Dutch East Indies #18

All,

It's noon on 19 February 1942, at an Allied airbase at Koepang, Dutch Timor, on the eastern edge of the Dutch East Indies (DEI).  The VF-63 Killer Pelicans, led by Lieutenant Shawn Collins and sporting brand new F4F Wildcats, were on the way to Philippines when the decision was made two days ago to cancel that trip and instead divert them to the DEI, so the USS Langley made a quick detour to Timor, dropped them off, and headed to Australia.  The Naval aviators had just enough time to get settled in and check their aircraft out before incoming bogeys of the Japanese 1st Air Fleet, operating out of Kendari, Celebes (captured 24 Jan 1942), were spotted.  The Killer Pelicans immediately scrambled three Wildcats to meet the enemy.

Yesterday the Pelicans shot down one Oscar and one Helen, at the cost of two of their own precious Wildcats (Ensign Radecek made it back to base, but Lieutenant Collins, the Squadron Commander, was KIA), and a nearby munitions factory was nearly destroyed (10 more damage points, 29/32).

Two days ago the Pelicans shot down one Helen and lost their only Wildcat engaged, with Lt Dapper being declared Missing In Action.  Two Japanese bombers bombed the munitions factory, causing moderate damage (11 more points, 19/32). 

Three days ago the Pelicans shot down one Oscar and three Helens, at the cost of three of their own precious Wildcats (Lt Case made it back to base, shot, Ensign Green made it back safely, and Ensign Davis was KIA), and the radar station at Koepang was destroyed while a nearby munitions factory was lightly damaged (8/32).

Four days ago the Pelicans shot down one Oscar and one Helen, at the cost of two of their own precious Wildcats (Lt French made it back to base, burned badly, Ensign Bordagaray was KIA), and the radar station at Koepang was lightly hit (another ten damage points, 23/32).

Five days ago the Pelicans shot down one Oscar and four Helens, at the cost of one of their own precious Wildcats (and the pilot, Ens Bruce, is missing), and the radar station at Koepang was not hit (still 13/32), and one of their pilots (Lt Case) won the Medal of Honor, scoring five kills to become the Pelicans' first ace.

Six days ago the Pelicans shot down three Oscars and two Helens, at the cost of three of their own precious Wildcats, and the radar station at Koepang suffered moderate damage (13/32), though one of their pilots (Fitzsimmons) won the Navy Cross, scoring three kills before getting shot down.

My new setup.  Yes, it's homegrown and ugly, and I'll get it fixed, but bear with me, this and the following five fights are all on some posterboard that I gridded myself and my daughter colored.  Hey, it works...

I'm using some amazing, but teeny-tiny aircraft from "Thomaston," whom I met over on The Wargames Website when he posted some pics of what he calls "Tiny Air Combat" (https://www.thewargameswebsite.com/forums/topic/tiny-air-combat/page/3/), and I'm using some simple rules posted by "Tango" over on The Miniatures Page (http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=489811). 

Part of the cool thing with the rules is the campaign set up: the campaign starts with the Japanese having six sets of two fighters and six sets of three bombers, while the Americans have six sets of three fighters.  Each game you roll 2D6 per set to determine which 'flights' will be present in the fight, and if that 'flight' previously fought and suffered casualties, that is reflected in the current fight. 

The Yanks, from left to right:

Pelly 11, Ensign Chipman

Pelly 10, Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Casey

Pelly 12, Ensign Dahlgren

The incoming Japanese of the 1st Air Fleet: three Ki-49 "Helens" escorted by two Ki-43 "Oscars".  Because I'm dumb, lazy, and cheap I am using G4M Bettys as the Helens and A6M Zeros as the Oscars.  I have since purchased some actual Ki-43 Oscars, working on getting them painted up.  The Japanese, from left to right: 

Oscar 02
Oscar 01

Helen 02, 01, and 03

Turns 1 through 3 get us to the merge, let's get it on!

In the north, the Japanese fighters pinch right at the U.S. fighters.

Lt Casey (bottom left) and Ens Dahlgren (center top) charge in on the bombers as Ens Chipman (far right) hangs back to cover them with the Japanese fighters.  Too far back though...

The bombers push east.

Oscar 01 (center bottom) pushes past Ens Dahlgren, going after Lt Casey (off camera to bottom center).

While Oscar 02 pushes out ahead (right), engaging Ens Chipman's Wildcat...

He misses and cuts right across Ens Chipman's aircraft, looking to make it tough to get at the bombers.

But Ens Chipman charges straight past, though he's probably putting himself too close to the bombers (off camera to left)…

Meanwhile, Ens Dahlgren cuts hard left, avoiding tracers from the bombers' defensive machine guns, and stands on the trigger on a horrible deflection shot...

And no one is more surprised than he is when the Helen explodes!

