http://www.squadselectseries.com - new map and summary up
Due to the fact that the Italians were grounded by a shortage of spare parts it was the newly arrived Luftwaffe that lead the attack in the pre-dawn hours. Heavy 109s struck British Matildas in the desert just southeast of Fort Maddelena destroying an exposed squadron of these precious heavy tanks. Later they would take out a group of M3 half-tracks waiting in ambush for the Italian advance guard near an important railway\road crossing.
The main allied bomber group moved into the Gulf of Sollum and hit Bardia port causing extensive damage destroying all port structures and reinforced dockyards. An long running fight would take place over this port and the nearby town of Sollum throughout the day. In the fighter to fighter combat the Luftwaffe came out ahead shooting down 14 allied fighters to the loss of 10 Bf109s. A further 6 Boston bombers were shotdown during the day by the German fighters.
The main Axis attack was on the important allied field LG 06 in the middle of the desert off the coast. For several hours repeated attacks by small groups of Italian SM79s hit the airbase hard knocking everything out except for two well camoflaged ammo dumps. Initially all things went well for the attackers but as more and more P40s returned from the fight over Sollum their losses began to mount. Over the day 15 SM79s were shotdown as well as 3 Ju88s. Only one of these bombers was claimed by flak.
The night ended with a long duel between 109s and P40s to the west of LG 06. In the end claims were relatively close with the Allies leading 28 to 20.
The frame was very close with the Allies taking a slight lead 78 to 71, mainly due to their greater numbers of aircraft shotdown.
The frontline moved slightly in both directions with the initial British ground attack taking Sollum(T56) and Bir Ghirba(D80).
Good Luck in Frame 2
Notes:
1. Due to a missed ferry I did not have the time I thought I would to setup the arena properly. Some object files were the wrong ones making docks almost impossible to destroy. Because of this I have ruled P90 closed and destroyed. The MC200 was not available so I had to rule the 109s could carry bombs for Frame 1 only. The CA login was not available until after the start of the frame. Allied B25s had a short night of it as they gave up on the CA login. Not sure what weapons files people were using but they were at least 2 years out of date. Probably the same for the plane files. Not a good start to a series for sure but the two Frame COs handled it like champions, revising orders and dealing with complaints and snafus not of their making.
2. Need to clarify the T+0 launch time. Only those aircraft that are carrying ord may launch at T+0. This means only the P40 and Bf109s cannot launch at T+0. I understand how the original rule was ambiguous.
3. All relevant files and such will be uploaded before each frame to ensure this wont happen again.
4. Arena open for testing
5. Tried to enable smoke trails for slow moving GVs but it did not seem to work on my FE.
jabo
