S3 Series

Thanks to everyone for your efforts, overall they did pay off for us.
Also thanks to omega for doing GCI for the first sortie, greatly appreciated!!

The designed feint up North by LF6 was foiled out the gate with the late map update. Losing F49 last frame gave them radar coverage 10 miles West of F53 which didn’t allow us the surprise needed to draw the enemy further North with the feint. It did manage to give our bombers time to make their run hassle free until over F55. Then our bombers were met with some stiff resistance once our bombers reversed and headed back over the front to drop and head home. Regardless LF6 took the initiative, continued on with the strike on 102 and successfully closed and captured it.
A Big WTG to LF6.

The First sortie for the Buffs and Escorts went off without a hitch, however the buffs ran into a cloud bank and some couldn’t drop on 103 and 116. As they continued on to F55 where some dropped on targets there. They then extended East of F55, reversed and made successful runs on all targets before running home while being chased/harrassed. Not sure how many of the bombers were lost. Major damage to both Posts and Field 55 was accomplished. Our human Gvs then finished off what ground objects that were still up, closed and then captured 103 and 116. Thanks to all who flew a bomber on the first mission, well done!!!

The Fog of War took over the frame after 60 minutes or so. I called for all to CAP over the front however the chicken Ruskies decided to divide and conquer through striking our assets down South. Our forces had to be divided between defense down South and Capping/attacking the Front. We just didn’t have the numbers to be able to do both all night the way needed. Regardless we took what they threw at us and managed to salvage the push East as well as close F74 and deny them that airfield.

We captured 103, 116,117 and 102, with some being taken back by the Russians then us retaking them. We closed F55, but with many attempts at trooping it were denied the prize.

Once again, great job to all!

<S>

4th FG BFK Frame 3 AAR

3 4th pilots rolled Ju88's with the buff group out of 50. The remaining 4th rolled fighters out of 60. We rendezvoused with the buff group and pushed ahead to the target area. We had blue skies until the buffs flipped on F55. We engaged NME fighters and pulled them down below the buffs. Several 4th men were lost as the Russian planes outperformed our 109's down low. The 4th rtb'd F50.

2nd sortie, we rolled fighters out of 50 and were attempting to CAP the 116 area when we ran into a gaggle of NME aircraft just west of our CAP area. Again we tangled with the NME, but were driven low by an overwhelming force and lost a few pilots in the process.

3rd sortie, we decided to take back field 74. We rolled 2-3 fighters and the rest in Stukas. We closed 74 and got 2 kills. However we poked the hornet's nest and a large group of name fighters engaged us in a large area from 74, to 4 and N of 28. As a result of NME presence we were unable to get troops into 74.

In a last ditch effort, I personally flew a JU from 68 in an attempt to sneak troops into 55. However with 55 only 2 miles away, I ran out of time and had to abort.


Lesson learned:

After we spanked the NME pretty good in earlier frames, we grew over confident and the NME changed tactics. They stayed in tight groups of no less than 4 and overwhelmed us as we overconfidently tried to man handle them. We need to fly disciplined and stick with our wings if we want to go toe to toe with the NME. We also need to stay high where our planes outperform the NME.

Had we had troops on hand, ready to drop, we would have captured 74. My bad planning. We also should have given ourselves enough time to get troops to 55. Much effort was lost to these two small mistakes.

However, on a positive note, we still are continuing to push the front back.

Good plan. Lets keep the pressure on in frame 4 and make sure we coordinate our troops with our attack better.

Salute!

Nookyb 4th FG CO

Good write up nookyb, On radar i could see a group of 3- 4 cruising N/S on the 4 vertical line.
They were the forward Bar Cap intercepting our incoming aircraft to the front.
It seems that they had planes capping/attacking the front at 3 different altitudes most of the time, on the deck more or less, 12k or so and 25-30k+ .
Low over the front is brutal. Seems you can survive until 5 minutes after a kill message, by that time you better be gone.
Over well done 4th
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From my email to the 4th FG. Thought I'd post it here as well as my personal AAR analysis might be of use for our Axis pilots.

--- Personal AAR ---
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Last frame I performed abysmal. Probably my worst S3 in a long time. I cannot change the past, but I can take control of the future. Instead of going around feeling bad for being downed three times in a single frame, I can instead put that energy into making sure I'm better in frame 4.


What caused me to lose three lives?

