FSO: Operation Husky - Setting

[ghostdancer]

Operation Husky - The Invasion of Sicily (1943)

Event Description
Operation Husky was an operation born in controversy. During the so-called Second Washington Conference in the early summer of 1942, an acrimonious debate raged between the British and their new American allies over the future strategic course of the war against the European Axis powers. General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff of the United States Army, espoused the view that the Allies could successfully confront the European Axis only by means of an amphibious invasion of Western Europe, and that consequently no operations which might detract from this goal should be undertaken beyond the operations in North Africa. The Casablanca Conference was schedule for early 1943 to discuss the joint allied objectives for that year.
 
General Eisenhower attended the Casablanca Conference only briefly. On January 15, after a harrowing journey in which his B-17 lost two engines, and he ended the trip in a parachute harness, he reported on the progress of the campaign in Tunisia. The decisions of the Combined Chiefs of Staff first came to his knowledge when he received his copy of the official minutes of the conference. Eisenhower had anticipated that the Allies would pursue some further action in the Mediterranean at the end of the Tunisian campaign, so that even before the Casablanca Conference his staff had been tentatively planning an operation against Sardinia and Corsica.

In the Trident Conference the Americans reluctantly had to settle for moving the invasion of France to 1944 do to several factors. The British were able to successfully push for an operation in the Mediterranean with the troops and material freed to the allied after the fall of Tunisia (where they took 275,000 prisoners, wiping out the Axis troop reserve for the whole Med theatre).

On May 12, 1943, the same day on which the Allied field commanders approved the final plan of invasion for Sicily, the Combined Chiefs of Staff met at the White House with Roosevelt and Churchill. The latter began the discussion by asserting that once HUSKY had been successfully concluded, the prime objective in the Mediterranean must be to drive Italy out of the war by the best available means. He recounted a litany of beneficial developments - closer ties between the Allies and Turkey, enhanced activity on the part of Balkan guerrillas, which would in turn require either a German retreat from the region or the withdrawal of considerable German forces from Russia, and the elimination of the Italian fleet - all of which would perforce transpire once Italy were driven from the war.

Operation Barclay was put into effect to disguise the troop objective of the allies in 1943. Its goal was to convince the Germans that Sardina, Corisca, or Greece was the next operational target of the Allies. It was hugely successful and the Germans dispatched 5 divisions to Greece to defend against an invasion that never came.

On June 7, 1943 Eisenhower outlined his plan for the invasion of Sicily to the War Department. In addition to the elaborate air plan, which called upon each of the various air commands in the Mediterranean area to contribute to either the build-up or the invasion itself, Eisenhower described a series of simultaneous seaborne assaults, assisted by air landings, to capture the seaports of Licata and Syracuse and the airfields between these cities, in order to lay the groundwork for operations against the airfields at Gerbini, Catania and Augusta. While an aerial campaign would strike Sardinian, Sicilian, and Italian airfields and targets to lay the ground work for the invasion and to keep the Germans guessing on what was the true target.

Plane Set

BRITISH
Mosquito VI
Seafire IIC
Martlet IV (FM2 Substitute)
Barracuda (SBD-5 Substitute) (possibly 2 lives)
Spitfire IX

AMERICAN
B26B
B24J
P38G

ITALIAN
C.205

GERMAN
Bf109G2
Bf109G6
Bf110G2
Fw190A-5
JU87 (2 lives)
JU88-A4
[/list]

For the most part the planeset is historically accurate. Although I did fudge a few things for playability sake.

• MARTLET IV - The British did have available to them the Martlet IV on several of their CVs. Instead of using the F4F-4 I decided to go with the FM2. This reduces the plane to 4x50s instead of 6x50s but the looking at the speed of the LW aircraft in the event I decided the Martlets could use the extra speed that the FM2 has over the F4F-4 and could survive the lost of 2x50 guns.
• The British CVs used the Barracuda. I wanted to include some strike capability for the British CVs (which will be seen in frame 3) and the closest fit I could really find on the allied side was the SBD-5. So that has been substituted for the Barracuda. The SBD-5s might get second lives .. I am still comparing them against the LW and Italians planes to see just how badly undermatched they are (they do look to be easy meat without escorts .. slow, poor climb, very weakly armed).
• While B17s were available in the MED the bulk of the work was done by the B24s so I decided to simply things by using just one heavy bomber.
• I also wanted the British to have a non naval strike capability for frame 1 and frame 2 and the Mosquito was used and available at this period. It is offset to an extent by the LW having the 110G2 (planes are roughly comparable).
• Limited numbers of C.205s were available during this period. Very limited numbers but we can fudge things to allow a medium size squad (say 11-15 size) of these planes active.
• While the C.202 was available it is not very survivable against the allied planes so I dropped it. The 109F4 was also available but the 109G2 is more of the standard plane by this time period.
• 109G6 will be available in limited numbers (say 1 large size squad). The 109G2 is faster, climbs better and more manueverable however, the G6 has better guns and the allies do the have the B24 an B26.
• JU87s will get a second life.

