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CA-WW1 - The Red Battle-flier


By 33LIMA, April 16, 2014
Recreating the Red Baron's early career in Wings Over Flanders Fields!

 
The man and the book 
'When he had come down to about three hundred feet he tried to escape by flying in a zig-zag course... That was my most favorable moment. I followed him at an altitude of from two hundred and fifty feet to one hundred and fifty feet, firing all the time. The Englishman could not help falling. But the jamming of my gun nearly robbed me of my success. My opponent fell, shot through the head, one hundred and fifty feet behind our line. His machine gun was dug out of the ground and it ornaments the entrance of my dwelling.'
 
Such is the description in 'Der Rote Kampfflieger' of the end of the famous air fight on 23 November 1916, in which Rittmeister Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen brought down the DH-2 flown by foremost Royal Flying Corps ace Major Lanoe Hawker VC. Their dogfight heralded the start of a long period of German technical superiority in the skies over the Western front, culminating in 'Bloody April' the following year, when the RFC was made to pay a high price for its support of the Army in the Battle of Arras.
 
Manfred von Richthofen, the renowned Red Baron - probably the most famous fighter pilot, then and always - personified that superiority and 'Der Rote Kampflieger' is his wartime account of those days long ago.
 
Well, sort of. According to William E. Burrows,* the book was mostly written during von Richthofen's extended leave after 'Bloody April', at his East Prusssian home, with the help of a female stenographer. Sent in sections to the Air Ministry for editing and censorship, The Red Battle-flier was essentially a propaganda effort for public consumption. How much is in his own words, or how accurately it conveys his own thoughts and feelings, is debatable. Burrows says von Richthofen's family '...insisted privately that Manfred's writing had been re-worked and made into the diary of a killer' and that Jasta 11's Hans Georg von der Osten '...says emphatically that Richthofen did not write any of the finished product, but he has no idea who did.' Compared to similar works by Billy Bishop and James McCudden, the book is certainly lacking in technical detail. However, it's still a fascinating and oft-cited picture, painted at the time, of the career of one of the world's greatest fighter pilots.
 
* 'Richthofen - a true history of the Red Baron' by William E Burrows
 
The book starts with early days in military academies and, once the war begins, cavalry service on eastern and western fronts. There, frustrated at the immobility of trench warfare, von Richthofen applies for the air service and flies as an observer on both fronts. He develops a taste for air combat and inspired by the successes of early aces Boelcke and Immelman, trains as a pilot. His big break comes in the late summer of 1916 when he is chosen by Boelcke as a founder-member of the newly formed Jagdstaffel 2. Operating the deadly new Albatros D I and D II fighters under the keen eyes of master tactician Boelcke, the new fighter squadron is soon reversing the tide of British air superiority, despite the death of their leader in a mid-air collision in late October.
 

 
Von Richthofen scores steadily, his victories including Lanoe Hawker. In January 1917, he's posted to command Jasta 11, flying the V-strutted Albatros D III, although he reverts to an older Halberstadt for a time, while lower wing failures on the new aircraft are sorted out. By this time awarded the 'Blue Max' - the Order Pour le Mérite - his own Albatros is soon painted in the Baron's trademark red. Under his leadership, Jasta 11 builds up a first-class combat record and soon has a bevy of aces.
 

 Jasta 11 - in cockpit: Manfred von Richthofen; standing, left to right: Allmenroeder, Hintsch, Festner, Schaefer, Wolff, Simon, Brauneck; sitting, left to right: Essler, Lothar von Richthofen, Krefft.
 
The story continues through 'Bloody April' and on to early July 1917, when von Richthofen is shot in the head, temporarily paralysed and blinded, in a fight with FE2s of No. 20 Squadron. Spinning down, thinking 'this is the way it looks just before death' he recovers just enough to make a forced landing, before clambering out of his red-nosed and red-tailed Albatros D V (seen below after the event) and collapsing into a thorn bush. 'I had quite a respectable hole in my head', his account of the fight ends, 'My thick Richthofen head once again proved itself. The skull had not been penetrated.'
 
 
 
There were apparently plans to update the book to cover von Richthofen's subsequent career but his death in action in April 1918 left such possibilities in limbo until after the war. I'd recommend the 1933 edition, which includes some of von Richthofen's letters home, a little material he apparently wrote for a second edition, and post-war contributions by brothers Lothar and Bolko. While the preface to a 1918 English wartime translation (available online here) described it as giving '...the general impression of the writing of a gentleman prepared for publication by a hack journalist', 'Der Rote Kampfflieger' can't help but convey something of the essence of the experiences and feelings of the great fighter pilot.
 
 
The air war in autumn 1916
Flying for the German side in the last few months of 1916, as the Battle of the Somme ran its course, is surely one of the classic scenarios for a simulated WW1 fighter pilot career. The best French or British fighters - the Nieuport scouts, the DH-2 'pusher' and later the superb Sopwith Pup - can turn tighter. But flying the Albatros D II, you can mostly out-run, out-climb and out-dive your opponents; and you have two machine guns to their one. As for your natural prey, the two-seater 'working aeroplanes', these were vulnerable enough to the indifferent Fokker monoplanes of 1915-16; compared to the much-superior Albatros, one can really speak of predator and prey. And it was at this time that Oswald Boelcke established and taught systematically the basic principles of air combat and squadron tactics, setting the pattern for years to come. 'Der Rote Kampfflieger' vividly conveys the excitement of  'Boelcke's Cubs' as they take to the skies and cut a swathe through the ranks of the RFC and it's an experience I was looking forward to re-creating in Wings Over Flanders Fields.
 
The mission
Sure enough, Jagdstaffel 2 is in the WOFF order of battle for the Luftstreitkrafte and I opted to begin a career at the start of October 1916, by which time the Halberstadt has disappeared from the WOFF squadron line-up and we are fully equipped with the sleek, twin-gunned Albatros. Here's the enlistment screen, showing we are correctly based at Lagnicourt. Note that the squadron's roster not only includes our real-life Commanding Officer, the famous Oswald Boelcke, but the man who was his most famous pupil, Manfred von Richthofen himself.
 

 
And here's the briefing for our mission. It's a defensive patrol, up to and behind our own lines, fully in keeping with our defensive strategy, whereby we let the enemy come to us! Having de-selected 'Always lead' for this campaign in the WOFF 'Workshop', I'm pleased to find that today, I'll be flying in the flight - 'Schwarm zwei' - led my the great man himself, the illustrious Boelcke! There are four of us in the flight, with another six pilots providing 'top cover'. Woe betide the Tommies today!
 

 
And here we are, lined up on the grass at Lagnicourt. I'm in the middle of the line, in the Albatros with the darker, reddish finish and a white hoop painted on the nose, aft of the spinner. This is the 'skin' for the machine flown by Manfred von Richthofen himself, which I had taken the liberty of selecting for my own plane during the briefing phase. This was the period when the Germans had adopted camouflaged finishes, but before it became fashionable for units or individuals to paint their aircraft with prominent or brightly-coloured markings.
 

 
Taking off promptly so as not to be left behind, I sped off with the others and (using the labels to confirm the plane of my leader) slotted into position on the right of our vee formation. Boelcke is second from the left; you can perhaps just make out the black and white quartered wheel hubs on his otherwise factory-finish Albatros.
 

