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#Post#: 80--------------------------------------------------
E21 Operation Tungsten
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 12, 2018, 10:17 am
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Date: 1 Aug
Playtester: Gordon Christie/Andrew Brazier
Andrew & I have run through this twice & are now quite happy
with it.
Plays very much as a game of 2 halves. The Germans are few in
number but qualitatively good but, whilst the Corsairs can hold
their own, the Martlets are outclassed and struggle to protect
the bombers. The FAA fighters covering the first wave of bombers
have their hands full against 3 veteran German squadrons if the
Germans concentrate against them (which is probably the best
German strategy). First time out the Barracudas were hit hard
with the lead squadron broken after suffering 8 losses to
fighter attack before bombing but second time out the fighters
managed to protect the bombers more effectively with light
losses and only one disrupted squadron before the attack. There
are some interesting tactical choices for both sides & the
contrast between the early war Martlets & the later war fighters
(109Gs, 190s & Corsairs) is instructive. We didn’t use tactical
flexibility much but that also adds some options, especially for
the LW (the Martlets are unlikely to split as they are already
outclassed & splitting is unlikely to be productive).
Both times the German fighters concentrated on the first wave &
were pretty much fought out before the second wave entered
making the second wave an interesting exercise in flak
suppression for the fighters before the Barracudas started their
dives. We haven’t got any other scenarios where there is an
opportunity to try & play out flak suppression on a significant
scale & I thought this was interesting at least for the British
player.
Again as written there is too much flak. Designing scenarios I
have systematically underestimated flak lethality-probably
through failure to appreciate the cumulative effect of multiple
flak die rolls, particularly with the change to the barrage flak
rules which make barrage more productive.
Final suggestions:
Rrenove the Aux counter
Change DD to DD1 in W0
Bespoke Tirpitz counter with Flak H0(1) L0(1)-I would argue that
Tirpitz actually had relatively poor flak for a late war
battleship (the 3.7cm SKC/30 had a surprisingly low rate of fire
and was clearly inferior to the Army 3..7cm Flak 36 & the
Bofors, the 20mm lacked lethality against late war aircraft &
the high angle fire control system-although advanced-arguably
never worked all that well). I think this captures the Tirpitz
well. She should certainly be an armoured ship & 12 hits.
The dead in the water & smoke screen SSRs can come
out-effectively they are cancelled out by each other.
Shore based flak should be Heavy Flak D in T0, Light Flak A in
U0
Victory based on damage to Tirpitz alone-Slight or better-German
win; Light-draw; Heavy or worse-British victory.
Allow escorts & sweep to dive & strafe within 5 columns of a
surface target (this was specifically briefed & makes it much
easier to coordinate strafing with the dive bombers-particularly
for the second wave escorts)
We didn’t test this but perhaps include an optional rule that
the Corsairs can carry rockets. It would have to be an all or
none choice for the British player (to avoid having the first
wave sweep unencumbered knowing there are fighters about). We’re
already in counterfactual territory but the raid achieved
surprise due to flying the initial ingress leg at low altitude.
This forced the Corsairs, which launched first, to carry drop
tanks to have fuel for the form up phase & the low altitude
ingress. If a more direct medium altitude approach had been
chosen the Corsairs could probably have carried rockets for flak
suppression but would have conceded the advantage of surprise
achieved historically due to the low altitude ingress prior to
the final climb to attack altitude just short of the target
which takes us back to the counterfactual premise for the
scenario of earlier detection of the raid. This would be a bit
of double edged sword as it makes the Corsairs less effective
air to air & the FAA really need the fighter cover to
work….might offer some more replay value (which is always
welcome in the only scenario with Barracudas:-))
#Post#: 100--------------------------------------------------
Re: E21 Operation Tungsten
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 14, 2018, 2:56 am
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Date: 12 Nov 17
Playtesters: Gordon Christie/Andrew Brazier
Operation TUNGSTEN:
Seems to work pretty well on the basis of a single play through.
