Battle Of Britain - August 1940: Final Score

[Bino]

First of all: Thank you, everyone who flew in this FSO.  I hope you enjoyed it.  Listening in on excited chatter during a Frame that I've written is cool beyond words.  Thank you!   

However, I am disappointed by the performance of the scoring system I designed for this FSO event.  This scoring was supposed to work better for an event that was not a “meeting engagement.”

The final result numbers make it look like a rout, but I really thought it was a pretty even fight.  The frames were hard-fought, with lots of action.

So, here is a look at our Frames in the manner that each day of the Battle was “scored” back in 1940:


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - Frame One - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Luftwaffe loses 73 aircraft and 156 aircrew KIA/POW/MIA.

28 x Bf-109E
15 x Bf-110C
10 x HE-111
16 x JU-87 "Stuka"
4 x JU-88

RAF loses 79 single-seat aircraft.  26 pilots bail out or ditch, 53 pilots KIA.

64 x Hurricane
15 x Spitfire

4 of 7 bombed airbases are heavily damaged.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - Frame Two - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Luftwaffe loses 77 aircraft and 242 aircrew KIA/POW/MIA.

15 x Bf-109E
6 x Bf-110C
21 x HE-111
15 x JU-87 "Stuka"
20 x JU-88

RAF loses 59 single-seat aircraft.  25 pilots bail out or ditch, 34 pilots KIA.

38 x Hurricane
21 x Spitfire

5 of 7 bombed airbases are heavily damaged.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - Frame Three - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Luftwaffe loses 69 aircraft and 172 aircrew KIA/POW/MIA.

26 x Bf-109E
7 x Bf-110C
18 x HE-111
15 x JU-87 "Stuka"
3 x JU-88

RAF loses 81 single-seat aircraft.  37 pilots bail out or ditch, 44 pilots KIA.

49 x Hurricane
32 x Spitfire

5 of 7 bombed airbases are heavily damaged.

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Based on the tallies above, these are the results:

Frame 1:  Axis victory

Frame 2:  Allied victory

Frame 3:  Axis victory

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And now here are the numbers that were generated by the scoring system.

NOTE:
There was a violation of the "one objective - one attack" rule by the Axis in Frame 1, but the penalties imposed did *not* alter the Frame result.







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There were remarkably few "friendly fire" incidents during this FSO:  none at all during Frame 1, two during Frame 2, and one during Frame 3.   

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Those who want to delve into the details may grab copies of these Excel spreadsheets:

http://kenshelby.us/fso-2013-08/score/frame-1-bda.xlsx

http://kenshelby.us/fso-2013-08/score/frame-1-kills.xlsx

http://kenshelby.us/fso-2013-08/score/frame-2-bda.xlsx

http://kenshelby.us/fso-2013-08/score/frame-2-kills.xlsx

http://kenshelby.us/fso-2013-08/score/frame-3-bda.xlsx

http://kenshelby.us/fso-2013-08/score/frame-3-kills.xlsx

[Rodent57]

Was an extremely fun Frame Bino!

TY to all the CMs that give us your time and thoughts through these events!

  : Noble 'Good Guys', and 'Evil Bad Guys' for the hours of fun that you bring to FSO!

 

- Rodent57

[SlipKnt]

Fun FSO!!!  My hats off to all involved from the CM Team to the individual player, for without us all, this is not possible!

 

I believe there is a BoB Scenario coming up in September and I heard it isn't too late to sign up.  I believe it is conducted Saturday afternoons as I recall.  I highly recommend going to the BBS and register yourselves and get into a BoB squad today!

 
SlipKnoT

[perdue3]

I believe the number split was a poor decision. I know that it was historically accurate but it does not apply to AH FSO. The reason is, the Axis already have an advantage and do not require such a gross number advantage. It makes the event nearly unplayable for the Allies. The score proves my point.

[Jenks]

Well this was certainly the most fun three frames for me in a good while, and I was Allied. So <S> Bino and the rest of the CM team.

We saw lots of action and had many "good fight" opportunities.  To me at least, that's a very important aspect and I think the design succeeded admirably.

As far as scoring, I'm one who rarely cares about the final tally. As long as I and my mates gave the best account of ourselves we could with the tools and opportunities given, I'm satisfied.

 

Jenksie

[captain1ma]

great job to the CIC's and CM's!! <S> to the Allies. it was a great setup and alot of Fun!

[perdue3]

It was fun dont get me wrong. I just feel that an increase in Allied numbers and a decrease in Axis would have proven more fun. It was not fun for us 109's who showed up to a field with 30 planes only to find 8 defending.

[EagleDNY]

I enjoyed the hell out of the Battle of Britain - the scoring pretty much fell in line with how I think we did each frame as well.

[pops57]

I enjoyed this very much even though I was not all that successful myself ( I can't shoot worth a flip). The scoring actually reflects a fairly true picture of wining/losing from a real world view. The Brits would have been beaten had they lost on a near 1 to 1 basis like this played out. Thanks for all the hard work to make some fun for us! 

[Valkyrie]

Target concentrations could have been better. Targets deeper in England would have been far better, and airfield target changes would have been better.There was no axis challenge I this while hitting costal targets. Bombers cruised in and out at will, and 109s had more than enough gas to get anywhere.

[Krusty]

Historically speaking, 109s had more than enough gas to loiter over England. What reduced this was the demands from above saying they MUST meet up with bombers at key points, then stay with the slower bombers all the way in, and stay with them all the way back. This involved forming up, often loitering while waiting for bombers, and burned precious fuel by forcing the 109s to stay near the bombers by zig zagging and circling around as needed.

In reality, they had about 500-600 miles of range. The channel is only 20 miles at its narrowest off the coast of Dover.

[nooby52]

Well, fwiw, I had fun, as did the rest of VF-17, even when we flew Stukas on the last frame.

[Valkyrie]

My comments were in no way critical of the fun level encountered. It was awesome just constructive criticism going forward for when we play this set up again a year or two from now. I know the level of work that is done by our Cm's on a voluntary basis and I as well as my squadron very much appreciate the work they do. 

[Bino]

Thanks for all the criticisms, comments, and complements.  My job is to make as much fun as possible for as many players as possible.  Your input helps me do that. 

The side balance was designed to be very nearly 50/50 among the fighters.  Alas, I cannot program squads to have good turnout.  Plus, I had hoped that the scoring system would show a "tie" if FSO results closely mirrored RL results.  I still have more to learn about crafting a good scoring system.

The "attack by T+60" rule makes it difficult to place targets any farther away from the bomber bases.  This is especially true for slow early-war planes like the HE-111 and Stuka.  For example, in Frame 3 JG11 flew HE-111's from A113 to attack A40, a distance of right around seven sectors, or 175 miles.  We barely made it by T+55, and we were only just able to climb up to 15K before we had to level off and gain what little speed we could.  I suspect that if Aces High ever adds the Dornier DO-17 and the early JU-88A-1 that all the current complaints from the RAF pilots (88's too fast!) will be replaced by complaints from Luftwaffe pilots. (88's too slow! and so are 17's!)

Thanks again for all your posts.  In the words of the late Mayor of NYC, Ed Koch, please continue to let me know "How'm I doin'?"

[Valkyrie]

Maybe some air spawns for bombers might be done the next time this map goes up to be redone in the rotation. My comment was designed to give the RAF more time to intercept. Most raids I flew into a 46 were back to France before T+60 is the only reason I state that. Same with the raid on Tagamire down south.