Operation Chunky Bandit #24 (Air)

All,

It's 0530 on 27 July 1990 in the country of South Leon.  We are with the Cuban Liberation Air Force's (CLAF) 407th Tactical Fighter Squadron, AKA the "Bonesaws," and they are entering the fight in South Leon.  Three days ago, the Communist Army from Federation Socialiste Nationale de Leon (FSNL), South Leon's malignant neighbor to the north, launched an all out invasion of South Leon, seizing the nation's capital.  The CLAF's 301st Tactical Fighter Squadron, AKA the "Flying Boxcars," led by Major "Viper" Culero, happened to be stationed in South Leon when the Communists invaded.  Over the past three days they've been bled dry in a series of aerial battles that saw the Cubans lose 14 of 18 F-4 Phantoms and four pilots, while the Communists lost 17 MiG-21 Fishbeds and 17 Su-22 Fitters.  Despite having a better than 2-1 kill ratio, the Boxcars failed in their mission to protect the South Leon Army (SLA) Headquarters, Marshalling Area, and Logistics Hub, all of which lie in ashes due to the Communist bombing campaign, knocking SLA Command and Control offline and crippling their resources and infrastructure to rapidly respond to the Communist invasion.  This is drawing plenty of negative attention at all levels, to include the South Leon military and civilian government, and that has the Cuban national command authority somewhat embarrassed.  By all accounts, Major Culero is a CLAF hero, but the heat is on and there are rumblings he should be relieved of command.

But the Bonesaws, commanded by Captain "Masters" Barrientos, have arrived just in the nick of time, buying Major Culero time to reconstitute his decimated squadron and reorganize as new pilots and machines arrive.  Captain Barrientos immediately, and not so humbly, takes up the gauntlet; "don't worry, Major, Bone 01 is here to save your ass!"  And with that, Captain Barrientos led a six-ship flight, comprised of brand-spanking new F-16 Fighting Falcons provided by the United States, on a classic fighter sweep, to let the Commies know there's a new sheriff in town.

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 13 fights with them).  North is left, so the Communist aircraft are there, whilst the Cubans are on the right (south).

This fight, for the Cuban top flight we have, from top:

Bone 08 (Rookie)

bone 07, 1st Lt Arroyo, the Flight Leader (Regular) 

Bone 09 (Rookie)

This fight, for the Cuban bottom flight we have, from top:

Boxcar 02 (Rookie)

Boxcar 01, Capt "Masters" Barrientos, the Squadron Commander (Regular) 

Boxcar 03 (Rookie)

The Communists, from top:

Green 03

      Green 01

Green 02

Silver 03

       Silver 01

Silver 02

All Communist pilots are rated as Regulars.

The MiG-21s are rated as +1, while the F-16s, being much better aircraft, are rated +2.

Turns 1 and 2 bring us to the merge, Tally Ho!

Green 01 cuts right, baiting the young Cuban pilots in their shiny new F-16s provided by the capitalist pig-dog Great Satan...

And Green 03 comes high and right to support.

As does Silver 03.  The Communist formation is looking rather formidable, ready to pounce.

And they do: Silver comes right, taking a bad, but safe, shot on Bone 01...

He misses and sails past.

Silver 01 patiently rids in on Bone 02 and 03.

Bone 03 pulls left, after Silver 02.

While Bone 02 is much more aggressive, jinking in to go head to head with Silver 01.  Both pilots fire...

And while the MiG is damaged, its pilot smirks to himself as the F-16 is struck and tumbles into the jungle below!!!  Bone 02's pilot bailed out and is okay, but is cringing at the thought of how bad he's going to get his ass chewed for getting shot down by an ancient MiG-21 when he gets back to base.  Don't worry, he won't be the only pilot getting his ass chewed...

Bone 01, a bit in shock at how quickly his squadron just lost a brand new F-16, cuts hard right, working on Silver 01.

While up top, Bone 09 charges straight in, doing a good job of not showing his tail to any of the waiting MiGs.

