Plan Crimson Air Power
By Milan Becvar
March 2009

U.S. Navy Plan Crimson is one of the latest additions to 119694_avalanche Press' popular Great War at Sea series. The game depicts hypothetical naval action on the Great Lakes in the case a war between the United States and Great Britain involved Canada. Unlike previous games in the “U.S. Navy Plan” series, the situation in U.S. Navy Plan Crimson does not have a real-world analogue. Instead the game is designed to give players an opportunity to conduct naval warfare in one of the word’s more significant bodies of water which historically did not see modern naval ships or combat.

The Great Lakes are one of the most challenging areas for the Great War at Sea series due to the restricted waterways and canal systems that allow players to move their fleets between lakes for strategic advantage. This creates one of the more exciting and unique situations in the U.S. Navy Plan series. It also allows players to explore the growing potential of air power in a period before aircraft became increasingly decisive in naval warfare.

Air Power on the Great Lakes

The main forces in Plan Crimson for Canada and the United States consist of fleets of Lake Battleships (class BL). These small scale pre-dreadnought and dreadnought battleship types together with a few cruisers and numerous destroyers are the surface forces that fight for control of the Great Lakes. As would be expected for a naval game set in the 1920s both the United States and Canada operate air units on the lakes representing fighters, bombers and seaplanes.

Aircraft development had advanced steadily from the time of the Wright Brothers. Initial contributions to naval warfare by aircraft were to scout for enemy forces. As the power and capabilities of aircraft engines and designs advanced, the range and effectiveness increased beyond scouting and permitted aircraft to carry bombs or torpedoes to directly attack shipping. The United States was among the countries that experimented with the effects of bombs on warships led by General Billy Mitchell, a strong advocate of military air power. In the time period in which Plan Crimson is set, aircraft could have significant influence on the success or failure of naval operations.

The size and geography of the Great Lakes ensures that air power plays a significant part in naval warfare for both the United States and Canada. While the Great Lakes in total cover approximately 94,000 square miles/245,000 square kilometres in area and are large bodies of water they are elongated in shape so that the land locked situation ensures that most of the surface is within the endurance of the aircraft available to the players. This makes the Great Lakes a favourable area for aircraft operations. The early aircraft can make the most of their evolving but limited range and abilities to influence naval operations in Plan Crimson. Effective use of aircraft assets in operational scenarios can make the difference between victory and defeat on the Great Lakes.

U.S. Navy Plan Crimson presents a wide variety of interesting types and abilities of aircraft. While the United States has some advantage certain types of aircraft, the Canadian player has have advantage in others.

A new download addresses some errata issues with aircraft values in Plan Crimson and provided an interesting variant for the Douglas DT and the Fairey Pintail floatplanes.

Fokker PW-5

It may be a surprise to some players that the main U.S. fighter in Plan Crimson is actually not an American aircraft at all but is produced under licence from a foreign manufacturer. The plane evolved from work done by the Dutch Fokker Company and is based on the successful designs created for Germany. Designated as the PW-5 after evaluation by the U.S. Army Air Service, the parasol monoplane had a reputation for agility and also a top speed of 144-mph provided by the 300hp Wright (Hispano-Suiza) H-2 water-cooled engine.

Sopwith Snipe

When the Sopwith Snipe became the standard single-seat fighter for the RAF it was accordingly the primary type purchased by the Dominion of Canada to take advantage of standardisation with British forces. The Snipe is a successful and powerful evolution of the Sopwith Camel type that it resembled despite the bulk of its 230hp Bentley piston engine. The Snipe with a lower top speed of 121-mph than the U.S. PW-5 but is a more robust aircraft with its own impressive manoeuvrability especially a high climb rate. Along with the standard Snipe model, the Snipe also came in a "Salamander" variant with armour for ground strafing and the "Dragon" with a more powerful 360hp engine and a 150-mph top speed.

Curtiss JN Series

The Curtiss JN-4 two-seat biplane was one of the first mass-produced aircraft in the United States. Since the first model produced in 1915 the JN series was constantly updated steadily with larger engines and filled the short range bombing and reconnaissance groups of the US forces. The latest JN types with 180hp Wright engines have a top speed of 93-mph but enjoy a longer range than the Canadian Cuckoo bomber although not as effective a torpedo attack plane.

