Snapshot for 23 Sept: Pulverizer

[68Hawk]

<S>

This is the event for 23 September.  We will begin at 22:00 Eastern.  Everyone is welcome to attend, so bring all your friends!

Pulverizer



Strikingback by Gerald Coulson
Click here to visit this artists website D-Day June 6, 1944


American, British and Canadian troops are heading to their jump off points on the beaches of Normandy, they expect to come up against German strong points (coastal guns) designed to hold up the Allies long enough for reinforcements to arrive. It is up to the Typhoon pilots of the 2nd Tactical Air Force to blast one of these strong points out of the way; otherwise the troops will never get off of the killing fields that are the beaches of Normandy.

610 Squadron RAF in Spitfire XIVs and 416 Squadron RCAF in Spitfire IXs are tasked with providing high cover, while 440 Squadron RCAF in bomb-carrying Typhoons (Bomphoons) are providing AA suppression and bombing the strong-points. The Germans, while confused over what is happening on the beaches have put up several squadrons of fighters from Stab/JG26 in FW-190A5s, III/JG2 in their new FW-190A8s, and ???? in their Bf-109G10s.

Arena
SEA

Country Percentages
Allied - 60%
Axis - 40%
 
Units:
Allies:
40% Spitfire IXs A-19
30% Spitfire XIVs A-19
30% Typhoons A-8

Orders:
Typhoons take off from A8 in England and head to a rendezvous location with the Spitfires. Spitfires take off from A19 and head to the rendezvous point. Once they meet they are to head to the target (Coastal guns on fields of V101, 102 and 103 in yellow – Due to map restrictions we are substituting the vehicle hangers on these bases as Coastal guns)

Restrictions:
Typhoons are to carry two 1,000 lb bombs, and have an alt limit of 10,000 ft inbound to the target. Once the target is attacked there is no alt limit for Typhoons.
Spitfires must stay within sight of Typhoons until spotting Luftwaffe. There is no alt limit on Allied fighters.

Units:
Axis:
30% Fw-190-A5s A-35
30% Fw-190-A8s A-33
40% Bf 109-G14 A-35

Orders:
LW is free to fly at T+0 to intercept Allied forces.

Restrictions:
LW cannot engage until Allies have passed the halfway point in the English Channel. There is no alt limit on German fighters.



Victory Conditions
Standard point values

Spitfire IX - 15
Spitfire XIV - 20
Typhoon - 25
FW-190 - 15
Bf-109 - 15
Coastal Gun (Vehicle Hanger) - 25
AA Gun - 5

Arena Settings
1. Terrain - Bob04
2. Icon Range - Short
3. Wind - South @ 10 kts 8k - 20k
4. Time -06:00 x1
5. Fighter & Bomber Warning Range - 105,600 (about 20 Miles)
6. Enemy Collisions - On
7. External view for bombers (F3) - on
8. Visibility - 17 miles
9. Friendly Collisions - off
10. Fuel - 1.0
11. Ack - 0.3
12. Kill shooter - off
13. Tower Range - 105,600 (for display to aid players, set to match above setting)
14. Radar - Bar dar only set to 105,600
15. CV C110 is British and should be at 10, 8, 1 at T+0 and steam south to 10, 7, 1 and stop.

Designer Notes
The CV represents the invasion fleet and will fire on any German aircraft.
The coastal guns (vehicle hangers) are tough targets and require 3000 lbs of bombs each. AA suppression should be with cannons.

CM Notes
Depending on turn out reduce the V-base targets to V101 and V102 only.

Design By
Holder, 880 Fleet Air Arm
Updated to AH2 by 68Raptor

[68Hawk]

Wow, great event everyone!

It was a real pleasure to watch tonight's action unfold.  Here's what I saw:

First off I saw a huge armada of Spitfires and Typhoons heading across the Channel.  It was a truly impressive sight.  They were all flying through mixed clouds in a giant gaggle, with some stragglers and a smaller formation of Typhoons with it's own escort bringing up the rear.  Then I saw the Germans.  They could be seen as either a menacing horde or a gallant flock dashing off to put themselves between the British onslaught and their brothers on the beaches.  The Germans came in more mixed groups, with some attempting to cut off the British fighters and some heading more directly to the landing beaches to be ready there. 

