I AM THE WALRUS, 2 September 1943

Briefing: Wing Commander Duncan Smith was forced to bale out near the Italian coast due to a fault in his Spitfire's fuel tank switch. He lost his dinghy on impact with the water, and spent over six hours floating in the sea before he was found. A Walrus amphibian landed in the heavy swell to pick him up. At that moment, in spite of a covering force of Spitfires from 1(SAAF) Squadron, a mixed bag of Axis fighters arrived, and some attempted to strafe the Walrus as it bobbed on the water.

Map: Blue Sky
Aircraft: Allied:Eight Spitfire Vc (Trop)
One Walrus II
Axis:Three Bf109G-1/Trop
Two FW 190A-4
Two Macchi C.202
One Reggiane 2001

Set Up: Place the Walrus in hex 2927, facing E, altitude 0.0, speed 0.0 (i.e. stationary on the water). Place the four Spitfire flight leads as follows:
Place the Spitfire counter in 2927, facing N. Roll the die, and rotate the counter this many facings clockwise. Roll the die and add 10, move it this many hexes forward, then rotate it 3 facings clockwise so that its right wing points back to 2927. If it is on a hexside, move it one hex to the right before rotating it.
Place the remaining Spitifres in formation parameters with their leads to form four flights of two. All Spitifres start at altitude 3.0, speed 5.0, banked level.
The Axis force enters anywhere along the North edge on Turn 1 at any desired altitude and bank angle, and any speed up to their maximum level speed.

Game Length: 20 Turns

Rules of Engagement:
1. Walrus Take-off: At the start of each turn, the Allied player rolls a die to see if the Walrus can take off. On a result less than the current turn number, Smith has been picked up and the Walrus may take off. It does not need to start engines or taxi, nor does it have gear to retract after take-off.
2. Walrus pre-take-off combat: The Walrus' DG is unmanned until Smith is picked up. Strafing the Walrus while it is on the water is subject to a +2 modifier due to its motion on the heavy swell.
3. Special Victory Conditions: All VP earned by shots taken at the Walrus while it is still on the water (i.e. for Criticals or for damage level) are worth double. If a Walrus crewman is Wounded/Killed, include Smith in the random selection. If Smith is killed the Axis wins automatically. Note that Smith has no parachute and can not bail out.
4. Pilot Quality: Generate the Spitfire pilots on the "Excellent" column, and the Axis pilots on the "Average" column. The Walrus pilot is a Regular. All Regular or better Italian pilots are automatically Gifted.

Debriefing: As Smith was being hauled on-board, the Walrus was strafed, a bullet grazing his neck. Badly holed below the waterline and leaking petrol from a punctured fuel tank, the Walrus made it back to base but was a write-off. Smith's joy at being plucked from a watery grave was dissipated when he learned that one of the pilots covering him, Dick Charrington, had been shot down by a Me 109 as they dove in to strafe. In return, one of the Me 109s had been shot down.

Designer's Notes: The source is Spitfire into Battle, the autobiography of G Capt Duncan Smith DSO DFC. He gives quite specific information about the aircraft involved - the covering force consisted of eight Spitfires, and the attackers were "three Me 109s, and a gaggle of FW 190s, Macchis, and a Reggiane 2001."

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Macchi Master 		Mission 1 Mission 1
Mistel!
Version History:
1.0 Initial Version