Operation Pedestal: Malta Convoy, August 1942

Expansion for Rise of the Luftwaffe

Operation Pedestal: Malta Convoy, August 1942 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Sequence of Play

The operation consists of four game-days each with several missions:

Day 1 - 11th August - In the Western Mediterranean.
Day 2 - 12th August - Through the Sardinia-Tunisia channel.
Day 3 - 13th August - The Approach to Malta.
Day 4 - 14th August - Unloading in Valletta Harbour.

Each game-day consists of the following phases:

Axis player arranges available aircraft into a raid deck.
Pick Action Card to determine the Axis aircraft for the next mission.
Pick Action Cards to determine British air cover.
Players secretly select up to two options each.
Reveal options, play mission and record losses.
Repeat items 2-5 until raid deck is exhausted.
Receive replacements and check for repairs to damaged aircraft and ships.

Forces

Axis Forces

Fighters:

2 Bf 109 F
2 Bf 110 C
2 MC 200

Bombers:

2 Ju 87 D
4 Ju 88 A
2 SM 79

MC 200 and SM 79 can be found in the Malta under Siege Module (C3i Nr.3) - if this is not available use Bf 109 E and He 111 H respectively. Due to the target range Axis single engined aircraft may not be used on 11th August.

British Forces

Air:

Carrier aircraft: 6 Hurricane I
Malta aircraft: 2 Spitfire I, 2 Spitfire V, 2 Hurricane II

Hurricane II are found in the 8th Air Force or the Malta under Siege Module (C3i Nr.3) - if these are not available use additional Spitfire I.

Naval:

Convoy: 1 Tanker, 7 Freighters
Escort: 1 Cruiser, 4 Destroyers

The tanker is treated as a cruiser for damage purposes but has flak values of 1/0.

Transcription note: in the source the last convoy line is clipped at the bottom of the printed column and reads only "7 F..."; it is transcribed as "7 Freighters" because the rest of the module refers to freighters throughout.

Axis Mission Aircraft

At the start of each game-day the Axis player secretly arranges some or all of the remaining undamaged aircraft into a Raid Deck. Aircraft must fly in elements of the same type. An element is normally two aircraft but if there is only one aircraft of any type remaining it is allowed to fly alone.

At the beginning of each mission one Action Card is drawn to determine the number of Axis aircraft on that mission. The indicated number of elements (not aircraft) are taken directly from the top of the Raid Deck. This process is repeated for each mission until the Raid Deck is exhausted.

Action Card	# of Elements
White Border	1
Red Border	2
Blue Border	3

If the card shows a Spoiled Attack symbol the aircraft selected cannot find their target and return to base. The mission is over and they may not be used again the same day.

If the mission aircraft include only fighters the Axis player may elect to play a dogfight mission or may load some or all of the fighters with bombs and conduct a normal strike mission.

Action Card

Red Border: Result - Airborne on station - available for this mission as normal.
White Border: Result - On alert - ready to launch (see below).
Blue Border: Result - Refuelling/rearming or in transit - not available for this mission.

A maximum of one element may be airborne and one element on alert for any mission. Repeat Red or White cards are treated as Blue. The British player may launch any aircraft on alert at any time during the mission but their entry will be delayed 1-3 turns (as per Late Arrival - see below). If carrier based they begin at low or very low altitude.

British Air Cover

During the first two days (11th & 12th) air cover is provided by carrier-borne Sea Hurricanes of the covering force (Force X). On the evening of the 12th Force X withdraws and Malta-based Spitfires take over.

At the start of each mission undamaged defending fighters are placed in a CAP Deck, arranged in elements (pairs) of the same type. Aircraft which flew in the last mission are placed at the bottom. If necessary, when there is an odd number of any type, a leader may fly alone. Draw 1 Action Card for each element in the deck in turn.

Mission Options

Each player secretly selects up to two options for the mission. The options are listed on the Mission Options chart. Options marked with an asterisk are restricted to the days shown.

