Details

Written by: Will Hyman

Category: Western European Theatre

Published: 16 July 2023

Hits: 21

As 1940 turned into 1941, England was collectively breathing an uneasy sigh of relief. The Battle of Britain was effectively over, the British had held against insurmountable odds and forced the Luftwaffe to switch tactics into night raids. For RAF Fighter Command however, the uneasy pause meant only one thing, cross channel operations were to begin in earnest. This change in operations was not met with much enthusiasm for the veterans who had survived the battles of the summer and fall of 1940 and the new replacements didn’t have the skills or experience to equip them during the months ahead. 

Circus Number 1, took place on January 10th, 1941 when six Blenhiem bombers escorted by around 100 Spitfires and Hurricanes attacked the ammunition dump at Forêt de Guines. While the first Circus was heralded as a success with little losses, it wasn’t to last as the Luftwaffe began to exact heavy losses on the RAF as they leaned further and further into France. Losses began to mount as fighter command reported losing 462 killed or captured in 1941, Over 200 of them veterans from the Battle of Britain. Frustrated with the war of attrition Wing Commander J A ‘Johnny’ Kent, leader of the Northolt Wing wrote in 1941, ‘So, we continued to go to Lille and lose good men – all to little purpose.’

While the Luftwaffe had primarily switched to night raids, there were still regular intrusions into England by Luftwaffe bombers and fighters as well as anti-shipping operations on smaller warships and merchants of both sides up and down the English Channel. German fighter pilots began “tip and run” tactics using bomb-laden 109s to attack British freighters and smaller warships in and around the coast of England. As Spring turned to Summer in 1941, German offensive operations started to disappear as they prepared for the Invasion of Russia. This FSO represents the early months of 1941 as both sides are transitioning to new roles on the Channel Front.

PLANE SET:

22K ALT CAP FIGHTERS - ALL FIGHTERS

16K ALT CAP - ALL BOMBERS

SPECIAL RULES:

Hurricane Mk II - Drop Tanks Disabled.

B-25C - 8x50 Caliber Hard Nose and Semi-Hard Nose Options Disabled.

HOUR 2 - Bombs Disabled Bf 109E-4

AIRCRAFT SCORING:

 OBJECT SCORING:

SETTINGS

- BOB40 terrain

- Icon Range – Friendly 3k, Enemy 3k.

- No Radar

- Fighter and Bomber Warning Range - 79200 (15 miles)

- Tower Range – 79,200 (for display to match the above Fighter and Bomber Warning)

- External view for bombers (F3) - On

- Friendly Collisions - Off

- Enemy Collisions - On

- Kill Shooter - Off

- Fuel - 1.0

- Ack - 0.3

- Formations - Enabled

- Bombsite calibration - Main Arena Standard

- Time:

   FRAME 1 - 0900

   FRAME 2 - 1200

   FRAME 3 - 1500

- Object Downtime – full (200)

- Winds - MAX Downdraft 22K

- Clouds - Med5KMed15K

Designed by Nefarious

Details

Written by: Spikes

Category: Western European Theatre

Published: 12 March 2023

Hits: 20

Introduction

In late 1943 the 8th USAAF in western Europe ran a strategic bombing campaign to attack industrial targets near northern German cities. Submarine pens were the target of the day. Many of these missions were flown by the venerable Consolidated B-24 Liberator of the 8th USAAF 2nd Bomb Division. Not as popular as its combat companion in arms the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress but nonetheless in the fight. Join the FSO community in this high altitude, hard-hitting, and action-packed edition of Friday Squad Operations "Ramrod to Emden".

Country Percentage

Axis 45%

Allies 55%

Event Planeset

 
Aircraft Ordnance

B-24J - 12x 500lb bombs or 8x 1000lb bombs

Map

Airfields

Axis Active Fields: A47, A61 , A96, A98

All A61 spawn points are active.

