Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
33LIMA

"You can't kill a squadron..."

Recommended Posts

Defending the Reich...with a difference!

16.11.2013 16-53-26.jpg

 

This mission report is designed to showcase another IL-2 Reich Defence campaign: this time FlatSpinMan's 'Luftwaffe Pilot - Defence of the Reich 1943', available over at Mission4Today, here:

 

http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=Downloads&file=details&id=3856

 

As the campaign description says, "Fly as Willi Jedermann as he attempts to save the Fatherland from the murderous waves of Allied bombers. Over 20 missions flying for JG1 and JG 11 in their titanic struggle against the Allied behemoths. Get a taste of the spectacle, excitement and terror of the most massive aerial combats in history."

 

I was so pleased with the experience afforded by Boelcke's similarly-themed campaign that I thought I'd try a second one. This report is the result. As to the significance of the title - and no prizes for spotting that it was the closing line from that memorable 1960s air war movie, '633 Squadron' - well, the connection will become apparent, very shortly!

 

The first mission in the campaign came as a bit of a surprise. As you can see from the 'blurb' above, the campaign was billed as flying with Jagdgeschwader 1 and Jagdgeschwader 11 (the latter being spun off from JG1 to bolster defences in northern Germany and the Baltic coast area) so I was rather surprised to find my first mission involved flying for JG5 'Eismeer'. That unit's traditional stomping ground, as its name suggests, was Scandinavia. I neglected to take a screenshot of the briefing but the mission seemed to involve a transit flight, with myself and my wingman flying off to join my new unit. The map in question looked to be of Finland's Baltic coast [edit - I checked and it's actually Norway's west coast, which is fine].

 

My mount was a Bf109G2 and following the instructions in the briefing, I had selected a JG5 skin, which came with the skin pack which the campaign's download page recommends you install as well as the campaign.

 

16.11.2013 17-07-09.jpg

 

That's me, in Yellow 4. Evidently my pilot had previously served with the Kondor Legion in the Spanish Civil War; at least, I assume that's the reason for the small Spanish Nationalist air force insignia, on my fuselage to the rear of the cross. The badge on the cowling is, of course, JG5's.  It's a nice skin, with 74+75 upper surfaces and 76 below, and the fuselage sides mottled in 02 and 70 - textbook stuff, and the wing camouflage pattern is also a common factory standard for the time. Nice job.

 

2a.jpg

 

...and yes, the mission was an air start. Most of this campaign's missions are, apparently. Personally, I prefer to start 'on the deck' but with IL2 not having a magic 'warp' or 'go to next encounter' facility, I can understand why the designer decided to spare us the long climb to altitude with which your average Reichs Defence sortie would otherwise have started.

 

In my previous, somewhat sporadic flying with IL-2, I never got out of the habit of flying with the map screen set to display my course and icons for other planes, including enemies. I generally prefer to minimise my reliance on such things. But given the IL-2 on-screen 'kneeboard' map is quite small and covers a limited field (even zoomed well out) I'm inclined not to baulk at using it both for navigation and to identify foes. I don't use the equivalent facility in First Eagles or Rise of Flight, for example, but in WW2, with fighters commonly flying with the assistance of ground-based controllers using radar and other aids, I consider the IL-2 map with icons on is a reasonable supplement to the sim's ground controller, who when asked, seems only able to give you an enemy force's bearing, not its course, composition or most importantly, height - European Air War was much better in that regard. Anyway, I was understandably curious to find out whether or not my transit flight was going to be uneventful.

 

So I turned on the map...and there they were!

 

3.jpg

 

But what were they? And what were they up to? One way to find out...I slammed the throttle forward, turned onto an intercept course, and started gaining some height.

 

16.11.2013 17-16-47.jpg

 

...to be continued!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As our two 'Hundert-neuns' chased off after the unknown enemy formation, I asked the ground controller for a target bearing. I don't know what target he had in mind, but I'm glad I was relying on calling up the map and its plane icons at intervals, because the bearing he gave me - 090 - was in pretty well in the opposite direction to my quarry.

 

The enemy's height was my biggest concern. Looking up in their direction, there was nothing to be seen, but scanning down and to the right revealed two flights of three aircraft, flitting low over the island-dotted seascape and crossing left to right. I banked around after them and steered to intercept.

