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A shaky start with Seventy-Nine...
By 33LIMA,
Defending the convoys again, on Day 2 of the Battle of Britain
This was my first mission on 11th July 1940, the day after the RAF traditionally considers that the Battle began. At this stage in the BoB2 RAF campaign, as in the real one, the Navy is still insisting - in the face of some German-supplied evidence to the contrary - that Britannia rules the waves. And that this being so, coastal convoys should carry on, rather than shifting everything they're lugging about onto the already-busy railways. So the principal commitment of Fighter Command at this stage is flying standing patrols to provide air cover, with additional fighter squadrons on standby, ready to scramble if an incoming raid is detected by the Chain Home radar network.
This is the balance sheet as of early that morning. From flying 252 sorties, many of which never saw a Hun, we have claimed eleven kills, all of them bombers, against seven Spitfires and one Hurricane definitely lost. Hopefully our over-claim rate is not high, as this is not a great exchange rate. However, having re-started my RAF campaign afresh, I am not so far seeing the very high and hugely imbalanced losses from first time around, possibly down to me messing up saves or something.
You can see patrols 'changing shifts' over Convoy Bosom out to the west, while an incoming raid, marked up as Hostile seven zero one, strength sixty plus, has been detected over the French coast. As it happens, this raid's target is Convoy Whiskey, whose circular grey marker you can just about see to the centre right edge of the Review box, in the outer reaches of the Thames Estuary. Following the default Directives which I accepted, controllers soon scrambled four squadrons, a mix of Spits and Hurris, to join the one on patrol over Whiskey. Seventy-Nine Squadron - flying Hurricanes out of Biggin Hill south of London, squadron code NV - was the first to sight the enemy. So when offered, I accepted the chance to fly with them, opting to be Red 2 on the right of the squadron leader. This is me seen from his machine, in NV-B, as we climb gently in four, tight three-plane vics, going north over the coast near a town which might be Allhallows on Sea. I had hoped to be on the edge of the formation but mis-read the layout and ended up smack bang in the middle. Combined with the cloudy conditions, this was to have interesting consequences later.
...to be continued!
New 2019 IL-2: Great Battles content release info
By 76.IAP-Blackbird,
News, put together by Stormbirds
IL-2’s Lead Producer, Jason Williams, revealed plenty of new information today in a post on the IL-2 forums with plenty of far reaching details on the release order of content coming to the IL-2 series including some surprise changes to the order of new materials. There has long been speculation on the order that content will release in for IL-2: Battle of Bodenplatte (not to mention Tank Crew and Flying Circus). In the post that went up a few hours ago, we’ve learned about each of the three titles and what content is releasing and when. Me262 coming sooner than expected Though long thought to be the last aircraft to be released, 1CGS has apparently made tremendous strides in getting the required flight model changes and jet engine modeling inserted into the engine – to that point that the Me262 will now release alongside the FW190D-9. That means that the FW190D-9, already well known to be coming next, will come with the Me262. That is incredible news and a change of plans from 1CGS on release order compared to what we previously knew. Here’s the new order: Me-262 and Fw-190 D-9 P-51D B-25 (AI) Tempest Mk.V P-38J Excitingly, the P-51D is next in the line-up but it does mean that we’ll be waiting for a while yet for another two highly anticipated types: the P-38J and the Tempest Mark V. Tanks will be coming in larger packs Eight more tanks are coming in 2019 for Tank Crew – Clash at Prohorovka. While the tanks themselves have been well known for over a year now, the actual release order has been only guessed at based on what we’ve seen from the work in progress images. The next release for Tank Crew will include: M4A2 PzKpfw IV Ausf.G T-34 model 1943 PzKpfw III Ausf.M Following that, a second release will include: SU-122 PzKpfw V Ausf.D SU-152 Sd. Kfz. 184 I would suggest to those unclear about this that it is very likely that there will be large gaps in between these releases as the models for these tanks are worked on. Two additional vehicles will be offered as Collector Vehicles (like Collector Planes) and they are: GAZ-MM + 72K Sd. Kfz. 10 + Flak38 These two mobile flak vehicles will provide a whole new aspect for the IL-2 series with a new mission – firing back at aircraft attacking ground targets and tanks. One thing is certain and that is Tank Crew will be growing immensely from its currently very early access state into a complete package over the coming months. Flying Circus aircraft still to come We already