S3 Series

First Flight
Little bit of confusion here as orders were not what was expected after Thursday night's meeting... the error was mine though as I gave my work email and had no access after Saturday afternoon.

Numbers were a bit light on the first hop as we had 4 pilots take off from 52 to head north. AE was flexible and met up with us up north east of F32. Bomb group ended up with about 5 pilots but had a few technical glitches that had some pilots off in different areas. Near F32 we came across 2 destroyers that had us turn to avoid the HEAVY AA they throw up. Things came together as we grabbed altitude and made for the IP over F34. Again, AE was right with us and over us and were consistent in reminders to update our position etc (thank you very much) Our AI bomber flight was loaded and hit the target ahead of us, so timing was good on first flight.. there was no noticeable damage at the field.

Picked up several cons east of the IP and had much action as we turned to target to strike F33. One hurricane climbed up right underneath me and was pounced upon by our escort. (Besea got the kill I believe) First attack on target was moderate damage but we didn't want to linger so we continued to F37 and dropped there. again bomb results were not as good as we would have hoped for. We headed back East with most of us nearby but some were lagging behind and another was much further south. We made things difficult for the escort here as they had to try and cover much too large an area. I think we lost one to enemy fire and another to a disco. Flights continued home, landed and prepared for second mission.

2nd Flight
With only moderate results on our first sortie it was decided to go back "into the meat grinder" and finish off the two airfields. Turn right after bomb runs and hit ships near port of 74 on the way out. This time we grabbed altitude right away and turned to the west level and fast at 10k. AE again were right with us and covered us the whole way. We were able to close 33 then 37 and swing back east. several ships also went down at 74 and two destroyers north of 32 were spotted as we ran back home.


3rd Flight
gums & gundoc took off low and west to go hunt tanks over the front lines while I flew low up north to try and take out the DDs previously seen.
Unfortunately we did not inform our fighters soon enough about a third sortie and they stood down for the evening. Knowing we didn't have fighter cover did not change our decision to try and use the time left to our advantage.
Gums & gundoc were jumped by 352 somewhere over the battlefield, both went down soon after. I was able to find the destroyers and sink them with only a few minutes to spare. a couple cons were in the area and gave chase as I pushed into a slight dive and pushed the throttle as far forward as I could. T+160 came and went with the call to rtb. The 352nd did not heed this call and chased me all the way to the French coast where they shot off my elevator and I was unable to avoid the ground rushing up to get me.

Don't want to find fault as we knew our fighter numbers would be light and we chose to attack anyway. In the future I would like to see at least some fighters able to do a reception escort to prevent the limey scum from hugging our tails all the way home. Better communication on my part would have likely had some assistance.

RULES
my perception of the rules has been that T+160 is a call to turn away from your current situation and return to base as it is the END of the frame.
here is a direct quote:



as strike/bomber I am NOT allowed to score after t+160. However it seems that fighters do not fit into the "all a/c" category and are free to wait until the enemy has disengaged then prance around the enemy airbases shooting down and scoring points Well after T+160.

ALWAYS in my previous S3 frames we have turned and headed for home at T+160 no matter what situation we've been in.

Horrido!

Good recap, Cool.

Just happened to check forum before chores this morning.

The T+160 rule needs to apply to the lites, dammit.

I wish to take out my Samurai sword and fall upon it, as the feeble critter hunting attempt by this old warrior and the trusty Gundoc was not very smart. We did not ask our Little Friends to help and so we were picked off fairly easily by one Blue Nose. We had such good luck at that point it seemed like a good idea at the time, NOT!

Stop me before I do this again!!!


The buffs can not thank AE enuf the last two series. They have figured out the escort/sweep tactic and we have seen great results. The meat grinder Sunday nite was for real, but we came thru with good results and fairly realistic or even low losses, all things considered. Would not have been possible without the AE support.

Herr Gums sends....

Sorry Cool but as long as I have flown S3 ('97) the rule has always been no ground attack after T+160 which left 20 min for the ftrs to kill or get home. Soemtimes that meant more as the unwritten rule to be on the ground by T+180 was enforced by darkness. Oh well. bombr-

The three remaining elements of Luftflotte 6 were positioned and received the Bombers / AE as they entered the Isle. Nice running battle with the RCAF and 352nd, with the latter being kept busy chasing EasyEd and myself. We finished off 'Zilla and forced Juice and Parsons to stay out of the bomb group after you all droopped on 37 and reversed for home. Once we ran out of bullets, we did what we could to get back to France.

bombr- that may be what happens but the rules are clear:




all A/C must disengage. A fighter brawl can continue but intercepting buffs is not allowed.

Always a pleasure doing business with you Buff guys. We gave it our best shot and things seemed to go OK. After the 2nd sortie, a discussion ensued in AE as to whether to relaunch. As the primary targets had been destroyed and unaware that you wanted to pursue a 3rd sortie, the decision was made to stand down, preserving assets and denying 352nd the opportunity to run up the score. Our pilots all went merrily off to the Officer's Club to toast a successful mission. I hung around watching the Dar til the end. Sorry we weren't there to help out. I will make one point though. Had we been available, we would not have been able to adequately protect both Sortie 3 missions. It would have been better to stay together and hit one or the other, preferably the ships for the high point value.

As for the T+160 issue, I see no reason to have different end times for Strike vs Lites unless there is a log related technical reason for doing so. T+180 dark is dark for all. Operations should be left to the Side CO and Squadron Commanders. In real life, you were never safe even after landing at the end of the day. Perhaps this rule needs to be re-evaluated.

S!
Crommm
American Eagles