S3#94 – Battle for the Huon Peninsula; New Guinea - Summer\Fall 1943

Game Settings

  • Japanese Players(red) - 44 est
  • Allied Players(green) - 58 est
  • Icons – d24 friendly, d12 range, d6 enemy plane
  • Clouds - clouds above 25,000ft
  • Radar – 30 mile radius, grey dots, inflight arrow every 15 mins for 1 min duration. Minimum alt is 150 ft.
  • Flak - AAA limited to 25,000ft in height.
  • Japanese Airfields(red) - North of frontline except coastwatchers, F48-F50 start Japanese but closed.
  • Allied Airfields(green) - South of frontline except coastwatchers which are allied controlled always.
  • Fuel Multipler - set at 0.75 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 set of operations.

Basic Rules

Initial Format - changes after in bold italics.

1. Arena Entry - to access the S3 Arena online please type .privatearena s3 in the radio bar at the splash screen. When you go online you will see two logins. The regular one is for fighter pilots and the other is for bomber pilots. Bomber pilots are those flying any eligible bomber aircraft that can take AI drones. To return to the regular online arenas just type .privatearena

2. Start Times - each frame uses the following schedule;

  • T+0 - Dawn(04:30), flight enabled.
  • T+160 - Last surface attacks completed all a/c must disengage ASAP.
  • T+180 - Dark(12:00), all squads must be in tower or land in the dark.

3. Operational Restrictions - each side may only conduct operations in the area outlined in the game map. Unless a Rabaul Raid has been declared all operations must be conducted west of the operational dividing line. If a raid is declared all operations must be conducted east of the line.

4. Ord\Aircraft Restrictions - there are no ord or drop tank restrictions. All aircraft may fly any loadouts available.

5. Squad Aircraft - each pilot may fly any aircraft listed for their squad in the A/C table to start the series. If a pilot is listed as KIA after a frame they cannot fly a 1st Line aircraft next frame they fly but must choose a 2nd line aircraft instead. After flying a 2nd line aircraft for a frame they can then go back to any plane type for the next frame regardless of if they were KIA or not. A pilot that flys all 5 frames can at the most be forced to fly a 2nd line aircraft twice during a series(ie KIA in frame 1 and frame 3). Squads may choose to downgrade themselves so their unit all flys the same a/c type, this is soley their choose though. KIAs are listed after a frame and include any KIA result regardless of how it happens. So please double-check your setup and aircraft before hitting the throttle.

6. Squad Basing - each squad must start at a designated airfield and replane there but can move to an unused airfield an operate from there during a frame. The initial deployment is based upon the following step allowances;

  • LAF - 4 steps
  • SAF - 3 steps
  • GAF - 2 step

7. AI drones - every player that uses an eligable bomber in a frame may take up to 2 wingman and a lead aircraft. To do so they must use the bomber\GV login so they can jump between their drones making them more effective and immersive. All bombers both player flown and AI will have the same damage strength and count the same as regards to points. Proper formations need to be flown while using these AI drones. The minimum distance between AI is 100 ft. Players need to be aware of their AI when running formations and try and not stack them against each other. Using slightly different altitudes helps in this overlapping. Any formation deemed to be too clustered will be asked to shake out their seperation a bit. All bombers, transports and Beaufighters(DhVI FB) may take drones.

8. Shipping Targets - static shipping at ports and moving AI ship routines are important targets for the Allies with their general locations\routes indicated on the game map.

9. Aircraft Supply Targets - AI C47s and Ju52s will be running in the area supplying the far flung Allied outposts and the increasingly isolated Japanese postions.

10. 2nd Line Aircraft - 2nd line aircraft score 3 times the points as 1st line aircraft. Using 2nd line aircraft frees up resources and allows a better strategic allocation of aircraft. If you can do damage in inferior aircraft you will be rewarded.

11. Operational Dividing Line - the vertical 6 grid line is the Operational Dividing Line. Squads may base at any controlled airfields on either side of the line but can only attack those targets West of the Line UNLESS a Rabaul Raid has been declared.

12. Rabaul Raid - the Allies may declare a Rabual Raid the Wednesday before a frame. Up to a maximum of two may be declared during the series. This allows the Allies to conduct operations east of the operational dividing line. They do not have to target Rabaul specifically but they must only conduct operations against targets east of the line. They may base at any controlled airfield but must only attack targets east of the line.

13. Moving Front - the front will move during play as the Allied ground forces advance and the heavily outnumbered Japanese have to retreat or die. At the startt F48,49 and 50 are Japanese controlled but are not operational for air units. These will develop into Allied bases as the front moves.

14. Field Damage - all field locations closed during play will remain so for the series unless the front moves to allow the Allies ownership and a rebuilt field.

15. No GPS - GPS will be turned off for the series except every 15 mins it will be enabled for approx. 1 minute duration. CM will annouce GPS enabled so every pilot can take a bearing at that time. The HUD workaround will be disabled so all players have no GPS until the mark is called.

16. Engine Overheat - a random chance of engine malfunction will occur if you run your engine beyond the specified 145 degrees. Use the various WEPs wisely.

17. Safe Ditch - if you run off the field and ditch within 2 miles(10560ft) of the tower the ditch is NOT awarded a kill. It is assumed that aircraft and pilot can be salvaged.

18. Ditch Forced Exit - you have 5 seconds to exit a ditched aircraft. This stops trying to outlast a kill message, drawing ack fire or passing along intel at a nearby field.

19. Penalty Planes - players that commit errors in basic rules and do not attempt to correct the error during play will have a penalty plane assigned to them to conduct a hair-raising mission behind enemy lines. If they survive they can teleport and replane in their regular ride. Examples of penalty plane errors include flying different a/c during a frame, teleporting fields when not allowed by special rules, gunning from ships or flak positions. If a player immediately addresses the error they will not be assigned a penalty plane but always inform the CM so the log entry will be ignored. It is up to each squad to make sure the penalty planes are flown.

  • Axis Penalty Planes - Kate
  • Allied Penalty Plane - C47

20. Victory Points - points are awarded for e/a losses, enemy pilot KIAs and POWs as well as destruction of surface targets. Japanese points will be higher in aircraft kills while Allied points will have ground damage to outweight this. Relative points for objects is available in the summary for this event.

21. Victory Conditions - The side with the most VPs at the end of the series wins.

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.

[ Aircraft - Series Map - Player Rules ]