I have an excel file with the plane performances at:

http://www.dgideon.org/aceshigh/planedata_husky.xls

Arena Settings
- Italy terrain
- Fuel 1.25
- Icons short
- .5 Ack
- Fighter and Bomber warning range 52,000 (about 10 miles)
- Tower range set to 52,000 (for display only to match the above setting)
- Clouds / visibility
  Frame 1, 13 miles
  Frame 2, 7 miles
  Frame 3, 14 miles
- Radar off
- Friendly collisions off
- Enemy collisions on
- Kill shooter off
- Calm winds
- Time: 11 AM

Scoring

AIR TO AIR
10 pts - All fighters (190, 109s, Seafire, Spitfire, Martlet, P38, C.205)
15 pts - Mosquito, 110, SBD-5, JU87
20 pts - B26Bs, JU88s
25 pts - B24Js

GROUND TARGETS
0.062 = Gun
0.062 = Mannable Gun
3.125 = Ammo Bunker
3.125 = Fuel Bunker
3.125 = Barracks
3.125 = Radar
27.812 = Vehicle Hangar
27.812 = Fighter Hangar
27.812 = Bomber Hangar
3.125 = Town Building
3.125 = Factory at strategic target
0.781 = Truck in convoy
1.562 = Train
15.625 = Destroyer
TBD = Cruiser
TBD = Carrier
[/list]

Ground target points are calculated based on the lbs of ordinance to kill the object. I have to double check the ordinance needed to kill a CV or CA in the Italy terrain.

In regares to convoys and trains. If assigned they will be valid targets for the whole frame. This is to simulate attacks on the LW ground troops through the train. Both trains and convoys respawn at set intervals and can be attacked multiple times.

SPECIAL RULES - INVASION!
I am considering adding a unique game play feature to the third frame of this FSO to simulate the allies actually invading Sicily. This is not a definite and if I can work out some particulars about it I will not implement it for this FSO.

However if I do this is what I am thinking.

At T+90 all dead Axis and Allied pilots in frame 3 may respawn in the following vehicles.

Allied pilots may respawn in LVT(A)2, LVT(A)4, PT boats, and the heavy guns of the invasion fleet if the allies still have CVs and CAs left (if they don't then no heavy ship guns).

Their objective will be to storm the beach of V5 (in the actual invasion zone of the British 8th Army) and sieze V5. Any surviving CA or CV will be able to lend fire support (so real important you sink them LW unless you want 8 inch and 5 inch shells raining down on you). A limited number of PTs boats (maybe 10) will spawn also to provide fire support. The rest of the pilots will be in LVT(A)4s .. the LVTs with 75mm HE gun. They will try to get in a limited number of LVT(A)2s (possibly 10) with troops to sieze the base.

Opposing them will be the LW dead pilots in M8s. I looked at the Panzer but the 75mm guns of the LVTs firing HE rounds had no real chance against panzers. After some thought and discussion with some CMs I think the M8 is a better match up.

LW M8 job is simple .. kill LVTs and save the base from being captured.

All M8s, LVTs, and PTs only get one life.

This portion of the battle is not really designed to be perfectly balanced but is instead thrown in as an extra game play feature for fun at a time in the frame when most of the air to air fighting is over with.

As I said I am still working on this idea and it might be included or not.

[TracerX]

Good work on the scenario.  If the invasion at the end works out, it will be a most memorable event.  One question, is the Spit IX intended to be unlimited?  I can see that the FM2 is about the only other British non-naval option, and will not draw many voulenteers unless required to do so.  Good work again, and it will be fun to fly on the new Italy terrain.  

[Casper1]

Sounds like a great set of ops!


I don't know how i feel about invading my ancestor's homeland though!  Ahh!

[Easyscor]

Go ahead and double check your map but it'll be faster if you have a starting point:
CV - 8140 lb
CA - 4020 lb
DD - 1005 lb

Nice looking event.

[ghostdancer]

Yes, the Spitfire IX is meant to be unlimited.

However, in frame 3 you will have 2 British CV task forces involved (Indomitable and Formidable). Defending them will be Martlet IVs and Seafire IICs, which will be required.

So you won't see those two planes in frame 1 or frame 2.

[daddog]

This looks like a fun plane set and a solid Squad Ops. Looking forward to it.

dd

[68KO]

Looks good

[zigzag]

Why P38G???  I believe the J model was available at that time.

