S3 #51 - Big Bold Jugs - ETO, Summer 1943

Game Settings

  • USAAF Players(green) - 91 est
  • LW Players(gold) - 75 est
  • Icons – d24 friendly, d8 range, d8 enemy plane
  • Winds – none
  • Clouds - possible if everyone is in synch
  • Radar40 miles, grey dots, inflight arrow. Minimum alt is 100 ft.
  • Flak - all Flak is limited to 30,000ft in height.
  • USAAF Airfields(green) - England
  • LW Airfields(gold) - Europe
  • Fuel Multipler - set at 1.1 for all planes.
  • Rebuild Time - 300 mins
  • Game Length – 180 mins
  • Lives – 1 life per frame
  • Game Scale - 1 squad = 1 historical unit and 1 frame = 1 week of operations.

Basic Rules

Initial Format - subject to change before the first frame.

Start Times - each frame uses the following schedule;

  • T-30 - Dawn - flight enabled for USAAF bombers
  • T+0 - Dawn - flight enabled for all a/c
  • T+30 - Full light
  • T+160 - Dusk, last surface attacks completed all a/c must disengage ASAP.
  • T+180 - Near dark, all squads must be in tower or on final.

Operational Restrictions - each side may only conduct operations in the area outlined in the game map.

Altitude Restrictions - no aircraft may fly above 35,000ft.

Airfield Basing Restrictions - before the series begins each side must break up their available a/c steps and base them at airfields on the map. From that allocation the Frame CO may then assign squads to those fields. Each side may only field a specific number of steps at each airfield depending on that fields size. Larger squads may break up their steps and assign them to more than one airfield. Some Tac fields are buggy so use with caution.

  • Tac/Small fields = 2 steps
  • Medium fields = 3 steps
  • Large fields = 4 steps

Luftwaffe Launch Restrictions - only those squads based initially in France or the Low Countries may launch at T+0 or later. These squads must launch from their assigned bases and must fly to another base if they are going to relocate. Those squads based in the Germany are part of the Reich Defense and can only roll when enemy a/c cross the coast or are detected in the 4,7 - 4,8 - 5,8 grids and the CM confirms the roll order. These squads may be held in tower and assigned to airfields for their first sortie as needed by the Frame CO, keeping basing restrictions in mind.

USAAF Air Starts - all England fields have a 35,000ft airstart except for 100, 101, 102 and 6 which are bomber fields and do not have an airstart.

USAAF Bomber T-30 Start - USAAF bombers may launch at T-30 to gain alt for the frame, they cannot go feet wet until T+0. No other a/c may launch early. B17Gs have been subbed for the B17F which has a climb bug.

Fuel Modifier - since the 109 and P47C have no droptank the fuel mod has been increased to 1.1 to compensate for the very short legs these a/c have ingame.

Bomber Hardness/Otto - we are representing unescorted or max range bombing missions so the bombers will be tough to bring down. Go up their arses and you will be shotdown, otto will track and kill straight line attacks, constant plinking and wearing away at the bombers to get them to drop from formations is the only way safe way to score a kill.

Target Hardness - factory complexes are very difficult to damage heavily. Bombers must salvo large bombs onto the major factory buildings to destroy them. City targets are easier and are subject to TOT. All ETO targets are tougher and all bombs have smaller blast radius so large bombs do more damage than small bombs.

Aircraft Steps - only the Luftwaffe have a/c steps which must be assigned to squads. To begin play they start with 10 steps of 109G6s, 10 steps of FW190A4s and 5 steps of Bf110G2s. For every 6 a/c type claimed as shotdown the step total is reduced by 1. Bf109G6s may be interchanged with Bf109G6/R6 and switched between sorties.

Bomber/Strike AI - no AI allowed

Jugs - the USAAF begins play with P47Cs. Those pilots that fly in the first three frames without losing an aircraft(to enemy action or accident) can fly the P47D for Frame 4. Pilots honour.

USAAF Missions - the USAAF plans bomber missions against the German cities indicated by the yellow target circles. They score 1 point for each city with heavy levels of TOT and/or building damage and 1 point for each industry target in the yellow circle heavily damaged(61% structures destroyed). Once targets have been attacked they cannot be attacked again in the series. Those targets ruled moderately damaged(31-60%) score 0.50 points and those rules lightly damaged(10-30%) score 0.25 points.

Luftwaffe Missions - the Luftwaffe plans bomber intercept missions and scores 1 point for every 5 bombers downed or ruled heavily damaged. Bombers heavily damaged are those with three parts or more missing or one or more burning engines on landing. Bombers kills are scored as fractions if more or less than five are downed.

Frame 5 Night Action - the final frame represents Bomber Command night actions of this same time period. All Luftwaffe players must fly the Bf110G2, all basing is the same as the day frames. All USAAF players must fly the Lancaster except those fighter pilots that have not lost an a/c to either enemy action or accident. These players may fly the DH 98 NFII or Dh 98 VI FB intruder and may launch at T-30.

Victory Conditions - Victory conditions are cumulative and a winner is declared only after all the frames have been run. The total points for both sides are compared after 5 frames;

  • 0-5 point difference is a draw
  • 6-11 point difference is a minor victory for the side with the greatest number.
  • 12+ is a major victory for the side with the greatest number.

S3 Clarifications - the S3 staff reserves the right to make a ruling on questions or game situations not answered completely or missed by the rules. For further clarification please post on the S3 forum or email Jabo.

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