Sopwith Cuckoo

The Canadians have the advantage in attack aircraft with the Sopwith Cuckoo a more modern design than the Curtiss JN type. As Great Britain developed the Cuckoo for carrier operations the Cuckoo was ideal for Canada as their land based attack aeroplane. The reason is due to its ability to carry a torpedo making the Cuckoo an effective weapon to counter US invasion shipping. The 200hp Wolesley Viper gave the Cuckoo a top speed of 103-mph and the robust design proved to be fully acrobatic when not carrying a payload.

Martin MB-2

The Martin MB-2 is an evolution of the first successful twin-engine American designed bomber aircraft. The large conventional biplane features twin fins and rudders above the tail plane and a sturdy main landing gear. The plane is well armed with up to four MG in nose and midship positions, and a bomb load of up to 1800lb carried in an internal bay. While capable of carrying larger bombs externally the Martin MB-2 also has the attractive feature of being able to carry a torpedoes and a good top speed of 99-mph from its twin 420hp Liberty V-12 piston engines.

Vickers Vimy

The Canadian bomber in Plan Crimson is the durable Vickers Vimy a large biplane bomber with a large twin rudder biplane tail unit similar to the much larger Handley Page HP1500. A remarkable aircraft, the Vimy was completed after only four months after the design had been started. The aircraft is powered by 360hp Rolls-Royce Eagle VIIIs at 103mph but has a shorter range than the American Martin bomber although it carries a comparable payload of either bombs or torpedoes.

Handley Page HP1500

The giant four-engine Handley Page provides the Canadian player with a unique air asset in a long range bomber with a good self defense ability and large bomb load that is not matched in the U.S. arsenal. With a crew of seven and a range of 1,300 miles, the four 375hm Rolls-Royce Eagle VIIIs mounted in tandem pull – push pairs give the huge bomber a speed of 99mph. Along with an excellent range the bomber carries a bomb load up to 7,500lbs mounted in a weapons bay as well as under the fuselage. The eight MG mounted in the nose, dorsal and ventral positions include an additional gunner position located at the tip of the tail behind the large double tail fin providing one of the first tail gunner positions in a British made bomber.

Douglas DT

The large biplane Douglas DT was the first military aircraft produced by the Douglas Aircraft Company and also used for the first US experiments with dropping torpedoes from aircraft. With a sturdy welded steel tube aluminum covered fuselage the entire airplane could be disassembled into three separate pieces for easy storage. Armed with a single MG fired by the observer the two-float seaplane variant can carry either one torpedo or up to 1,000lbs of bombs. The powerful 400hp Liberty V-12 piston engine gives the plane a top speed of 100mph.

Fairey Pintail

The Pintail was designed to meet the requirements of a British Specification for an amphibian reconnaissance fighter. The unusual looking Pintail is a twin float biplane with the upper wing placed low on the fuselage in line with the crew and an tail with the rudder below the tail plane that provide excellent visibility. The Canadians were interested in the Pintail, as the floatplane did not require extensive basing facilities and provided added scouting and fighter capability. Because of wheels mounted in the bottom of the floats, the Pintail can also be easily be serviced or concealed onshore. The Pintail carries one forward firing MG and two fired by the observer and the 475hp Napier Lion water-cooled engine give it a respectable speed of 125mph.

Curtiss H12

The design of the Curtiss H12 and related series of flying boats began as an attempt to win the 1913 Daily Mail prize for the first aerial crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. The result was a durable long-range capable aircraft capable of attacking shipping with aerial torpedoes. The H12 carried a four man crew armed with MG located in the nose and dorsal positions with a top speed of 90mph powered by its two 200hp Liberty V-X-X engines. The U.S. flying boat has a longer ranged than its Canadian counterpart, the F5, and also has a better torpedo factor making the choice between reconnaissance and attack roles difficult.

Felixstowe F5

A four-seat reconnaissance flying boat resembled the Curtiss H12, the British manufactured Flexistowe F5. Although it had a better distributed defensive armament the Canadian aircraft is heavier and therefore slower and shorter ranged than its American counterpart. The two 350 hp Rolls-Royce Eagle piston engines allows the F5 to carry a heavier payload than the Curtiss which means that the less maneuverable F5 is better at bombing than torpedo attack.

Plan Crimson Aircraft Variant

Although the aircraft factors in Plan Crimson are the outcome of careful review and play testing, there are many different interpretations of the capabilities of the technical information as well as consideration on how the aircraft would have performed depending on what tactics are used either historically or by players.

As a feature of this article, different values are provided for the Sopwith Cuckoo and the Douglas DT that change the factors for these aircraft in the Plan Crimson universe. You can download the new aircraft, and the standard game pieces with "cut lines," here.

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