Chickenhawks Over New Guinea

[Just Jack]

Darby, you described old Kyote to a ‘T’! 😉
Last fight in New Guinea, coming right up.

V/R,
Jack

[Just Jack]

All,

1130 local time
26 May 1942
New Guinea

Greetings all, having just wrapped up the Coral Sea battles, I figured it’s time to head back to my U.S. Army Air Corps fighter squadron, the 565th Tactical Fighter Squadron, better known as the “Chickenhawks.” The last we saw of the Chickenhawks was back in February of 1942; they’d started out fighting the Japanese over the Dutch East Indies before falling back to Australia and becoming embroiled in the fighting over Darwin. After things quieted down there, they ended up moving over to Brisbane, where they had a quiet period of daily patrolling to bring in replacements and get them trained up. But they got word at the end of April that they’d be moving soon, and immediately after the Battle of Coral Sea they packed up and shipped out, heading up to Port Moresby on New Guinea, making Kila Kila Airfield, AKA “3 Mile Drome,” their new home on 11 May 1942. They only had a couple days before they were called to action.

On 13 May, Captain Cotton led six P-40s against four Zeros and six Bettys. One Zero and one Betty were downed at the cost of three P-40s and 25/30 damage points on the New Guinea Harbor Facilities.

On 14 May, Captain Goode led a depleted flight of only four P-40s up against four Zeros and six Bettys, and it was an unmitigated disaster. All four US fighters were shot down, with Captain Goode and Lt O’Brien killed in action, while the enemy didn’t lose a single aircraft! The Japanese bombers quickly finished off the Harbor Facilities, and pounded the Marshalling Area (22/30 damage points).

On 16 May, Major Jordan led the squadron aloft to intercept six Bettys escorted by four Zeros, but Lt Daniel was the star of the show. The Americans lost a single P-40, but they knocked down two Zeros and four Bettys, with Lt Daniel knocking down four of those aircraft and winning the Distinguished Flying Cross. The remaining two Japanese bombers jettisoned their bombs and returned to base, so no bombs fell on the Allied Marshalling Area (still 22/30).

On 18 May, 1st Lt Pace led a flight of four P-40s on escort duty for six B-25 Mitchells detailed to pound Wewak’s POL storage tanks. They met five Zeros over the target, with all five being shot down, though two of those were actually by the bomber crews, who took heavy losses. While the Chickenhawks only lost one P-40, four of the six bombers were shot down, and they barely scratched the POL target (6/30 damage points).

On 19 May, two patrols ran into each other over No Man’s Land, ending with each side losing a single fighter.

On 21 May, two young Lieutenants found themselves escorting a flight of five B-25 Mitchells over to Wewak again, where a pair of Zeros rise up to meet them. Both Zeros were downed, for the loss of a single P-40s, and all five bombers made it, though they didn’t score very well (only 12 more damage points, so 18/30 on the POL target).

On 22 May, five Bettys escorted by a single Zero were met by 1st Lt Daniel and three other P-40s. The Chickenhawks knocked down the lone Zero and three of the Bettys, turning back the last two, but they lost two of their own to defensive fire from the enemy bombers.

On 25 May, Lt Daniel led an escort of four P-40s with six B-25s against a Japanese Combat Air Patrol of four Zeros.  All four Zeros were shot down (two by the bomber crews!), and no P-40s were lost, but two B-25s were shot down and two more were damaged and forced to return to base, so their combat power was seriously reduced and only caused seven points of damage on the Wewak POL storage tanks (25/30 total).

Now it’s 26 May, and Major Jordan is leading a five-ship Combat Air Patrol up to intercept six inbound Bettys escorted by two Zeros.

Those damn Zekes always seem to get the first punch in!

But the Yanks will not be denied, and push their way straight into the bombers, bringing hell with them!

Lt Lageman has an historic day!

