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    Balloon busting in WoFF
    33LIMA
    By 33LIMA,
    Taking on one of WW1's more dangerous jobs in Wings over Flanders Fields     One of the features of the often-static trench warfare during 1914-18 was the widespread use, by both sides, of tethered observation balloons, both to monitor movements and developments on the enemy side of the Lines, and to direct artillery fire. Naturally, the air forces regularly made efforts to inhibit the effectiveness of these balloons by attacking them. This could be a dangerous occupation, for both balloon busters and those being busted. The latter were probably the first airmen routinely issued with parachutes, but they didn't always work. And aircraft attacking a tethered balloon were relatively easy targets for guns deployed to defend them. On the German side, this included an auto-cannon that fired bursts of big tracers which the British airmen knew as 'flaming onions'.   A few WW1 fighter pilots actually specialised in shooting down balloons. One of these was ace Rudolf von Eschwege, the 'Eagle of the Aegean', whose career was vividly described between the wars in 'German War Birds' written by Claude W Sykes under the pseudonym 'Vigilant'.  Von Eschwege developed a taste for attacking the 'sausages' but In the end, fell victim to a trap sometimes sprung upon balloon-busters, whereby the balloon was crewed with dummies and loaded with a large explosive charge in the basket. This was fired by an electrical wire from the ground, when the attacker was close to the target, with results that can readily be imagined.   Balloon-busting is prominently featured in my favourite WW1 air war movie, The Blue Max. Although the target looks a bit too much like an aluminium-coloured weather balloon, the scene is all the better for the absence of the sort of CGI used for the rather contrived balloon attack sequence in the more recent The Red Baron. A plus for the earlier movie is that the aircraft used by our hero, George Peppard alias Leutnant Bruno Stachel, was a nice flying replica of a Pfalz D.III, a type reportedly favoured for balloon-busting due to its strength in a fast dive.       You may recall that a realistically-dangerous balloon attack is a major feature of another much-superior old war film, Aces High, using Stampe SV.4s converted to resemble SE5a's     Getting on to combat flight sims, these missions are of course a regular feature in the classic Red Baron 3D. Invariably, a flight of enemy fighters is circling over the balloon, ready to pounce, but realism is the better because the target balloon is winched down as you approach. If I recall right, this also happens in Rise of Flight...     ...though not in First Eagles/FE2...     ...or in Wings over Flanders Fields. Fortunately, in none of them are you liable to be blown up by a TNT-loaded balloon basket, although the exploding gasbag itself could perhaps be a hazard, as illustrated in the FE2 screenshot above!   As luck would have it, I wasn't too far into my current WoFF Jasta Boelcke campaign before I drew a balloon-busting mission. I was given a flight of no less than six machines for the task, plus another flight of three in general support, so with the Staffelfuhrer's exhortations ringing in my virtual ears and undaunted by the typically abysmal spring weather, off we go.     Nothing much to it, I think to myself. I would cross the Lines near my target, taking full advantage of the extensive cloud cover, swing around and then clobber the sausage headed for home and safety. Still dangerous, very possibly, but complicated...well, not especially. Little did I know...   ...to be continued!

    CombatACE Saitex X-56 H.O.T.A.S. Review by 531Ghost
    Skyviper
    By Skyviper,

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Over the front with Jasta Boelcke
    33LIMA
    By 33LIMA,
    A mission from my latest pilot career in Wings over Flanders Fields!     Having played little but Atlantic Fleet for four solid months since the PC version was released in late February, I recently decided to make a bit of room for some combat flight sim and tanksim action. For the latter, it's back to Steel Fury's indispensible STA mod, and with a bit of luck, I'll soon re-start work on the STA-Britpak sub-mod, having got my hand back in, playing the only mission yet available in the current beta (or maybe it's an alpha) version, featuring the 23rd Hussars in Operation Bluecoat...     Doubtless I'll find some time for Steel Armor - Blaze of War also. Its featured theaters of war are more off the beaten tank track that Steel Fury's, but its tanksim-wargame combo really works quite well and it improves on many of the features of the earlier Graviteam tank simulator, specifically in terms of AI, platoon command & control, radio net and target indications.     For an air combat fix, I fancy trying out the excellent Blinding Sun campaign in the Combined User Patch mod for Il-2 '46, flying a sleek MiG-3 to defend Mother Russia against the fascist invaders...     But before that, it's back to the First Great War in the Air, with the incomparable Wings over Flanders Fields. And what better way to start with a new pilot career in an elite fighter squadron, the illustrious Jasta Boelcke. Formed in the autumn of 1916 as the first fighter unit in the modern sense as Jasta 2, it was re-named for its first commander, pioneer air fighter Oswald Boelcke, after he died following a collision with a fellow pilot's aircraft. Despite this and other setbacks, Jasta Boelcke remained one of the premier German fighter squadrons of the First World War.   Naturally, you can sign up with Jasta 2/Jasta Boelcke in Wings over Flanders Fields, at pretty well any time during its wartime service. For me, the most interesting period of WW1 in the air has always been from early to autumn 1917, spanning Bloody April and the subsequent resurgence of the Royal Flying Corps, with the arrival of new fighters like the SE5 and Camel. So I opted to start my career in late March 1917, flying the superb 'V-strutter' Albatros D.III from Proville in Flanders. Even if you haven't upgraded to the latest version of WoFF, with the 'skins' pack now free and the latest version of Ankor's DX9 mod for CFS3 at last enabling us to see off the awful 'fisheye lens' external view, WoFF, its aircraft and its scenery have never, ever looked better. And that includes the white-tailed Albatri of the flight i'm now leading in Jasta Boelcke, as we set out to do battle with the English, over Flanders fields.     ...to be continued!

