Hasse Wind

Beautiful! Have I mentioned how great it would be to get the Italian front in WOFF? I've just started flying OFF again after a break. I have a new PC now and everything works so much better than previously.

I absolutely loved Wings back in the early 1990s. I had Red Baron and Knights of the Sky, and they were both true simulators compared to Wings, but Wings really had a wonderful atmosphere. I haven't played it for a long time though, only watched some YouTube videos to refresh my memories. But I have played both Red Baron and Knights of the Sky on Dosbox. They have aged really poorly.

Ah, the good old skin is back! Thanks a lot.

Sounds interesting. I'll have to add it to my list of WW1 books. The Marne battles have received attention in recent years. There's a relatively new book by Holger Herwig (a well-known WW1 historian) called The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I and the Battle That Changed the World. I haven't read it yet, but Herwig is a respected author. Unfortunately I don't speak much French, so I don't know how much their historians have paid attention to the events of 1914 in recent years.

No idea. Maybe you'll learn it soon?

Maybe some day we'll have an even bigger selection of squadrons in WOFF. Expansion packs? Currently things are relatively well covered starting from the latter half of 1916 until the end of the war, especially in Flanders. Obviously there are still glaring holes, like the French air force, which is missing most of its squadrons. Did I mention expansion packs? I'd gladly buy them for WOFF.

This is the problem with digital sources of history. They can disappear just like that, in the blink of an eye. A better explanation than simply "persönlichen Gründen" would be appreciated. Maybe I should start saving the pages of my favourite WW1 websites!

I don't know anything about British uniforms, but now it seems you're going to have to start collecting a complete set with medals and stuff. Just like the French one you already have. And so it begins...

In P3, the earliest campaign you can start is on the British side in January 1915, flying the BE.2. The problem is you won't meet any enemy aircraft until the summer of 1915 when the Eindecker appears. Then you'll have to wait until spring 1916 when the Roland C.II comes into service. Only in late 1916 - early 1917 will there be a reasonable number of different aircraft types and squadrons available for all sides. Both OFF and RoF are severely lacking in the early war department. But I suppose that's because most people prefer to fly the iconic aircraft of WW1, which came into service in the final two years of the war, and are not so much interested in the early war and all those ugly flying contraptions in use back then.

Damn! I wonder what happened? The message at the site doesn't explain much.

OFF P3 is at its best when you fly in 1917 and 1918. The aircraft and squadron selection is good for those years, and the formations and AI tactics better reflect that period.

You're doing a good job with advertising OFFBase, Lothar. Maybe I'll give it a try one of these days. Looking forward to the new claims system in WOFF!

But speaking seriously, will the claims system be different in WOFF? It would be great if we were able to write claims after every mission, and not only after those when we definitely had kills. It would make the system more realistic. In P3, you know you shot something down when you get the claim form, even if the claim ends up being rejected. But in real life, you could always claim something (like one of those "out of control" cases), even though you weren't 100% sure the aircraft went down.

Imperial Germany did exactly that - they treated Austria as their little brother. That was one of the reasons which made their alliance in WW1 troubled. For example in the Eastern front, the relationships between the top generals of Germany and Austria-Hungary were often very ugly. The Entente powers had their fair share of troubles, but in the end they were able to better overcome them and form a very strong alliance. But in case of the Albatros design, it seems that the Germans were the little brothers!

Maybe it's another example of the poor cooperation between Germany and Austria-Hungary during WW1. They were allies, but compared to the Entente powers, their alliance was more troubled.

That's very interesting. Thanks for the post, Panama Red. Now all we need is the Italian front in OFF and then we can fly that Austrian super-Albatros!

Maybe we could hire a pilot to test one of those Albatros replicas in a steep dive?

Were those wing problems ever satisfactorily solved in any sesquiplane fighter type of WW1?

Tell that to the Pony Express riders. Or maybe you meant Sissi, the Empress of Austria? Or the elite Finnish light infantry, known as sissi? Hobbit would be a great addition to the questionable list of BOC members.

What happened to the ponies?!

I usually see pink elephants after BOC meetings. Never camels!

What a beautiful Fokker! The pony emblems go really well with the dots.

Well, what could be better than a golden joystick! There should be other, less gaudy models available. Or at least there used to be.

That's what I do and it works. And it really is the best joystick I've ever had. I don't know what I'll do when it eventually breaks down!

Good information, Lou. The most expensive German WW1 aviation badges are the ones given to Zeppelin pilots. They are extremely rare these days.