To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
https://oldleadbreed.blogspot.com/2019/11/chickenhawks-over-new-guinea-9.html

Well, that sews up the Chickenhawks first tour in New Guinea, and it was a lot of fun, felt luckier than the Killer Pelicans at Coral Sea.  Here’s the breakdown:
Chickenhawks sorties: 37
Friendly bomber sorties: 17
Chickenhawks losses: 14 P-40s (two by Betty defensive fire)
Friendly bomber losses: 6 B-25s
Enemy fighter losses: 11 Zeros (though four were to bomber defensive fire)
Enemy bomber losses: 13 Bettys
Awards: 2nd Lt Lageman was awarded the Medal of Honor, 1st Lt Daniel was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross

The Chickenhawks lost 14 of their 18 aircraft, had six pilots WIA, three KIA (including an Ace), and one MIA (also an Ace, as well as their Squadron Leader).  At this point the 565th Tactical Fighter Squadron, after only 25 days of action, are completely combat ineffective, and thus they are being pulled back to Brisbane, Australia, for some rest and recuperation.

More to come.

V/R,
Jack

[kyoteblue]

I thought the Chickenhawks would get all the Bettys this time but no!!!

So with the end of this part of the campaign where are you off to next Jack???

[Just Jack]

Yeah, I was a little aggravated that one got through in a 5 vs 2 fight, but whatcha gonna do? The Army will let you down every single time 😉

And nobody thought my ‘Final Countdown’ joke was funny, eh? You guys either suck, or yer ignant AND suck! 😉

Next up, of course, is the Battle of Midway!

V/R,

Jack

[Deleted User]

Through the heroic actions and sacrifices of our naval aerial samurais, the Yanks are forced to withdraw another squadron from the war.
BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!

Hmmm, interestd to see how your Marines fare at Midway 😀
Too bad you don’t have any F2A to sorty out agaisnt the cream of the IJN.

[Just Jack]

Yes, ‘tis true the Japanese still have seven fighters fit for combat while the Americans have only four, but that’s only because the Japanese were afraid to commit them to battle, lest they end up as charred metal in jungles below with their comrades.

I guess you didn’t read the book or even see the movie, but your boys are going down! 😉

V/R,

Jack

[Darkest Star Games]

That was a rough campaign, a lot of planes lost.  I wonder if that’s level with historical accounts?  (not that this is a simulation or anything, just don’t know much about that area of WW2)

"I saw this in a cartoon once, but I'm pretty sure I can do it..."

[Just Jack]

Oh, just saw the addendum: yes, I’m actually going to combine forces for Midway: Dirt Divers will be flying off the island, while the Pelicans are flying off the Yorktown.

And thank goodness I don’t have any Buffaloes! Plus these Marines are already established in Wildcats.  I think in real life the Marines had four Wildcats ashore, though the rest (~18 or so?) were Buffaloes.  We’ll also see TBFs for the first time (ashore, from VT-8), and my B-25s will be standing in for some B-26 Marauders.

Jack

[Just Jack]

Darby,

Honestly, I really don’t know.  It’s been difficult for me to nail down stuff on the USAAF in New Guinea (as opposed to Coral Sea, Midway, etc…), so I’m not really sweating it, just doing my thing.

I think it’s easier for the other fights because they’re sort of self encapsulated: these units were involved, and there are definitive start and stop dates, where New Guinea had tons of different units involved, moving in and out of the area of operations, for a period of years.

So rather than researching by area, you pretty much have to research by unit (a specific squadron/group), but none of the units I’ve found did what I want my Chickenhawks to do (which is start at New Guinea then go to Guadalcanal). At least none that I’m finding; again, no big deal, I’m just having a good time!

I can’t wait for November 1942, when the Chickenhawks get their P-38 Lightnings!  I’ll probably do one more rotation with them back in New Guinea with P-40s, maybe in July ‘42. Might even bump their  P-38s to September.

From what I can tell, the first P-38s reached 5th Air Force in the SW Pacific in Nov ‘42, but they were in the Aleutians as early as the end of May ‘42, so who’s to say enough P-38s to equip a single squadron couldn’t have arrived a bit earlier than November? 😉

Of course my Gyrenes don’t get Corsairs until February’43.  The Chickenhawks can wait until November!

