Bletchley

Looks really interesting, Lothar, and must have taken a lot of work - I will download this evening it and try it out! Thank you :) Bletchley

Bullethead, "Sorry if I offend". No, I am not offended at all. I am always happy to be corrected by someone with more knowledge, or with contarry evidence :) "About what point in time did predicting systems come into WW1 flak?": from around mid 1917, to the best of my knowledge. The French Brocq system was the most sophisticated, although not necessarily more successful than the simpler German or British systems. The AA forces of both sides developed or experimented with a variety of manual systems, although they all seem to have moved to some form of central control and direction of fire by mid to late 1917. Bletchley

This is a description of the French 'Brocq' tachymetric fire control system, which was also used by the British and Americans: "Operators tracked the horizontal and vertical progress of the target through the two telescopic sights of the instrument. The required turnings of the telescope's control wheels represented the target's rate of movement relative to the ground position. The readings were measured in electrical terms as voltages and set against a resistance that corresponded to fuze range. The computed results, carried by electric cables to dials on the guns, provided the layers with deflection figures for their aim. The process was later carried an important step further when future target positions were predicted at a command post with the required fuze range, bearings and elevations being transmitted to the gun dials and fuze punches. A number of guns were, thus, brought under a Central Fire Control. Those manning them had only to maintain a rapid fire whilst their aim and fuzes were set according to the central directions." (Hide, David. 'The flying shot' Part 2, in Cross and Cockade International, vol.36 no.2 2005, p.71-96) From 1917 the German flak units also moved to the use of an indirect fire control systems with laying directions derived from a central command post using a (non-tachymetric) instrument called the 'Kommandotafel Jakob', although direct fire was still used against low-flying aircraft (source: as above). Bletchley

Yes, sorry Bullethead, I didn't mean to indicate that the fragments (shrapnel) from the HE shell casings were of no consequence, just that in moving from the early Shrapnel (i.e. packed with shrapnel bullets) shells to the new HE shells it was this much greater blast effect that was being exploited by the new anti-aircraft doctrines, and in particular the use of simultaneous or near simultaneous blasts from several exploding shells to cause significant damage to the structural integrity of the aircraft. Many aircraft would return riddled with holes to their fabric from shell fragments, but unless the vulnerable elements such as the pilot or the petrol tank were hit the aircraft would often remain flyable unless structural or engine damage was caused, which would have been from a combination of blast and fragmentation effects. This evening I will dig out the information that I have on the WWI fire control systems :) Bletchley

In the early years of the war each gun in a flak battery was aimed individually, but by the mid to end part of the war (1917-18) 4 to 8 guns in a battery were being controlled and aimed by a central fire control system. Whereas practice in the early years was to fire at the target, by the mid-end of the war a more effective doctrine was developed (by both sides, I think) to fire into a 'box' around the target. By this time HE was being used in place of solid shot or shrapnel, and the idea was to surround the target with exploding shells to set up blast waves that would crush or damage the aircraft (rather like depth charges). Firing into a 'box' rather than directly at the predicted place of the target aircraft also reduced the chances that an a/c had of escaping the flak by making numerous small alterations to course and/or altitude. Shrapnel was discontinued for the reason given by Bullethead, the shrapnel bullets mostly missing the target due to the directional nature of the discharge and the black powder charge having a much lower blast effect than HE. Bletchley

No, with BlastRadius small is small, so you might want to try '5' if '10' is still producing too many hits :) B.

"Can I ask, how do I adjust the 'noise' setting?" Curiously, this is in the "Scenery" folder: OBD Software - WW 1 Scenery - Difficulty - Easy [or Normal, or Hard] - guns - OFF_Germanflak_gun.xdp. The higher the number for "Noise" the less accurate the guns are. For the Allied guns this is OFF_Alliedflak_gun.xdp. In the same "guns" folder there is an OFF_Maxim_land.xdp file. I think you can change the "Noise" setting of this, in the same way (higher = less accurate) to change the accuracy of the ground mg guns. OFF_Vickers_land.xdp for Allied mg nests. Note: the OFF "Hard" setting has a noise value of '5', which is more accurate than the CFS3 setting for a WWII 88mm (Noise value '8')! Using my Flak mod I have changed my own current campaign OFF flak gun 'Noise' settings from 25 (Easy), 10 (Normal), 5 (Hard) to 20 (Easy), 15 (Normal), 10 (Hard); using Easy for 1915, Normal for 1916 and 1917, Hard for 1918. For 1915-17 I crank up the difficulty level by one notch for the balloon attack missions. Bletchley

