Bletchley

Even Shrapnel rounds can get you, though much less damaging than HE. The thing to remember is that flak is still just as accurate as it was before, but damage can accumulate over two or more near-misses instead of knocking you out immediately (although a direct hit by a single shell will still do that, both Shrapnel & HE). Any funny noises from the engine, and it is time to go home :) Bletchley

Available now from the downloads section: http://combatace.com/files/category/353-maps-missions-and-campaigns/ 1916(2) will now cover July-August 1916, with 1916(3) covering September-December 1916.In the July-August period the E.IIIs appear to have been mostly held back by a combination of the lack of leadership and example (the death of Immelmann and the temporary grounding of Boelcke), problems with the synchronisation gear of the gun (thought to be the reason for Immelmann's downfall), reorganisation, and low moral as a much reduced number of Fokker pilots were faced with the Allied build up to the Somme offensive. During the first two months of the battle of the Somme the Allies gained almost complete control of the air above the battlefield, until the tide started to turn again at the end of August with the introduction of the new German scouts, a new influx of pilots, and reorganisation of scouts into the more effective organisation of the Jasta system. 1916(2) will therefore present a two-month hiatus for the 'German' player, with mostly 'lone wolf' and solo defensive patrols over friendly territory (still one or two line patrols, but not as many). 1916(3) to follow very soon, September - December Bletchley

1916(3) OFF MOD, covering the period September - December 1916 now up :) http://combatace.com/files/category/353-maps-missions-and-campaigns/ New mission files. In late August the German air service is reorganised and the small scout sections are brought together into the first Jasta units. Boelcke returns, having recruited more pilots to form a new crop of fighter pilots, amongst them Manfred von Richthofen, and new scout types start to arrive at the front (starting with Halberstadts in the last weeks of August). This leads to a more aggressive attitude from September onwards, with flight or Jasta strength patrols starting to contest Allied domination of the sky over the battlefield. The British are still patrolling aggressively, despite the now inferior machines, with a policy of deep offensive patrols, long recon., and now frequent bombing missions to strategic railway junctions, airfields, and lines of communication. The photographing and detailed mapping of opposing trench systems also continues, with art.obs. and photorecon. by both sides. The German air service continues to send their solo photorecon. missions far into Allied airspace, but they need to fly ever higher as Allied flak becomes more effective, with the switch from Shrapnel to HE shells and development of better targetting doctrine and technology. By the end of the year the stage is now set for 'Bloody April' 1917, with the Allies struggling to push the German scouts back from their Front sectors where increasingly vulnerable Allied art.obs. and photorecon. machines are going about the daily task of registering the artillery, counterbattery, and photography... Bletchley

I sent you a test message, to seee if it is working from my end. I deleted all my messages, so it can't be a full in-box now. You can email me at bletchley if you like, at ntlworld dot com. B.

Thank you Hasse Wind :) 1917(1) will cover the period from January through to April 1917 : the withdrawal of the German army to the Hindenburg Line, the diversionary Battle of Arras and Nivelle's great offensive in the Champaign. It was a period in which an Allied numerical superiority in the air was pitted against a technologically superior and increasingly well organised but still outnumbered German opposition, as the expansion in the RFC and RNAS saw hundreds of older machines and under-trained air crew flooding into France. In the first months of 1917 the German army took the strategic initiative, following a period of poor weather that hindered the Allied recon. activity, with a well planned 'scorched earth' withdrawl to a prepared defensive line. British recon. and photo recon. resources were stretched to the limit, with scouts being drafted in to take on some of the work, as they desperately photographed and mapped the new German trench systems, whilst other two-seater units covered the advancing troops with low level contact missions. The advance was harassed in many places by German two-seater aircraft doing the same, and by aggressive but sporadic attacks by the German Jastas (although many of these were now in the south, to cover French preparations in the Champagn region). So much British effort was going in to recon., and on escorting the recon. aircraft, that Allied bombing switched to night bombing, of rail and communication centres, with little in the way of day bombing. The British then launched their attack on the Arras front at the beginning of April. The Art.Obs., particularly counter-battery work, now had the highest priority, along with tactical recon. and photo recon. missions along the front, with some scouts once again being drafted in to do some of the recon. work and also to attack the balloon line. Heavily escorted day bombing now resumed, mostly against rail centres, to try and stop the Germans bringing forward reinforcements. As the British threatened to break through at Arras the Germans drew in air resources from the south of the region, and the now numerically stronger German fighter force (including new types such as the Albatros D.III) started to take a heavy toll on the British Corps machines, bombers, long recon., and their escorting scouts. On 14th April the French launched Nivelle's long awaited offensive in the Champagne, but the Germans had advance knowledge of the detailed planning for this and it ground to a halt, after very heavy losses that tore the heart out of the French army. By the end of April the French were back on the defensive and fighting at Arras was winding down. But new British aircraft types such as the SE5 and the Bristol Fighter, deployed too little and too late to have a significant impact, were already in France, and others such as the Camel and the DH4 were on the way...the pendulum was about to swing again as the British, having survived 'Bloody April' with the offensive doctrine intact, despite heavy losses in the air, prepared for a major offensive in the north. Bletchley