V/R,

Jack

[kyoteblue]

Woo Hoo Midway!!!!

[Just Jack]

Yup, starting it tomorrow.

Jack

[Darkest Star Games]

Just Jack wrote:

but they were in the Aleutians as early as the end of May ‘42

Now I know there wasn’t really any action up north there, but what if…. 😀

"I saw this in a cartoon once, but I'm pretty sure I can do it..."

[Just Jack]

What if the Chickenhawks went to the Aleutians?  Not a chance, brother!  I’ve got too much going on, they’ll get plenty of sorties in fighting in the Southwest Pacific!

V/R,
Jack

[Just Jack]

All,

I’ve posted the campaign plan for the Battle of Midway:
https://oldleadbreed.blogspot.com/2019/11/battle-of-midway-campaign-plan.html

I’m starting it tomorrow (I’m off work), will see how deep into I can get).  If you’ve got super simple rules/concepts for air to ground strike games that actually involve some decision making (not just dice rolling), I’d be much obliged if you’d share.

V/R,
Jack

[kyoteblue]

Looks good. Now to sink some Japanese Carriers!!!

[Deleted User]

Just Jack wrote:

If you’ve got super simple rules/concepts for air to ground strike games that actually involve some decision making (not just dice rolling)…

That’s a tough one. It’s why I don’t play WWII air the options are too limited. Your options for both dive bombing and torpedo bombing is the approach vectors affecting chances to hit.
Maybe roll to see if the target turns? Changing attack aspect and chances to hit. You could use the same attack grid as for aircombat for dive bombing but torpedos will be different.
4+ 5+ 4+
5+ ^ 5+
6+ 6+ 6+
If you use the normal attack pool of dice then this is an extra step. Consider making ships only able to take 5-6 damage and each hit only cause 1 damage.

Maybe an option to drop at the last moment that gives +1 to hit but 4+ chance of getting shot down by AA or crashing.
Also you could add AA fire like warwell did, hitting on a 6. Being me I’d combine the attack roll with the AA fire, any attack roll of 1 the plane gets shot down before dropping it’s payload. Dropping at the last moment the plane gets shot down on an odd roll. It works even if you use the old attack pool method.

[Deleted User]

Here’s my best idea yet. How about making IJN CAP 8 A6M? 2 per carrier and alter the numbers based on how many carriers are still alive.
2 A6M per functioning carrier.
1 A6M per crippled carrier.

[Just Jack]

Kyote John – Thanks man, and amen!

Thomaston – Yeah, the whole thing concept comes down to, are there really enough decisions to make?  I’d also thought of AAA having different ‘to hit’ based on different aspect to target, so the pilot has to choose whether to come straight at the target, where he’s easier to hit, or travel more obliquely, being harder to hit but exposing himself to fire for a longer duration.  I was thinking more like this:

Target
5+  4   5+
6          6
5+  6   5+

What do mean “attack pool of dice”?  I was thinking that each attacking aircraft takes 1D6 of AA each move, hitting on the above, roll to damage/kill, roll to see if they hang in there or return to base.  I can’t really think of a reason to treat dive bombers different to torpedo bombers; in simple terms, they both have to get to point-blank range in order to deliver their ordnance.   The ‘shot down’ on a bomb/torpedo drop roll of ‘1’ is pretty harsh, but I like it 😉

Eight Zeros for CAP???  I’m having a hard enough time with six!  And I noticed you didn’t think the US should have 8-plane CAP.  I like the idea of tying it to the carrier capability/status, but I’ve also got to tie it to the squadron’s remaining pilots/aircraft, then I make it even more interesting with the die roll to inject some luck.

Lots to think about, thanks, and keep the ideas coming!

V/R,
Jack

[Whirlwind]

Just Jack wrote:

the whole thing concept comes down to, are there really enough decisions to make?

Yes, this, pretty much.

You might be able to adapt something from John D Salt’s “Ramrod” game

[Whirlwind]

Well done that man on his “ace-in-a-day” sortie!  Concludes a very interesting set of fights…

One question on the Japanese pilot machine-gunning the bailed-out pilot: did it require a move to do that or was it a narratively interesting outcome of the destruction of his aircraft and survival roll?