#	Axis Options	British Options
1.	Deceptive Course	Late Arrival
2.	Coordinated Attack	Experienced Air Crews
3.	Coordinated Attack	Fighter Direction
4.	Reconnaissance Aircraft	Deck Alert (11-12 Aug*)
5.	Reconnaissance Aircraft	Expert Seamanship (11-13 Aug*)
6.	Italian Fleet Sorties (11-13 Aug*)	New AA Tactics (11-13 Aug*)
7.	U-boat Attack (11-13 Aug*)	Scramble! (13-14 Aug*)
8.	Fighter Sweep, Bf 109F (12-14 Aug*)

Transcription note: the chart prints the British option as "Buerling" while the option notes below spell it "Beurling"; both are kept as printed. The source gives no explanatory note for the Axis "Fighter Sweep" option or the British "Experienced Air Crews" option (which the worked example uses); they are transcribed from the chart only.

Mission Option Notes

Axis Options

Coordinated Attack: Draw another Action Card to determine the aircraft for the next mission then add them to this one.
Reconnaissance Aircraft: The Axis player may select the actual ships to be the mission targets, including stragglers.
Italian Fleet Sorties: Equivalent to Diversionary Raids.
U-boat Attack: Convoy escort is considered to be dispersed and flak bonus is reduced.
"Experten": Skilled pilot - use either Beker counter (Ju 87 - BM,D,G) or Schnaufer counter (Bf 110 - H,A,G).
"The Confectioner": Skilled pilot - use Frantisek counter (Spitfire - A,D,H).
Maximum Effort: Add an element of Bf 110C to mission. Axis fighters may start the mission carrying bombs.

British Options

Late Arrival: One Axis fighter element is delayed 1-3 turns (draw an Action Card - White Border = 1, Blue Border = 2, Red Border = 3).
Fighter Direction: Increase Target-Bound phase by 2 turns. British leaders may discard and pickup any of there initial cards before the mission start. This option is not available if the cruiser is sunk or crippled.
Deck Alert & Scramble!: One element which is unavailable due to refuelling/rearming may be placed on alert.
Expert Seamanship: Reduce bombing/torpedo cards by one for each aircraft.
New AA Tactics & Box Barrage: Increase target flak by one.
"Beurling": Skilled pilot - use Yeager counter (Spitfire - A,CV,BU) - ignore the aircraft type on the counter.

Transcription note: the note heading "Deck Alert & Scramble!" and "New AA Tactics & Box Barrage" combine two chart options each, as printed. "Beurling" is spelled as printed in the note (see the chart note above).

All other options are explained in the normal rules.

Mission Duration

All missions have 8 Target-Bound and 7 Home-Bound turns. Ju 87's are considered to have speed 4 for mission duration calculations.

Axis Target Selection

The Axis player may choose to attack the escort (warships) or the convoy (merchant ships) but the actual target ship is chosen at random. Each pair of bombers may attack a different target or they may be grouped together.

Torpedo Bombing

SM 79 (and He 111) may carry two torpedoes instead of bombs (one if damaged). They are assumed to be carrying torpedoes unless the Axis player states otherwise before the mission. Torpedo bombing must be conducted from low altitude. Draw One Action Card per torpedo. Any hit, direct or vital result scores twice the normal number of damage points.

Flak and Screening

If attacked, escort ships use their normal flak values. Convoy ships may receive a bonus to their flak value because they are screened by the escort. The full bonus is +1 to target flak and +1 to area flak. However, to receive the full bonus the total target flak values of the escorts must be greater than the number of merchant ships in the convoy (cruiser has target flak 3, destroyer has 2). If it is not or the escort has been dispersed by a U-boat attack (Axis option 7) the bonus is only +1 to area flak. If the escort target flak values are too low and the escort is dispersed no bonus is received.

Valletta Harbour

All ships in Valletta harbour have flak values 3 / 1 - there are no screening bonuses. No torpedo attacks may be made on ships in harbour. The ships are stationary so saturation and level bombing results against ships are not reduced as indicated in the rules.

Stragglers

Ships which are crippled (damage level 3) cannot keep up with the convoy and become stragglers. Escorts may be detached to screen the stragglers but cannot rejoin the convoy. At the end of each game-day in addition to a repair check pick one Action Card for each straggler (and any escort). A Blue Border (White Border for warships and those under their protection) indicates the straggler was lost due to enemy action (U-boats, E-boats or mines). Surviving stragglers are assumed to reach Valletta at the end of the game and do count for victory determination.

Replacements and Repairs

For each pair of aircraft in the initial forces the Axis player has available one replacement of the same type. These may be used to bring Axis forces back to full strength. The forces may never exceed the original allocation. The British player does not receive any replacements.

Both players check damaged aircraft and ships at the end of each day. Draw 1 Action Card for each (see Chart, upper right).