Allied Active Fields: A4 (1st Hour) A6 (2nd Hour Only) A31 (Recovery Only)

All A4 spawn points are active. All A6 spawn points are active.

Victory Conditions

The Allies will carry the burden of attack. Objectives will be assigned for the Allies to attack in terms of primary and secondary targets. The allies may attack target assignments in any order, but both objectives must be attacked to avoid penalties. The credential force rule will apply. 

Scoring

Note:  Definition of a successful Bomber drop - When a bomber reaches an assigned target and scores a direct hit on an object in the target area which would be recorded in the frame log.

Special Event Rules

• This is a multi-life event with the pilot having the ability to re-plane in the 2nd hour.
• Pilots will be counted as shot down if logs do not state a landed successful message.
• Axis pilots MAY NOT fly into DAR circle area around A31.
• A 5 pt penalty will be levied if A31 is flashed by the Axis.
• Allied pilots that land at A31 must replane. The field is for recovery only
• A 2 pt. penalty will be levied for relaunching a refueled and rearmed aircraft from A31.
• A 1 pt. penalty will be levied for acts of fratricide.  
• A 2 pt. penalty will be levied if the Allies fail to attack both targets. Qualification for an attack is a credible size force moving towards the target with the intention to attack
• There is no fighter altitude cap.
• All bombers must stay below 23k.
• No bomber aircraft may attack below 20k.
• Aircraft not landed by the end of the frame will be counted as shot down.

Arena Settings

Terrain map: Rhineland

Fuel burn rate: 1.0

Anti-aircraft gun strength: 0.3

Bombsight calibration: AUTOMATIC (MA standard)

Icons: 3.0K yards (9,000 feet)

Sector Radar ("bar dar"): OFF

Dot Radar: OFF

Fighter and Bomber warning range: 79,200 feet (15 miles)

Tower range set to 79,200 feet (for display only, to match the above setting)

Haze range: 12 miles

Friendlycollisions: OFF

Enemy collisions: ON

Kill shooter: OFF

Stall Limiter: Set ON (Players may disable)

Weather:

light5kmed15k.awa

 
Historical Skins:

Allies

B-24J
44BG/67BS by Greebo
389BG/567BS by Greebo
389BG/566BS by Greebo

P-47D-11
4FG/334FS by Fencer
4FG/335FS by Fencer
56FG/63FS by Nomde
56FG/62FS by Greebo
352FG/328FS by Greebo
352FG/328FS by rogerdee
352FG/487FS by Greebo
355FG/354FS by Coprhead

P-38J
20FG/79FS "Gentle Annie" by Vraciu
20FG/79FS by oboe
55thFG/338thFS/ by Greebo
55thFG/38thFG by oboe

Axis:

Bf109G-6
8./Jg 2 by Devil5O5
10./JG 26 by Devil5O5
5./JG11 by Bubi
6./JG53 by Larry

Bf110G-2
Stab. II/Zg 1 by Devil5O5

ME410
3./ZG 26 by Greebo

FW190A-5
I/JG1 by Krusty
6./Jg 1 by Devil5O5
III./JG2 by Kweassa
9./Jg 2 by Devil5O5
2./JG11 by Krusty
III./JG11 by Devil5O5
Stab./Jg 26 (Galland) by Devil5O5

Designer Notes:

Designed by AKWarHwk March 2023

Details

Written by: Spikes

Category: Western European Theatre

Published: 15 October 2022

Hits: 22

By the Spring of 1945, nearly all of Germany has been seized. The only areas that are still completely in German control are Denmark and Norway. On April 30th, 1945, Hitler committed suicide. The fate of Nazi Germany was now in the hands of his closest officers, those in the German High Command. An idea to move all remaining German forces to Denmark for one final stand versus the allied forces was thought out, however it was never put into place.

What if the High Command decided to go on with their plan? Recreate history in Germany's Last Stand! The British Royal Air Force faces off against Germany's Luftwaffe in an epic battle that could rewrite history.

