PACIFICCON 2019 DIF Event Debriefing Report  

Here is the DIF recap and results:

With the new Wild Blue Yonder game, we played using the new 110-card play deck cards, counters and aircraft.

A total of 12 participants (with 8 first time rookie players and 4 from previous PacificCon) at various times took part in the third PacificCon Down in Flames Aces’ campaigns.   For this event three campaigns from last two years were used.  The Battle of Britain campaign, the Summer 1942 Eastern Front on the Germans drive on Stalingrad and the May 1943 Mediterranean over Sicily campaigns.

20 aerial matches were held from Saturday-to-Sunday — 7 on Saturday and 13 on Sunday.

During the 2-days, the German Luftwaffe defeated the Allied Air Forces with each side winning 11 missions, losing 8 missions and 1 tie.  The Allies outscored the Germans, 406 points to the German’s 349.  The Allied Air Forces shot down 7 fighters and 21 medium bombers (28 aircraft).  The German Luftwaffe shot down 21 fighters, 2 light bombers, 1 medium bomber and 1 heavy bomber (25 aircraft).  Total losses for all belligerents were 28 fighters, 2 light bombers, 22 medium bombers and 1 heavy bomber shot down, for a grand total of 53 aircraft lost. The lost rate per mission for fighters was low at 19% (avg about 33%) and the lost rate for bombers was very high losses at 44%.

Missions by Campaigns Theaters:

• The Battle of Britain ’40 - 9 missions with the Luftwaffe defeating the RAF, 5 games to 4, but with the British outscoring the Germans, 178-to-159.
• Eastern Front Summer ’42 - 5 missions with the Luftwaffe and the Soviet VSS stalemate, 2 games each with 1 tie, with the Soviets outscoring the Germans, 117-to-101.
• Mediterranean, Sicily May ’43 - 6 missions with the Luftwaffe defeating the US 12th AF, 4 games to 2, with the Americans outscoring the Germans, 111-to-89.

HIGHLIGHTS, LOW-LIGHTS & IN BETWEEN-LIGHTS:

• There was just one new aces created this event: David Lanphear earned the Ace pilot, a RAF Spitfire ace.  He earned a new Ace Pilot t-shirt from last year.
• Dave Lanphear did another participation rate by playing in all 19 recorded games.  Dave had a good weekend shooting down 18 aircraft — ten of them various types of bombers — while 5 of his own fighters were shot down.
• One of Dave Lanphear's Luftwaffe pilot became a double victory pilot with 5 victories over Sicily with his 11-victory career.
• Another Lanphear's Soviet pilot earned a new ability called the Bomber-Killer (adds an addition damage on bombers hit that was successful) for shooting down his 5th medium German bombers.
• Dave Brandon also had a good Expo with 10 games he played, he only had one of pilots being shot down.  That's a 5% loss (1 out of 20 sorties flying).
• Dave Brandon perform a great escort mission with his German pilot playing 5 cards trying to protect the bombers.  And one of the card played was an Ace card.  His career pilot now has accumulated +18 escort points in 5 missions which will earn him next year playing up to 4 extra minor abilities — like exchanging a card he doesn't have and needs into a Tight Turn or Barrel Roll or a Maneuver.  These are good options to help players escape for being in a bad position or try to prevent damage from getting shot at.
• New player Chuck Eastham on his very first game did the rare tactic — performed the full loop (with 2 back-to-back half-loops) to go from being tailed to go to now being the on the 6 o'clock in sights of his adversary.  There are only three Half-loops cards per each side deck and he had two Half-loops in his hand.
• Chuck Eastham performed all his 3 missions as escorts.  Two of the missions his played Aces to protect his bombers.
• Another new player, Marshall Witkowski, had something very usual that happened to him.  In his first game too, his wingman drew two cards and both were Cloud cards!  There are only two Clouds in a deck and his wingman had the bad luck to draw both of them at the same time!
• There was no players shot down by the bomber defensive fire this third weekend — Whew!  That would have been embarrassing.
• There were no Hat Tricks — 3 kills by one pilot personality — this event again.
• Soviet flak anti-aircraft was an outstanding mission for shooting downed 3 Heinkels He-111 on the target turn (tune 4).

NEXT PACIFICCON LABOR DAY WEEKEND 2020:
This time I will do another PacificCon DIF/WBY event in 2020.  I have new Ace Pilot t-shirts I want to present one to a pilot who becomes a new ace. But they have to earn one!

If the event returns, the campaigns are: The Battle of Britain, the 1942 Eastern Front, and the 1943 12th AF/Mediterranean campaigns.

I hope all who participated had fun and a good time and I plan to continue the aerial mayhem at next PacficCon Expo and this year's GMT-West Weekend, scheduled from 17-to-20 October 2019 in Hanford.

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