knew that the Fokker D.VII and D.VIIF were coming alongside the Sopwith Dolphin. From there we were only making educated guesses, however, according to Jason Williams, the order will go as follows: Fokker D.VII and D.VIIF and Sopwith Dolphin Albatros D.Va and S.E.5a Bristol F2B and Halberstadt CL.II and CL.IIau Flying Circus has four aircraft that have helped prove and cement the concept of bringing Rise of Flight’s aircraft to the next generation of the Digital Warfare engine – letting people experience VR WWI air combat and enjoying the benefits of years of development on the series’ engine. The rest of the aircraft line-up will help further sell the concept I think – and it leaves me hopeful for a future Vol 2 follow-up too. Map release order too We now have information on the release order for the new maps coming as well. Bodenplatte Map Arras Map Prokhorovka Map Last in the order is the recently revealed Prokhorovka map which is interesting because we’ve seen this map in development while the Arras map for Flying Circus has not yet been seen in work in progress screenshots. Many months ago we saw the first images of the Bodenplatte map followed up by images of new city layouts that would help the 1CGS team quickly populate the largest (and most densely packed) map in the series’ history. Of course, the Bodenplatte map isn’t just one theme as it comes with all four seasons – summer, autumn, winter, and even a spring thaw version of the map that is something we’ve not really seen before. And those other features Sometimes I think we get so caught up about seeing our favourite aircraft or tank added that we sometimes forget that the thing that helps propel all of this along are those “other features” that are so essential to making something like the IL-2: Great Battles Series compelling. 1CGS has no shortage of that planned. Bodenplatte Career Bodenplatte Scripted Campaign Another Payware Scripted Campaign or two from 3rd Parties Tank Crew Scripted Campaigns American and British Radio Calls Air/Field Marshal Feature Object Viewer New MP Lobby (Fingers crossed, this one won’t be easy) PWCG Online Co-Op Campaign (Go chew on Pat about this) and hopefully many other tweaks and fixes etc. as we go along. Things like a Career we’ve come to expect from the 1CGS team who delivered that feature in March of 2018 and which has, in my mind at least, transformed the single player experience. Other things like the Air Field Marshal and a new Multiplayer Lobby have the potential to be game changing for the multiplayer experience. We’ve got a lot to look forward to in the IL-2 series this year and I think we’re in for another transformative year for IL-2: Great Battles. And who knows… 1CGS always has a few surprises rolled up their sleeves.
Original source
https://stormbirds.blog/2019/01/15/new-2019-il-2-great-battles-content-release-info/
IL-2’s Lead Producer, Jason Williams, revealed plenty of new information today in a post on the IL-2 forums with plenty of far reaching details on the release order of content coming to the IL-2 series including some surprise changes to the order of new materials. There has long been speculation on the order that content will release in for IL-2: Battle of Bodenplatte (not to mention Tank Crew and Flying Circus). In the post that went up a few hours ago, we’ve learned about each of the three titles and what content is releasing and when. Me262 coming sooner than expected Though long thought to be the last aircraft to be released, 1CGS has apparently made tremendous strides in getting the required flight model changes and jet engine modeling inserted into the engine – to that point that the Me262 will now release alongside the FW190D-9. That means that the FW190D-9, already well known to be coming next, will come with the Me262. That is incredible news and a change of plans from 1CGS on release order compared to what we previously knew. Here’s the new order: Me-262 and Fw-190 D-9 P-51D B-25 (AI) Tempest Mk.V P-38J Excitingly, the P-51D is next in the line-up but it does mean that we’ll be waiting for a while yet for another two highly anticipated types: the P-38J and the Tempest Mark V. Tanks will be coming in larger packs Eight more tanks are coming in 2019 for Tank Crew – Clash at Prohorovka. While the tanks themselves have been well known for over a year now, the actual release order has been only guessed at based on what we’ve seen from the work in progress images. The next release for Tank Crew will include: M4A2 PzKpfw IV Ausf.G T-34 model 1943 PzKpfw III Ausf.M Following that, a second release will include: SU-122 PzKpfw V Ausf.D SU-152 Sd. Kfz. 184 I would suggest to those unclear about this that it is very likely that there will be large gaps in between these releases as the models for these tanks are worked on. Two additional vehicles will be offered as Collector Vehicles (like Collector Planes) and they are: GAZ-MM + 72K Sd. Kfz. 10 + Flak38 These two mobile flak vehicles will provide a whole new aspect for the IL-2 series with a new mission – firing