A map of the battle area for us. Our home base was again a19, in sector 10.16.
After-Action Report
2/26/2011
by Brooke, GL, III/JG1
This was a scenario that ran in the multiplayer on-line air-combat simulation Aces High.
I was the Group Leader (GL) of III/JG1, a Luftwaffe fighter group. We were flying Bf 109G-14's. Today, III/JG1 consisted of me (Brooke), bobw, Cheese, Chem, Giggadee, Mako, Mcappy, Seighin, Snpshot, tudza, Wedge, and wnt2.
A map of the battle area for us. Our home base was again a19, in sector 10.16.
Our mission was to coordinate with I/JG27, lead by BigRat, and attack any enemies showing up in the area near our takeoff field.
III/JG1 taking off in our new Bf 109G-14's. From top to bottom: wnt2, Seighin, Mcappy, me (Brooke), tudza, Cheese, Chem, bobw, and Wedge. t=0:01
After takeoff, we climbed north with WEP on. Within about 5-10 minutes, it looked like the enemy was coming in from the far south with nothing appearing up north near us. I asked for and got permission to climb south instead of staying in our patrol area. As we climbed south, it became more apparent via radar that a very large strike was coming in from the far south (rows 8 and 9) with nothing else appearing, so we were able to commit to heading south. But it was a long way for us to get down there -- 150 miles.
III/JG1 and I/JG27 on our way south. From left to right: Wedge, DropTine, tudza, Mcappy, Snpshot, me, RAYL49, Cheese, SIK1, Giggadee, Dolby, mako, bobw, BigB, PEZ, kansas2, gwurzel, BigRat, Seighin, wnt2, and Chem. t=0:24
A view forward right from my cockpit as we fly past a group of FW 190's, making our way south. From left to right: WldW[can't make out rest], mosca1, airbumba (Hello, Bumba!), SirDude, a group I can't make out, and Krusty (Howdy, Krusty!). t=0:40
A view right out of my cockpit as we come across a large group and SubwayCH, who was coordinating groups to get south and into intercept position. From left to right: (can't make out the names in cluster), SubwayCH, Mcappy, wnt2, Wedge, and Cheese. t=0:55
As we continued to get positioned to rally with other groups, scouts were calling out positions of bombers. There were reports of them in the 9.8, 10.8, 10.12, 11.11, and 12.11 areas, so it seemed to me that there were several large bomber groups in the same general location of the map, but not the same specific location. It looked to me like they were going to Leipzig in 14.10. I picked a spot for III/JG1 so that a turn to the south or southeast would hit what I figured would be the position of at least one of the groups. I was getting anxious about the bombers going by us, scooted the group to the east some, then got clearance to proceed, and in we went.
A view forward right out of my cockpit as I see high dots that are escorts and lower dots that are likely bombers. I call out on the radio: "Bombers 13.9.4". t=0:58
I call for us to blow through this first group of P-51B escorts. There is another group of escort to the right of me, visible in the upper right of the picture. t=0:58
I call for us to blow through the second group of P-51 and P-38 escorts. From left to right: me, Snpshot, bobw, Mcappy, Mako, Cheese, Giggadee, wnt2, tudza, Chem, Seighin, and Wedge. t=0:58
After we blew through the escorts, I had us do a left turn to come back onto the bombers from their 6 o'clock.
A view to my right as a bunch of bogies, which I feared would be lots more enemy escort, resolve themselves into a large number of friendlies, FW 190's and BigRat's Bf 109's. t=1:00
We got back to the bombers, and I called for III/JG1 to attack any enemy fighter they saw. I chased around some enemy fighters, but I broke off as they dove out, moved away from the bombers too far, or if they zoomed through the bomber stream. For those latter ones, I worked to pick them up as they exited the bomber stream. At this point, instead of enemy escort over the bombers, we now had LW escort over the bombers, working to keep the enemy fighters away.
