Claim submissions

[Baldric 42]

Just wondering about some of the best ways of submitting claim forms. I've submitted three on behalf of my DiD pilot, Rolf Lehman, so far from flying sorties over the weekend past (covering two days of the war, 22Aug1916 and 23Aug1916), and happily received one confirmation. Is there anyway to tell which was confirmed? The two rejected were for 'lack of corroboration'---- I have no problem with rejected claims, as it happened all the time irl for the real pilots---- and in the replays it showed that Rolf had indeed shot down the enemy machines. I'm assuming the first rejected one was from Rolfs first 'lone wolf' patrol, and with no other aircraft about, other than the Tommies, I used 'Spotter' as a witness, since there was one nearby. Not sure about the other rejected claim as Herr Schneider was present for two claims.

 

I'm curious as to how accurate I must be spelling-wise with witness names, and how many witnesses can I cite? On the lone wolf escapade there was also a nearby army base, as well as marching troops along a road-- how would (or could I) use those as witnesses next time? Like I said, I have no trouble with rejected claims, just want to minimise my (the players) mistakes on the effect of approval/rejection. Any hints welcome! Thanks

 

 

[Olham 164]

I think, the names of your witnesses must be written correct to be identified by the sim.

 

Your Confirmations and rejections should be in the log; there click on: view claims at the bottom.

You may not see the whole claims text, but should see a line saying either "Pending" or "Rejected" or "confirmed".

 

Try to add the data you'd find in the "replay" - rounds fired at the opponent (guess), altitude in the moment of a

kill, position. Write also all members of the other flight, when they where somewhere near.

For ground troops, I write "ground troops near military defense 132" (when that was mentioned in the briefing),

or "spotter ground crew". But I don't really know, if these help.

[Baldric 42]

Thanks Olham, much appreciated. Now to figure out where I have to write all that (i.e., which slot?)

[Bullethead 12]

I'm curious as to how accurate I must be spelling-wise with witness names, and how many witnesses can I cite?

 

Best I can tell, you can only cite 1 witness, and you have to spell his name exactly. It seems to me you want the closest squadronmate to you at the time you kill the enemy, regardless of whether or not he's your official wingman or even in your flight. To make sure of this, you might want to pause the game, get in external view, and turn on labels to spot the best witness.

 

This seems to be the most important part of the whole process. You can get key facts wrong on the circumstances of the fight, such as even which plane of several similar ones you actually shot down, but as long as you've got the type of plane correct and a good witness, you'll probably get credit.

[Olham 164]

Sorry, Bullet, but you're wrong there.

If each single shot down craft had an own witness line box, you would be right, but he can only

write all his witnesses into that one line box above the claims.

 

Then, you can decide, if you list each craft seperately in an own line box or if you click the number in the first box,

and then fill all reports into one line.

Use the first method, when you are not quite sure. You think, you might have downed 4 Nieuport 17, but you're not sure.

So fill in four lines with one craft each. When you finished and click so, the claims report may ask you, if you want to proceed,

but the claim was "erroneus". Now you erase the last line, and have 3 claims. When it says "erroneus" again, erase another,

until it says: accepted.

Later, you can read claims (or part of them) in the pilot's log; click "view claims".

[Condor44 0]

I have had very few claims approved or rejected so my experience is limited. (It seems I frequently die with several pending.) One of my approved claims was for a kill on a lone wolf mission. The only observer was an Eindecker from another squad so I put in "airman" as the witness. I had two claims that were rejected for which both of my wingmen. who were very close. were listed as witnesses. They were rejected. I have had claims confirmed for which I just listed a witness and the type of plane that I shot down (and that I shot it down) and no other details. So it seems little detail is required and that the confirmation process is somewhat arbitrary. That's OK. It probably was in real life also. (And maybe I will learn otherwise once I can survive ong enough to get more of my claims past the pending status.)

[77Scout 3]

Sorry, Bullet, but you're wrong there.

If each single shot down craft had an own witness line box, you would be right, but he can only

write all his witnesses into that one line box above the claims.

 

Yep, pretty well a certainty in my mind that the OFF Manager has no idea who was actually closest to you. I suspect any pilot in your squad will do equally well. I have gotten claims approved using non-squad witnesses like 'ground troops' and other similar two word entries. Was hinted long ago by Winder that squadmate name was not absolutely necessary, just have 'something' for a witness (but maybe accurate squad mate name helps the odds? Unknown).