The flak mod does not reduce the chance of being hit - it just reduces the damage effect of a hit (or of a near miss) based on some research that I did on reduced blast effects of WWI HE (as compared to WW II HE, from the CF3 settings still being used for OFF). The accuracy of the guns is not changed by the mod, and neither is the blast radius of the bursting shell. If you want to reduce the chance of being damaged by the shell without reducing the accuracy of the gun you should tinker with (reduce) the blast radius setting of the flak shells. This would be quite legitimate, as the reduced blast of the modded shells should result in a smaller blast radius. I did not do this with the flak mod, as it would have upset the carefully arrived at (and argued over) balance of the accuracy settings, so that "noise" settings for the flak guns would then also require adjusting to achieve the current balance of Easy, Normal and Hard. So, if you use the 'Hard' setting with the flak mod you will still be 'hit' just as often with the flak mod as without it - but you should experience less immediately fatal results, unless it is a direct hit. Bletchley

Just seen this, thought it might be of interest :) http://www.rafmuseumshop.com/node/5543 Bletchley

I have been using these mods for a campaign in February-April 1916, and I like them :) Difficukt to compare the mission frequency change without running two identical campaigns side by side, but my 'quiet sector' version seems to be doing the job well without any problems so far. I very much like the weather add-on mod for extra cloudiness - there is a much better NW European cloudscape now, I think, a big improvement on the 'blue skies with a few fluffy clouds' that seemed to predominate with the OFF stock weather. Bletchley

I like the single-pilot campaign - you choose a squadron, a pilot position (Green 3 or whatever), and then the BoB historical campaign runs on auto, prompting you to take off when your squadron is scrambled in the campaign...you just watch the BoB unfold on the big map, hour by hour or day by day (you set the time speed) and wait...and wait...then, Scramble! Take off, fly the mission, land...and then back to waiting again. Real nail-biting stuff. The campaign is dynamic, so if you 'die' you can run it again and get completely different campaign missions :) Bletchley

Yes :) Sorry, will clear some of the old messages - PM box must be full-up. Bletchley

Weather 'To bad to fly' was a variable concept - it depended on the year, the time of year, the level of activity on the ground, and the mission type. The aircraft of 1914/15 were flimsy and underpowered compared to those of 1918, and weather that would have grounded aircraft in 1915 (even nice bright sunny days, if there was a high wind) would have been regarded as flyable by 1918, and as the war progressed I think there was a gradual growing acceptance of the need to fly in (nearly) all weathers when the situation was felt to be critical. Heavy activity on the ground tended to follow the annual pattern of the seasons, peaking in the late Spring to early Autumn months, and combat flying would have followed the same pattern - bad weather (rain, low overcast, high winds, and very low temperatures at altitude) in winter would generally have grounded or severeley reduced most flights, with the possible exception of important reconnaisance missions. Bad weather in Spring-Summer-Autumn (rain, high wind, fog, overcast or morning mists) would have grounded most flights in the 'quiet' sectors, even in 1918, but not in 'active' sectors. Reconnaisance and phot-recon were dependent on cloud cover and ground haze (or lack of it). High winds at higher altitudes were always a problem for the long recon and deep offensive patrols (and difficult to predict at this time), and may have caused the frequent cancellation or the curtailment of these. By 1918, when called upon to support critical missions, they were grounded only by fog or by very poor visibility (i.e heavy rain and low cloud), or very high winds. I am not sure that the weather 1914-1918 was particularly unusual for that period, but the micro-climates may have been changed by the war (interesting idea). Some parts of the Front were subject to worse weather than others, due to their geography - the river valleys, such as the Somme and Lys, had frequent ground mists along the river (particularly in Autumn and Spring), and the area north of the Ypres salient was subject to high coastal winds and was generally wetter than areas further inland (also wartime flooding of this area might have brought about local changes). A slightly annoying aspect of the weather in OFF (must be a CFS3 thing) is that although there are 3 types of 'good' weather (just varying amounts of fluffy cloud), there are only 2 types of 'bad' weather - you can have (6) heavy overcast with precipitation, or (4) heavy overcast. There is also (5) 'variable' weather, although this is generally very similar to the good weather, just with stronger winds and sometimes haze. Also, once set, the weather type remains the same for the whole Front (and for every Front), and for the whole day (so you can't have morning mist clearing to a fine day - just 'overcast' or 'not overcast' for the whole day. Bletchley

