Sea plane attack (Bag the hun battle report)

 Just to re-cap, Japanese scouts from the island have spotted to parts of the American task force fast approaching Guadalcanal. It is day 3 (5th August 1942). The base commander, faced with the risk to his planes on the ground made a choice (using an A.I. chart) to attack.

All the carrier pilots have been pre generated and their activities in the campaign will be recorded, the sea plane pilots are all average. The carrier pilots were generated using rules from bag the hun. As this is still early in the war for the American forces they are not yet as skilled as the Japanese in their combat flying.

So we begin.

12 sea planes have launched from the Island of Talugi to attack the carrier groups before they are struck by the carriers own bomber wings. The large and unmaneuverable planes do not stand much of a chance against fighters or AA fire, but their Commander has reasoned that it is better to be lost in combat than on the ground.

The sea planes find thr group after a little searching and are not picked up quickly by radar and so can get quite close. The CAP intercept the flying boats not far from the carriers and can only muster 3 sections against 4 so 1 section of sea planes will get through unharmed (I only have 3 big flying boat miniatures so cant do 1 big battle.)

The first battle is Fighter section 6 

If the sea planes can close the distace with the ships the fighters will have to break off due to their own AA.

The fighters approach the Mavis' from the front, a burst of fire form the squadron leader (T. Bell) rips through the left Mavis causing the plane to fall apart mid air. The debris strikes the squadren leader causing him to loose control of his plane and break formation, but he soon recovers The wild cats then attempt a tricky manoeuvre to get behind their targets, however the rookie fails and heads off on is own in the wrong direction.

The squadron leader of the Wildcats (T. Bell) Now gets on the tail of another Mavis. However his long burst of fire only does light damage to the rugged flying boat. By this point the flying boats are approaching the AA range of the carrier group so the fighters break off pursuit with only one target lightly damaged.

The result is 2 sea planes make it through.

Second battle - Fighter section 3

The second battle feature the most skilled fighter section of the Saratoga, This section also includes the wing commander (T. Smith)

The planes move up and the wild cats have soon manoeuvred behind their targets. However accurate turret fire forces T. Smith to hard evade to the right, breaking the fighters formation. A close shave for the wing leader.

Next the fighers open fire forcing the Sea planes to break formation and cause light damage. However, T. Smith the wing leader, still clearly shaken from the hard evade he was forced to make, accidentally allows himself to slip further to the right. All turret fire misses.

In the next round all fighters get on the tails of their targets with T. Smith damaging the gun sights of his target. Once again the tail gunners have no effect.

Again the Wildcat pilots fire and this round have more effect. A. Du Bois damages the engine of his target while R. Miller kills the tail gunner and severs a fuel line of his target. T Smith has the most success firing again and causing his Target Mavis to break up in mid air.

In the next round R. Miller shoots down his target and T. Smith completes his revenge by poaching A. Du Bois target and shooting it down.

The result is the Cap section have shot down all the Mavis'

Battle 3 section 1

This section is made completely of rookie pilots

The fighters approach from a forward left position and open fire when they are within range. However all they can do is force the sea planes to break formation and do light damage.

Now they find themselves in trouble as they lack the skills to make a good sharp turn and by the time they can catch up, their targets have reformed and have reached the ships.

The result is all sea planes make it to the carrier group.

Review 

The first 2 battles went quite well, The sea planes were able to move faster than i expected thanks to some good roles. I have not played Bag the Hun much so I probably made some mistakes. Turret fire was largely ineffective but there were 2 times when there was the chance to cause real damage.

In the 3rd battle i made a mistake as i avoided the rookies trying for a hard turn. If i had tired this one of 3 should have made it. This compounded by the Mavis' bonus speed rolls and the rookies missing their closing fire allowed all 3 to get through.

The attack on the fleet

Of the 12 sea planes that set out, 8 have reached the fleet. They will now begin their attack runs. Their target is the 'Air Support Force' part of the Task force. It is made up of 1 Carrier (USS Saratoga) 2 cruisers (USS Minneapolis and USS New Orleans) and 5 destroyers, 4 Farragut class (USS Farragut, USS MacDonough, USS Dale and USS Worden) and 1 Porter class (USS Phelps)

Each sea plane carries 2 torpedoes, and they attempt to get an attack line, however they cannot get a good line on the carrier as it is covered by the destroyers who place them selves in the way of the torpedo runs.

The first wing of 3 planes is forced to target the USS MacDonough, a Farragut class destroyer but looses 2 planes to AA fire in the process and misses its target.

The second wing of 3 planes targets the USS MacDonogh too but looses 2 planes and misses its target.

So far the Mavis have lost most of their number and failed to achieve anything, only 1 section is left to make its run.

The final wing of 3 planes targets the USS Phelps. As the planes approach, one is hit by AA fire plunges into the ocean. The remaining 2 releace their torpedos into the water and they head towards the fleet.3 of the torpedos go wide and miss. However one of their number is well on target and strikes the Phelps directly in the side. A huge hole is blown in the ship and she soon begins to sink. survivors are picked up by the other destroyers.

The surviving planes do not make it back past the CAP and are all shot down or crash on the return journey.

The result is the entire sea plane wing has been destroyed. However, the Saratoga carrier group has lost one of its destroyers. This was not a loss that they needed to suffer. the biggest faling here was the CAP's falioure to catch the sea planes at a greater distance.

Due to their experiences 2 of the pilots from section 6 (the first battle) have improved their flying abilities. T. Bell the section leader has become a veteran and O. Morris a rookie has become an average pilot.