 
Soon, we were climbing steadily, flying a loose orbit just to the north of our airfield, presumably to gain a respectable altitude before turning for the run south and up to the German reserve trenches. Above and behind us, our comrades kept watch and my confidence soared, buoyed up by the impressive spectacle of this pahlanx of German hunting machines sweeping the skies for the enemy!
 


 
...to be continued!

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WOFF wins CA Awards!


By 33LIMA, April 14, 2014
Wings Over Flanders Fields wins two CombatAce Awards!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rp4K6xsDQeo         Narration: Aurora Price
Music: Matt Milne Video: Hellshade
Shadowing Mod: AnKor
Cloud Mod: Arisfuser
News Team: 33Lima, Adger, Hellshade
Video Editor: Andre "Skyviper" Ford   Game Play Review: Wings Over Flanders Fields
    Check out the multi-part reviews here:
Part One
Part Two Part Three Part Four   'WOFF' is a utter and total transformation of Combat Flight Simulator 3 into a beautiful, unique WW1 simulator!   See the brand new AI fight or escape in true WWI maneuvers and behavior!  
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Wings Over Flanders Fields - the CombatAce Review, part 4


By 33LIMA, April 10, 2014
Wings Over Flanders Fields - the CombatAce Review, part 4   The View from Hellshade's Cockpit   Wings Over Flanders Fields (WOFF) goes against the grain in almost every respect. Where the video game industry is fast moving away from simulations and towards MOBAs, MMOs and FPS, WOFF embraces being a sim wholeheartedly. Within the tiny niche of the gaming market that sims now occupy, WOFF isn't even one of the most popular types of sim settings, such as ARMA III's full modern combat settings or even the ever-popular World War II. WOFF is a World War I air combat simulator. It's probably one of the smallest niches within the already small niche of sims. On top of that, while the rest of the market focuses on multiplayer aspects of their games and sometimes throws in a single player experience as an after-thought, WOFF is unashamedly designed to be an immersive single player experience. No multiplayer component at all. One has to wonder why any developer in their right mind would choose to invest so much time and energy into a game that would seem to appeal to such a tiny segment of the market.   The answer becomes apparent the longer that you fly in the world of WOFF. It's passion. OBD Software, the developers of Wings Over Flanders Fields, have a genuine and seemingly never ending passion for WWI history and have made every effort possible to turn that passion into details that bring the world of WOFF alive. While it's just about impossible to cover every aspect of WOFF that is new and improved over previous versions, LIMA has done an excellent job of hitting many of the high points. I couldn't have done nearly as good a job as he has and I'm not going to try. I just wanted to highlight some of the aspects of WOFF that I feel make this sim worth investing your time into.   Developer support OBD Software offered the previous version of WOFF, Over Flanders Fields: Between Heaven and Hell, excellent support.  With WOFF, they have continued their history of excellence in support after the sale in numerous ways. First, they have pushed out 21 updates to the sim in about 3 months. It wasn't all just about the bug fixes though. Many of the updates included NEW FEATURES that were implemented due to player feedback. Things such as optional visual feedback that your pilot had been shot through bloody goggles and Dot based labels that let you see aircraft too far in the distance to be properly drawn out by the sim. They also corrected Flight Model issues when they found the Morane L Saulner was flying too fast. No sim is ever going to be perfect in everyone's eyes. There will always be a new feature someone wants or a change to the way things work in the game. WOFF, like every other sim out there, will never be all things to all people, but the outstanding developer support and attention to detail means that you can be sure the sim is never forgotten or abandoned. OBDs passion for World War I history doesn't stop with shipping the best possible product that they can. If they think they have the ability to make it better, they do. It's a feature you won't see listed on the box, but to me it's one of the best aspects of the sim.    Community experience Hop onto the Wings Over Flanders Fields forums and you're going to find a bunch of virtual WWI pilots who have nearly as much passion for history as the developers themselves. And they are helpful, too. Perhaps because WOFF isn't a multiplayer game that pits people against one another, there's very little in the way of ego clashes on the forums. Yes, there are Flight Model debates but the majority of posts are about the experiences that players have had while flying in the sim. People take the time to create "letters to home" and post After Action Reports to help bring the experience more to life. WOFF can very easily become almost as much a role-playing experience as it is a flight simulator experience. They also share combat tactics and trade war stories about how they managed to survive...or not. Technical problems are handled not just by the Devs but usually by a number of community members who enjoy helping others get the most out of WOFF.  Again, you won't see the Forum Community listed on the box as a Feature of WOFF, but make no mistake, it's one of the very best experiences of the sim and not to be missed.      Modding community For such a relatively newly released sim, WOFF already has had some very enjoyable and useful mods created for it by its growing fan base. ArisFuser is a renowned modder from other games and has created a stunning Cloud Mod for WOFF that really is quite impressive. There is a Pilot Backup Utility Mod by RJW that keeps your pilot "safe" and restorable in the event something bad happens to your hard drive or install. Given how attached people get to their pilots in WOFF, this is almost a Must Have utility. Bletchley's Mission Types mod offers a variety of different kinds of missions to fly above and beyond what's already included in the dynamic campaign. RAF_Louvert has created an excellent Verdun Region Map to print out and help you fly, while 77_Scouts News Mod (v2.0) adds to the in-game immersion with a greater variety of historically accurate news stories for you to read between missions. There's even a JSGME WOFF Mod Builder Kit that helps users make JSGME friendly mods that are easier for everyone to install and use. Not to be left out is the mod from AnKor. It is the D3D9 Self Shadowing Mod, which not only adds some incredible self shadowing effects to WOFF, it also "magically" adds frames per second to many of the users' experience, making the sim fly smoother than ever. It really does need to be seen to be believed and it adds an incredible new level of immersion to the sim. All of this in just a few short months since release. Considering how "against the grain" WOFF is, in terms of the audience that it appeals to, it's clear that many of the users are just as passionate about getting the most out of WOFF as the developers are about putting great things into it.     The AI As one of the lucky few who got the chance to fly Wings Over Flanders Fields before it was officially released, I have to repeat what I said when I first flew it. The AI alone is worth the price of admission. It's not a bunch of fixes to the scripts of the previous version of AI in OFF. It's completely re-written from the ground up to have the AI pilots take into account an entire range of factors and then actually make a weighted decision about what to do next. No random "dice rolls" telling them what to do. Just a few of the things the AI takes into account is how much ammo they have left, how much fuel, the state of their plane (is it damaged, etc), how far behind enemy lines or their own lines are they, do they have an altitude advantage or disadvantage, what is their skill level (Novice, Veteran or Ace), the morale level of their squadron (poor, normal, elite, etc) and so much more. No longer does every fight end up being "A Fight to the Death". The AI wants to complete its mission, but more importantly they all want to make it home alive too, which is much more realistic. If things start going bad for them, they look for a way to exit the combat and head home if possible. They don't usually give up altitude without a good reason. If the fight does make it down to the deck, they know how to fight effectively there too. Yes, you will run into rookies who freeze and make dumb mistakes when the shooting starts. You will also run into highly skilled pilots who use their plane's abilities to best effect. After all of these months flying WOFF, each encounter is still different. I can't just look at an enemy plane and say "Okay, when I attack he's going to do this, then this and then that." I literally don't know how he will respond, and that keeps every combat air patrol mission exciting. I don't know who I'm going to meet or how they will respond. It's a big war up there in Wings Over Flanders Fields and you'll find rookies and aces alike. But unless they are an Ace with a distinctively painted aircraft, you really won't know who's who until the shooting starts.    