This was the first play test of a Battle of Britain scenario built around my modest collection of 1/144 aircraft.
Setting: Over southern England, August 1940, late morning
CAB: Low
Conditions: Max/Auto Visibility 30/15; Sun: Edge 6 (Southeast corner)
Clouds: None
Map: 4'x6' with short edges north & south. South edge is friendly to Luftwaffe, all other edges friendly to RAF.
Luftwaffe Orders: Exit as many loaded Stukas as possible from north map edge, 5 VP each. Achieve more VPs than opponent.
Luftwaffe Forces:
1x Ju87B-2 Stuka w/ Veteran +2 crew
2x Ju87B-2 Stuka w/ Skilled +1 crew
2xBf 109E-4 w/ Veteran +2 crew
2x Bf109E-4 w/ Skilled +1 crew
Deploy anywhere within 5 hexes of south edge, TAL 6
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RAF Orders: Achieve more VPs than opponent.
1x Spitfire Mk.IA w/Veteran +2 crew
1x Spitfire Mk.IA w/ Skilled +1 crew
1x Spitfire Mk.IA w/ Green +0 crew
Enter Edge 1 at TAL 1
1x Hurricane Mk.IA w/Veteran +2 crew
1x Hurricane Mk.IA w/Skilled +1 Crew
Enter Edge 2 at TAL 1
The British would have to climb to meet the invaders. The Germans deployed the 109s into two 2-ship formations; one flew northwest toward the climbing Spitfires, while the other moved northeast toward the Hurricanes.
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By turn 4, the Spitfires at TAL 3 were approaching the German formations from below. The 109s maintained their TAL 6 altitude with the bombers.
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The first shots of the game were fired on turn 5, when the leading Spitfire flown by the Veteran pilot reached TAL 5 and was targeted by a Bf 109, which missed with its first shot.
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Turn 6 would be a pivotal turn. The Spitfires finally reached the Stukas' altitude and drove into the enemy formation. The Spit flown by the Green pilot ended up at point blank range right in front of a Stuka, which quickly scored a solid hit. A second hit by a trailing 109 finished off the damaged Spit in short order; unfortunately for the Luftwaffe, this shot expended all of the attacker's ammo. (The red X in the photo marks the location of the downed Spitfire) Meanwhile, the Veteran Spitfire scored an airframe damage hit on a Veteran Bf 109.
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Turn 7 saw the fighters jockey for position while the bombers pressed forward. One of the Spits stalled and went into a spin; he would recover shortly and re-join the battle. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes had built sufficient speed and pulled Immelmanns to come up to the right and just below the bombers at TAL 5.
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On turn 8 the Hurricanes banked left into the Stukas while an element of Bf 109s brazenly sped through the friendly Stuka formation, luckily avoiding a collision. The ensuing point blank gunnery damaged a Stuka's engine while an escorting 109 inflicted a critical engine lucky hit on the attacking Hurricane.
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On turn 9 the Hurricanes, one struggling with a shot up engine, finished off the damaged Stuka while the remaining bombers continued north. The Spits and 109s maneuvered for position.
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On turn 10 the Veteran Spitfire pilot lined up a shot on a 109's 6 o'clock and inflicted critical damage with its eight LMGs, downing the target.
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On turn 11, the out-of-ammo 109 exited the south board edge on its way back to France. The remaining two Stukas dived to gain extra movement and began pulling away from the undamaged Hurricane.
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On turn 12 the Hurricane inflicted a lucky hit on the trailing Stuka, damaging its rudder and forcing it to turn right on turn 13. This gave the Hurricane one last shot that hit but failed to damage the fleeing Stuka. Meanwhile, the lead Stuka exited the north edge, earning 5 victory points for the Luftwaffe. Further south, the damaged Bf 109 was hit at long range by the veteran Spit flight leader. The 109 went down as the Spitfire expended the last of his ammo.
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The tally for the day favored the RAF in terms of enemy aircraft destroyed, but the 10 VP awarded for exiting two Stukas tilted the final score to a German win.
2x Bf 109 shot down = 8 British VP
1x Stuka shot down = 4 British VP
1x German Veteran Pilot lost = 2 British VP
Total 14 British VP
1x Spitfire shot down = 4 German VP
1x Hurricane damaged = 1 German VP
2x Stukas exit north edge = 10 German VP
Total 15 German VP
It was a close game and the players all enjoyed themselves. The British had better luck with their gunnery dice, scoring a good percentage of To-Hit attempts. However, the Stukas with their Robustness of 2 soaked up many LMG hits without suffering damage. Conversely, the Luftwaffe player missed many important To-Hit die rolls. With average luck, RAF losses might have been heavier. I'll be making some adjustments to the scenario, possibly adding an on-board target for the Stukas to bomb.
