Background: As the Allied drive on Tunis bogged down, air action continued. Flights of P-38s from the 48th
Fighter Squadron and Me-210s from III/ZG 26 encountered each other over the front lines. In the ensuing combat, the
Lightnings claimed two of the Me-210s and drove off the rest. The Lightnings finished their flights by strafing German
troops and clearly carried the day, this day.
Map
Ground map from Achtung! Spitfire
Game Length
20 turns
Aircraft:
USAAF
=
Four Lockheed P-38F-15 Lightnings
Luftwaffe
=
Four Messerschmitt Me-210A
Set Up
Allies
The P-38s begin in hexes 2916, 3016, 2816, and 2715 at speed 6.5, in level flight and bank. The Aircraft are headed East in flexible formation.
Set up Sherman tanks in hexes 4207, 4208 and 4209; trucks in hexes 2304 and 2305; and infantry in hexes 2307, 3018 and 4218. The infantry is entrenched.
Axis
The Me.210s begin in hexes 3136, 3037, 3237 and 3337 at speed 5.5,, in level flight and bank. The Aircraft are headed West in flexible formation.
Set up Pz IV tanks in hexes 2140, 2141 and 2142; trucks in hexes 4143 and 4144; and infantry in hexes 2134, 2738 and 3939. The infantry is entrenched.
Special Rules:
Prior to setup, each player secretly selects whether his aircraft have a "sweep" mission or a "strike" mission:
"Sweep" aircraft must be unloaded, while "strike" aircraft may carry any legal load of HE bombs.
"Strike" aircraft set up at altitude 3.0, "sweep" aircraft at altitude 5.0.
Reveal aircraft missions, loads and altitudes simultaneously.
Treat all woods and river hexes as clear; treat all town hexes as rough, elevation 1.0.
Sherman tanks are the equivalent of Pz IV: They have a hard defense strength of 15 and a point target strength of 7.
Tanks are worth 15 VP if destroyed, 7 VP if damaged.
All tanks and infantry have a single MG34 (Axis) or 50 caliber (US) flak.
The map is fixed; aircraft that exit may not reenter.
Score VPs normally.
If both players select sweep, then most VPs win.
If both select strike, then most VPs win and the winner must have scored at least some VPs against enemy ground targets.
If one player selects "sweep" and the other selects "strike" then the "sweep" player must have twice as many VPs as
the "strike" player in order to win, while the "strike" player need only prevent the sweep player from doing this and have some VPs
against ground targets in order to win.
Any other result is a draw. Reveal which aircraft if damage level is severe.
Additional Rules:
National Training Standards: Roll for pilot skill level
Axis = Good
Allies = Average
Roll for additional abilities if desired. Treat any "ace" results for the US as "gifted-crack shot" as there are no US aces at this point in the war.
Other Aircraft: The Allied player may replace the P-38s with an equal number of USAAF (P-39Ds, P-40Fs or
Spitfire Vcs) or RAF (Hurricane IICs or Spitfire Vcs) aircraft. RAF pilots may be aces. The Axis player may replace the
Me-210s with either Fw-190A-3/U3 or Me-109G-2/R1.
Tougher Flak: Add two entrenched light flak units to both sides. These guns are placed adjacent to any
friendly ground unit. Use the quad 50 caliber M51 for the US and the 20mm Flak 38 for the Axis.
Random Mission: If players wish to determine roles randomly, then they may each roll a D10 prior to play.
On a roll of 5 or more the player has a "sweep" roll. Add 2 to all P-38, P-40 and Hurricane rolls.