Time The last thing that I want to talk about is something that the people who fly WOFF regularly are already keenly aware of. Getting the most out of WOFF requires an investment of your time. The planes are not easy to master. They all have different flight models and the conditions around you can change in a hurry. If you are planning on going out and "winning the war" Call of Duty style as a one man destroyer of air forces, be prepared to start a lot of new pilot careers. It's just not easy. It takes time and patience to truly master what WOFF has to offer. In fact most of the regulars on the Community Forums for WOFF will tell you that they are only good at just a few of the huge stable of planes that WOFF ships with. Making it a year in WOFF is a real feat to be proud of. As an Allied pilot during Bloody April in 1917, surviving for even two weeks can be a major challenge, especially if you don't "cheat" and use any of the visual aids like labels to see other planes far off in the distance. WOFF has a Quick Combat mode to just have the fun of instant dogfights in, but the real glory and power of WOFF is in its huge, dynamic, single player campaign. Take the time to learn the planes and fly the missions. It won't be long before you start to wonder how anyone survived the real air war of 1915 - 1918. Many of them didn't.     In closing... From my cockpit, given the huge number of planes that can be flown right out of the box, the massive time frame of the war in which to fly them in, the incredibly large number of squadrons to choose from and the variety of dogfights from a "thinking", non-scripted AI that really does fight to survive, Wings Over Flanders Fields offers an amazing amount of "bang for the buck". I expect that I will be flying it for many years to come, especially if the Developers keep adding expansions like the recently released "Fokker Scourge"  (rumor has it that Gothas are on the way!). All in all, for anyone that loves World War I air combat and history, Wings Over Flanders Fields is tremendous value, potentially costing mere fractions of a cent per hour for you to enjoy its rich, detailed and dynamic world.      When you find yourself flying along on a patrol in your umpteenth hour in WOFF, trying desperately to keep your pilot alive yet still searching for that next kill even as you struggle to complete your mission, that's when it will probably hit you like it has me. This is where developers who are insanely passionate about their sim truly pays off. The depth of immersion is hard to describe. It just has to be experienced and that's exactly what Wings Over Flanders Fields is for anyone who loves WWI aircraft: an experience not to be missed.   My personal rating for Wings Over Flanders Fields is:  5 - Must Buy     The View from Adger's Cockpit   Modders and more modders I just wanted to mention that the OBD developers actively encourage 3rd party mods. AnKor's self shadowing mod is highly recommended (and it's going to be implemented into WOFF in the near future). Sweetfx works well. Arisfuser's HD Cloud Mod is also excellent; then there's Bletchley's Mission Mod and 77 Scout's News Mod. I think that the modders should get some recognition somewhere!   Patches and skins We've also (so far) had 21 patches: improvements made, FMs changed etc. The Official Aircraft Skin Pack  # 1 available here - it REALLY adds to the atmosphere in WOFF (especially the German Jasta squadrons). To be flying with some of the war's aces, all with there own individual aircraft skins, is just breathtaking. Arto "Paarma" Karttunen,Terry "Makai" Kerby, Mike "Sandbagger" Norris and last but not least James "OVS" Romano deserve massive credit for the incredible skin work.   Performance I've been running WOFF on a Phenom 2 955 processor o/c to 3.5 GHz, 1 GB 5770 ATI GPU, 4 GB of DDR2 RAM, on workshop settings 5,3,3,5,5 and getting more than adequate frame rates (with sweetfx and Ankor's mod).   In closing... I love the new medals and awards. The AI has had a massive overhaul since OFF and HITR. I love waiting on the field to see if my flight returns and lands! Matt Milne's music is brilliant. The graphics are phenomenal and what the Devs have done on the CFS3 engine is incredible.Take an early dawn patrol in the Alsace region...breathtaking!   The interface is cleaner, Workshop and key bindings screens are smarter and easier to navigate. WOFF also seems less prone to CTDs compared to OFF (I've had 2 in over 100+ hrs of flying). Looking back, in comparison I'd rate OFF Phase 3, 7.5/10, OFF Phase 3 and HITR, 8.5/10. I've also flown Knights of the Sky, FE1 & RoF and WOFF batters them all into submission. It's not just the greatest sim I've flown...it's probably my greatest game I've ever played, a mindblowing piece of work   My personal rating for Wings Over Flanders Fields is:  5 - Must Buy     The view from Dagger's cockpit   Getting started  I am a WW1 nut, and will try any flight sim that has this type of flight in it. I cut my teeth for this era flying Red Baron 3-D and became hooked. There have been several titles released that fit this era, but most fell well short, BUT there were a few that made it.  After setting it up and getting some seat time, Wings over Flanders Fields seems to be one of those that do a great job at filling the void left by RB3D. I found installing this sim was easy, just a few clicks and I was ready to go.  Nothing but the usual, So time to set everything and make it the sim I want. This was very easy. There were many options to choose from, and even dynamic weather, we’ll get into that more later, to options for careers and more goodies. I double checked my stick commands, and made some notes for commands and was on my way.     Quick missions and on the campaign trail  Launched the game, and decided before anything, to take a quick mission. This is a fun way to start. The scenery was pretty good all things considered, and the planes themselves were a lot of fun. The enemy AI were set to be easy to get my kills, so they weren’t very good, but they did try to evade and engage me some. I flew around some, checked my controls and looked around to see where I was. I decided I was ready to become a WW1 flying ace! So I jumped into a campaign.   There are many choices in the campaign; again I like this. I started and was flying a recon mission. I did noticed the control seemed sluggish in the early planes. I wasn’t sure if this was intended, or just my stick,. But I liked it. I am no expert on flight models but they seemed pretty good. I did notice I could set the trim on my aircraft, which I doubt any WW1 flyers could do. I also liked the fact the German AA didn’t start as soon as I was in the air, and while it was there and I had to be careful the gunners weren’t exactly expert shots. Landings were fairly easy after some practice, but without care you’ll end up on your nose, or worse.     The Verdict Here’s my take on the game, so far: not complete as I want to do a better review after completing a campaign. First I tried it on several different machines, and got decent frame rates with the settings tinkered with on all of them. So you won’t have to run out and buy a huge gaming machine to have fun and see the detail in the sim. The graphics are decent, better than RB3D even with the Promised Land mod, but not quite as good as some of the newer games. I didn’t expect it to be, using an older game engine, but was surprised by the detail I did have. I also liked the fact I could set the weather and amount of detail I wanted to help with frame rates on lower end systems.   From the user point of view, it is a great sim to learn WW1 flight sims on. There are many options the user can set to customize the game to their machine. There are a few things I noticed, but nothing that can’t be fixed. Over all I give this sim a big thumbs up. Simmers don’t have to have a top of the line machine to run it and get a great gaming experience, and if offers many planes that are extras in other games. Also I like the fact it is a WW1 sim, did I mention I am a sucker for anything WW1 and this one will be on my system for a long time!   This is one of those "Have to have it, right now" sims.  On my gaming system it looks beautiful, and takes an older sim to a new level. This will bring a tear to the eyes of us older Red Baron players. The cool thing is nothing more to buy, you don't have to pay for planes you really want, and getting to see the front from the air is pretty cool! The only thing missing is the caster oil in your nose, the wind in your face, and the feel of your scarf flapping in the wind behind you.   It's great. I give it a:  5 - Must Buy       This concludes the CombatAce review of Wings Over Flanders Fields!   All screenshots in part 4 are courtesy of Hellshade's Screenshot mod.  

