A Bit More on the Fireball

I have been working on a few additional hypothetical scenarios that feature the Ryan FR-1 Fireball - a piston and jet engined fighter that went into production a bit too late to see service during the Second World War. With the recent purchase at DayCon of a pair of MSD Games F8F Bearcats, nicely painted by Chris at I-94, I wanted to get both the Bearcats and the Fireballs on the table together. 

There is a not a lot of ink on the Fireball - oh, one can easily find numerous images online, but it is a relatively sparse plate in finding printed materials. There are two that I know of that specifically deal with the FR-1 - a Squadron Signal Mini in Action (1995) and a title in the Naval Fighters series by Steve Ginter (Ryan FR-1 Fireball And XF2R-1 Darkshark, also 1995). The Fireball also receives a few pages in the Detail & Scale book U.S. Navy and Marine Carrier-Based Aircraft of World War II (2018). So really the Mini in Action and the Ginter books are the best source books still available today. However, they do not always agree in their facts (mostly when it comes to VF-66 personnel and the number of kills they had prior to joining the squadron).

YouTube has numerous videos on the Fireball - unfortunately a few of them really besmirch the plane as opposed to looking at why it was designed versus the issues with using jet powered aircraft on carriers.  

What I have done, with the use of AI, is to create five "what-if" scenarios featuring the FR-1 and/or the F8F, going up against some of the few late war Japanese aircraft I have (the Ki-100 and J2M3 Raiden). Those five scenarios are now uploaded on the Downloads page, under the "World War II - Pacific (If the War Continued)" section.

Aces of VF-66

VF-66? Unless you have followed this blog for a spell, or enjoy delving into the obscure as  do, you probably have not heard of VF-66, with the squadron name of the "Firebirds." (VF-66 posts HERE) Yet, near the end of the Second World War, this squadron was being formed to fly a new type of plane, a hybrid piston and jet engine fighter known as the Fireball. As this squadron, and its mount, were being worked up rapidly to take on the increasing kamikaze threat, the vast majority of the pilots were being pulled from existing units, and some of these poached pilots were already aces.

The squadron commander, Lieutenant John F. Gray, had served in Task Force 58 (VF-5) as a Hellcat pilot, racking up 8.25 victories (one source, the Squadron/Signal MINI in Action that covers the Fireball, mentions twenty-four kills). Gray was allowed to pull men from his own flight from VF-5, and then also was able to handpick others. New pilots were designated to remain stateside and train for another FR-1 squadron, but this second squadron never came into being as the war ended and the contracts to build additional Fireballs were cancelled.

With about twenty pilots in the squadron, 70% had seen combat, and six had shot down five or more aircraft prior to joining the squadron. Those aces serving with VF-66 are as follows.

John T. Gray - 8.25 (VF-5)

Kenneth G. Hippe - 5

Collin Oveland - 5 (VF-24)

LeRoy W. "Rocky" (or Robby) Robinson - 5 (VF-2)

James S. Swope - 9.66

John T. Wolf - 7 (VF-2)

Aircrew quality for hypothetical scenarios would either rate as veteran (+2) or skilled (+1). I like to rate 40+ kills as Experten, 20-39 kills as aces, 5-19 kills as veterans, and 1-4 kills, or well trained pilots, as skilled. 

Balls of Fire - After Action Report

Initial setup of VF-66

I finally hosted my hypothetical late Second World War scenario, called Balls of Fire. The game features the Ki-100 Goshikisen against the Ryan FR-1 Fireball. Why these two planes? Because I can! 

The Japanese setup

The scenario is set over Sagami Bay, southwest of Yokohama. VF-66, a specially assembled Navy fighter squadron that pulled experienced pilots from other squadrons, had been training on the Fireball for months as the Ryan was the only plane fast enough to intercept the Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka. However, the war ended before VF-66 could see action. This scenario assumes the war extended long enough for VF-66 to get into action. Their opponents are the pilots of the 244th Sentai, a home defense squadron, with its own selection of experienced pilots. 

Both sides have spotted and are starting to react

The players can only plot forward maneuver codes until either completing a successful spotting roll or after taking fire. 

Five hardy players from the Check Your 6! Southwestern Ohio Group met at the local game store. Initial setup is a bit randomized. While the opposing forces set up in opposite corners of the board, their starting CAB and TAL are determined by a roll of the dice. The Japanese started with three formations, two at Medium CAB and the last at Medium Bottom. The Americans started at  Medium CAB. Numbers favored the 244th Sentai with six aircraft, while aircrew quality leaned towards VF-66 (the Americans had one ace, two veterans, and one skilled pilot, while the Japanese had three veterans, two skilled, and one green aircrew).

The first five to six turns were simply approach moves until the Japanese closed to within spotting range. They were successful in spotting the Americans while the latter failed to spot in return for one turn. However, as distances were great, the Americans spotted the next turn so there was no impact with their initial failure.

