S3 Series

Frame 1 Overview (allied bomb group perspective)

Mission Orders
Hitler has a new wonder weapon, a weapon of terror and reckless civilian destruction.
Allied command has identified this new menace as the V-1 pilotless bomb. Intelligence has identified numerous locations where these weapons are to be stored prior to their use. There are weapons there now!
Prime minister Churchill has declared a maximum effort, regardless of the cost. These terror weapons must be eliminated NOW. We must have bombs on target thus are not allowed to bomb from high altitude.
Bombers must stay below 10,000 ft.

Review
Our group of B-25J Mitchel bombers took a heavy bomb load as maximum destruction is the only choice. Flight took off and headed north east over the North sea, where we met up with our fighter cover and headed south towards target. We must have caught the Luftwaffe out of position as the ingress was mostly uncontested. Fighters began engaging over the target F50.
Bombs out on target were very productive with only one warehouse left untouched. Bombers progressed towards the next target of F52 and dropped modestly saving bombs for the last target at 50.
Wild bill was tasked with returning to 50 to destroy it but was intercepted and shot down before he could drop.

With wild bill gone and the destruction of F50 in question, the bomb group decided to abort the next strike on 52 and re hit F50.
The remaining target at 50 was obliterated and the location was totally destroyed.
The group returned to base with the fighters protecting them the entire way home.

Second mission was similar to the first’s flight plan, but this time our course was cut shorter to hit sooner. Luftwaffe was not surprised this time and contested the ingress of the bomb group. Several 190s and 109s made diving attacks at the group. The escort was fully engaged very early. Nookyb was damaged and lost an elevator. The axis pilots then went after him in a frenzy. The rest of the bomb group continued to target and made 2 runs destroying it completely. A running fight to get home ensued with both sides taking more losses.

Results were two storage sites completely destroyed… we can only do our best and hope it is enough.
Hitler’s terror weapons must be eliminated.

Thanks for the AAR. I enjoyed the recap. I miss all the AARs from series long ago. Always interesting to get a feel what what your opponent had planned.

As for the other side, We initially scrambled all available Axis pilots leaving no one to man Radar ops. The plan was to fan out, locate your bombers then call in the 190s. That plan failed as we didn’t locate your group until you were dropping bombs. The high cap Tempest and Tiffys did a good job of harassing us and disrupting our runs on your heavies.

We kept one pilot on radar duty for the second sortie until your blips formed over the channel and we had a good idea of your flight path. The Boss also sent a 109 to recon the group’s alt and escort numbers. Again kudos to the bombers and fighters for closing the two storage sites. Axis pilots looked for openings in your escort, and did more isolated single plane attacks. We bled through our plane inventories pretty fast. The Spitfire pilots were exceptionally a pain for us on your second sortie. BTW the ack looked pretty deadly. I saw Jedic’s Tempest explode in front of me from what looked to be a lucky 88m hit.

As always, many many thanks to Muzz for the prep. It was an enjoyable frame, even if we couldn’t slow down your assault on our targets.

<S>. Oskar

Thanks for replying, I also loved reading the recaps.

You were right in your observations, lower altitude approach made the aaa much more dangerous. And yes… Jedi was NOT a happy camper there!

Cool,
Thanks for the write-up. Great job. AARs by either side are terrific to see.
Some minor arena set up issues to start. Axis were provided the FW190A8 to replace the F8, which I had thought was faster at low altitude. Robert corrected me on that. I had enabled the Lanc for pre-frame practice, and forgot to disable it at frame start. Two pilots flew the Lanc when they shouldn't have, but the error was really mine so no penalties.
The Bomber Log-in was only allowing a single wingman for some reason. I tried to cluge a fix, but was unsuccessful. I've asked SPINDZ to set things right for frame 2.

I'll cut to the numbers:

26 unique pilots, ~85 sorties

Allied
16 pilots
46 sorties (11 B-25J, 3 Lanc I, 24 Tempest, 2 Typhoon, 6 SpitIXe)
Losses: 5 B-25J + 4 AI, 2 Lanc I, 8 Tempest, 2 Typhoon, 2 SpitIXe
Kills: Tempests got 2 FW190A4 and 2 A8s. Spits got 2 A8s, B25s got a 109 and 2 A8s, Lancs got 1 109.