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CA-WW1 - Sagittarius Rising


By 33LIMA, March 31, 2014
Bringing another Great War classic to life in Wings Over Flanders Fields!   The man and the book  '...air fighting required a set steely courage, drained of all emotion, fined down to a tense and deadly effort of will. The Angel of Death is less callous, aloof and implacable than a fighting pilot when he dives.'  So wrote Cecil Lewis in his classic aviation memoir, 'Sagittarius Rising'. First published in 1936, this book - by the man who later became a founder of the British Broadcasting Corporation - is one of those 'must read' pilot autobiographies that's often quoted in other histories for its many dramatic accounts.   Lewis enlisted directly into the RFC in late 1915 and trained intitially on the inevitable Marucie Farman 'longhorn', moving on to the Avro 504. Posted to 22 Squadron flying the relatively-new FE2b 'pusher', on arrival in France he finds plans have changed. While he's able fo get in some extra flying time, mostly on the BE2c, he's posted ultimately to No.3 Squadron after a short introduction to its mount, the Morane Type L Parasol.   This aircraft he describes as '...one of the recognised death-traps which pilots in training prayed they might never have to fly...Pilots trained on ordinary Avros and 2c's, when turned loose on Moranes killed themselves with alarming regularity.' The main problem was apparently the lack of a fixed tailplane, resulting in an incredibly sensitive elevator: '...the least movement stood you on your head or on your tail.' Nevertheless, Lewis says that he '...did come to love the Morane as I loved no other aeroplane...Good old Parasol!'   Lewis flies the type throughout the dreadful Somme battle, on whose first dread day the British Army suffered approaching 60,000 casualties, including nearly 20,000 killed, devastating in particular many communities whose young men had signed up to fill the ranks of the 'Kitchener's Army' battalions which bore the brunt of the fighting. In the air, Lewis flies the new infantry contact patrols as well as photo recce missions and artillery spotting, and has some inconclusive air combats. By this time, Lewis has seen trials of a captured Fokker monoplane which have shown it to have little or no advanatge over most RFC types, beyond its synchronised machine gun.   Posted to 'Home Establishment' after winning the Military Cross, Lewis has a spell as a test pilot. Spring 1917 finds him joining 56 Squadron, formed to introduce the potent new SE5 fighter to combat. Back in France, he sees much action, including the fight during which the great ace Albert Ball is lost. Wounded after narrowly escaping being shot down by '...one of the latest Pfalz scouts: the SE was no match for that machine', he's posted back to England on Home Defence duties. His last operational posting is to a new night fighter unit, designed to operate in France to intercept enemy tactical night bombers in modified Sopwith Camels, but sees no action before the Armistice brings the war to an end.   Lewis's book is sprinkled with insights and anecdotes aplenty. These include an air combat demonstration with the great French ace Guynemer, not long before the latter was killed: 'In his hands the Spad was a marvel of flexibility...nothing I could do would shift that grim-looking French scout off my tail.' 'Sagittarius Rising' is currently in print and deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone with an interest in WW1 in the air.   The air war in mid-1916 By this time, the 'Fokker Scourge' had already been eclipsed by more modern French and British aircraft dedicated to the air-to-air role, like the Nieuport 11, De Havilland DH2 and RAF FE2b. By the time of the Battle of the Somme, the aerial boot was firmly on the other foot and the British and French air forces were enjoying a period of increasing ascendancy, which would last only until the autumn, when the arrival of the Jastas and the Albatros D-types marked the start of another German resurgence.   The mission As expected, Wings Over Flanders Fields allows me to fly with Cecil Lewis in No.3 Squadron in the fateful Battle of the Somme. I opted to start on 1 July, the opening day, and here's the squadron 'Duty Room' which shows our roster, aircraft strength and disposition.     And here's 'B' Flight, which I'll be leading. As well as the author of 'Sagittarius Rising', another notable pilot is no less than 'HK' himself - Hubert Harvey-Kelly, the first RFC pilot to arrive in France in 1914, who as CO of 19 Squadron was shot down and killed by Kurt Wolf in a disastrous fight with Jasta 11 during 'Bloody April', 1917.     And here's the briefing screen for our mission. It's another bombing raid, this time to a railyard just behind the German front lines. 'A' flight is not involved in this mission (there's no 'C' flight on WOFF missions, I believe) but perhaps to make up for it, there are no less than six Moranes along for this particular ride.      And here we are lined up on the grass in front of the sheds at la Houssuoye, each carrying four small bombs down between the wheels. The weather is fine with only scattered clouds, mostly clear blue skies.     I was soon up and away, leaving our airfield behind. It seemed quite well-equiped and sensibly-located, on a nice clear area of open ground, the only hazard some stands of trees on the airfield boundaries that would have been better cut down. But I managed to miss these and off I went, slowly getting the hang of my unfamiliar mount, whose elevator was quite sensitive but whose rudder needed quite a bit of deflection to effect any kind of a decent turn.     Settled onto my course, I levelled off and throttled back, to let my flight catch up. They did so slowly, about as fast as you could expect on their 80 hp Le Rhone engines. Finally the formation was complete and I opened her up again.     Climbing as hard as we could, we came up to the Lines. Zero Hour for the offensive was past but there was still a certain amount of shelling going on, well underneath our clear doped linen wings.     I levelled off at four thousand and in the clear conditions, was able to pick out our target visually, just the far side of the shelled area. As the range wound down, I called up the tactical display, selected a series of targets in the railway complex and issued 'Attack' orders. Leaving my flight to get on with it in their own way I then made my own bombing run. Everyone's bombs seemed to hit at about the same time so I wasn't sure which were mine, But overall, we seemed to have had much the desired effect. A good start!     Sure enough, a certain amount of damage had been done. Not bad at all, considering that out bombs were so small.     I banked around for home, porpoising a bit while trying to balance the turn in the awkward big parasol. Rolling out with plenty of coarse rudder, I levelled her off and headed for home, gratifled to see that the flight seemed to be losing little time in getting back into formation.     It was only at this point that Archie showed up. There was a muffled 'crump!' and then another, as the black bursts of German AA fire started unrolling in our wake. A bit late there, you Huns! Well, you can do your worst, now. We have knocked about your little railway station and we're already well on our way home!     My confidence was a little premature, as it turned out. The Huns hadn't finished with us yet!     ...to be continued!
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CA-WW1 - Wind in the Wires