Maneuvering towards the Imperialists

VF-66 moves to engage

Scratch one Ki-100! Ys, I used an afterburner marker to indicate the destroyed Nippon

One of the best opportunities for the Japanese fell short and resulted in an airframe hit in return

The Dance of Death starts

Can you say airframe?

The last formation of Ki-100s close in

But for naught with another airframe hit

The setting sun on the Japanese Empire, another good chance to damage a Fireball failed

The Americans did not fair overly well with their damage dice results, but they were just enough to result in several airframe hits. The Japanese lined up a couple of good shots, but the Americans had a wave of successful robustness checks. And once the forces had closed, it was a day of Split S and Immelmann maneuvers, neither side wanting to show tail to the opponent.

More Japanese fell from the sky. With two Ki-100s now out of ammunition and no damage on the invading Imperialist Yankees, we called the game at fifteen turns. It was a tough day for the Emperor's 244th Sentai.  I had the American ace (VF-66 commander John Gray) and did well, inflicting two airframe hits. The Japanese commander, Teruhiko Kobayashi, not so much - I think he was one of the veteran pilots that were shot down.

Some takeaways:

1. Having the players start within five hexes of their respective edge corners was too far apart. Next time they will start within their respective areas (A for the Japanese and F for the Americans). This will allow the forces to get into action sooner.
2. Having a random die roll for TAL worked well, but having one for random CAB kept one Japanese player out of the game for quite some time (both sides had to hold course, CAB, TAL, and speed until spotting the enemy). Instead I will have the players all start in the same CAB, but still randomizing each formation's TAL.
3. Dice of course determined the outcomes. Had the Americans failed a robustness check or two, the game would have went quite differently. 

• The updated scenario is available under the Downloads page above.
• Planes are MSD Games FR-1s and Raiden Ki-100s, painted by Chris at I-94.
• Game mat is from Deep Cut Studio.

The New Sea/Ocean Mat

I have ordered three mats from Deep Cut Studio in the past, and have been very happy with both the service and quality. I have been in need of a sea/ocean mat with hexes, and decided to treat myself to a Christmas purchase. For those who have not ordered from Deep Cut Studio for whatever reason, but are in need of cool mats, both in existing styles or custom work, you will have a good experience. From the date of order to arrival was about two weeks, and that was in the midst of the New Year's holiday.

I ordered the standard Check Your 6! sized mat - six by four feet, 1.5" hexes that run horizontally. This standard size is used throughout the various scenario books. I used the Deep Cut Studios waterworld image, with white hex lines.

However, when the mat arrived yesterday, I was dismayed...the hexes were so faint which was odd considering that on the last mat I ordered I did the same thickness and transparency...but the last mat was printed on PVC and on the sea mat I went with cloth, so I think the saturation might be different. Tonight I unfolded the mat an snapped some pictures, and to be honest, I am liking the faint hex lines.

Mat - Deep Cut Studios
Terrain piece - Wake Island by Fight's On, painted by yours truly

Planes - MSD Games Ryan FR-1 Fireballs of VF-66 painted by Chris at I-94

Balls of Fire

The Ryan FR-1 Fireball (MSD Games) and the Kawasaki Ki-100 (Raiden)...I've had these planes painted for some time, but finally got around to adding magnets so I can host an upcoming game using these oddball planes. The scenario is set in September 1945, and it assumes that the Japanese have yet to surrender, and that the Ryan Fireball, a hybrid piston/jet plane, and historically assigned to VF-66 (the Firebirds), makes it into action. The Firebirds were commanded by John F. Gray, an ace with 8.25 kills to his credit. Gray selected experienced men to join VF-66, including another ace, Kenneth Hippe who had five kills during the war. Overall the pilot quality of the Firebirds was very good with just a handful of new pilots, who were relegated to training for a new squadron. Hence, had VF-66 made it to war, their aircrew quality, using 40+ kills as an experten (+4), 20-39 as an ace (+3), 5-19 as a veteran (+2), and 0-4 as skilled (+1), VF-66 would have been rife with veteran and skilled pilots. .

On the other side is the Kawasaki Ki-100, which was developed from the Ki-61 (Tony). Both the Fireball and the Ki-100 (known as the Goshikisen) were fairly close in performance from what I could gather, but the Japanese will have a bit of an armament advantage as the Ki-100 has a heavier armament than the Fireball (two modern cannon and two heavy machineguns vs. four heavy machineguns). Also, the Japanese unit that did use the Ki-100, the 244th Sentai led by Teruhiko Kobayashi, was considered to be an exceptional organization, so the Americans do not have a great advantage in pilot skill that one would normally expect at this stage of the war. 

The scenario is a straightforward "shoot 'em up" with four Fireballs facing off against six Ki-100s. An after action report will follow once I host the first game using these rare birds. In the meantime you can grab the updated scenario by clicking the Downloads page above (the file is housed on Google Drive and is in pdf format).