NS13Jarhead

That thing has got quite the suspension bridge of wires up there on top of the wing. Must have taken hours to get them all tensioned right.

There's no way to make the controls idiot-proof, because the idiots are so creative in thier idiocy.

I haven't gotten more than 5 confirmed kills before getting killed, myself. Would be kinda nice if that is corrected, too.

Well, that sux. I haven't had the crash to desktop problem, thankfully. But the OFF feature that really puts it light years ahead of CFS3 is getting rid of the asinine mission/front line sector selection feature. I should be flying where I'm told by my higher headquarters, not picking and choosing unrelated missions all over Europe. This is supposed to be a tactical simulation, not a strategic one. If micro$oft thinks that my little four plane flight of P47s can have any impact on the movement of the front lines, they've been smoking their breakfast (again).

I always thought he had the response mapped to a hotkey.

If you're going, you might as well go in style: Yeee haaaaw

Great review The only thing you left out is telling potential players is that flying OFF-BHaH will make you smarter and more attractive.

Sorry I'm late. I've been on vacation at my Mom's (28.8 dialup )

I've been a fan of OBD's DH-2 since the Phase 2 days (it was the first bird I flew). Once you get the hang of it, it's really kind of fun. I like the fact that there's no struts, motors, wires, etc, between you, the gunsight and target. The only thing that takes getting used to is the speed. It's almost like flying in slow motion. And in Phase 2, you couldn't hit "warp" until you hit 123 mph (nearly impossible in a DH-2) which made long missions quite miserable. So I'm thankful for that change in the new version. The only complaint I've got is that the single gun in the plane just doesn't seem to have enough punch. But I've been able to knock out my share of E.IIIs and even some D.IIs. Anything newer than that, and I've got a challenge on my hands just in trying to out maneuver them, let alone shooting them down. I haven't flown a DH-2 in a while, maybe I'll go back to the beginning again and start all over.

Was it my imagination or did the pilot explode when he hit the ground?

Agreed! Sort of like when a unit's morale breaks and they run for the hills. This is modeled in many RTS games (like Empire - Total War, which has consumed all my free time over the last two weeks), but I'm guessing that this is also a limitation of the CFS3 engine that the dev team was forced to use.

I thought the flying ones were Rodan or Mothra?

Pretty cool! When I was about 12, I bought the old Avalon Hill game "Richtofen's War". Similar idea, hex board, turn based, dice, the whole nine yards. But at 12 I couldn't understand the reason the Camel and Dr.1 used more movement points to turn one direction over the other. 12 year olds don't understand the physics of torque, I guess. I still have it in my basement at age 40-something - just couldn't bear to throw it away.

OvS delivered mine, personally. He was wearing a tinfoil hat, kilt and pointy elf shoes.

I always use the same names for subsequent pilots in each country: Germany - Otto Treiharder British - Willie Maykett American - Wally Painter French - Jaques Strappe

I'm with you, Olham. I remember reading (somewhere in the distant past) that MvR flew a red Albatross, but the Dr.1 was only partially red. Honestly, I don't know why someone didn't salvage his plane and put it away, since Richtofen was apparently such a feared/revered figure in WWI. Then we'd know for sure. And Pips. Nice move dropping a "Baby Ruth" in the punchbowl at the Aerodrome and running. (see "Caddyshack", pool party scene for the reference - you'll know what I mean). Who knows, you may start the same thing here!

I think you can get extra points toward credit if you list the aircraft type, squadron, and location of the kill. I also like to say "shot down in flames" and "observed crash". Don't know if it helps, but my last pilot, the late Maj Willie Maykett, had 12 of 14 claims confirmed before he took a permanent dirt nap.

I'd like them all. Please get working on that, won't you? Seriously, the Zep would be a great target for if you could make it with a strong enough DM so that 1 burst from a machine gun doesn't sent it up in flames. That being said, I've got a couple of "Other" recommendations: Moraine Parasol Fokker D.VIII Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" like the one below

I missed the 1.26 patch so I got a two-fer-one deal with 1.28. Is it my imagination, or did the Camel just get a bit more "unstable"? It seems like it now requires constant input on the joystick. Not that I'm saying that it's a bad thing - more realistic, I'd say. Unfortunately I tried it out with my 21 mission 16.5 hour pilot, Maj Willie Maykett. He and his three wingmen, got jumped by about 10 Alb D.Vs, with mostly aces, (judging by the colors) on a balloon busting flight. Must have run into someone or taken a lucky shot to the head, because I didn't even get to finish the mission - it gave me the dreaded purple, "Mission Failed" message. I put in my claim for the gas bag and then the OFF Manager exited to the worksop so I could enlist another pilot. Long story short: Major Willie Maykett didn't make it. Maybe I'll try a Dr.1 again for the next pilot. Keep up the good work, OBD. BHaH was great when I bought it, and it gets even better with each patch

Unfortunately, PC Gamer just canned most of their "back of the rag" staff, including Andy Mahood - the sim column guy who probably would have been the one to do the article. They say he's not gone for good, just no longer a regular feature of the magazine. That way PC Gamer can dedicate more space to the 783rd incarnation of the Sims or the 509th mod to WoW.

Just a thought, Lucky, do you have a sound card or are you relying on the one on the mobo? I know that in Phase 2, flying over an airfield would tax the system to its limits becasue of all the objects and then the sound of the air raid siren would push the frame rates into single digits. It seems that CPU cycles are being directed to producing sound rather than running the MS CFS3 engine. If your system isn't high end, I suspect that may be your problem.

You could always just make a post with nothing but 100 of the pooping cows. That ought to do it! Please pardon the austerity of my avatar and sig, I haven't taken the time to configure my account.

Yep, regardless of the way the plug was pulled, SOH is still a good resource for all things CFS 1, 2, and 3. They just don't do OFF anymore. It's gonna cut way down on their traffic. Their loss.