S3#82 – Operation Downfall; Japan - 1945-46

Game Settings

  • LW Players(gold) - 53 est
  • Allied Players(green) - 88 est
  • Day Icons – d24 friendly, d12 range, d6 enemy plane
  • Winds – no wind
  • Clouds - heavy clouds between 30-35,000ft
  • Radar – 40 mile radius, coloured dots, inflight arrow. Minimum alt is 500 ft.
  • Flak - AAA limited to 30,000ft in height.
  • IJ Airfields(red) - Japan, North of Frontline
  • Allied Airfields(green) - Japan, South of Frontline - Okinawa, Iwo Jima, Korea
  • Fuel Multipler - set at 0.85 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. Start Times - each frame uses the following schedule;

  • T+0 - Dawn(4:00),Flight enabled for all forces.
  • T+30 - Full Light(8:00)
  • T+160 - Dusk(21:00), last surface attacks completed all a/c must disengage ASAP.
  • T+180 - Dark(01:00), all squads must be in tower or land in the dark.

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

3. CM radar & reports - avoid flying over enemy occupied land for long distances above the 500ft AGL, this increases the chance you will be spotted by donkey dar. Do not follow enemy coastlines, flying at least 5 miles offshore at any alt is a good rule to follow to reduce the chance of CM reports. Generally once you begin an attack on a target you will be reported so hit and run, do not linger in the area unless you want to be bounced.

4. Weather - there will be thick cloud starting at 30,000ft to try and bring the fight down to more historic levels.

5. Ord Restrictions - no ord restrictions to any a/c type.

6. Secondary A/C Damage - the S3 secondary damage makes all aircraft more fragile in the tail sections but this will be most noticeable in bombers with an increased likelihood of loosing their stabs. Bomber otto has been increased to deter rear 6 attacks. Flying in tight bomber formations is still the best defense.

7. Aircraft Types - each squad has a list of a\c types in the A/C Table that they may fly during a series. At least 4 different types must be flown by the squad during the series. Only one a/c type may be flown twice during the series, its up to the squad to determine what type this will be. Squads may mix and match a/c types but must make sure they split fairly and watch their numbers.

8. Squad Basing - each airfield has a limited amount of squad steps it may base during a frame. Squads may move to a new airfield only if there are enough steps available to move there during play. Larger squads may have to base at two or more airfields during play. Squads that sign-off for the night free up their base to be used by other squads.

  • landing strips = 1 step
  • small fields = 2 steps
  • medium fields = 3 steps
  • large fields\CV = 4 steps
  • Iwo Jima(F188) = unlimited steps
  • Korean airfields = no basing - landing only(Allies)

9. Japanese Kamikazes - only pilots that are done for the night may Kamikaze and may do so as many times as possible. Kamikaze kills do score points for the Allies so such attacks should be well planned or will end up causing more losses than they are worth. All pilots that volunteer for kamikazes will have their deaths erased from the log. Only kamikazes may teleport to report for duty at the specified field and are ignored for squad basing. Only Kates and A6M3s can be used as kamikazes. Kates have the best ability to sink shipping and A6M3s can simulate bomber ramming Kamikazes. Kamikazes should never try and ram anything as crashing into a ship or a/c will not cause any damage in WBs; drop ord, fire your guns and try and survive, at least until your damage takes effect in WBs.

10. Shipping - There will be a large number of static ships in the terrain near ports. These will not fire on attacking a/c. Various AI shipping from both sides will be moving throughout the Japanese Home Islands and two large Allied CV groups will be operating off Japan. These ships will fire on attacking a/c and this includes freighters as well which are now armed. Allied Invasion fleets will be a mixture of static shipping and AI. So expect heavy AAA from AI DDs to cover the undefended static ships that should be the primary target of any shipping attacks. Recce to find and destroy isolated shipping should be a priority.

11. Allied CV Groups - Two Allied CV groups will be moving off of Japan depending on the phase. These groups will be moving fast(40mph) to help CV takeoffs with fully loaded a/c. All CVs will not fire or take avoidance but their escorting DDs will. CV routes will be posted to the Allies before each frame. If there is space available CV based squads may move from airfields to different CVs and back and forth during a frame.

12. Operations - Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan, is divided into two major Operations.

  • Operation Olympic takes place in the west and is centred around southern Kyushu. This will take place in Frame 1-3 with targets and basing for both sides being in gridrows 0-5.
  • Operation Coronet takes place in the east and is centred around Tokyo. This will take place in Frame 4-5 with targets and basing for both sides being in gridrows 7-10.

13. Ground Targets - this is a tactical and operational event with ground targets being airfields, flak bases, naval ports, a/c in the air and ground and any shipping anywhere being the primary targets to win. Japanese industry and towns are assumed devastated and any attacks on these targets will score no victory points, the goal is to destroy the Japanese defenses to allow the invasion to succeed.

13. Frame Damage - all fields closed during play will remain so for the rest of the series, they will be destroyed before the next frame begins with all associated objects. Any partial damage will rebuild between frames, only those fields closed will be carried over from frame to frame. Its important to check the objects needed to close a field. For example ships and parked a/c score points but are not needed to close the fields or ports. A dot show and the OT settings will confirm what is needed.

13. Ship Nav - there is no ship navigation allowed.

14. Ship Gunning - do not do this! You will get a penalty plane. AI flak is much more accurate than a player will ever be so you are only hurting your side by grabbing a gun.

15. 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. Examples include flying different a/c during a frame, teleporting fields when not allowed by special rules, gunning from ships or flak positions. It is up to each squad to make sure the penalty planes are flown. Pilots choice of which type of penalty plane they want to fly.

  • Japanese Penalty Planes - Ki27 or Val
  • Allied Penalty Plane - Sea Hurricane or SBD

16. Victory Points - victory points are awarded for confirmed kills of e/a, airfield and port closures, ships(static and AI) and parked a/c destroyed.

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

18. Frame CO Assignments - on the squad roles will be a listing of squads that need to assign a Frame CO for a frame. This will rotate through from event to event and every squad will know ahead of time that they need to supply someone lead their side during a frame. On a rotation basis to allow everyone the opportunity to lead. Individual pilots that like to Frame CO, a rare breed indeed, may offer their services to a squad for their slot during an event to free up players that like doing what they do best. It is up to the particular Squad CO to accept these stand-ins and confirm their frame CO slot.

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 ]