By 33LIMA, March 29, 2014
Re-living a classic WW1 memoir in Wings Over Flanders Fields!   The man and the book   The SE5a, low down over enemy territory, pulled up to release its last two bombs onto a German gun battery. The bombs' release was accompanied by a blast directly below and behind the aircraft, possibly a premature detonation, which ripped off the tailplane on one side, leaving it trailing behind, held by an elevator control wire. The SE dived vertically, pulling out too late to prevent the undercarriage from being ripped off as she bounced drunkenly back into the sky. Now desperately headed west for friendly territory, the pilot saw German soldiers just below training a machine gun onto him, then simply stare open-mouthed, rather than shooting. Regaining the British side of the Lines, he force-landed heavily. 'Coming to' and finding himself alive, he was briskly saluted by an artillery subaltern whose men helped him from the wreckage. On being chided for his officiousness, the Gunner officer replied 'I thought you must be at least a wing commander. You had such a very big streamer on your machine.' 'Streamer be blowed', the pilot replied. 'That was my tail-plane.'   'Wind in the Wires' was first published in 1933 and is an entertaining and vivid account of the author's wartime service, including the dramatic events I've summarised above. His record was an unusual one, because it comprised two periods 'on ops' separated by two years in a German prisoner of war camp!   The book starts with an account of the author's flying training, after his secondment to the Royal Flying Corps from an infantry regiment. He trains on Caudrons and Maurice Farman 'longhorns', a 'pusher' type so named as its elevator was mounted on long booms out in front of the crew nacelle. Early on, there's a chilling account of a crash in which an experienced pilot makes an ill-advised turn to regain the airfield after an engine failure on take-off, resulting in an horrific crash right in front of the helpless students, instructors and ground-crew.   Gaining his wings despite this early shock, the author is posted to France in the autumn of 1915, where he finds himself with 16 Squadron based at Merville near Armentieres, home of the mademoiselle who, as the song had it, 'hasn't been kissed in forty years'. Two of the squadron's three flights were operating the BE2c two-seater general purpose biplane, said to be of the latest type, with the new (skid-less) undercarriage and 90 hp RAF engine. The author was posted to the third flight, operating Maurice Farman 'shorthorns', a slightly-updated cousin of the 'longhorn' on which he trained.  He offers amusing descriptions of the varied personalities in the unit, referring to them by the nicknames he gave them. His unfriendly and unhelpful flight commander is 'Growl'. Another flight commander - dubbed 'Foxy' - has a rather warped sense of humour: he titters at own his descriptions of unfortunate pilots burned in crashes being 'completmong carboneezey' ('completely carbonised' in his pidgin French). The highly-withdrawn Major commanding the squadron is 'the Starched Shirt', which a helpful list at the front of my revised 1971 edition confirms is no less than Hugh 'Stuffy' Dowding, who later commanded RAF Fighter Command in the Battle of Britain. Doubtless these nicknames saved his publishers more than one libel suit! Grinnell-Milne received absolutely none of the careful mentoring and instruction that more enlightened or professional leaders like Mick Mannock bestowed upon their own new pilots. A trip up to the lines with an experienced observer to get the lie of the land and a taste of 'Archie', then it was down to 'on-the-job-training'.   Until his flight's elderly pushers were replaced by BE2cs, the author soldiered on, flying mostly defensive patrols over the lines in a 'shorthorn' armed with a Lewis Gun for the observer. These patrols, left to the less experienced pilots, were designed mostly to deter any incursions by German aircraft, even though the author acknowledges that they were seldom going to be able to bring to battle the faster German two-seaters. His patrols were uneventful and they spent their time watching for German planes which never came and on their secondary function of observing and reporting enemy ground activity in or near the Lines. At the end of each uneventful flight, they dived and peppered the German trenches with gunfire. The highlight of this period was an ineffective but spirited attack on a German observation balloon.   Converting to BE2cs later in 1915, the author finds the type to be stable but highly manoeuvrable, fully capable of making vertically-banked turns and looping. Flying the BE, he ventures on recce and artillery observation missions but soon finds his yearning is for combat with enemy aeroplanes. In November, he shoots down what he describes as a 'big white Albatros' which will have been a two-seater machine-gun-armed C-type. Other highlights are his fight with the infamous 'Two Tails', an Ago C III pusher credited with almost mystical prowess and his participation in an attack on a railway junction, said to be the biggest bombing raid mounted by the RFC up to that time. In May 1916, when flying the dreaded 'Long Reconnaisance', his BE's engine fails on the return journey, possibly from flak damage, and he has to force land just a few miles short of friendly territory. Taken prisoner with his observer, Grinnell-Milne is much impressed by his sympathetic reception by German aviators from a nearby airfield.   Two years later, the author escapes from his captivity and joins the famous 56 Squadron, flying SE5a fighters, scoring several victories in the closing months of the war.   From one episode to the next, all of these experiences are described with humanity and a dry sense of humour, laced with many details which the enthusiast of this period will treasure. 'Wind in the Wires' appears to be back in print again, courtesy of publishers Grub Street, and is highly recommended:   http://www.grubstreet.co.uk/products/view/572/wind-in-the-wires/     The air war in autumn 1915 In this mission report, we'll be looking at the early period of the author's combat career. At this time, the concept of specialised fighter squadrons was still a little way off. Two-seater units might be allocated one or two faster machines more suited to air-to-air fighting - or less suited, in the case of the wildly-unsuitable BE 9 'pulpit' the author mentions that 16 Squadron trialled at one point. But in general, the two-seaters were expected to undertake all roles, including air fighting. Grinnell-Milne's account makes it clear that although under-powered and awkwardly-armed, the BE was not entirely incapable of effective air combat. However, the arrival from summer 1915 of Fokker monoplanes equipped with a machine gun which could safely fire ahead through the propeller arc signaled the start of a new, deadlier era in air warfare. On the ground, little had changed. Static trench warfare remained the order of the day, with the Battle of Loos, fought just to the south of 16 Squadron's sector of the front, failing to achieve the hoped-for breakthrough.     The Mission As with the other mission reports planned for this series, the aim is to fly a campaign mission in Wings Over Flanders Fields which recreates as far as practicable the sort of experiences described in the book. 'Wind in the Wires' being one of comparatively few which cover the role of the 'working aeroplanes' rather than the 'fighting aeroplanes', I opted to fly a mission from the first part of the author's combat career, in the later part of 1915, when the squadron had ditched its 'shorthorns' and was equipped with the BE2c. Sure enough, No. 16 Squadron is in WOFF's order of battle in this period and I chose to start in October 1915 - WOFF gives you more freedom over start date than did OFF. Here's the 'Duty Room' for the Squadron. It describes our establishment in typically fulsome WOFF detail, including the names of both pilots and observers. We have the nimble Bristol Scout for the top-ranking pilots and for the rest, the BE2c. I'm Lieutenant Richard Growl, having decided to adopt the nickname given by Grinnell-Milne to his surly flight commander!     Homing in on my own flight, I can find out something about my fellow-pilots. Obviously we are not the hottest outfit in the Flying Corps but we have a job to do and we will get on with it.     Looking at the intelligence report, I can find out more about what's going on at the front in this period (this one's actually dated a month later, from a career started previously, but you get the picture as to what's available here):     And so, to battle! Here's the briefing screen for the campaign's first mission. As usual, I have selected 'Always lead' in the WOFF 'Workshops', so I'm in charge of 'B' Flight on this sortie, which is to be a bombing raid on German front-line positions. The squadron's 'A' flight is said to be flying 'top cover', just as some of the BEs in the bombing raid described in 'Wind in the Wires' were assigned to escort the bomb-carrying machines.     In this pic, you have a better view of the map, showing our dog-leg route out to the target and a straight leg back to our base at Merville. We are each carrying four 25-pound 'Cooper' bombs. It was common practice for BEs to leave behind the observer on bombing runs, at least if carrying the heavier 112-pound bombs, but I'm glad to say that won't be the case on this mission!     And here we are on the grass at Merville, bombed up and good to go. Our BEs are in the clear doped linen scheme common at that time. The weather's quite good, although there's quite a bit of low-lying cloud around.     Checking the controls, I started her up and took off, followed by the others. Turning right beyond the airfield boundary, I crossed what will have been the River Lys, said to have been canalised at this point. I didn't see the barge which Grinnell-Milne says was used for the officers' accommodation but the general lie of the land looks pretty authentic, with detail sufficient for basic visual navigation.     At about five hundred feet, I throttled back and held her level to allow the flight to catch up. As they closed in on me, I opened her up again and began a long, slow climb for height, out along our plotted track to the north-east.     The objective was not too far off, so instead of going to autopilot and running time compression, I opted to fly in real time and enjoy the view of WOFF's very pleasing new terrain.     As we climbed, the superior WOFF formation-keeping was also much in evidence. What lay ahead I could not know. But we made a bold sight as we climbed away together, the aircraft rising and falling gently as we steadily gained height.     Drawing close to the Lines, we passed to our left a large town, which a glance at the map showed must be Ypres - or 'Wipers' as the Tommies knew it.     Some low-lying cloud towards the trenchlines indicated that target acquisition might be difficult, but I pressed on. I had decided to attack at whatever height I had managed to gain by the time I reached the area of our objective. This turned out to be just over four thousand feet; not very high but enough to be out of harm's way from rifle and machine-gun fire from the ground.     At this point I turned on the Tactical Display or 'TAC', set to display ground targets. This shows up the front lines and in red and blue, the general locations of ground units on both sides. Given the limitations of 'MonitorVision' and the general mess of the 'shelled area' that now rolled out beneath us, I had few qualms about using this visual aid, which I expected I would soon have to use anyway, to get my flight to execute its attack.     The difficulty now seemed to be, which target to attack? After dithering for a while, I tabbed to select an isolated red enemy blob, out behind the others in the big rectangular boxes along the front lines. The latter I took to be entrenched enemy troops. The isolated blobs to their rear seemed likely to be easier targets, out in the open perhaps. I gave the order to attack, then as my flight swung away, turned so as to make my own separate bombing run, throttling back and losing altitude as I did so.     I failed to notice a convoy of motor transport on a nearby road running through the mud, which was actually the target I had selected; this would have been plain had I the sense to padlock it. Instead, I chose a small but prominent, dark, circular fieldwork, at the end of a trench running off the main positions. This looked important - possibly a command post or a supply dump. Whatever it was, it was about to be bombed.     Letting go my load of four little Cooper bombs in two closely-spaced salvoes, disdaining a bombsight view and working from the external view looking down, I watched anxiously for the results. My expectations were, I admit, fairly low. I was much gratified to see my bombs bursting pretty well on target. That'll wake up those Huns, I thought to myself!     As I banked around, my feelings were rather more mixed, as I saw the bombs from the rest of my flight explode right in the middle of the MT on the road. And noticed also that there was a second convoy just a little further down the road, which I could have attacked instead of my better-protected dugout.     By now down to about three thousand feet, I turned for home, slowing down to allow my flight to close up, all the while unmolested by enemy AA fire. I must admit that in my anxiety to locate and clobber something worthwhile, I had neglected to keep a good lookout in the air around us. But there was no sign of any Hun aircraft. Perhaps 'A' Flight, somewhere up above and out of sight, had kept the Fokkers at bay, today.     Thereafter, it was an uneventful flight back to Merville, this time with the assistance of autopilot and time compression, until the last few miles. Our airfield's proximity to the River Lys made finding it easy and we soon slipped gracefully down towards our base.     Making my own landing ahead of the others, I swept across the path of a local freight train, put her down and ran up to the sheds, where I switched off and relaxed again. Job done!     Here's the main and secondary debriefing screens, showing the level of detail you can get on how your mission went. Overall, not a bad day's work for 'B' Flight, although my own bombs would evidently have been better reserved for the enemy motor transport.     This was a fairly quiet mission but then, that's typical of the real missions recounted by Grinnel-Milne, flown when the air-to-air war was just taking a more deadly turn.   Many simmers will have had their interests inspired by the books they've read and I'm no exception. 'Wind in the Wires' is a great account of one man's WW1 air war and Wings Over Flanders Fields is a great way of bringing it to life. Both are highly recommended!   Mark 'Polovski' Rogers of ODB Software answers some likely 'readers questions'... - can you tell us anything about the work that went into WOFF, that's relevant to this particular mission?   Not just the BE2c but across the board, all squadrons were revised to more accurately reflect the real squadrons duties at the time. It should apply to most squadrons and craft types.   A vast amount of the development time on WOFF was due to the work and testing of the AI that went on. Included in the large feature list for WW1, we also wanted the AI pilots to have human like traits and qualities.  One of those was a realistic formation keeping capability, including the problems of keeping up in turns, meeting up with Escorts, going to mission, and return, and rejoining sometimes after a mission.  Obviously there are many things that humans do without even thinking but actually defining that in terms of an artificial intelligence is a massive undertaking.  We also wanted to include faults and mistakes this adds to the human-like  behaviours.  Obviously we can always improve areas but we believe it's one of the best AI's out there in many areas.   - any pointers as to what the Fokker Scourge or skins packs include, which would enhance the experience?   The Fokker Scourge Expansion of course adds two more Eindecker types, and more squadrons using them to the appropriate theatres.  Although the BE2c 'early' version is included in WOFF, it's only flyable in the Fokker Scourge add-on.   The introduction of the flyable BE2c 'early,' was to allow the player to experience the earlier period fear of pilots and observers at that time of the Scourge trying to defend with just a rifle and to feel the threat more.   - any plans for the future that may impact here?.   We are of course hoping to add more craft across all periods so if we get good support we will of course be adding more early craft too. We hope to improve the BE2c model slightly too at some point (no promises but if time etc allows).   The competition Fuller details of the competition, including the prize, will be announced soon. Current plans are that it will be a word search from this series of reports, which when combined will produce a famous air fighting maxim...watch this space!   Coming next in CombatAce-WW1 - 'Sagittarius Rising' by Cecil Lewis  
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Wings Over Flanders Fields - the CombatAce Review, part 3


