Should Have Been A Milk Run

Screen Shot by daddog

 

 “The BBC news came on. We mostly didn't listen, because its contents was really designed for the British ear. But towards the end we crewmen caught a flash that made our ears prick up: 'Royal Air Force bombers last night raided Leipzig. Large sections of the city were left in flames with considerable damage to the railway yards...' Then we heard in the crisp British accent: 'Seventy-nine of our aircraft are missing.' There had not been losses like that since sixty Fortresses went down over and along the route home from Schweinfurt one day in 1943... I thought, 'except for the poor bastards who just died over Leipzig'.

 

It was now December 1944. The war was as good as won-they said. They kept on saying it and we believed it. The briefer's pointer traced our course, showing us the German flak batteries we already knew so well. He etched our evasion course, which he knew none of us would take because of the increased flying time. Somebody mumbled, 'Bloody milk run'. It was especially interesting to our pilot, who had twenty-four raids under his belt, because if he made it back to base with this one, he had also bought his ticket stateside. His girlfriend, an English nurse, would be waiting by the control tower when he got back.

 

Take-off went well, with no incidents and nobody going out. Near and over the target, The flak persisted. We had no place to run and hide. These were the German 88 mm guns that could reach an altitude of 30,000 feet and could be fired in devastating shotgun salvos. Suddenly, no flak. That meant instead, fighters. They came on.. swelling in seconds from gnats into birds into fighters. Cannon fire flashed from their wings, like the sparks from a king size welding torch. Moments later we were falling out of formation, spiraling slowly as if the pilot were taking his part in some gigantic aerial ballet. In truth he was slumped forward, a headless horseman...” We heard later that the nurse and our pilot has become engaged the night before. This one was to have been a milk run...” - Fight For The Air by John Frayn Turner

 

Axis 50%

Allied 50%

 

Country Assignments:

Axis Knight

Allied Bishop

CM Rook

 

Axis (Luftwaffe):

Bf 109G-6 (Minimum 34)

Bf 109G-14 (Minimum 34)

Bf 109K (Minimum 34)

Fw 190A-8 (Minimum 34)

Fw190D (Minimum 34)

Me-262 (Max 8 per frame)

Axis must use 4 of the 6 aircraft listed. Minimums listed only apply if that is one of the 5 aircraft chosen by the CiC.

 

Allied (US/British):

P-51D (Minimum 20)

P-51B (Minimum 20)

P-38L (Minimum 20)

P-47D25 (Minimum 20)

Spitfire XIV (Minimum 20)

Spitfire XVI (Minimum 20)

Tempest (Max of 24 per frame )

Mosquito (Minimum 20)

A-20G (Minimum 20)

*B-17G (Minimum 8 pilots or 24 aircraft) Formations enabled

*B-24J (Minimum 8 pilots or 24 aircraft) Formations enabled

 *Required for all frames.

 Allies must use 7 of the 9 remaining aircraft. Minimums listed only apply if that is one of the 7 aircraft chosen by the CiC.

 

- All Allies will be using the designated air starts.

- Axis will not use any air starts.

- Axis may not fly West of the 6 line.

- In sector 5.15 field A24 will be designated as the RTB base for the Allied players.

- Axis will roll 10 minutes 'before' the Allies

- Axis must use that time to get over the target they are defending. Axis pilots must NOT fly toward Allied spawn points till the Allied side spawns in the air, (10 minutes after the Axis rolls).

 

 

 

Scoring:

Single Engined aircraft = 5 pts

Double Engined aircaft = 8 pts

Mossie = 10 points

A20 = 10 points

B-24's and B-17's = 20 pts

Strat buildings 2 pts each

Vehicle Hangar = 25 pts

Fighter Hangar = 25 pts

Bomber Hangar = 25 pts

*Every Axis aircraft spotted by a CM West of the 6 line will result in 100 points being subtracted from the Axis side.

 

Arena Settings:

- Germany Terrain

- Fuel burn 1.5

- Icons short (3k) (icons off below 200')

- 0.3 Ack

- Fighter and Bomber warning range 105,600 (about 20 miles)

- Tower range set to 105,600 (for display only to match the above setting)

- Haze/fog full visibility (17 miles)

- Radar Dot Tower Only. AC will be off radar below 200'.

- Enemy Collisions On - Friendly collisions off

- Killshooter off - Time: 11:00 AM

- Formations: On

- Bomber calibration: Manual

- Winds: None

 

Designer's Notes:

Allied squads will need to practice airstarts, especially those flying bombers. Air starts are available in the training arena. For reference B-24's air spawning at the 13.8 sector, going level and flying directly can reach the strat in 9.15 sector in approximately 40 minutes.

Any Axis pilots blatantly attacking aircraft at A24 will be ejected and banned for the rest of September and October from FSO.

Would suggest Axis C.O.'s tell their squad members not to fly West of the 7 line. That would give the Axis pilots a buffer of 1 sector. Any pilots spotted West of the 6 line will result in a significant point penalty listed above.