Origins `90 Tournament Report
Part 1

Thursday: Beginner's Tournament:
Taiwanese Tango (1958)

by J.D. Webster

This year I decided it would be wise to include an introductory level tournament for new people as well a having the usual veteran's tourney. To wit, we got a four hour time slot on Thursday from 10AM to 2PM advertised for new people.

After missing my flight on Wednesday night, I got to Atlanta Thursday morning just in time to run in and set up.

There I discovered, not beginners, but six hard core players (four of them Canadians!!!) hanging around talking. Two Canadians, Paul Procyk and Ray Lament, were previous tournament veterans. No one else showed so we gabbed for a while then decided to play for fun. The scenario we made up was a hypothetical, late Formosa Straights encounter between 3 missile armed National Chinese F-86 Sabres and 4 Communist Chinese MiG-17's. I played the MiG leader.

Taiwanese Tango! 1958

Background (Hypothetical!!):

Four MiG-17's intrude into Taiwanese air space and as they aim North to return to mainland China, they are cut off and intercepted by three missile armed Nationalist Sabres.

Aircraft Set Up:

F86F (Air Power #7) x 3: anywhere in megahex. 2005 facing South, speed 6.0, altitude 30 +/- 5.

MiG- 17F (desert Falcons) x 4: anywhere in megahex 2020 facing North, speed 6.0, altitude 30 +/- 5.

Game length: 15 turns.

Notes:

1. All aircraft begin sighted, all are silver, contrails begin at 34.

2. Sabre Loads: Stations 2,3 = AIM-9B Sidewinder IRM.

3. The MiG's have enough fuel to use A/B power the whole game.

4. Pilot Quality: All regulars, no attributes or characteristics applied.

5. Victory: The side with the most points wins.

The Game:

The MiG's were piloted by myself, Paul Procyck, Ray Lament and Mike Van Leeuwen. The Sabres were piloted by Tim Carroll, Doug Smith and Steve Madjanovich.

The MiG's immediately split into two pairs and separated to sandwich the Sabres in a pincer. One Sabre, flown by Steve, a Canuck, headed for my section while the other two Sabres, led by Tim, tried to meet the two MiGs led by Ray. Ray and Mike were on the right and rapidly climbed while Paul and I led my section down picking up speed. The pincer almost worked as Paul and I flashed past the surprised lone F86, totally ignoring Steve, and cut across toward the tails of Tim and Doug. Both broker back into us, but Ray and Mike were not yet in position to capitalize on the Sabre's immediate confusion.

Paul and I tried to hang on to their tails, but the Sabre's break turn carried us back toward Steve who cam barreling in to initiate a 2 vs 3 melee. I was forced to break off after taking a lousy gunshot. Paul met Steve head-on and was crippled by the Sabre's gunfire which forced him out of the fight.

Meanwhile, Ray and Mike were hanging several thousand feet overhead vying to find a good moment to jump in. I was now trapped in the midst of the three Sabres, but avoided getting hit through some violent maneuvers. Fortunately, Ray and Mike finally dove in slicing through the battle and distracting the Sabres.

However, both overshot due to speed and Tim swung in behind Ray, loosing off two AIM-9's. One failed, and Ray unloaded and outran the other. I don't remember the details of the next few turns, but I remember lots of turning and emptying my cannons at one of the Sabres. I think some other shots were traded, but the fight ended with no further damage to the combatants. We declared Steve in the lone Sabre as the "winner" having hit the enemy and having had the most influence on the shape of the entire battle.

Origins `90 Tournament Report Part 1

Origins `90 Tournament Report Part 2

Back to Table of Contents -- Air Power # 10
Back to Air Power List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Magazine List
© Copyright 1990 by J.D. Webster
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com