The following is a continuation of the previous Wing Leader post, which was a replay of Wing Leader Scenario V25 “Singapore Sling”, one of the supplemental scenarios provided by Lee B-W online.
Turn 4 Setup Phase
Nothing
Turn 4 Tally Phase
No tallies.
Note that even though Oscar B has a Tally on Hurricane R, it is still on an Escort Mission, hence it moves first.
Japanese Pre Movement thoughts
Losing Oscar C hurts but my fighting Bushido spirit will carry the day! The Bombers will merrily keeping moving towards the target Airfield with Oscar B just following waiting to pounce. Meanwhile I think I will dive down into the Clouds with Oscar D. daring the Hurricane to follow me. If I survive great, if not, this was a dumb move.
Allied Pre Movement thoughts
Left side planes will move to their Vectors. Hurricane Q will wait and see what Oscar D is doing. If he climbs, I will Climb higher. If he dives I should be able to stay with him. BTW, when you dive completely vertically (no diagonal movement) each square is 1/2 a MP. So you can dive a max of 8 squares straight down).
Here is what the map looks after the movement phase:
Turn 4 Combat Phase
Combat in P5 between Hurricane Q and Oscar D. Per 10.1.2 since the Hurricane was the last squadron in move order, it is the attacker.
The Hurricane will use Speed as the rating for combat (since the Oscar has a better turn rating). The Hurricane has a Speed value of 4. The following will affect its combat value.
The Oscar has a Speed value of 4. The following will affect its combat value.
The Hurricane will fire on the 3-5= -2 column with the following Die roll modifiers.
The Oscar will fire on the 5-3= +2 column with the following Die roll modifiers.
The Hurricane rolls a 7-2=5. Result – Nothing.
The Oscar rolls a 8-2=6. Result – 1 Hit.
The Oscar rolls for Losses [10.6]. He gets to add the following:
He rolls once for each hit.
Now for the Cohesion Rolls.
Die Roll Modifiers for Hurricane Q:
Hurricane Q rolls a 6-2 = 4 . This is one Cohesion hit resulting Hurricane R being Broken.
Die Roll Modifiers for Oscar D:
Oscar D rolls a 11-1= 10. No result.
A -1 Ammo is put on Oscar D.
Neither side wishes to Dogfight at this time.
Here is what the map looks like post battle.
Japanese Post Combat Thoughts
OK it worked out OK. Now I can send the Oscar D flight back to escort duty.
Allied Post Combat Thoughts
He made a mistake by fighting in the clouds. He could have be broken. But now we are evenly matched except he has a Veteran Flight.
Turn 4 Admin Phase
Nothing WILL Oscar C go back to escort?
Turn 4 End of Turn Phase
Nothing.
Turn 5 Setup Phase
Nothing.
Turn 5 Tally Phase
Hurricane Q left will try to Tally Sally X and Buffalo P will try to Tally Sally Y.
Hurricane Q left will try to Tally Sally X which is 3 squares away. He needs to roll a 3 or higher. He rolls a 5 – 1(due to the Hurricane being Green) = 5. Sally X is Tallied.
Buffalo P left will try to Tally Sally Y which is 5 squares away. He needs to roll a 5 or higher. He rolls a 1. Sally X is not tallied.
Turn 5 Movement Phase
Movement Order.
During the Move When Hurricane Q Left tries to enter Sally X’s square, Escort B will try to intercept. He rolls 2 dice. On a 6 or greater he will intercept in the square before the Hurricane enters the Sally’s square. If he rolls 2-5 he will have a late intercept and will move to Sally’s hex and join that battle. On a less than 2 he will not intercept at all and will stay where he is. He subtracts the distance between the escort (Oscar B) and the Hurricane which is 3 hexes. He rolls a 5 -3 (squares away) = 2, a Late interception. A late interception means the battle will be fought in the Bombers square instead of adjacent to it. If it is a sucessful interception you fight the battle before the fighter gets to the bombers square, hence the bomber cannot be targeted.
Map after Movement:
A close-up of the main area of battle.
Turn 5 Combat Phase
Combat in M3 between Hurricane Q left and Oscar B with Sally X. Per 10.1.1 The side with the Bomber is always the defender so the Hurricane is the attacker and as each side in a multi-plane battle gets to choose who is the primary combatant, the Japanese will choose Oscar B.
Hurricane Q left will use Speed as the rating for combat for two reasons, First if he uses his turn rating, the Bomber will add a +2 to his Defense fire (zero) which will add +2 to the Die Roll in the combat. Secondly, the Oscar has a better turn rating. Hurricane Q left has a Speed value of 4. The following will affect its combat value.
Oscar B has a Speed value of 4. The following will affect its combat value.
Hurricane Q left will fire on the 3-5= -2 column with the following Die roll modifiers.
Note that the Oscar B cannot bounce Hurricane Q left (per 13.4.2) because only Attackers can use Bounce.
Oscar B will fire on the 5-3= +2 column with the following Die roll modifiers.
Hurricane Q left rolls a 4. Result – Nothing.
Oscar B rolls a 11. Result – 3 hits.
Oscar B rolls for Losses [10.6]. He gets to add the following:
He rolls three times, once for each hit.
That’s two total losses on Hurricane Q left.
Now for the Cohesion Rolls.
Die Roll Modifiers for Hurricane Q left:
Hurricane Q left rolls a 10-2=8 No result,
Die Roll Modifiers for Oscar D:
Oscar D rolls a 10. No result.
