Wildfowler 0 Posted June 7, 2009 One of my best pilots and his observer have gone west! Peter Fanshaw and his observer Charlie Hall were flying BE2c and completed over twenty missions. Credited with one enemy aircraft downed and numerous ground targets destroyed. Campaign ran during the winter of 1916-1917. Then his Squadron was re-equipped with RE8's. He took it for a test flight around the airfield and was impressed. He was much happier with Hall seated behind him and felt that would offer far better protection. Also the forward firing gun was a real plus. The first mission in the new machine was a mid morning bombing raid on a Hun Airfield. Having just taken off and reached about 200 feet Fanshaw noticed another RE8 to his port side, it was sliding towards him. Fanshaw realised with horror they were about to collide. In desperation he banked starboard and tried to climb. The impact of the two machines was accompanied by the sickening sound of splintering wood and ripping fabric. Fanshaws machine broke up in the air. The other machine spun away it's wings tearing off as it went. What a waste. Four experienced airman lost due to the poor flying of a squadron mate. Oh well have to start another pilot now!! In case anyone wonders. I run a campaign by selecting a pilot and a machine for him to fly. I then fly single missions. Enemy activity and weather set on random. I fly three missions a day. If weather is in my opinion to poor I scrap that mission. I allow every 7th day as a day off. This way you can accuratly monitor the passing of time. I manually record types of kill and also details of any observer carried. Sometimes if forced down in one piece the game says your pilot has been killed. I ignore this unless it is obvious he was killed or killed in the air. If he is forced down in enemy territory I give him 50% chance of being captured by rolling a dice. 1,2,3, he is captured. If not I roll it again and the number given is the number of days it takes him to rejoin his unit. (not realistic I know) if he is captured I give him another 50% chance of escaping and gain roll a dice to see how long he takes to get back but this time times the result by three. This helps the campaign time scale go along. If he does not escape then "For him the War is over!" If you get bored of your pilot I send him on leave untill I want to fly him again and advance the campaign by 14 days! Also as time goes by you can upgrade your pilots aircraft. I find this system gives real meaning to why you are flying. The only downside is the pilot roster in single missions never shows losses etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Tailspin 3 Posted June 8, 2009 Good ideas, Wildfowler. There are many ways to get yourself immersed in the sim. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Southside Bucky 1 Posted June 8, 2009 Sorry to hear 'bout Fanshaw & Hall, old boy...Rum deal that, having outlived such a long stint on Quirks! Let's hope their replacements are made of the same stuff, eh? Nice idea, regarding the 'Single Mission' Campaign. Might have a go at that myself, but with the slight difference of using the KMD mission builder in order to utilise historically accurate units/skins, airfields and plane types. To add the "random" factor, there's the aircraft 'X percent chance appearance' box, which should make it a bit more interesting. Thanks for the inspiration! Bucky Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildfowler 0 Posted June 8, 2009 Sorry to hear 'bout Fanshaw & Hall, old boy...Rum deal that, having outlived such a long stint on Quirks! Let's hope their replacements are made of the same stuff, eh? Nice idea, regarding the 'Single Mission' Campaign. Might have a go at that myself, but with the slight difference of using the KMD mission builder in order to utilise historically accurate units/skins, airfields and plane types. To add the "random" factor, there's the aircraft 'X percent chance appearance' box, which should make it a bit more interesting. Thanks for the inspiration! Bucky Thank you for the commiserations! Very interested in this KMD mission builder not heard ofit. Where can you get hold of this? Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Southside Bucky 1 Posted June 8, 2009 Right here: http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?autoc...p;showfile=2678 Bit of a learning curve, but once you know its little foibles, you'll be creating missions in no time at all Have fun! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites