Olham

What I wonder about is: how does he prevent from being jumped at from time to time. Me, I am always getting attacked, and forced to fight. You must have better eye sight than me, Creaghorn, so you can stay away from an enemy early detected?

You Englishmen can be so funny! Watch that gentleman in the video!! Oh, I almost forgot: I wish you all the success you need, Stiffy (for the dissertations, and the slimming)! And may you be Over Flanders fields again soon!

Here is an excerpt from the very interesting book "Das Kriegstagebuch der Jasta 12" by Michael Schmeelke, VDM-Verlag (ISBN 3-925480-95-1): The morning began rainy and firstly without flying activity on both sides. Then, at 7.40 h, seven Bristol Fighter, spiralling up west of the line, were reported to Jasta 12 per telephone call. Olt. von Tutschek immediately started towards the front with 5 more Staffel members. Near Biache over the front line, they met their opponents, Bristol F2b from 22 Sqdn., which attacked immediately. "[...] The third time, the "Wimpelmann" (burgee man) - that's how we called this excellent English aircraft - set behind me by performing a looping, so that I had to evade his machine gun fire by quickly performing the same manoeuver. Then the Englishman turns an unskilled curve; for a moment, the enemy gunner can't see me, cause I'm hidden by his fuselage, and already I am close behind and below him. I pull the craft up vertically, close up to 10 Meter (30 feet), aim, and after 20 - 30 rounds, the enemy craft goes down in uncontrolled spirals: it's leader is hit hard, perhaps dead. Already, a second Englishman comes down to help his comrade. I quickly throw myself into a huge cumulus cloud to evade him, and to watch the descend of my shot down Englishman below it. He turns in even, but uncontrolled spirals out of the cloud, close to me. I fly very near and marvel: the gunner, descending and facing certain death, takes his machine guns and begins to fire at me, though without hitting me. A desperate, gutsy fellow! I move to a more respectful distance, see how the observer climbs forward, pushing his dead pilot aside. He really succeeds in catching up from the dive, and shortly after that, the English craft stands head over in an artillery crater 2 - 3 kilometers behind our lines." The crew of the Bristol F2b A7169 survived the crash. The observer, 2AM W. Richman, only had a laceration on the head, and some ribs broken. During a visit in the hospital, von Tutschek promised the badly wounded Chambers, to drop a letter, written to his mother by himself, over the English lines. Two days later, Chambers died in hospital from his injuries. [end of quote] In a questioning, Richman said, he could have shot down von Tutschek easily, had his Lewis MG not had a jam. In the German interrogation report Richman was given great credit for his landing of the Bristol, without having had any piloting training.

Compiled overview map for the area Lens in the north, over Cambrai and St.Quentin, to Laon and the Aisne in the south. It is put together from RABU's OFF map parts, but I have cut out and copied in the aerodrome names; so they are right with the field now. Makes it more difficult to search (use RABU's maps for that), but gives you an overview. http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=10637

Just added a map to the download section. It is made from Rabu's OFF map sections; I have stuck them together and placed the names of all aerodromes next to them. I know, this makes a search harder (use Rabu's originla for that), but it gives you a very good overview over the area from Lens (N) to Laon and the Aisne (S).

View File OFF Map Lens to Laon For the "Krauts vs Crumpets" Campaign, I compiled the parts of RABU's OFF map and built a larger map of them. I have copied and pasted in all the aerodrome names now placed directly with the field. This makes a search more difficult (use RABU's original maps for that), but gives you a wider map of the war area from Lens in the north, down south to Laon and the Aisne. Submitter Olham Submitted 03/01/2010 Category Maps, Missions, and Campaigns  

Hey, this is great to know! That will make me fly much more careful with them wingies from now on!

Hey, am I lacking vitamins? Check Six, were is that phantastic map you showed further up? Just went through the download section - nothing. Is it still a work in progress?

Winder, even if I MIGHT have said it before here or there - with OFF, you guys have created the most wonderful "play toy" I have ever owned. There are "games", that you play for a while, and then you are saturated from that flavour. OFF is not like that. It doesn't seem to wear off on me. Not even the music, which I hear more often than any other tune I have in my collection. You all just made it all right!

