F5 vs MiG-21: First Fight

One of the last games we managed to get in at the club before It was played using the Check Your 6 - Jet Age rules. The Blight lock-downs ended club meetings for the moment was when we finally managed to get a pair of F5As up against some MiG-21F13s. Both sides were piloted by a Skilled and a Veteran pilot each, each aircraft was armed with a pair of fairly low-grade IR missiles along with their cannon, and each was working with the club ImagiAfrica aircraft rule that could see their search radars fail for the turn or even blow a fuse and fail to work for the rest of the scenario.

The scenario was simply a CAP-style encounter between two flights. We hadn't tried out these two aircraft before, so though we were pretty sure they'd just be a little more advanced than our previous game (Hunters v MiG-19s) we weren't sure about some of the fine details of performance.

The game started with the F5s spotting the 21s first, turning into them, then being seen in turn. The F5s though turned away from the 21's just at the wrong moment, leading to the MiGs being able to make a firing run at them. The shots missed, but was a foreboding of the rest of the fight.




This led to a twisting chase, the F5s tending to manoeuvre close together while the 21s eventually broke off from each other and began to fight independently rather than as a pair. Over the course of the action the MiGs managed to make another couple of passes against one of the F5s, though they didn't fire any missiles and stuck to guns each time. None of their firing runs were successful, but they kept up the aggressive manoeuvring with one splitting the F5 formation and coming close to having to check for a collision









The opportunity was there for the F5s, and a Split-S saw them able to pull in behind the MiG they'd almost collided with a turn previously. Because of the extreme manoeuvre they weren't able to launch missiles that turn, though the second '21 was again able to take a shot at the F5s, again unsuccessfully. The first MiG began a rapid descent, with the F5s following long enough to launch a pair of Sidewinders that both failed to hit. The second MiG had turned acutely while diving in the hope of coming in behind the pair of F5s before they could down the first MiG. However, at that point, bingo fuel (or Home Affair's nominated mission end-time fast approaching, take your pick) meant that the pair of pairs would have to call it quits and leave to fly another day.




It was a fascinating game. The two aircraft were pretty evenly matched, with the choice of pilot tactics being the thing that offered opportunities and risks. This is a game we'll definitely try again, likely next time in the context of the NWA ImagiAfrica campaign.