Fighting Withdrawal from Ploesti: 1-Aug-43

by Joe Ferrara

Background: Although the Ploesti raiders were heavily engaged by flak inbound to their targets, German interceptors were absent. As the Liberators exited the target area, the Luftwaffe arrived. Here, two Bf-109s flown by a pair of experienced pilots pounce on a trio of Liberators. The B-24s were scattered by the initial German attack and two were lost.

Map: OTR Ground Map

Set Up:

• Set up the B-24s in hexes 2945, 2846 and 3046, heading west at altitude 0.3, speed 4.5 (see special rules 1 and 2 below), wings level.
• Set up the Me109s in hexes 2951 and 2852, altitude 1.0, speed 6.0, wings level, also heading west.

Game Length: 20 Turns, or until all B-24s have exited the west edge of the map, or have been shot down.

Special Rules:

1. The B-24s are unloaded, having dropped their bombs at the target.
2. B-24 #3 has taken 5 damage points of flak damage. There has been one critical hit (#5 on the engine critical hit table) on engine 3.

3. The Luftwaffe player must shoot down at least two B-24s and have more points in order to win. Any other result is a USAAF victory. Only count any damage done during the game when you compute Luftwaffe victory points. Any B-24 exiting any edge other than the west edge is considered shot down for full VP award.

Additional Rules: Pilot Quality - Training Standards:

• USAAF = Average
• Luftwaffe = Veteran/Crack Shots

Variant: Compute B-24 flak damage randomly: Roll 1D10 for each aircraft. The result is the number of damage points of flak damage done. Roll for critical hits using a critical hit number of 3. Treat all results that would result in the destruction of a B-24 as a "Hollow space" critical hit.

ADC Availability: The B-24D is available at Uncle Ted’s.
The Me-109-6 was published in Over the Reich.

Sources: Dugan and Stewart, Ploesti, pp 130-131.