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#Post#: 6595--------------------------------------------------
Re: S34 Counterblow
By: Okmed Date: September 14, 2020, 11:09 am
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Scenario: S34 Counterblow, second play-through
Version: v0.2
Players: Dave Demko (solo)
Narrative: Bf 190s tasked with interfering with the Mustangs. Fw
190s loaded with AAR. First AAR head-on attack missed. A flight
of Veteran Bf 109s with an Experte bounced some Mustangs but
could not catch a break: The Germans suffered one loss and broke
for no results. Some sweep Mustangs pulled a squadron of Fw 190s
and a flight of Bf 109s into a dogfight in a square with
bombers. That's called "protective services." Lots of extreme
combat rolls. The 109s largely succeed in their air superiority
work around GT 4. The Bf 109s did a fine job keeping some
Mustangs out direct bomber defense, but two Mustang squadrons
that did fight in the bombers' squares were deadly. The British
broke one Fw 190 squadron before it had a chance to use its
AARs. Still, one Focke Wulf squadron with an Experte got past
the stretched British fighters for an unopposed rocket shot on
the some bombers, achieving three hits confirming at +6. Bad
dice yielded only one bomber loss, though average rolling would
have bagged 3. That was a 6 VP shortfall due to a pair of bad
critical die rolls. Of the other two AAR attacks, one whiffed.
The best British fighter squadron (Veteran + Experte)
underperformed and broke due to bad dice. On balance, the
Germans' luck was a tad worse than the British.
Results: British VPs from bombers exiting = 33
British VPs from kills = 16
German VPs from bomber kills = 12
German VPs from fighter kills = 6
net +31, another British win
Recommendations: Even if the German "lob" AAR attack had downed
the expected 3 bombers, the result would still have been +25 for
a bare British win. But the outcome felt more like a draw, or
even a mild German success, mainly because a good
air-superiority plan let them get an untallied Fw 190 squadron
into the bomber stream. If the Germans had made an average (not
dismal) AAR attack and the British had not, in another clash,
rolled boxcars to get 6 hits for 4 kills on some up-armored Fw
190s, the score would have been +22, still a Draw though
representing rather good German performance. So I'd suggest
shifting the victory thresholds favor of the Germans. I do not
recommend de-fanging the British fighters: They are powerful but
not numerous, so one early break could put them way behind. I
mention the instances of extreme dice to show how the scenario
might be swingy.
Next up: Against a similar German plan I'll try putting the
escorts as close escorts, or even below the bombers, in the hope
of avoiding the Bf 109s. The Germans will see that setup and
assign aircrew accordingly, as they would in face-to-face play.
#Post#: 6599--------------------------------------------------
Re: S34 Counterblow
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 15, 2020, 1:37 am
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Okay, do one more and then I'll swap you with someone else.
#Post#: 6610--------------------------------------------------
Re: S34 Counterblow
By: Okmed Date: September 17, 2020, 8:42 am
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Scenario: S34 Counterblow
Version: v0.2
Players: Dave Demko (solo)
Narrative: The German plan was to load up the Fw 190s with AARs,
use the leading Focke Wulf wing for head-on attacks, and keep
the trailing wing of Focke Wulfs low to try to sneak into the
bomber stream. Two of the rocket attacks whiffed and one
squadron was broken and sent home before it had a chance to use
its rockets. The British split both sweep flights, which did
damage and inflicted cohesion hits but broke early themselves.
The Bf 109s were reasonably successful in distracting and
breaking the sweep Mustangs. The escorts blew key tally rolls
while the Fw 190s flew a perfect approach and tally, the low
wing using cloud cover and GCI very effectively to sneak up on
the bombers from below. The result was several unopposed attacks
on the bombers, as well as some opposed but still effective
ones. The Halifaxes' cohesion rolls were worse than average,
with three squadrons exiting Disrupted.
