for home. However, the I-16s were tenacious, hitting the I.A.R.s several times, destroying one and causing airframe damage on the other, which also happened to occur on the remaining Heinkel. The Romanian players turned for their home edge, the Soviet players moved in for the kill, hoping to shoot down the Remainians (as they were termed) an balance the victory point totals more in their favor.

Using their superior speed, the Remainians were able to fend off attacks with good robustness rolls, while finally creating enough of a gap to be out of the range of the Soviet light machineguns. Victory achieved for the Axis.

The I.A.R.80s on their run towards the airfield, intercepted along the way

Some lessons learned - the VP totals for strafing a grass airfield and destroying it with just two successful hits seemed like overkill. Next time I host this game I will set the victory points at two for each successful run and increasing the level for destruction at four hits. Also, I need to make certain to put an experienced player on the Romanian side since obtaining victory conditions will be a bit tougher.

The second Heinkel broke free and placed an airframe hit on an I-16, while the other I-16 had done the same to an I.A.R.80

The airfield destroyed, the remaining Romanians scramble towards home.

Soviet Results

One Heinkel and one I.A.R. shot down - 8 VPs

One Heinkel and one I.A.R. damaged - 2 VPs

Romanian Results

One I-16 shot down - 4VPs

Two I-16s damaged - 2 VPs

Airfield destroyed - 12 VPs

Toys Used:

Mat - Hotz mats

I.A.R.80 - Table Top Flights

Heinkel He 112 - Flight Deck Decals

I-16 - Raiden Miniatures

Delving Into 1/200 - Bases and Gaming Surface

Now that the planes are fairly sorted, I can also plan a bit with the bases and gaming mat I will need for gaming Check Your 6! Great War. The bases are custom 3D prints designed and printed by my gaming buddy Bob. He has been tinkering around with getting a Check Your 6! style base configured to use with the Wings of Glory planes. To that end, he is using (I think) a 1.75" hex base with a 2" hex gaming mat. Works well with 1/144 I must say, but I like smaller scales, and while planes can be had in 1/285, sourcing those are more of a hassle, plus adding a post at the bottom of the plane that will synch with a Wings of Glory sized peg is not practical. 

The compromise is a 1.75" hex, Wings of Glory sized pegs, and having the planes printed in 1/200 scale with a post that will align with the pegs. The hex size works well  - it is in between the official Check Your 6! 1.5" hex, which yields a hex grid of 30 by 45 hexes, and the larger 2" hexes used by some of my gaming companions. Going to the 1.75" hex still gives enough space to adapt the Colorful Skies scenarios with less fudge factor than using a 2" hex. Now I just need to convince my friend to print a few dozen bases and a slew of clear and translucent blue pegs!

Example of a Deep Cut Studio custom mat using a 1.75" hex - red used for illustration purposes

Back to the gaming space - with a 1.75" hex grid, the six feet by four feet gaming mat still provides a playing surface of 31 by 40 hexes, meaning very little fudge has to be factored in when using various published scenarios. The size of the hexes also work well with the size of the 1/200 scale planes. If I went to a two inch hex size, the hex grid would be 27 by 36, which, at least on the long measurement, is a quite a large variance, and would increase the fudge factor proportionately. While it allows more room for planes when they are in adjacent hexes, using the pegs to represent varying TALs should mitigate most overlap that one might have with 1.75" hexes.

Off to place an order with Deep Cut Studio!

Delving Into 1/200 - The Planes

1/200 Scale Table Top Flights Roland D.II

After much time spent trying to find basing solutions and deciding on a scale for the Check Your 6! Great War project, I am going to focus on 1/200 scale - I think. Many planes are available from Table Top Flights, and Mike can create a post on the bottom of the plane that will still function with the Wings of Glory 1/144 scale pegs, meaning that I can use the pegs to represent TALs. With my friend Bob able to print pegs in both clear and translucent blue and creating hex bases in different sizes, I think I am finally onto something. 

With 1/200 now in play, I contacted Sieben Schwaben Spiele Decals to see if they can reduce some of their 1/144 scale Great War decals to 1/200. Yes, they can! Bernhard at SSSD had that request knocked out in a couple of days, and as a result I have placed an order for markings for Jasta 21 (in Albatros D.IIIs) and the 5me Escadrille de Chasse (in Nieuport XXIIIs), along with a sheet of Belgian roundels (you can find these re-scaled decals HERE). This will allow me to do one of the scenarios from Colorful Skies 3...almost. Table Top does not currently offer Nieuport XXIIIs at this time, and while the scenario indicates Nieuport XVIIs, the Belgians actually used the XXIII model, having but a few XVIIs. A quick email to Mike at TTF and he is looking into adding the XXIII, along with some other aircraft not currently on his site.

I also plan to collect Italian and Austro-Hungarian planes for additional scenarios from Colorful Skies 3, but in the meantime there are some scenarios for late war Americans using Nieuport 28s and SPAD XIIIs I can work on as Mike has those planes available. I have sixty-scenarios that feature late war Americans, and while a few of them are huge, many are very manageable in scope, with my target of 4-6 players - more than that and it gets too crowded around the gaming table.

That means that the collection of 50+ planes I have in 1/144 will be thinned out as I move away from Wings of Glory and into Check Your 6! Great War. I will still keep some of my favorites, mostly the ones I have customized or painted from scratch, but the rest will need to be moved along - and selling those will help fund the 1/200 scale project.