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BattlePlan#9

CombatLancer

CombatLancer
A CampaignGamefor
ROLLING THUNDER
By JamesE. Meldrum
Operation Combat Lancer was the
operationaldebut of the US$'s F-l11
fighter-bomber which took place in March,
1968.This operationmay be simulatedas a
short campaign game using Group Three
Games'RollingThund.erasan experimental vehicle. Unless otherwise noted, all
rules from Rolling Thunder are in effect.
(In any situation where the variantmaterial
presentedin this article conflicts with the
game rules, the game rules will take priority in resolving the dispute.) This scenario
is conducted in the same manner as the
campaignscenarioincluded in the original
game.
Campaign Game:
Operation Combat Lancer
Background:
In March, 1968 detachment 1 of the
428th TFS, 464 TFW flew six F-111
fighter bombersto Takhli RTAFB in Thailand. These aircraft were the units participating in OperationCombatLancer, whose
objective was to demonstrateand evaluate
the F-111's performancein combat.
According to the United States media, this operation turned out lo be a military disastersince three of the six participating aircraft were lost. Investigations
later revealed that the F-111 had been
rushed into production and combat before
it had beenfully tested.Examination of the
F-l11 wreckagerevealedthat the crashes
were causedby the failure of a weld in the
tailplane.
During Operation Combat Lancer, F111 aircraft were assigned to missions
against targets located in the Route Package Five area which included northwest
and west central North Viet Nam. All
missionswere conductedat night, without
escort,and were designedto seewhat theF111coulddo on its own.
Unfair criticism from the media drew
plenty of unfavorable attention to the F111 which obscuredthe fact that this aircraft was, once manufacturing defects
wgre corrected, an outstanding combat

aircraft.
PotentialTargets:
Die
Victory
Roll
Points
r-2
10/12
a
J

4-5
612

Objective
Yen Bai airfield/
ammodepot
Tien Cuong RR
yard
Phu Tho bridge
Viet Tri power
plant
Ho Lac airfield
Xuan Mai army
base

2) TheUSAF playerreceives4 VPsfor

eachNVAF aircraftdesftoyedeitherin the
air or on fhe ground,and 3 VPs for every
radar, AA gun, or SA-2 launcherdestroyed.
3) TheNVAF playerreceives9 VPsfor
eachF-111destroyed.
4) Victory is judged on the basis of
victory points.Theplayerhavingthelargesttotal of victory poins at theendof the
gameis thewinner.

SpecialRules:
1) Thecampaignscenarioin thisarticle
8
consistsof five night missionsplayed
consecutively.
9
l0
Don Suongairfield
2) The weatheroptionmustbe used.
10
10
Bai Thuonsairfield
3) Keepa tally of all USAF losses;the
playerhasonly srxF- 111 aircraft.If
USAF
Restrictions:
1) No USAF aircraftmay enterop hexes a// six aircraftarelostbeforetheendof the
fifth missionthe gameendsimmediately.
adjacentto theChineseborder.
2) USAF aircraft may not attack guns, 4) Sincethereareonly four F-ll1 aircraft units in the countermix,two aircraft
missiles,launchers,or radarslocatedin
(only) may be retumedto play afterbeing
populatedtac hexes.
Theirlossstillcountsforvictory
Note;Theweatheroption
mustbeused. destroyed.
determinationpurposes.
5) The amountof damagesufferedby
USAF Forces:
each
mrgetis cumulativeand mustbe reSix F-111aircraft
corded.
Note: Only four F-I11 countersare providedin thegame,soplayerswill beforced 6) At night,only MiG-2ls may interceptandonly 57mmand85mmAA guns
to usetwo F-4 counters.WhentheUSAF
mayfire - deduct2 accuracypointswhen
playerlosesan aircraft,removeoneof t}te
F-4 countersuntil the only U.S. aircraft resolvingAA gunfirecombat.
1) All F-111s are based at Takhli
beingusedin thegameareF-111s.
RTAFB.
8) Only the designatedtargetsmay be
USAF Aircraft Armament:
attacked.
F-IIL : 6 cannonburst 4 Sidewinder
AAMs; 4 Sparrow AAMs; 12 x 7501b
Variations:
bombs;or 2 LGBs or 4 BullpupASMs.
1) Try playing this campaignscenario
Nore;F-l1ls mayalwaysbearmedwith a
under
daylightconditions.
cannon.
2)
Allow
the USAF player to useone
NVAF Defense: As in the 1967168sceEB-66.
nario.
3) Allow theNVAF playerto substitute
NVAF DiscretionaryForces:As in the
MiG-19
aircraftfor MiG-17s.
1961168scenario.
Allow
4)
theUSAF playerto striketarNVAFAircraftArftwment:Asin the 1967/
gets located only in the Hanoi and
68 scenario.
Haiphongareas.
5) When any USAF aircraft is shot
VictoryConditions:
playersmay electto play scenario
down,
l)
TheU.S.playerreceives
a numberof
(search
five
and rescue)in an effort to
victory pointsequalto the numbergiven
rescue
the
two-man
crew. After completfor each target listed in the sectionon
ing
next strikeis played
this
scenario,
the
potentialUSAF targets.In addition,the
followed
by
another
search and rescue
halfof theVPslisted
USAFplayerreceives
if
F1
I
I
is
lost.
operation
an
for a targetif it suffers50Voor moredam-

10
8

ase.