"Flying the Gnat is like driving a high speed sports car after the family Saloon!" --An ex-IAF Hunter pilot after unit conversion. Background: Four F-86s on aground strike were jumped by four Gnats as they attacked Indian troops near the front. The Gnats small size helped them achieve surprise but in the ensuing fight the Sabres managed to break even claiming one Gnat for the loss of one Sabre. Maps: F Indian Ground Forces: Medium Armor x 3, Lt. armor x 6, trucks x 4, mobile ZPU-414.5mm Lt. AAA x 2. Set up one or two per hex in any order desired on the main East / West road starting at hex F-0411 and ending at hex F-1814. Game Length: 20 game-turns. Notes: 1. The Sabres begin sighted, the Gnats unsighted. All aircraft are silver. The F-86Fs are slatted late models. 2. Aircraft Loads: Each Sabre carries two 400L FTs and eight Hvy. RK. Each Gnat carries two 250L FTs. 3. Pilot Quality: Sabres= all R. Gnats= all R. Roll for attributes, no characteristics apply. 4. Terrain: Only the dark brown contour line exists, representing a level one hill. Ignore ridge lines and light brown areas. 5. Weather: Stratus Layers at 18 and 25. 6. Fuel: Sabre start- 160, bingo= 60. Gnats start= 60, bingo= 25. 7. Victory: The Sabres must do at least 10 points of damage to the ground forces and have more points overall to win. The Gnats must only have more points. Back to Table of Contents -- Air Power # 18 Back to Air Power List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1991 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