That looks spectacular Dave nicely done.
Some of the Doolittle Raiders did engage Japanese fighters - from wiki - "At least one Japanese fighter was shot down by the gunners of the Whirling Dervish, piloted by Lieutenant Harold Watson. Two other fighters were shot down by the gunners of the Hari Kari-er, piloted by Ross Greening." I would focus any scenarios on those contacts.
From the Doolittle Raider website - http://www.doolittleraider.com/first...#_Toc510516197
Airplane #40-2249 Take off at 0856 (8:56am) Ship Time
Pilot - Captain Charles R. Greening
Co-Pilot - 2nd Lt. Kenneth E. Reddy
Navigator - 2nd Lt. Frank A. Kappeler
Bombardier - S/Sgt. William L. Birch
Engineer/Gunner - Sgt. Melvin J. Gardner
- Took off from Hornet without difficulty.
- Navigation accomplished at minimum altitude. Twenty-five knot head wind observed to landfall.
- Landfall made considerably north of expected course. Continued low altitude navigation overland. Crossed an active airfield unexpectedly. Intercepted approximately ten minutes later by four new type fighters (Later proved to be the Japanese Tony) and underwent sustained attack. One was observed to be hit by turret gunner which wobbled off and was believed to have crashed. The second hit was seen in flames. Slight damage sustained by remaining two fighters when turret gunner exhausted ammunition.
- All four 500 lb. incendiary cluster bombs dropped on a large oil refinery and storage area which were well camouflaged but easily detected from low altitude. Bombs dropped from 600 feet because of fighter opposition. After bombs were dropped it was not difficult to outrun fighters. Smoke column from target observed billowing to several thousand feet at least fifty miles from target.
- Three patrol boats were attacked with machine gun fire near mouth of Tokyo Bay. One was left burning.
- Tail wind discovered while heading south for China coast. Navigation accomplished at minimum altitude except for 20 minutes spent in cloud deck at 2,500 feet to inspect plane for damage. Right engine missed irregularly on withdrawal.
- Bad weather encountered 100 to 150 miles from China coast. Proceeded on instruments and crew bailed out 200 miles inland from China coast. Plane left on A.F.C.E. and flew another 150 miles before crashing.
- Bail out occurred at 2330 (11:30pm), over fourteen and one half hours after take off.
- Lt. Reddy suffered a broken knee cap and a severe cut on the forehead. Sgt. Gardner sprained both ankles slightly. Crew arrived safely at Chuchow on the late evening of April 20th.
One B-25 vs a couple of early model Ki-61s would be appropriate.
Very nice, thanks! I think I can manage those and a few Zeroes as well . . .
Nice! Need four more... I'll be watching with interest, as a late neighbor was on Crew 15 and I'm still repainting an Ares Doolittle in his memory.
very nice!!! too bad you dont live closer. this would make an excellent scenario to run during the next b-25 fly in at the air force museum!!!
Fantastic model as usual. Can't wait to see the AAR with picks from the scenario.
Thomas
As with the others great model and also want to see the AAR.
Hurry up, Dave.
I'm in Tokyo from Sept. 9th to Sept. 16th so I can watch the aproach of the Raiders.
Voilŕ le soleil d'Austerlitz!
Rats!!! Banned from the shop for a few days, can any one tell me the dimensions of the Ares B-25 bomber base, cannot get to my stash out there and need to make some plans . . . there are 16 Merit B-25's waiting to raid Japan and I need to get them based . . .
Niceeeee! This looks so good!!! Can't wait for the AARs....
Thanks
Nick
Almost ready to "Do-a-Little Raiding"! First the birds need a mounting dealie . . . this time I used the faithful steel thumbtacks!
Drilling the bottoms . . .
Testing the magnet posts . . .
Fitting the lower tray . . . holds 8 birds nicely!
As does the top tray . . . 16 total
Then the box art . . . inside the lid
Top
And the Hornet too!
Will be needing to make a few bases and card sets . . . .
Great work, David!
You might want to check out The Enemy Coast Ahead series of solitaire games from GMT. The second one covers the Doolittle Raid. You could use it to generate scenarios for WoG.
What a beauty, great work David
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
I backed the P500 GMT Doolittle Raid (Mick mentioned above). It is in final development but it looks good for helping to plan Missions. I hope that it gets into my hands before April next year because I want to do something special for the 75th Anniversary. I have six B-25's (one is African and one is a silver repaint) so not quite your impressive collection, but I think I can do something cool by splitting up scenarios and ramping up the fighter interaction a bit.
Have you played with map layouts? I think you have inspired me to get mine out to see if they will look good laid the way I have it pictured in my head. I am thinking of using two coastal, one industrial, and Sails of Glory ocean. Who makes the Hornet you are using? I am starting to feel the need for one!
The elves in Clippers shop made the Hornets. If you look through the Hobby "pour me" threads, I think you will find it. He has done several carriers and custom planes. He does sometimes sell things, they are in the sales section perhaps.
Or direct message him, he's awesome.
===
Dave - that Hornet is incredible!!!!
So here's the deal on my major projects builds. My local group has faded away. I and the elves have been saddened but not dismayed, we still love the build and the chase. The projects are built and nearly ready to play. I am looking for groups or individuals who would like to use these projects for local games and cons. We have equipped several in the past with ships, minis, and even Zeppellins; some as purchased, many as lend lease loans. If you or your group are interested deals can be done. We often trade use for scenario help in developing rules and strategies for the next mission and group. The large ships can be disassembled for easy shipping, use and return to us. Check out any of our builds and some of our users, oldguy59 and several others have posted some of their efforts in the past. Our goal is to promote the game, not sell stuff. The hours that go into these projects makes them too costly to sell at a profit, but again that is not our goal. Let us know your dream scenario and if the elves get excited, we can help make it happen. We hope to soon put together a master list of projects and a suggested use/daily member requirement for healthy gaming : ) Cheers and to the sky! Dave et al . . .
April 18, 2017 will be the 75th Anniversary of the Doolittle Raid from USS Hornet (CV-8). I am in Alameda, CA, birthplace of Jimmy Doolittle and the location of a later incarnation of the USS Hornet (CV-12). I am taking the day off and looking to run something locally, even if all I can do a solo demo on the Hornet museum in honor of the day. I am still looking to purchase a few more planes but will likely "simulate" the number if doing it solo and use an Ares map configuration that I have been playing with (recently added to my gallery but need to replace some planes). I am interested in using a Hornet model as a staging area but am also interested in owning one at one point because it would be a cool way to display the planes in my house. Borrowing would be cool if you selling is not an options, but am prepared for either. I will most likely run it docu-drama style and make it more fighty to draw in interest.
Great Work as usual David! The Doolittle Raid is pretty special to me. My Uncle was on the Cruiser USS Nashville during the Doolittle Raid. That was the ship that fired upon the Japanese fishing/spy Boat. My Father was also in the Navy on a Destroyer, and Between him and My Uncle, they saw every major battle in the Pacific.
That would be great! We took an evening drive earlier and paid a visit to CV-12 in Alameda with San Francisco in a veil of fog behind her.
David your Hornet and B25's are just awesome. It looks cluttered with 8, god knows how they got 16 on and with room to take off. I too look forward to your AAR or anyone elses who gets to use your magnificent ships.
Neil
See you on the Dark Side......
The same way one gets to the Met: "Practice -- *lots* of Practice".
http://b-25history.org/doolittle/training.htm -- even has a pic of one of the raiders making a takeoff.
Nice photo of the ship. Hope all goes well with your games.
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