MANNERHEIM CROSS: Gulf of Finland 1943

 

Finland declared war on Stalin's regime four days after Germany invaded in June of 1941. This second conflict that Finland fought with the Soviet Union in the Second World War was known as the Continuation War. Finland sought to regain territories ceded to the Soviet invasion in the earlier 'Winter War' of 1939-1940 that had ended with the Moscow Peace Treaty. After two years of fighting the fortunes in the east had reversed for the Germans and her co-belliegerents after the battle of the Kursk salient in July 1943. In the autumn of 1943 the Soviets launched a series of counter offensives against both German Army Group South and Army Group Center with the aim of keeping the overall strategic momentum in the hands of the Red Army. While the strategic situation to the south of Finland was shifting it would not be untill the new year before the Red Army would seek to advance west from the Leningrad front towards the Baltic states.

 

While the armies were in a relative stalemate in the northern sector of the fighting the air fleets of both sides continued to clash in the skies over the Gulf of Finland and expanses of the Karelian isthmus. The Luftwaffe and Finnish Air Force sortied against the increasingly well equipped and numerical fighter and bomber aviation regiments of the VVS Red Banner Baltic Fleet. In the backdrop of this campaign some of the great combat planes of the period like the Finnish B-239 would see its last large scale use as 1943 drew to a close. The master Finnish Brewster exponent of WW2 was First Lieutenant Hans Wind of Lentolaivue 24. He was awarded the Mannerheim Cross that summer in the "Sky Pearl" scoring 39 of his 75 victories on the type and leading the way in forging the legend of the Brewster fighter in Finnish service.  

 

This FSO recreates the air battles over Finland and the Soviet Union in 1943.
 
Country Percentages:

 

Axis 48%
Allied 52%

 

Field Assignments:

 

Axis Knight
Allied Bishop
CM Rook
 
OOB:
 
Axis (Luftwaffe/Finnish Air Force):

 

Bf 109G-6
Bf 109G-2
Fw 190A-5 (max 48)
Brewster B-239 (max 24)
Bf 110G-2
Ju 87D-3
Ju 88A-4
Recon Aircraft: Bf 109G-6/U3 (Bf 109G-14, 12 per frame) *Special mission aircraft

 

Allied (Soviet VVS):

 

LA-5FN
Yak-9T (min 24)
P-39Q (min 24)
P-40E
IL-2
Boston III

 

Special Rules and Ordnance Restrictions:

 

* All aircraft types must have 12 *players* minimum assigned per frame.
* Bomber formations are enabled.

* The recon aircraft have an OPTIONAL mission ability to make a tactical reconnaissance run.
* The Bf 109G-14 has air-ground ordnance and gun pods disabled.
* The Fw 190A-5 has air-ground ordnance disabled.

* The LA-5FN has air-ground ordnance disabled.

* ALL AIRCRAFT ARE TO BE LANDED AND THE PLAYERS TOWERED OUT BY FRAME OR WILL BE CONSIDERED SHOT DOWN AND THE CREWS KIA.

 

Special Mission (Optional): Recon missions are FILMED (ALT-R) over a strike target at 4000 ft or less within light flak range and/or over the center area of the target after the strike is completed but within 60 min of frame start. They must rtb safely to get the points for the mission. Confirmation film to be emailed to the Admin CM.

 

Scoring:

 

Aircraft Pts
------------
Twin engined bomber = 10 pts
Bf 109G-14 = 10 pts
All other aircraft types= 5 pts
Landing Bonus = 5 pts

Ground Target Pts
-----------------
Gun = 1 pt
Ammo Bunker = 3 pts
Barracks = 3 pts
Radar = 3 pts
Vehicle Hangar = 25 pts
Fighter Hangar = 25pts
Bomber Hangar = 25 pts
Town Building = 3 pts
Factory at strategic target = 3 pts
Truck in convoy = 1 pt
Train = 2 pts
Recon Mission = 50 pts

 

Arena Settings:

 

- Karelia terrain
- Fuel burn 1.0
- Icons friendly 3k/enemy 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 collisions on
- Friendly collisions off
- Killshooter off
- Time: 15:00 ( 3PM ) Game Clock
- Formations: On
- Bomber calibration: Manual
- Wind: 0K-2K - No Wind
             2K-24K NE TO SW - Speed 10
             24k+ NE TO SW - Speed 15 
         
Designer's Notes:

 

*The Bf 109G-14 is a stand in for the Bf 109G-6/U3 tactical reconnaissance fighter equipped with cameras and a MW50 system. It was not equipped with gun pods or air-ground ordnance.

*As the Luftwaffe's premeire air superiority fighter on the Eastern Front the Fw 190A-5 units in this setup are representing units tasked for that role.

*The LA-5FN was rarely used for fighter-bomber operations.

 

Design by Warloc