S3#100 – Turning Point: Midway - PTO June 1942

Game Settings

  • IJN Players(red) - 42 est
  • USN Players(green) - 37 est
  • Icons – d24 friendly, d12 range, d6 enemy plane
  • Clouds - light clouds
  • Radar – 30 mile radius, grey dots, in-flight arrow. Minimum alt is 1000 ft.
  • Flak - AAA limited to 20,000ft in height.
  • IJN Airfields(red) - Carriers and a few remote airfields
  • Allied Airfields(green) - Carriers and a few remote airfields
  • Fuel Multipler - set at 1.0 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 - When you go online you will see two logins to the S3 arena. The regular one is for the classic interface and the other is for the CA wingman jumping interface. Each pilot should choose the proper login for their a\c type and skill level. Both have advantages and disadvantages for bomber\strike pilots.

  • T+0 - Dawn(04:15), flight enabled.
  • T+160 - Last surface attacks completed all a/c must disengage ASAP. Torps\bombs must hit before T+160 to be counted.
  • T+180 - Dark(12:00), all squads must be in tower or land in the dark.

2. Terrains - this series represents the maneuvering of opposing Task Forces before and after the attack on Midway. Frames 1-2 and 4-5 will take part in the Solomons. Frame 3 will take part in the Midway terrain and represent the IJN attack on that atoll. The Midway frame will have some special rules covering initial deployment.

3. Operational Restrictions - each side may only conduct operations in the area outlined in the game map. The out of bounds area cannot be used by aircraft or shipping at anytime. Seaplane bases are just on the edge of this zone. Land bases can only be attacked in Frame 3 which features the Midway terrain. No land bases may be attacked in the Solomons terrain(frames 1-2,4-5).

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

5. Aircraft Minimum Fuel - all aircraft must take at least 100% internal fuel with or without drop tanks.

6. Squad Aircraft - each pilot may fly any of the aircraft listed for their squad on the A/C table. We few dedicated bomber or strike pilots left it is up to the squad and frame COs to determine which aircraft can accomplish their missions best.

7. Squad Basing - each CV base up to 3 steps of squads to start play while each seaplane base may base 1 step. Afterwards CV squads may use any available carrier to replane. Seaplane scouts must return to their field to land, they cannot use carriers.

8. Scouts - at T+0 each side may launch 1 step of scout aircraft. This includes Kate, Val, G4M1 for the IJN and TBD, TBF,SBD and B25C for the USN. They may carry ord and conduct attacks against shipping.

9. CAP - at T+0 each side may launch 1 step of fighter aircraft. This includes the A6M2 for the IJN and the F4F3 or F4F4 for the USN. Until a strike is launched they must remain within 60 miles of their Task Force.

10. Aircraft drones - every player that uses an eligible bomber\strike a\c in a frame may take up to 3 wingman with their lead aircraft. To do so they must use the bomber\GV login so they can jump between their drones making them more effective and immerse. All bombers both player flown and AI will have the same damage strength and count the same as regards to points. It is best to keep your AI with you and not have them attack targets as they are prone to get lost and then are easy targets for enemy aircraft. Proper formations need to be flown while using these AI drones. For take-off it is recommended to put your AI in trail as close as possible so they dont wander. After you are airborne 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 separation a bit. With lag and such it is difficult but please try and make your formation look as realistic as possible. All bombers and strike aircraft may take drones. Bomber pilots that wish to use the old system simply have to login using the fighter login and select the number of wingmen they want, 0 to 3. Using this system when you die you are finished for the night and cannot jump to your AI wingmen. AI drones do not appear in the log so kills by them or structures destroyed by them cannot be counted by the S6.

11. Carrier Task Force - each side will have 4 carriers, 4 freighters and 24 destroyers in their Task Force. They will be spread out over a large area.

12. CV Movement - each TF must start play in their start box. The frame CO determines their initial heading at 30mph. A TF may make one change of heading during play predetermined by the frame CO. At no time can the CV go into the out of bounds area so any course change must keep them in play for the entire frame.

13. Strike Launch - only when a scout a\c visually spots a CV can a strike be launched. Other ship types do not warrant a strike launch. The CM will announce when this condition occurs. Once a strike is announced the frame CO is free to use all available a\c as they so choose. For the rest of the frame a\c may replane and conduct missions as ordered by the frame CO.

14. Strike A\C - using the CA interface it is important to stay above 300ft when conducting attacks otherwise you risk getting stuck on the water when you transfer from wingman to wingman. Some leeway in resets will be allowed to correct this known bug in the CA interface.

15. CV Loss - as CVs are sunk aircraft may rebase on the remaining ones until none are left. Once this occurs aircraft may ditch or try and land near a friendly seaplane or radar base to end the night.

16. Ship Damage - due to the nature of moving AI ships and net lag often a torp may appear to hit or pass right through and not cause damage. The CM will rule ships damaged if this can be spotted or recorded. Damaged ships score points but otherwise do not effect play.

17. Radar - each side has one land radar base and four CV radars. Radar is 30 miles with a 1000ft limit. CAP will still prove the best means of early detection.

18. Improved FMs - as FMs continue to be developed its important to test drive your aircraft before an S3 event. Speed limit tolerance has been overhauled so it is now wise to test your power dives in each aircraft type. There is a fine line between overspeed warning and structural failure. For most aircraft this means do not use power in steep dives.

19. Bomber Hardness - bufftuff will be high at 2.0 with weak otto in this event. Bombers continue to be relatively easy to down especially the AI variety. Not sure if the increase hardness will transfer to the CA switching wingman login but it should help the bombers choosing to fly the classic login with one life in one a/c.

20. 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.

21. Safe Ditch - if you run off the field and ditch within 10 miles(52800ft) of the tower the ditch is NOT awarded a kill. It is assumed that aircraft and pilot can be salvaged.

22. 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.

23. 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 - TBD

24. Victory Points - points are awarded for e/a shot down, enemy pilot KIAs\POWs as well as the shinking\damaging of ships. Relative points for objects is available in the summary for this event.

25. Victory Conditions - The side with the most VPs at the end of the series wins. BDA, ships sunk, closing fields, planes shot down and pilot losses all score points.

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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