November FSO- Too Little, Too Late- Philippienes December 1941

[Baumer]

The November FSO will be the invasion of the Philippines in 1941. The write-up can be found here;

http://ahevents.org/pacific-theatre/too-little-too-late-philippienes-december-1941.html

Registration is now open, and will close Wednesday October 28th.

Please note that the first frame will be on November 6th, we will have two Fridays off before the first frame. This is to accommodate the upcoming holiday season.

Too Little, Too Late- Philippines December 1941

December, 1941

Painting by Keith Ferris

Lt. Joe Moore in his Curtiss P-40B Tomahawk at 22,000 feet, nine miles west of Clark Field. Over the smoke below is Petty Officer First Class Saburo Sakai's Zero pursuing Lt. Sam Grashio in his P-40E. In the foreground is Fort Stotsenberg's parade ground and in the distance is Mount Arayat. 

This FSO Setup will attempt to recreate the air battles that took place over the Philippines in December of 1941.

• Frame 1- November 6th, 2009- (1200 Tower Time)
• Frame 2- November 13th, 2009- (1400 Tower Time)
• Frame 3- November 20th, 2009- (1700 Tower Time)

Plane Set / Rules

Allied:

• P-40B
• P-40E
• B-17G

Axis:

• A6M2
• B5N2
• D3A-1

NOTE: The aircraft requirements will vary per-frame, please refer to the objectives for the appropriate numbers.

Side Split-

45% Allies

55% Axis
 

Scoring:
Will be points based, with an even split between Air-to-Ground (A2G) points and Air-to-Air (A2A) points. Each object at an assigned target (that can be destroyed) will have an assigned point value. The attacker will score points for each object destroyed, and the defender will score points for each object that is not destroyed at that target.The point value of each pilot will be determined  by the total A2G potential points divided by the number of pilots who actually fly in the frame.
 
Aircraft Scoring:
You will score Air-to-Air (A2A) points in the following two ways.

   1. Each enemy aircraft shot down
   2. Each successful landing in an aircraft prior to the end of frame ( landing as a gunner will not count )

Ground Targets:

Players will earn points for objects destroyed on the ships even if they are not sunk.

    * Ammo Bunker- 50
    * Auto Gun Emplacement(Armored)- 63
    * Auto Gun Emplacement(Hard)- 3
    * Auto Gun Emplacement(Soft)- 1
    * Barracks- 50
    * Bomber Hanger- 449
    * Fighter Hanger- 449
    * Fuel Tanks- 50
    * Manned Gun (Armored)- 63
    * Manned Gun (Hard)- 3
    * Manned Gun (Soft)- 1
    * Radar- 50
    * Structure- 50
    * Vehicle Hanger- 449
    * Aircraft Carrier (CV)- 2094
    * Cruiser (CA)- 1471
    * Destroyer (DD)- 1021

Arena Settings:

    * Terrain – Luzon
    * Icon Range – Short
    * Radar – Off
    * Fighter and Bomber Warning Range – 10,560 -2 miles
    * Formations- OFF
    * Tower Range – 10,560 (for display to match the above setting)
    * Visibility – 17 miles
    * Wind: None

    * Clouds: TBD
    * External view for bombers (F3) – On
    * Friendly Collisions – Off
    * Enemy Collisions – On
    * Kill Shooter – Off
    * Fuel – 1.0
    * Ack – 0.2
    * Time – (See Objectives)
    * Bombsite calibration – MANUAL CALIBRATION
    * Evening- 2100


Specific Rules:

   1. Each B5N2 and B-17G that lands successfully at the end of the frame will receive a x5 pilot bonus.
   2. The B-17G can only carry 100lbs bombs.
   3. The B-17G must carry 100% fuel
   4. After T+30 there will be an Allied PT vs. Japanese Destroyer battle. Aircraft are not allowed to attack either side. Each Allied player will have 2 lives in PT boats. More details will be provided in the Frame Objectives.


You can contact all the squads on your side here.

http://ahevents.org/fso_email/mail_address.html

Please note the updated rules.

http://ahevents.org/fso-related/fso-rules.html
Design by Baumer

[Saxman]

Wow, we REALLY need a B-17D.

[branch37]

whats the difference in the B-17G and the D? 

[Saxman]

whats the difference in the B-17G and the D? 

B-17D



B-17G

Aside from the obvious visual and (more importantly) armament differences, NO B-17Gs saw action in the Pacific. The latest variant that did was the F. The 17D would be the most appropriate for this time period.

[gyrene81]

There were only 42 D models built...the E (512) or F (3,405) models would be more appropriate. Reference 43rd Bomber group stationed at Port Moresby New Guinea.

[Saxman]

I wasn't aware of there being any 17Es deployed in the PTO as early as this scenario (1941).

Either way, it's still a bit of a gap in the plane set.

[branch37]

Thanks Sax    I never knew there were variants of the B-17 that were THAT different 

[Reschke]

Factsheet on B-17D
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2451

Factsheet on B-17G
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2454

[gyrene81]

I wasn't aware of there being any 17Es deployed in the PTO as early as this scenario (1941).

Either way, it's still a bit of a gap in the plane set.

Well...reportedly there were 21 D models sent to Hickman field early 1941 and more later.