RFC Two-seater squadrons were attached to an Army Corps, and had a specific sector of the Front to operate over, whilst most Scout/Fighter squadrons were part of a Wing that was attached to an Army that also had a sector of the Front asigned to it. I think it is quite realistic to limit your missions to a limited North-South sector of the Front. I usually choose some plausible features on the briefing map North and South of the airfield, and if the mission that is generated then falls outside this I will hit the 'optional flight' until one is generated that does fall within it. If you had the the time and the inclination there are maps that show the precise geographical sector boumndaries that the individual squadrons were asigned (e.g. the official history, War in the Air), but I usually just make a plausible estimate of what these might be, maybe 30 miles or so N/S of the home airfield. :) Not sure how this worked for French or German squadrons, but I expect some similar division of the Front existed. Bletchley

My own guesses: "Landed to a lost DH4", I think means that he landed next to a DH4 that had lost its way and landed at "Frivent" airfield to ask directions or to refuel (not an uncommon occurence. The pilot and observer were probably in the mess refueling as well). Not sure where this "Frivent" was, but as he took off again from there the next day I guess it was a staging post on the way to his squadron. "jambed" was the same as "jammed" - I have seen it several times in diaries and memoirs of this period. "comic photos" might mean that the photos were defective in some way (double exposed?). Or they mave have been taken as a strip of overlapping photos for mapping? Bletchley

Elephant, here is a v.2 of this 1918(1) mod (Elephant!) for you :) I have reduced the Lone Wolf type missions to 4 (reduced to 35%). Replace your current 1918(1) OFF MOD with this one, and give it a spin. Bletchley

Hello Elephant, I have had a look at the mission file for German fighters (Quiet Sector) for that period, and the 'Quiet' time in that period in Flanders would be January to end of March 1918 I think (the first German Spring offensive started on 21 March?). This is from my notes that come with that file: "During this period Jagdgeschwader 1 was joined by two new German fighter wings, JG2 and JG3, to give the German air service a numerical superiority for the first time. But they were remaining quiet, for the most part, trying to conceal the extent of the build-up of air units in this sector" This is from Henshaw, commenting on this period (The sky their battlefield): "Large engagements with enemy formations were not common - the German Air Force had reason to conserve and conceal its strength, but on occasion these [Allied fighter] patrols did draw them out" 6 out of the available 11 mission types are 'Lone Wolf' missions of various different types, so this should give a 55% chance of a 'Lone Wolf' mission being generated by the program - so, statistically, over a long-ish period just over half of the missions will be 'Lone Wolf'. This was done to reflect the information that I had above, that the German High Command were 'holding back' on their fighter units in this 'quiet' period before the Spring Offensive, not wanting to reveal the build-up that was taking place here. Once the sector goes 'Active' you should see nearly all of these lone wolf missions disappear. But if people think that I have got the balance wrong here, I am happy to re-adjust it by turning some of these 'Lone Wolf' patrols back into regular flight-size missions (?). It is easy to do, and I could release it as a 1918(1) v.2 - but let me know, in that case what proportion you think should be 'Lone Wolf' (currently 55%) :) Bletchley

Hello Elephant, If you don't like a mission, just back out from it and 'advance time' by one notch - you will then get a new mission generated (but it might be the same as the old one, if there is a high chance of this mission being generated by the program). As Olham has stated, 'Lone Wolf' missions are mandatory in 1915 and frequent into 1916, and even after that they are still frequent for two-seater missions - but there are many different types of 'Lone Wolf' mission :) If you are referring just to the 'Lone Wolf' mission type that tells you to do your own thing (test the rigging or engine, have a look around, or hunt a balloon), then just look at the number of such entries there are in the log book extract in the 'Picture of a british Recon. Pilot's Log'! From the logs that I have seen, this extract is fairly typical, even for fighter pilots - many flights were of a non-combat nature. 13/11/17 : Engine Test 18/11/17 : Travelling Flight / Tour of Area 23/11/17 : Engine Test 17/12/17 : Engine & Rigging Test The program seems to select mission types randomly, and I have skewed it to make common mission types come up more frequently than non-common ones (in the stock version, every mission has the same chance of being generated), so it is quite possible (but a little unusual, in my experience) for exactly the same mission type to be generated five times in a row - but also, sometimes, just a counter-intuitive quirk of real randomness, like throwing a 'six' five times in a row :( Bletchley

