Friday AAR Two Front War - Frame 1

[TracerX]

Good job to everyone on both sides.  I think that the Allies ran in to some bad luck.  First, I think there were some desertions because the LW seemed to have a numbers advantage.  Second, the weather totally obscured all of the targets.  Third, all the Allied targets were concentrated together, making it easy to cover.  Fourth, the Russian base was so far away, it could not be used at all.  What few Russians showed up however, tied up two LW squads who were out looking for them, and found only light resistance.  Fifth and finally, the 262's were a much bigger factor than I thought they would be.  It must be very difficult to keep things organized when 6 ME-262's are buzzing your fighter formations.  Chasing the 262's was an exercise in futility it seemed.  

Everyone on the LW side performed their jobs perfectly, and luckily we guessed the right field the Allies would come out of.  Had the Allies come out of A13, or even worse, brought mostly low level Jabo aircraft, it might have been a different story.  We were expecting exactly the scenario that played out, and we were fortunate to take advantage of it.  As I look back now, I see it is a very hard chore to penetrate a concentrated defensive fighter group, but Thursday night, it seemed that there were giant holes in our defensive position, and we were gonna take some heavy losses.  Salute AKIron.  I am sure you would have gotten the better of us had you not had one arm tied behind your back.  Or was it one arm and blindfolded?  Salute Allied pilots too.

[AKIron]

Weather was a factor and did prevent some of the targets from being hit by the bombers. However, not all of the targets were covered by clouds and we did use 3 jabo squads. Numbers were only slightly off. The first bomber group over target (AKs) was hit hard but we gave as good as we got. Even though we were pretty much decimated we had a blast.

to the Allied forces, the Luftwaffe, and the scenario designers.

[daddog]

Thanks for being the Frame C.O.'s gents.


I was surprised about the numbers. Total possible I gave the LW only 10 more pilots or so. The Allies had a low turn out which is not the norm.  As it was, it was still pretty close in over all turn out.

Axis - 95 pilots
Allied - 84 pilots

[Sikboy]

Originally posted by tracerx
Fourth, the Russian base was so far away, it could not be used at all.  What few Russians showed up however, tied up two LW squads who were out looking for them, and found only light resistance.

When we saw our Orders, we were jubilant. Word had come down that we were to take off and find Nazi's to punch. Our Joy soon turned to confusion, when we realized that we would not have the fuel to complete our patrol line (sorry Iron, I should have looked at it sooner). But with high hopes and excitement, we took off and began working our way as far along the route as possible, hoping to find the enemy and engage them.

We started by skirting their forward bases, staying just out of ID range, and slipping between them. We were running at about 50% throttle in an attempt to extend our range as far as we could, but right as we passed the second of the Luftwaffe bases, one of our valiant pilots reported unknown contacts on our 7 O'clock. So we came around to investigate. As they flew over us, we identified them as FW190s, but they did not come down to engage. As we turned to pursue them, we began to reason out their actions. We came to 2 possible conclusions. 1. They were 190F8s, on a JABO run of some sort, or 2. They were 190A8s, on patrol for bombers, and ordered not to engage enemy fighters. By this logic, we were quite excited about the possibility of engage them to force them off of their mission.

We were heading West in chase of this 190 force when one of my brave pilots called out "Unkown contacts, 3 O'clock!" It didn't take long to realize that we were the Myaco in a 190 Byuterbrotb So we turned and began working our way back towards our base. We began a fighting retreat, hoping to make it back to our base where we could fight a defensive action with the home field advantage. Our only hope was to outlast them on our side of the front. Using close wingman tactics we managed to destroy three of them during our desperate flight, however with so much ground to cover, we began to get separated. Three of our number were wiped out before we were even within site of the base.

As I came screaming over the field, I realized that my wingman had been forced to engage several 190s, as I turned to re-enter the fray, I watched my XO get roped trying to assist my wingman. I dove into the melee, and cleared Ski's (my wingman) 6, and began another desperate run for the protection of the field AA. This time luck was not with me, and I was unable to elude my pursuers.

When I was in Commie heaven, looking down on the battlefield, I noticed they were 190D9s... Bozhi Moi! No wonder we were unable to evade them.

It only lasted an hour, but it was a great time for us, and I can only hope that we made it sporting for the MAW and the DoW.

-Sik

[AKIron]

Sik, sorry, I didn't test the fuel either. I also didn't mention that I intended you guys as a diversion to draw as many LW away from the target area as possible. Sorry to sacrifice you guys like that but war is hell. You guys performed admirably.

[skernsk]

Was a quick frame for me once we found the bombers.  I am terrible in a 109 and it showed.  Luckily I took AKCurly with me

[jordi]

Our bomber grp got the ok to fly a DIFF route.

We made it to the Primary but it was 10/10ths covers so we diverted to our Secondary.

All along our Escorts keep a watchfull eye out for the LW.

WE dropped on the Secondary and got 2/3rds hits.

WE egressed to our landing base and ran across one 109 and one 262 - between our vigile Escorts and our bored gunners we dispatched them both.

One bomber Discoed 1/2 home -the others landed successfull to complete the mission.

All in all it was a good frame for our squad.

[TracerX]

Great report Sikboy.  I was puzzled all night as I got reports from the Russian front.  They had bagged a few fighters, but it seemed like there should have been more activity.  Your report makes sense.  About half way through the frame, I called the boys from the Eastern front back to help get the stragglers, and they must have not noticed you down low.  I am sure they would have given you a fight right then had they seen you.  I had planned our defense thinking the Russians would be using Field A4.  As it turned out, WE used A4, but I am glad you found enough action in the end.  Sounds like you put up quite the struggle.  

Jordi, I also had the feeling we were missing something as I looked at the roster and saw that there were still quite a few Allied aircraft aloft.  It was difficult to call in an organized strike on anything since reports were mostly single or double formations of B17's or P47's.  I would be interested to know your route so I can understand how you managed to avoid most of our defenders.  Good work, and sounds like you should be highly decorated for getting your boys back safely.  

[jordi]

Originally posted by tracerx
Jordi, I also had the feeling we were missing something as I looked at the roster and saw that there were still quite a few Allied aircraft aloft.  It was difficult to call in an organized strike on anything since reports were mostly single or double formations of B17's or P47's.  I would be interested to know your route so I can understand how you managed to avoid most of our defenders.  Good work, and sounds like you should be highly decorated for getting your boys back safely.  

Would like to tell you - but we got 2 more frames to exploit it !



Should not be too hard to figure out.