 

5.jpg

 

It wasn't much longer before I could make them out to be RAF Mosquitos - FBVI fighter-bombers (and, or course, the inspiration for the '633 Squadron' reference in this mission report's title!). Bombed up, they were likely on an anti-shipping strike. The Norwegian coast, rather than the Finnish, would have been a rather more likely setting for such depredations but this was no time for reflections on the limitations of IL-2's maps. [edit - as per previous post, the map IS of Norway]

 

4.jpg

 

The Mossies swung right, around the western fringes of the nearest island then tuned left, heading up a channel. I cut across the intervening headland and gained ground. As I closed I could see that matters were now urgent - the bomb-doors on the enemy aircraft were open. I was closing on the first flight, relying on my wingman to protect me, in the event the second flight of 'Wooden Wonders' decided to have a crack at me. Soon I was within range and let fly at the nearest Mosquito.

 

16.11.2013 17-19-09.jpg

16.11.2013 17-19-11.jpg

16.11.2013 17-19-18.jpg

 

The enemy rolled over and broke hard right and down. He was fast as lightning and led me a merry chase, but I managed to keep up with him and I got a good burst into him, at which point his port engine burst into flames and down he went.

16.11.2013 17-19-24.jpg

16.11.2013 16-56-24.jpg

 

By this time, the other Mosquitos were getting stuck into some shipping moored in the channel. Clearly, there was no time to lose. If I could not prevent further attacks, I could at least make the remaining Englishmen pay for their temerity. I banked around and came out of my turn onto the tail of an enemy as he ran in for his attack.

 

16.11.2013 17-20-02.jpg

 

...to be continued!

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

"You Cant Kill A Squadron" caught my eye...watched 633 sqd last night...dated but good film..

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Leaving the Cold War era of radar-guided nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles and returning to the days of reflector sights and cannon...though getting some hits, I was too late to prevent the Mossie I was tailing from letting go his bombs at the coastal defence ship or Monitor that was the moored convoy's primary defence. But fortunately for whatever was left of my reputation with my comrades in the Kriegsmarine, he missed. I pulled up after him as he broke away, with my wingman gamely keeping up, leaving the battered convoy behind.

 

16.11.2013 17-20-40.jpg

16.11.2013 17-21-40.jpg

 

What I didn't realise until I looked at the mission replay, was that there were also some rocket-firing Beaufighters involved in the strike, preoccupied as I was with the Mossies. How I managed to miss them, I have no idea!

 

16.11.2013 17-20-54.jpg

 

Anyhow, I crept up underneath the Mosquito I had attacked, who was leaving behind him a thin wisp of dark smoke, indicating engine damage. Another burst finished him off, and down he went. You can see from the second pic that the two crew members managed to bail out. Hopefully, their 'chutes opened in time.

 

16.11.2013 16-53-34.jpg

16.11.2013 16-59-04.jpg

 

At this point I called up the kneeboard map, rather than trusting to the limited abilities of the IL-2 ground controller to give me a vector (strictly speaking a bearing is all he gives) to the remaining enemies. This led me out to sea after a damaged Mossie who was making a high-speed escape just above the wave-tops.

 

16.11.2013 16-59-18.jpg

 

Diving to translate my height advantage into speed, I was soon able to catch him. He took no evasive action and after a series of short bursts, his right wing root burst into flames and he went straight into the drink at high speed, throwing up a terrific splash.

 

16.11.2013 17-03-16.jpg

16.11.2013 17-03-49.jpg

16.11.2013 17-05-33.jpg

 

By this time my ammunition - for my motor cannon, at least - was about gone so I checked my whereabouts on the map and set course to the north, back to the nearest airfield, with my faithful Katschmarek (as the Luftwaffe called their wingmen) still in tow. It was a short flight and I was soon back on terra firma.

 

19.jpg

 

Well, that was it. I was credited with three kills and got a gong. Not bad for a transit flight and a good start to the campaign, even if it was not exactly what I was expecting! It's the sort of variety you don't get from EAW's more repetitive mission-generator Reich Defence campaigns and I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if the Kriegsmarine, more conscious of the damaged shipping than a few lost enemy planes, might not have been as appreciative of our efforts as they could have been. I'm really looking forward to flying the next mission in FlatSpinMan's campaign, to see how that plays out.

 

20.jpg

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Similar Content

    • By 76.IAP-Blackbird
      Dear Friends,

      Today is a big day. IL-2 Sturmovik team is glad to report that after almost three years of development Battle of Normandy is out of Early Access and is officially released - 5.001 update is out!