How do you mean, Creaghorn? So the non-Ace AI DOES collect kills, and is getting promoted??? I never knew that!

Dej said it; I can only say "amen" to that.

Good idea with the dice, Creaghorn. William George Barker indeed, Capitaine Vengeur; thank you. Are you an OFF Pilot already? If yes: please send me a PM with your town; I'd like to add you to our OFF Forum Pilots Maps. If not: Get it - you won't regret a single cent!

Thanks all for the detailed information!

Hihihi!! There was one British or Canadian pilot at the end of the war, who fought several Fokker D VII in a Sopwith Snipe (I think it was). You all surely know his name; I can't remember him right now. The guy had been shot through a leg and an arm (maybe more!), and he fought on! He fainted two or three times, only came alive again through the rush of air, when he descended fast. He made it down and could land the crate. I think, Catch's "verdict" is quite fair, Carrick . (although I don't know nurse Gerta; I only heard of nurse Gladys).

Update 03/01/2010 06:12 h Berlin wintertime (= GMT + 1) Luther1517, Montana, added. (Montana settled now). All the maps are in post 1 of this thread

Some Jastas' morale is bad, some is good, some are "elite". All this is shown in the window, when you enlist a new pilot. Pick an "elite" Staffel. They will be, were then action is.

Wow! Creaghorn, today I have shot down a Nieuport N 24, and stuck close to it, when it went down. Great sound of an engine dying the hot way! Thank you!

PadFoot, the graphics in OFF are still very good with sliders at 3 instead of 5 - honestly! And the landscape looks even nicer than in that other sim. If you want to get an idea, go to our "Screenshots" sticky thread. As for CFS3 - you should get the DVD version. Best is to check here for the version: www.overflandersfields.com You will also find lots of tips for the graphic settings there. And as for the campaign immersion, you will surely never regret having bought OFF. Promised!

von Baur: The only knock I would lay on them is that they were as nonchalant about the two-seaters as they were aggressive about the single-seaters. They wanted to leave some for you? Such a carrer in an Eindecker is really quite something! Wow! I still have to get there.

When I entered the briefing for a sortie with my Jasta 5 pilot today, I got the newspaper, that appears very often, when there are relevant news from the war time for that day. This day - 30. August 1917 - it read, that Werner Voss had made first victories with a new German fighter, the Fokker F.I. Whenever an ace, on any side, fell, this is also always reported. This gives me a bit of a "time line" for these single events, and being none of the "history buffs" around here, I find it most informative, and a big part of the immersion. That's why I want to say a big "Thank you, Shredward!" for all your research and labour on that part of this great sim.

Lou, thank you very much for the link again! Some pilots of the time were pretty much victims of nasty propaganda - on all sides I think. And some may have made bitter experiences, that turned them to feel that way. That's alright for me - people in those days could not get so much objective information as we can get today (and even we get still fooled from time to time).

Uuuhhh! That was nasty! Did you hear that, Manfred?

Today I had a wonderful fighting around Guesnain with my Jasta 5 pilot. See the "Reports from the Front" sticky: http://forum.combatace.com/topic/37518-off-bhah-reports-from-the-front/page__view__findpost__p__391377 And I realised, that it makes a huge difference, if you fly with an elite Jasta, with elite wingmen. They followed my commands for engagement so immediately, and showed such a fine fighting, that I was stunned. When my ammo was out, and still plenty of Allied fighters around, I was able to direct them as their commander, without getting in danger really. I sent them to attack the most dangerous craft first, and then the rest. They have killed several fighters, and only one wingman had to land with damage. Now that I know, how well they do, I will use this quality for more success, and make less kills myself. That should lead to a much more realistic fighting, I think.

You always come up with some intersting, and for me new, stuff. Unfortunately, when I click the link, I can only see a description of the book. When I try to get to the read, Google explains me something about the author's publishing rights and conditions - it seems not to be free here. I also noticed that with YouTube music videos. In most other countries, videos showing David Bowie for example, can be watched and listened to. Not in Germany. Here the copyright control seems to be the harshest on the globe. I often feel like a "cow to be milked" (as we say here, when everyone wants to get your money out of you).