Beta Stat Cards 1

[Renko]

I know Andy was looking at equipment as a new class of cards – still early stages but makes sense, and NOX boost or similar is certainly on the list

[Cat Shot One]

Mark,

thanks for your reply to my message from the 5th on Spit & 109 Emil speeds in 1940. Actually, I saw that I posted Spit IA data, but the BRS Scenarios feature the Spit II.
Speaking about different versions, do you have data for the Battle of Britain on which versions/sub-versions and numbers of 109 and Spitfire were deployed? (E. g. Me Bf 109 E-4, etc.)

[Renko]

Hi Guys
I cant edit posts here, and there is no files area to store stuff, however following the feedback we received there has been some changes made to the Beta cards. The main changes apply to the P39, where we have dropped the speed and specified the US version as being a D rather than a generic all marks one The other main change is to the Me109G. Here we have taken a lower top speed as discussed at length. There have been some minor changes to other cards, mainly availability dates, and we have re-pointed the cards to reflect the changes.

Thanks for the input – enjoy!

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[Renko]

and more – these are mainly “in service dates and similar issues”

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[Koin-Koin]

Thanks for the update.

[Mark Barker]

Very nice.

The Spitfire Vb reduced to the same Agility as a 109G though ?

If it is intended to stick with this you could consider a Spitfire Va – Firepower 1, Agility 3 as well to reflect the lighter armament ?

It would make a nice aircraft to have, especially when we get the Bader ‘Ace’ Card – (hint, hint) as he distrusted cannon and insisted on flying a Va until being shot down over France.

Also lessens the number of models you have glue cannons on to !

Mark Barker

[Renko]

That will be down to Andy but I cant see why not. As I said before, the Beta’s are there to be tested. Points would stay the same.

[Mark Barker]

Speaking about different versions, do you have data for the Battle of Britain on which versions/sub-versions and numbers of 109 and Spitfire were deployed? (E. g. Me Bf 109 E-4, etc.)

The majority of the Battle of Britain was fought with the Mk1, later known as the Mk1A to distinguish from the cannon armament.

The Mk II featured in the latter stages of the Battle, 611 Squadron getting theirs in August 1940 with 19, 74 and 266 Squadrons being equipped in September.

Externally and in game terms the two models are virtually identical, the extra power of the Merlin XII being more than compensated for by the extra weight of equipment that the Spitfire had been fitted with by this time.

In fact, the early Mk 1s were slightly faster in a straight line than the Mk IIs, but the rate of climb and speed at low level had been substantially improved over time by the constant speed prop and changes to the engine to run on 100 Octane fuel.

19 Squadron flew with Mk1bs with a two-cannon armament but the feed mechanism was not reliable and they swapped them back for MG-armed machines after an intervention by Dowding. This is why Bader did not rate cannon armament even though the issues had been sorted by 1941.

From Price:-

First Production Spit 1 – 362 mph @18,500 feet
Martlesham Heath Trials Spit 1 -367 mph @18,600 feet
Mark II Boscombe Down Trials – 354 mph@ 17,554 feet

Mark Barker

[Mark Barker]

Within 24 hours of me hinting at a Bader Ace Pack, guess what appears on Warlord pre-order. That’s what I call customer service !

[Mark Barker]

Which versions/sub-versions and numbers of 109 and Spitfire were deployed? (E. g. Me Bf 109 E-4, etc.)

Ok, this is where it gets tricky …

Somewhere in the archives in Germany there is an order of battle for the Luftwaffe listing which variants of 109 were issued to which unit during the summer of 1940 – but this holy grail for scenario designers has not turned up yet.

Even if found (and I have seen it mentioned in one source) this would likely be an idealised version of what the High Command thought was at the front line, rather than what was actually there and serviceable.

I first looked into this when a saw a picture of a 109 shot down in Windsor Great Park very late in the battle which had no wing cannon fitted. Odd, I thought – surely all the older 109s would have been retrofitted out by then and replaced with the E-3 and E-4 versions with cannon ?