By 33LIMA, March 18, 2014
Wings Over Flanders Fields - the CombatAce Review, part 3     The WOFF Campaign System   Up to now, I have tried to keep this review factual and observational with the minimum of gushing hyperbole. But this is the point at which it gets rather difficult to give a fair or adequate picture without resorting to superlatives. So I'll settle for saying at the outset 'I'm simply blown away by the WOFF campaign!', then try to settle back down to business.   This first bit will be familiar to players of OFF but for everyone else, the main feature of the WOFF campaign is that it is underpinned by a pretty comprehensive, living reproduction of the aerial orders of battle (orbats) of the British, French, German and US air services. This includes 'scouts' (fighters) and a variety of two-seaters (a few fighters, but mostly general purpose recce types). Each squadron is based where it was at any point in time, during the real war. Its roster includes many of the pilots who are known to have flown with the unit, including squadron aces - you can see their names in the 'duty room' and look at their own dossiers, often with a real photo of the actual pilot. The unit's planes have an historically-accurate skin for different periods in its operational service. Its aces may well have their own, distinctive skins. You can pick your squadron and fly with it through the war, moving bases and changing aircraft as it does. This includes the ability to start for the Germans flying a two-seater then move to 'scouts' when the unit changes role, with the formation of the German Jastas (Jagdstaffeln, fighter squadrons) from autumn 1916. Squadrons may fly more than one aircraft type or variant, with the higher-ranking pilots having the more up-to-date mounts - 'rank hath its privileges', in WOFF as in real life.   There are some gaps in the orbats where a plane is not (yet) available in the sim. For example, let's say you've read the classic 'No Parachute' or 'Open Cockpit' and you want to fly with author Arthur Gould Lee's 46 Squadron, RFC. You can: you just have to start where the author did, in late Spring 1917 flying Sopwith Pups, because the squadron's previous mount, the Nieuport 12 two-seater, isn't in the WOFF planeset. When you arrive at la Gorgue airfield and visit the 'Duty Room', you can see the author himself in the squadron roster and look up his dossier/logbook where's there's an actual photograph of the man himself. How neat is that?     By combining a good planeset with thorough orders of battle and realistic rosters and skins for each unit, WOFF does an exceptional job of putting the player into a first-class and incredibly-detailed recreation of the air war over the Western front. OFF did this too, but WOFF does it better. And when you get into the air, WOFF's much better AI and other new or improved features bring the experience to life in a much superior fashion.   There's so much depth and so many features to the experience you get from WOFF campaign missions, it really needs an article in itself. I plan to illustrate this topic with some mission reports, soon. In the meantime, here's some fairly random but illustrative info and observations on how it all comes together.   First, let's take a quick look at the training option I mentioned in Part 2. If you opt for 'Automatic Deployment' after choosing the nationality of a new pilot you are creating, you can also opt to have him undertake some basic flight training in a two-seater, before he is posted to an operational unit 'at the sharp end'. This is an appealing addition to WOFF. As training, you're much better off trying out your squadron's assigned machine in Quick Combat. But many WW1 pilot autobiographies begin with accounts of their flying training, which could be pretty basic by modern standards. WOFF, amongst other things, is evidently a product for enthusiasts designed by enthusiasts and it's a nice touch that as a mood-setter, they have taken the trouble to construct for us a short, optional smattering of simulated WW1 flying training before we head off to the Front.   There seems to be a training option for each nation. It's a pretty basic syllabus, but then by all accounts it was, at least until the last year or so of the war. Here's the Royal Flying Corps version, operating out of Sutton's Farm, then on the eastern outskirts of London, later RAF Hornchurch, flying a 'Quirk,' as the BE2c was called.     The first flight is a pleasant short-range extended circuit around the aerodrome, with your virtual pilot under instruction sitting in the front seat, with no dual controls, purely to see how it's done. I turned on text message display just for this but saw none. It was a pleasant enough trip, in good weather, over England's green and pleasant land.     For the German training, you're flying an Aviatik from Maubeuge in Belgium. With the French, I'd guess that you'll be in a Morane parasol; for the USA, maybe a parasol or a Strutter. When you kick off the course, you are told which unit you will be assigned to when your training is complete, so that you can have some choice in the plane you will fly on operations. Neat!   Right, you've done the training, if desired. And, hopefully, you've had the sense to put in some time flying your chosen aircraft against typical opposition, in Quick Combat. Eager for action and with your chosen pilot active, you start a campaign. Here's a typical mission briefing. First time I saw this, I thought, 'Oh no! We're still getting some inappropriate missions, like recces for fighters!' But no, despite the headline, we're actually escorting a pair of RE8s on a recce mission. And the mission text is better written than OFF's, with more proper placenames, for example. Spot on.     At this point, you can do various things. You can't alter the type of mission you get, only its target (if you're bombing) or end point/objective area (if not). But you can look up some 'Intell' (to use an out-of-place modern term!) and while you are there, apply for a transfer. Here's the 'Intell' screen with tabs opened for both local enemies and transfer opportunities, for a Jasta 10 mission in Autumn 1917. Presentation and functionality is much improved, over OFF.     As to the missions themselves, the campaign is where you really notice how all the improvements and new stuff come together. Take navigation, for instance. Now, what you can see on the map and and in the 3d game world actually tie in nicely, (which they didn't really, in OFF). And there are two inflight maps available. There's a basic one that includes an icon with your own position and your track plotted. And for the more hard core who scorn such things and want to find their way around more realistically, there's a better in-cockpit map, without the visual aids.     Here I am in an Aviatik in the winter of 1915, off on a bombing mission to a railway terminus near the large town of Amiens. Comparing what I can see to my maps, I can tell that the town just ahead and slightly right is Albert, with Amiens still out of sight, just beyond the river, further ahead. This helps a lot, with immersion.     If you're curious how that one ended up, I chickened out short of Amiens and instead bombed a target of opportunity, namely a convoy of lorries I spotted heading east on a road near the target. After all, don't they say that a convoy in the hand is better than a railyard in the bush? If you're wondering where the bombs are, early planes didn't have racks; the observer kept the bombs in his cockpit and heaved them overboard!     One irritation on longer campaign flights is that you can no longer 'warp' to save time. Apparently, this is because 'warp' messes up the synchronisation between other flights, which are going about real missions of their own, all along the front, and are not just 'spawned' in your vicinity. Instead you can fly in real time or enable an autopilot and use time compression. If I recall right, there's a workaround to enable 'warp' if you want to chance it.   I haven't flown many two-seater campaign missions but while some planes have a suitably-rudimentary bombsight view, I believe that there is no special provision for reconnaisance missions (unless you want to grab a screenshot or write on Wordpad what you see) or for artillery-spotting missions.   It's on campaign that you will also come to understand the various tools available to help you locate or identify other aircraft or understand what's going on. Opinions and results may vary from player to player, plane to plane and set-up to set-up; but to me, distant aircraft visibility is still somewhat on the short side. Some report up to about 2.5 miles, 1.5 is more common in my experience. You can live with this reasonably well, especially if flying German fighters as you're mostly on your side of the Lines and flak bursts will often point out your targets. Or you can use the Tactical Display (TAC), selecting a range limit which you're comfortable with. Or you can use the labels. As with the TAC, labels have been much improved, over OFF. Settings can be varied. There is now a 'dot' mode to make planes more visible further away - this appears quite effective although (i) it's now grey while I think it'd have been better left black or very dark grey and (ii) it looks to me that the default settings need a bit of experimentation to get an optimum balance between realism and effectiveness. As for the actual text labels, these can now contain a surprising variety of information, not just the type of aircaft, distance and (if close enough) the pilot's name - but also what it's doing eg fighting, returning to base, or landing.     And the new TAC sub-text can also give the ID of any target you have selected - in this case, confirming that my opponent in the silver Nieuport I'm fighting in my Pfalz is no less than RFC ace, James D Payne of 29 Squadron (in the text below the TAC, 'HA' indicates an Historical Ace). Now, that was a scary discovery! But I actually managed to knock him down.     Campaigns are also a great way to experience WOFF's new AI. Payne was the last of three Nieuports I claimed on that mission, having met them one at a time. Being an ace, he was a much tougher nut to crack. In fact he very nearly got me instead. At one point I saw him stall and spin out, then recover and resume the fight, another indicator of the quality of the new AI. His Nieuport seemed rather more nimble but I managed to hold my height better and in the end, my two MGs settled the matter in my favour.   Here's the claim form I filled in after the battle. In 'Workshops' I've opted to have my kill confirmations depend on acceptance of these combat reports so I've typed in details like time, location and altitude into the 'Narrative' field. Here's hoping!     Another thing I've noticed on campaign is that my suspicion was confirmed, that enemy balloons are vulnerable to friendly flak aimed at you. The burning Hun gasbag behind me was clobbered by his own Archie as I was beating a low-level retreat in my Pup, pursued by two Huns in V-strutters, after my blood having knocked down one of their comrades. Worth mentioning that the Albatrosses gave up chasing me when I reached the Lines, with none of the usual target fixation. And speaking of the Lines, the word is that you no longer routinely meet Hun fighters operating freely on the British/French/US side, which would be good. Another plus, I believe, is that there are no longer some disconnects between what happens in the game world and what's reported in WOFF's interface. There's no longer the RB3d-like ability to replay missions on the map, but a modder is working on something which may provide a comparable facility.     The much better formation-keeping is also much in evidence, on campaign. Realistically, your flight seems very liable to become split up in or after an air combat but otherwise, the fact they now keep up so well during course changes means that at last, you can bring your flight into action as a unit, and better play the role of a patrol-leader. Scouts and two-seaters do equally well, here. I've seen no more slipping wide on modest course changes, nor falling below on a climb. The new AI is really first-class!     Activity levels at or behind the front is another big plus. Though I haven't seen any artillery batteries (which I think were in CFS3) the barrages they produce look better than ever, more concentrated and with better graphical effects.     As you have probably worked out by now, I could witter on all day about the WOFF campaign experience and how good it is, but I must stop somewhere and this is it!   At-a-Glance - the Pros & Cons
Now, we're getting into more subjective territory and as they said in Rome, there's no point disputing matters of taste. But here goes! It's worth saying at the outset that merely counting up the 'pros' and 'cons' listed below is misleading: most of the 'pros' are significant; many of the 'cons' just aren't, by comparison. Not featured in either of the lists below is damage modelling, as I reckon that isn't a particular strength nor a particular weakness. Likewise, I have left out two other points. Firstly, there's distant aircraft visibility. Though I think it should be a bit further, I expect the new dot mode, when I get it set up to my taste, will fit the bill. Secondly, there's the flight models, which in general do seem somewhat less tractable than what I'm used to and prefer. But I'm not an expert and rather than knock these, I'll put that impression down to lack of familiarity, possible greater realism and wrist strain/my lack of rudder pedals.
 