back at aircraft attacking ground targets and tanks. One thing is certain and that is Tank Crew will be growing immensely from its currently very early access state into a complete package over the coming months. Flying Circus aircraft still to come We already knew that the Fokker D.VII and D.VIIF were coming alongside the Sopwith Dolphin. From there we were only making educated guesses, however, according to Jason Williams, the order will go as follows: Fokker D.VII and D.VIIF and Sopwith Dolphin Albatros D.Va and S.E.5a Bristol F2B and Halberstadt CL.II and CL.IIau Flying Circus has four aircraft that have helped prove and cement the concept of bringing Rise of Flight’s aircraft to the next generation of the Digital Warfare engine – letting people experience VR WWI air combat and enjoying the benefits of years of development on the series’ engine. The rest of the aircraft line-up will help further sell the concept I think – and it leaves me hopeful for a future Vol 2 follow-up too. Map release order too We now have information on the release order for the new maps coming as well. Bodenplatte Map Arras Map Prokhorovka Map Last in the order is the recently revealed Prokhorovka map which is interesting because we’ve seen this map in development while the Arras map for Flying Circus has not yet been seen in work in progress screenshots. Many months ago we saw the first images of the Bodenplatte map followed up by images of new city layouts that would help the 1CGS team quickly populate the largest (and most densely packed) map in the series’ history. Of course, the Bodenplatte map isn’t just one theme as it comes with all four seasons – summer, autumn, winter, and even a spring thaw version of the map that is something we’ve not really seen before. And those other features Sometimes I think we get so caught up about seeing our favourite aircraft or tank added that we sometimes forget that the thing that helps propel all of this along are those “other features” that are so essential to making something like the IL-2: Great Battles Series compelling. 1CGS has no shortage of that planned. Bodenplatte Career Bodenplatte Scripted Campaign Another Payware Scripted Campaign or two from 3rd Parties Tank Crew Scripted Campaigns American and British Radio Calls Air/Field Marshal Feature Object Viewer New MP Lobby (Fingers crossed, this one won’t be easy) PWCG Online Co-Op Campaign (Go chew on Pat about this) and hopefully many other tweaks and fixes etc. as we go along. Things like a Career we’ve come to expect from the 1CGS team who delivered that feature in March of 2018 and which has, in my mind at least, transformed the single player experience. Other things like the Air Field Marshal and a new Multiplayer Lobby have the potential to be game changing for the multiplayer experience. We’ve got a lot to look forward to in the IL-2 series this year and I think we’re in for another transformative year for IL-2: Great Battles. And who knows… 1CGS always has a few surprises rolled up their sleeves.
Original source
https://stormbirds.blog/2019/01/15/new-2019-il-2-great-battles-content-release-info/
DCS: First pics of Syria map.
By Stratos,
They posted three images of the new Syria map.
https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3759594&postcount=112
Incirlick
Ramat David
And another one...
DCS Weekend News: 11 January 2019
By MigBuster,
Last week we discussed the many aircraft projects that will be under development in 2019. Today, let’s look at some of the non-aircraft projects. As mentioned last week, we cannot promise that all of these will be released in 2019, but they will all be under focused development.
Ships
Although we released a greatly improved and free Nimitz-class aircraft carrier at the time of the Hornet release, we are also working on a separate Nimitz-class aircraft carrier module. This product will have an incredible level of detail and include such features as a detailed and operable LSO and Air Boss stations, detailed modeling of the hangar, animated deck crew, briefing room, and control of the carrier.
Once this project is complete, the team will finish up the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and then return to and release the updated Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier.
Combined Arms
No combat environment is complete without a good solid ground game, and we continue to improve on and add to your abilities to control ground forces either from a commander position or behind the controls of a single unit. As with 2018, we will continue to address issues and look at new features to improve Combined Arms, based on your feedback, throughout 2019. We will continue to add new content in the form of new units both to the core sim and the WWII Asset Pack, as well as exciting new missions and campaigns. We are currently at work on new CA-related effects like main gun fire, dust trail, localized damage, and smoke grenades, while also working on improved ground unit AI like line-of-sight issues, pathing, and more intuitive control.
