steve's blog

Another game of Downtown with Paul this afternoon. This time D14: Walk on the Wild Side – a Linebacker II raid against targets around Hanoi.

Paul took the USA and planned a raid on eight targets by 48 B-52s supported by F-111s, SEAD and CAP.

The F-111s struck first at my airfields and effectively closed them, but not before two MiG-21s launched from Kep and Phuc Yen.

I managed to shoot down two Phantoms (one by Fire Can and one MiG kill) and two B-52s (one by SAM and one MiG kill). Two more B-52s were damaged by SAMs but recovered safely.

Paul destroyed six targets with heavy bombing and his SEAD shutdown three SA-2 sites.

Paul scored 18VPs (6×2 for targets; 3×1 for SAMs damaged; 3 for my extra MiG points); I scored 19 VPS (2×2 for shooting down a pair of Phantoms; 4 for capturing four aircrew; 1 for some collateral damage Paul inflicted; and 2×5 for shooting down a pair of B-52s).

Overall the score was -1 VP for a significant US defeat.

This was by far the largest scenario we’ve played and given it was set in late 1972 used a more complex set of rules than before.

Played Downtown scenario D3 You Keep Me Hangin’ On with Paul today.

I took the USN and was assigned a strike on a Haiphong POL storage site – a major target in a heavily defended part of Route Package 6B. The raid launched from the Oriskany consisted of four flights of Skyhawks, escorted by two pair of CAP Crusaders, two pair of armed escort Crusaders and two pair of SEAD Skyhawks with Shrikes. Post strike recon was to be a pair of RF-8Es.

I planned a quick dash from the sea direct to the target, egressing Haiphong to the East and back out to sea.

Paul decided to defend with a “SAM day” due to North Vietnam’s inability to deconflict aircraft and SAM defences early in Rolling Thunder.

Initially my SEAD Skyhawks were successful killing a Fire Can AAA system and shutting down a SAM site with Shrikes. Unfortunately there were four more SAM sites in the area and lots of AAA. One Crusader and two Skyhawks were shot down attacking the target and another 2 more Skyhawks crippled whilst heavily damaging the target.

The Haiphong AAA was amazingly successful in shooting down both recon Crusaders meaning no BDA was obtained!

All in all a USN disaster with a result of -22VP for a very significant defeat.

Played Downtown with Paul today. Scenario D18: Eve of Destruction from C3I 18 which covers a 1965 strike on the Thanh Hoa Bridge a notoriously difficult target for the Americans.

Paul took a USAF strike of 15 flights of Thunderchiefs escorted by some F-100s and followed by a Voodoo recon flight. The entered over from over the Gulf of Tonkin and egressed over Laos.

I scrambled MiG-17s from airfields in the Hanoi area, but they were unable to reach the strike force before it got to the bridge which was heavily defended by two medium flak batteries and a pair of Fire Cans. Paul was able to damage one Fire Can and suppress the flak and heavily damaged the bridge.

In the process he lost 2 planes shot down (a Thud bit by a Fire Can and a Super Sabre shot down by a Fresco), 4 crippled and 1 damaged which all recovered OK.

As a result it was a significant US defeat – due to the political cost of the losses.