I get on a P-51B and land some cannon rounds on his left wing root and near the cockpit. t=1:05
The P-51 explodes a moment later. There are only a small number of enemy fighters left, and I am over the trailing portion of the bombers, which are B-24's. bobw is in the picture going after enemy fighters, too. t=1:05
A view of the bomber stream as I nose around trying to get on any of the few remaining enemy fighters. There are still a lot of B-24's, but our 190's have done a lot of damage, shooting down a bunch and damaging many others. t=1:06
I get on a P-38J, putting a small number of machinegun rounds into his tail. He pops flaps and maneuvers hard. t=1:08
I put more rounds into the P-38J as we are in a near-vertical dive. He is keeping his speed up and maneuvering hard, and I'm not able yet to saddle up. We are very close to A16 currently. t=1:08
I overshoot the P-38, and he gets a brief snapshot into me, knocking out one of my machineguns. However, my last burst has knocked out his right engine, the prop of which is coming to a stop. Cheese is diving in to fight him, too.
The P-38 pilot was quite good and stayed very evasive, even after his engine was out. He was using his altitude to stay plenty fast and maneuverable. I and several others were trying to get him as he twisted this way and that. At this point, we were over A16 airfield, and there were a bunch of Luftwaffe fighters lining up to land there. He started a dive toward the airfield, and I called out a warning to those trying to land. There were several of us trying to get on this guy and get him before he was able to do that, but he was very hard to hit.
His plane bursts into flame low over A16 as I am closing for another shot. I don't know if wnt2 (in the picture) got some rounds into him or if the ack did it. Down he goes, and I get an assist.
I'm taxiing in to the refuel pad, to refuel with the rest of III/JG1. We are very low on fuel at this point. I keep an eye out for enemies vulching the field, as the sector has a lot of enemies in it, but we are OK. t=1:14
I had each pilot of III/JG1 take off as soon as he was ready and climb on WEP near a16, providing cover for other groups landing to refuel there. We stayed on CAP until the last plane was back up in the air, the worked to join up with Vasco's group, climbing west for egressing bombers. Then a radio report went out that bombers had just hit Leipzig, which was to the east of us. I called and got permission to turn around and head northeast to cut them off. Vasco's and BigRat's groups did likewise. After a bit, I found the bombers and put out a radio report of location. They were a heavily beat-up group of B-17's with only 2-3 escorts. I chased a P-47 around a bit over the bombers, but I couldn't catch him. We had a lot of LW fighters coming in, so when he was no longer in a position to do anything to our guys, I picked out a bomber and went for it.
Blasting the right wing of a damaged single B-17. He's starting to put rounds into me, too, but I stick with it in the feeding-frenzy atmosphere. Not smart, but "That wing is bound to come off any instant," I think! There is a smoke trail from one of the other B-17's that has exploded. There are falling parts from other B-17's. From left to right: chris3, wnt2, potNpans, me, proploss, Vasco, and KKEN. t=1:38
My wing and the B-17's wing come off nearly simultaneously, and down we both go. Mako and Chem are also in the picture. I get an assist on this B-17. t=1:38
Our LW fighters finished off all of those lonely, beat-up B-17's.
I took back off from a19, way up north, and set my course SSW to try to cut off retreating stragglers. I would not be able to get to retreating bombers. A69 in 10.13 looked quite active for enemies according to radar, and so I had III/JG1 converge on it. We spread out looked around actively. There were reports of some fighting, but we could not find any enemies, and the fighting was eventually over there. We then headed west to the 7.13 area, which looked from radar to be hot.
Me and tudza, heading west to the action. t=2:18
I spot four P-47's near a23, call it out, and roll in for an attack. I chase them toward a29. t=2:34
I put cannon rounds into the left wing of one of the P-47D-25's. t=2:35
Under more cannon fire, his wing disintegrates. t=2:35
At this point, I looked back to see tudza behind me chasing a P-47 but two more P-47's behind him and closing. I did a left turn to a heading of east and asked for him to do the same. I looked back and didn't spot him and inquired on the radio if he was heading east. He said that he was fighting someone but was now headed east, then he got hit by one of the enemies. Sorry, tudza -- I should have done a circle to get on those guys instead of working for a temporary disengagement.
I nosed around some more looking for enemies until I had about four minutes of fuel left, then I landed at a nearby base to refuel. Seighin was still up, so we rendezvoused and then headed together back to a base to land, as the enemies by now were too far west for us to catch any more of them.
Seighin and I, in our yellow-banded Bf 109G-14's, are heading back to land. t=3:01
I shot down one P-51B and one P-47D-25 and got an assist on a P-38J and a B-17. I bailed once and landed once.
Overall, III/JG1 killed 13 aircraft and got 12 assists. It went well for us, I think, and we saw plenty of friendly LW fighters this frame.
-- Brooke, GL, III/JG1