Winter Sky - Death Ground, Frame 2

After-Action Report
4/21/2012
by Brooke, JG26

This was a scenario that ran in the multiplayer on-line air-combat simulation Aces High.

I was in 1/JG26 "Schlageter".

Map


A map of the battle area for us. Our home base was a25 in sector 6.13.

Mission 1



JG26 taking off from our wintery home base.  From left to right:  Redtail7, 1ijac, IrishOne, pervert, me (Brooke), and wil3ur.  t=0:0

We patrolled over the a128 and a129 area for about 45 minutes.  There was nothing up north, and all of the enemy planes seemed to be making a push to the a39 area (see map above), so we were ordered to head to the a39 area.

I first came across two P-47's heading back home, but at about 30k instead of down lower (which is what we were hoping of returning enemies).  I pursued them, but I couldn't catch these fast P-47's at this altitude. t=0:49

I turned away from the P-47's (suspecting that they'd reverse on us right after that) and right away spotted two Typhoons running home about 10k lower.  I dove on the leader and tried to chase him down.


I chased the leading Typhoon to an airfield.  I couldn't hit him during the chase as he was hauling and I was in compressibility in order even to close on him very slowly.  Here I broke off, as I was too deep into enemy territory, with no other JG26 following me, and a second Typhoon behind me.  t=0:50

The rest of JG26 was in a big fight with numerous types of enemy fighters at high altitude.  I climbed back to the action.  Then a group of P-38's showed up from on high as well.  We were getting outnumbered, and I put out a radio report of the action.


Going in to try to help 1ijac and IrishOne against some P-38's.  t=0:53


I chased a P-47D-25 out during the fight, but didn't get any hits on him.  I decided to climbed back up to get back to the higher fight in support of JG26.  t=0:54


Once up back up to about 15k, I didn't see anything around anymore, so I started looking down to see if I could see any fights going on.


While looking down, I saw tracers rip by my canopy and went into an immediate evasive.  I hadn't seen a couple of P-47's come racing out of the clouds I was in.  t=0:59

I tried to dive out while getting my bearings and assessing my situation.  The lead P-47 was moving fast, though, and shot off my aileron as I went into my dive.  Great, now I couldn't roll as well to evade.  I had on wep and went into a vertical dive, jinking, and heading back across the Rhine.


I started just barely to pull away from the P-47 as we crossed the Rhine, but he was still close enough to put some more hits into me and set my fuel tank on fire.  t=1:00

Mission 2


Taking off with JG26 from a25, as all of us but pervert had gotten shot down in the fight near a40.  From left to right:  wil3ur, me (Brooke), IrishOne, 1ijac, and Redtail7.  t=1:01

We pushed into enemy territory in sector 4.11 and spotted 8 or so bogies heading east.  We put out a radio report and chased.


They were Spitfire 14's, and they eventually turned back into us.  t=1:23


Putting some hits on one of the Spit 14's during the fight.  t=1:25


A couple minutes later, several high P-38's dropped in, and I had to dive away to keep from getting swarmed.  I put out some radio reports of enemy composition, location, and altitude.  t=1:27


DrBone and the Me 262's come screaming past, having heard the radio report.  "Hold on, Brooke -- jets are coming," says the good Dr.  I reverse back to the pursuing P-38's.  t=1:31


I work over one of the P-38's.


I damaged his left engine and blew his left-side flaps off, but he stayed up.  We were low over a40 town, and enemy vehicles and flak were firing at me and getting hits on me, so I jinked my way clear of the town.  Someone else shot down the P-38.  Also in the picture are Frodo, Fish42, and Chandz.  t=1:39

By now, the area was swarming with friendlies.  I climbed a bit over the area in case more enemies came in.  About that time, the call came in that we needed a40 vehicle hangar down.  Most of the other JG26 pilots were shot down in the fight with the Spit 14's and P-38's, so I coordinated with wil3ur to get bombs and go for the VH.  It was nerve wracking as, by the time we got bombs and got back, the area over a40 was dominated by enemy fighters.


Bombs away on a40 VH.  Wil3ur and I were able to work our way in thanks to cloud cover.  Unfortunately, I don't hit close enough to the VH on this drop.  t=2:09


A Spit 14 goes for a head-on at me as I work to clear wil3ur, who has a Spit 14 chasing him.  Tempest1 is in the distance, trailing smoke and being pursued by an enemy fighter.  After this picture, a couple other Luftwaffe fighters are able to dive in to clear wil3ur as well.  t=2:10


The Spit 14 chasing wil3ur reverses, and I put a shot into him as he goes past.  t=2:11


Bomb away again (after another trip back to base for the bomb).  This time, I hit close to the VH.  So did wil3ur, but the vh didn't go down.  t=2:33

It dawned on me then that the VH might be repairing itself.  I checked some info and that was indeed what was going on.  I should have realized that from the start.  I worked to get more 190's with bombs to join me and wil3ur, and 1ijac was able to do so.  We headed back into the area, but by now time was so late that we were ordered to go after tanks in a40 town instead of the VH.


I dive in on the town, but I can't see any tanks.  The area has a lot of enemy fighters, so I can't go in low and slow to help with finding targets.  t=2:57

I tried to loop back for another run, but couldn't get a way in through enemy fighters and got chased off.  That was then the end of the frame.

Conclusion

I got three assists (two Spit 14's and one P-38).  I got no kills and was shot down once.  Ug -- not a very skillfull frame for me.

Overall, 1/JG26 got 19 kills. Not bad, as the group was outnumbered in the two big fights it got in.

-- Brooke, 1/JG26