Results:
Brits for bombers exited 3x 6 + 3x 3 = 27
Brits for German fighters killed = 8
Brit total 35
Germans for bombers killed = 30
Germans for fighters killed = 3
German total 33
Net -5 for a smashing German victory, justly so
Recommendations: Luck played a role here in the poor escort
reactions and poor cohesion rolls for the Mustangs and
Halifaxes, sending home the sweep fighters earlier than average
and driving down the British VPs by 9. But even with average
luck the Germans would have pulled out a win, which would have
felt appropriate. If the escorts had been able to tally or react
with average luck, it would have been a very close game. My
third playing, then, shows that with effective tactics and
decent luck, the Germans can indeed win. At this point I have no
concerns about balance, and I'd need to see balance problems in
other players' results or some face-to-face playings to change
my mind.
#Post#: 6613--------------------------------------------------
Re: S34 Counterblow
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 21, 2020, 1:15 am
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That's gtreat, Dave! I'm crunching numbers on this today, but in
the meantime could you please move onto S33 Bomber Command and
give me some plays?
#Post#: 6617--------------------------------------------------
Re: S34 Counterblow
By: Okmed Date: September 21, 2020, 2:05 am
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Acknowledged: Bomber Command. Ooh, more Mustangs with gyros: I
may get spoiled. And seriously, I'm happy the game has a
historical justification for including the Lancaster, even if
it's best known for night missions.
#Post#: 6624--------------------------------------------------
Re: S34 Counterblow
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 24, 2020, 3:08 am
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I forgot to post the mean numbers from Dave’s tests:
Bomber exit - 31 + 33 + 27 = mean 30.3
German losses - 19 + 16 + 8 = mean 14.3
British losses - 19 + 18 + 33 = mean 23.3
The losses can be a little swingy (see Dave’s third play) but
otherwise the exit VP looks consistent within a 6 VP range.
#Post#: 6664--------------------------------------------------
Re: S34 Counterblow
By: Peter_Wagner Date: October 1, 2020, 3:19 pm
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Scenario: S34 Counterblow (First Play)
Version: v0.2
Playtesters: Pete Wagner (solo)
Report: German fighters were able to tie up two full
sweep-squadrons of Mustangs early on which helped other German
squadrons to overwhelm the escorts. Germans managed to disrupted
two bombers but were unable to outlast the Mustangs which
eventually eliminated the Germans one flight at a time.
Splitting was used to the max split limits. Germans did not use
Gun Pods or AARs. I had the German Fw-190s set their tallies low
in clouds to try and sneak in behind escorts . . . but it didn't
really have a huge impact I don't think. If anything it hurt the
190 effectiveness.
Victory: British Victory
British bombers 30 VPs + enemies shot down 15 VPs = 45 VPs
German enemies shot down 19 VPs (4 bombers 7 fighters)
Total: +26 VPs, British Victory (needed +25 for British Victory)
Recommendations: This felt like a marginal British victory. I
feel like the Germans have some good strategy choices to
overwhelm the Mustang escorts. I need to give it another go but
initial gut reaction is this one plays well as is.
#Post#: 6665--------------------------------------------------
Re: S34 Counterblow
By: Forrest Speck Date: October 1, 2020, 3:19 pm
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S 34
v0.2
Brit vets in lead sweeps/escort
German greens in 109, trail FW 190
No height errors
BOMBING- 2 squadrons disrupted, rest exited intact (30 VP)
LOSSES- 3 x Halifax
9 x P-51
(18 VP)
11 x FW 190
7 x 109
(18 VP)
VICTORY- 48-18 for 30 VP net; British victory- felt like Brit
victory
Germans able to get squadrons into the bombers in turn 4, after
that point, P-51's started making tally and reaction rolls.
Victory levels look good, only more testing will prove that or
not. I will give it another go.
#Post#: 6666--------------------------------------------------
Re: S34 Counterblow
By: Peter_Wagner Date: October 1, 2020, 3:23 pm
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HA! We both posted almost exactly same time. Good post Forrest.
Very similar results to mine.
Pete
#Post#: 6668--------------------------------------------------
Re: S34 Counterblow
By: Forrest Speck Date: October 1, 2020, 7:46 pm
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Yes, results were very close indeed!
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