      «You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.» Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.



      The official release also means that in addition to Battle of Normandy Premium Edition in our webstore there’s now Standard Edition without two Collector Planes - German jet bomber Arado Ar 234 and British fighter Spitfire Mk.XIV (they can be bought individually). On Steam the new module and its accompanying Collector Planes will appear in the coming weeks - please stay tuned while we work out the details. As usual, Battle of Normandy owners who have linked IL-2 and Steam accounts can access all the new content in the Steam version already.
       



      These years weren’t easy, but they were very interesting. During the development we have created many new technologies and approaches, did a lot of historical research, implemented new solutions. The last aircraft for Battle of Normandy were released in Early Access in August and today we add the last pieces - the map of the Northern France and Southern England, Pilot Career mode, Quick Mission Builder and Advanced Quick Mission Generator support for the new map.





      We have told about the Career mode and the new map in our recent Dev Blogs, but must point out again that they set the new record in terms of the work involved. New mission types, new airfield types, new airfields appearing on the map after D-Day - bringing their total amount to 100 airfields with historically accurate layouts! New objects created specially for the module - ships, ground vehicles, buildings, coastal defenses, V-1 buzzbombs and their launch positions, dozens of new aircraft paint schemes, etc.




      Battle of Normandy contains 10 player controllable aircraft (8 in the Standard Edition):
      - Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib – British fighter/bomber,
      - North American P-51B-5 Mustang – American long range fighter,
      - Republic P-47D-22 Thunderbolt – American fighter/bomber,
      - Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 Late – late version of the German fighter,
      - Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-6 Würger - German fighter,
      - De Havilland Mosquito F.B. Mk.VI ser.2 – British twin engine fighter-bomber,
      - Messerschmitt Me 410 A-1 Hornisse – German twin engine fighter-bomber,
      - Junkers Ju 88 C-6 – German twin engine heavy fighter,
      - Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIV – British fighter (Collector Plane included in the Premium Edition),
      - Arado Ar 234 B-2 Blitz – German twin engine jet bomber and recon aircraft (Collector Plane included in the Premium Edition).













      Each aircraft includes a slew of historically correct modifications - unlike other games where each modification would be counted as a separate aircraft model, in Great Battles you can freely select and combine them. For instance, Me-410 A-1 mentioned above has modifications that, when selected, make it a whole model lineup:
      1. Me-410 A-1/U2,
      2. Me-410 A-1/U4,
      3. Me-410 B,
      4. Me-410 B-2,
      5. Me-410 B-2/U1,
      6. Me-410 B-2/U2,
      7. Me-410 B-2/U4,
      8. Me-410 B-2/U4 field mod with four MG 151 guns.



      In addition to the all above, update 5.001 contains the results of the big work on the damage model improvements which are of course are applicable to all the modules as usual - as you can see in the long list below, it required many changes in various parts of the sim. The testing and tuning of these changes by beta-testers from the community took a lot of time. We think this is the big step forward for Great Battles series and hope you’ll enjoy it. 

      There are many other fixes and improvements - for instance, the mission loading time has been reduced dramatically, several times less on some PC configurations! The pilot and tank crew AI got better, etc.:

      Main Features
      1. All Battle of Normandy owners have access to Northern France and Southern England map in two variations (before and after the D-Day). As usual, in multiplayer mode the map can be accessed by all Great Battles players.
      2. All Battle of Normandy owners have access to the mid-1944 Career mode (3 countries, 5 phases, 17 frontline states, 225 historical squadrons, 103 of them joinable by the player, many new mission types).
      3. All Battle of Normandy owners have access to QMB and AQMG game modes on the new map for a quick action, also with many new mission types.
      4. Numerous new aircraft paint schemes added, including different invasion stripes for various time periods of 1944.
      5. PzKpfw IV Ausf.H. tank added (AI controlled).
      6. Flakpanzer IV «Möbelwagen» SPAA added (AI controlled).
      7. Gleaves-class destroyer added (AI controlled).
      8. The loading speed of all missions on all Great Battles maps has been improved significantly.

