Origins 91 Air Strike Tourney

Combat Summaries: Round Three

by J.D. Webster

Table 1:

As the day wore on, my notes became even worse. At this table, Zee and Madman were tasked to be the defenders while Maddog, Soleman, Slick and Grossman formed the Attack force. The defenses included SA-8s, the MiG-29 and Hunter combo, plus unrecorded AAA. I don't know for sure what the Attackers flew but I believe it was the F-16s and I didn't record what their target was.

My notes indicate that Slick and Grossman were the Iron Hand and that Grossman nailed one SA-8 with a HARM and crippled the Hunter. Whether with guns or missiles I don't know. The only comment about Slick was that he kept the SAMs busy. The Strikers, Maddog and Soleman, reached the target and inflicted 3D and 2D damage respectively while remaining unhit. Under the defense notes, it is stated that three SA-8 missiles and one Stinger missile were launched. No other details are listed. What the MiG-29 did or where it was during the battle is not indicated but apparently it posed little threat.

I'd have to say that the attackers won this one, but without full notes I can't speculate on why the defense seemingly accomplished nothing. A good round for the attackers.

Table 2:

This table had Woof and Hollywood as the Strikers, with Gunner and Cougar on Iron Hand duty. Wildman and Bozo were the defenders. The target die roll resulted in a precision strike against the bridges in downtown Waterloo and the attack force consisted of F-16's with the Strikers carrying two AGM130s apiece. The defenses consisted of the SA-6 and SA-13 SAMs plus unrecorded AAA and the MG-29 / Hunter combo.

The attackers, considering that they had long range glide bombs decided to come in at 40,000 feet, well above the AAA and pretty much out of reach of the SA-13s. The MiG and Hunter came in a little lower to be below the contrail level. The SA-6 site was given several pre-game turns to react and launched a missile at Woof at extreme range. It petered out well short and self-destructed. The threat of HARMs then forced the site into optical mode and it failed to acquire anyone else.

As the attack Falcons dove toward their targets, the Iron Hand turned to meet Bozo's MiG-29 Fulcrum which had made a feint in the direction of the strike birds but had reversed and pitched back up. The Hunter, flown by Wildman, was struggling to climb up to where the action was. Cougar and Bozo charged each other nose to nose as the two strikers unloaded their AGM-130s at the bridges. Woof and Hollywood each had a launch failure but the two remaining weapons locked on and guided true to hit the bridges a few turns later.

Meanwhile, like two medieval knights in a joust, Cougar and Bozo closed beak to beak firing missiles. Bozo cut loose with two AA-8Bs and Cougar fired an AIM-9M. One of Bozo's Aphids was decoyed but the other scored a proxhit doing L damage. Cougar's Sidewinder also scored a prox-hit but the missile struck the MiG's vitals and it was destroyed. Bozo successfully ejected as the two jets passed. Until this point, the Falcons had been ignoring the lowly Hunter which was only armed with guns.

However, the wiley Wildman had been patiently climbing and closing in on the furball. As luck would have it, Hollywood and Woof passed a few thousand feet overhead on their way to assist against the now destroyed MIG and afforded Wildman a chance for glory. He pitched up, vertically climbing under Hollywood's Falcon and let loose with two cannon shots. It was a desperate gamble as he knew he would stall out at the top. His first shot, fired as he passed 39,000 feet needed a two or less at range two. He rolled a nine. Continuing up to 40,000, and shuddering on the verge of a stall, his second shot had the best chance needing a seven or less. He rolled a 10. Curses! If only the Koran had contained a chapter on aerial gunnery!

This attack brought immediate and swift retaliation from the Falcon pack. As Hollywood zoomed up out of range, Gunner turned on the Hunter and fired two AIM-9Ms from the one side while Cougar fired his remaining AIM-9M from the other. Woof also positioned to attack but did not launch. Stuck in a Stall, with no decoys, Wildman could only shout out a final "Allah Akbar! " and accept the inevitability of a trip to Paradise.

The Falcon pack headed home unmolested by any other defenses and talked admirably about Wildman's glorious exit from battle. ...another good strike for the Allies.

Table 3:

By this point in the day, Z-man and Raider Red had to leave to attend another event so two newcomers, Dave Larstone and Jay Davis stepped in to play their round. Jay and Dave were teamed with Wahoo and Redneck as the attacking force utilizing F-16 Falcons. The defenders of the faithful in this game were TOP Wop and Slather; soon to be famous as the architects of "The Mother Of All Iraqi Air Defenses!".

