My thinking was this....
Most probably the VVS would concentrate on the eastern frontier but I had to be ready to respond up north.
23FG struck the radar at 241 to confuse the issue for the VVS and that appeared effective. 23FG was engaged much of the night in the east.
475FG was split into 4 2 ship hunter/killer units looking for AI raids and several were destroyed. Losses to these pairs did occur. Two were caught low by a large group. Two died in collisions with debris, one disco and one landing accident.
The Reaction Force spent much of the frame in the east countering a nearly constant enemy presence at the D in Feodosiya.
SIDE NOTE: We make a big deal about these DDS maps yet when I gave geographic references using the DDS the replay was many don't have it. I think individual group CO's should be responsible for translating the coordinates if he has guys he cant be bothered to grab the map. Asking the Frame CO to do so is bad form.
SIDE NOTE 2: Ten mile radar is nearly useless. I should have designated a North and East GCI at frame start and ordered the groups to only provide a GCI when a member died.
AE's patrolled western shipping and was later tasked with northern frontier patrol.
After early losses in the east the enemy became hesitant to penetrate deep. Up north the enemy appeared content to stay disengaged and far north and the AI were easy pickings. I personally killed 4 within visual range of 9 enemy aircraft near F6.
I think we lost four ships but we lacked the resources to effectively cover the ships with the need to have effective numbers at the point of contact.
The enemy was not aggressive and allowed us to concentrate forces. A more aggressive early frame effort in the east by them would have caught the Reaction Force out of position and may have ended badly for the 23FG but I gambled that would not be the case.
A last minute attempt to lure the northern enemy into a meat grinder was less than successful. The trap was well set but we couldn't seem to bring our numbers to bear aggressively and the enemy withdrew north.
Terrain problems hampered operations severely, causing losses. THE IDIOCY of STICKY GRASS. That sums it up. Because some knucklehead ackstarred in a bomber a decade ago we have sticky grass AT DIRT FIELDS.
Overall it appeared a big victory for the Axis. The VVS really didn't attack and we killed a lot of AI. We lost some ships which may prove the equalizer in the points but there should be a point deduction for failure to simulate the Soviet Juggernaut.
dawger
