Olham

A British documentary recently concluded, that Germany lost the first world war due to the simple fact, that it could not keep up over years, to bring new fresh troops and enough new material to the front. Another simple reason why the Albatros was kept, could have been the production capabilities. The Messerschmidt Bf 109 for example was produced in variations throughout the whole second world war, although it was not a top class fighter anymore after, maybe, version G6. But the production lines were there, and they could build the requested numbers.

Pol: ...no worries shoot away that's what we are in it for That's what I thought - that's what I call English Sportsgeist*! The next drinks are on me! *sportsmanship

Not quite right, UncleAl - I have ground gunnery on "Easy", but I get Flak, definitely. They are only less precise, and maybe less dense also.

Well, Siggi and some other creators of "Full DiD Flying" came to the conclusion, that the Flak should be set to "Easy ground gunnery", because Flak in WW1 wasn't yet very effectively. We fly it on that setting now. In Julius Buckler's report about his two-seater time, he wrote that they were flying forth and back for their aerial photography without giving much of a damn about the French Flak.

I'll never do it again - now I know what to look for. Good that no one knows where I live in Berlin - they would send bombers after this! I'm glad I didn't hit you, and wish you good recovery. As long as you are hampered, spend some time with the family then, okay?

Javito: So far in my 'Major Anders' campaign it's already August (started in June) and I only have 2 confirmed kills. Which is fine, I wouldn't find it overly realistic to be an unstoppable ace or anything. It is all perfectly fine indeed - you may be just a much more realistic flyer than I am. I still take too many risks, mainly of collision. The real aces didn't grow their kill tallies faster than you. Keep up the good work.

Yes, it can be in the air, or it has made an emergency landing - but mostly they blow up after short time. Sometimes you may find a black dot enemy or own craft, still looking intact, standing in the landscape. And Homeboy really did come up with some good stuff - sadly I haven't seen him here since a long time.

Javito: I can dump several hundred rounds into one Albatros and he'll still be flying "Ja, der Albatros! My unbreakable bird! Mmuahahahahaaaaa!!!!" Javito, go to "Workshops" and check "Main guns" - should be at "Normal", or if you want to kill something even better, set it to "Accurate". Then the rounds won't spread so much. ("Normal" should be more realistic though, perhaps even "Less accurate"). Also, you may have seen, that Hellshade always almost creeps into his enemy's cockpit. (I always wonder, why he doesn't collide more often). You have to get real close to do some severe damage. When you hear the pilot scream, like in one of Hellshade's videos, you know you got him wounded or even killed.

As UncleAl says - first you need to avoid enemy contact. If you can do that, you do your mission task. If it's a ground attack, just strafe your target at least once, then return home. On your way back, you may fight. Important is: you need to fly over the last waypoint before your field, to get the message "All mission objectives accomplished" or similar.

What do you mean, Carrick? Where to report? In the Sticky Threads is the "Krauts vs Crumpets" thread, where you would report. You will need to read the rules, which are here: http://combatace.com/topic/37440-off-campaign-did-standard-includes-campaign-krauts-vs-crumpets/page__view__findpost__p__271192 Set up your "Workshop" after this, and OFF you go. You will only ever fly on the current date. If you start today, you fly on 14 November 1917. If you want to fly tomorrow, you advance to 15 November 1917. If all flying is cancelled there due to bad weather, you can't fly "Krauts vs Crumpets" that very day. I wish you much luck - which side will you fly?

No problem, gaw. If you don't have a program yet to view all the many skins (over 3.000 !!!), you should download and install "IRFANVIEW"; it's free. Sandbagger and also Creaghorn recommended it some time ago, and I'm glad I downloaded it. You can browse through thumbnails of all skins, and open them, if you want to see them large. Here is the link: http://www.irfanview.de/ If you have the program installed, you need to click your way through; the skins are here: [your OFF folder] > campaigns > CampaignData > skins Enjoy!