[Bullethead 12]

Sorry, Bullet, but you're wrong there.

If each single shot down craft had an own witness line box, you would be right, but he can only

write all his witnesses into that one line box above the claims.

 

Yeah, I'm still not used to flying for the Kaiser. Not just having 2 guns, but guns that fire so fast in comparison to the synchronized Vickers. Those German planes can really SHRED their targets, instead of the "death by a thousand pinpricks" which is what things like the Pup deal out, or "100 cuts" from a Camel. When flying for the Brits, you're likely to only have the 1 witness to worry about, but as a German you can slaughter enemies all over and who knows who'll be around then?

[Guest British_eh]

Bullethead : Ya, vell, dat is vhy I fly vor za Kaiser! Goot German airplanes vit tooo guns, ya!

 

 

 

I have 13 claims in, and 12 confirmed. List all your Flight, and your second flight too. Key words on describing where exactly the victory occured ie: distance from an Aerodrome, the Front, altitude, speed, number of rounds fired, etc.

 

Good luck.

 

 

Cheers,

 

British_eh

[Olham 164]

Bullethead and British_eh, it's good to know, that you two fly for my side.

Sometimes I thought, there where only Cameljockey, Creaghorn, Hasse Wind and I.

 

And you're right, Bullet - I literally shreddered two Tripes from RNAS-1 this afternoon,

and still had a lot of ammo left. I feel very safe in a German craft.

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Hey, doesn't my name suggest whose side I usually fly for?

 

Which reminds me, a while back Olham asked where I came up with my screen name, or what did it mean. Well, way back in Red Baron 2 days, I discovered, by chance, the Red Baron forum at Delphi.com. Everyone seemed to have such cool nick names, and all the good ones were taken! Nevertheless, I needed a name to identify me on the forum. So, I started to think about aeronautical terms and came up with the propwash effect, so named for the air turbulence created by the thrust of the propeller flowing over the control surfaces of the aircraft. So, on that forum I went by the name Propwash. After originally signing in at the old OFF forum as Ira Taffy" Jones, I decided to revert to my old screen name when I registered here at Combatace. Since my family has a good deal of Germanic blood, I decided to make my name "sound" a little more German. Hence, Herr Prop-Wasche, with Prop being short for Propeller.

 

...and now you know the rest of the story.

[Bullethead 12]

I discovered, by chance, the Red Baron forum at Delphi.com.

 

Ah, I remember you from back then. Delphi was a cool place in many ways.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

I remember seeing your name around numerous places as well PW; Delphi and WoV primarily. And you were at both long before I was, I'm sure of that.

 

Now as to this claims discussion, I have tried both styles. Lots of detailed info, squadron witnesses with names spelled exactly right, locations, times, etc. Or the other way, the barest of entries with just a witness name, type of aircraft shot down, and no description more than "Destroyed EA". I have also listed ground troops, AA crews, MG crews, and the like as witnesses. I have come to the conclusion that your odds of being awarded a claim are about the same regardless, just so long as you have the aircraft type correct and something in the witness line, as has already been noted here by others. For me, its about the immersion when filling out the claim form, so I tend to enter in a fair amount of detail simply becasue I like to. The seemingly arbitrary nature of claims confirmation only adds to the realism and immersion quality. I can really sympathize with my Great War counterparts and better understand their frustration when I throw my all into an aerial combat, come out victorious, and submit a beautiful claim report, only to have it rejected out of hand two weeks later. No wonder there was some animosity towards the Brass Hats back at GHQ.

 

BTW Baldric, here is a link to an origianl RFC claim form I cleaned up and printed out a stack of that I use when jotting down my notes during and after a mission:

 

http://raf209squadro...C_report_01.jpg

 

I know Olham and others have put together some nice ones as well for the Central Powers fliegers.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Very late, so won't be able to say much, but yes, I've been "around," as they say. RB1 was my first flight sim, but I got that only after RB2 was released. Picked up RB2 after it got the Super patch and had a great deal of fun with it, although RB1 still had that certain something that RB2 lacked.

 

My first sim of any kind was Silent Service II on floppy disks! Talk about crude graphics! But what do you expect in the year 1987?

[Olham 164]

What I really wonder about, is the fact, that I have so many claims, and so little confirms.

