"Britain Alone, 1940"
Background -
It is late July, 1940. Poland, France and the Low Countries have fallen to the armies of the Third Reich. The BEF has been evacuated from the continent at Dunkirk. Only Britain stands in the way of total victory for the Germans in Europe. This Squad Operation will recreate the campaign known as "The Battle of Britain".
The BoB as a campaign that can be viewed in 3 general phases. The first, which took place in July of 1940, saw the Luftwaffe attack channel convoys and ports in the south of England in order to lure the RAF to battle. This was a warmup to a direct attack on RAF Fighter Command. The aim of the campaign from the Luftwaffe's side was to soften up the RAF enough to allow for "Sea Lion" the invasion of Britain by sea and air forces based in France. For the RAF, the aim was to stay an effective fighting force in order to stave off an invasion.
Phase two started on August 13th and involved the Luftwaffe attack in force against RAF fighter bases and radar installations . Codenamed "Adler Tag", or "Eagle Day" by the Luftwaffe, this was the beggining of the battle proper and saw large scale combats between the two air forces. It was really a war of attrition with the RAF coming very close to the breaking point as its resources were stretched to the maximum.
As the result of a mistaken bomb drop on London by the Luftwaffe, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, ordered reprisal raids on Berlin. In response, a furious Hitler ordered an all out air assault on the British capital, setting the stage for the final phase of the battle. Starting on September 7th the Luftwaffe began large scale raids on London. The RAF gained a vital week to regroup. On September 15th, as the largest raid to date over the city materialised, the RAF sortied all it had from both its No.11 and No.12 fighter groups. A huge melee stretched from London to the coast, and when it was over, the Luftwaffe had lost 58 aircraft to the RAF's 26 in air combat. Most importantly, as more raids were launched in late September, Hitler lost faith in the Luftwaffe to deliver the promised knockout blow. Fighter Command had held on, and the invasion was postponed as summer ended.
Frame 1 "Early Skirmishes": RAF, HurricaneI and SpitfireI. LW, 109E, 110C, Stuka.
Frame 2 "Eagle Day": RAF, HurricaneI and SpitfireI. Lw, 109E, 110C, Stuka, Ju-88.
Frame 3 "Target London": RAF, HurricaneI and SpitfireI. LW, 109E, 110C, Ju-88.
Setup -
Big BoB map
RAF bases: A3, A7, A8, A9, A10, A11, A16, A40, A101, A126. Frame CO bases 1 squadron at each base max. Not all bases have to be used.
LW bases: Me109 at A1, A4, and A2. Me110 at A2. Stuka at A15 and A20. Ju-88 at A12, A36, A18. These bases will remain the same for the 3 frames. No more than 2 squadrons at each base.
Restrictions -
*Ju88 is a stand in for the slower He-111 and Dornier 17. As such the max throttle setting while in flight will be manifold 40.
*1 Me110 squadron may perform a Jabo role per frame at CO's discretion.
*RAF will be split 60/40 Hurricane and Spitfire.
*At least one full squad (12) of each a/c type must be used each frame (or as close as possible).
*The Me 110C is the only fighter in the event allowed to carry bombs, and only the designated Jabo staffel may do so.
Settings -
Bar Dar at 3 sectors with 500 feet alt, Base Warning at 5 miles, AAA set to 0.7, Fuel Burn 1.0, Time set for 12:00 noon, no wind.
Victory Conditions -
All a/c and targets will be assigned points. Hurricane, Spitfire and 109 10 points. Ju87 and 110 15 points, and the He-111 20 points. At the end of frame 3 an overall victor is declared. Attrition will be a major factor for both sides. Ground targets will be worth 200 points max with certain structures (like hangers) as valid targets.
Frame 1: LW will attack V70, V68, P105 and A40.
Frame 2: LW will attack A3, A9, A11 and A16.
Frame 3: LW will attack P97, P98, V125 and the City.
All a/c must be landed by T+120.
