Battle of Britain Campaign - Game 6 Battle Report

A week ago I managed to find some time for another game in my Battle of Britain campaign, this one covering the week from 12–18 August 1940.

The Stuka finally gets to be used in a campaign game.

The mission, determined by a dice roll, was to Bomb an RDF (Radio Direction Finding) Installation. In the games I am using the Blood Red Skies ruleset adapted for play on a hex grid.

The mission is selected.

With the mission selected, the next steps were to determine the aircraft involved, the weather, pilot skills, and the arrival altitude of each formation. Details are all covered in the campaign rules, which can be found here.

Since starting the campaign, I have made a couple of minor change to the campaign scenario set up rules. The first concerns barrage balloons and flak. Rather than treat them separately I have combined the two, with all hexes surrounding the barrage balloons being treated as flak hexes. The second change relates to pilot skills where there can now only be one Ace in each force. If a second Ace is rolled, that pilot is instead now treated as a Veteran pilot.

Scenario

A Junkers 87 Stuka, escorted by four Messerschmitt 109s, has been tasked with bombing an RDF station. The Stuka is flown by a Regular pilot, while the fighter escort consists of one Veteran pilot, one Regular pilot, and two Novice pilots.

Intercepting the raid are two Hurricanes and two Spitfires. The RAF force includes two Regular pilots, one Novice pilot, and one Ace pilot. The Novice and Ace are flying Spitfires.

It is a clear day, with only two cloud markers on the table. There are two barrage balloons, supported by flak batteries defending the target.

Game Report

German aircraft, consisting of one Stuka dive-bomber escorted by four Messerschmitt 109 fighters, approach the coast and are intercepted by RAF Hurricanes and Spitfires who enter the action at low altitude.

Game set up.

A bank of cloud is utilised to conceal some of the intercepting RAF aircraft. Two Hurricanes and one Spitfire emerge from the cloud to make a head-on attack against the Stuka as it flies towards the target area. The Stuka sustains only slight damage and is able to continue on its course.

The RAF use clouds to conceal their initial attack.

The Messerschmitt escorts engage the RAF aircraft in a air melee. Both sides exchanging fire, causing minor damage to each side, after which the RAF pilots attempt to disengage and manoeuvre to make a second attack run at the Stuka, this time from the rear. Due to the close attention of the Messerschmitt escorts, these attacks will be less coordinated than the initial attack.

A confused air-melee as the Messerschmitt escorts engage the RAF aircraft.

A moment of relief for the Stuka as it finds cloud cover.

The attacks while unsuccessful did force the Stuka to lose altitude. However, it passed through the barrage balloon and flak defences without harm.

As the Stuka began to close upon its objective, one of Spitfires succeeded in delivering a decisive burst of fire, and the Stuka enters a steep dive and crashed to the ground before reaching the RDF installation. One member of the crew was observed to successfully bail out.

This was a good day for the RAF. They successfully defended the bombing target with no aircraft lost.

The attacks on the Stuka become piecemeal.

With the Stuka at low altitude a final attack forces it to crash.

Game Wrap Up

Both sides made good use of the available cloud cover during the engagement. The RAF exploited it during their initial attack approach, whilst the Stuka was able to escape some of the attacks. The RAF held a slight advantage in pilot quality, which proved useful for turn activation order and the number of dice used when shooting.

I made a mistake when setting up the scenario. Only one barrage balloon unit should have been available to the defenders, as Luftwaffe bombing activity had successfully struck London the previous week. Under the campaign rules, one barrage balloon unit would have been redeployed to the defence of the capital.

Campaign Situation

I am now 6 turns into the campaign, which runs for a total of 17 turns. Each game represents a key engagement within a given week, adopting this “bath-tubbing” approach keeps the number of games to a manageable level and makes use of my limited number of aircraft.

To win the Luftwaffe must achieve five successful bombing missions against London, industry, or convoy targets to win the campaign. So far they have achieved two successful raids, both against London. The campaign remains well balanced with eleven turns remaining. However, as it progresses, penalties to Luftwaffe pilot skill tests in the last 5 turns will take effect, reflecting the attrition on experience from sustained action over enemy territory.