About This File
A mission for First Eagles + Expansion Pack 1 + Nov 08 patch.
UPDATED 22/11/08: This mission has been amended to include the excellent authentic Jasta
11 colour schemes created by Quack74 (See 'Mission requirements' below).
Bucky's Quick Mission No.7: 'Richthofen's Final Two Victories'.
Released 20/4/08. The 90th anniversary of the action depicted in this mission.
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Introduction:
There is no question that Manfred Von Richthofen is THE most famous fighter pilot of all time.
In fact, there's a strong case for saying he's the best known soldier of any war in history, let
alone WW1. He's been, (and will continue to be) the subject of countless books, journalistic
articles and TV documentaries. Indeed, at the time of writing, a new movie; 'The Red Baron',
has just been released in Germany. The lasting interest and fascination with all aspects of his
short life is truly extraordinary.
I created this mission, a re-enactment of an actual aerial combat that took place at
approximately 18:40, on Saturday, 20th April, 1918, to commemorate the 90th anniversary
of Richthofen's death.
Flying his famous red Fokker Dr.I Triplane, serial number 425/17, this was to be the Baron's
penultimate patrol and air combat, during which he achieved his 79th and 80th victories.
This is how Richthofen described the action in his combat report:
"With six planes of Jasta 11, I attacked large enemy squadron. During the fight I observed
that a Triplane was attacked and shot at from below by a Camel. I put myself behind the
adversary and brought him down, burning, with only a few shots. The enemy plane crashed
down near the forest of Hamel where it burned on the ground.
Three minutes after I had brought down the first machine, I attacked a second Camel of the
same enemy squadron. The adversary dived, caught his machine and repeated the
manoeuvre several times. I approached him as near as possible when fighting and fired 50
bullets until the machine began to burn. The body of the machine was burned in the air, the
remnants dashed to the ground, north-east of Villers Bretonneux."
His unfortunate victims that day were; Major Richard Raymond-Barker, who was killed, and
2nd Lt David Greswolde Lewis, who amazingly survived the crash of his burning Camel, and
was taken prisoner.
Less than 24 hours after this combat, Richthofen was dead. Killed by a single .303 bullet (but
that's another long story!). He was just 25 years old.
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To set the scene:
At this time Jasta 11 were based at Cappy airfield, about 20 miles east of Amiens. Richthofen
was experiencing a lean period (mainly due to bad weather), having gained no victories
between 7th-19th April...the weather during that day had been very cloudy, but by the early
evening it was generally clear, allowing the Rittmeister and five other pilots of Jasta 11 to
set off for the early evening patrol.
Airborne at about the same time, and equally keen for a fight were the Sopwith Camels of
3 sqn, RAF...
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Mission guidlines:
When the mission starts you'll be at a little over 6,000 ft (1500m). Initially, you should keep
to a heading of around 250 degrees, flying south-west. Keep formation with your five
wingmen. Looking below and to your right, you'll see the winding Somme river as you pass
over Cerisy, heading toward Villers Bretonneux. To your left you'll see the old Roman road
that stretches from Amiens to St Quentin. Perfect navigational aids should you become
disorientated.
Richthofen shot down the two Camels within three minutes of eachother. Indeed, the two
machines crashed to earth just 50 yards apart. Maybe you can do better?
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Compromises and game limitations:
1. During the spring of 1918 the German offensive had pushed the allies back much further
than the actual front line depicted in the game. Also, the Flanders map is very sparsely
populated around the Villers Bretonneux area where this combat actually took place.
However, although some towns and villages are missing, The action happens in the correct
general area.
2. FE won't allow multiple 'named wingmen' in the players flight. This means the game will
recognise only the players plane. consequently, there will be no record of your wingmen's
actions in the 'stats' screen at end of mission. It also means you can't issue orders via the
'tab' button.
The good news is; this doesn't stop your wingmen from participating in the action.
3. Manfred's brother Lothar, (40 victories) was not involved in the action depicted in this
mission. He was still in hospital and extremely lucky to still be alive after being shot down in
his yellow and red Fokker Triplane on 13th March. It's a nice Jasta 11colour scheme which is
included with the expansion pack, so I've used it anyway...We'll assume that he had another
Dr.I painted the same way, and that another pilot was using it on 20th April!
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Mission requirements:
To fly this mission as intended, you'll need the following mods and skins:
Flanders terrain.
By Edward.
To be found in the Combat Ace, Downloads, 'Maps/Terrains' section.
The following Jasta 11 Fokker Dr.I skins:
All created by Quack74.
To be found in the Combat Ace, Downloads, 'Skins', 'WW1', section.
MvR Last plane.
J11 Blue Tail.
Richard Wenzl.
Werner Steinhauser.
Edgar Scholtz.
Many thanks to the above artists for their most excellent contributions to this great game.
Although not essential, for extra realism and immersion I would recommend the following
mods, available from the Combat Ace, Downloads site:
'Thicker, Fuller Clouds'.
By ShrikeHawk.
Found in: 'Maps/Terrains'. 'Environmental Mods'.
Excellent mod that greatly improves the "cotton wool ball" clouds effect.
'FE Sounds'.
By yours truly.
Found in: 'Sound Mods'.
I've updated this mod with a louder "bullet hit" sample, designed to make you jump when
your plane gets hit!
For maximum realism I would also recommend that this mission be played with all gameplay
settings set to 'Hard'.
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Installation instructions:
Install the mission by unzipping the downloaded file to the following path:
C:/Program Files/Thirdwire/WW1/Missions
Alternatively, you can drag and drop the unzipped MSN file directly into your 'Missions' folder.
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I hope you enjoy flying this mission and find it both challenging and enjoyable enough to play
it more than once. I've tried to make it as historically accurate and authentic as the game will
allow.
Feel free to change any of the parameters as you wish.
I would welcome any suggestions or general feedback, good, bad or indifferent, via any one
of the FE forums.
Viel Glueck!
Bucky. 20/4/08.
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References used in creating this mission:
'The Jasta War Chronology'... N. Franks. F. Bailey & R. Duiven.
'Under The Guns Of The Red Baron'... N. Franks & H. Giblin.
'In The Footsteps Of The Red Baron'... M. O'Connor & N. Franks.
'Above The Lines'... N. Franks. F.W. Bailey & R. Guest.
'The Red Baron. Beyond The Legend'...P Kilduff.
'The Red Baron Combat Wing'...P.Kilduff.
'Richthofen'...A.E. Ferko.
'Von Richthofen's Flying Circus'...G. Van Wyngarden.
'Sopwith Camel Squadrons'...L.A. Rogers.
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