      Damage Model Improvements
      9. Aircraft DM: RHA equivalent of the aircraft skin has been reduced nearly three times to the previous (wrong) values.
      10. Aircraft DM: an issue that made aircraft skin damage too severe for larger bombers and some fighters has been fixed.
      11. Aircraft DM: like the previously released change for larger caliber ammo, now all projectiles in the game loose integrity and stability after penetrating a significant armor thickness which affects their remaining ability to penetrate armor.
      12. Aircraft DM: the relative speed of the target is correctly accounted for projectile penetrations calculations.
      13. Aircraft DM: AP bullets and shells make slightly bigger holes in the airframe and aircraft skin.
      14. Aircraft DM: powerful HE rounds explosions cause more damage to the airframe, aircraft skin and components.
      15. Aircraft DM: small HE bullets cause less damage to aircraft skin.
      16. Aircraft DM: it is now possible to damage radiators and fuel tanks when firing 7.62-7.92 rounds from more than 350 m distance.
      17. Aircraft DM: bullets are less likely to ricochet from aircraft skin at low angles.
      18. Aircraft DM: Bf 109 radiator collision model has been improved (previously its wrong shape could cause most smaller caliber bullets to ricochet when fired directly from behind).
      19. Aircraft DM: the loss of the bullets energy hitting Bf 109 F-4 engine has been corrected.
      20. Aircraft DM: an issue that caused bullets hitting Spitfire Mk.XIV MGs and guns to not lose energy has been fixed.
      21. Aircraft DM: engine fire probability from bullet hits has been somewhat increased for WWI-era piston engines and jet engines.
      22. Aircraft DM: engine fire probability from bullet hits has been reduced for WWII-era piston engines.
      23. Aircraft DM: fuel tank fire probability from bullet hits has been reduced.
      24. Aircraft DM: fuel tank fire and explosion probability from HE ammo hits has been reduced, now it depends on the HE power more.
      25. Aircraft DM: it’s now harder to put out the fires by side-slip movement.
      26. Aircraft DM: the several years old ‘crew health cheat’ (they required four point-blank 7.62 bullets in the torso or two in the head to be killed) has been removed. Now their ability to sustain damage is much more close to reality.
      27. Crew DM: a random error that could cause a death from mild G-loads has been found and fixed, thus improving survivability rate during emergency landings.
      28. Ballistics: ricochet tendency has been reduced somewhat.
      29. Right wing MGs on P-51B can be correctly damaged.
      30. P-51B and D fighters wings (middle-upper parts) can be correctly damaged.

      Me 410 Improvements
      31. Me 410A-1: weapon panel placards corrected for WB 151 and MG 131 modifications.
      32. Me 410A-1: missing rods from bomb doors to the forward window added.
      33. Me 410 A-1: speed and timer gauges in the pilot’s cockpit corrected.
      34. Me 410 A-1: altitude and speed gauges in the gunner’s cockpit corrected.
      35. Me 410 A-1: bomb holders for 250 kg bombs and for SB 1000/410 look corrected.
      36. Me 410 A-1: radiator fenders indicators light up when the cockpit light is turned on.
      37. Me 410 A-1: the rear landing gear state affects air drag.
      38. Me 410 A-1: technochat message warning about the gun overheating restored for the gunner.
      39. Me 410 A-1: now the gunner can use the entire horizontal range of the guns for aiming.
      40. Me-410 A-1: radiators can be correctly damaged by AP projectiles, resulting in coolant leaks.
      41. Me 410A-1 intercept missions added to AQMG game mode.

      Tank Crew Improvements
      42. M4A2, KV-1s, Pz.IV.G, Pz.V.D, Pz.VI.H1 hatches close when the turret blocks them.
      43. The damage of the gun barrels base on Pz.III, Pz.IV and Pz.VI is calculated correctly when it is hit by fragments.
      44. In multiplayer a guest gunner (who connected to someone else tank) won’t constantly hear the turret turning mechanism noise.
      45. In multiplayer a tank owner won’t hear the gun or MG reloading sound when another player connected to his tank to the gunner or MG gunner station.
      46. In multiplayer turning aircraft or tank turrets controlled by another player emit correct turning  sounds.

      AI Improvements
      47. AI controlled bombers keep formation a bit better during climb.
      48. AI pilots will attempt to return to base in the event of an oil or coolant leak.
      49. Me 410 pilots will correctly drop bombs in a deep dive.
      50. Mosquito, Ju 88 C6 and Me 410 pilots will correctly drop underwing bombs.
      51. Twin and 4x guns in AI controlled vehicles won’t judder during aiming.

