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Thread: WGS: Operation Bodenplatte (sort of)

  1. #1

    Default WGS: Operation Bodenplatte (sort of)

    New Years Day and the Germans are giving victory in the west a last
    shot. 500 Luftwaffe planes take to the air to raid airfields in Belgium
    and northern France. The aim is to disable the allied air force for long
    enough for the German Army (stalled since mid December) to break out of
    the Ardennes and drive to the sea. Cutting allied forces in half and
    capturing vast amounts of prisoners and supplies they hope to force the
    Americans and British to the bargaining table to conclude a separate
    peace. This would see them free to unleash their V weapons against the
    Russians and resume their drive to final victory in the East.

    In reality this failed because of the 500 planes more than half were
    piloted by inexperienced pilots who had had no opportunity to train in
    skies dominated by the allies. About half of the planes did not return
    to base and all allied losses in planes were made good within a week or
    two given the vast amount of supplies available to the western allies.
    Few allied pilots were lost as most were not in their planes at the time
    of the attack either.

    In our game .... there is a small fictitious Multinational maintenance
    and repair airfield in Belgium that is about to get unwanted
    attention. Commandant Le Clerc is proud of his base and the turn around
    time for damaged planes to be fixed. He is a vain and proud man who
    likes to arrange his assets in neat orderly rows as though awaiting
    inspection. On this fateful day he is having breakfast with his mistress
    when the first bombs explode!

    The object of our scenario is to destroy as many planes, hangars and guns as
    possible. German pilots are to keep track of their own personal scores.
    Each Messerschmidt carries one bomb. If the bomb
    scores a direct hit on a parked plane and the red dot is covered then
    the destruction is extended to half a ruler length on either side of the
    destroyed target. Machine guns and cannon can also be fired during the
    firing passes. The German who scores the highest will be awarded the
    Iron Cross First Class. Any German shot down will be awarded a wooden cross.

    Coloured dice are placed on each target to give a damage count.
    18 planes are arranged in front of six large hangars arranged in a U
    shape around the one concrete runway. Each plane has a damage total of 5
    points. The Hangars have a damage value of 5 points also. There are
    five quad .50 cal machine guns arranged around the field. Each one can
    inflict four B's at short range and two B's at long range on the attackers.

    Attackers must complete up to 3 runs over the airfield. Aircraft are expected
    to attack simultaneously. Because this is a surprise raid, only one AA
    gun is manned to start with. 3 guns can fire during the
    second pass, and then all five guns after the second pass. All AA guns
    will be firing during the third and final attack. Each gun has a damage
    value of 8 points. Explosion markers will be placed on destroyed targets.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    As soon as the game starts things start to go awry!
    The targets are easily destroyed and both guns at the
    end of the runway are destroyed without having fired at all.
    The march of destruction goes on with planes inflicting up
    a mixture of C's and D's damage on the hapless targets.
    At the end of the first run nearly all targets are destroyed

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Every target is soon obliterated with only 1 gun getting a hit
    on two of the attacking planes. The same planes were
    involved in a collision but the other two escape any
    damage. The scores were:-

    Doug in his 109K - 13/18 damage scored 46 points against the targets.
    Baxter in his 109K - 8/18 damage scored 38 points against the targets.
    Mark in his 190D - No damage scored 33 points against the targets.
    Wayne in his 109F - No damage scored 43 points against the targets.

    A resounding victory for the Germans and a cause of lifelong regret
    for Commandant LeClerc!

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    Click image for larger version. 

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    This is not how we figured the game would go and if we do a replay
    we would probably bring all defending guns into action at the start.
    This would still give room to maneuver to the attackers with a
    blind spot half way along the length of the runway. Another suggestion
    was to have two humans running the defence and taxiing the
    planes out of the way during the attack and attempting to take
    off to provide aerial defence. All in all a one sided but enjoyable
    game.
    Last edited by Baxter; 06-25-2019 at 16:22.

  2. #2

    Default

    It certainly was fun. I must confess to being a bit disappointed at drawing the F model but it meant I could mop up the targets missed by the others as they overshot or bombed long on their targets.

    It was also great to sit around afterwards and debrief on ways to improve the scenario balance next time.

    And, what was the name of those yummy biscuits you rolled out before we started?

  3. #3

    Default

    They are Italian. Loacker Tortina Original.

  4. #4

    Exclamation

    That scenario was very similar to one Dave (Flash) did quite a few years back set in WW1.
    However the Aircraft on the strip could try to take off after the initial attack & the attackers had to fly over the field & then perform an Immleman & fly back.
    There will be an AAR or two in the Archives under "Aerodrome Attack AAR"

  5. #5

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gully_raker View Post
    There will be an AAR or two in the Archives under "Aerodrome Attack AAR"
    Thanks for that, Barry. It could be quite helpful for considering with our own debriefing that Wayne mentioned.



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