Axis:
8 pilots
32 sorties (8 109G14AM, 9 Fw190A4, 8 FW190A8)
Losses: 5 109G14AM, 3 FW190A4, 3 FW190A8
Storage Depots at F50 and F52 closed.
Kills: 109s got 2 B-25J and 2 B-25AI, FW190A4 got 4 Tempests and 1 B25J, Fw190A8 got 2 Spits, 2 Tempests, 2 B-25J and 2 B-25AI

Axis a clear victory in the A-A front, but Allies closed two V-weapon depots. Call it a tie for now.

Field closure requirements for the storage depots will be tougher for future frames. Flak tower and subpen objects are the storage depots must now also be destroyed to close the field and the targer hardness of these object has been set higher than in frame 1. See series set-up post.

Frame 2 2030hrs EST this Sunday. Arena open for practice until then.

Muzz,

Still a bit confused on the plane set. 190F8 is very fast at low alt, but not meant to be a bomber interceptor. It was a jabo design. 190A8 is slower and less manuverable but specifically design as a bomber intercept, esp the Sturmbock variant. Not sure why the F8s were included in the series since the LW's focus is strictly air defense and bomber intercept. Hopefully your remarks above mean the A8 will remain in the LW plane set for frames 2, 3, and 4.

Oskar

Oskar,
It does. LW plane set for all frames is the Bf109G14ASM (109G13AM). FW190A-4, and FW190A-8.

FRAME 2 AAR (Allied)

Planning was underway for our Lancasters to strike V-1 launch sites, however, intel made it clear that the storage sites were being massively reinforced. Our heavy bombers were re-tasked to strike the storage sites before they could become impregnable. Hastily, last minute targets were plotted and a plan devised.

With 3 targets left we chose the two furthest apart, with a second strike probably for the third and perhaps final closure of the first two.
Ingress was east over the north sea then south to target, which allowed a better bomb pattern. We lost one bomber to some type of mechanical issue and tightened up our formation.

Escorts started picking out high cons coming in… it seemed that the Luftwaffe was coming for our fighters first. Unfortunately a pair of bombers had been off course and were spotted before they could form with the group. The enemy attacked and overwhelmed them. As the bombers drove in to the target many Fw190s made slashing attacks, some persistent.. several wingmen were taken out.

Arrived at target and dropped ordinance, but there were a few targets remaining… continued on to 67 and hit that target well also. The large bombload of the lancaster enabled us to return to target and close 67. We hit the first target also but still did not destroy it. We were harassed all the way to the coast but the fighter cover stayed in a running battle and allowed us to escape.

Second sortie was a bit different to not follow the same course and have the Luftwaffe waiting for us. We climbed west then south… turning east to target which gave us a better approach for the bomb run on the last un touched storage site. Unfortunately we did not fool them as a radio intercept confirmed that the Axis intelligence was aware of our approach.

Again fighters came in, this time in force not piecemeal. We lost several bombers to concentrated attacks.. our numbers were lower than planned but we dropped the best we could on target. Turned right to extend then re-hit both remaining targets. Still the fighters were fierce and the gunners were nearly constantly firing. Bombs away on target 3… with a large explosion it was totally destroyed! We continued on the the last remaining target (which we hit first).. Grumpy and split were damaged then shot down… it was me alone to destroy one building… fortunately luck was with me as the fighters kept the enemy busy enough for me to destroy that building and close the facility. Again a long running fight home for the fighters, many paid with their lives for our success… Bomber command owes them a debt that cannot be repaid.

Results
3 Storage targets destroyed… many losses.

FRAME 2 AAR (Axis)

Axis command made a couple tactical adjustments after hard earned lessons of frame 1. The CO held a pilot back to man radar as a combo of Messerschmitts and Focke Wulfs scrambled for alt and position. Once Allied blips appeared on the radar in-flight LW assets were vectored to intercept over the channel. Radar ops were suspended upon visual sighting allied bomber group. Radar ops scrambled in a 190 for intercept trying to get above the 10k bomber ceiling.