Die Roll Modifiers for Sally X:
Sally X rolls a 7. No result.
Due to combat Hurricane Q left and Oscar B have tallied each other.
Neither side wishes to Dogfight at this time.
A -1 Ammo is put on Hurricane Q left and a -1 Ammo is put on Oscar D.
Here is what the map looks like post battle.
Japanese Post Combat Thoughts
OK, I won the battle and did 2 Losses to the enemy but Hurricane Q left did not Break. That could be bad. The only good news is that in the next battle they will probably flee.
Allied Post Combat Thoughts
Wow two planes shot down but my Hurricane Q left Flight keeps on fighting. Yeah for me. This might be good if the Flight can manage to force Oscar B to break next turn.
Turn 5 Admin Phase
Oscar D will return to Escort Mode. The Admin phase is the only time you can do this.
Turn 5 End of Turn
Nothing.
Turn 6 Setup Phase
Nothing.
Turn 6 Tally Phase
Buffalo P will try to Tally Sally Y and Oscar D will try to Tally Buffalo P.
Oscar D left will try to Tally Buffalo P which is 5 squares away. He needs to roll a 5 or higher. He rolls a 1+1 (because Oscar D is a Veteran)= 2 . Buffalo P is not tallied.
Buffalo P left will try to Tally Sally Y which is 4 squares away. He needs to roll a 4 or higher. He rolls a 1. Sally Y is not tallied.
Allied Post Tally Phase thoughts
Apparently the Buffalo pilots are all Blind.
Turn 6 Movement Phase
Here is the movement order. The last 3 planes are RTB (Return to Base) as they are Broken.
Here is the Map after movement (note Oscar C is one square from the map edge and will exit next turn so he will not be shown anymore):
Turn 6 Combat Phase
Combat continues in L2 between Hurricane Q left and Oscar B with Sally X. Per 10.1.1 The side with the Bomber is always the defender so the Hurricane is the attacker and as each side in a multi-plane battle gets to choose who is the primary combatant, the Japanese will choose Oscar B.
Hurricane Q left will use Speed as the rating for the same reasons as last turn.Hurricane Q left has a Speed value of 4. The following will affect its combat value.
Oscar B has a Speed value of 4. The following will affect its combat value.
Hurricane Q left will fire on the 3-5= -2 column with the following Die roll modifiers.
Oscar B will fire on the 5-3= +2 column with the following Die roll modifiers.
Hurricane Q left rolls a 9 for 1 hit. Since the person firing gets to choose where the hits go (but they have to evenly distribute the hits if there is more than one of all enemy planes in the battle, see 10.2.2) Hurricane Q left will assign the hit to Sally X.
Oscar B rolls a 7 for one hit.
Hurricane Q left rolls for Losses [10.6]. He gets to add the following:
Hurricane Q left rolls once for the 1 hit.
Note: a Straggler is created because the protection value of the Sally is a 4-5, which means either a 4 or a 5 roll on the casualty roll will create a Straggler.
Oscar B rolls for Losses [10.6]. He gets to add the following:
Oscar B rolls once for the 1 hit.
Now for the Cohesion Rolls.
Die Roll Modifiers for Hurricane Q left:
Hurricane Q left rolls a 7-3=4 Result – Broken.
Die Roll Modifiers for Oscar D:
Oscar D rolls a 3-2=1. Result – Oscar B Broken.
Die Roll Modifiers for Sally X:
Japanese Post Combat Thoughts
Well everything was just fine until my Oscar Broke. This is just one of those situations where my Squadron should have been able to fight one or two more times. At least the Hurricane broke too.
Allied Post Combat Thoughts
Other than losing two planes, this battle turned out pretty well. I got his only Fighter Squadron left (remember the other one split into 2 Flights) to break.
A -2 Ammo is put on Hurricane Q left although in a way that won’t matter since it’s broken. Here are the two Wing Charts as of right now in the game.
Here is the map after the battle:
Turn 6 Admin Phase
The Buffalo will try to move Vector P. He rolls a 6 and is able to move it from J3 to J2.
Turn 6 End of Turn Phase
Nothing.
End of Turn 6 Japanese Thoughts
My Sally’s are on track and unhurt and I still have Veteran Oscar D to protect them. The good news is that Oscar D is a Veteran and has a higher Turn rating of 6 vs. the Hurricane’s 5. The bad news is it’s a Flight, has a -1 Ammo counter on him, and has a Firepower of zero. I will probably use the Oscar to intercept rather than engage in fighter to Fighter combat. Otherwise the movement order will be based on a die roll and if he moves last he might be able to maneuver my Oscar into a bad spot.
It will all probably come down to the battle with the Buffalo. He can last longer but the he’s going to have to get lucky to cause them to disrupt or Break.
End of Turn 6 Allied Thoughts
Well, it’s not looking good. for me. I need to disrupt or break the Sally’s. If you look at the Cohesion table, you will see that they would need to roll a 4 or less on two dice. The only negatives to that roll are going to be Losses. However, in order to give them a loss with a Buffalo, I will need to roll a 6 on my loss roll. As I said, not good odds.
But I can now let it be known that the Buffalos are some of the best crack New Zealand pilots ever put up in the sky. They will come through or die trying.
To be continued in Part 3…
Articles in this Series: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Author: Brett Dedrick
I dont understand this:
“Note that even though Oscar B has a Tally on Hurricane R, it is still on an Escort Mission, hence it moves first.”
Per 9.2.2, shouldnt Oscar B mission chamge from Escort to Sweep since they have a Tally?