My pilots all have something like this:

 

27 claims, but only 5 confirms

35 claims, but only 9 confirms

17 claims, but only 3 confirms

 

When I look into (game folder) > campaigns > campaign data > pilots > pilot claims

 

I will find the earliest claims still pending with numbers of 73 or 68 or 86, and later

claims being confirmed or rejected.

Could some of you please check, if you find that too?

[RAF_Louvert 101]

Olham, (and whoever else might be interested), here is the claims form for my current pilot: Major Cedric Nelson of 29 RFC, flying the DH2 out of Abeele in the spring of 1916. After nearly 40 hours of flying, numerous crashes, and one near-death spin I have 15 claims submitted so far, and of those there are 10 confirmed and 5 rejected.

 

************

 

 

25/;3/;1916 ;8h;18 ;Flanders ;St-Omer ;Balloon Busting ; Flying: Airco DH2. On this day claims: ;2 ;Observation Balloon. ;Flying at altitude of 6,500' we came upon two enemy OBS balloons along the lines 5 miles south of Courtai. Dove down to 1,200' and destroyed both with gunfire. No EA seen anywhere in the area. Due to engine damage was forced to crash land just behind our second line trenches. Witnessed by: Lt. Frank Winfrey Status : Rejected ;20

 

16/;4/;1916 ;16h;49 ;Flanders ;Abeele ;Balloon Busting ; Flying: Airco DH2. On this day claims: ;1 ;Observation Balloon. ;Assigned to attack enemy OBS balloon located 3 miles south of Douai. Proceeded to target at 8,000' and finding the AO quiet we dove onto Hun sausage and roasted it nicely. Returned to Abeele with minor starboard wing damage. Witnessed by: Sgt. Ryan Hall Status : Confirmed ;

 

20/;4/;1916 ;7h;14 ;Flanders ;Abeele ;Reconnaisance ; Flying: Airco DH2. On this day claims: ;1 ;Roland CII . ;Climbed to 9,500' on the way to assigned rendezvous and met up with the recce flight who were ready and waiting. Flew SE towards Arras, and approximately 12 miles NW of city we came upon two enemy two-seaters 500' below our flight. I engaged the rearmost and affected numerous hits on the pilot, gunner and engine. EA began smoking and shortly thereafter was seen to go down burning, and crashed on enemy side of lines south of Arras at 6:37. Witnessed by: Squadron Witness Ryan Hall Status : Confirmed ;

 

20/;4/;1916 ;15h;8 ;Flanders ;Abeele ;Patrol Friendly Front Lines ; Flying: Airco DH2. On this day claims: ;1 ;Roland CII . ;During afternoon patrol of our sector my flight and I encountered two enemy two-seaters heading north at 9,500'. Turned and followed for approximately 5 minutes and engaged them as they dove to attack Baillieu Town aerodrome. Shot one down which was seen to crash onto field at 15:05. Landed at same field due to engine trouble and received confirmation of kill from Sqd Cmdr. Witnessed by: Ground Witness Maj. Archibald Blevins Status : Rejected ;20

 

21/;4/;1916 ;7h;53 ;Flanders ;Abeele ;Lone Wolf Mission ; Flying: Airco DH2. On this day claims: ;1 ;Roland CII. ;During morning patrol at 8,200’ I encountered three enemy two-seaters over Beaumont heading NNW. Turned and followed for approximately 10 minutes and engaged them over Clairmarais aerodrome. Shot one down which was seen to crash north of field at 7:49. Landed at field due to punctured fuel line and received confirmation of kill from Flt Cmdr. Witnessed by: Ground Witness Flt. Cmdr. William Reynolds Status : Confirmed ;

 

23/;4/;1916 ;15h;29 ;Flanders ;Abeele ;Reconnaisance ; Flying: Airco DH2. On this day claims: ;2 ;Fokker EIII . ;On the way to recce point our flight encountered three enemy scouts co-alt at 7,500'. EA turned and engaged us. After a prolonged fight I managed to send two down smoking and out of control, both of which were seen to crash 3 miles south of Savy aerodrome at approximately 15:25. Crash-landed at Savy myself due to engine and control damage from fight, resulting in a total write-off of my kite. Witnessed by: Squadron Witness 2Lt. Colin Reed Status : Confirmed ;

 

