Chickenhawks Over New Guinea #6

All,

1130 local time
21 May 1942
New Guinea

Greetings all, having just wrapped up the Coral Sea battles, I figured it's time to head back to my U.S. Army Air Corps fighter squadron, the 565th Tactical Fighter Squadron, better known as the "Chickenhawks." The last we saw of the Chickenhawks was back in February of 1942; they'd started out fighting the Japanese over the Dutch East Indies before falling back to Australia and becoming embroiled in the fighting over Darwin. After things quieted down there, they ended up moving over to Brisbane, where they had a quiet period of daily patrolling to bring in replacements and get them trained up. But they got word at the end of April that they'd be moving soon, and immediately after the Battle of Coral Sea they packed up and shipped out, heading up to Port Moresby on New Guinea, making Kila Kila Airfield, AKA "3 Mile Drome," their new home on 11 May 1942. They only had a couple days before they were called to action.

On 13 May, Captain Cotton led six P-40s against four Zeros and six Bettys. One Zero and one Betty were downed at the cost of three P-40s and 25/30 damage points on the New Guinea Harbor Facilities.

On 14 May, Captain Goode led a depleted flight of only four P-40s up against four Zeros and six Bettys, and it was an unmitigated disaster. All four US fighters were shot down, with Captain Goode and Lt O'Brien killed in action, while the enemy didn't lose a single aircraft! The Japanese bombers quickly finished off the Harbor Facilities, and pounded the Marshalling Area (22/30 damage points).

On 16 May, Major Jordan led the squadron aloft to intercept six Bettys escorted by four Zeros, but Lt Daniel was the star of the show. The Americans lost a single P-40, but they knocked down two Zeros and four Bettys, with Lt Daniel knocking down four of those aircraft and winning the Distinguished Flying Cross. The remaining two Japanese bombers jettisoned their bombs and returned to base, so no bombs fell on the Allied Marshalling Area (still 22/30).

On 18 May, 1st Lt Pace led a flight of four P-40s on escort duty for six B-25 Mitchells detailed to pound Wewak's POL storage tanks. They met five Zeros over the target, with all five being shot down, though two of those were actually by the bomber crews, who took heavy losses. While the Chickenhawks only lost one P-40, four of the six bombers were shot down, and they barely scratched the POL target (6/30 damage points).

On 19 May, two patrols ran into each other over No Man's Land, ending with each side losing a single fighter.

Now it's 21 May, and after another day of bad weather, two young Lieutenants find themselves escorting a flight of five B-25 Mitchells over to Wewak again, where a pair of Zeros rise up to meet them.

This is my arena for aerial combat; simple, yet durable and, to me, beautiful (in a simple, durable way). I'm using tiny aircraft designed by my buddy Thomaston; not sure what size they are, just that they are much smaller than 1/600. They're 3D printed models that I mounted on cut-down bases from Litko, and I'm using a very simple rules system called "Battle of Britain," which I found for free over on The Miniatures Page (I've already played a good 20 or so fights with them). Left is north, with the Japanese interceptors there, and the American strike group at right.

The US patrol, from top:

2nd Lt Nagle, a Regular

B-25 02                B-25 04
               B-25 03
B-25 01                B-25 05

2nd Lt Lewis, a Regular

Bomber targets are:
POL Storage (6/30)
Warehouse Yard
Wewak Airfield

The Japanese Combat Air Patrol, from top:

Zero 01, a Veteran
Zero 02, a Regular

Targets:

Harbor Facilities: Destroyed
Marshalling Area: 22/30
Airfield

Hey, I actually remembered to take a photo after fast forwarding through Turns 1 and 2!  Now let's get it on!

Lt Nagle cuts left, looking to head off Zero 01.

While at the bottom, Lt Lewis very aggressively cuts right and takes a front aspect shot on Zero 02...

And the .50-cal MG rounds pound him into dust!!!

Shocked by the sudden death of his comrade, Zero 01 sort just sputters straight at the American bombers.

And they push ahead, with B-25 03 running head to head with Zero 01.  The Japanese pilot mashes the trigger, as does the bomber's nose gunner...

And both aircraft are damaged!  Lt Nagle performs an Immelman to try and get behind Zero 01, though he's not really pointed in the right direction.

And Lt Lewis performs a questionable maneuver, pulling right, into the heart of the bomber formation.

Seeing the American fighters focused up top, Zero 01 pulls hard right, looking to work over the bottom of the bomber formation.

And as the bombers move up, Zero 01 (bottom left) gets a tailing shot off on B-25 01...

20mm rounds rake the B-25 (far left), but it stays in formation, but here comes B-25 05 into Zero 01's sights (bottom center)...

The Japanese pilot scores another hit, but again he fails to bring the bomber down!

*Now that's some serious bad luck, three hits, but all three damaged!

Lt Lewis pulls a Split-S, putting him in good shape behind Zero 01.

As Lt Nagle pulls hard left, looking at some hammer and anvil action.

In an act of desperation, Zero 01 turns his focus from the bombers and pulls hard right, going head to head with Lt Lewis!  Both pilots cut loose with their guns...

And both planes are knocked from the sky!!!  Lt Lewis manages to bail out, and Australian infantry quickly scoop him up and get him back home.

Lt Nagle takes up station and ushers the bombers the rest of the way to their target, a happy day as two Zeros go down and all five bombers committed make it to the target area.  But not so happy as, once again, the American bombardiers come out cross-eyed!  I don't know what it is about the US bombers being unable to hit their targets, but 5D6 were rolled and they only came out to 12 points of damage on the Wewak POL storage tanks...

2nd Lt Nagle failed to score 

2nd Lt Lewis scored two kills, but was shot down, though he made it back to base okay

That was a pretty quick, and fun (because I won), fight.  Next up, once again Japanese bombers are inbound.

V/R,
Jack