File Name: 1916(3) OFF MOD File Submitter: Bletchley File Submitted: 29 March 2011 File Category: Maps, Missions, and Campaigns New mission files. In late August the German air service is reorganised and the small scout sections are brought together into the first Jasta units. Boelcke returns, having recruited more pilots to form a new crop of fighter pilots, amongst them Manfred von Richthofen, and new scout types start to arrive at the front (starting with Halberstadts in the last weeks of August). This leads to a more aggressive attitude from September onwards, with flight or Jasta strength patrols starting to contest Allied domination of the sky over the battlefield. The British are still patrolling aggressively, despite the now inferior machines, with a policy of deep offensive patrols, long recon., and now frequent bombing missions to strategic railway junctions, airfields, and lines of communication. The photographing and detailed mapping of opposing trench systems also continues, with art.obs. and photorecon. by both sides. The German air service continues to send their solo photorecon. missions far into Allied airspace, but they need to fly ever higher as Allied flak becomes more effective, with the switch from Shrapnel to HE shells and development of better targetting doctrine and technology. By the end of the year the stage is now set for 'Bloody April' 1917, with the Allies struggling to push the German scouts back from their Front sectors where increasingly vulnerable Allied art.obs. and photorecon. machines are going about the daily task of registering the artillery, counterbattery, and photography... Click here to download this file

Yes, you need to concentrate so much on the bubble of the inclinometer that you can't keep a lookout! (and can't dodge the flak!!). And if you have wind gusts set to "on" it becomes even worse - 55 seconds in, and a gust of wind bounces you around and spoils the run, so you have to start all over again :) Bletchley

Yes, it is - that is what happens when I merge the 'Lone Wolf' mission type with other types - just a crazy spider-web of way points, although the briefing map remains OK. I can't do anything about that. Bletchley

OK, done that now, thanks :)

HPW, my PM is on - but I havn't had any messages from you I am on GMT, here in Blighty. British_eh is away for a week or so. Bletchley

I don't think it will work with P4 - a little bird tells me the mission structure is all changed for P4 :) Bletchley

"I guess I was right choosing "Active Sector" for the area Douai? At least we met one flight of 4 BE2c; and on returning, we sighted 3 Airco DH-2 crossing behind us, high." The OFF campaign manager tells you if the sector you ar in is active or quiet - as you enter your campaign it will say in the introductory screen "the battle of the Somme is raging in your area" or some such, or "everything is quiet currently" (can't remeber the exact wording). Once in-campaign you can also get the same information by clicking on the 'Inteligence' briefing. Your report highlights one 'problem' with the mod - although it changes the size of the player's flight to 'lone wolf' it doesn't seem to do the same for other AI-only flights : these seem to be controlled by some other part of either the OFF Manager program or CFS3 itself. I have not been able to change this. Bletchley

Yes, possibly. I tweaked the general recon. missions towards airfields and railway sidings. I guess you are flying British? If you were flying German, the recon. would be a 'lone wolf' mission, and you will be advised to fly them as high as you can. The big giveaway is the 'lone wolf' missions - if you see one of these come up, you know the mod is active. Also look at the text briefing - a British photorecon. will give you instructions on the altitude you must fly at, and the use of the inclinometer (but as these are over the trenches, your's must be a general recon. behind the lines), and art.obs. missions will give you some instructions on signalling with flares: but I have not been able to get flares to work with the BE2, so you might have to ignore that bit ) Bletchley

I don't know, but in OFF it appears at the end of August (or at least, I think so...) Bletchley :)

Probably best to come out, it only takes a minute :) You don't need a fresh campaign to use it though. Bletchley

File Name: 1916(2) OFF MOD File Submitter: Bletchley File Submitted: 29 March 2011 File Category: Maps, Missions, and Campaigns New mission types, new flak (Allied now switchinh from Shrapnel to HE). 1916(2) will cover July-August 1916. In the July-August period the E.IIIs appear to have been mostly held back by a combination of the lack of leadership and example (the death of Immelmann and the temporary grounding of Boelcke), problems with the synchronisation gear of the gun (thought to be the reason for Immelmann's downfall), reorganisation, and low moral as a much reduced number of Fokker pilots were faced with the Allied build up to the Somme offensive. During the first two months of the battle of the Somme the Allies gained almost complete control of the air above the battlefield, until the tide started to turn again at the end of August with the introduction of the new German scouts, a new influx of pilots, and reorganisation of scouts into the more effective organisation of the Jasta system. 1916(2) will therefore present a two-month hiatus for the 'German' player, with mostly 'lone wolf' and solo defensive patrols over friendly territory (still one or two line patrols, but not as many). For the Allied player it will be more or less a continuation of the earlier period, January - June. Click here to download this file

