"Downtown D1 - Here, There and Everwhere" Topic

So…I managed to get some game time in this weekend to play out the D1 mission which I had generated previously. Photos now added. The Blog has more info as usual cag19.blogspot.co.uk

The mission used my new terrain boards A – E 1 through 3. In retrospect I could have just used A – E 1 and 2 as I didn't need to use KEP Airfield as the mission was in the bottom half of the table and the Solo rules only generate a MiG take off from the closest airfield with was Phuc Yen (Noi Bai). The Boards are still WIP and I have to get around to painting the target hexes (all the things in white)

I digress…Possible SAM locations are in yellow and you can make out the raid way points in green. The idea was to head towards Hanoi and then dogleg over to the SAM 1537 target.

I used the DT rules with the solo option. I didn't make up any cards as this was straight forward me versus me.

Turn 1 MiGCAP enters to screen Phuc Yen.

Turn 2 SEAD enters. These are early flak suppressors. No shrike or standoff weaponry. Full on CBU and Napalm onto the enemy AD

Turn 3 the strikers enter

Overview at the end of Turn 4. Strike package is shaking out and the DRV MiGs have started to come up to play

Waypoint reached and the mission begins to turn

Second way point reached the Strike force can begin its run in just after the SEAD have suppressed the SAM Site (which is the target in D1). One of the SAM Sites has gone RADAR ON with an acquistion on the MiGCAP.

Things go horribly wrong for the MiGCAP. Without any RWR the flight have minimal warning and Oyster 4 goes down (Downtown uses a flight representation, so the models represent upto 4 aircraft). Two good chutes are seen but as this is July 65 there is no chance of CSAR getting in to pick them up.

Strike nearly over. The SEAD aircraft have managed to damage the two SAM Sites which could have caused problems. The site which caused the shoot down is out of ammo. The MiGs are close but aren't going to be able to get to the Thuds which will be at afterburner as soon as they drop their ordnance.

The mission is a success for the US as they destroyed the SAM Site but tainted with the loss of Oyster 4. In reality the 27 July 65 strike was a costly mission for the US with multiple shoot downs and a tragic air to air collision..

I need to make up some new game markers for the smaller hex size which also need to include a double canopy parachute marker. My original hex mat was 50mm across so my single bases fit. Now I am using 38mm across things are a bit more crowded.

Close ups of the F-4C and the F-105Ds

Can I ask why the plane aren't in camo'?

Fatman

Very, very cool.

DM

July 1965 is pre camo. 24 November is the first recorded date of Camo which eventually became TO.114.
I have a USAF strike force in both, bare metal and gull grey, as well as a SEA Themed force.

Ummm, might change my mind on the CSAR. As the shoot down is within 10 hexes of Hanoi the -3 modifier means that you can't roll for rescue. However, this is actually close to where Frank Tullo actually got picked up so I might try a simple CSAR mission with A-1 and B-57s.

Looks great!

Love your gaming mat.

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning".

Very nice setup, I just re-read Thud Ridge last week, very inspired to do some flight/squadron level gaming.

Who all does 1/600 F4s, Thuds, etc?

Mine are all tumbling dice. Oddzial Ozmy also make a range of aircraft and SAMs.

Ah didn't catch the fact it was that early in the war. I really must get some non camo'd USAF F-4's done, I have some F-105's already, I just never seem to get round to it.

As always a good game and AAR.

Lion in the Stars
As said above TD do pretty much everything you need except SAM's and AAA, these you can get from O8. 1/600th is a really good scale for jet age games.

Fatman

Revisited the CSAR comments so decided to play out a slightly modified rescue on a smaller table. This one uses 8 tiles.

These are the forces involved. You can see that i have moved the aircrew over slightly in the top photo. This is because it will be a long game as the Jolly only moves 1 hex. While it is part of the D1 outcome it is out of range of the SAMs so didnt want to clutter it up too much

I will play this out tonight.

Or this afternoon when I got home from work. As the Jolly moves 1 hex a turn I rolled for crew capture for the first 10 turns and then placed the aircraft on the table.

Turn 11 the A-1 and B-57 approach the AAA to clear a route in.

Turn 12 the B-57 flight is hit twice and doesn't seem to affect the AAA battery. The A-1 lines up to run in next turn while the Jolly hovers waiting for the flak to subside.

Disaster. The DRV make the capture roll with snake eyes and the F-4 crew are scooped up with the Jolly in sight

More tense than the strike mission. Possibly should have sent the RESCAP in a turn earlier, but the AAA doesn't affect the capture roll.

The reason I want to run 1/600 scale for modern aircraft is to keep the models down to a reasonable size on flight stands. You can get away with 1/300 up until Korea (though bombers take up a lot of space), but as soon as more modern jets start showing up you need to shift down a scale to more-or-less fit the model into the hex.