4/;5/;1916 ;7h;50 ;Flanders ;Abeele ;Lone Wolf Mission ; Flying: Airco DH2. On this day claims: ;1 ;Fokker EIII. ;Flying morning patrol of our lines to the SE at 6,500’ I came upon a single enemy scout well below me. I dove down and sent about 75 shots into the cockpit and engine and EA was seen to smoke and crash 2 miles southeast of Champien at 7:42. Due to damage to my controls I was forced to land in a small pasture near our own OBS balloon at Vault de Lugny. Witnessed by: Ground Witness Lt. Phillip Smyth : Rejected ;20

 

4/;5/;1916 ;13h;50 ;Flanders ;Abeele ;Balloon Busting ; Flying: Airco DH2. On this day claims: ;1 ;Observation Balloon. ;Led my flight at 6,000’ to our assigned target SE of Champien. Located enemy OBS balloon and dove down to 1,000’ and destroyed gasbag with gunfire at 13:07. No EA seen anywhere in our entire AO. Returned and landed without incident. Witnessed by: Squadron Witness 2Lt. Colin Reed Status : Confirmed ;

 

16/;5/;1916 ;7h;12 ;Flanders ;Abeele ;Close Air Support ; Flying: Airco DH2. On this day claims: ;1 ;Roland CII . ;Shortly after take-off we encountered three enemy B/R planes near front line infantry positions due east of aerodrome at 3,200’. Sent one down in flames, which was seen to crash in mud directly in front of our own MG positions at about 7:10. My engine suddenly quite and I was forced to land in an open field two miles back of our lines. Witnessed by: Squadron Witness Sgt. Ricky Burns Status : Confirmed ;

 

17/;5/;1916 ;13h;27 ;Flanders ;Abeele ;Airfield Defense ; Flying: Airco DH2. On this day claims: ;1 ;Roland CII . ;During afternoon defense of Allied fields in our AO we encountered and gave chase to three enemy two-seaters at 8,000’ 5 miles south of Lens. Caught the trailing bird and sent it down near front line trenches in flames and was seen to crash at 12:41. Witnessed by: Squadron Witness Sgt. Ricky Burns Status : Confirmed ;

 

18/;5/;1916 ;8h;0 ;Flanders ;Abeele ;Patrol Friendly Front Lines ; Flying: Airco DH2. On this day claims: ;2 ;Roland CII . ;During morning patrol of our lines at 9,500’ we found and engaged four enemy B/R’s as they were crossing back over the mud SE of Ypres near Zillebeke. After putting about 120 shots into the trailing plane it began to smoke and went down in flames, crashing just on the Hun side of NML at 7:43. Attacked the next closest EA and put about 60 shots into the cockpit and engine and watched it fall into a vrille and crash about a mile east of the first, at 7:57. I was then forced to land my own bus in NML due to a punctured petrol line. Made a dash for our front line trenches and got away clean before the shells started falling. Witnessed by: Squadron Witness Sgt. Ricky Burns Status : Confirmed ;

 

29/;5/;1916 ;7h;31 ;Flanders ;Abeele ;Balloon Busting ; Flying: Airco DH2. On this day claims: ;1 ;Roland CII . ;As we were proceeding to target we met three enemy B/R's at 6,000’ 4 miles north of Boiry St. Martin. I attacked the trailing plane and after about 90 shots sent it down out of control into NML at 7:20. Had to land my kite at Loiryville due to mechanical trouble. Witnessed by: Squadron Witness Sgt. Ricky Burns Status : Rejected ;20

 

************

 

Perhaps Baldric and the other newer pilots to BHaH will find this info useful.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Olham 164]

Okay, here is a claim report of a pilot, who has 27 claims by now; and 5 confirms.

This report is THE FIRST one; it is still pending. Later ones got rejected or confirmed.

Can that be right? Do you have that too, Lou?

 

Here's the report:

 

5/;5/;1917 ;16h;18 ;Flanders ;Aertrycke ;Reconnaisance ; Flying: Albatros DIII early. On this day claims: ;4 ;Sopwith Pup . ;

On our escort fo reconnaisance craft, we where engaged by 6 - 8 Sopwith Pup from RNAS-9. I sent my wingmen to defend

the 5 DFW C.V from FA 13, Aniche; while I got jumped at by three Pups lower. In a desperate turnfight, I shot down the ace

Arthur Treloar 'Art' Whealy at 15:48 h; NE of Ypres. Then I fired several bursts into the craft of Harold Stackard; his craft

crashed at 15:51 h.