The B-17D was the first version of the aircraft seen to be fully combat ready, and three quarters of the aircraft produced were sent to the Pacific. The first twenty one aircraft were sent to Hickman Field, Hawaii, leaving Hamilton Field, California, on 21 May 1941. This was the first time a large group of bombers had flown so far over the ocean, but the aircraft arrived intact, within five minutes of their estimated arrival time. They were allocated to the 5th Bombardment Group. In September nine aircraft were transferred to the 19th Bombardment Group on the Philippines, where they were joined by another 26 aircraft in November 1941. Finally, on 6 December 1941 six B-17Ds of the 7th Bombardment Group took off from the United States on the first stage of their journey to the Philippines. Their next stop would be at Pearl Harbor.

Five bombardment groups used the B-17 in the Pacific. Of those two (5th and 11th) began the war with the Hawaiian Air Force., which soon became the 7th Air Force. They were then transferred to the 13th Air Force and took part in the campaign in the South Pacific, fighting in the Solomon Islands. The 7th and 19th Bombardment Groups were either in the Philippines or on their way in December 1941. They took part in the Allied retreat through the south west Pacific, ending up in Australia, where they were joined by the 43rd Bombardment Group. The 19th and 43rd groups remained in the south west Pacific with the 5th Air Force, while the 5th Bombardment Group was sent to India to join the 10th Air Force in May 1942.

On 7/8 December 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the Philippines. The majority of the twelve B-17s on Hawaii were destroyed on the first day of the war. On the Philippines eighteen B-17s were destroyed. Only the 14th Bombardment Squadron escaped the destruction, having been sent to Del Monte field just before the attack. By the end of the first day of the war in the Pacific only seventeen B-17s were left in service.

If this FSO was to include that little tidbit...max of 17 Fortresses operational...that would work for me.

[Reschke]

Man that would be a tough one to try and keep your B-17's functional for the duration. But then you also have to limit the numbers of US aircraft in total that were available to them at the beginning of hostilities as well.

[ghostdancer]

Actually we have done that before. 68KO designed a Mindanao event where the allies only get I think 21 or so B17s. Those you lost you didn't get in the following frames. So if the CiC deployed say 21 in frame 1 and lost 5 then the CiC in frame 2 could only deploy a maximum 16 in frame 2.

The event worked because it was hard for A6M2 had a hard time taking down a B17G (usually takes about 3 of them to do it) and the allied escorts in the P40s really, really were attentive in defending them since they knew everyone lost was not replaceable.

[Reschke]

Hard to do this accurately without following the actual items available to the FEAF at the right time. However if you substituted an aircraft (has happened before) you might be able to pull it off.

FEAF, 8 December 1941

SOURCE: AAF Historical Study No.34, The AAF in the War Against Japan, 1941-1942

The final FEAF order of battle:

    * V Bomber Command
          o 19th Bomb Group (Heavy) (Headquarters, Clark Field)
                + 14th Bomb Squadron (Del Monte Field, 5 December, 8 B-17)
                + 28th Bomb Squadron (Clark Field, 8 B-17)
                + 30th Bomb Squadron (Clark Field, 9 B-17)
                + 93rd Bomb Squadron (Del Monte Field, 5 December, 8 B-17)
          o 27th Bomb Group (Light) (without aircraft)
                + 16th Bomb Squadron (Fort McKinley)
                + 17th Bomb Squadron (San Fernando Field)
                + 91st Bomb Squadron (San Marceleno Field)
          o 2nd Observation Squadron (Nichols Field, 21 various aircraft)
    * V Interceptor Command
          o 24th Pursuit Group (Headquarters, Clark Field)
                + 3rd Pursuit Squadron (Iba Field, 18 P-40E)
                + 17th Pursuit Squadron (Nichols Field, 18 P-40E)
                + 20th Pursuit Squadron (Clark Field, 18 P-40B)
          o 35th Pursuit Group (headquarters en route to Philippines)
                + 21st Pursuit Squadron (attached 24th PG, Nichols Field, 18 P-40E rec'd 7 December)
                + 34th Pursuit Squadron (attached 24th PG, Del Carmen Field, 18 P-35A rec'd 7 December)
          o 6th Pursuit Squadron, Philippine Army Air Corps (Batangas Field, 12 P-26)

The number in () indicate the number of aircraft estimated in commission. Where un-noted, the number of usable aircraft is unknown.

    * A-27: 9
    * B-10B: 12
    * B-17C/D: 35 (33)
    * B-18A: 18
    * P-26/P-26A: 16 (12)
    * P-35A: 52 (18)
    * P-40B/E: 107 (72)
    * O-46: 10
    * Other: 46
    * TOTAL: 307

[ghostdancer]

A-27, that is what I was thinking of it was Thai airforce plane right? I A-24s (the army version of the SBD) would probably make a good substitue for it.

[StokesAk]

this looks fun.

[Fencer51]

A-27, that is what I was thinking of it was Thai airforce plane right? I A-24s (the army version of the SBD) would probably make a good substitue for it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NicholsField.jpg

Looks like armed Texans.

A-27 (NA-69) 1939 = POP: 10 ordered by Siam, but were instead impressed by the Army, redesignated A-27 [41-18890/18899], and assigned to the Philippines, where they were destroyed in Japanese bombings during Dec 1941.