*** Several times I let go of discipline and attacked bandits below the 20 000 ft altitude, where our planes go from having the speed advantage to where the La-5FN has the same speed. While turn fighting I even got below 14 000 ft where the La-5FN starts to outspeed us.
*** Because of getting into a turnfight below 20 000 ft, I could now not disengage when I suddenly found myself outnumbered. 1v1 became 1v2 and soon turned into 1v4 at my first two deaths. This was solely because I went to low when still 1v1.
*** I stayed within eyesight of the squad when going for a bandit, but not disciplined and close enough for my squaddies to be able to effectively support me. As such I soon found myself completely isolated and outnumbered during both my two first deaths.
I ran into a shallow hill at my third lost life. Looking back at the trailing bandit, I let go of the joystick to much and my nose dropped without me knowing it until to late.


What did I do correct to keep alive for a while longer that I should repeat if necessary?

*** Being outnumbered 1v4 at 14 000 ft first sortie, I knew I had no way of escaping since the La-5FN's had the speed advantage at this altitude. As I was now hopelessly outnumbered and outspeeded, I made a last resort escape by diving out. The La-5FN breaks apart above 430 mph IAS, The Bf 109 breaks apart above 500 mph IAS. As such I made sure to dive and run at 450+ mph IAS. This enabled me to create the distance needed to the enemy, saving my life in my first sortie since the enemy abandoned the chase. They would eventually have caught me though if they'd keep chasing me, but as their planes were shaking and I was momentarily running away from them, they decided to abort, which was what I hoped for.
*** Before my first death, I went into scissors when 1v2 and to low to run away, which made the Lav's repeatedly overshoot me, and I could have won the fight had the 352nd not been so quick to support each other making it 1v4. At this point I got overwhelmed.
*** At my second death I was jumped by a 30000 ft flying P-39D. I outmaneuvered him and got him in front of me. Unfortunately the rest of the 352nd showed up and attacked me as well. I was then fighting 1v6 for 5-7 minutes. I survived that long by keep doing scissors and slowly making it to F4 for ack support, meanwhile I tried to vector my squaddies to my position. Unfortunately I was to far away from F4 and to far away from my squad to get ack/wingman help and the 352nd eventually got enough hits in to kill me. My general plan to survive was correct though, and could have worked under better circumstances.


Six steps to ensure I have a better chance of being successful in frame 4 and 5.

*** Stay closer to the squad. Don't follow the bandit below 20 000 ft unless the whole squad decides we have a good opportunity to overwhelm the enemy by taking the fight to the end. Otherwise I'll get separated again like last frame.
*** When turn fighting, keep the altitude as Jedijc always tells us. Strive to make it a climbing turnfight rather than a descending one. Don't make a split-S maneuver as desperate defence, keep the altitude no matter what and instead do scissors as if I had been fighting at the deck!
*** Fly extra hours in the Legacy arena this week to practice and set a hard deck for each and every sortie for the rest of the week. I am under no circumstances allowed to fight below this altitude in the Legacy arena, no matter if I have to let go of kills. Discipline is a must! This will teach me to keep at benefical altitude during S3's.
*** Prepare mentally for at least 30 minutes prior to the next S3. Listen to music that helps me get the right mindset, go through several times in my head how I should fight and what I should do in different defensive/offensive situations. Prior to entering contested airspace, I should once again remind myself of these tactical solutions. This goes for every sortie during the S3.
*** Of course be ready to adapt to the situation, but only change tactics if it is logically beneficial, not from desperate panic-actions that worsens the situation.
*** When running at the deck, make sure I have a up-pitch trim rather than down pitch trim. If I let go of the stick the nose should rather rise than sink, that way I won't run into the ground when looking back.


<S> and now instead eagerly looking forward to frame 4 instead of being pissed at myself for my debacle in frame 3.
/Robert
4th FG

--- End personal AAR ---

Lets not forget the importance of some air cover for our ground forces, Bad guys pretty much had run of the mill down low and whacked the crap otta any ground forces we had in the area.

From what I saw over the front last frame when on radar, flying and driving I believe there is only one way it will happen...that is to commit 90% or more of our #'s to the task to clear the area. Arrive at the same time, Overwhelm the front with planned altitude responsibilities, with support stepping down in altitude when needed. Of course you will only have 10 mins of peace at high altitudes and 2 minutes on the deck as they have airfields close by. A rough nut to crack to be sure. Boom the deck and zoom might work if higher altitudes were safe. I don't know what the answer is.

Also, at the end of the last frame while driving troops in the open country towards 55 I counted 3 different airframes sweeping 5 miles or so N,S and W of the field, otd just looking for Ju52's and gvs.

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