      Other Improvements
      52. Dropping an 1650 pounds bomb from Handley Page O/400 bomber won’t display an error.
      53. A visual artifact in front of the right engine of Handley Page O/400 bomber has been removed.
      54. An issue that caused guns and MGs to ‘float’ above certain breastwork has been fixed.
      55. ‘No jamming’ difficulty option works correctly for aircraft turrets.
      56. Me 410 is correctly counted in stats.
      57. Visual bomb explosion effects has been corrected for cases when a bomb ricochets and goes off above the ground.
      58. Proximity and CheckZone triggers in missions won’t erroneously count non-spawned and inactive objects.
      59. External camera works correctly after flying beyond the map borders.
      60. An issue that could lower the muzzle speed of an overheated MG before causing additional scattering of the fired bullets has been fixed.
      61. Both P-47 have their idle engine RPM corrected (it was a bit too high potentially causing moving with brakes applied.
       
    • By 76.IAP-Blackbird
      Dear Friends,

      Autumn has arrived in Moscow and Las Vegas and even thought the air temperature is dropping, our work pace is heating up fast. Work on our new cloud tech continues and is making rapid progress. We will make many different “cloud patterns” over time as we mentioned previously, but right now we are trying to create some quality cloud designs that we can put into Beta testing and fulfill the minimum designs needed to get you up and flying with them sooner rather than later. Please enjoy these screenshots and prepare to get lost in them!

        
        

      Work on the forthcoming P-51B continues and I really wanted to show you a shot of the cockpit with textures, but they aren’t quite ready for public viewing yet. But rest assured that the P-51B work is going hot and heavy. I am “encouraging” Mike as much as possible to get her done.
      So, we can’t show you the P-51B cockpit at the moment, but how about some shots of the Mosquito instead! As you can see, it’s taking shape and looking nice! Like our other British birds this one also has a busy cockpit that when finished will be nothing but Royal Air Force awesomeness!  

        
        

      Testing on the new AQMG is progressing well and it should be released in our next update as mentioned last week. The Breguet 14 is also entering its final stages of tweaking before release as well. Work on the next update overall is going quite well so we expect a smooth release of 4.605 this month as planned.

      There has also been some good news with some research endeavors Jason has working on. If all goes well It may bring a new warbird to our skies. One that many of you have asked for. Stay tuned for more on that.

      And as mentioned by Jason in his recent Briefing Room post we have two Collector Tanks being worked on by our friends at DigitalForms and we will announce those very soon.

      Enjoy!

      The Sturmovik Team
    • By 76.IAP-Blackbird
      Dear friends,
       
      Today we'll continue to show you the progress of the aircraft currently in development. The hero of the day is two-seater this time, twin-engine fighter/bomber De Havilland Mosquito F.B.Mk.VI Series II we're making for Battle of Normandy. This famous and popular WWII British RAF plane had an unusual and distinct look (well, the same can be said about most British aircraft). But it's interesting not only because of its appearance - it reached high speeds in its class despite being partly wooden. Moreover, it kept its high-speed capability even when carrying bombs thanks to the internal bomb bay.
       
      2000 pounds of bombs, four 20mm guns and four 7.69mm MGs the Mosquito carried made him a dangerous adversary for the enemy. In our sim, there will be additional weapon modifications available - eight RP-3 unguided rockets and 57mm anti-tank gun (!). Here are the first 3D renders of this bird of prey at its current development stage:
       



       
      The recently announced player controllable mobile AA guns are also showing good progress. Along with the work on their visual models, we're improving the realistic physics model of the wheeled ground vehicles movement even more. And don't forget about their crews as well:  
       


    • By KJakker
      I think I installed the Daidalos Team patch back in 2012 but it has been years since I touched it IL-2 1946. I would appreciate some advice as to patching, updates, and mods.
    • By KJakker
      I just found out about the Sea Mosquito, a carrier capable Mosquito variant, while search for some info on WWII twin engine aircraft earlier today. I found this blog post "The de Havilland Sea Mosquito" that talks about it. I did not see it in the downloads section and a search of the forum for "Sea Mosquito" turned up nothing. I was wondering if the Mosquito team would be interested in creating the de Havilland Sea Mosquito?
       
      Below is a quote of a segment of the blog post linked above.  
       
       
×

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue..