About This File
The first half of 1941 had been a hard time for the Allied defenders of Malta, when the Luftwaffe could devote several of its best units to pound the island, sink any ship within nearby waters, and decimate the small fighter force of outperformed Hurricanes. As Germany turned its attention Eastwards with Operation Barbarossa, the RAF could recover, then take a more offensive stance, putting threatening pressure on the Axis convoys to Libya, and even striking targets in Sicily.
Nonetheless, by the end of the year, as the operations East were getting stuck in the Russian Winter, it was decided to move again large numbers of Luftwaffe units to the Mediterranean Front, in order to eliminate the RAF striking force, and to bend the Maltese morale under the weight of bombs.
As the valiant defenders of Malta were to face this renewed enemy effort, the Axis leaders began to meet and plot an invasion of the island by air and sea, intended to remove once and for all this thorn from their flank. By the end of April 1942, this Sword of Damocles over Malta would have a name: Operation Herkules..
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Malta 1942 : Malta now with 100% more Spitfires !!
This is my third campaign for Wings over Africa, the free add-on by The Dev A-Team that enables you to re-enact the air war over the most legendary battlefields of the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. In this mod, Baltika had already provided campaigns over Malta covering the epic years 1940 and 1941. This 11-months-long campaign, running from December 1941 to November 1942, completes a trilogy, encompassing some of the most dramatic moments of the siege, when Malta was the closest to be dominated in the air before Spitfires were finally delivered, the closest to be strangled with Allied supply convoys repeatedly decimated or driven away, and finally the closest to be doomed as the Axis leaders planned very seriously for Summer 1942 the naval and aerial invasion of the island, codenamed Operation Herkules.
Four additional downloads will be required to play this campaign (the links are included in the ReadMe file, registration at Capun Skunkworks needed). The modified files provided here allow several flyable units to display their original markings, and activate some Sardinian and Tripolitanian bases and targets on the Tunisia map as soon as the beginning of the campaign. A French translation of the campaign texts is also included.
Flyable planes (including scheduled upgrades during this long campaign):
British RAF/FAA :
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Hawker Hurricane Mk.I & Mk.IIb
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Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb
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Bristol Beaufighter Mk.I & VI
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Bristol Beaufort Mk.I
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Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV
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Martin Maryland Mk.I & Baltimore Mk.I (reco)
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Fairey Albacore Mk.I
German Luftwaffe :
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Messerschmitt BF-109 F-4 & G-2
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Messerschmitt BF-110 C-4
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Junkers Ju-88 C-4 night fighter
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Junkers Ju-88 A-4 (bombers & reco)
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Junkers Ju-87 D
Italian Regia Aeronautica :
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Macchi Mc.200 'Saetta'
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Macchi Mc.202 'Folgore'
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Reggiane Re.2000 'Falco'
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Reggiane Re.2001 'Ariete'
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Junkers Ju-87 B 'Picchiatelli'
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Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 'Sparviero'
Choose your side! As a British, Commonwealth, or American volunteer in the RAF, serving in "the fighter pilots' paradise", make sure that the sacrifices already consented by the tenacious Maltese population, and by the brothers-in-arms who fought before you, won't have been vain. As a German pilot veteran of the easy playground and hard conditions of living of the Soviet Front, take your part in Rommel's glorious epic by neutralizing the stubborn rock that cripples the Afrikakorps' supply lines. As an Italian patriot, protect Sicily against the odious raids perpetrated by the English air pirates from Malta, and prepare the capture of this invaluable floating bolt on behalf of the King.