The dice definitely favoured the Germans on this one. Pretty
much all of the British fighter units were soaked up by the
German fighters operating as flights, and the fighters managed
to disrupt the lead Barracuda Squadron. Flak was very effective
(and might have to be toned down slightly) and bombing was poor.
Tirpitz sustained only light damage for a solid German win.
It certainly needs another run-through or 2 to have a final view
on balance, particularly in view of the somewhat asymmetric die
rolls this time out. Overall though it was fun, again with a
slightly unusual mix of aircraft (interesting to see late or
American naval fighters taking on mid to late war Luftwaffe
fighters) and a good narrative. The Germans stood up pretty well
(I was initially concerned that, despite their quality, they
might simply lack the numbers to make much impression) and the
bombing was fun. There is some scope for flak suppression,
although the durability of the German fighters pretty much
negated British flak suppression efforts.
We might tweak the flak back slightly but overall it looks
reasonably good as written, and certainly worth some more effort
to try and get the balance right.
#Post#: 306--------------------------------------------------
Re: E21 Operation Tungsten
By: pilotofficerprune Date: October 6, 2018, 1:40 am
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Okay, I have just posted up a render of the latest reverse side
of the Eagles counter sheet on Dropbox. You'll find it with the
Eaglesfiles. Please note that there is a custom Tirpitz counter
on this sheet that is necessary for playing the Operation
Tungsten scenario.
#Post#: 560--------------------------------------------------
Re: E21 Operation Tungsten
By: Elias Nordling Date: November 16, 2018, 1:16 pm
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I am planning to have a go at this. How about putting a note
that players not having Victories can substitute the Martlet VI
found on the FM-2 ADC for the Martlet V? It will make the
escorts better at climbing at altitudes 3 and 4 and that's about
it. You can even use the same counters. As far as I can tell,
this is the only aircraft needed from Victories, and when there
is such a close substitute in the box, why not utilize it?
#Post#: 569--------------------------------------------------
Re: E21 Operation Tungsten
By: pilotofficerprune Date: November 18, 2018, 4:27 am
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Let me sleep on this one.
#Post#: 571--------------------------------------------------
Re: E21 Operation Tungsten
By: pilotofficerprune Date: November 18, 2018, 5:39 am
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Thinking on this:
(a) There’s literally no space to add a two or three line note
about replacing the Mk.Vs with Mk.VIs.
(b) The alternative would be to simply use Mk.VIs in the order
of battle. However, that will likely trigger comments from those
who notice that the Mk.VI does not enter British service until
months after Operation Tungsten took place.
#Post#: 579--------------------------------------------------
Re: E21 Operation Tungsten
By: Elias Nordling Date: November 19, 2018, 2:20 am
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[quote](a) There’s literally no space to add a two or three line
note about replacing the Mk.Vs with Mk.VIs.
[/quote]
I'm thinking you just need to change "This scenario requires
ownership of Wing Leader: Victories 1940-42" to "The Martlet V
ADC is found in Wing Leader: Victories 1940-42. If you don't
have this game, use the Martlet VI instead."
#Post#: 596--------------------------------------------------
Re: E21 Operation Tungsten
By: Elias Nordling Date: November 22, 2018, 1:26 pm
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Can the Barracudas use torpedoes if they wish? I assume not, as
that was the reason the Tirpitz was in a fiord to begin with,
but then there needs to be a special rule saying so.
#Post#: 601--------------------------------------------------
Re: E21 Operation Tungsten
By: pilotofficerprune Date: November 23, 2018, 2:51 am
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Good point.
#Post#: 612--------------------------------------------------
Re: E21 Operation Tungsten
By: pilotofficerprune Date: November 25, 2018, 4:31 am
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I've added a special rule to restrict the Barracudas to bombs.
You'll see this when I next release the scenario.
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