And Bone 08 comes left, shielded by Bone 09.

While their Flight Leader, Bone 07, seems lost in the sauce.  He just kinda floats forward...

And with that, Green 03 cuts over, going head to head.  Both pilots launch missiles, and before you know it, the Cubans have lost a second F-16 Fighting Falcon!  Bone 07 ponders the ass-chewing he'll receive as he floats down to earth beneath his parachute.

Feeling emboldened, Green 02 runs straight in on Bone 09, head to head.  Both pilots fire...

And the Cuban have lost a third F-16 in less than 90 seconds of air combat!  To make matters worse, Green 02 pushes ahead, taking a bad deflection shot on Bone 08, though this misses.  Bone 09's pilot bails out but is wounded and will be out of action for the next couple months.

*What the hell is going on here???  The Commies are getting great maneuver rolls, great shooting rolls, and great damage rolls.  I need a break here.

With the airspace in his particular neck of the woods looking suddenly devoid of threats, Green 01 kicks it in the ass and comes right, covering some serious ground and ending up in a good tailing position on Bone 03.

*So, up top the Commies have a two on one (Bone 08), while down below they have a three on two (Bone 01 and 03), with one more fighter floating around not really engaged.

Up top, Silver 03 cuts left and goes head to head with Bone 08.  Both pilots fire...

Bone 08 is damaged as Silver 03 comes right.

Back in the west, Silver 01 smells blood in the water and forces his damaged bird into a hard right turn, going head to head with Bone 01.  Both pilots fire...

And both miss, as Silver 01 breaks right to avoid a collision.

And Silver 02 comes left, the only Commie aircraft that's gone defensive.

But he didn't do a very good job, and Bone 01 is able to whip his agile F-16 around and back onto his tail.  "Fox One!"

And the Cubans have scored their first kill with the new aircraft!

And this clears the space for Bone 03 to run in on Silver 01's tail!  A perfect shot on a damaged aircraft, and he misses!!!  These rookies are killing me, that was money in the bank!!!

Up top, Bone 08 is in the fight of his life, purely defensive.  He Immelmans to stay in tight.

Rather than go after Bone 03 (bottom left), Green 01 plays the numbers, coming left at Bone 01 and going defensive.

*The only thing prevent defense does is prevent you from winning!  The Commies had been super aggressive up to this point, and it had paid off with three quick kills against superior aircraft.

Silver 01 is... aggressively defensive, pulling an Immelman in the face of Bone 03, flipping the tables on him.  "Let's see if the rookie can hold serve."

While up top, Silver 03 is tired of playing with Bone 08, so he cuts right to get in on that fight, leaving two MiGs up there to handle the situation (assuming Green 03 ever gets off his butt and joins the fight).

And there he is!  Green 03 (top left) looks on as Green 02 jinks to stay in tight with Bone 08.

Green 03 belatedly decides to enter the fray, getting into a tailing position on Bone 08.

Who quickly cuts left, defensive.  Pretty passive, even for defense.

While at the bottom, Bone 03 cuts right, worried about Silver 01 (bottom left) and Silver 03 (top left).

And Bone 01 pulls hard left to find some space.

But that leaves his tail open to Silver 01, who takes his time getting into place.

As Silver 03 pulls right to engage Bone 03.

And Green 01 pulls left to sandwich Bone 01.

Up top, Green 02 continues playing defense, trying to make room for Green 03 to pop Bone 08.

And he cuts left, but can't quite line up the shot.

As Bone 08 pulls left, trying to disengage, but doesn't make it very far...

While back in the west, Bone 01 comes left onto Silver 03's tail and fires...

The MiG is damaged as Bone 01 pulls left.

And Bone 03 pulls right to engage Silver 01 and Green 01.

But then Silver 03 miraculously pulls off an Immelman to get right back on Bone 03's tail!

*At some point I'm going to have to come up with some rules to penalize damaged aircraft.  The only real reason I haven't is because it seems like so many of my fighters end up spending most of the battle fighting damaged ;)

And then Silver 01 pulls an Immelman to get back at Bone 01, though it may leave him vulnerable to Bone 03 (top center).