This FSO is designed as an alternate history event. It is designed to simulate a brawl between the British forces and the Luftwaffe as they battle it out for control of Denmark and Norway, what would have happened if German High Command went through with their defense plan. The moving front simulates the overwhelming Allied offensive pushing to liberate Denmark at the time.

Hour 1 | Order of Battle

Hour 2 | Order of Battle

Notes:

Bomber ALT cap 18K

Fighter ALT cap 26K

Bombs disabled on all flighters

RAF has a choice between the Mosquito XVI or Liberator III

Scoring:

Hangars - 5

Bombers - 2

Fighters - 2

Arena Settings:

- Terrain: northsea

-Clouds: light5kmed15k

- Fuel Burn: 1.0

- Icons: 3K Friendly/Enemy

- Ack: .3

- Fighter and Bomber warning range: 79200 (15 miles)

- Tower range set to 79200 (for display only to match the above setting)

- Haze/Fog: 15 miles

- Radar: Off

- Enemy collisions: on

- Friendly collisions: off

- Killshooter: off

- Time: 1000 (10AM) Game Clock

- Formations: On

- Formation Autopilot: On

- Bomber calibration: Automatic

- Wind: 0K-6K NO WIND

6K-10K: SW TO NE - Speed 5

16K-20K: S TO N - Speed 5

20K-25K: SW TO NE - Speed 10

26K+: 100MPH Downdraft

Skins:

Liberator III – 220S by Greebo

Spit 14 - 91S by Greebo

Tempest – 246S RAF by Airmess

Typhoon – 193S by Greebo (Betty Tribute)

Fw 190D-9 – 7./JG26 by Devil5O5

Ta 152H-1 – III/JG301 by Devil5O5

Bf 109K-4 – 5./JG11 by Devil5O5

Details

Written by: Spikes

Category: Western European Theatre

Published: 10 June 2022

Hits: 17

DUNKIRK

Introduction

The BEF (British Expeditionary Force) is escaping from mainland Europe after a crushing defeat by the Vehrmacht and Luftwaffe. The RAF in Operation DYNAMO is flying top cover to protect the retreating British ships that are returning the British Army to England. The Luftwaffe will stop at nothing to destroy this force. Who will prevail! Join the Aces High community in this dash of destiny in the battle of “DUNKIRK”.

Country Percentage

Axis 50%

Allies 50%

Event Planeset

Aircraft Ordnance

JU87D3 - 1x 500 Kg bombs

HE111H - 8x 250 Kg bombs

Map

Victory Conditions

This event is a one side defend and one side attack scenario. The Allies must prevent ships from being sunk. The Axis must sink a number of ships to win each frame. The winner will have earned the points necessary to claim victory for the event. 

Special Event Rule

• This is a multi-life event after the first hour. Pilots may re-plane for another flight if they are shot down, killed, ditch, or otherwise cannot rearm on a friendly rearm pad after the first hour of play has expired.
• Combatants may rearm at any friendly base.
• Ordnance for each aircraft will be set by the setup CM in the hangar.
• The attackers will have up to T+60 to make their initial attack.
• Luftwaffe fighters MAY NOT strafe enemy ships. (No Exceptions) Ships that are destroyed by strafing will not be counted towards the total score.
• Destroyed targets are down for the remainder of the frame.

Scoring

Arena Settings

Terrain map: BOB40

 Fuel burn rate: 1.0

Anti-aircraft gun strength: 0.3

Bombsight calibration: AUTOMATIC (MA standard)

Icons: 3.0K yards (9,000 feet)

Sector Radar ("bar dar"): OFF

Dot Radar: OFF

Fighter and Bomber warning range: 52,800 feet (10 miles)

Tower range set to 79,200 feet (for display only, to match the above setting)

Haze range: 12 miles

Friendlycollisions: OFF

Enemy collisions: ON

Kill shooter: OFF