Creaghorn has convinced me that the 1916(1) mod should end at the end of June 1916 (the death of Immelmann and the 'grounding' of Boelcke) :) so 1916(2) will now cover July-August 1916, with 1916(3) covering September-December 1916. In the July-August period the E.IIIs appear to have been mostly held back by a combination of the lack of leadership and example (the death of Immelmann and the temporary grounding of Boelcke), problems with the synchronisation gear of the gun (thought to be the reason for Immelmann's downfall), reorganisation, and low moral as a much reduced number of Fokker pilots were faced with the Allied build up to the Somme offensive. During the first two months of the battle of the Somme the Allies gained almost complete control of the air above the battlefield, until the tide started to turn again at the end of August with the introduction of the new German scouts, a new influx of pilots, and reorganisation of scouts into the more effective organisation of the Jasta system. 1916(2) will therefore present a two-month hiatus for the 'German' player, with mostly 'lone wolf' and solo defensive patrols over friendly territory (still one or two line patrols, but not as many). Bletchley

You first need to install the JSGME mod manager. You can download it from here: http://www.users.on.net/~jscones/software/products-jsgme.html It must be installed into the CFSWW1 Over Flanders Fields folder - on my PC this is in the C:OBDSoftware directory (next to WW1Scenery) Once you have JSGME in place, you should see a JSGME exe file and a MODS folder - on my PC the JSGME exe is between 'jpeg.dll' and 'JSGME'(configurations settings), and the MODS folder is between 'missions' and 'objects'. You unzip the 1916(1) download : inside this there is 1916 ActiveSector January-July folder, 1916 QuietSector January-July folder, and a Readme file. Copy and paste the ActiveSector and QuietSector folders into the MODS folder. Click on JSGME exe to open up the mods manager - you should now see the ActiveSector folder and the QuietSector folder listed as 'Available'. If your current campaign is in a 'quiet' sector, click to highlight the QuietSector folder and click on > to move it into the right hand of the JSGME panel (to 'activate' the mod). Click on 'Close' to exit from JSGME. Exit to desktop, fire up OFF and away you go - the changes should show up as soon as you re-enter your campaign. To de-activate the mod, click on JSGME exe to open up the JSGME panel, click to highlight the 'active' mod and then click < to move the mod back into the left hand side of the panel. It is then deactivated, and the original OFF files will be back in place. If your campaign sector becomes an 'active' sector, deactivate the QuietSector mod in this way and then 'activate' the ActiveSector mod. But do not 'activate' both QuietSector and ActiveSector at the same time (allways one or the other). I hope this all makes sense :) Bletchley Bletchley

Early prototypes had 80hp Clerget, I think, the majority 80hp Le Rhone, and a few Home Defence versions had the 100hp Gnome Monosoupape. Bletchley

"Are you going to cover the whole war with these mods?" Yes, 1916(2) is done, just needs testing and possibly tweaking a bit. I am working on 1917 now, and intend to take it through to the end. Think of it as the 'missions' part of SIA-RSS, so it should replace the rather confusing set of instructions regarding 'exception' missions and the like (no 'scramble' missions now, for example, and 'Transfer' mission has been 'lone wolfed' to remove the automatic enemy a/c spawn). Also, there should be no problem with using this mod concurrent with HPW's damage mod (they can both be 'activated' at the same time, as they effect completely different files), and the same should be true of the tracer and sound mods. I have also found a way to reduce the level of aircraft activity in campaign, if anyone is interested in a 'light touch' campaign mod - this uses a slight modification of the weather files that doesn't effect the weather itself but would significantly reduce air activity when the 'light activity' setting is used as a workshop setting: the downside of it is that air activity would not then fluctuate with changing weather conditions but would instead remain constantly low, sun or rain. It would be for those who feel that, historically, there is currently too much wham! bam! action! and want more uncertainty with respect to encounters. It is already a feature of the 1915 mod, but not 1916 onwards :) Bletchley

Thanks :) Much of credit should go to British_eh as well, for the groundwork done in producing the SIA-RSS settings - I have been taking the 'missions' part of that, and making these mods from them (with a few further modifications added on). 1916(2) to follow within a day or so, then on to 1917... Bletchley

File Name: 1916(1) OFF MOD File Submitter: Bletchley File Submitted: 27 March 2011 File Category: Maps, Missions, and Campaigns New mission files, new flak files, for OFF 1916 January-July Click here to download this file