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Campaign Overview
After Action Report: Solomon Islands…
(Text in Italics is from the Japanese player side, regular Text is from the US player side)
Day 4
And here we are at the final turn. As the map is revealed I’m quite happy with what I see. 2 defensive missions for my tough Corsairs, 2 attack for my remaining bombers and a Patrol mission. Purely damaging and destroying enemy aircraft, with the winner receiving 2 points, decide the victor of a Patrol mission and 0 points for a tie.
As this is the last turn, I have nothing to gain by holding back so every aircraft will fly regardless of fatigue. Dan’s fighters must be depleted and tired by now, so I decide to send unescorted bombers to Rabaul and Guadalcanal, thinking he can’t be everywhere at once. The Corsairs will be paired up in the Patrol zone at Bougainville, and a single element to defend at Munda and Santa Isabel. If everything goes my way I could snatch 8 points, which is more than enough for a bragging rights level of victory. For the final time, I click the Execute button…
Ah, small targets! This is good for me. I have very few aircraft left, and still fewer rested aircrews. The last thing I needed was a lot of points up for grabs on the final Day.
I’m going all out with my bombers. Hopefully he doesn’t have enough bombers left to both defend and escort.
Well, things look pretty good. I might have some trouble over Guadalcanal, but I look strong in all the other sectors. Dan looks to have flown everything available also, but attrition seems to have sapped his fighter strength.
Battle 1 – 4x SBD vs 4x A6M2
I now have enough first hand experience on how not to attack with unescorted bombers to be classed as an expert in the matter. Despite the rear gunners getting in some shots and downing a couple of interceptors, all four SBD’s were shot down. Now the score is 12-7 for Dan, and I can’t afford to lose in another zone.
Battle 2 – 2x Corsair vs 4x Kate
Once more my fighters are caught out of position by the low flying bombers, and spend three turns getting down to their level. Despite a valiant effort they were only able to intercept one element, and the other was able to hammer our troops on the ground. Dan receives 4 points for this, pushing the score to an unwinnable for me 16-7. Nothing to do now but try to salvage as many points as I can.
Battle 3 – 4x Corsair vs 2x Tony, 2x Oscar
Dan’s tired and weakened fighters are no match for me in this zone. My Corsairs destroy all 4 with plenty of time and ammunition to spare, and I now wish I had sent one of these elements south to Munda. 20/20 hindsight I guess.
Battle 4 – 2x Corsair vs 2x Betty
Another cakewalk for the F4U’s. Two single G4M’s unable to support each other are meat on the table for my fighters. Good thing for Dan this is the last turn, as he wouldn’t have anything left for another one.
Battle 5 – 2x B-25, 1x B17 vs 2x A6M5
I would have to have incredibly bad luck to lose these points. With 12 bomb points available for a 4-point target, I can’t imagine Dan being able to stop me with a single tired element. He is able to down a single B-25, but the remaining 2 bombers devastate the target airfield.
And that’s it. It’s all over. Four campaign turns, 14 battles, much destruction and I…lost. The embarrassment, shame, and humiliation are almost too much to bear. Good thing I’m Canadian and more or less used to it by now.
Despite a heroic effort by my pilots and crew, I came up short by two points. Dan seemed to hold the initiative throughout the game, as he showed up in strength wherever I needed to win the points. I consider only losing a single B-17 to be a moral victory if nothing else, although the rest of my pilots are almost too tired to even sleep, I’m sure.
But I wonder what the outcome would have been if I had escorted those Fortresses…
As the battles played out I continued to lose aircraft and pilots, but finally victory was within sight. It looks like a few key element placements have allowed me to grab a victory. The toll on my pilots is heavy though. Out of 22 starting pilots and crews, I end the campaign with 9.
