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Thread: Raid on Bhamo

  1. #1

    Default Raid on Bhamo

    Bhamo, a market town, was also an important crossing place on the Irrawaddy River. As the Japanese advanced across Burma it was a prized objective. To prevent Chinese reinforcements from crossing the Irrawaddy into, or any fleeing Chinese to escape from, they staged an air raid against the riverfront facilities.

    From the east three Kates flew in as horizontal bombers escorted by a pair of Oscars.
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    Long before the Japanese reached their objective a trio of AVG Flying Tigers had been alerted and flew to intercept.
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    #71 aims to engage an escorting Oscar. #73 follows in support.
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    The Oscar also has a wingman of his own.
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    The first bullets fly as the lead fighters close in head on.
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    The Kates keep formation until they are close enough to begin their bombing run.
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    Tiger #72 attacks the flanking Kate with plans to circle round behind them.
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    The Kates begin to feel uneasy as enemy planes get closer.
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    The Oscars successfully engage 2 of the 3 interceptors.
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    #72 scream by only feet from a Kate before turning behind the formation.
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    #71 reversed to keep the Oscars busy so #72 can be free to go after the Kates.
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    #72 takes fire from 2 Kates as he swings behind them. A lucky shot sets him on fire!
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    One Oscar sets up to reverse while the other turns to flank the Tigers.
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    #71, seeing #72 struggling with a fire decides to take a run at the Kates. He closes in and rips apart the lead Kate sending it down into the jungle below.
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    While taking evasive maneuvers to minimize the fire #72 is surprised to find an Oscar fly across his guns.
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    #73 vigorously engages the second Oscar letting his wingmen take on the Kates.
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    Trying to get on the Kate’s tails, #72 takes another unlucky hit from a tail gunner.
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    The Kates are on their bomb runs with no enemy in range to stop them.
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    An Oscar and Tiger get ever so close to colliding. How they avoid each other is a mystery.
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    The first Kate’s bombs fall long, splashing harmlessly into the Irrawaddy. The 2nd Kate inflicts minor damage to the riverfront facilities.
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    The Tigers are now between the Oscars and trailing the Kates. They can’t stop the bombs from falling but will try to punish the slow flying Kates.
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    One Kate gets away but the Tigers stay on the trailing bomber.
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    The Oscars get in one last shot at the Tigers. The P-40s pull away and gain on the Kate.
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    Only one Kate will return to it’s airfield. Immediately after downing the Kate, the Tigers leave the Oscars and head home.
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    I visited Dave in Brewer Saturday night for another in our series of WGS games. This mission was much more even compared to the last to say the least!

    My plan to get one of my P-40 behind the Kates didn’t pan out. Just as I was getting into position he set me on fire and 3 moves later blew me up!
    I got shots with my other P-40s on all of the Kates but it’s not easy to keep on such a slower target. After making my pass by the time I could reverse the Kates were on their way to the target.

    Luckily for me Dave’s inexperience with bombing let me off the hook with him only inflicting minor damage to the target. I'm sure next time he'll be more accurate.

  2. #2

    Thumbs up

    Thanks for the AAR.
    Some great paint jobs on your Jap aircraft. Very well done.

  3. #3

    Default

    Nice AAR
    ( excuse my poor english)
    I found really hard to shot down a plane from the rear when this plane has a tail gunner.
    In the wow rules it really too hard for me( and I don't talk about heavy bombers...) . It's for that I changed rules/ The bomber player has to
    throw a d6 and make a 4+ ( depends of scenario ) to hit the fighther.
    Like that I can have more two seaters oor heavy bombers on the table because it's less dangerous for the fighters.
    Aniway really nice ainting, what scale are the planes?

  4. #4

    Default

    Hi Fox, the planes are AIM (Armaments in Miniature) at 1/200 scale.

    I agree that bombers rear gunners are deadly. So far my only mod is not to give them consecutive fireing bonus. In this battle though there was no tail gunners in the B-25s. If we didn't re-spawn a German fighter one of the B-25s would have reached the target.

  5. #5

    Default


    Sorry I don't understand what you talk about when you speak of B25 and german fighter . I only see japanese and AVG on this post

  6. #6

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by fox View Post

    Sorry I don't understand what you talk about when you speak of B25 and german fighter . I only see japanese and AVG on this post
    I thought it was just me.......
    I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!

  7. #7

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Flying Helmut View Post
    I thought it was just me.......
    So ,my english is not so bad

  8. #8

    Default

    Whoops, by bad. I just played another game with Dave...with Germans shooting down B-25s. This will get posted soon.

    I need a lot more sleep than I am getting right now. Life is not being fair at the moment.

    So back to Bhamo, yes, the Kates have the benefit of a rear gunner. Even with only one A chit per shot you get a lot of shots on planes that don't get to shoot at you. Those As add up and have their fair share of special damage. Maybe for rear gunners ignore the special damage the first time for each type? Hmmm, I'll have to try this.
    Last edited by Teaticket; 11-05-2019 at 21:05.

  9. #9

    Default

    Tail gunners were very effective at keeping fighters at bay. The problem with this particular scenario is that we were not playing with altitude. This would allow the fighters to come at the Vals from below unmolested. Fighter pilots were trained at what angles to attack different types of aircraft. I am still using my training wheels when I play against Peter. I’m ready to start using altitude so we can add that whole level of realism and complexity to the game.

    I also think that the effectiveness of rear gunners depends on the planes. For example, a Nate attacking a bomber with a rear gunner is going to exchange A’s for A’s, and the bomber will have more hit points. Nate loses. Make that fighter a late war ME-109, and the little A potshots won’t matter much as your bomber goes down in flames after one or two close range shots.

    As for this scenario, as always, it is a pleasure to fly Peter’s fabulous planes. He probably get bored hearing that all the time.

    I always try to get my bombers in tight formation. This way they cover each other nicely. In an early war scenario like this, those A’s do add up. Another fun action that landed around a draw. I need to practice my bombing!

    Thanks Peter for taking the time to post this, and the other games we’ve played.



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