Battle of Midway Campaign Plan

All,

It's 4 June 1942, the dawn of the epic "Battle of Midway," a clash of giants, three US carriers vs four Japanese carriers that proved to be the turning point of the war in the Pacific.  The Japanese brought an invasion force, complete with surface warfare vessels and merchantmen packed with assault troops, to subdue and seize the US outpost at Midway, but the true purpose of the battle for Yamamoto and Fletcher was to lure their enemy's carrier force into battle and destroy it.  The Japanese staged a diversionary invasion of the Aleutian Islands, but US codebreakers had determined the true target was Midway; if that seems to be getting away from the stated objective of destroying the enemy's carrier force, it wasn't: Yamamoto hoped to draw the US carriers north, seize Midway in a lightning quick operation, then use it to base long-range, shore-based search aircraft to located the US carriers coming back south, with his own carriers standing off in ambush positions.  But the US fleet, aware of the Japanese commander's intent, pushed straight at Midway, using Midway as their own maritime search base of operations and setting their own fleet carriers to ambush.

Events were greatly influenced by the Battle of the Coral Sea: while the US lost a fleet carrier, the Japanese lost a light carrier sunk, two of their precious fleet carriers missed the battle: Shokaku was badly damaged and Zuikaku was kept home because she'd lost so many pilots and aircrew that her air group was deemed unable to deploy.  Also, the USS Yorktown was badly damaged, but immediately following the Battle of the Coral Sea, Yorktown was rushed to Pearl Harbor for hasty repairs, after which it immediately set sail to participate in the Battle of Midway, arriving not long after the other US carrier task force, containing the USS Hornet and USS Enterprise.

In this battle we will see both Major Chandler's VMF-343 "Dirt Divers" and Lieutenant Commander Case's VF-63 "Killer Pelicans" in action.  The Dirt Divers left the Dutch East Indies (DEI) to rest and refit in Hawaii, and were moved up to Midway in anticipation of the Japanese offensive.  The Killer Pelicans also served in the defeat in DEI, then served aboard the USS Lexington, which was sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea, which forced LtCmdr Case's pilots to take refuge aboard the damaged USS Yorktown, which they are now riding back into battle.

Forces (as pertains to my games only, not all inclusive):

Stationed aboard Midway 
VMF-343 Dirt Divers (F4F Wildcats)
VT-8 "Torpedo 8" (utilizing six new Grumman TBF torpedo bombers, detailed ashore from USS Hornet)
VMSB-241 (SBD Dauntlesses, a Marine Scouting Squadron)
69th Bombardment Squadron (B-26s, for which I'll have to use B-25s as I don't have any B-26s, an Army Air Corps Squadron)

Stationed aboard the USS Yorktown
VF-63 Killer Pelicans (F4F Wildcats)
VB-3 "Bombing 3" (SBD Dauntlesses, from damaged USS Saratoga, replaced depleted VS-5)
VB-5 "Bombing 5" (SBD Dauntlesses)

Timeline

3 June 1942
0900 - USN PBY spots Japanese invasion force 500nm west/southwest of Midway
1230 - Nine USA B-17s launch
1530 - B-17s attack the Japanese invasion force but score no hits

