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#Post#: 7456--------------------------------------------------
D05 Longer Than a Day
By: pilotofficerprune Date: March 21, 2021, 4:35 am
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This is a stub thread.
#Post#: 7473--------------------------------------------------
Re: D05 Longer Than a Day
By: Okmed Date: March 25, 2021, 11:26 am
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Scenario: D05 Longer Than A Day
Version: v0.1
Players: Dave Demko (solo)
Narrative: The trailing P-38 squadron tallied and split to
interfere with some of the interceptors. The rest chased the
bombers and used the technique of entering the square of bombers
they hadn't tallied and then switch tally the next turn to delay
escort reaction by a turn. The escorts rolled poorly for tally
and reaction but finally did have one successful and one late
reaction. Fighters from both sides broke earlier than average.
The Fw 190 squadron made it to the fight in time for one turn of
attacking the bombers.
Victory:
Axis: 4.5 VP fighter kills + 9 VP bomber kills = 13.5
USAAF: 33 VP bomber exits + 11 VP fighter kills = 44
net 30.5 yields a Draw
Felt like a close USAAF win.
Recommendations: The Bf 109s without gun pods take a predictably
long time to peck away at heavy bombers. They did manage to
disrupt one bomber squadron. The opening presents some
interesting dilemmas about whether to split and how to allocate
interceptors. The mid-game threatened to become a dice-rolling
exercise until the escorts made their rolls to get into the
game. No solid recommendations yet, but I can see now that the
opening positions make for a long tail-chase. We'll want to make
sure the scenario offers enough variability and doesn't tend to
run on rails.
Yes, I know that sounds like yet another "Dave likes gun pods"
remark. I'm not saying they should be allowed. The firepower
disadvantage against the Axis could be part of the scenario's
theme. The difference is prominent, especially with the heavy
bomber formation DRM and the beefy protection ratings of the
Lightnings and Liberators. (It's a bit like defending Rabaul
with Zeroes in the Eagles campaign game.)
#Post#: 7477--------------------------------------------------
Re: D05 Longer Than a Day
By: Okmed Date: March 28, 2021, 12:38 am
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Scenario: D05 Longer Than A Day
Version: v0.1
Players: Dave Demko (solo)
Narrative: The US tried a different escort deployment, with one
P-38 squadron a square behind the middle bomber pair. That
seemed to work well. Again the US split one squadron to
(successfully) interfere with the interceptors while the other
two waited to react. The flight with the US Veteran/Experte
performed well, staying in the game though several cohesion
rolls. The German fighters we able to catch up to the fight in
time to make non-trivial contributions.
Victory: US bomber exit = 36 VP
US fighter kills = 14 VP
Axis fighter kills 4.5
Axis bomber kills = 3 VP
net 42.5, big big USAAF win
Recommendations: When we get to the balancing stage, I'm likely
to recommend removing one USAAF Veteran marker, adding another
Experte for the Axis, or maybe both. The firepower and
robustness differential shows up strongly. Yes, the Fw 190A-8 is
a good bomber-killer, but those Bf 109s up against heavy bombers
are like gnats annoying vultures.
For now, my concern about the scenario having a boring patch in
the middle are fading. Yes, it's a game of catch-up, but I found
both sides had to make interesting decisions about tallies and
switching tallies, whether to split, whether to dogfight, and
how to distribute their workloads (tallying or reacting for the
USAAF, bomber-hunting or pre-empting the escorts for the Axis).
Despite the final score, the game felt like a close fight most
of the way through, up until the Axis fighters scored five
successive ineffective hits on B-24s, by which I mean hits from
the Air Combat Table that produced zero losses or stragglers. I
have at least one more idea for the US to try. That may indicate
good replayability.
#Post#: 7482--------------------------------------------------
Re: D05 Longer Than a Day
By: Okmed Date: March 29, 2021, 7:29 am
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Scenario: D05 Longer Than A Day
Version: v0.1
Players: Dave Demko (solo)
Narrative: This time the USAAF emphasized escort (2 squadrons)
over tallying (one Veteran squadron, split) while the Axis tried
to concentrate on the low bomb group. The rationale for the Axis
plan is that it takes a long time to shoot up bombers, so one
group will probably provide adequate targets, and the low group
is easiest to catch up with through diving. Interesting fighter
clashes abounded, but the Axis still managed few shots on the
bombers. A couple tactical errors affected the Axis, but they
made up for it when the Fw 190 squadron, after a failed
(injudicious) tally attempt was able to beat up on a broken P-38
squadron, scoring three kills despite fighting in the clouds
(extreme dice). Another tactical error: trying to get onto the
bombers one squadron at a time rather than waiting to enter
their square with two Bf 109 squadrons simultaneously, thus
losing the chance for an unopposed attack on one bomber
squadron. The B-24s made it though with no losses, one
straggler, and no disrupted or broken squadrons.
Victory:
USAAF bomber exits = 36 VP
USAAF fighter kills = 14 VP
Axis bomber kills = 0
Axis fighter kills = 15 VP
net 35 VP yields a narrow US victory
The result feels right because it was hard fought with no clear
advantage in the air, BUT all the bombers got through in good
formation and no losses, which is a success for the air-to-air
part of the mission represented here.
Recommendations: The bombers are very difficult to dent. That's
not a bad thing in itself, but it seems like an ongoing
challenge for the Axis, to the point where they might opt to try
winning against the US fighters. If that's possible. In two
playings now the US has managed to gain maximum VPs for bomber
exit. I've confirmed for myself that each player has more than
one viable gambit and that the action can have good variety. I
like it. Probably time for me to set this one down or play it
competitively rather than solitaire.
#Post#: 7484--------------------------------------------------
Re: D05 Longer Than a Day
By: pilotofficerprune Date: April 4, 2021, 2:18 am
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Okay, so I think I'm going to nerf the Americans by 1 Veteran
marker and pass this to someone else to play.
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