Eagles over England [BoBII 2.12]

[Santini]

Howdy!
It is my intention at this time to go ahead an toss together an AAR for a Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory (2.12) Luftwaffe campaign, aiming to both entertain and highlight just how amazing this game really is.

Anyhoo, watch this spot for periodic updates

[Santini]

The general brief:
Starting in July 10th, 1940, Luftflotte 2 and 3, with an escalating order of battle, are given the objective of achieving a reasonable degree of air superiority over England, no later than September 15th, the last possible date for the launch of an invasion of England, once and for all knocking this most stalwart of foes from the war, and in turn permitting refocus of German attention towards the true foe, in the east. That means the Luftwaffe has been granted 68 days in which to reduce RAF fighter defense to such a state that any action by the Royal Navy has no chance of success against an amphibious assault.

As the forces of Luftflotte 2 and 3 begin this operation well spread in the aftermath of the French operation, they shall grow in strength with the passing of time, meaning that the battle itself shall be divided in to stages.

The first stage, lasting from July 10 to August 10, is about to commence, and shall be the period in which first capabilities are determined, a plan of attack developed, and mounting pressure applied with the hopes of facilitating future phases.

Starting Strength:
The English begin this operation with an estimated strength of some 850 combat capable fighter aircraft, approximately 300 of which are Spitfires, and 550 are Hurricanes. The Spitfire aircraft, while indeed quite maneuverable, lacks slightly in speed by comparison to our bf-109's, and the Hurricanes even more so. Against our heavy fighters, the bf-110 should be capable of outgunning and out-climbing both aircraft with ease.

Luftflotte 2 and 3 begin the campaign with rather less from the start: Luftflotte 2 contains a full Jagdgruppe of 109's, J/51, and a Zerstörer Gruppe of 110's, Z/26.
Insofar as ground attack assets are concerned, Luftflotte 3 contains 3 Staffle of JU-87 Stuka's (S/1/I, S/1/III, S/77/I), 2 Staffle of JU-88 Schnellbombers (K/51/I, K/54/III), and 1 Staffle of He-111 Schnellbombers (K/55/II). Luftflotte 2 has 4 He-111 (K/1/I, K/1/II, K/53/I, K/53/III) and 4 Do-17 Staffle (Kampfgruppe 2, K/3/II).

With the passing of time, additional formations will become available, but at this point in time, between the two Luftflotte we have sufficient forces only for a series of probing attacks.

Strategic Intent:
The end goal is simple: reduce the fighter formations of the RAF to such a point as they are incapable of defending England.
This is accomplished by reducing English fighter formations to Category C - a state of combat un-readiness, which is in turn accomplished by reducing the number of aircraft available, and by wearing down those that are.

For that reason, it is felt that targets shall selected such as that the manufacturing capacity of the English is reduced, in the process drawing up fighter formations to batter in to submission.

RDF:
Perhaps the most unusual element of this upcoming campaign is the nature of the RAF command itself, and its use of "Chain Home", a series of radio towers emitting signals that reflect off airborn objects, which then return to special receivers, from which aircraft deployment can be deduced and response determined.

Interestingly enough, while intelligence assets indicate that particular towers are capable of detection to a range of 60 miles, low flying aircraft are nearly invisible. Against this, a second set of RDF stations, known as Chain Home Low, has been developed, permitting detection of lowflying aircraft at a range of 20 miles.

A map of the British "Radar" deployment follows:


Clearly the nature and function of this Chain Home must also be determined, as its operation stands to greatly affect the course of battle.

[Santini]

July 10th, 1940: Day 1, Phase 1
The day began with a force and objective assessment:

Luftflotte 2 and 3 begin the day 1 fighter, 2 diver bomber and 1 fast bomber Staffel. As the day progresses, 2 more fighter and 3 heavy fighter Staffel will hit Category A readiness.

Against them is arrayed perhaps the most powerful air force outside of Germany.

Gameplan:
In this initial phase, given the imbalance of force, the plan is to conduct a series of probing attacks, a morning, afternoon and evening strike, making use of a variety of mission objectives and strike packages, permitting an assessment of relative performance and tactical viability.

Strike 1,2,3:

Strike 1: Strike 1 is planned as a 9am, 4 Staffel strike against British shipping in the channel. 2 Staffel of Bf-109 from J51/III will cover 2 Staffel of Stuka from S1/III in a lo/mid/midlo attack. The strike will transition from 5000 feet to 12,000 feet over the target, and then egress at 10,000. It is hoped that this yoyo will permit assessment of the operating floor of long ranged radar. Additionally, the British response will permit assessment of BF-109 combat performance.


Strike 2: By the afternoon, it is anticipated that several Staffel of heavy fighters, Me-110's, will come online. Therefore, a 6 Staffel strike against a close proximity Chain Low station "Beachey Head," at 13:00. 3 Staffel of S1/I Stuka's, 2 Staffel of Bf-109's of J51/I, and a supporting Staffel of Me-110's from Z26/I, will perform a mid-altitude strike - a combat package having seen major success in contested airspace during Fall Gelb.


Strike 3: In the evening, a switch-off, 2 stage strike will be performed, again against the "Beachey Head" Chain Low RDF station. 3 Staffel of Z26/III will perform a low level, high speed divebomb strike, using Me-110's carrying a ground strike package, being over the target at 17:30. This strike is intended to both gauge RAF response times, and additionally expend the RAF quick response capability, softening up the RAF response to the followup strike: a 5 Staffel low level followup strike.
1 Staffel of Z26/II, 2 Staffel of J51/II and 2 Staffel of Ju88 from K51/I are set to hit fast and low against what is hopped to be a region lacking rapid response capability.

