Battle of Britain Campaign – Game 9

I seem to have got back into the swing of my Battle of Britain campaign, with another game played covering the week 9th–15th September 1940.

The mission selected for the week was a Luftwaffe attack on a convoy. This is the first time this particular mission has occurred during this campaign, and it is one I have been looking forward to playing, because it gives me the opportunity to finally get the Boulton Paul Defiant onto the tabletop.

Details of the campaign can be found here, and I will return to the overall campaign progress at the end of this post.

A boy's own comic style picture created by ChatGPT from the photograph below.

The Boulton Paul Defiant model.

Background

The Luftwaffe has spotted a convoy and is preparing to launch an attack. However, the RAF are on watch ready to intercept. The weather is clearing, with just a single cloud in the sky.

Forces

Luftwaffe

• 1 × Dornier Do 17
• 3 × Messerschmitt Me 109

All Luftwaffe pilots are rated as Regular.

RAF

• 3 × Spitfires
• 1 × Boulton Paul Defiant

The three Spitfire pilots have a mix of skills: Novice, Regular and Ace. The Boulton Paul Defiant crew are rated as Veterans.

The Game

As the convoy made its way along the English Channel coast, it was protected by a mixed group of Spitfires and a Boulton Paul Defiant. Their task was to intercept any Luftwaffe bombers approaching the convoy.

The RAF close in on the Dornier Do17 and Me109 escorts.

The Spitfires, having only recently arrived to reinforce the Defiant, were forced to climb quickly to gain altitude as the Luftwaffe escorts close in. It was not long before the opposing fighters became entangled in a swirling air melee, the Defiant kept a distance from the melee.

The aerial melee soon produced casualties. A Spitfire was the first to ditch into the Channel, and was quickly followed by a Messerschmitt Me109.

The air melee begins as Spitfires and Me109's engage.

A Spitfire is hit and ditches in the Channel.

A Me109 gets shot down.

The RAF fighters successfully manoeuvred into position to attack the Dornier 17 as it emerged from cloud cover. Their first attack produced limited success, damaging one of the bomber's engines. However, the crew kept the bomber on course towards the convoy.

Unfortunately, as the RAF fighters prepared for another attack run the Defiant proved an easy target for the German fighters and was shot down. One of the two remaining Spitfires managed to shake off the attention of the escorts and make another attack on the Dornier, but this time without success. 

The Defiant is shot down.

The RAF fighters continued to dodge attacks from the Me 109 escorts, but it was becoming increasingly difficult and they were forced to break off the engagement, being low on ammunition and having sustained light damage.

The Dornier was left to continue its mission against the convoy. An important victory for the Luftwaffe.

A Spitfire makes an attack on the Dornier.

The Dornier prepares to attack the convoy.

The Campaign Situation

The campaign has now completed its 10th week (10 game turns) with nine games played. The difference is because there was no flying the week of 29th July to 4th August due to bad weather. There are seven weeks remaining in the campaign.

At the end of Turn 17, the number of Luftwaffe key bombing successes against London, industrial centres and convoys will be totalled. Other mission types do not contribute to the Luftwaffe victory total, but can provide bonuses for the Luftwaffe in their following game or impose penalties on the RAF.

The victory conditions are:

• RAF Victory: The Luftwaffe only achieves three or fewer key bombing successes.
• Luftwaffe Victory: The Luftwaffe achieves five or more key bombing successes.
• Draw: The Luftwaffe achieves four key bombing successes.

The Luftwaffe currently has three successful key bombing missions, having successfully bombed London, industrial centres and now a convoy.

However, the balance may begin to shift over the remaining weeks as Luftwaffe pilot attrition starts to take its toll in the final five weeks of the campaign, with the Luftwaffe having to deduct one from its pilot skill rolls. (This is a rule in the campaign. At the beginning of the campaign the Luftwaffe have the edge in pilot skills with combat veterans who had fought in: Poland, Norway, France & the Low Countries. However, they were fighting over enemy territory and overtime they lost their edge in experience. While the RAF pilots were fighting over home territory, that meant a safe landing in friendly territory with quick rescue on land or by the Royal Navy.)

Any further weeks of bad weather will also make things difficult for the Luftwaffe, as these can occur when the same mission is rolled in consecutive weeks, reducing the number of opportunities they have to achieve the required number of bombing successes.

With seven weeks still to go, the outcome is far from decided.

The campaign map and calendar.

I have made a few changes to the campaign rules since starting them. These are the effects on the RAF when the Luftwaffe successfully attacks airfields or bombs RDF installations. I thought it would be a good opportunity to update the rules and incorporate my scribbled notes.

As I was doing this, I started wondering whether I could fit all the campaign rules and the map onto a single sheet of paper, effectively creating a two-page campaign. With a little sharpening up of the text and a slight reduction in font size, I managed to get it all on to one sheet of paper.

This got me thinking about my next campaign and whether I should take a similar approach. I rather like the idea and challenge of keeping an entire campaign to a single sheet of paper (two pages). The physical limitation of a single sheet of paper should help keep the campaign manageable and avoid becoming complicated or overly detailed.

First page of the updated campaign.

Second page of the campaign.

The next blog will be about the Anglo-Zulu war painting progress, a couple of units have recently left the painting table.