To Win the Winter Sky
An Ace High™ Scenario
Version 6

Please read “Dates and Times” and “Main Rules” sections.

Dates and Times  

Click here for registration.  Please register for the event if you can play at least 3 frames.

If you can’t play in at least 3 frames, you can still show up as a walkon (unregistered player) on game day.

Battles/Frames:

• May 2
• May 9
• May 16
• May 23

Please show up at or before 3 pm US Eastern time in Special Events 2 arena -- the arena will lock after that. (For how that translates to your time, here is a time converter.)  End of frame will be nominally at 6:30 pm US Eastern time.

Setting

December 1944-January 1945.  It is the time of fierce fighting in and over the Ardennes.  A time of desperate all-out gambles by Germany and crushing counter attacks by the Allies.  The Battle of the Bulge.  Mission 760 (the largest bomber strike of WWII).  Operation Bodenplatte.

Join us for the last great air battle of the Western Front, focusing on the Luftwaffe vs. the US 9th Air Force and RAF 2nd Tactical Air Force.

P-47’s, P-51’s, Typhoons, Spitfires, and B-26’s vs. FW 190D’s, Bf 106K’s, Bf 109G-14’s, FW 190A’s, and a few Ar 234’s.

Join us To Win the Winter Sky.

Main Rules

• General:

• If you need back into the locked arena, type ".p brooke let me in" into any text buffer, then try to get in even if arena says it is locked.
• Level bombers must take off with formations and not intentionally lose drones.

• Lives:

• Pilots get three lives.
• You use up a life if you die, crash, ditch (except as noted), bail, or exit your plane with anything other than a “landed successfully” message.
• At frame end, the logs are closed, and there are no further points awarded or subtracted.  Pilots can fly right up to end log, after which they can land as they see fit.
• You can man a gun at any time (for bomber or ground gun), and deaths in guns don't count to your life total.

• Altitude:
• There is a downwind at 24k.  (You can fly into the downwind if you wish, but staying in it will sap your speed.)
• Level bombers (B-26’s and Ar 234’s) have max altitude of 14k and a min altitude of 3k (except if damaged and going back to base, in which case pilot can fly lower if he chooses).
• Fighterbombers/jabos, when carrying bombs, have max altitude of 18k.

Map

Boxes are target fields, towns, and guns at factories.  Circles are takeoff fields.

Victory Conditions

If your side fails to do this within the frame, it will get no points at all for that frame:

• Level-bomber groups (B-26, Ar 234) must Attempt at least three Bombing Missions.
• Fighterbomber/jabo groups must Attempt at least one Bombing Mission.
• Fighterbomber/jabo groups must Attempt at least one Pure-Fighter Mission.
• “Attempt” means to complete the Mission or either die trying or jettison ordnance because of enemy in icon range.
• One “Bombing Mission” is launch with bombs and/or rockets, travel toward a Target, drop bombs and/or rockets on a Target, and land back at a base if still alive.
• One “Pure-Fighter Mission” is launch without bombs or rockets, try to engage an enemy, and land back at a base if still alive.
• You may strafe during Bombing Missions and Pure-Fighter Missions.

Frame points:

• +1 per kill.
• +2.5 per Successful Drop by a B-26 pilot.
• +1 per Successful Drop by an Ar 234 pilot.
• +2 per Successful Drop by a pilot in a fighterbomber/jabo group.
• +0.5 per Successful Strafe by any fighter, fighterbomber, or jabo pilot.
• For level-bomber pilots:

•  “Successful Drop” means when a level-bomber pilot destroys at least one hangar (fighter, bomber, or vehicle hangar) at a Target in a Mission.  You don’t get more points for destroying more than one object in the same Mission.
• Thus, max bombing points for a B-26 pilot in a Mission is 2.5, and max points for an Ar 234 pilot in a Mission is 1.0.

• For fighter, fighterbomber, and jabo pilots:

• “Successful Drop” means when a pilot in a fighterbomber/jabo group destroys at least one bunker (fuel, ammo, barracks, radar) at a Target.  You don’t get more points for destroying more than one such object in the same Mission.
• “Successful Strafe” means when a fighter, fighterbomber, or jabo pilot destroys at least one ground gun at a Target in a Mission.  You don’t get more ground-attack points for destroying more than one ground gun in the same Mission.
• Thus, max ground-attack points for a fighterbomber/jabo pilot in a Mission is 2 + 0.5 = 2.5.
• And max ground-attack points for a fighter pilot who is not in a fighterbomber/jabo group is 0.5 per Mission.

Winner of a frame is the side with most points.  Winner of the Scenario is the side that wins the most frames.

Targets

Targets for each side are as follows in the boxes on the map:

• bunkers (ammo, fuel, barracks, radar)
• hangars (fighter, bomber, vehicle)
• ground guns at bases, towns, and factories.

Note on targets:  Downtimes of hangars and bunkers are 5 minutes.  Autoack ground guns (at fields, towns, and flak towers) will respawn in 0.1 minutes so that there is an abundance of strafing targets for attackers.  Manned guns stay down for the entire frame once destroyed.

Allied Order of Battle

25 fighters, 5 bombers; 30 total.

Axis Order of Battle

25 fighters, 3 bombers; 28 total.

Moving Around Pilots

CO's may split groups up into separate flights and send them on separate missions as they see fit.

CO's may assign walkons as they see fit up to the limit of slots available.  If there are more walkons than spots available, allies can overfill Jugs and Typhoons; and axis can overfill Bf 109G-14’s and FW 190A-8’s.

CO's may move registered pilots to different aircraft if the registered pilots are willing.  But if a registered pilot wants to keep the plane he is registered for, he must be allowed to stay in that plane.