First sighting appeared to be a lightly escorted grouping of Lancasters. All 109s and 190s concentrated on the total destruction of leading bombers. Outnumbered, the allied escorts did their best to disrupt our attacks, but we were able to bring down most bombers in the lead group, then quickly rearm. The second wave of bombers was better escorted and our pilots struggled to dodge swooping Tempest as we made fast attack attempts on the Lancs. Several of our fighters fell prey to allied aces that were constantly making high to low passes on our group. A few brave Lancaster's were able to reach and close one storage facility. We did our best to pursue egressing bomber formations without much success. Tempest were well positioned and disciplined to prevent us from catching the retreating bombers. Axis losses were moderate during the first incursion.

Our spy (Muzz) hinted the second return of allies would not be through the previously use North Sea approach. We started to position our attack group more to the NW channel. Intel proved accurate as radar reported sightings NW of intended targets. This time LW deployed primarily 190A8s for intercept. We spotted a heavily escorted smaller grouping of bombers. Our CO initiated the attack by going after escorts first in an attempt to disperse or drag down as many as possible. However when remaining 190s made it into attack position there were numerous high escorts over the bomber group. We tried high to low 6 attacks. But angry Tempest did a good job of harassing and keeping our fighters on the defensive. We modified our tactics and tried to setup low to high head on passes on the bombers. A few bombers were taken down. but we were unable to prevent the closure of a second storage facility. Again allied aces took a toll on LW fighters. We pursued the egressing bombers across the channel. Tempest and Spits seemed to organize to block our pursuit. A rolling fur ball developed over the channel with both sides exchanging losses. LW eventually retired low ammo or damaged.

Pretty fun frame with lotsa action. Kudos to the brave Lanc crews. Low alt bombing is a high risk mission, esp with active-accurate flak and wreckless butcherbirds on the hunt..... Another good job on the frame Muzz!

<S> Oskar, 352nd

Frame 3 Allied AAR (bomber perspective)

Recon shows the Germans are very close to be able to launch these new "wonder weapons" against England.

Orders are to destroy launch sites and keep the Germans from unleashing these weapons.

Our B25Js, with a heavy bomb load, are tasked with this objective.

I was delayed and not able to participate in the assembly of our first raid. I was able to join up with the group just after loss.
Split led our attack with extreme professionalism. We had enemy air attacking our escorts who were woefully short of pilots. many 190s and 109s made slashing attacks. Our numbers shrank a bit, but we pressed on.
A good first pass made cleanup easier on our return leg... F47 appears closed and unable to launch weapons.
a running fight progressed as the bombers got separated and ran for their lives. Fighters fought tooth and nail.

Second Sortie was vs target F82, another launch site. I took lead of this mission and decided to fly the same approach. Fighter lead was not happy with this decision but without in depth planning we needed to keep things simple.

bomb group was very good flying formation this time... again we were hit with multiple high speed passes as well as low, high speed climbing attacks. even some head on attacks. Our bombers bore into target as our fighters had their hands full.
another well executed bomb drop led to an easy return to target to finish it off. We again totally destroyed this launch site and had to fight our way out of enemy territory.

Once again, our fighters fought hard to help the bombers make it home. there were several losses but it appears to have been a successful night for us.

F3 Axis

Axis pilots tactic was to try and intercept bomber groups as soon as they appeared on Radar. LW 109s and 190s set up flite boxes near mid channel and waited location coordinates. 109 job was to engage and disrupt escorts and make a path for the 190s. Didn’t work out quite as planned. But we were able to maintain contact with the bomber group longer as it approached our v1 sites. Both 109s and 190s eventually focused on the bombers. Allied bomber groups were again tough and escorts dogged us constantly. Tempests were again fast and disciplined. We had very little luck engaging allied fast fighters. Spits also seem to be able to outrun any LW plane. Lotsa action and fun frame.

<S>

Oskar