[Deleted User]

I would have suggested 4 plane CAP but that’s too low. How about 1 A6M per carrier + 2 from the previous CAP if any survived?

IJN dive bomber tactics approach form the stern. Target don’t disappear under the aircraft’s nose.
I’m not sure about USN practice but it should be the same or similar.
IJN Torpedo planes approach from the bow so they’re different there.

The attack pool is when you roll a D6 for each bomber and count the total, as opposed for a role to hit.

For simplicity sake you could get away with AA using the same grid as air combat. The rule is getting a lot more complex with your ace rules etc.

Here’s something for dive bombers
Shallow dive – no bonus, normal attack.
Steep dive – +1 accuracy, only move 1 square forward (need to get closer to the target before the attack).
Couple that with releasing at the last moment you could get some accurate attacks at the risk of crashing.

[kyoteblue]

I’m looking forward to this and I will rent the New Midway movie when it comes out on DVD.

[Just Jack]

Thomaston – I’m not really looking at messing with CAP numbers because I’m not really looking at messing with (that piece) of the Battle of Britain rules.  I suppose I could tack it onto the end of my dogfight games (where right now I simply play until the bombers reach the target area, then roll for damage), but it really only entered the equation because on 5 June, when all four Japanese carriers were at the bottom of the ocean, the US carrier aircraft jumped on the Japanese surface forces, roughing them up.  The US aircraft did this when the Japanese had no air cover, so no dogfight, just a game where the SBDs or TBDs move on some cruisers and try to sink them without getting shot down.  And I still like the idea of a squadron of P-47 “Jugs” combing over Europe, engaging the occasional Focke-Wulfe, but mostly shooting up German armor, supply trucks, trains, bridges, headquarters, supply depots, etc…, while dodging flak.

Gotcha on the dice pool, and some interesting concepts on the dive bombing, but one issue/question.  I thought dive bombers wanted to come in from a steeper angle, not just to improve accuracy, but also because AAA had a hard time with such high angle attacks?  To the point that the Japanese even told their Kamikaze pilots to attack in such a manner.  My point is, if we’re trying to make a game decision tree, it doesn’t seem to work that shallow dive=less accurate but safer, it seems to be that steeper dive is more and accurate and safer (at least from AAA, maybe not from the target fixation or blacking out from the pull out causing you to crash), so no reason in game terms to do a shallow dive.  Hell, I think because of the topography and the AAA threat, the USAAF even tried ‘dive-bombing’ with B-17s in the Aleutians, only stopping when the wings kept ripping off at the root!  The only time I can recall reading/hearing about shallow angle/level bombing being safer was 5th Air Force B-25s doing it at extremely low level with parachute bombs, the thinking being that New Guinea, the Bismarks, and the Solomons were jungled and their targets (primarily airfields) were in clearings, but the problem was those clearings was that was where all the AAA was located, so the solution was to scream in at low level, and carpet bomb (they used very light, I think 100-lb, bombs) on timed runs over the clearings, rather than sighting in (as dive bombers do, or bombardiers in high altitude level bombers).

Whirlwind John – I’ll take a look at Ramrod, thanks.  And you’re right, old Lt Lageman was quite the stud that day 😉  The enemy pilot machine-gunning the bailed out pilot was pure narrative, he did his ‘bail out’ roll and came up a ‘1.’

Kyote John – Thanks man, and I’m looking forward to that movie as well.  I played the first five games today; they went… about how the first fights always go.

V/R,
Jack

[Deleted User]

The way I saw it was the dive itself was where they bypassed AA, elevation and fuse settings vs changing altitude. But it’s the approach to the dive point I was differentiating between the two. My thinking was a steep dive needs to get closer and wade through flak for longer. The purpose of the suggestion was to have more flexibility in shallow dive, being able to move further and maybe turn during the attack while the steep dive is fixed in it’s profile only able to move 1 square forward.

I didn’t think too much regarding AAA, I’m expecting all USN bombers to get shot down by the ships anyway 😀

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