Radio Communications
The biggest radio communications task are the aircraft carrier communications that includes CASE I, CASE II, and CASE III for departure, marshal, approach, and the Landing Signal Officer (LSO). Once this massive task is complete, we will move on to an overhaul of the airbase radio communications.
New Maps
With 2018 we saw the release of the DCS: Persian Gulf Map. For 2019 we and our partners are working on two new World War II maps, a Syria map, a Falkland Islands map, and a new free map that we’ll discuss later in the year.
In parallel, we will be finishing up the Persian Gulf map with the addition of Liwa Airbase and Ras Al Khaimah airport; Al Ain Air War College; ruins near Shiraz, Kerman, and Bam; and fix remaining bugs. Once complete, it will be the largest DCS World map as measured from airfield to airfield.
Dynamic Campaign
While a hangar of great aircraft is certainly a wonderful thing, having an engaging, exciting, and dynamic combat environment is equally important. We have been developing the inner-workings of a dynamic campaign system which will continue into 2019. Based on the strategic goals and tactical situations, the systems will create dynamic Air Tasking Orders (ATO) that players then join to help their side to victory. This work is non-trivial, but we believe the addition of this system should be exciting for DCS users.
DCS World Multiplayer
In the closing weeks of 2018, we made the Dedicated Server software available to a handful of trusted 3rd party online servers. Based on their feedback, we have been tuning and expanding the software to best suit customer needs.
One aspect of the Dedicated Server we are also exploring is the availability of free maps to Dedicated Server hosts.
In addition to this new Server software, the team has also been at work developing an integrated Voice Over IP (VOIP) system for DCS World which is based on the growing Web RTC standard. The first phase will allow users to use and create “rooms” and the second phase would integrate the VOIP into in-cockpit radio controls.
As mentioned in last week’s newsletter about Modern Air Combat (MAC), we also plan to include leader boards, rankings, and other online statistics for DCS World online players.
DCS World Foundation
In parallel to all the above, the team continues to work on the foundation items of DCS World like air and ground artificial intelligence, performance optimization, more detailed damage models for all unit types, Vulkan implementation, improved VR optimization and improved Touch Controller support, aircraft wake turbulence.
DCS World Steam Edition to DCS World e-Shop Transfer
You can now transfer modules purchased on Steam to your DCS World e-Shop installation. Note that this only applies to Steam DLC that uses Steam protection, not StarForce keys. All DCS World DLCs released on Steam from 12th May 2017 can be transferred.
Here are some modules released on Steam after 12-May-2017:
DCS: M-2000C
DCS: NEVADA Test and Training Range map
DCS: Spitfire LF Mk.IX
DCS: AJS-37 Viggen
DCS: Normandy map
DCS: WW2 Assets pack
DCS: Su-33 for DCS World
DCS: AV-8B Night Attack V/STOL
DCS: F/A-18C Hornet
DCS: Persian Gulf map
Please see this link for complete directions
Given that Steam no longer accepts our 3rd party license keys, binding of keys purchased on the E- Shop cannot be transferred to the DCS World Steam Edition.
Hornet Missions of the Week
In our quest to bring more and more great, new content to the Hornet, we are now providing a Hornet Mission of the Week! The first two missions can be found here:
River Run
Strike Fighter
These missions will also be integrated into the Hornet Instant Action list of missions.
Sincerely,
The Eagle Dynamics Team
The Eagle Dynamics Team
A bad day for Douglas Bader
By 33LIMA,
Flying a sortie in the RAF campaign
This is my second mission report from my new (or at least, new-found) toy - A2A's Battle of Britain II - Wings of Victory. In case anyone's wondering, I didn't set out for them all to be called 'A bad day for...' - that's just how it's working out, so far. A bit of a give-away, or spoiler if you like, but I trust it won't last, and that future mission report titles will be a tad more cheerful.
