Hello Gents and Ladies!Thanks to all the brave axis pilots who fought valiantly against an overwhelming enemy. Both of our attack groups got through without enemy intervention, well done! Unfortunately we were unable to stop the enemy attacks and took heavy losses while attempting to do so.
The last frame was obviously a crushing defeat for the Axis and I'd like to put some thought into why it happened. Don't take this as a whine or a complaint against squadops, squadrons, or individual persons. I only wrote these observations so that someone could maybe learn something from the experience.
1. NumbersThe Allies had 48 planes:27 SpitfireIX's
11 P51B's
10 Typhoons
The Axis had 32 planes:12 Me110G2's
11 Me109G2's
6 C205's
3 FW190A5's
The Axis were badly outnumbered. Moments before the start, one of the two attack squadrons and two of the three defense squadrons had showed up with half of their strength. Therefore the rest of the squads had to stretch really thin to fulfill their duties.
Now, looking at the logs, I can see that most squads did eventually show up with enough pilots. Unfortunately I didn't notice the numbers as the event began, I was too busy rearranging everything. I thought that the squads were less than full strength. This explains the large amount of 110s, our fighters were badly outnumbered (38vs20). I would like to request that the pilots show up atleast 15 minutes early from now on!
Most importantly, the small numbers in each of the defensive fighter squadrons lead to the fact that many pilots flew alone or in small groups, making it difficult to have a well concentrated defense. However, I must take most of the blame for this, because I did not stress the importance of flying together or order the pilots/squadrons to do so. My apologies!
Due to all this, the allies managed to establish a significant numerical superiority over the target fields, the few axis fighters could only watch from distance as the fields were trashed.
2. PlanesetThe planeset greatly favoured the allies. It was clear that the high altitude performance would be the thing that would matter. Attacking the enemy without the altitude advantage is suicide. The axis fighters could not climb as high as the allied could. The allies were always above the axis.
The SpitIX, which the allied mostly used, is the best high altitude fighter of the planeset. It is faster, more maneuverable, handles significantly better and has more firepower than any axis fighter. Also the P51b is faster and climbs better. Against these planes, the 109G2, 205 or 190A5 have little chance at high altitude.
What this means is that we had to avoid fighting. The allied had such a fighter umbrella over the targets that we simply could not engage the strike aircraft below. The higher enemies would have eaten us alive. "Forcing the fight low" doesnt work when the enemy totally controls the airspace above you.
The planeset disadvantage was known from the beginning and I have nothing against that. But therefore I put an emphasis on the attack missions - sinking the enemy fleets. However, we hit the wall there as well. A wall of triple-a:
3. Fleet composition and AAA lethalityUnfortunately, the setup was a bit challenging for the ship sinking duty. Each of the shipgroups had multiple CVs or Battlecruisers. On top of that, the AAA lethality was set to 1.0, same as in the Main Arena. Attacking shipgroups like this is suicide, like the event showed. Only one of 12 jabos made it back, most were shot down by fleet ack. But nevertheless, one battlecruiser was sunk. Well done IHGrippr!
Once again, a big thanks to the Axis pilots who did their best in these circumstances.
Well done Allies, you whipped us good!
Comments, thoughts?
Camo