What you will find if you look at the records of aircraft shot down during the Battle of Britain is that as late as October 1940 over a third of the 109s are E-1s with just 4 MGs fitted. At the outset of the battle, E-1s account for almost half of losses.

This is contrary to several of the standard accounts that emphasise the superior armament of the 109, in reality between 30% and 50% of 109s are engaging with precisely half the firepower of the RAF fighters they are facing.

In July, 30% of losses are E-3s – by October that has declined to 2% with the E-4s now predominating.

Obviously it is an assumption that the ratios shot down reflect the ratios in service, but in the abscence of any better data that is the best we have to go on.

The E-1 has 4 MGs and should therefore be Firepower 0 or ‘Poorly armed -1 firepower’ if there is such a card in the deck.

The E-3 is the ‘standard’ cannon variant at the outset with 20mm MG-FF cannon in the wings but very limited ammo. After that is gone, you are down to two nose MGs so it is definitely time to get back over the Kanal..

The MG-FF was a low muzzle velocity cannon with the shells taking a different ballistic trajectory than the MGs so it was hard to obtain hits. In combination these factors explain why the firepower is 1 and no better than the Spitfire or Hurricane even though they do not have cannon.

The E-4 was an E-3 with fuel tank and pilot head armour factory fitted as standard and replacing the MG-FF with the MG-FF ‘M’ cannon. This improved weapon used the more powerful M-Geschoss or ‘Mine’ ammunition and fired it with a higher muzzle velocity and flatter trajectory.

E-4s can justify including the ‘Heavier Armament’ card in the pack for a nasty +1 firepower surprise for your enemy.

The E-7 (which appeared in August 1940) introduced standard provision for drop tanks and enlarged oil tanks to cope with the drag of the bombs which were now being fitted to the ‘Jabo’ aircraft, but from the game perspective is identical to the E-4, also a more rounded canopy started to be introduced at this time.

To further confuse matters, aircraft taken out of service for repair would often get upgraded to the latest variant when returned and fitment of upgrades in the field was also common so it is normal to see photos of aircraft with a combination of features.

Fascinating stuff for those of us really interested in the subject, but what does all of this mean for those running games ?

Answer:- It gives us a lot of options for interesting scenario variants or to balance for differing player experience levels. Our group has not run out of fun with the basic 109s and Spits in the basic game set yet, and here come the Hurricanes …

Help yourselves, everybody !

Mark Barker

[Cat Shot One]

Mark, thank you so much for researching my questions in detail!

[Renko]

This weeks Leak of the week is a bit obscure but hopefully will be useful to Japanese players. Here is the Kawasaki KI48 Lily. The Ki 48 was a Japanese light bomber similar to the British Blenhiem or Soviet SB2, but unlike them continued in service for the whole of the war. Like the Blenhiem and SB2 it relied on speed rather than defensive firepower for protection, however as the opposition fighters got faster it suffered heavy losses. We’ve added it so our Japanese players can play the Escort Duty scenario. You can use the cardboard bomber template from the starter set. As usual the artwork is by the talented Martin Evans .

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[Renko]

This weeks “Leak of the Week” is chosen to fill the last “bomber” gap. So now US players can play the Escort Duty scenario without having to use Blenhiems. It was quite difficult trying to find a US light bomber that was of similar power levels to the others already out there but also one that saw reasonable service and would be recognisable. We settled on the B25C. This is an early B25 version and lacks the heavier fixed and flexible guns of the later versions, and it also has the almost totally useless Bendix retractable ventral turret, all of which I’m using to justify the firepower ratings. As usual artwork by Martin Evans.

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[Koin-Koin]

Actually US forces can already play escort with existing transport as they are russian version of a DC3 and the card is included in the box. (Thanks for TTA unboxing video)

[Renko]

Hi Gents and Ladies. Another LOTW from the Ready Room Facebook Group – I16 Type 24

Should give the 109E jockeys something to reap 🙂

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[Author]

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