Anyhow now that I've made a start with a BoB2 campaign, I'm wondering why I didn't take to it years ago, when I first got Rowan's original, or A2A's remake. Especially since both are so much better with the BDG updates. Now, you can even play a more conventional campaign, as described in the comprehensive BoB2/BDG manual, which enables you to have a log book-carrying, squadron-based pilot persona. This uses the underlying dynamic campaign 'wargame' to generate your missions. But for now I'm doing a conventional BoB2 'commander' (not 'pilot') campaign. The main difference is that the commander version allows you to act as any and all of the Air Vice-Marshals commanding 10, 11 and 12 Groups, Fighter Command, plus jump in and fly any squadron scrambled or tasked to patrol, either on takeoff or on meeting the enemy. Also at other points but the latter is the most interesting, and enables the player to jump in just before the start of any air fight, in any of the aircraft in the squadron about to engage.
I opted to start at the beginning of the first phase into which the Battle is conventionally divided - the channel convoy phase, starting 10 July 1940, just after the fall of France. Among the many options, you can set things so that the AI Luftwaffe you will be facing starts the battle mainly by attacking British coastal convoys ('historical' tactics), or using 'optimal' ones - which likely involves going for more beneficial targets earlier, like your airfields or aircraft factories. I opted for 'historical' and as expected, ended up with the RAF campaign AI flying standing patrols to protect convoys, plus scrambling squadrons to intercept raids as they come in. This campaign AI presents you with 'directives' which set rules your deployed forces will follow, and allows you both to vary these or create your own. It also takes decisions on what and when to scramble, abiding by these directives. The BDG manual gives excellent, detailed and illustrated advice on how to do all this, but the AI is quite good for the RAF anyway. I opted to accept all the defaults and let the AI fight the Battle, so that all I had to do was wait for something to happen and then dive in to any action that developed. As each campaign day accelerates and decelerates time as needed, you are not kept waiting staring at the map for long. And even while you are, it's a not uninteresting experience; you can watch convoys moving, patrols orbiting, raids developing and squadrons scrambling, while listening to reports as they come in. 'Hostile seven zero one is now a hundred plus' sounds positively sinister, even though spoken softly in the polite tones of an invisible but obviously efficient and very possibly pretty virtual 1940s WAAF at the plotting table.
Above is my campaign map near the end of the first of three sections the campaign day is broken into - morning, afternoon and early evening. The aforementioned raid Hostile 701 is near bottom right, returning to base after attacking Convoy Jaunty (authentic convoy and squadron reporting names are a feature), which is the grey ship marker in the Channel between the headlands at Beachy Head to the west and Dungeness to the east. The blue and white markers are RAF fighter squadrons, either the convoy's standing patrols or those scrambled as the raid came in and now heading home. During this raid I jumped in with 79 Squadron as the leader (the top right blue/white marker) when it intercepted Hostile 701. Here I am contemplating the incoming raid, from a not-terribly favourable position...
...and here I am dealing with a Messerschmitt 110 which objected to our presence...
But this mission report is about a sortie I flew the following day, 11th July. A convoy had left the dangers of the channel behind and sought safety off the North Sea port of Felixstowe. Not so safe, as it turned out, for Luftflotte 2 decided to have a go at them. Once again, we were up against a raid reported as 'a hundred plus'. Being keen, I accepted the first offer of combat that the campaign AI offered me, for the first squadron to sight the enemy in the air. This was no less than 242 (Canadian) Squadron, commanded by no less than Squadron Leader Douglas Bader. BoB2 being the stickler for unit-level historical detail that it is, it was no surprise when I therefore found myself in the cockpit not only of a Hurricane, and not only of one bearing authentic squadron codes ('LE') with each aircraft in the squadron with its own unique individual aircraft letter; but my mount was no less than the boss's own machine, LE-D, with my blue and red leader's flash below my starboard cockpit and the unofficial unit emblem, Adolph getting a kicking, adorning the nose. My Corgi diecast 1/72 has the leader's flash on the opposite side, the mirror image A (camouflage) Scheme, and is serial V7467 not P1966, but such minor details apart, BoB2's version is a pretty good replica.
Would I do the illustrious pilot justice, whose flying boots this sortie had found me filling? Well, yes and no...
...to be continued!
A bad day for a Kriegsberichter
By 33LIMA,
I finally come to grips with a classic, and realise what all the fuss is about!
