I can relate.
Quite possibly the saddest display of ganging I've ever encountered was two Tours ago. I roll a Ki-61, head North out of my base and encounter three Knights. I shoot them down and head back to the base due to an incoming raid. What happens next is nothing short of ineptness.
I'm low on fuel and say screw it. I look down and there are no Rooks up and a minimum of 15 Knights on the base. I get 2 more. I'm still about 3k from the base near our town. I see an opening and head to the base. I look back and see this:
Those are the 5 that you can see. There were 5 more off of that shot within 400 (right and upper right o the screenshot). The Spit 9 I banged up and here is where the "ineptness" becomes relevant. The Hog and 110 augered as I bellied in, landing the kills.