From: Fighter Wing, by Tom Clancy
ROE: 1/700th Modern Air Combat Scenario

The recommended reading section of the last issue of the Penny Whistle listed Tom Clancy's book Fighter Wing. For everyone in the class that did the required reading, the following mission briefing will be a pleasant surprise. The rest of you are reminded to do your homework if you ever expect to be a Gunfighter Pilot!

The technical prowess of Clancy's writing will often leave the reader flipping back to the glossary for all of the unfamiliar words and readout data. It is this very jargon that fills the modern scenario with all of it's character and fascination. From the future of modern air combat we are given a notional ride with the 366th Fighter Wing as it responds to a global threat in the year 2000. The theater of operations is Vietnam and the area around the Yen Bai Airbase. The Vietnamese Peoples Air Force is nearly obliterated and will not be able to hold on to its current equipment for very much longer. The 931st Fighter Regiment of the VNPAF is determined not to die on the ground. Under the leadership of the surviving ranking commander, Colonel Nguyen Tri Loc, the nine surviving Mig-29Cs will fight! If given the chance.

Chance alone has placed the 366th commanding General Perry in harms way. Leading a mission against the political bunkers and cave complexes of the VNPR the 366th Fighter Wing is striking political targets and has crippled the Vietnamese government. On a return run from one of these missions, the four jets of "Wing King" Perry's squadron are bounced by the 931st Fighter Regiment under the command of Col. Nguyen Tri Loc. Using terrain and chance encounter the Mig- 29 Fulcrums have surprised two pair of F-15Es.

What follows is the TOE of the fighting aircraft in the scenario depicted from the book. They will be listed as they should be written in on the player control sheet. All notations will refer to the ROE set of rules for the Gnatz Aircombat System. Get ready for the tensest 11 minutes of your wargaming life!

366th Fighter Wing

"Audentes Fortuna Juvat"

Fortune Favors The Bold

This flight is made up of four F-15Es. Its' code call sign was "Wing King". Each ship was given a designation of "King 1 through 4".

King 1: Pilot General Perry "Wing King", WSO: Asi Ontra "Ahab"
King 2: Pilot First Lt. Billy "Jack" Bowles, WSO: N/A
King 3: Pilot Harry, WSO N/A Note: this ship is obliterated in the first encounter with the MIGS. Use it as an optional or the starting point of the scenario.
King 4: Pilot Tony, WSO N/A.

All of the F-15Es are armed as follows:

4 AIM-9M Sidewinders (SRM).
2 AIM-120 Slammers (LRM).
M61 Vulcan 20mm Cannon full load of ammo.
All F-15Es are considered Ace Status.
All ECM are 2. They may fire both chaff and flares from their ALE-47 Decoy on the same turn.

You will need to create four control sheets of the various aircraft. "Wing King" Perry is included in this article as a sample.

931st Fighter Regiment VNPAF

Colonel Nguyen Tri Loc acting commander.

This squadron consist of nine Mig-29Cs. Only two were given pilot names in the book. The first is the Colonel and the other is his wing man Captain Tran. You will need to create the rest of the names in appropriate Vietnamese.

The Migs were set up with the following weapons:

2 R-73/AA11 Archers (SRM).
2 R27/AA10 Alamos (LRM).

We set Colonel Tri Loc's Pilot status at Ace, his wingman at Veteran, and the rest of the flight at Recruit. The real killer is the Migs ECM is set at 0. The Migs have both Flares and Chaff. Colonel Nguyen Tri Loc's aircraft control sheet will be included as a sample. The balance of the Regiment will need to be photocopied from blank sheets and filled in.

Scenario 1

May 10, 2000 1412 Hours

"Wing King" flight is returning from a strike on the political cave system in Vietnam. They will pass within five miles of the Yen Bai Airbase where the surviving planes of the 931st are sheltered.

Traveling in pairs the F-15Es are placed on the table hex map two hexes apart from each other and on a Southwest heading. The Migs arrive in pairs one hex apart and with one pair becoming airborne per turn. They will be placed in the forward left quarter in relation to the U.S. planes and 12 hexes distant. In other words they are arriving on the table from the south with a north heading.

The objective is for the Vietnamese to destroy as many U.S. aircraft as possible. And now that the VNPAF has taken to the air the ROE allows for General Perry to wreak havoc on the remaining viable air combat forces in Vietnam.

Scenario 2

11 Minutes Later
The "Furball" West of Yen Bai Airfield
May 10, 2000 1423 Hours

Regardless of the outcome of the first scenario. Our named characters have survived into scenario 2. 11 minutes later the aircraft are in a chase that will make an interesting starting scenario. Play them both and see how well you can fly. In this test we have Colonel Tri Loc attempting to come to the aid of his wingman Tran.

General Perry also has spotted the Mig/F-15/Mig train and decides to come to the aid of his wingman "King 2" Billy "Jack". Place the model aircraft all on the same heading in the following order. Tran (Mig29), 4 hexes away- Billy Jack (F-15), 4 more hexes- Colonel Tri Loc (Mig) , 4 final hexes- General Perry (F-15). Here is the interesting part, all aircraft are down to SRM's and cannon ammo. Every turn roll a six sided die and keep a running total of the score. When this total reaches 8, four fully loaded F-15Cs arrive to help the U.S. side.

I cannot stress enough that the Clancy book is well worth a look. This is an interesting scenario setup and I hope you will enjoy collecting the models, reading the book and playing the game.

Check Six!

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