Well, in OFF it is rather easy for us to do. I fire two or three short bursts while diving on the sausage, and up it blows.

Thanks for the info, Dej. But I really wonder, how he got separated - normaly, no leader of a Kette would break up the flight without serious reasons. It would have happened, that a single plane would split off a flight due to problems, and return to base. But you describe a flight of rather 6 aircraft altogether. Where were the other 5 fighters, when Voss began his fight?

As far as I know, successfully accomplished missions make faster promotions for the pilot(s), whilst additional deeds like shooting down enemy craft rather result in medals. But nothing you do will hamper the enemy for only a day, in any way. Don't let that disappoint you. There is no "winning the war single handedly". But you will become part of your squadron or Jasta, doing your duties - just "one of the boys". If you like ground attacks, you can either bomb the targets from higher altitude with bombers, or pick an aircraft like the DH-5. Also, S.E.5a and Camels can carry small bombs. German side, you only find fighters OR bombers - no "Schlachtflieger" (battle flyer) yet, which could bomb AND fight other aircraft. Although maybe the Hannover is such a craft - Hasse Wind should know better. German fighters hardly ever crossed the lines - they operated mostly defensive.

Ratatat: How did the Albatross pilots deal with these enemy machines in real life without getting slaughtered??? When the Romans fought the Germans, they were impressed by their fearlessness. They often brought lions with them to frighten the Germans. But the Germans did not know lions, and beat them dead as big dogs. When I am alone with two SPAD and enough ammunition, my major problem is, that I won't have witnesses for 2 kills. Mmuahahahahahahaaaa!!!!!!!

So early on, they didn't have individual skins. You may find a colour band on some ace craft. Camouflage and personal markings came later. Even the Albatros D.II are not much individually painted.

No joke??? Hey, that was a good one! So I only shot down a gofer? What a relief! Hasse Wind and Rickitycrate would never forgive me, if they'd never ever get their Gothas and other two-seaters.

Wonderful! And it was available in Germany!!! Now to the Nupe: I don't know, who's craft that was - I had "Labels" still deaktived from my last "K vs C" flight. Sorry.

We will probably never know the reasons behind Voss' decision. He surely was heroic in this fight. His opponents - aces themselves - said that of him. "I shall never forget my admiration for that German pilot, who single handed, fought seven of us for ten minutes . . . I saw him go into a fairly steep dive and so I continued to watch, and then saw the triplane hit the ground and disappear into a thousand fragments, for it seemed to me that it literally went into powder." James McCudden "His flying was wonderful, his courage magnificent and in my opinion he is the bravest German airman whom it has been my privilege to see fight." James McCudden "If I could only have brought him down alive..." Arthur Rhys Davids to James McCudden [From "The Aerodrome" website]

Try railyard attacks also! And hit all the many chests and wooden boxes piled there - many contain explosives!

For all who are new to the idea of the "Full DiD Standard" and the "Krauts vs Crumpets" Campaign and thread; here is Siggi's "Full DiD Standard" rules: http://combatace.com...post__p__271192 Everyone is invited to join in on the French, German, British or American side, after reading and accepting the rules, and setting up his OFF following these rules. You will be more than welcome!

Update 13 November; 2010; 21:42 h Berlin time (= GMT + 1) Ratatat, Ontario, added. All the maps are in post 1 of this thread

Welcome over Flanders fields, Ratatat! I'll have the same as RAF_Louvert then! You will see - the chaps are only looking so wild; they are in fact a nice bunch. If you send me a PM with your town and country, I will add you to our OFF Forum Pilots maps.

Here is a beautifully made video about the Fokker Dr.1 - yet without fabric! You can see it's whole framework, and you may wonder, how they could have dared to fly this into combat.

Update 13 November; 2010; 17:33 h Berlin time (= GMT + 1) Javito1986, Wisconsin, added. All the maps are in post 1 of this thread