And Green 01 comes left, a bit too slow, though the Cubans are not doing a great job of pushing the fight while they're 2 v 2...

Up top, Green 02 comes hard left with Bone 08.

As does Green 03, though he still can't quite get a shot lined up.

As Bone 08 comes left, pushing west, trying again to disengage.

This dogfight is full of aerial acrobatics: Bone 01 pulls an Immelman to stay in the fight and help protect Bone 03's (top right) tail.

As Bone 03 cuts left.  That was a pretty crappy move...

Green 01 cuts in behind him, unable to get a shot.

And Silver 01 pushes north, determined to disengage, find some space, and get back into the fight.

Which leaves nothing for Silver 03 to do but cut hard right and go defensive, right between Bone 01 and 03.

Up top, Bone 08 isn't able to disengage, Green 02 pulls up right alongside him.

And Green 03 cuts hard left, staring right at his tail pipe.

And Bone 08 pulls another Immelman, which was quite the amazing move at this point, really saved his ass.

Though, in the west, Bone 03 chokes under pressure, sputtering ahead...

So Bone 01 better do something cool: he comes right, defensive against Silver 03 (left), but still able to line up a shot on Green 01, albeit a bad one.  He fires...

And misses, which doesn't affect Green 01 at all.  He swoops left onto Bone 03's tail, a perfect shot.  The Communist pilot fires...

And misses, coming off right!

As Silver 03 jinks, staying defensive with Bone 01.

And Silver 01 comes right, scanning the battlefield.

Up top, Green 02 breaks off its engagement with Bone 08 and pushes west to get into the fight there, leaving Green 03 to handle the single Cuban fighter up there.

But Green 03 says 'hell with that,' and moves west, too!

Bone 08 comes lazily left, not quite sure what the hell just happened.  He's drenched in urine and sweat, been knife fighting for the past five minutes with multiple bogeys, then all of a sudden they break off?

And Bone 03 takes a chance coming left to go head to head with Green 02.  Both pilots launch missiles...

And Bone 01 lets out a triumphant yell as he scores his second kill of the day, though he is vulnerable to Silver 03 (bottom right)...

Bone 03 pulls an Immelman, putting himself in great shape on Silver 03's tail (center bottom).

But Silver 03 stays aggressive, pulling hard left and getting into a perfect tail shot on Bone 01!  The Commie fires...

But misses, then comes right into a perfect tailing position on Bone 08!

As Green 03 comes left, heading at Bone 03.

*This fight has been fun, but is dragging.  As my buddy Shaun and I discussed, without bombers on the table plugging their three squares away each turn, you have no real sense of how long the fight should go on.  I tell myself that the next kill wins the game and the two sides will break off, but it probably won't happen if things are going well for the Cubans ;)

And Green 01 comes left, keeping Bone 03 close but scanning for other targets.

Silver 01 cuts right into Bone 03.

And Bone 08 pulls his 98th Immelman of the day, flipping the tables on Silver 03!  He's been great at these defensive moves, no small feat to not get shot down when facing two enemy fighters all game while all alone, but it would be great if he and Bone 03 could, ya know, actually shoot down an enemy fighter or two...

And Bone 01 pulls hard right, defensive.

Down at the bottom, Bone 03 finds himself all alone against three MiGs and tries to punch it to push through, but sputters out...

Silver 03, all of a sudden outnumbered by Bone 01 and 08, cuts left to disengage, but probably doesn't get far enough.

But then Silver 01 pulls a great move, cutting left onto Bone 01's tail and taking a shot, but he misses!  Bone 01 is leading some sort of charmed life!

Down at the bottom, Green 01 stays defensive, nice and tight on Bone 03.

While Green 03 pushes past then executes an Immelman, in great shape on Bone 03's tail!

But Bone 03 says 'hell with it' and jinks onto Silver 01's tail, a perfect 6 o'clock shot.  He fires...

And misses, zooming past!