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

The P-38J we have, probably a -10-Lo or a -15-Lo, is a VERY late, as in December, 1943 plane. It entered service in December 1943, in limited numbers, in the 8th AF with the 20th and 55th FG's. At the time, the 8th AF had priority over the units involved in our operation, in our theater, and they got the early P-38J models instead.

We have no P-38H, however, which is the plane we really need. It would probably be the P-38 that is the best fit for the time frame in the theater we're operating in.

As such, the P-38J is too good, so we get the P-38G, which is similar to the P-38H, but lacks WEP, and a little non WEP power.

This is one of the reasons I was campaigning for a P-38H.

We'll just have to be careful how we fly the P-38G.

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

This tour looks GREAT! The 327th is looking forward to it.

However, I desperately need an absolute answer about Labor Day Weekend BEFORE I can get commitments from my squad. We don't want to ask for slots we can't fill.

I'd like to get this settled ASAP, as we do not want to hold up the operation at all.

[Dace]

Originally posted by zigzag
Why P38G???  I believe the J model was available at that time.

Dont worry Zig... I signd us up axis anyway .
I love to fly americans but not the 38G vs. 109gs.
No way. No sir. Maybe 38Js could have been used for "playabilitys sake". I woulda jumpd on that.

[ghostdancer]

J Model was available at 8/43 generally and probably later in the Med. Except for WEP the P38G is a good match in speed for hte other LW planes. WEP is an advantage that the LW has. The G is more maneuverable so I was going to see how it stacks up against the LW.

Plus, I also have to finish testing the two planes to get some concrete numbers on them.

I might, might change to the J after some more testing. If I don't and stick with the G I might switch to the J in frame 2 if the G really shows that it can't hold its own in battle .. based on frame 1 results.

Final decision by this weekend.

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

I know a few of the guys who flew with the 55th and 20th Fighter Groups in the 8th AF, out of Britain. Both of these groups arrived with and also went operational with the P-38H-*-Lo during September-November 1943. There may have been a few P-38J's already produced, and some delivered by then, but all of the guys in the 20th and 55th say they didn't get ANY P-38J's until well into December, and they still flew mostly P-38H's even then. Those were the highest priority groups in the entire USAAC.

No doubt the P-38J is a better match in speed and power. No doubt I'd rather HAVE the P-38J in this tour. But I'm not going to complain if we have the P-38G. I'd rather have a P-38H, but we don't have one.

As a compromise, you could always have a small percentage of P-38J's mixed in with the P-38G's. That was VERY common, as units flew whatever they had that would fly. They replaced the oldest most war weary planes with the newest planes.

It would give the Axis something to pause and think about. They would not know what they were engaging until they got real close. If they got real close and saw they were engaged with a group of P-38G's, they'd have to wonder if there were a few P-38J's stalking them.

To ensure that the 1st frame wasn't a complete disaster for the P-38G groups, the percentage idea could be used in the 1st frame, as a safety factor.

The P-38G is more of an experts plane than the later P-38's. You really have to know the plane and get your opponent to fight your fight. It does have a serious handicap against the Bf 109 models that climb exceptionaly well, because of the considerable lack of power.

If caught from above by the Bf 109's, especially if the Bf 109's are also faster, provided there are decent pilots in the Bf 109's, the P-38G may be hard pressed to merely survive in the hands of anything short of a real good pilot, maybe even an expert.

[ghostdancer]

Well I might make several modifications to the planeset.

First off I have had a strong plea by a squad and several fans of the P40E to include it in the planeset. While it is available at this time and actually involved a lot in north african operations I left it off because the plane is overmatched by the LW planes. If you think the P38G might have a tough time the P40E I think would have a tougher time. Plus the allies had shifted more toward other plane types by the time of the invasion.

But I don't really see the allies being hurt by having it included. It will be up to the allied CiC to use this plane or not (I think only 1 squad will really request it .. no offense I would rather in P38 myself).

In that vein the 109F4 was also available to the Axis side. The 109G2 was probably much more prevalent but some Fs would still be about. I left it off for the same reason that the LW would have shifted more toward Gs. However, I know there is always a group who argues which is the best 109 .. the G2 or the F4. The F4 is more maneuverable but is slower and has less of a ROC.

Once again, however, I can't see the harm in including it in the planeset and leaving it up to the LW CiC and the LW squads if they want to fly that plane (personally I prefer the 109G2 .. actually prefer that model over all others).

Now about your idea for the P38J. Not a bad one at that to hedge bets. So I will include the P38J in the mix .. and limit the number of them that can be flown in frame 1. If the P38G turns out to be completely overmatched we can switch to the P38J later for frame 2 and frame 3 based on actual combat results of frame 1 (p38Gs hold their own or take a drubbing or somewhere inbetween).

[Casper1]

Good idea Captain V.H.  I think your idea would best serve this ops, or just play the card of 'wait and see' as ghost proposed.  

Either option sounds reasonable to me.