For some reason, train simulators do not make good subjects for combat reports. Though getting into them at last has been a lot of fun, which together with stuff outside of sim-land have kept me from doing more than very casual air combat simming...until now. Hence the long gap in mission reports here at CombatAce. For World War 1, I'm back with First Eagles 2, not least for its combination of good looks, very wide scope when modded, many very good features, and being fast to get back into, thanks to some of those aformentioned good features. For World War 2, it was time for something I hadn't seriously tried before...which applies to more than it should of the titles I've accumulated over the years, the good, the not-so-good and the relatively awful - anyone else remember Nations - Fighter Command? Nice planeset, pity about the flight models...and a few other details. The recent launch of OBD's follow-on to Wings over Flanders Fields, namely the first installment of Wings over the Reich, got me interested anew in one of my pet subjects of many years, the Battle of Britain. But not sadly in WotR, due to issues like very small German raids, limited comms including little or nothing from ground controllers (big raids and ground control should really be de rigeur for any self-respecting simulation of the Battle) and various lesser niggles, like some unmilitary scripting of what R/T traffic there is. I still have European Air War on my system but while it covers the Battle, it's only fired up for very occasional nostalgia trips, these days. I actually moderately enjoyed the Warbirds-based History Channel Battle of Britain - ok it's not one of the greats, but as well as flying a reasonably historical mission-set campaign in many BoB types, you can shoot at the ones with crosses from a destroyer's Oerlikon Gun.... And of course, I have played some missions from the Battle in modded Il-2 '46, this one being from the Spitfire Scramble campaign... But I have so far not invested in IL-2 Cliffs of Dover, with its strange planeset, strange-looking landscapes and most of all, limited single player content - coupled with high system requirements for what there is So I decided it was time to make a serious effort to get into Rowan's Battle of Britain (I still have the original boxed version, printed manuals and all). Or rather its more recent incarnation, A2A formerly Shockwave's Battle of Britain II - Wings of Victory, or BoB2 to its friends - who naturally include the Battle (of Britain) Development Group, who have done a great job ironing out wrinkles and adding features in a series of patches. Despite making my own map-based Battle of Britain wargame in the 1970s, I never more than dabbled in BoB or BoB2. Not so much because of niggles like planes in close formation sort of jiggling at times, more because I wanted a conventional pilot career, not a combat sim within a wargame. Having since tried that approach with tanks in Steel Armour Blaze of War and found it not unrewarding, I decided it was time to give BoB2-WoV a serious go. And so I discovered two things. First that all the good things they say about BoB2 are true, notably that it captures the Battle like no other sim before or since. In other sims, a German raid might be a staffel, so you're fighting the Minor Skirmish of Brtiain. In BoB2, a raid is typically and realistically at least a gruppe in strength - 20-30 bombers, like these boys from I Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 54, on their way to knock the spots off Portland Naval Dockyard, with II Gruppe for company and a large close escort of Bf110s. The latter about to be hit from behind by the Brylcreem Boys of the RAF. My second, less welcome discovery was that I'd chosen a bad time to make the first discovery - having just got a replacement PC with Windows 10, which is fine with about every other sim I've tried it with, but with which BoB2 suffers CTDs when ending a mission, and sometimes earlier. However, I have been able to play many training, historical and campaign missions up to the end, and so pleased am I with the experience that I plan a dual boot drive with Win 7. So that I can get proper debriefings and not have to re-start crashed campaign games every time I take to the air in one. And spend more time enjoying the authentic 1940s southern England landscapes and scenery, recreated with extreme attention to detail. For example the first time I saw Brighton Pier on a test flight in a Hurricane, I thought the 3d model had a problem, the pier head being unconnected with the coast. Then I remembered...they disconnected pier head from land during the invasion scare of 1940, so as not to provide the expected visitors with convenient ad hoc jetties. The graphics aren't stellar - there are no dynamic shadows for example - but they are still pretty good. What still sets BoB2's visuals apart is more of that attention to detail. For example, aircraft not only carry accurate camouflage patterns, and the proper squadron codes (JX seen above is No.1 Squadron), but Spits and Hurris have realistic variations, including different fin flashes and undersurface treatments. And the weathered Dark Earth and Dark Green 'shadow shading' RAF day fighter camouflage is to my eye more