Good grief, that's the third straight perfect shot (need only a 3+ to hit, as good as it gets in this game) that's missed!  I think all the kills, or at least almost all of them, have been head-on shots, to include the Commies pulling off a defensive fire kill!

Bone 01 pulls an Immelman, trying to protect Bone 03's tail.

Bone 08 is trying too, but he overshoots, coming right.

*This is the place in the game where I came closest to cheating; I wanted so bad go get one of my F-16s into position right behind Bone 03 so that Silver 01 couldn't simply move up one square, shoot, score a 3+, down Bone 03, and the game was over.

But I didn't have to: Silver 01 moved up onto Bone 03's tail, and, for the fourth time in a row, missed a simple tail-pipe shot...

Then zoomed past.

Silver 03 comes left, looking to get back into the fight, thanking his lucky stars he wasn't shot down a minute ago.

Green 03 kinda shimmies and shakes, not really accomplishing anything, with Bone 08 staring him down (top left).

As Green 01 cuts left and takes a bad deflection shot on Bone 08, missing.

And Bone 08 jukes around him, hoping to get on Green 03's tail.

Bone 01 comes left, sort of lost in space, blubbering like an idiot about how he's going to be relived of command for getting all the F-16s shot down by MiG-21s...

And Bone 03 comes left, looking to get on Silver 03's tail.

But Silver 03 cuts hard left, back into him.

And Silver 01 cuts hard left to get into tailing position on him.

While Green 03 pushes straight ahead, crossing Bone 01's face.

But then Green 03 comes hard right, going head to head with Bone 01!  Both pilots fire, and it's time for PAYBACK!!!  The Commie missile soars past, but Bone 01 scores, shooting down his third MiG of the day!

*As I'm sure you'll recall, I previously said 'next kill wins,' but, of course, since it was the Cuban doing the killin,' I'm not actually going to live up to that ;)  The fight continues!  I'll try to do better next time...

Bone 03 spots an opening and comes left, trying to disengage, but doesn't make it very far...

While Bone 08 comes right, in good shape to get on Green 03's tail (center top).

And then Bone 01 comes right, lining up a tailing shot on Silver 01.  "Fox One!"

He lets out a whoop once again, having scored his fourth kill of the day, but once again he's left his tail very vulnerable while ensconced in celebration...

And here comes Green 03 to swoop onto Bone 01's tail.  He lines up a pretty good shot and takes it...

But he misses and flashes by.  Tail shots are jut not the place to be today.  As hot as the Commie dice were early on, they've gone completely cold now.

Bone 01 pulls an Immelman to try and get himself out of trouble.

And that's enough to convince the Commies to break off, form up, and head home.

And the Cubans follow suit.  In 'straight up' terms this was a minor victory for the Cuban Liberation Air Force, 4 MiGs downed to 3 friendlies lost.  But that victory doesn't look so great when you realize it was F-16s versus outdated and outclassed MiG-21s (and I did give the F-16s a qualitative advantage over the MiGs).  Having said that, the fact it was the Cuban squadron's baptism by fire, with most of their pilots being rookies, is somewhat offset by the fact they were up against blooded veterans of the skies that had already served up some serious casualties on their brethren, the Flying Boxcars.  So tough to call.

Here's what happened in terms of pilots:

Bonesaw 01, Capt Barrientos, four Kills, moves from Regular to Veteran

Bonesaw 02, no Kills, shot down but bailed out and okay

Bonesaw 03, no Kills, moves from Rookie to Regular

Bonesaw 07, 1st Lt Arroyo, no Kills, shot down but bailed out and okay

Bonesaw 08, no Kills, moves from Rookie to Regular

Bonesaw 09, no Kills, bailed out, WIA, return 20 September 1990

Additionally, for racking up four Kills to save the day, making sure his entire Flight wasn't destroyed, Captain Barrientos was awarded the Estrella de Plata (Silver Star with 'V').  

I've played plenty of fights, working on all the batreps, stay tuned!

V/R,

Jack