Items of Note

Please get your people into the appropriate named squads.  Useful squad dot commands that can be used from your text radio buffer:

• .sqdaccept [gameID] -- What you type to accept an         invite into a squad.
• .sqdwithdraw -- What you type to withdraw from whatever squad you are in.  Useful to do if you are having problems getting into a new squad.  Withdraw, then get a new invite and accept.
• .sqddecline [gameID] -- Decline a squad join request.
• .sqdeject GameID -- Eject a player from the squad.
• .sqdinvite [gameID] -- Sends squad invite while in         flight.
• .sqdname [SquadName] -- Rename squad, updates the roster.  Can be useful to get someone into your sqaud if having trouble.
• .sr -- display squad members.

Settings

Disabled weapons

• FW 190A-8, rockets.

Details

• Terrain. germanyw
• Wind. 45 mph downwind at 24k.
• Clouds. Medium to heavy scattered clouds, perhaps some overcast.
• Radar and Sector Counters. No radar or sector counters below 1000 ft.  Sector counters above 1000 ft.
• Ack: Auto ack will be turned way down.

• ArenaFlags = 275502
• BomberWarningRange = 21,120 (4 miles)
• CommunicationFlags = 3
• CountryChangeTime = (no changing of countries once started)
• ExitWhileMoving = 508
• FighterWarningRange = 21,120 (4 miles)
• FlightModeFlags = 5248
• FogLoFarMiles = 12.0
• FogLoNearMiles = 1.0
• FuelBurnRateMult = 1.0
• GroundAutoLethality[Armored] = 0.1
• GroundAutoLethality[Hard] = 0.1
• GroundAutoLethality[Soft] = 0.1
• RadarMode = 384 (counters above radar, range-based counters)
• RadarUpdateRate = 120
• SectorCounterAlt = 1000
• SectorCounterRange = 132,000 (25 miles)
• TowerBasedRadarRange = 132,000 (25 miles)
• StratFlags = 1

• Arm auto gun, down time = 600, hardness = 0.02 (gna, ship 5” autoack, flak tower puffy ack)
• Auto gun, down time = 0.1 (gng, ground autoack 30 mm, ship autoack 20 mm)
• Bmbr hgr, down time = 5, hardness = 1.0
• Bunk ammo, down time = 5
• Bunk barracks, down time = 5
• Bunk fuel, down time = 5
• Bunk radar, down time = 5
• Ftr hgr, down time = 5, hardness = 1.0
• Gun bat, down time = 600 (bat)
• Gun bat armor, down time = 600 (baa)
• Gun bat soft, down time = 600 (bas, manned ack ground and ship)
• Hard auto gun, down time = 0.1 (gnh, autoack ship, flak tower normal ack)
• Veh hgr, downtime = 5, hardness = 1.0

For each target cluster (such as around a121, etc.), do a “.det f121gna 1” to detonate all puffy ack on flak towers.  Then do a “.restore f121gna000” to restore one of them.

CM Items

MOTD

Welcome to the Scenario "To Win the Winter Sky"!

To play, please show up by 3 pm Eastern on Saturday.

If you are not registered, you are welcome to play,

but please stay in country Rook until you are assigned

to a side.

Pilots get three lives.

You use up a life if you die, crash, ditch, bail, or exit

your plane with anything other than a "landed successfully".

If you need back into the locked arena, type ".p brooke

let me in" into any text buffer.  Then try to come in

even if the arena says its locked.

References

• To Win the Winter Sky:  Air War over the Ardennes, 1944-1945, by Danny S. Parker.  p. 382 Table 8 for types and quantity of Luftwaffe aircraft in Jan., 1945.  9th AF Dec. 1944, p 61.  2nd TAC p.64, Table 4.
• Airpower in the Battle of the Bulge: A Case for Effects-Based Operations?, by Harold R. Winton.
• Manrho, John; Putz, Ron. Bodenplatte: The Luftwaffe's Last Hope (Stackpole Military History Series).
• Air Command and Staff College. The Role of Air Power in the Battle of the Bulge . . Kindle Edition.
• Thomas, Andrew. Spitfire Aces of Northwest Europe 1944-45 (Aircraft of the Aces).
• Franks, Norman. Typhoon Attack: The Legendary British Fighter in Combat in World War II (Stackpole Military History Series).
• Wikipedia article on late Merlin-power Spitfire variants.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire_(late_Merlin-powered_variants) .
• Thomas, Andrew. Griffon Spitfire Aces (Aircraft of the Aces) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.
• Spitfire:  The History, by Morgan and Shacklady.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/352nd_Fighter_Group
• Information on the 404th FG:
  http://www.winkton.net/pages/p47swinkton.htm

Credits

Scenario design: Scenario community

Game-day CM:  Brooke

Allied CO:  Brooke

Axis CO:  DutchVII (BBID:  TWCAxew)

Change Log

v1, 1/31/2020

-- First draft.

v2, 2/1/2020
-- Ar 234 points per drop go from 1 to 2.
-- End of frame is just end log.
-- End of frame nominally now 6:30 pm Eastern instead of 6:45 pm Eastern, and pilots land as they see fit after end log.

v3, 2/2/2020
-- Reduced number of puffy ack guns at flak towers so that frames don’t devolve into puffy-ack warrior.
-- Increased minimum bomber altitude to 3k (from 2k).
-- Update allied group/squadron numbers to match available skins.
-- Added a couple of other consulted references.
-- Put in dates.

v4, 2/7/2020
-- Added LW group numbers.

v5, 2/19/2020
-- 6 K-4’s and 4 G-14’s instead of vice versa.
-- Ar 234’s are singletons, pts/drop changed, and hangar hardness changed to 1000 lbs.

v6, 3/3/2020
-- Corrected the bombing-points example.