Pros
Excellent, historical single-player campaign Excellent sounds
Large planeset, all flyable
Great-looking cockpits
Great-looking planes, especially with Ankor's mod
Great looking terrain & scenery, covering whole Western Front
Great AI Great 'living' air war
Good range of historical 'skins'
Ability to 'gun' from multi-seat planes
Historical aces are present
Faithful reproduction of orders of battle over most of the war Very good interface with lots of options Very good support from the developers Good level of ground activity at and behind the front lines Expansion packs already available and more planned  
Cons
No multi-player (possibly a 'Pro', if you're not into MP!)
Limited aircrew animation
No reloading time for drum-fed MGs No 'warp'
Barrages, but no artillery batteries in action (I think)
Limited simulation of recce or artillery observation missions
Attacked balloons not winched down (& vulnerable to 'friendly' flak)
A few significant planeset gaps Comparatively few villages
Minor inaccuracies in a few aircraft models
'Wide angle lens' external view
Some significant limits to modability eg difficult to add new planes/integrate with campaign
  The Verdict This year marks the centenary of the outbreak of 'The Great War for Civilization', to quote the title used on my great-great uncle's Victory Medal. So it's a fitting time for the release of a new simulator which gives us some sense of what it must have been like to fight the Great War in the air. However, with WOFF's predecessor Over Flanders Fields, Rise of Flight and First Eagles (not to mention the IL-2 mod DBW-1916, the earlier FS-WW1 based on Screamin' Demons Over Europe or even the Warbirds derivatives like Flyboys Squadron) - we are already well-served with WW1 flightsims. So what's the case for splashing out on WOFF? Is it worth it, especially if you already 'fly' one of the alternatives?   My own assessment of the 'big three' current WW1 combat flightsims - First Eagles 2, Rise of Flight, and now Wings Over Flanders Fields - is still that there are some areas where each is best. FE2 - modded - has an amazing planeset, great air-to-air, additional theaters and an under-rated campaign system. RoF is great at delivering the feeling of flying a WW1 plane and now has Pat Wilson's Campaign Generator to enhance the single player campaign experience. I've much enjoyed playing both FE2 and RoF and I know I will continue to do so.   OFF was a product with an unrivaled grasp of its historical subject matter. However, in some core respects - patrol-leading and air combat, to my mind the most important things for a WW1 sim to do well - OFF, in my experience, had not fully matured. Now, in its latest incarnation and in this WW1 centenary year, Wings Over Flanders Fields is a simulation that has come of age, with impeccable timing. It has taken the historical content and the comprehensive single-player campaign system of OFF, improved it and then added visuals which - save for a few minor caveats - are absolutely top-notch. Likewise, sound effects are really marvellous and interface is much improved. So are most other features. And new stuff has been added, like the flying training missions. Most of all, thanks to the new AI and other related enhancements, the air-to-air experience is now right up there, with or ahead of the best of them.   Playing WOFF for this review, I get a strong sense that the people behind the sim have this stuff in their blood and have striven really hard to deliver an exceptional WW1 air war experience. Did they succeed?  Will Wings Over Flanders Fields repay the investment of your money and your time? Well, it's your call, and I hope this review helps you make up your mind. For me, the answer is a resounding 'Hell, yes!'   Why 'Hell, yes!'? Well, I prefer to avoid gushing superlatives and have tried to keep this review balanced and observational. But lest anyone mistake that for coolness about WOFF, please allow me the luxury of two related and more personal observations, to wind up the main body of the review.
 