4 June 1942
0100 - USN PBY attacks Japanese invasion force, hits merchant Akebono Maru with a torpedo.  This would be the only successful torpedo attack by US forces during the Battle of Midway
0430 - Japanese carrier force launches 36 D3A "Val" dive bombers, 36 B5N2 "Kate" torpedo bombers, and 36 A6M "Zero" fighters to attack shore installations on Midway
0534 - USN PBY spots Japanese carrier force
0545 - Midway launches aircraft to intercept incoming Japanese strike group attack Japanese carrier force
0620 - Japanese Strike Group bombs and heavily damages shore installations on Midway, though the airbase and shore defenses remain intact.  Japanese air group commander recommends a second strike is necessary to neutralize Midway.  The Japanese lost 1 Zero, 4 Kates, and 2 Vals, while US lost 2 Wildcats and 13 obsolete F2A Buffaloes.
Between 0630 and 0800: American bombers make multiple attacks on the Japanese carrier force, though not a single bomb or torpedo hit is scored, though the US strike group took substantial losses.  One badly damaged B-26 made a suicide run on the Japanese carrier Akagi; though it missed, it was a near-death experience for the carrier group commander, Admiral Nagumo, and may have helped convince him to launch a second strike against Midway, in violation of Admiral Yamamoto's order to keep an air reserve ready to attack when the US carriers showed up.  The Japanese lost 3 Zeros, while US lost 5 TBFs, 2 SB2Us, 8 SBDs, and two B-26s.
0700 - USS Enterprise and Hornet launch their strike groups
0715 - Admiral Nagumo orders his air reserve to rearm with weapons suited to attack land targets (contact-fused bombs, vice delayed-fused bombs and torpedoes).
0740 - Japanese scout plane sights US carrier force
0755 - Admiral Nagumo orders air reserve to be re-armed for ship targets.  He considered immediately launching his air reserve, even with the wrong armament, but commencing flight operations at that time would have meant that the strike group returning from the attack on Midway would have nowhere to land would be forced to ditch in the ocean.
0800 - USS Yorktown launches its strike group
0920 - TBD Devastators from VT-8 from USS Hornet attacks Japanese carriers.  VT-8 lost 15 TBD Devastators, the VB-8 and VS-8 SBD Dauntlesses never found the Japanese carriers and had to turn back, and ten VF-8 F4F Wildcats ran out of gas and had to ditch in the ocean.
0940 - TBD Devastators from VT-6 from USS Enterprise attacks Japanese carriers.  VT-6 lost 10 TBD Devastators, VF-6 F4F Wildcats ran low on fuel and had to turn back
1010 - TBD Devastators from VT-3 from USS Yorktown attacks Japanese carriers.  VT-3 lost 10 TBD Devastators.
1025 - SBD Dauntlesses from the Enterprise's VB-6 and VS-6, and the Yorktown's VB-3 attack the Japanese carrier force with deadly accuracy, made worse by the fact the Japanese carriers were performing refueling and rearming operations on their flight decks.  Kaga received four hits Akagi one, and Soryu three, all of which started vicious fires that forced the Japanese carriers to be abandoned and scuttled!  The fourth Japanese carrier, Hiryu, was attacked but not struck.
1040 - Hiryu launches six A6M Zeros and eighteen D3A Vals, which follow the American strike groups back to their carriers
1200 - Hiryu's first strike group attacks, hitting Yorktown with three bombs.  The Japanese lost three Zeros and thirteen Vals.
1320 - Hiryu launches six A6M Zeros and ten B5N2 Kates
1550 - Enterprise launches 24 SBD Dauntlesses and Yorktown launches 14 more
1425 - Because damage control of USS Yorktown was so quick and efficient, the Hiryu's second strike believed the first strike had sunk a carrier and they were attacking a second, untouched US carrier.  The Japanese pilots pressed home their attack and hit the Yorktown with two torpedoes.  The Japanese lost two Zeros and five Kates, but their morale was seriously boosted by the fact they believed they had sunk two of three US carriers.
1700 - SBD Dauntlesses from Enterprise and Yorktown attack the Hiryu, scoring four or five hits, leaving her ablaze and unable to conduct flight operations, meaning her returning strike groups were forced to ditch in the ocean.

5 June 1942
0500 - Soryu sinks

6 June 1942
1330 -Yorktown attacked by Japanese submarine I-68, which damaged her with two torpedoes and sank the USS Hammann with another

7 June 1942
0700 - Yorktown scuttled

Games

Fight #1, 0620 4 June 1942
6 x Dirt Divers intercept 4 x Zero, 6 x Val
*US: 6 Fresh
*Japanese: 4 Fresh

Fight #2, 0625 4 June 1942

6 x Dirt Divers intercept 4 x Zero, 6 x Kate

*US: 5 Fresh +1 from F1
*Japanese: 3 Fresh +1 from F1

Fight #3, 0630 4 June 1942

4 x Dirt Divers escort 6 x TBF (VT-8 ashore) vs 6 x Zero
*US: 4 Fresh
*Japanese: 6 Fresh

Fight #4, 0715 4 June 1942

4 x Dirt Divers escort 6 x SBD (VMSB-241) vs 6 x Zero

*US: 3 Fresh +1 from F3
*Japanese: 5 Fresh +1 from F3

Fight #5, 0800 4 June 1942

4 x Dirt Divers escort 4 x B-26 (69th Bombardment Squadron) vs 6 x Zero

*US: +4 from F3 and F4
*Japanese: +6 from F3 and F4

Fight #6, 1010 4 June 1942

4 x Killer Pelicans escort 6 x TBD (VT-3) vs 6 x Zero

*US: 4 Fresh
*Japanese: 6 Fresh

Fight #7, 1025 4 June 1942

4 x Killer Pelicans escort 6 x SBD (VB-3) vs 6 x Zero

*US: 3 Fresh +1 from F6
*Japanese: +6 from F3, F4, and F5

Fight #8, 1200 4 June 1942

6 x Killer Pelicans intercept 4 x Zero, 6 x Val

*US: 6 Fresh
*Japanese: 4 Fresh

Fight #9, 1425 4 June 1942

6 x Killer Pelicans intercept 4 x Zero, 6 x Kate

*US: 5 Fresh +1 from F8
*Japanese: 3 Fresh +1 from F8

Fight #10, 1700 4 June 1942

4 x Killer Pelicans escort 6 x SBD (VB-3) vs 6 x Zero

*US: +4 from F6 and F7
*Japanese: +6 from F3, F4, F5, and F7

*I might try a dive bomber game, just for fun, just to see if it works.  I'm very interested in figuring an air-to ground type strike game, just not sure I can figure out a way to make it fun, rather than simply a dice-fest.  If you've got (simple) ideas, I'm all ears.

Breakdown

Dirt Divers: 7 Escorts, 11 CAP

Killer Pelicans: 7 Escorts, 11 CAP

Japanese: 14 Escorts, 11 CAP

EXCEPT F6: Six CAP