The first Luftwaffe incursions over Kent

The Set-Up.

A couple of Nunawading Wargames Assoc. club meetings ago we moved the action from the north of France to the south of England. Three Do17-Zs were escorted by a quartet of Me109-Es. Opposing them were four new Spitfire Mk-Is (their first foray out onto the table!). We diced for several set-up options: whether the 109s were a close escort or overwatch at a higher altitude, where the Spitfires entered the board, whether the Spitfires had managed to obtain much of an altitude advantage over the Luftwaffe platforms. The 109s were run by two players, each with a Green and a Skilled pilot. They diced for a pilot skill increase but failed. I ran the four Spitfires  with three Green and one Skilled pilot, successfully rolled for a skill increase, so improved one of the Green pilots so I ended up with two Green and two Skilled. 

I have asked around and searched for reference material on fighter tactical doctrine in use at the start of WW2. Material I have seen indicated that Axis pilots often employed better tactical doctrine than Allied pilots and that this had an impact on the relative successes each achieved early in the war. The IJA vs RAF in Malaya in 1942 seems to be often cited as a prime example of this. I haven’t been able to find much, though I have seen material on the actual Flight formations. These, and formation flying, would introduce some constraints on how players operated their flights, so we attempted to introduce something in this game just to try out some concepts.

The LW and RAF models all had to start in formation. For the 109s this was two sets of fingers, virtually a V, from which they could break into pairs. For the RAF models this was meant to be a V formation from which they could also later break into pairs. In order to model the more constraining doctrine of the early Battle of Britain period, the RAF models had to stay in formation (four in a V) until they had been fired on at Short Range or less. For the LW the constraint was to stay in Flight formation until one of them had fired on an RAF fighter. This was to make it easier for the 109s to manoeuvre about, but also reflect the RAF plan to stay in formation and present better fire options against bombers until they were under direct threat from aircraft from a Jagdgeschwader.

To simplify the narrative I’ll use cardinal directions, based around the Dorniers heading north from their base in France.

The Engagement Commences.

The Do17s started in the centre of the South edge of the board at TAL 2with the 109s at TAL 3 and between them and the SW corner. The Spities came on halfway down the Western edge of the board at TAL 3. The Do17s would pretty much run on automatic, flying in formation at TAL2 at Speed 2 and changing direction by 60⁰ every couple of turns. Note that the next time we do this I plan to make it random as to whether they change direction after 2-4 turns of movement straight ahead. This is just to prevent a defending player from simply lining themselves up for an attack three or four turns ahead based on bombers’ programmed move.

The first few turns saw the Spitfires climb and move in order to try and set themselves up for attacks against the Dorniers. The 109s climbed in formation and when they got within Short Range they opened fire. The firing was deflection shots, so there wasn’t much chance of them hitting, and the LW players were aware of the risk of using up their First Fire allotments but chose to do so nonetheless. This was done in order to allow them to break formation (“Sir, have to break off now, firing at the enemy!”), but because of the range it was also justification for the RAF to break the flight up as well.

The two sides flashed past each other and the fighters all commenced turning tightly, the 109s to head back to have a go at the Spitfires and the RAF to try and down some Dorniers before the pressure from the 109s was too great.

On the western flank of the action the Spitfires attempted to take on the 109s. Both sides had climbed to TAL 5 or 6 and turned and shot at each other whenever possible. There were a couple of First Fire boxes crossed but conservation of ammunition was effective and no-one went through all their belts. The 109s did manage a Lucky Hit on the Green Spitfire pilot in that pair, causing his Engine Problems. That was pretty much the beginning of the end for that aircraft: limited to a Speed of not more than 2 it twisted in the air for a few more turns seeking to get a bead on one of the 109s but, failing to do this it eventually dove away for safety.

On the eastern side of the fight as the Spitfires came around they fired on one of the Dorniers, damaging it until further damage caused it to head toward the deck, crew bailing out and points going to the RAF. While this wasn’t a good start for the LW, a well-placed deflection shot from the Skilled 109 pilot in that pair managed to hit the Skilled Spitfire pilot and, following an very poor Robust test against the hit, his plane broke up in the air due to the cannon fire from the Emil. Gah!

On the eastern flank the other Skilled Spitfire pilot was in a position to turn and dive away from the 109s there and head for the other pair that were, by that time, heading after the remaining eastern Spitie. Turning and diving tightly and steeply he came up on the tail of one of the 109s and for a couple of turns put eight .303’s worth of fire into his foe. Despite hitting him with good results on the Attacking Firepower columns, Mark made some good Robust rolls and managed to shake off the fire until eventually the 109 took engine damage and started to slow down.

In the meantime the remaining undamaged Spitfire had closed in on and started putting fire into another Dornier from behind. It took some fire from the rear guns of the two bombers however this was ineffectual. Eventually a second Dornier was smoking, but by that time the Skilled 109 pilot on the eastern flank was closing in on and pouring fire into the Spitfire having-at the Dornier.

After 11 turns and multiple downed and damaged aircraft, time was against us (Mrs Group Captain having sufficient clout to impact on tactical considerations that is) and we called it a day. Given the final dispositions it was likely that another bomber would have been downed but also another Spitfire would also have failed to make it back to its airfield. So we called it a hard-earned draw at that point.

This was the first game played using the Dorniers, though it will be a long way from the last. Mark has a He111 model so at some point in the future we’ll add that to the mix – not entirely doctrinal but it should make it interesting visually at least. Mark also has a collection of Ju-87s which could also be escorted, so the plan is to play some low-altitude games where they have to not just be escorted but also carry out a dive-bombing attack before exiting the table.

After Action Review.

In order to incrementally improve each game I’ll articulate these considerations each time from now on. If anyone has points they think I should be aware of please don’t hesitate to comment on the blog so we can learn from your eagle-eyes for detail.

Formation Flying

Sustain: Keep this going. It adds another layer to the game with little additional effort and virtually no extra complexity. It also highlights, especially in early war scenarios, the constraints on Allied pilots that gave their Axis opponents a tactical advantage. Does this make it more difficult to play Allied flights in early-war scenarios? Absolutely. It is a house-rule matter however.

Improve: given there is a six-hex zone behind the flight leader in which the rest of the flight can stay and still be in formation, in future games we should make more use of this extra space and not try to have Flight members too closely crowding the tail of the Flight Leader.

Damage Rolls

Sustain: Keep the Firepower values that I tried out last game – it meant that we only had to use d6 throughout the game, were able to roll 3d6 when firing (the third one was a different colour to the first two which were for the to-hit roll), all of which sped up the game and simplified one element without losing any of the flavour of Attacking Firepower column shifts, Robust test, critical damage and Lucky Hits.

Improve: Clearly indicate different Firepower values where 109s have hit with their LMGs but missed with their LVCs (Low Velocity Cannons).

Bomber Movement

Sustain: Keep them in scenarios flying separate to and not coordinated with the fighters. That adds some extra difficulties for players running the escort fighters, but from what I’ve read this isn’t inconsistent with what was practiced during the real thing.

Improve: Aircraft movement mechanics as described in para 5.

Aircraft Data Sheets

Fix: add the Narrow Arc of Fire illustration to each of the data sheets so each player can more readily determine this for themselves and make planning simpler.

Future Consideration

One of the posters in the CY6 page on FB put up a house rule about reducing horizontal movement by the number of altitude levels climbed. I didn’t download a copy before it disappeared off FB, but think it’s a good idea. The only complexity in it is to make sure players don’t lose track of their speed if they have to change a F31L to a F21L or some such while climbing without losing airspeed, but then continue on with a Speed 3 move the following turn.