I am going to change the way I provide the After Action Reports a little for this campaign. It will be written up from the Allied perspective which I hope will make it a little more interesting for the reader. With that in mind, with good weather the war in the air has begun -
The Cyprus fleet regroup following the U-Boat attack and as they resume their slow passage back to Limassol, Biter's radar picks up a formation of aircraft heading in their direction out at the maximum 35,000 yards range. With their aircraft on deck and ready to launch, the Grumman Martlet's are first into the air followed by the Hurricanes. As the fighters form up with those already in the air performing the CAP, a decision is made to fly off the Swordfish to make for safety at Cyprus.
As the Fleet Air Arm fighters gain altitude they see two formations of aircraft ahead of them and heading in their direction.
Meanwhile two allied bombing raids are underway. A squadron of American B-25 Mitchell bombers escorted by a squadron of P-38 Lightning fighters have flown out of Cyprus heading for the airfield at Maritza on Rhodes. As they cross the coastline of Rhodes and approach the airfield at high altitude all is quiet. They become increasingly confident that they have surprised the Axis forces, but that turns to concern as the airfield comes into view. There is not a sign of a single aircraft on the ground!
A few puffs of smoke below them show that some AA batteries have sprung into life but clearly they are of insufficient calibre to reach their altitude. The Mitchell's aim to put the airfield out of action for a day or two and unload their bombs over the runway. Luck is not on their side as all miss and the only damage caused was to a hapless Italian truck who took a direct hit. Both squadrons immediately turn for home aiming to refuel and re-arm for another attempt.
To the south a squadron of British Douglas A-20 Boston bombers escorted by a squadron of Hurricanes are en-route to bomb the Rhodes airfield on the south of the island at Cattavia. They arrive approximately 1 hour after the American raid and as they approach the southern Rhodes coastline a formation of enemy fighters appears hurtling towards them.
Note:
For the Mitchell's bombing raid I did not set up the board. I am more than happy playing small actions in campaigns but to go to the trouble of building an airfield for the sake of one dice roll seemed a little excessive. Hence I used the system in GQ3 to determine damage, AA fire etc. The only difference being I wanted to determine what, if any, units on the ground are hit. The Mitchell's had two near misses which I took to mean landed within the environs of the airfield and therefore could affect any units based there. A dice roll determined that one had no effect but the second had hit something. Therefore, I rolled another dice to determine at random which unit had been on the receiving end. Fortunately for the Axis forces it was just a truck!
The two air contacts will be played out although there will be a delay of a few days until I get the final units painted.
As the Fleet Air Arm fighters gain altitude they see two formations of aircraft ahead of them and heading in their direction.
Meanwhile two allied bombing raids are underway. A squadron of American B-25 Mitchell bombers escorted by a squadron of P-38 Lightning fighters have flown out of Cyprus heading for the airfield at Maritza on Rhodes. As they cross the coastline of Rhodes and approach the airfield at high altitude all is quiet. They become increasingly confident that they have surprised the Axis forces, but that turns to concern as the airfield comes into view. There is not a sign of a single aircraft on the ground!
A few puffs of smoke below them show that some AA batteries have sprung into life but clearly they are of insufficient calibre to reach their altitude. The Mitchell's aim to put the airfield out of action for a day or two and unload their bombs over the runway. Luck is not on their side as all miss and the only damage caused was to a hapless Italian truck who took a direct hit. Both squadrons immediately turn for home aiming to refuel and re-arm for another attempt.
To the south a squadron of British Douglas A-20 Boston bombers escorted by a squadron of Hurricanes are en-route to bomb the Rhodes airfield on the south of the island at Cattavia. They arrive approximately 1 hour after the American raid and as they approach the southern Rhodes coastline a formation of enemy fighters appears hurtling towards them.
Note:
For the Mitchell's bombing raid I did not set up the board. I am more than happy playing small actions in campaigns but to go to the trouble of building an airfield for the sake of one dice roll seemed a little excessive. Hence I used the system in GQ3 to determine damage, AA fire etc. The only difference being I wanted to determine what, if any, units on the ground are hit. The Mitchell's had two near misses which I took to mean landed within the environs of the airfield and therefore could affect any units based there. A dice roll determined that one had no effect but the second had hit something. Therefore, I rolled another dice to determine at random which unit had been on the receiving end. Fortunately for the Axis forces it was just a truck!
The two air contacts will be played out although there will be a delay of a few days until I get the final units painted.
NEXT: Air strike on the Cyprus fleet.
Jon, good idea, I prefer the Allied propaganda :-)
ReplyDeleteAgree Norm, about time those dastardly Huns were cleared off those Greek beaches!
Delete