So it’s the 4th mission in the “Road to Rabaul”
Campaign Book. Graham was happy with the
last battle’s results; the Americans totally munched the Japanese in an
overwhelming victory. If he wins this
one, he’ll have guaranteed that he’s won the first part of the campaign. I’m not willing to just let him just “take
it”, though…
Historical Background:
April 27, 1942.
The Japanese had been fooled on the previous mission, not
anticipating the increased fighter strength defending Darwin. Their arrogance had cost the Japanese 8 of
their 24 bombers. They weren’t going to
make the same mistake next time…
Bombers were setup 1st (naturally). They had to cross the table to exit out of
the middle table edge. Due to the hex
pattern of the table mat, this meant the Betties were going to have to side-slip (must have been
a windy day!) across the width of the table, 2 hexes at a time, to exit the proper table edge. The formation of 9 Betty Bombers (once again
in a single “V” formation) were still loaded down. The Americans would be on the offensive, this
time with 8 P40 Warhawks in 2 flights of 3 and one flight of 2. Unfortunately, one of those flights of 3
wouldn’t arrive on the map until Turn 3!
So Americans set up second, one flight of 2 (the flight leader was an “Ace”
rating : +3 modifier on all dice rolls) to the right, the flight of 3 on the
left, heading more or less straight to the bomber formation’s left edge.
(Note: The P40’s on the right look a lot like P39 Aircobras
because they are! I was short P40 models
so the P39 did proxy duty!)
The Japanese Escorts set up last; 3 flights of 3 Zeros
each. Per mission guidelines, one flight
on each side of the bomber’s “V” and the 3rd flight was set up in
front of the bombers. However, while
height and speed are given, orientation was not specified. So, Flight #3 was set up on the left – going head-to-head
with the Americans on that side. Flight
#2 in front of the bombers were turned to face towards the bombers (they had
obviously spotted the P40s earlier and had turned to intercept) facing where
they hoped the Americans would be at the end of turn 1 while Flight #1 lined up
behind the bombers, facing forward, adjacent to the 3 hex zone covered by
Flight #2. This created a 6 hex zone “Kill
Zone” that the Americans on the right had to fly through.
The Battle Begins...
By overwhelming and killing the 2 P40’s on the right with 2
full flights, I had hoped that Flight #1 would continue to fly straight ahead (without
having to turn) and engage the American reinforcements as they came onto the
table while Flight #2 kept the survivors (if any) busy or fly to the left and
help out flight #3 on the left. I didn’t
realize at the time that the American Ace was in the smaller flight. Also, this was the first mission (EVER) that
the Japanese had GREEN pilots (no bonus for any dice rolls) and I wasn’t sure how
well they would perform against the American fliers. Historically, this was the start of when the Japanese war
machine was unable to keep up with the demands for pilots due to their losses
and fighting techniques.
Another cosmetic issue had to be dealt with: I had 24 flight
stands and 26 aircraft on this mission.
The last 2 bombers on the end of the “V” formation were left to sit on
the ground as a result. If you see them
in the photos, they haven’t run out of gas or flown too low – we just ran out
of flight stands! Sorry! :-}
We rolled for mission variable rules:
Americans rolled “Hill of Beans” – no special rules.
Japanese rolled “Java Veteran” – one Skilled Zero is promoted to Veteran. I chose to promote the flight leader from Team #3.
Americans rolled “Hill of Beans” – no special rules.
Japanese rolled “Java Veteran” – one Skilled Zero is promoted to Veteran. I chose to promote the flight leader from Team #3.
Turn 1:
So, the game started!
The Betty Bombers side-slipped to the right (as I explained
earlier), towards the middle of the opposite table edge.
Hind sight being 20/20, I think this took Graham off-guard
as suddenly his P40’s on the left were no longer facing the bombers, but
Fighters! He flew straight forward
towards Flight #3 as the Zeros also closed in for a Head-to-Head pass.
On the right side of the map, the American Pair turned to
engage Flight #2 in a point-blank, Head-to-Head pass while the Zeros of Flight
#1 could only fly forward, unable to provide supporting fire this turn.
Tracer fire was hypnotic between the fighters as the bomber
crews watched in fascination. On the
right, the flight leaders failed to damage each other from a range of 1 but 2
Green wingmen blasted each other out of the sky – First Blood on both sides! (Got to love simultaneous fire!!!)
First Blood! (I got you 1st! NO! I got you 1st!!!)
On the left, again in a head-on-pass, most of the tracer
fire was ineffective but the Zero’s Flight Leader managed to get a good solid
cannon hit and another American P40 disintegrated under the heavy-hitting cannon
fire.
Another Head-To-Head Encounter Ends Badly...
Ouch! Two P40’s shot
down in the first turn! This left just 3
American fighters on the table against 5 Zeros! Worse, the ace was left by himself against 5 Zeros! The bombers hadn’t been threatened or damaged
yet and the American reinforcements were still 2 turns away before they even got on the table!
End of Turn 1
Turn 2:
Once again, the bombers continued their right
Side-Slip. And waited…
On the right, the Lone P40 Ace did a hard-left turn, sliding
out of the firing arc of the Zero leader who had done a Split-S while the surviving
wingman flew forward and out of the way.
Flight #1 continued straight ahead, prepared to intercept the American
as he engaged the bombers next turn.
The American Ace Gets Away!
Tracer fire stitched across the sky, searching for a target. The American Ace on the right took a medium
range shot, but failed to damage a bomber this turn. (WOW!
I FINALLY PASSED a Robustness Roll!)
Both P40s on the left also missed their targets. The Japanese flight leader, however, made a
successful hit on the lead P40 on the left.
