The Second World War, Bag the Hun!, 1:300 scale

This week, Nick brought along his Battle of Britain kit, including his lovely hex-covered map of the coast of southern England. The rules include an option for attacking ships, so Nick decided to try this out. This game was set in July 1940, and centres around an air attack on Convoy OA-178. The letters stand for ‘Outbound Atlantic’ . So, the ships were heading west from the Thames Estuary, and were off Portland when the Stukas appeared.The Stukas were from II/StG 51, a dive-bomber group in the 51st Sturzkampfgeschwader wing. they entered from the south-eastern corner of the table, which meant they were approaching the convoy from astern. They were flying at Level 4 – maximum altitude in Bag the Hunt.  Of course, it didn’t help things that Nick, who commanded the Stukas, admitted that he hadn’t actually read the dive-bombing rules! So, he’ have to learn on the job!Escorting them were two formations of fighters, each made up of eight aircraft. The Me-109s were from I/JG 1, a three-squadron group in the 1st fighter wing, while the twin-engined Me-110s formed part of I/LG 1, the 1st ‘Experimental wing’.Of course thanks to radar the Royal Air Force were well aware that this host of aircraft was approaching, so two squadrons of fighters were scrambled to take them on. First on the scene were nine 9 Spitfires from 64 Squadron. Chris led them.A little behind them were another nine fighters, all Hurricanes from 79 Squadron. So, with 18 fighters under his control, Chris had his work cut out. All I had to deal with were my staffel (squadron) of Me-110s – Nick commanded the rest of the Luftwaffe aircraft.The two groups of fighters closed quickly, and ‘threaded’ through each other, before turning round to begin an almighty dogfight. I quickly found that my Me-110s weren’t as manoeverable as the Spitfires I was facing, but they had an impressive firepower. This led to me scoring my first victory. A Spitfire was peppered by one of my Me-110’s, and its engine was hit. it began losing altitude, and trailing black smoke. Moments later the pilot bailed out, somewhere over Lyme Bay. Before I had a chance to barrel roll, it was the Luftwaffe’s turn to suffer. Chris’ Spitfires managed to turn in formation, and a rookie pilot in an Me-109 was ambushed and hit – his plane blowing up, the poor blighter!By now I was running all the German fighters, as Nick had his hands full carrying out bombing runs on the convoy. He was lucky. He’d got a clear run at the convoy, as by now all of the British fighters – both the Spitfires and the Hurricanes – were targeting my Me-109s and Me-110s. Incidentally the black smoke in the picture above, made from pipecleaners clipped over a wing – marked out a plane that was in trouble.That was becoming a fairly common sight for both sides as the dogfight increased in ferocity. At first I’d opted to stay in formation as it gives you a bonus in movement. That, though, soon went out of the window, and it was every pilot for himself! I winged another British plane – this time a Hurricane – but it was only cockpit damage, and the British fighter stayed in the air. One of my 109s wasn’t so lucky. A German junior ace was shot down when his Me-109 all but fell apart – the result of being hit by two enemy fighters at the same time. It seemed as if the Germans were getting the worst of the battle, but at least Nick’s Stukas had done their thing, and hit the convoy. At that point, though, we called it a night. We could continue the battle, but as it stands its a German defeat or at least a tactical one. Next time, though, I’ll read the rules!

Tags: Bag the Hun