Frame 1, how'd it go for you?

[Anaxogoras]

The silence is deafening!  Usually there's one or two threads started immediately after an event commenting about one thing or another.

We were part of the massive N1K strikes on 108.  Unfortunately we (I) made the decision to go rearm in case not all the targets at 107 or the vbase were destroyed, and partly in hopes of intercepting any VVS returning from their own strikes, but saw very little action the whole night.

My guess is that La-7s will be added for frame 2?  I'm not sure how much it will help to even things out.  Like the late-war allied vs Germany setups, the side whose fighters can pack more ordinance has a big advantage.  In this case, the 3 major Japanese fighters (N1K, Ki-84, Ki-61) can all take 500kg of bombs, and have a large combat radius.  The Russian fighters, on the other hand, carry little or no ordinance and have a limited combat radius.

All in all, the map has to be the biggest enemy of the VVS in our matchup, but I'm interested to see what happens in frame 2.

[MjTalon]

JG11 saw extensive action near A106 and A109 after going north from TAC drivers, we ran into numerous La5s which we destroyed but got bounced low engaging some la5s from another squadron of La5s which had just lifted from their second life ( they were in gv's their first life. ) We fought bravely and took quite alot of them down but i ended up punching out of my burning niki to safely be captured.  Was a intense night and being apart of the experience made it well worth it. 

[Stampf]

A slow start but it picked up.

You should have stuck around G.

After the strike on 108, JG11 proceeded north to 107 to assist JG54 in the attack there, as the defense was much stiffer than at 108.  After helping to clear 107, JG11 turned south toward a reported hot location.  Unfortunatly we were caught by the second lifers and their freshly upped LA's.  They just kept coming, from all directions, and eventually knocked all of us from the sky.

It was a very fun frame for us though.  Plenty of action at the end.

Salute Allies.

[Anaxogoras]

Yeah, I really regret that we didn't head north with you guys.  At the time it seemed like there wasn't any fight to be had... how deceptive appearances can be!

[Stampf]

   For sure.  That's part of the attraction of FSO.

After clearing 107 and looking for more, we had taken no losses and it looked like we would get every plane home.  In a complete reversal, we lost all our A/C.

Lady luck plays into every decision, and every battle in her own mischievous way.

[CHAPPY]

JG2 was only defenders at A108.
After the first disco, our  numbers droped to 13 pilots.

We intercepted first swarm of N1k's, almost had them all down then the second
HORDE came in high. We didnt have a chance. <S> axis good work on hitting 108.

[Anaxogoras]

Chappy, when I saw our orders I felt sympathy for whoever had to defend 108.

[daddog]

Restart was no fun, but those things happen. 

Target rich environment. We were overwhelmed by N1K2's at A110. I don't think any of my guys lived.
Here is a screen shot.
You can see the main group. Then another 8 or so not in icon range.


332nd had a couple scouts out and we then split into about 2 groups of 8. My group caught the N1K2's just north of A110, but there was too many to stop them. They were in a shallow dive and really hauling butt. We might have bagged a couple. I know I forced one to drop his egg early and shot the tail off one. The other 332nd group came in after they dropped, but half of my group was down by then. The Yaks that lived for a few minutes stayed fast, but eventually the N1K2's killed just about everyone.

[CHAPPY]

if i may ask How many axis squads hit 108?

[Anaxogoras]

Three: 13mpg, JG11 and TAC Drivers, for a total of 37 N1Ks.

Let's face it, being tasked with defense in FSO is frequently a quick trip to the tower.

[TUK]

13MPG hit 108  first Chappy. We came in early, due to our noe approach. Lost most of our guys from diving la5's.   We were on the field for a good 2 minutes till the first la saw us..  I think there were 3 squads hitting 108.. Tuk151

[Nefarious]

412th engaged A110 and then 113 in the N1K assault.

Over 113, Russian fighters seemed to trickle in but eventually overwhelmed the 412th who by then was scattered all over the Korean peninsula.

I took some damage and tried to evade some Russian fighters but ended up pancaking somewhere on the Korean coast.

We fought bravely and took quite alot of them down but i ended up punching out of my burning niki to safely be captured. 

You know what happens to Prisoners in Russia?

Good fight last night. Need to keep my head on a swivel like Hines Ward.

[CHAPPY]

  TUK151

[Saxman]

VMF-251 was part of the strike package on 110. We climbed to about 15k, and even though we were on reduced power we still managed to pull ahead of the rest of the strike, who were up about 20,000ft.

I was actually surprised to not see a cloud of enemy fighters over 110. We encountered a single low scout short of the target, who had plenty of time to call in the rest of the CAP. By the time we saw the first enemy fighters overheard (our 9 o'clock high) we were already entering our attack run. Since VMF-251 was slightly out ahead we hit the soft targets at the airfields and had a significant amount of the ack down by the time the rest of the strike group caught up with us.

Our losses at 110 from enemy fire were relatively light. Two pilots crashed, I think failing to pull out of their dives or may have dropped their ordinance too low. One was damaged in a collision and forced to egress (ditched offshore of 114). One bailed over the target, (possible air-to-air kill) and one for certain forced to ditch off 110 after having his engine shot out.

After tangling with the 110 defenders for a bit VMF-251 egressed out north and climbed for altitude. We ended up meeting the strike on 114 on THEIR way out about halfway between the bases. I ordered the squad to blow through as the remaining escorts were rather high and HOed down three B-25s on my way through. We lost two to the escorts (and took two of them down for their trouble. Final tally of that exchange was 4 B-25s and 2 La-5s, to go with the 12 we claimed over 110) before we all separated and continued back to 114. Once back at 114 we lost two planes to taxiing accidents while attempting to rearm (gear collapsed. dammed Japanese engineering...) The rest of the squad continued to patrol between 110 and 114 looking for follow-up strikes until the end of frame.

I was actually rather surprised by the effectiveness of the strike. I was concerned on receiving the orders because of the limited ordinance load of the Japanese planes compared to the late war American iron (only about 500lbs of bombs, vs the 2000+).

[Anaxogoras]

I was actually rather surprised by the effectiveness of the strike. I was concerned on receiving the orders because of the limited ordinance load of the Japanese planes compared to the late war American iron (only about 500lbs of bombs, vs the 2000+).

Saxman, 500 kg = 1100 lbs.