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Thread: AAR - Norway, 1 May 1940

  1. #1

    Default AAR - Norway, 1 May 1940

    It was our usual Thursday morning gaming session, and being at my place and my buddy wanting to fly Stukas, I threw together a quick scenario.

    The HMS Glorious needed to get out of the box, so this was a possibility. Air cover for the Royal Navy Norway Task Force had shot down a Ju.87 on 1 May, as it was attempting to land planes in support of the Norwegian Campaign. I use the WGS Points System to 'balance' the planes, but didn't calculate the AA guns of the Glorious (Point System for WW2 Wings of Glory ).

    German Side:
    2x Ju.87B Stuka, with 250kg bombs 68 pts
    1x Bf.109 E-3 (Non-historical) 167 pts

    British Side:
    3x Gloster Sea Gladiator Mk.I 99 pts
    8x 4.7" QF guns (AA HMS Glorious) ? pts
    3x Vickers 2-pdr QF Mark VIII mounts (8x40mm autocannons in a single mounting) ? pts

    The Germans came on at one end of the table, the British started at the Glorious, with one plane on CAP and two on deck. The Gladiators on deck would take off in sequence.

    The Set-Up:
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    One Gladiator at the ready, and two on deck on the left, with the German attack coming from the right.

    First AA shots taken and a hit, with a Gladiator being shot at by the Bf.109 while the Gladiator takes a shot at the lead Stuka.
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    Second Gladiator is on the way to intercept, and the third is just finishing his take-off.

    The AA Hit in close-up. Mike decided to do a slow gentle turn maneuver, and ran right over the shot I thought would be a complete miss:
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    Another AA hit, this time on the 'Lead' Stuka. The Bf.109 took a hit here as well.
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    The last hit on the Bf.109 lit him up, but he toughs it out and does a Split-S to get back at the Gladiators.
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    Point to note: the Bf.109 pilot had the Acrobatic Pilot Skill. This let him do Split-S turns without straights, so "legal" even if on fire. At least, in our game.

    Lots of traded shots here, and the AA markers are about to be encountered by the Stukas:
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    The AA shots missed the Lead Stuka, and the Winger gets his first hits:
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    A mutual kill, as the First Gladiator succumbs to accumulated damage, but not before taking out the Lead Stuka:
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    Damage from the last round had lit up the Third Gladiator (shots from the Bf.109), and the remaining Stuka was smoking:
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    The counters along the side of the Glorious are the AA counters, in the first phase of their reload.

    Two turns later, and there are a bunch of AA counters on the table, some aimed at the Bf.109, and some at the Stuka.
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    The Bf.109 has survived the six turns of fire, and is still in the fight.

    And before we could take the next move, the Third Gladiator falls from the sky due to fire damage.
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    Both the Bf.109 and the Stuka take hits from the AA guns, as the Stuka straffs the Glorious on approach:
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    Combined shots from the Bf.109 and the Stuka rear gunner take out the remaining Gladiator. No more air cover for the Glorious.
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    After two and a half hours of heavy shooting, the last photo of the day:
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    This Glorious is equipped with a '2-pdr QF Mark VIII' mount just aft of the superstructure, and the Bf.109 was in range. It took two hits as it attempted an Immelmann over the deck. The second hit was enough and we drew a damage chit to see if it went into the water or hit the deck (Special damage and it hits the deck). Mike drew a 'smoke' special damage. Using Neil's [Skafloc] Anti-Shipping Special Rules, the Smoke special damage is actually the same part of the ship that the Bf.109 hit! No bombs, but a plane diving into the deck will do at least as much damage as a 250kg bomb. The Stuka dropped his bomb on the rear elevator, and destroyed it. Also, there was special damage to the ship, but not enough to really threaten it.

    Debrief:
    The Germans did serious damage to the Glorious, taking out the rear elevator and three Gladiators.

    The Royal Navy took down a Bf.109 and at least one Stuka. The second could have gotten away, now that it could change speeds to dodge the AA guns.

    Not a good day for the RN. Well done, Mike!
    Last edited by OldGuy59; 06-01-2019 at 09:42.
    Mike
    "Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
    "Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59

  2. #2

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    Wow. What a Ship ! Great.

  3. #3

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    Nice one, Mike.

    It’s good to see early war action.

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by BodeGier View Post
    Wow. What a Ship ! Great.
    If you are interested in the ship, please check out this thread: WGSF H.M.S. Glorious in 1/200" scale
    Mike
    "Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
    "Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59

  5. #5

    Thumbs up

    That was a great scenario & AAR Mike,
    Great job on the Glorious!

    Rep on its way.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by gully_raker View Post
    That was a great scenario & AAR Mike,
    Great job on the Glorious!

    Rep on its way.
    Thanks, Barry.

    The Glorious was Dave's [clipper1801] genius, and I'm lucky enough to be the custodian.

    It needs more table time.
    Mike
    "Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
    "Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59

  7. #7

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    Mike [OldGuy59]


    1st things first... The Glorious is indeed Glorious... 2nd, that was really great action... Carriers and oversea WWII action is my favorite. I wish those Glosters could have dropped those Stukas before taking a chunk out of Glorious...

    Really good read sir,
    Thank you

  8. #8

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    Thank you for the good A.A.R., Mike. It was very creative of you to put together the scenario as such short notice.

    Those aircraft control mats look interesting.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Naharaht View Post
    Thank you for the good A.A.R., Mike. It was very creative of you to put together the scenario as such short notice.

    Those aircraft control mats look interesting.
    For those with short memories, I found them here a few years ago, and have been using them since:
    My Custom Cockpits for Fighters
    2 Cockpits Printed on a Mouse Pad
    How to Make a Cockpit out of a Mouse Pad
    Originator: Jan [Honza] (A great supporter of Wings of Glory in Prague, and a good convention organizer, too!)


    I didn't print them on mouse pads, though, just paper.
    Mike
    "Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
    "Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59

  10. #10

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    Nice to see the Glorious out and in action again Mike.

    Great action as always. My own Japanese carrier is due an outing soon too.

    Neil
    See you on the Dark Side......

  11. #11

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    Did not see this one when it was published, but a nice AAR!
    Voilŕ le soleil d'Austerlitz!

  12. #12

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    Thanks for drawing my attention to this unusual but very interesting little action Sven.
    I also missed it earlier.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  13. #13

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    I missed it too, thanks for posting the AAR!

  14. #14

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    Nice job on the AAR! I liked that you included the HMS Glorious in a battle.



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