Nightfighter - AAR - Scenario 2

This is effectively the first Scenario for the German Nightfighter player.  It pits a single Me-110C-2 against a trio of Hampdens in late 1940 on the coast of Holland.  It is rated as Hard which means there should be a chance of winning but you will have to work for it.

MISSION ANALYSIS

Weather. 
With no cloud and moderate visibility the Moon could be the only friend however I won't know the moon state until game start.

Enemy Forces. 
Bombers enter Turns 1, 5 and 10. These are spread out which means the Freya Radar is going to be getting a lot of umpire false signals.
The Hampdens are 2* movement, 1 FP and 3 Hits which doesn't tell me a lot.  It does mean however that they are slow.  Turn One 1 - 2 Hexes in, Turn Two 1 - 5 Hexes in, Turn Three (Latest Entry)  1 - 7 Hexes in.  So from Turn 3 onwards I am tracking a real bomber and can keep the Freya moving to make sure I can localise the aircraft.  Therefore with 27 hexes to go I have a minimum of 8 turns to find him and get in a position to shoot. Keeping the Freya in front of the line every turn means I can continue tracking and ignore the second bomber.

Own Forces. 
The Me110C-4 has a MP of 4.  I can gain a firing solution over him in a steady manner.  Turns 1 and 2 will have me moving forward 2 hexes per turn (probably side slip) and then increase to Speed 4 from Turn 3 onwards to prosecute the expected bomber.
Single Freya. Sweep and contact will work as normal however the Radar sweep is going to generate a lot of bogus contacts. The Umpire could elect to load the "wrong" side of the map with echoes when generating the entry points on the other side of the map.

Counter Measures
In this game neither side has any electronic aids apart from my Freya.

Game Set Up
I put the Me110C-4 on the radio beacon and waited in the moonless dark (Umpire 2d6 rolled 8 for moonstate).

Turn 1.  I simply move the NF forward 2 hexes (side slip right).  I am not expecting any real information despite the Freya indicating possible enemy.  (I so don't trust radar in the first two turns of the simple games).

Turn 2. Ditto.  I side slip back left

Turn 3.  Time to go looking for trade as the Search is after I move I only move 3 this turn. The Freya can now be of some use.

Turn 4. Keeping the Freya moving backwards each turn means that I can localise the Bomber.  Sneaky so and so brought the bomber on in Turn 1 knowing I wouldn't go looking for it.  So rather than give me the advantage after four turns. 

Turn 8 I am in a position but cannot get a Tally.  The lack of AI and the visibility isn't helping

Turn 9 No Tally again.  The Radar is showing a contact so I just think I am rolling badly.  I only have two turns to get the kill as the board edge is beckoning.  I think I need a 3

Turn 10  finally roll a tally dice which is indeed a 3.  Combat phase no hits.

Turn 11 and the bomber reaches safety and I have to come about 180 degrees.  I have used up six precious turns looking for bomber 1 which means Bomber 2 is as much as around row 17 which means I have four turns.  I keep the Radar on the RHS of the table and send the Me-110 south.  The Radar phase is a bit of a result as it would appear that the bomber is also on the RHS.  (Red chits favour the RHS and Yellow the Left) so I am guessing he has chosen red chits.  The odd aircraft do appear over on the other side but I can now focus on the RH half.

Turn 12  It would appear that there is a delayed entry as the contact is back towards row 15 or 16 which is a  break for the NF.

Turn 13 - 14 Kept moving south

Turn 15 - 180 degree turn to localise the bomber again. But no Tally.  Radar indicates that I need to be one more hex ahead

Turn 16 - Tally on the bomber which was lucky.  And with +4 FP, enough for a shoot down.  As this was to try out minis I ended here rather than chase the 3rd Bomber (which is on the LH Half and far enough away for me not to be able to chase.

Game End.  Scenario 2 doesn't suit Miniatures play.  One NF on table with no AI or Searchlight.  Means that you end with some markers.  Teaches you how to use Radar and Radar contact to localise a bomber but you still need to get a visual relying on the Mk I eye ball.  I missed the first bomber due to poor tally rolls and was lucky on the second.  From a VP perspective I think that 3 bomber scenarios should be 1 Kill = Draw, with 2 Kills for a Victory and all 3 for a Decisive.  Otherwise I think the Victory conditions are a bit too easy.