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Next mission being planned for this week is D2 – “Beginnings”. This moves us to October 1965 and pits the USN from the Coral Sea up against the DRV.
This one has a good mix of aircraft in play. 5 flights of A-4 Skyhawks supported by 2 flights of F-8 Crusaders and 2 flights of F-4B Phantoms. The DRV are likely to put up MiG-17s from Kep and/or Phuc Yen airfields. There aren’t any other supporting aircraft involved. I could add a USN helo and a flight of A-1 Skyraiders on RESCAP just for fun but that turns it into a very very long game.
This is an early shot of the game table I am going to use. Kep and Vu Cha are at the top of the map and this is viewed from the South. Table size is 4′ 7″ x 3′ 8″ so manageable. I have done some more painting since this was taken and changed the river colour to a brown rather than the stark green I used. I am also working on the AAA hexes around Nam Dinh and Thai Binh as well as the Me Xa and Hai Doung Bridges. Vu Cha will need a stand alone target hex making up as it doesn’t feature on a regular basis
My current planning thoughts are to come on from East of Nam Dinh, skirt Haiphong and come West of Hai Doung bridge before running in to Kep and Vu Cha. I can push CAP forwards and East early to screen the bombers. As usual more to follow
Hahaha,
i have just used my table to wargame out my plan 🙂 before actually flying it. Brings back memories of Gavin Lyall’s comments in Operation Warboard. So plan revised and adjusted.
as this was a walk through of my plan I did some what if thinking so needed to keep a reserve CAP just in case the DRV got around the screen here the escort flight peeled off to deal with a new threat. So I am thinking of pairing an F-8 with an F-4 flight, keep the F-8 close to the bombers and allow the F-4B to range a bit further out and deal flight v flight as things come up. Been a while since I played D2 so learning some old lessons.
I managed to blag just over an hour at lunch time to playout D2. The time spent yesterday paid dividends in making sure I had everything I needed. It isn’t massively different from D1 but you are going get an A2A engagement in this scenario. Without SAMs to deal with its straightforward
The F-4B CAP enters as two flights (each CAP flight is two aircraft), while the Bombers are 4 aircraft)
Closely followed by the bombers and escorting F-8 Crusaders. Using multiple entry points means that I can get all the bombers on and then use the next turn in shaking them out. With the move sequence I have had occasional problems with gaps appearing in the formation as aircraft move.
As per my plan the F-4B cap split to make sure that they can cover the probably MiG approaches and the bomber stream begins to form up. MiGs are skirting around the formation but at least with an F-4B I get 3 detection chances per DRV aircraft even with them at Deck level.
The F-8 Escorts maneuver to meet the possible threats and the F-4B try and get a fix on the DRV
By the time they get close there are possibly two flights to deal with.
Bomber on route to the next way point husbanded by the crusaders, Which might be needed because the CAP hasn’t detected the MiG-17s down on the deck.
The CAP are off chasing the elusive MiG. The scenario means that the MiGs are likely to be four ship flights so the 2 F-4B are going to have their work cut out. However, a combination of DISCO/RED CROWN/F-4 Radar and the Mk I eyeball result in a flight of 4 MiGs being detected. Going to burner the F-4B pair have the element of surprise. The DRV don’t engage while the USN do (engage in the game means being in the right place to have an engagement in the 2.5nm of airspace rather than the combat rolls). The US have surprise from the rear arc so the DRV choose to disengage. 2D10 rolled, 20 comes up, which with modifiers the US roll becomes a massive 28. 4 opportunities with Sidewinder and sparrows present themselves. Result in 2 confirmed MiG Kills and and the other two aircraft diving for the deck, one trailing a lot of smoke (in the rolls, I had Damaged, Shoot down, Damaged, Shoot down. The damage allocation chart ended up putting both damage results on the Number 3 aircraft.)
Not Dan Macintyre in Switchbox 107, but a kill for VF-151 and the Coral Sea
Things look a little tense closer to home but luckily the MiG turns out to be a false alarm. The F-8 moving to the second MiG gets into a position to get an eyeball on them next turn while the bomber start to roll in.
Kep gets three flights of A-4Cs and the Bridge at Vu Cha gets two. Medium AAA can be nasty and a couple of close rolls but no damage and both targets are hit
Wheeling off target and no MiGs in the air I called it a day. The egress route from here was West up Phantom Ridge and then south to the Gulf.
In terms of ground targets, I used to use the CinC SA-2 which are cracking models with the old felt mat.
they used to be on 40mm circular bases. O8 didn’t have any SAMs at that time (2010/2011)
As the hex size is a lot smaller and O8 now do make a SA-2 that is what I have gone with.
i haven’t gotten around to painting them despite them being in this state for months. The D3 mission is a bit of impetus to get on with them
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