THE KUBAN CAMPAIGN - MISSION 2:FOX AND HOUNDS

[WWCephas]

Major gains were made last week with the downing of 110+ enemy aircraft for the loss of 11 pilots and approximately twice as many airframes and the Russians abandoning the large airfield at Myashako and concentrating their air force assets at Gelendzhik Bay.  Herr Oberst has directed our ground forces to begin the taking of the major regional port of Novorossiysk and our squadrons will provide cover for this assault.  Intelligence has also located the position of the Soviet Commander's HQ and we believe that eliminating him will help demoralize the Russians even further as their army is now greatly depleted of veterans.  Your Mission orders are posted as follows:

THE KUBAN CAMPAIGN - MISSION 2:FOX AND HOUNDS

 There are two separate objectives for today.

The Bf109 pilots will attack the airfields at Gelendzhik Bay (1521-9) to suppress enemy activity, and then when activity has subsided, to bomb the Soviet HQ building.  It is the large white E shaped building on the south peninsula of the bay.  It is marked on your map.  With a little luck we may take out their commander.

The FW190 and bomber pilots are assigned to covering and assisting the Panzer forces as they make their push to Novorossiysk from the Northwest.

Our bomber assets are assigned to knock out the large flak battery just NW of Novorossiysk in the train yard as marked on your mission map.  Upon completion, assist with the the attrition of enemy ground forces.

We have authorized the issue of gun pods to assist with shooting down any anticipated Russian attack aircraft. Beware that IL2 aircraft are starting to appear armed with tail gunners.

 

(Tank Crew spawn points are available for this mission) Pz III and IV are available and new spawn locations will open as the battle progress forward.

 

Edited January 24, 2021 by WWCephas

[WWFawlty]

Bump

[WWCephas]

Well it looks like I am going to have to make some changes to mission 3 that is already in the works.  I assumed we would be victorious...   

A good effort in the sky but the Soviet ground forces were too much for our Panzers.  I doubt their Commander will be hiding in an obvious spot in the future as well since he escaped too.

 

 

Herr Oberst was not a happy Kampfer after the debrief, it will be a somber call he has to make back to Berlin this evening!

http://wingwalkers.game-host.org:8050/en/mission/425/

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by WWCephas

[WWGeezer]

Nice work Mr. Cephas

[WWSandMan]

Lol... I don't remember shooting down two aircraft, much less nine. I know I got shot down a lot myself. Between Pe-2 gunners and flak I was a bullet magnet.

Mission-wise, this one was tough. Tough to have enough people on station at the critical moments and in the critical spots. And if folks were -by chance- in a critical place at a critical time, they were low on ammo, damaged and wounded. Usually all three at once!

It nice to see a mix of enemy types, and also nice to see some IL-2's with tail gunners. I do suggest that the gunners be tamed a bit (if possible). Their laser-ish accuracy at ranges exceeding fighter aircraft was a bit too much. 

[WWCephas]

Thanks for the feedback Sandman, I thought I had set the 1943 IL2's to low AI but they were normal, good thing there was only a few of them.  Since FW's are so good at deflection shooting I had hoped the tail gunners would not be overwhelming since FW's are better at hitting from a distance as compared to how a 109 likes to fight up close.

 

I am trying to increase the intensity of the missions and have it so that it is challenging but not frustrating, and historically things are going to start trending in favor of the Soviets in this theater before too long which I am trying to build in to the campaign narrative.  While I was initially disappointed that we failed on both objectives I am actually quite pleased with the results in retrospect even though I had to re-write what I had planned for the next mission (I had already started making assuming it was going to be a win).  Putting the pieces in play trying to maintain a balance and seeing how the chips fall in actual combat is quite interesting.

It was also interesting to see how the ebb and flow of battle occurred as pilots ran low on ammo after a major engagement and then the lull over the battlefield as they RTB'd to rearm.  Cruising down the road in a PzIV late in the battle it was very comforting when you guys were flying overhead, and then you would all run out of ammo and disappear for 10-15 minutes and the IL2's would show up again and it was cringeworthy to be on the ground and starting hearing the tinkling of inbound cannon shells turning into a torrent and hoping they did not find a weak spot in your armor.  Perhaps the Germans were stretched too thin, trying to do too many things at once, but then again that happens all the time in real life.

On the 109 side of the fight last Tuesday, it got pretty hairy as well trying to clear out Gelendzhik bay and then a major engagement with a large pack of I-16 Ishkas went completely different than I had envisioned as Mission Builder and turned into a pretty epic furball. I would love to have seen the fight from the point of view of the 190's., I don't suppose anyone took an ntrk recording? 

