Sorry it took so long to post, finals week kept me busy...
All units launched as prescribed in the orders without delays. First enemy radar contact was a tight grouping towards the southern ingress route. JG475 volunteered to send a schwarm to investigate. I suspected fighters, but it never hurts to get verification from ye olde mk.I eyeball. While JG475 was en route JG127 spotted the bomber stream. All axis assets immediately changed course for intercept. The stream was split into 3 very closely spaced formations, as in distance from lead to trail was often half grid or less. Human pilots were in the lead followed by 2 AI formations. Enemy buffs approached Berlin from a general northerly direction. Throughout the ingress the human formation zig-zagged making their position/heading somewhat cumbersome to relay, particularly when flying perpendicular to radial lines close to Berlin. Enemy escorts were entirely focused on the lead (human) buff formation, leaving the AIs to fend for themselves. Our initial engagement with enemy fighters over the North Sea successfully stripped at least a portion of the cover. However, remaining escorts and intercepting friendlies merged almost simultaneously. From that point forward nearly every player in the S3 was stretched and mixed over a 2-2.5 grid space. Chaos on radar ensued and the only positively discernible formation were the lead buffs. At that point, you fellas did what you do and ground the enemy to pieces. About 80 miles from Berlin, the well scattered enemy escorts RTBd and left an unbroken snot trail from Denmark to London. The remainder of the night consisted of axis forces continuously harassing and mauling enemy buffs until only 2-4 were left limping West. The allies attempted a reception escort but never regrouped to more than 2 at a time over a large distance. By the time the closest pair arrived there was nothing left to cover and most axis forces were RTB. Overall, I think it was an excellent frame. The bombers did some damage to Berlin but I think we dished out far more than we took. An incredible feat considering we were heavily outnumbered. I probably could have done a little better at vectoring (sorry, a little rusty) but the job still got done.
Gut gemacht, meine Kameraden!
Extra schnapps rations for everyone!
<S>'s
Prost!