Ready to download from here: http://combatace.com/files/category/353-maps-missions-and-campaigns/ Covers May-December 1917: Third Ypres, Paschendaele, Cambrai. Bletchley

File Name: 1917(2) OFF MOD File Submitter: Bletchley File Submitted: 22 April 2011 File Category: Maps, Missions, and Campaigns Corrects a very small error in v.1. There are no other changes. Click here to download this file

I have come across a small error in the 1917(2) QuietSector mod that will generate an "EOR" error when you are flying a British campaign and OFF Manager tries to generate a 'Wireless Intercept' mission. This is caused by a missing EOR (End of Record) tag at the end of the mission file 10 which then generates an error for mission file 11 (the 'Wireless Intercept' mission type). I have now corrected this in the 1917 QuietSector May-December folder, and so to prevent this error occuring you should replace BritainFighterMissionsTypes1917.txt file with the new one appended here (but only in the QuietSector folder). Bletchley Or, download the v.2 1917(2) mod from the downloads section (it might take a day or two to appear there) and then use this to replace the whole 1917(2) mod.

I have posted it in the downloads section, it should be there now: http://combatace.com/files/category/353-maps-missions-and-campaigns/ Have fun :) Bletchley 1916(1) will have the same flak files as 1915, but the missions are changed to bring back flight-strength patrols (particularly for the Allies, as in January 1916 Trenchard ordered that all recon. flights across the lines should be escorted by scouts or other machines of the same type). From my reading, the German scouts continued to fly in mostly single or paired flights up to their reorganisation in August, so solo missions will predominate (with a few full-flight missions starting to appear), and due to the increasing numbers of Allied aircraft (and the introduction of the new Allied types) the German air service was feeling outnumbered in this period, and was using two-seaters for barrage patrols and escort - so I have included lone-wolf line patrols for the Roland (sometimes 'escorted' by E.IIIs or other Rolands, although the 'patrol' and the 'escort' rarely appear to co-ordinate). There will also be some lone-wolf art.obs. and long-range recon. missions for the Roland (sometimes 'escorted', sometimes not). There will also be missions for the French scouts, still aggressive in this early period (Battle of Verdun), but becoming more defensive. The 'German' players should feel outnumbered and pushed back in this period, in Flanders if not so much against the French, culminating in the battle of the Somme in July 1916...but in August 1916 this will start to change again :)

I should have added there, that the Photorecon. and Art.obs. missions are the most frequent ones in this time period in 'Quiet' sectors - the long recon. and bombimg missions will appear less often. The date-mods tweak the chances of certain common mission types being generated, with the more common ones being generated more often. This is a change from the 'stock' OFF mission set, where all mission types have, on average, the same likelihood of being generated each time a new mission is made by the OFF Manager. Running through the optional missions, once a mission type has been generated, simply changes some of the parameters of that mission type (e,g. target location, or the provision of an escort) but does not change the mission type itself - to change the mission type you have to either start and then exit the mission, or click back to the main campaign screen and manually move time on by one notch (although this does not guarantee a new mission type, as the next mission will then be randomly chosen from those available, with the 'randomness' being weighted in the same way - which may mean that just the same mission type will then be generated again!). The frequency of flight (four times a day, or just once a week) should make no difference. Hope that helps. Keep flying, and a flight-strength long recon. or bombing mission should eventually come up :) Bletchley

Hello Wayfarer :) Flight-strength missions start to appear in 1916(1) for RFC 2-seater pilots - but only for missions that take them across the lines and into enemy airspace (the long reconaisance and bombing missions). Missions over the lines (Photorecon. and art.obs.) are still being flown by individual a/c although, as you say, you may sometimes be asigned an escort - but these 'escorts' are rarely there, unless you follow the strange 'lone wolf' waypoints. As you are over the lines, photographing the trenches or registering artillery batteries, it is assumed that you can escape back behind your lines if trouble appears (keep a sharp lookout!), as the RFC can still only afford the flight-strength protection for the more vulnerable long recon. and bombing tasks :) Bletchley