 

On a final note I have a quick question, being as I have been gone a long time I mentioned the 109's would be Red Flight and someone I think said the 190's were usually Red Flight.  Is there an existing protocol for Red and Blue Flight aircraft models?  I know the Gold Flight guys like the heavies.  I would like to start using Flight colors for mission assignments in the future but do not want to change any existing standards for which type of flight flies under what color flight.  I also think it will help if we all used call signs as well as Gold Flight does if we all going to share comms, especially for someone like me, as it is taking me a while to distinguish certain voices just by their sound as there are so many new (to me WW's) these days.  If someone starts their message with their flight color it helps me to prioritize how much attention I am going to pay to them when I am engaged in the heat of battle.  (I actually do prefer shared comms though, it is great to hear everyone having a good time)

[WWCraven]

I will answer the flight question for you, Gold is typically heavy/medium bomber crew, Blue is escort/top cover/fighter sweeps, Red is the Jabo section (could also take on White flight roles) and finally if there is enough folks, White would be used for scouting/recon and all around general purpose. I agree we should get back into using flight designations for ID purposes.  We'll have to remind folks to get their call ID's set before we start the mission.

What I particularly like about this set of missions that you're providing for us is that it's forcing us to work in pairs.  One absolutely doesn't want to head into the fray by themselves, survival rates drop considerably if you go solo.  I would highly recommend that everyone make the effort to pair up prior to mission start and stick with your wingman throughout the night, our survival rates will go up if we cover each other.

I'm really enjoying this Kuban campaign and I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we appreciate the time, effort and thought process that you are putting into building these missions. 

[WWFawlty]

9 minutes ago, WWCraven said:

pair up prior to mission start and stick with your wingman throughout the night

I'm by no means an authority on this but I'd like to offer a suggestion. Pairing up sounds fine and dandy but in reality trying to do that for the entire evening isn't realistic. I would propose sticking with any or all members of your selected flight would be more realistic.

Eg. you get shot down, call out for the flight location and  try to make it back to your flight and work as a team instead of searching for your assigned wingman who may be on his way back to rearm. I think this takes a lot of pressure off of trying to be at the right place at the right time with a lot less radio chatter.

If you get into a big fur ball all carefully laid plans are out the window but at least your among friendlies.

[WWCraven]

As you read, I highly recommended this approach and it is in fact realistic to stick with a wingman, it simply means you both need to agree on how you're going to make it happen.  I think it goes without saying that one should always use best effort to stay with the selected flight and I'm under no illusions that things won't go to hell in a hand basket in a large furball. 

All I'm saying is if we work at minimum, flying in pairs instead of racing off individually to the battle, chances of achieving mission objectives and your own survival increase.

[WWSandMan]

@WWCephas, I've probably got ntrk recordings from Tuesday. Not complete, but some. I'll zip and upload to the vault (likely tomorrow, have plans tonight.)

Craven is correct on the flight colors/general responsibilities. Gold=bombers/attack, Blue=escort/sweep, Red=Jabo/fighter-bomber. White as needed, black usually in-house OpFor. 

Wingman pairs is the best option for surviving any fight. Having two pairs per flight has been standard. As for having the pairs be the same two pilots, I'm more in favor of fluid pairs: any two from the same flight, pair up and fly.

Pretty much the same "fluid" idea goes for being flight lead... The person on scene who has a handle on the situation is lead. This is far harder to come to grips with, as all flight members must trust each other to lead, and not be reluctant to give up lead - or take it- as the situation requires. Despite the difficulties, when it works, the fluid flight is a work of precision military art.

Bear in mind my idea of fluid flight structure is for computerized combat simulation of the WW1 or WW2 eras. It's not supposed to be a mirror image of real world hierarchy or tactics. But it works in the simulated world. 

[WWSandMan]

I could go on about the differences in being effective in our simulations versus what worked in real life. The bottom line is that a balance has to be found between what worked in real life and what will work in the simulated world.

That elusive little "ah ha!" moment where you let everything go that you've read about, or lived, and accept the slightly different realities afforded within our simulations.

For example... The Finger Four. It's a combat proven, effective formation for aerial patrol and combat. In real life. 

I submit that pairs in line-abreast is far more effective in the simulated world. With training and practice, cross-over turns by element and flight make patrol and staying together far more easy and effective. 

The capitalized BUT here is that it takes training, commitment and time to hone the skills necessary. 

[WWDarkdiz]

Great discussion, all points above are valid.  That being said...

You have to START somewhere.  Pairs first, then flights.  Wolfe and I have been practicing as paired wingmen for several weeks now, we are by no means "good" yet, but our deaths have subsided somewhat.  We TRY and fly with each other, so when one of us has to go back to base for whatever reason, the other automatically follows and waits for the other.  It seems to work, but in order to build to flight tactics and interchangeable wingmen, we first need to learn how to work in pairs, the traditional fighting element of fighters.

Where there is one, there is another...

My 2 cents...

[WWSandMan]

On 1/29/2021 at 8:03 AM, WWCephas said:

... I don't suppose anyone took an ntrk recording? 

Yes, sir.

Download link: https://www.wingwalkers.org/vault/sandman/tracks/sandys_tracks_1-26-2021.zip (about 265mb, .trk files and folders all beginning with "sandy" to keep them searchable)