HIGH BLUE BATTLE: France 1944

The 'Transportation Plan' was a strategic plan envisioned by Air Marshall Arthur Tedder of SHAEF and designed by Professor Solly Zuckermann, an advisor to the British Air Ministry during World War II. It targeted the German armed forces ability to move men and materiel by rail. It was adopted to suppport the invasion of Occupied France in June 1944 and carried out primarily by the bombers of the USAAF and RAF Bomber Command. The premise of the plan being that if the Allies destroyed the means of transport in Occupied France, then Germany would be unable to respond effectively to an invasion. The Allies hoped to hinder the movement of the German 15th Army into Normandy, and to suggest to the Germans that they were attempting to isolate the Pas De Calais region from an attack by General Patton's fictitious army group based in England which was part of the overall Fortitude deception plan to shift German attention away from the Normandy area. The strategy required the destruction of the French rail centres, including marshalling yards, repair shops and other related transport facilities.

There was much opposition to the plan from various sources. Air Chief Marshall Arthur Harris considered it another sideshow to the Combined Bomber Offensive against Germany, and General Carl Spaatz was convinced his Oil Plan was a better idea, and Spaatz even had support from some members of the Air Ministry, including Group Captain Sidney Osborne Bufton in the Directorate of Bomber Operations. The plan was, however, approved, and in March 1944 the order was issued to the Allied bomber chiefs to carry out the new strategy.

This FSO recreates the daylight efforts made by the USAAF's 8th Air Force and RAF Bomber Command against rail and transportation targets in the months prior to Overlord. Opposing them will be the Luftwaffe's western based JagdGruppen.

 

Country Percentages:

Axis 50%
Allied 50%

Field Assignments:

Axis Bishop
Allied Knight
CM Rook
 
OOB:

 

Axis (Luftwaffe):
 

Bf 109G-14 (max 48)

Bf 109G-6
Bf 109G-2 (max 12)

Fw 190A-8 (max 48)
Fw 190A-5
Bf 110G-2 (max 36)

 

Allied (USAAF/RAF/RCAF):

 

P-51B (max 48)
P-47D-11 
P-47D-25

P-38J
Spitfire IX (max 24)
Spitfire VIII (max 24)

B-17G (min 20 players)

B-26B (min 20 players)
B-25C (min 12 players) 
 

Special Rules and Ordnance Restrictions:

 

* The Axis have no attack objectives in this setup. 

* All  aircraft types must be used by a minimum of *12 players*.

* Allied fighters have all air-ground ordnance disabled.

* Formations are enabled.

* No Axis aircraft may go "feet dry" over England AT ANY TIME in the event.

 

Scoring:

Aircraft Pts
---------------
All bombers: 10 pts
All fighters: 2 pts

Ground Target Pts
--------------------------
1 pt = Gun
3 pts = Ammo Bunker
3 pts = Barracks
3 pts = Radar
25 pts = Vehicle Hangar
25 pts = Fighter Hangar
25 pts = Bomber Hangar
3 pts = Town Building
3 pts = Factory at strategic target
1 pt = Truck in convoy
2 pts = Train

Arena Settings:

- Battle of Britain terrain

- Fuel burn 1.0
- Icons short (3k)
- 0.5 Ack
- Fighter and Bomber warning range 42,000 (about 8 miles)
- Tower range set to 42,000 (for display only to match the above setting)
- Haze/fog full visibility (17 miles)
- Radar off
- Enemy xollisions on
- Friendly collisions off
- Killshooter off
- Time: 15:00 ( 3PM ) Game Clock
- Formations: On
- Bomber calibration: Auto ( MA style )
- Wind: 0-2K   NO WIND
           2K-18K  NE TO SW - Speed 5
           18K-25K  N TO S - Speed 10
           25k+   N TO S - Speed 15
         
Designer's Notes:

 

* The Bf 109G-14 is representative of "late build" Bf 109G-6 varients.

* The Spitfire VIII is a stand in for the Spitfire VII.

* The Allied fighters are representing escort fighters with no fighter-bomber duties.

 

Design by Warloc