Now I engaged the third Pup and it crashed only a minute after Stackard, at 15:52 h, northeast of Ypres. With three of my

wingmen near me, I climbed towards the front line to reach the DFW C.V, when I spotted a single Pup following them.

The fighter attacked, but got hit by a rear gunner's machine gun fire. When the Pup turned away, I followed him, and a

turnfight began. The other pilot was Oliver Colin 'Boots' Le Boutillier. He tried his best with the handicapped craft, but I got

him; his craft crashed at 16:03 h. All our DFW where still flying.

Three of my men had to make an emergency landing, but are alive and well..

Witnessed by: Joachim Heubenstamm, Eberhard Steiner, Richard Oppenfeld, Wilhelm Jaroch, Theodor Osterkamp Status : Pending ;75

[RAF_Louvert 101]

Olham, I haven't had that happen in my current campaign, but it has happened to me in others. I had one a while back that had a pending claim for five months that was never decided on before my brave flyer went west. Could be a glitch, or it could be figured right into the coding to simulate "lost" claims sitting behind a file cabinet somewhere at Headquarters.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Olham 164]

Just checked that pilot: 25 claims - 5 confirms. And that's how it is always for me -

an absolute misbalance.

 

But okay, thanks for all your work on this, Lou.

[77Scout 3]

Interesting. I think this shows that putting in all the extra detail of location, bullets shot, etc gives no improvement in claims approval.

 

Olham: I think perhaps putting multiple witnesses is making your percentage of approvals so bad...I still believe OFF is looking for a two-word witness (wants a first and last name only). Just a guess.

 

 

[Creaghorn 10]

IMHO it's because of the many kills in such a short time. i think the manager can't manage such numbers in such a short period. if you would have 28 kills in 6 month, i guarantee you you would have maybe 25 confirmed with the same report you've posted. but since you have 5 kills each an every mission, and before the first pile can be confirmed, you have 5 more kills and so on, the manager rejects a lot of them. wich is by the way not unrealistic. as i said some weeks ago (but not my idea but MvR's, and the manager handles it unpurposely correct), butchers will have a lot more rejected claims than hunters.

[Olham 164]

Pol ,Winder - is that so? Does the claims manager only want ONE pilot's name?

 

Creaghorn, then I must live with that. I'm not on a hunting party here - I have to fight a war.

[Creaghorn 10]

LOL

who is this olham rambo? is he god?

no, god knows mercy. olham rambo does not...

[Olham 164]

What has god to do with this? It seems he only watched it happen.

 

And mercy may be the luxury of the "chivalrous knights of the air" - nothing for the trenches. I'm not like that.

I rarely ever cross the lines. But when enemy fighters come to our side to kill my comrades or me, I do me best

to shoot them down. As quick as any possible. Before they kill my flight or me.

 

But I'm not mercyless. I wouldn't fire at a craft, that made an emergency landing. Jasta 12 often forced opponents

to land on their side. If I could do that, I would.

But how can you possibly "hunt" some other pilot?

When I tried that, the other enemy pilots mostly killed all my flight members. So, I have come to the conclusion,

that it's best to damage as many of them as possible right at the beginning. And then shoot them down.

Call it butchery - I call that war. May be the same in the end. But surely not a hunting party.

[Macklroy 2]

I use ALL of my flights names in my reports. My confirmation % is about 80+%

 

I also will claim about 1/2 the aircraft i actually shot down too. On a sortie over the lines where i shot down 2 or 3 enemy craft i may only claim 1 or 2.

Here is an old pic of a pilot dossier with claim form.

 

 

 

 

My main points in all my reports.

 

1 - list all my wingmen in the witness box. ex(Jeffrey Carlson, Ben Stratton, Edward Williamson)

2- Altitude of engagement (low, medium, high altitude)

3- How/where I shot the enemy (short burst to the wing, steady burst into the engine, etc)

4- How/where the enemy went down (spinning out of control, falling on fire, crashed in flames, etc)

 

Other than that I keep my claims pretty short.

 

PS - I also write out my directions as north east, or south west. Two words no capitals. NO idea if that matters but it seems to work for me. Cheers~

Edited September 9, 2009 by Macklroy