    Combat Air Patrol 2: Early Access June 6 2016
    MigBuster
    By MigBuster,
    If you are on Steam looks like early access from tomorrow.      http://combatairpatrol2.com/      

    Atlantic Fleet - Heart of Oak
    33LIMA
    By 33LIMA,
    A Royal Navy campaign in Killerfish's peerless WW2 naval wargame!     In my first campaign mission report with Atlantic Fleet, I played for the German Kriegsmarine, and in the dynamic version of the AF campaign. This time, I'm playing for the other side, the Royal Navy (whose signature march is 'Heart of Oak', hence this mission report's title). And I'm playing the 'static' campaign. This is a fixed set of fifty missions, whose difficulty increases as you go, inasmuch as the opponents gradually become more numerous, more dangerous, or both. Knowledgeable enthusiast Ramjb has already released a long series of gameplay videos featuring this same campaign, but this report is the (illustrated) book of that movie, as it were; starts at the beginning; and is more in the nature of a taster, than a replay.   Of AF's two campaign types, the dynamic variant - dubbed appropriately 'Battle of the Atlantic' - is my favourite - for the German side. It is dynamic in several respects, starting with the objective. This is not to win battles as such, but to win a tonnage war, German subs and surface raiders against British convoys and warship patrols.     Merchant shipping tonnage sent to the bottom, or getting through, is what counts towards victory, over an extended period. And that victory, if and when it comes, I find is immensely satisfying...and announced in style.     Losses are also cumulative - lose a ship and it's gone, with replacements only available within the other, real-life members of the class, if any sister ships there were. And your choice of ships to send to sea as the war progresses is limited to those available when they actually entered service. Real-life events affect the battle, for example the conquests of Norway and France giving the Germans additional bases, at about the correct period of the war.   Damaged ships can be docked for repairs, but may be damaged again in bombing raids. The tonnage war is not entirely reliant on the player's efforts - in the background, the underlying wargame may generate battles and losses in which the player does not participate.     However, playing from the Royal Navy side, I find that of the battles I DO see, far too high a proportion are U-Boat 'area ambushes' against groups of warships in open waters. Rare exceptions notwithstanding, the latter is simply not where submarines managed to attack warships outside of convoy escorts. With a maximum surface speed about the same as most warship's cruising speed, it's not surprising successful encounters were rare, for subs against warships. And when they did happen, generally did so in choke points, not the open sea encounters we see in AF. Maybe every third or fourth battle in AF's dynamic campaign for the RN, the warships I have painfully built up are ambushed by typically three subs, at least two in good firing positions and some inside 'guaranteed hit' range, firing before I can even move or shoot. Yes, depending on your chosen view options, you can often spot those torps that could be evaded and yes, a friendly destroyer - if not hit immediately - can often hit back by pulling off a party trick of its own, a torpedo salvo that is unrealistically effective.     An upcoming patch might somewhat lessen this problem, by allowing a longer start range to be set. This should at least give the player a chance to react...as in, like Brave Sir Robin, bravely running away, my preferred tactic in such cases. But in its present form, I dislike these unrealistic ambushes so much I'm just not finding the RN dynamic campaign much fun. And 'fun' is what AF delivers everywhere else, by the big gun broadside, so for my RN campaign fix of said fun, I'm glad I can get this from the static campaign alternative. Here's how my latest try went!   ...to be continued!

    Canvas Knights Bloody April Sale 2016
    v. Deutschmark
    By v. Deutschmark,
    CK's Bloody April Sale 2016! Ok we are going to start this some hours early so here we go! 
      That's right for the month of April 2016 CK full game is now only 20 USD!
    You can get it here; http://combatace.com/topic/86555-canvas-knights-full-game/   Deutschmark

Portal by DevFuse · Based on IP.Board Portal by IPS


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