As the first Germans started into the left flank of the British armada, many confused and twisted dogfights ensued.  Everything immediately became very confused.  The key move that I saw was a strong group of 190s break through the outer screen of Spitfires and begin to pull in behind the main group of Typhoons.  They were coming up like a tight group of sharks, from dead astern, and screened through a cloud bank.  I watched intently as I expected them to pounce on the Typhoons, wondering if the Allied fighters ahead would see them and have to scatter or fail to and become prey.  Just after the 190s broke through the clouds and were really starting to get close, a flight of Spitfires who had maintained their position above the bombers caught on to the danger and, diving down upon the German fighters, precluded the attack with a raging dogfight.  It's the kind of action that belongs in a blockbuster movie. 

From there the Typhoons pushed on to their targets and did some considerable damage to German forces on the beach.  The followup group of Typhoons also seemed to push through the melee pretty well and put some significant hits on the beach defenses.  There were some vicious dogfights over the shore, and meanwhile the confused and tangled mass of airplanes over the landing fleet continued to do battle.  It had become more spread out by this time, with pockets of action resembling angry swarms of gnats from afar and up close a fierce crucible of cannon and machine gun fire.  The allies ended up owning the skies over their invasion fleet, as their weight of numbers forced evermore a German fighter to turn for home or the waves.

Here's the numbers:

I've counted up the losses on each side, which include discos and a couple of snafus on takeoff.  As such these numbers may not jive exactly with the raw totals in the logs.  There were some additional base features that were destroyed, and I decided to score them at 5 points each, despite that there was no mention of them as targets in the writeup.  These would represent losses to the German forces defending the beaches.  We may factor this in more greatly in future runs of this setup.

Allied Points:

190s - 37 x 15 = 555
109s - 19 x 15 = 285
VH -     9 x 25 = 225
Guns -  8 x 5   = 40
Other - 6 x 5   = 30

Total:              1135

Axis Points:

Spit IX -     9 x 15 = 135
Spit XIV -  31 x 20 = 620
Typhoon - 19 x 25 = 475

Total:              1230

All I can say is WOW!  It seems that tactically the Allies won, having achieved their strike objective and largely controlling the skies at the end of the frame, with many of their aircraft returning safely to base.  Still, the points show that there was actually a narrow victory by the Axis!!!  The tenacity of the German pilots payed off in the end, and the bitter losses that they inflicted on the British carried the day for their side.  It was a close upset, but a crucial one!  In the end it came down to about 5 aircraft worth of points.  That's why it's so important in these events to be careful on takeoff, and to bring them back safely if you at all can.

Kudos and Schnitzel to the Germans!

Frame 2:

Frame 2 was also a vicious dogfight, as well it should be!  I saw some really good flying from both sides.  There was some good teamwork and some really tricky maneuvers, and it was all very entertaining.  I have assigned equal points to every aircraft for this one.

Allies:

German Fighters - 22 x 15 = 330

Axis:

British Fighters -  11 x 15 = 165

This one goes to the Allies!  They worked hard, controlled the skies and came away with a good number flying home victorious. 

Fish and Chips to the Brits on this one!


A side note:

Shooting your teammates is NOT COOL!  Killshooter is always off in these events, meaning if you will shoot them you will damage them instead of yourself as in the MA.  Accidents do happen, whether a slip of the thumb on takeoff or by mistake in the heat of aerial combat.  Deliberate shooting of one's teammates is not only bad form, but can screw up an event for others.  It WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in our events, in any form, and this includes retaliation.  In the future if someone does this, please contact your CM and let them know of the problem.  It will be dealt with.  Thank you.

So, this one was a rage in the air and on the scoreboard!  I hope everyone enjoyed.  Remember that these events run the same time every Wednesday.  Bring your friends and bring your enemies, because we'll all be back next week!

-68Hawk

http://ahevents.org/eventlogs.html

[Plawranc]

CLAIM JUMPERS AND THE SILVER SPITS OF DOOM.

Thanks for hosting this Hawk, look forward to the next one.

B6Pacman

PS: Video will be up in next few days, wish I had youre view though.

[Plawranc]

Here you go Hawk, A testement by top scorer in Frame 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jukt-kTOQs

The snap shot and its stars on the small screen set out quite aptly as a blockbuster movie

[68Hawk]

I love it Pacman!  Thanks for putting that together.  Everyone should check it out.