where we saw about 7 spit9s and one spit14. We shot them all down for the loss of one 109 and one Ju88 drone.
Ouch, who let the Finn's in here???
Tasks seem to be less complex all the time in these operations. Orders were to up Spit 9's and patrol for enemy aircraft trying to attack A80. We had the extra complication of a "hard ceiling" of 10k, a little more on that later.
Four of us were there to start. Markal and Noir patrolled to the north while Frank and I went south. Within minutes Markal reported 5 cons inbound. Frank and I went to join them, handing over to the 332nd the responsibility of patrolling over A80. Markal and Noir were doing a skilful job of shadowing the cons - 5 190-D's. As Frank and I came up to the other side of them they turned and engaged us. A very tight and ferocious dogfight ensued.
I turned toward a 190 trailing smoke (Frank was nipping at his heels), he tightened the turn and went for the HO. I squeezed off a burst and made the fatal error of trying to dive under him. Boom. Focus man focus!
I jumped in the back of Frank's plane as he zoomed past
and was dismayed to see Markal trailing smoke. There was only 4 190's left now and a minute or so later we had them 3-2 then 2v2 as Markal had to ditch. At this point you might think from MA experience that 2v2 will last only for a minute or so. 20 minutes later the battle still continued. The Doras tried a few variations on extending and HO'ing but each time our lads handled them with skill. The 190's controlled the engagement, to a degree, due to their greater speed and acceleration. 50 minutes into the flight and 30 minutes into the battle the enemy pair made a mistake and got split. Noir attacked one of them with vigour - Frank covering and making "daring" front quarter passes that had his passenger squealing in panic. Fuel was now low if not critical. Just as Noir delivered a killing thrust, the Vikings arrived to see if we needed a hand. The last 190 left like a rocket. He didn't get home though.
Returning to base on the sniff of oily rags etc. etc. further disruption appeared with a lone 109-G10 patrolling over the home base. Noir chased him off a short way while Frank circled tight for a landing. The cavalry arrived in the guise of "tittibits" one of the Vikings in a Spit 14. He engaged the 109 while Noir landed. 2 on the refuel pad and all safe. Frank goes to move forward and his empanage falls off. A Gallic curse from the other end of the field indicates the same has happened to Noir. A quick look confirms its a bug and not a hit on the refuel bowser. The lads are peeved. Quite right! It's not the first time some terrain bug has robbed us in the SEA. I hope its the last.
The 10k ceiling was not well received initially. Strangely though, in light of what happened it probably improved the gameplay considerably. It will be interesting to see if they persist with it next week. It didn't hurt the scenario at all - in fact it probably improved it considerably.
