"Attack on Darwin"
Starting in February 1942, the Japanese Navy and Air Forces launched a series of attacks on the Australian port of Darwin. The ANZAC and USAF forces were equipped with a mixed bag of P-40s, Hudsons, and a handful of Spitfires. Interestingly, the Spitfire pilots, who were fresh from combat in England, expected to eat Zeros for lunch, but instead suffered some serious setbacks. They quickly learned the hard lessons already absorbed by the Allied pilots in theater, that you don't turn with a Zeke, but used B&Z and wingman tactics. Compounding their problem was the inherent complexity of the Spitfire, which had a dismal in-service rate in the harsh South Pacific theater.
Terrain: The Slot
Target Hardness:
2,000 lbs required to kill hangers; hardness of other objects are MA typical.
Downtimes:
Hangers - 15 min
Ack - 20 min
Supplies (fuel/ammo, etc) - 30 min
All other - 30 min
Order of Battle:
ANZAC: P-40B, Spitfire-I (two bases only), A-24 (SBD), C-47, all the M's, PT boats.
Allied DE fleet w/LVTs and PT only.
IJN/IJAA: A6M2, Val, Kate, C-47, all the M's.
IJN CV fleet: A6M2, Val, Kate, PT boats
IJN DE fleet LVT's and PT boats
All other fleets will be moved out of range and changed to neutral country. I left the Boston-III out of the mix because it is so fast, and because the early Hudsons it would be substituting for were used primarily as reccon birds at this place and time. I left out the Ki67 because it also is a bit uber for this fighter set, being a poor stand-in for the early Betty bombers it would be standing-in for. This is primarily a tactical air set up. While base capture will be allowed, the lack of medium and heavy bombers will make it hard for either side. The SBD is a late war model, but I felt it necessary to include some Allied attack capability, as neither of the Allied fighters carries a bomb. The US 5th AF operated the Army version of the SBD, the A-24. The Spitfires actually deployed to Darwin were mostly the Spit-V model. I’m using the Spit-I to make up for the fact that we don’t have the A6M3 to counter it, plus to simulate the poor performance of the Spits due to maintenance issues. Finally, the P-40B is being used even though the US and ANSAC forces were beginning to get the E models early in 1942, again as a concession to the A6M2 it is matched agains.
Historical Note: A Japanese invasion of Darwin was a very real concern to the Australian government from 1942 all the way through mid-1943. This fear was reinforced by the very active air war that was fought over and around Darwin during the whole of this period.
Set up by Sabre
