campaign missions-newbie question

[rayfer 0]

Back again with another newbie question. I've now flown 5 missions in a Fokker EIII (a single wing craft). I've survived them all playing as a low ranking squadmate, not the leader. Problem is....there is never any action...I suspect I'm missing something here? I follow the squad, go to all the way points with them, have my tac on....eventually return to base and land. The mission is logged as a success, but nothing ever happens, no enemy craft appear. In 3 of the 5 missions some enemy craft did appear at long range but they were headed away from us and impossible to catch up with. The time hasn't been totally wasted, I've learned how to take off, fly, land, etc, learned a lot of the command keys and such but the time has come to fight...!! Thanks.

[steve58 0]

Some sectors and time periods are just quiet. Try a different squadron in a different time period (mid 1917 into 1918).

Edited May 5, 2009 by steve58

[themightysrc 5]

"The time hasn't been totally wasted, I've learned how to take off, fly, land, etc, learned a lot of the command keys and such but the time has come to fight...!!"

 

Erm. I wouldn't be too sure about that, or quite so hasty about getting stuck in.

 

I have a large and mouldering pile of dead pilots just next to me, and the health and safety issues are becoming onerous. Of course, the smell's appalling too.

[Macklroy 2]

If you fly much before april 1916 the action is very limited. Spring and summer of 1916 you can start to see regular action (at least 1 encounter per 2-3 flights). Once you get into late 1916 and especially into the spring 1917 and on you will see more action than you can handle at times. Also check the ground offensives in the time period that you are flying. You are more likely to find action in the air, near highly active ground sectors.

 

S!

[Olham 164]

If you want light, but fighting good action, start in Jasta 2, when they get the Halberstadt.

Or as an Allied, opposite of the mud, at that same time.

[rayfer 0]

Thanks all for the replies....looks like it's the game and not something I was doing wrong or missing. And I get this feeling I may dread getting what I wished for!

[Mr. Lucky 0]

Soon, you'll be praying for a quiet mission. I as just chase by 6 N17's at treetop level...and I mean treetop...all the way back to my aerodrome. My fingers were stiff from gripping the stick and I was sweating a lot.

[rayfer 0]

I haven't had an experience quite like that yet...I'm working now on better understanding when/why stalls occur. I read in one of the forum threads about the advantages of a force feedback joystick, which I don't have.....regardless, I've learned that stalling at low altitudes can be fatal.

[rayfer 0]

Yes...seems to happen in a steep climb and my speed drops under 50.....but in spite of it all I got my first confirmed kill this afternoon. I was in a wild melee between five of us (German) against five Brits......and I survived to fight another day! Awesome game.

[shredward 12]

Thanks all for the replies....looks like it's the game and not something I was doing wrong or missing. And I get this feeling I may dread getting what I wished for!

 

Between Heaven and Hell was deliberately built to recreate, so far as we are able, the war in the air over Flanders, as it was (we haven't got there yet, but we are working on it). The reason that activity Over Flanders Fields is light in 1916, and pretty much not surviveable in 1918, is because that is the way it was. There are very few squadrons, and very few aeroplanes, in 1916, in OFF, because there were very few squadrons, and very few aeroplanes, in 1916, on the Western Front. And very, very many more in 1918. 1916 was the era of the lone wolf, the knight errant hunting the skies from Ypres to St Quentin, finding and stalking his prey, and (rarely), engaging in duels. 1918 was the era of squadron and wing-strength operations, and massive air battles. We often think of Bloody April, 1917, as the period when the carnage reached levels that were unsupportable. That was really just the start. Additional squadrons were continually thrown into the order of battle. As they are in OFF. The air battles that raged from August 8 1918, the 'Black Day' of the German Army, to the end of October, claimed far more victims. And that is why, dear reader, you might fly the sunny skies in 1916, and not have your revery disturbed for several missions, until you finally see another aeroplane. That is not the case a couple of years later.

Cheers,

shredward

[rayfer 0]

Thanks shredward....that was most enlightening because, to be honest, I know very little at all about this era of air war, or even WWI in general. This is the first flight sim I've ever seriously gotten into. Is there a definitive book on this subject for a newbie wanting to learn the history, planes, pilots, tactics, etc. of this air war era.

[shredward 12]

There are lots, and none. It is a huge subject, and a single book to cover it all would take 3 men and 5 small boys to pick it up. However, there are lots of books that give a good overview of many aspects of it. Just looking at my shelves, Ralph Barker's "A Brief History of the Royal Flying Corps in World War I" would be a good place to start. No doubt others will add suggestions.

Cheers,

shredward