DRAGONSLAYERS: Superfortresses over Japan 1945

 

The B-29 was the ultimate piston-engined bomber of Word War Two. It was also the most costly weapons program undertaken by the USA at that time costing even more than the Manhatten Project did to create the first atomic bomb. Initially based in India in the summer of 1944, by 1945 the B-29 units were based in the Mariana Islands chain where they could be sortied and supplied more efficiantly. Flying from Guam, Tinian and Saipan the 20th Air Force B-29s had several challenges to overcome during the campaign against the Japanese Home Islands. The high winds of the Pacific Jetstream were little understood prior to 1945 and early raids were severely hampered by the effects on high altitude bombing. The missions themselves were also of a very long duration, some 14 hours round trip from the Marianas. Initial B-29 operations were also flown without fighter escort as no land bases were close enough to Japan to fly escorts from. 

 

 Maj General Curtis E. LeMay took command of XXI Bomber Command in January of 1945. After examining the problems that plagued earlier missions LeMay sent the B-29 force over Japan at low altitude for the first time in March of 1945. In conjunction with using incindiery firebomb loads these changes paved the way for US bombing strategy against Japan for the remainder of the war. By the Spring of 1945 after the invasions of Okinawa and Iwo Jima USAAF fighter units were able to provide escort to the B-29s. In addition to the increasingly formidable USAAF bomber raids the Allied carrier task forces sortied ever larger numbers of fighters over Japan by the summer of 1945, further straining the defenders.

 

 Japans fighter defences were hampered by the short range of the home defence radars and the vulnerability of their picket ships. As a result Japanese fighters usually had no more than an hours warning to scramble to meet incoming B-29 raids. Cooperation between the IJN and IJAAF was also poor. Aircraft serviceability and quality pilot replacements were also an ongoing problem. Even with such excellent fighters as the Ki-84 and N1K2 the Japanese were never equipped with an interceptor that could entirely meet the needs posed by the Superfortress formations. Despite these obstacles the IJN and IJAAF interceptor pilots battled on as best they could engaging the huge Boeings as they streamed in over their homeland. Tackling a B-29 raid remained the most difficult and dangerous assignment the surviving fighter pilots faced.

 

 By wars end the B-29 had played as great a part as any weapon in ending the conflict with the Japanese. The final contribution of the B-29 would be the atomic bombing missions undertaken against Hiroshima and Nagasaki which ultimately led to Imperial Japans capitulation in August of 1945.

 

This FSO recreates the B-29 offensive against Japan in the summer of 1945 as the Second World War enters its final stage.

 

Country Percentages:

 

Axis 50%
Allied 50%

 

Field Assignments:

 

Axis Bishop
Allied Knight
CM Rook
 
OOB:
 
Axis (IJN/IJAAF):

 

Ki-84 (max 36)
N1K2  (max 36)
Ki-61

 

Allied (USAAF/USN/USMC): 

 

P-51D (max 36) 
P-47N
F4U-1D
F6F 

B-29 (min 30 - max 40 *players*)

 

Special Rules and Ordnance Restrictions:

 

* All aircraft types must be used by a minimum of 12 *players*.
* The Axis have no attack objectives.
* Bombers are limited to 20k max altitude.
* All Allied aircraft will use air starts at A122.
* Allied fighters have all air-ground ordnance and drop tanks disabled.
* The B-29 is limited to the *500 rpg ammo loadout* and *20 x 500 lb bombs* only.
* The P-47N is limited to the 267 rpg loadout options.
* The B-29, P-51, and P-47 units must RTB to a LAND BASE by frame end. They may NOT recover at a Carrier Task  Group. F6F and F4U fighters may RTB to a Carrier Task Group.

* ALL AIRCRAFT ARE TO BE LANDED AND THE PLAYERS TOWERED OUT BY FRAME END OR WILL BE CONSIDERED SHOT DOWN AND THE CREWS KIA.

 

Scoring:

 

Aircraft Pts
------------
B-29 = 25 pts
Allied Fighter = 5 pts
Axis Fighter = 3 pts

Landing Bonus = 2 pts

 

Target Pts
----------
Gun = 0.5 pts
Hangar = 10 pts
All Other = 2 pts

 

Arena Settings:

 

- Japan terrain
- Fuel burn 1.0
- Icons friendly 3k/enemy 3k
- 0.5 Ack
- Fighter and Bomber warning range 42,000 (about 8 miles)
- Tower range set to 42,000 (for display only to match the above setting)
- Haze/fog full visibility (17 miles)
- Radar off
- Enemy collisions on
- Friendly collisions off
- Killshooter off
- Time: 15:00 ( 3PM ) Game Clock
- Formations: On
- Bomber calibration: Manual
- Wind: 0K-2K NO WIND
           2K-10K W TO E - Speed 10
           10K-28k W TO E - Speed 15 
           28K+ SW TO NE Speed 125
         

Designer's Notes:

 

* Allied fighters flying VLR (Very Long Range) missions to Japan in 1945 could not carry bombs. Drop tanks are assumed to have been jettisoned at the start of the frame.

 

Design by Warloc