Prelude to Stalemate: Operation Avalanche
PRELUDE TO STALEMATE:
OPERATION AVALANCHE
In July of 1942, a historic meeting began that served as the foundation for Allied European strategy for the rest of the war. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt met, at what is now called Camp David, with their respective military chiefs, and began a roadmap of how the western Allied strategy would play out. American military chiefs were strongly in favor of husbanding the emerging allied resources for an direct invasion of France, as early as possible--preferably in the Spring of 1943. Churchill, acting in a roll closer to that of his World War I post, Lord of the Admiralty, lobbied Roosevelt, with considerable resolve, for moving into the Mediterannean first. Churchill proposed a landing into North Africa, followed by continued operations throughout the region as the war progressed. To the chagrin of General Marshall and the rest of the U.S. military chiefs, Roosevelt acquiesced to Churchill, and agreed to begin the campaign against Germany in North Africa. France, for now, would have to wait.
As the North African campaign struggled through the winter of 42'-'43, more planning was conducted for the next step. At the Casablanca conference in January 1943, Churchill and Roosevelt, with their military staffs, met again to discuss the subsequent operations following victory in Tunisia. Again, U.S. military leaders pressed Roosevelt to turn all attention towards France, and again, Roosevelt agreed with Churchill's Mediterranean strategy. The plan that was adopted included an invasion of Sicily, followed closely by a direct invasion of Italy itself. Sicily was captured in August 1943 and the stage was set for the invasion of the Italian peninsula.
The plan called for a series of three landings: Operations Baytown, Slapstick, and Avalanche. Baytown would see portions of Montgomeries 8th Army landing in Calabria, directly across from Sicily. The remainder of 8th Army, mostly British Paratroopers, would land by ship at the port of Taranto during Operation Slapstick. Finally Avalanche, a few days after Slapstick, would see the main Allied landing force attack just south of Naples, along a small coastal plain in Salerno. Montgomery's army, moving north from both the "toe" and "heel" of the "Boot", would link up with the main force along the Salerno beachhead. The combined forces would then move North to take Naples, and then, ultimately, Rome. After Italy surrendered, Baytown and Slapstick were basically unopposed by the Germans, as General Kesselring withdrew his forces north. On September 9th, 1943, Allied forces went ashore at Salerno, and immediately found themselves literally fighting for the beachhead. After just over a week of extremely hard fighting, the Germans began withdrawing north again. The Allied forces reconstituted, linked up with Montgomery, and began working their way north, capturing Naples on 1 October. As the Allies reached the Volturno River, north of Naples, they slammed directly into the first of Kesselring's famous Italian defensive positions, the Volturno Line. From fall of 1943 until the summer of 1944, the Allies would face a series of stubborn defensive lines, and ultimately, stalemate.
This FSO setup will attempt to replicate the Allied and Axis air operations that occurred during Operations Baytown (Frame 1), Slapstick (Frame 2), and Avalanche (Frame 3).
Frame 1: 13 March, 2009 (1400 Game T-Time)
Frame 2: 20 March, 2009 (1200 Game T-Time)
Frame 3: 27 March, 2009 (1000 Game T-Time)
Scoring:
Objective based scoring will be used. 50% of each frame's score will be for air-to-air kills, with the remaining 50% being divided between 5 air-to-ground objectives each frame. Each air-to-ground objective will be worth a total of 10 points. Objective scores will be based on victory criteria that will be published in each frames objectives.
Air-to-Air
Air-to-air score will be worth 50 potential points each frame. The total number of aircraft that lift for each side will be tallied and added together using their respective point totals. That number is the total aircraft potential for each side. All single engined fighters will be worth 1 point. All aircraft with multiple crewmembers will be worth 1.25 points. To reach the percentage score, the total points scored will be divided by total aircraft lifted. For example, if 60 P-40, 20 B-26, and 14 A-20 aircraft launch, and 20 P-40, 10 B-26, and 2 A-20 aircraft are shot down, the Japanese would score (20) for P-40, (12.5) for B-26, and (2.5) for A-20. The total value destroyed (35) is divided by the total number launched (94) to get a percentage (37%). That percentage is used to modify the 50 potential air-to-air points i.e. (35) / (94) = 37%; 50 X .37 = 18.5. So, in this example, the Germans would score 18.5 points for air-to-air victories.
Air-to-Ground
Air-to-ground score will be worth 50 potential points each frame. Each of the 5 target objectives will be worth 10 points to either side. The Allies and Germans will be awarded points based on victory conditions listed in each frame?s objectives. Target objectives will consist of strategic targets only. Each objective will have its own victory conditions that will define who receives points, and for what destruction criteria. Both sides will have an equal potential to score the same points for each objective.
Plane Set:
Allied:
P-38G (36 max)
P-40E (48 min)
Spit VIII (48 max)
Spit IX (36 min)
SeaFire (24 max)
Bostons (12 formations min)
B-25 (12 formations min)
B-26 (12 formations max)
A-20 (12 max)
Axis:
C202 (14 Min)
C205 (14 Max)
Bf-109G2 (70 Min)
Bf-109G6 (70 Max)
Bf-110G (28 Max)
Fw-190A5 (28 Max)
Ju-87 (Available, No Min)
Ju-88 (28 Formations Max)
Special Rules:
--Manual calibration will be used for bombers
Arena Settings:
--Italy Map
--Fuel Burn 1.0
--Icons Short
--.4 Ack
--Fighter and Bomber Warning Range 48,000 (~8 nautical miles)
--Tower Range 48,000 (~8 nautical miles, To Match Warning Range)
--Visibility 17 Miles
--Wind speed will vary with altitude and frame. See Objectives
--Radar Off
--Enemy Collisions On
--Friendly Collisions Off
--Killshooter Off
--Takeoff time per frame descriptions above
Task Groups:
Allies will have (2) Task Groups per frame. (1) Task Group consists of the normal compliment of ships. The second Task Group will consist of all ships except the CV. They will be placed on the map by the Frame Objectives (by the Admin, me) but shall be under Allied CIC control during each frame. See Frame Objectives each week.
Contact all the squads on your side at:
http://ahevents.org/fso/view_assignments.html
Updated FSO Rules at:
http://ahevents.org/fso-related/fso-rules.html