All,
0610 local time
4 June 1942
Midway
It's 4 June 1942, the dawn of the epic "Battle of Midway," a clash of giants, three US carriers vs four Japanese carriers that proved to be the turning point of the war in the Pacific. For more information, both real-life and how I'm running this campaign, please check here:
link
Yesterday at 0900 a US Navy PBY Catalina spotted Japanese ships 500nm west southwest of Midway; B-17s from the island were dispatched but failed to hit anything. US Navy PBYs continued to shadow the Japanese surface force, and actually attacked at 0100 this morning, scoring a torpedo hit on a Japanese merchant ship. Unbeknownst to US personnel, the Japanese carrier task force, as yet still unspotted, launched its first strike group against Midway at 0430. At 0530, the PBYs spotted the Japanese carriers, and noted their strike group inbound.
So it's now 0610 and the VMF-343 "Dirt Divers" have scrambled six F4F Wildcats to intercept an inbound group of six D3A "Val" dive bombers escorted by four A6M "Zeros."
This is my arena for aerial combat; simple, yet durable and, to me, beautiful (in a simple, durable way). I'm using tiny aircraft designed by my buddy Thomaston; not sure what size they are, just that they are much smaller than 1/600. They're 3D printed models that I mounted on cut-down bases from Litko, and I'm using a very simple rules system called "Battle of Britain," which I found for free over on The Miniatures Page (I've already played a good 20 or so fights with them). Left is north, with the Japanese strike group there, and the American interceptors at right.
The benefit of an advantage in pilot quality: audaciousness! A lone Japanese Ace is flying circles around a Marine Regular and a Marine Rookie.
Maneuvering aggressively to keep the Marine Wildcats off the incoming Vals.
The Marines have to really work for it, but they get in their licks.
They even manage to break through, into the bombers!
But the Japanese are ultimately successful, managing to get four Vals to the target area, where they wreak havoc on the U.S. shore facilities.
To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
link
Next up, Captain Haynes leads a flight of six Wildcats to intercept the second wave of Japanese bombers closing on Midway.
V/R,
Jack
completes his work by applying decals, doing a bit of weathering, and coating the minis with a matte-finish.