authentic than the efforts of the flashier competitors. I'm not sure how, but the rather blurry aircraft textures I recall from the first time I installed BoB2-WoV are now sharp and satisfying, complete with readable stencils. Notably, the air-to-air AI is the best (most human-like) I have ever encountered, the flight models feel good (including controls becoming heavier at high speeds). The radio traffic is simply best of breed, complete with the use of authentic radio codes and, it seems, also realistic radio voice procedure, for both sides. Planes rattle like they should when near the stall (I have in front of me a Spit Mk1 Pilot's Notes facsimilie and it describes just that '...there is a violent shudder and clattering noise throughout the aeroplane'), there are clickable cockpits if you like to fiddle with knobs, and as well as flying the four major fighters, you can also go dive-bombing in a Stuka or man and switch between nose, dorsal and ventral gun positions on the three types of German twin-engine bombers. Which is what I'm doing in the mission featured in this report - one of the included historical missions, the major Luftwaffe raid on the Filton aircraft factory near Bristol, on 25th September 1940. This caught out Fighter Command's 10 Group, who had deployed their interceptors to defend the Westland works at Yeovil, instead. As the mission intro describes, this let the attackers in unmolested and probably doomed many of the 200-plus victims who died when the raid hit its real target (my parents-to-be were in a city badly bombed by Goering's boys, and I well remember the 'bomb sites' in the streets where I was brought up, where gaps in rows of houses still marked the effects of the raids; so I don't say any of that lightly, lest anyone think otherwise). I could have opted to fly on any plane making, escorting or belatedly trying to catch the raid. But I opted to fly as an air gunner on the lead He111 of the second attacking gruppe, I/KG55. We had about fifteen aircraft - by mid September, some bomber gruppen were well below strength: the morning raid on London on Battle of Britain Day, 15th September, consisted of just 25 Dorniers which it took two gruppen to put up, an incredibly small number even allowing they were essentially lockvogel, bait to lure up 'the last fifty Spitfires'. Anyhow, here we are approaching Bristol, having just flown through a noisy but for now, ineffective flak barrage. As I was soon to find out, enjoying the ride, taking pics like a good war correspondent and actually defending my aircraft, did not mix terribly well. ...to be continued!
For some reason, train simulators do not make good subjects for combat reports. Though getting into them at last has been a lot of fun, which together with stuff outside of sim-land have kept me from doing more than very casual air combat simming...until now. Hence the long gap in mission reports here at CombatAce. For World War 1, I'm back with First Eagles 2, not least for its combination of good looks, very wide scope when modded, many very good features, and being fast to get back into, thanks to some of those aformentioned good features. For World War 2, it was time for something I hadn't seriously tried before...which applies to more than it should of the titles I've accumulated over the years, the good, the not-so-good and the relatively awful - anyone else remember Nations - Fighter Command? Nice planeset, pity about the flight models...and a few other details. The recent launch of OBD's follow-on to Wings over Flanders Fields, namely the first installment of Wings over the Reich, got me interested anew in one of my pet subjects of many years, the Battle of Britain. But not sadly in WotR, due to issues like very small German raids, limited comms including little or nothing from ground controllers (big raids and ground control should really be de rigeur for any self-respecting simulation of the Battle) and various lesser niggles, like some unmilitary scripting of what R/T traffic there is. I still have European Air War on my system but while it covers the Battle, it's only fired up for very occasional nostalgia trips, these days. I actually moderately enjoyed the Warbirds-based History Channel Battle of Britain - ok it's not one of the greats, but as well as flying a reasonably historical mission-set campaign in many BoB types, you can shoot at the ones with crosses from a destroyer's Oerlikon Gun.... And of course, I have played some missions from the Battle in modded Il-2 '46, this one being from the Spitfire Scramble campaign... But I have so far not invested in IL-2 Cliffs of Dover, with its strange planeset, strange-looking landscapes and most of all, limited single player content - coupled with high system requirements for what there is So I decided it was time to make a serious effort to get into Rowan's Battle of Britain (I still have the original boxed version, printed manuals and all). Or rather its more recent incarnation, A2A formerly Shockwave's Battle of Britain II - Wings of Victory, or BoB2 to its friends - who naturally include the Battle (of Britain) Development Group, who have done a great job ironing out wrinkles and adding features in a series of patches. Despite making my own map-based Battle of