Here's the first point. Imagine a developer who asked a thousand knowledgeable enthusiasts what they wanted to see in a single-player sim - content, features, looks and gameplay. And then built it. For World War 1 over the Western Front, Wings Over Flanders Fields is that sim. How many other sims can you say that about? And on/shortly after release?
 
So there's no DH4. Not everything made it. But last time I checked, I wasn't living in Utopia.
 
Second point is this. Having been released at the end of 2013, I don't know if WOFF counts as a 2013 sim or a 2014 one. But given the depth, breadth and quality of this product, if WOFF doesn't win at least one 'Sim of the Year' award, well, there ain't no justice. Likewise, in my experience, WOFF deserves to be in at least the top ten 'Best Combat Flightsims' - ever.   The final score? Well the scale is:   5 - Must Buy - Delivers a consistently outstanding experience with minimal flaws that do not detract from the gameplay in any significant way.     4 - Highly Recommended - Delivers a fun and enjoyable experience well worth your time and money, despite some room for improvement.   3 - Recommended - Delivers a solid gameplay experience with a few irritations that occasionally disrupt enjoyment.   2 - Difficult to Recommend - Delivers some of the promised fun, but not without significant problems in the gameplay experience.   1- Not Recommended - Delivers a sub-par gameplay experience; doesn't fulfill its promises; offers more bugs than fun.   This reviewer's final score on the above scale is: 5 - Must Buy   But we're not quite finished here yet!   Coming next in part 4 - the view from the cockpits of the other CombatAce reviewers!     The staff at CombatAce are grateful to OBD Software for supplying review copies of WOFF. By way of disclosure, 33LIMA helped with a little research (mostly on aerodromes) for the original, non-commercial release of OFF, but has no other or recent connection with OBD Software.  
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