Checking the damage tables, Graham needed to roll a 9+ to prevent damage
to the plane. BOX CARS!!! Graham rolled a
12, handily passing his Robustness Save, BUT it was still a double, indicating
a “Lucky Hit”. So we rolled on the “Lucky
Hits” table. The result? “Pilot Killed – Plane Crashed”! So close but so far…
Death by Lucky Hit!
Sadly, the Zero that shot down the P40 had his own
problems. He had held down the trigger a
little too long and was now out of ammo.
He had no choice now but to disengage…
This left the Americans with only 2 P40’s on the table. While his reinforcements would arrive next
turn, Graham’s flight of 3 P40s would be too far away to get involved for at
least 3-4 turns. And the bombers still
were undamaged!
End of Turn 2
Turn 3:
Unsurprisingly, the bombers side-slipped to the right…
On the far edge, the flight of 3 P40’s came onto the
table. From a distance, they could only
watch and encourage their comrades over the radio. On the right, the P40 Ace charged head-first
at the bombers, a Zero following not far behind while Flight #1 moved forward 3
hexes, flying over the bombers.
On the left, the American P40 turned to the left, just a
little too soon, leaving all the bombers outside his firing arc! Actually, it was a fortunate error as a Zero
had anticipated the “proper” turn arc and would have had a shot if the P40 ended
its move where it should have. The Zero
that ran out of ammo last turn did a power climb, effectively taking it out of
the fight. It would continue to climb
out of the battle over the next two turns.
The last Zero, which had turned hard left last turn, was now well out of
position and continued to turn to the left, hoping to get into the proper
facing before the reinforcements could engage.
Bad Angle, But Safe From Zeros!
From Point-Blank range, the American Ace missed his target
(He rolled Snake Eyes!)! (Fortunately,
because he rolled so low, his Ace was NOT out of ammo!). Meanwhile, multiple bombers and two Zeros were shooting at the American
Ace. The nbombers failed to hit. Both Zeros hit the hapless fighter, and
though the Pilot made the Robustness Save against one hit, he just couldn’t
dodge the damage of the 2nd hit.
The American Ace was down! Sadly,
the Zero that got the killing shot also ran out of ammo this turn.
Death of an Ace!
This would leave the Americans with only 4 fighters on the
table, of which only one was in position to do anything next turn.
End of Turn 3
Turn 4:
In a Surprise Move; the bombers side-slipped to the
Right! (No! Really!)
Basically, the last P40 fighter of the original force made an attack on the
bombers, successfully hit one, but in a surprise (to BOTH of us), the bomber
passed its Robustness test; no damage! A
Zero put the hapless P40 out of its misery.
The American Reinforcements could do nothing but watch hopelessly.
The Last Casualty
Looking at the table, Graham did the math; 3 P40’s against 6
Zeros and 9 bombers. (The Japanese had
started with 9 fighters, but 1 was shot down and 2 ran out of ammo.) The bombers hadn’t been damaged yet and he
was still 2-3 turns away from engaging.
By that time, the Zeros would have gotten back into proper position and
approaching the bombers would have been near-suicidal.
Graham conceded the game and the remaining P40’s dove away for home…
End of Turn 4 & Game!
Victory Points:
Americans: 4 pts (1 Zero shot down)
Japanese: 22 pts (5 X P40s = 20, Ace shot down: +2)
Americans: 4 pts (1 Zero shot down)
Japanese: 22 pts (5 X P40s = 20, Ace shot down: +2)
Also, I was supposed
to get points for the bombers getting off the table. 9
Bombers off the table successfully= 9 X D6 VPs which we didn’t bother to roll! Another 9 to 54 points depending on how well I could roll!!!
Overwhelming Japanese
Victory!
Wow! Complete turn-around
this mission.
You have to ask yourself: Why?
First off, obviously, the Japanese had more escort
fighters. That makes a huge
difference. More importantly, I got to choose
where they were (somewhat) and what direction they were facing AFTER the
Americans were deployed. That was a HUGE
difference. Last mission I had less
choice and placed 1st. As a result, one flight never really got involved in the
fighting - I was defending bombers with 3 fighters against 8 P40's. There was no way to stop the American onslaught under those conditions. This mission, with more fighters and better placement, every flight had
at least 1 round of shooting and a kill.
Next, you have to discuss the American deployment. Having 3 fighters delayed for 3 turns meant
an uncoordinated, piecemeal attack.
Worse, it meant they were outnumbered from the beginning of the game thoughout to the end. This is a complete reversal of the last
mission and while Graham tried his best to pierce the fighter cover, he just
didn’t have the time he needed to attack the bombers before his planes came under fire.
Finally, Graham’s unbelievable luck last game deserted
him. Last game he made countless
Robustness Saves. He just was unable to
do that this game. The one time Graham
did make the save, the pilot was killed by a lucky hit. The problem is, when you take a hit with a low
velocity cannon (the Zeros all have 2), you need to have failed the roll by 1 or 2 to
suffer only damage. A difference of 3 or
more will result in instant destruction due to the destructive power of the
cannon.
Overall, I don’t think this or the last mission were truly fair. Both missions were designed to make it nearly
impossible for a fair fight. As a
historical perspective, they are both accurate as the battles turned out historically (in this
battle, it was a historical failure for the Americans). As a “teaching tool” or “historical experience”,
it was a good mission. As a fair fight –
definitely not!
So where does that leave us?
Tied at 2 games each! Next game
will be the tie-breaker and the last mission of this phase of the campaign!
Unfortunately, it IS another bomber mission…
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