Lt Casey is slow to dodge the debris from the exploding bomber, but begins making a shallow right turn to get back in the fight (far left).

As the bombers push east, leaving him in the dust...

Oscar 02 makes a helluva hard right turn to get on the tail of Ens Chipman (center), guns blazing...

Ens Chipman's Wildcat bursts into flame and rolls over, on its way to the water, when he bails out.  Oscar 02 flies straight through the debris and fires on Ens Dahlgren,...

But it's a bad shot and he misses, zooming by.  A combat action shot, nice and blurry...

Meanwhile, Oscar 01 pulls hard right, cutting off Oscar 02 and lining up a shot on Lt Casey's Wildcat (far left)…

But he panics from nearly running into his wingman and misses, then overshoots Lt Casey's aircraft (far left).

But Lt Casey is shaken up by all the crap going on and sputters forward, straight and level...

While Ens Dahlgren pulls hard left and lines up on Helen 03 (bottom right).  Tracers criss-cross and the Japanese bomber is damaged...

As Ens Dahlgren pulls left into a crossfire between Helen 03 and Helen 02.

And the bombers keep running.

Lt Casey finds himself in a very precarious position, with both Japanese fighters all over him, but the Japanese are having a hard time engaging.  Oscar 01 cuts hard right (bottom center), as Oscar 02 cuts hard left, both performing defensive maneuvers while they figure out how best to get at the Yankee...

Who promptly performs a Split-S, purely defensive.  Lt Casey is keeping the Japanese fighters preoccupied...

But Ens Dahlgren suddenly got worried about his 6 and didn't press home his (center right) attack...

Which allowed the Japanese bombers to again open the distance.

Oscar 01 gets tired of the games (center) and goes after Ens Dahlgren as Oscar 02 throttles back (top left) to see what Lt Casey (far left) is going to do.

Then cuts slight right (top left), content to let Lt Casey dilly while he goes to protect his bombers.

Ens Dahlgren was worried about his 6, and now he's got Oscar 01 back there, so he's wracked with indecision, unsure of whether to pursue the bombers (off camera to right) or turn to face his attacker.

But Lt Casey knows what to do: he leaves Oscar 02 alone (top left) and dives onto Oscar 01's tail (bottom left), looking to protect his wingman, screaming at him to get the bombers!  Lt Casey's machine guns hammer away and Oscar 01 is shot down!

But the bombers are getting further and further away...

Tears in his eyes at watching his leader plummet to his death, Oscar 02 cuts hard right to get back in the fight (far left, with Lt Casey at bottom left and Ens Dahlgren at far right).

And Lt Casey cuts hard left into the Japanese fighter, guns blazing...

But he misses and passes.

While Ens Dahlgren (center) gives chase...

Pretty unsuccessfully...

The lone Japanese fighter is defensive, he cuts right...

As Lt Casey cuts back left, each very wary of the other.

And Ens Dahlgren pushes his machine to catch the bombers...

But it's too late, they've begun their bombing runs...

Just for fun, I play out several more turns, just to see if Oscar 02 or Lt Casey can get the upper hand.

Lots of twisting and turning, but neither could get the advantage, and when Oscar 02 saw Ens Dahlgren finally wheel about to come to Lt Casey's assistance, the Japanese pilot disengaged and headed for home.

The Americans shot down one Oscar and one Helen, while the Japanese bombers managed to shoot down one of the precious Wildcats, though Ensign Chipman was scooped up and returned to base without incident.  The two Japanese bombers got loose and tore it up, destroying the munitions factory before turning on the Koepang Airfield, heavily damaging it (14/32).  

At this stage of the game, the Killer Pelicans are down to 5 serviceable aircraft and Koepang is in danger of being overrun by Japanese landing forces, and so the evacuation is ordered and they boarded a ship for northern Australia, hoping to re-group and get back in the fight to halt the Japanese onslaught across the Pacific.

Total score:

Japanese fighters shot down: 8

Japanese bombers shot down: 13

US Navy fighters shot down: 13

Land Targets destroyed: 2.44 of 3.00

The Americans suffered three pilots killed (including their Squadron Commander) and two more Missing In Action.  Two pilots were decorated for gallantry: one became an ace in a single engagement and was awarded the Medal of Honor; he scored two more kills in his next fight, but was shot down and badly wounded, likely missing the next several campaigns.  The other decorated pilot scored three kills in a single engagement and was awarded the Navy Cross.  Another pilot, with two victories, was badly wounded as well, and will also miss the next several campaigns.

My next campaign stop is with the USAAF Chickenhawks, flying their P-40s out of Australia and then New Guinea, but back to the USN Killer Pelicans for action in the Coral Sea and Midway, then linking up with the USMC Dirt Divers out of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.  By that point I'll be working the ground side of the Solomons as well, maybe back to some cruiser actions on the water.  Stay tuned!

V/R,

Jack