[Santini]

Strike 1 AAR:
At 7:58, 2 Staffel of Stukas from S1/III, having concluded bombup procedure, started their props and taxied in to position at Carquebut. At 8:08 sharp, the takeoff began, and all 22 Ju-87's took flight, heading east/northeast for linkup with fighter support. After 27 minutes of flight, linkup was conducted without error, and course shifted to northwest. ETA to target convoy, 20 minutes.

Approximately 10 minutes after linkup, some 25 miles from the shores of England, RAF fighter command made it's presence known: 2 squadrons, reported as spitfires- 12 and 11 high. 1 Bf-109 Staffel went high, and the other low.


Low Staffel made contact first, quickly dissolving the strangely stiff British formation into a massive furball



The English formation split, a few evidently novice pilots spending their altitude, and burning any gains in speed through a series of sharp maneuvers.

Quickly, I found myself over the top of a novice pilot.


A quick scissors, and he was taking hits.


Sadly, S1/III and the second Bf-109 Staffel fared not nearly so well - the Bf-109's found themselves in a turning contest they failed to win, whilst the Ju-87's were proven incapable of surviving without total escort.



Suffering massive casualties, S1/III broke for home, and the English squadron cut for England, at such height we were unable to re-intercept.

Turning for home, a radio check gave evidence to a rather lackluster skirmish: while 7 Spitfires were shot down, it was at the cost of 11 Stuka's and 7 Bf-109's.

[Santini]

Uh oh... I've been informed by a member of the 2.12 team that I may have to do some reconfiguration to my setup, and replay the first day...

Not that I'm too bothered, mind you, as clearly I need to consider some tactical reconsideration (the 2nd and 3rd strike both didn't go so hot [although on the 3rd strike, a squadron of Hurricans tried to dive in on my JU-88's in ground level fog, and 8 of them splashed it - pretty funny stuff])

[Santini]

Good news! She continues!

Strike 2 AAR:
The men of I Gruppe, 1 SG, made their way in to their waiting Stuka's, two a piece, assisted by the Men in Black. Grim faces are much in evidence - as they have spent the last hour's listening to the radio chatter from Strike 1, and watching the badly damaged craft of S1/III limp home.

There is, however some small glimmer of hope - Bf-110's of Z26, heavy gunships sure to chop up the English...


The strike force was within 10 miles of the coast when contact was first made - two squadrons, 12 o'clock high. Immediately, the Bf-110 put in full throttle and took full advantage of their astonishing rate of climb. Both Bf-109 Staffel stuff with the Stuka formation.


The British response was unorthodox: both squadrons shatter their formations, splitting in to pairs or trio's, seeking to avoid both 109 and 110.


The maneuver had a distinct disadvantage - it put the gun heavy 110's on the tail of individual fighters.


Under such heavy fire, several Hurricanes were quickly shredded.


However, it became readily apparent that the new English spitfires had a a slight advantage is horizontal speed, and a distinct advantage in maneuver.


After a period of ineffectual maneuver, the 110 Staffel broke, and began to gain height while closing the gap with the Stuka formation. Even from a great distance, however, it was clear that they were receiving a heavy mauling...

[Santini]

Strike 2 AAR cont.:

After 5 minutes, Z26/I had pulled itself up and amoungst the bomber formation, and dropped in on the attacking Englishmen. One Bf-110 pilot found itself in position for a shot, scoring a number of hits...


Yet within seconds, a Spitfire had dropped on its tail, all guns blazing. Several hits were recorded when a miracle occurred- in a single burst, the rear gunner put 3 to 5 rounds into the pursuing fighter's power egg.


Turning back to the south, the slaughter of the Stuka's had continued, single Hurricane and Spitfires continuing to mangle the painfully slow dive bombers. Z26/I, by now short 3 aircraft (1 downed, 2 heading for home with heavy damage, tore into the English fighters as best as possible.


One Bf-110 found itself over the top of a damaged Hurricane, and foolishly, perhaps driven by rage, continued pursuit of the fighter, over England and away from the bombers.


Close ranged cannon fire did terrible damage, and the Hurricane dropped like a stone - no parachute.


Overhead, another wounded Hurricane...


Closed with, and destroyed. By then, the call had gone out: RTB. Dejected, German forces returned for base.

Strike 2: Loss of 6 Bf-110's, 14 Bf-109's and 30 Stuka's, for 9 reported kills.

Clearly, something has gone terribly wrong.

[Santini]

Strike 3 Preamble:
At Kampfgeschwader 51 HQ, the atmosphere was tense. Fully loaded JU-88's were in array, the crews grouped in their shade best as able, and their flight captains assembled at the head tent. Intently, they stared at the enigma unit.

On the dot, the Morse began to click... tappa tap tap tappa tap...

Quickly, the decoder began to press keys, spelling out the message one letter at a time

T... H... I... R... D... S... T... R... I... K... E... ... S... E... C... O... N... D... D... E... L... A... Y... O... R... D... E... R...

Quietly, a captain curses, wiping sweat from his brow. Half relieved, half disappointed, they return to their crews. Surely at the next half hour, they will receive the cancellation order.

Yet half an hour later, and the machine sits quiet. With a few over-enthused, perhaps falsified whoops, the captains run to their crews, the Men in Black start the engines, and JU-88 is airborn.

The radio operator watches them take off, one at a time, then stares, puzzled, at the fresh taping Morse reciever. He keys them in, one at a time...


T... H... I... R... D... S... T... R... I... K... E...... C... A... N... C... L...

Yet it is too late