Britain wargame in the 1970s, I never more than dabbled in BoB or BoB2. Not so much because of niggles like planes in close formation sort of jiggling at times, more because I wanted a conventional pilot career, not a combat sim within a wargame. Having since tried that approach with tanks in Steel Armour Blaze of War and found it not unrewarding, I decided it was time to give BoB2-WoV a serious go. And so I discovered two things. First that all the good things they say about BoB2 are true, notably that it captures the Battle like no other sim before or since. In other sims, a German raid might be a staffel, so you're fighting the Minor Skirmish of Brtiain. In BoB2, a raid is typically and realistically at least a gruppe in strength - 20-30 bombers, like these boys from I Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 54, on their way to knock the spots off Portland Naval Dockyard, with II Gruppe for company and a large close escort of Bf110s. The latter about to be hit from behind by the Brylcreem Boys of the RAF. My second, less welcome discovery was that I'd chosen a bad time to make the first discovery - having just got a replacement PC with Windows 10, which is fine with about every other sim I've tried it with, but with which BoB2 suffers CTDs when ending a mission, and sometimes earlier. However, I have been able to play many training, historical and campaign missions up to the end, and so pleased am I with the experience that I plan a dual boot drive with Win 7. So that I can get proper debriefings and not have to re-start crashed campaign games every time I take to the air in one. And spend more time enjoying the authentic 1940s southern England landscapes and scenery, recreated with extreme attention to detail. For example the first time I saw Brighton Pier on a test flight in a Hurricane, I thought the 3d model had a problem, the pier head being unconnected with the coast. Then I remembered...they disconnected pier head from land during the invasion scare of 1940, so as not to provide the expected visitors with convenient ad hoc jetties. The graphics aren't stellar - there are no dynamic shadows for example - but they are still pretty good. What still sets BoB2's visuals apart is more of that attention to detail. For example, aircraft not only carry accurate camouflage patterns, and the proper squadron codes (JX seen above is No.1 Squadron), but Spits and Hurris have realistic variations, including different fin flashes and undersurface treatments. And the weathered Dark Earth and Dark Green 'shadow shading' RAF day fighter camouflage is to my eye more authentic than the efforts of the flashier competitors. I'm not sure how, but the rather blurry aircraft textures I recall from the first time I installed BoB2-WoV are now sharp and satisfying, complete with readable stencils. Notably, the air-to-air AI is the best (most human-like) I have ever encountered, the flight models feel good (including controls becoming heavier at high speeds). The radio traffic is simply best of breed, complete with the use of authentic radio codes and, it seems, also realistic radio voice procedure, for both sides. Planes rattle like they should when near the stall (I have in front of me a Spit Mk1 Pilot's Notes facsimilie and it describes just that '...there is a violent shudder and clattering noise throughout the aeroplane'), there are clickable cockpits if you like to fiddle with knobs, and as well as flying the four major fighters, you can also go dive-bombing in a Stuka or man and switch between nose, dorsal and ventral gun positions on the three types of German twin-engine bombers. Which is what I'm doing in the mission featured in this report - one of the included historical missions, the major Luftwaffe raid on the Filton aircraft factory near Bristol, on 25th September 1940. This caught out Fighter Command's 10 Group, who had deployed their interceptors to defend the Westland works at Yeovil, instead. As the mission intro describes, this let the attackers in unmolested and probably doomed many of the 200-plus victims who died when the raid hit its real target (my parents-to-be were in a city badly bombed by Goering's boys, and I well remember the 'bomb sites' in the streets where I was brought up, where gaps in rows of houses still marked the effects of the raids; so I don't say any of that lightly, lest anyone think otherwise). I could have opted to fly on any plane making, escorting or belatedly trying to catch the raid. But I opted to fly as an air gunner on the lead He111 of the second attacking gruppe, I/KG55. We had about fifteen aircraft - by mid September, some bomber gruppen were well below strength: the morning raid on London on Battle of Britain Day, 15th September, consisted of just 25 Dorniers which it took two gruppen to put up, an incredibly small number even allowing they were essentially lockvogel, bait to lure up 'the last fifty Spitfires'. Anyhow, here we are approaching Bristol, having just flown through a noisy but for now, ineffective flak barrage. As I was soon to find out, enjoying the ride, taking pics like a good war correspondent and actually defending my aircraft, did not mix terribly well. ...to be continued!
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