Repair Chart

Action Cards	Damaged Aircraft	Damaged Ship	Crippled Ship
Red Border	Repaired	No Change	No Change
Blue Border	Written Off	Undamaged	Sunk
White Border	No Change	Crippled	Damaged

Victory Points

Normal VP totals are not kept. Victory is determined solely by the number of freighters in Valletta harbour at the end of the game (after the final check for repairs and stragglers). The tanker counts as four freighters and the cruiser counts as one. Halve the value of crippled ships. Round the final total down.

Air Group Performance

Freighters	German	British
0 or Less	Extraordinary	Appalling
1,2	Outstanding	Miserable
3,4	Good	Poor
5,6,7	Historical	Historical
8,9	Poor	Good
10,11	Miserable	Outstanding
12 or more	Appalling	Extraordinary

Variants

Omit the first game-day (11th), reduce the number of freighters by one and delete options 1 & 2.
Omit the last game-day (14th), subtract two from the final freighter total and delete options 9 & 10.
Add Force X (1 Battleship, 1 Carrier, 1 Cruiser & 5 Destroyers) to the British order of battle on 11th & 12th. The Axis player may choose to attack this instead of the convoy. Losses from this force are subtracted from the total number of freighters reaching Valletta. The battleship and carrier are each worth two freighters and the cruiser one. Crippled ships count half these values. The carrier is treated as a cruiser for damage and flak purposes. In addition each level of damage on the carrier reduces the maximum number of carrier based fighters by I element. (Transcription note: the source prints the numeral as a capital "I"; read as one element.)

Operation Pedestal Example

Day 1 - 11th August

Because of the range to the target the Axis player may not use any Bf 109's, MC 200's or Ju 87's on this day. The available aircraft are arranged as follows:

(2) Ju 88A (1st element)
(2) Ju 88A (2nd element)
(2) Bf 110C (3rd element)
(2) SM 79 (4th element)

An Action Card with a white border is drawn so the number of elements in the first mission is one - that is two Ju 88's. However, it also shows a spoiled attack symbol and so the aircraft cannot find their targets, the mission is cancelled and they return to base. They may not be used again until tomorrow.

For the second mission an Action Card with a red border is draw so the number of elements is two. Now the top two elements are two Ju 88 and two Bf 110.

There are three elements of Hurricanes eligible for air cover - they draw two red cards and one blue. The second red is treated as blue so one element is airborne and the others are unavailable.

The players now select options: Axis #2 (Coordinated attack), British #1 (Late Arrival) and #2 (Experienced Aircrews). The coordinated attack means the aircraft from the next mission are added to this one. A red card is drawn indicating three elements. Actually there is only one element left (two SM 79's) so these join the mission. The British player draws a red card for the Late Arrival so the Bf 110's are delayed three turns.

The Axis player decides to attack the merchant ships and split the attack onto two different targets. These are determined by die roll to be two freighters. These ships receive a flak bonus since they are screened by the cruiser and destroyers. The full mission details are:

Axis Forces:

(2) Ju 88A (attacking freighter #1 - flak = 2 / 1)
(2) SM 79 (attacking freighter #2 - flak = 2 / 1)
(2) Bf 110 C (delayed 3 turns)

British Forces:

(2) Hurricane I (with experienced crews)

Mission Turns:

(3) Target-bound (8-SM 79 speed of 5)
(3) Over-target
(2) Home-bound (7-SM 79 speed of 5)

The final outcome is two Ju 88 destroyed, two Hurricanes damaged, one freighter sunk and 1 damaged. Because there are no Axis aircraft left in the raid deck this mission is the only one on Day 1.

There are no stragglers so the players end the day by checking for replacements and repairs. The Axis player is allowed two Ju 88's as replacements (half the original number). Any further losses to the Ju 88's cannot be replaced. The British player draws action cards for the damaged Hurricanes (a red meaning repaired and a blue meaning written off) and the damaged freighter (a red meaning no change).

For Day 2 the Axis forces are back to full strength (and can also use their single engined aircraft) while the British have two complete elements of Hurricanes and one lone leader. They have also lost one freighter and another is damaged.

Source note: the worked example ends at this point in the printed article. The PDF's last page carries a continuation arrow after the Day 2 paragraph, and the file contains no further pages, so the Day 2 and later example text is not available and is not transcribed. The rules above are complete as printed.