TOP WOP and Slather drew MiG-23s, the SA-11s, and unrecorded AAA, which they placed facing the most likely avenue of approach for the F- 16s. Jay and Dave were the Iron Hand while Wahoo and Redneck were the Strikers. Trusting to the capabilities of their ARMs the Falcon force entered at medium altitude. Top Wop and Slather took advantage and obtained optical locks on two F-16s in pre-game actions. On turn one they fired two SA-11 missiles, one at each Iron Hand jet. Needless to say, Jay and Dave were immediately put on the defensive. The Strikers veered to one side while Dave decoyed his missile but Jay took a direct hit which blew up his Falcon and killed the pilot as well. SCRATCH ONE!

This was followed by another shot at Dave, and one at Wahoo. Both initiated defensive breaks and pumped out the decoys. This time Dave took a proximity hit and was lightly damaged while the missile fired at Wahoo threaded the decoys but missed. One the next turn, three more SA-11 missiles were launched, one from each site and one at each remaining Falcon. Redneck had been unmolested up to this point except for some inaccurate AAA fire and was just starting his bomb run. He decided to trust his rear to his DDS program and get bombs on target. Someone forgot to tell the missile though and just as Redneck pickled, the SAM struck him squarely and Kablooey! SCRATCH TWO! He did not survive and to add insult to injury, only suppressed his target.

Meanwhile, Dave managed to evade his missile with decoys but Wahoo's luck ran out. He took a devastating proximity hit which mortally struck his bird. Out of control, he managed to eject and would be rescued a few hours later. SCRATCH TIME!

It was about five turns into play and Dave suddenly found himself damaged and alone. Closing in on him were the two MG-23's which have not had to engage yet and all the ground defenses were still intact. He wisely decided to flee. As he turned and ran, Top Wop elected to go into radar mode with the SA-11 that had been engaging Dave so far and launched its last missile. Using radar provides more accuracy. Dave could not retaliate as he used the momentary lull to do damage control. The next two turns involved a race for the map edge but the missile was simply too fast! It relentlessly tracked him for a direct hit doing crippling damage. Unfortunately for Dave, the gang at that table was playing with the expanded damage tables from Air Power #9 which has a critical hit table. The critical that resulted was "Pilot Killed". SCRATCH FOUR!

Victory to Iraq! Allah Akbar! Death to the infidels! Truly the godless imperialists had met "THE MOTHER OF ALL IRAQI AIR DEFENSES!". Top Wop and Slather were made heroes of the Republic and transferred to the Kuwaiti front just in time to be overrun by a thousand allied tanks. Nevertheless, a great game for the defense.

Table 4:

This table had Popcorn and Iceman on the defense, with Dragon, Bald Eagle, Quickdraw and Iceman-ll as the attack force. Dragon and Baldy were the Iron Hand team leaving Iceman-II and Quickdraw as the Strikers. The attack force elected F- 16s. The defenses rolled up included the MiG23s, the SA-6b and SA-13 SAMs, and the OLK-35mm guns with radars; a nasty mix.

The action started with the MiG-23s immediately boring in on the F-16 force to try and disrupt them. On the first turn, Popcorn achieved a radar lock on Iceman-II's Falcon. He followed up on the next turn by launching an AA-7A RHM which Iceman-II broke away from to keep the missile from reaching him right away.

The Iron Hand flight quickly decided that the MiGs were the main threat of the moment and turned to engage them. A missile duel ensued with Dragon launching two AIM-9Ms at Iceman's MiG while Bald Eagle launched one at Popcorn, all from the forward quarter. In the same turn, Popcorn's AA-7 was decoyed so he followed up against Iceman-II by launching two Aphid IRMs at him. Both of the missiles hit scoring "L" and "H" damage on IcemanII but Bald Eagle's Sidewinder also hit blasting Popcorn's MiG into oblivion. In the other MiG, lucky decoy rolls allowed Iceman to escape Dragon's two missiles but Bald Eaglekept him defensive by launching his remaining AIM-9M at the MiG.

Meanwhile, the SA-6 site had acquired an optical lock onto Baldy's Falcon and had launched one missile. However, by this tim the Quickdraw had entered his attack run and unloaded his bombs scoring a Kill against his target and doing "2D" against an OLK-35 AAA site nearby which had been peppering the sky around him with Flak to no avail. This caused the defenders concern so they dropped the missile launched against Baldy and switched to engage IcemanII's damaged Falcon, which still carried bombs. Before they could launch however, Iceman-II managed to make his attack and also scored a Kill on his target. At this point the F- 16's opted to egress. Unfortunately for Iceman-II, Iceman in the remaining MiG had managed to dodge Baldy's last missile and was in position to pursue. He caught up with damaged Falcon and shot it down before it could get away.

This strike was a success for the attackers but at a cost. The Floggers did a good job of disrupting things but the ground defenses did not contribute much allowing the attack birds to get in while the Iron Hand was engaged in the dogfight.

Origins 91 Air Strike Tourney Report

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