pcpilot

Gotta agree, this is a fun game. Have a beer and some chips, sit back and enjoy the fight. Ive only gotten as far as the invasion of France. Poland and Norway have fallen under my heel, so far, so good. The sceanrio builder works pretty well also.

I joined the Guard after being out of the military 12 years. This was 1996 to 2000. It was a bit of a shock I must say coming out of a male oriented Navy to integrated units. Being 55 and coming from a different era hasnt been easy with all the changes. You, and others who have posted, are of course correct that standards will apply that the females will need to meet. I just hope the standards arent watered down like they were in the 90's when women were first given a greater role. I just dont want to see our military combat effectiveness diminished. If has been a change in my thinking to recognize the contributions women have made and are making. As for the rape issue, you are of course correct if I understand what you are saying correctly. But let me tell you a little story that affected my thinking. Back in 1978 I was stationed on the USS Independance CV-62 in Norfolk, Va. Next to us at pier 12 at the Naval Base was an another ship, possibly the USS Spears,though not sure. As I understood it at the time, this was the first ship to allow females in her crew. A webpage here..http://www.history.n...qs/faq48-3g.htm. A group of some 50+ females came aboard. Within a year, some half of them were pregnant. Needless to say, this behaviour in the crew caused some serious issues. Morale was affected because women were being kicked out of the service once they were pregant; this is what they did back then. Crew/ ship readiness declined because a good chunk of the crew was unable or unavailable to do the job. The initial response from most men at the time was this isnt going to work. Then over the intervening years I see women using the threat of harrassment to manipulate. Then trying to integrate women into a ships crew with new heads and berthing spaces, not to mention all the PC sensitivity crap sure seemed like a lot of trouble when it would have been simpler just to leave things the way they were. Then the issues I mentioned in the Guard. It hasnt been all a positive experiance. Espesially when people try to force it down your throat with a lot of PC gibberish. But on the other hand I have seen the contributions many women have made. Heres another story for you...In that same Guard unit I was in, there was ONE woman who had my respect. She was a staff sgt. who was a former drill instructer. She was a single mom with two kids and another job. Yet she performed at a level most men would be envious of. She was a pro in every sense of the word. I told her one day that there was about 5 or 6 people in that company I wanted to be near if we ever saw combat and she was one of them. I know, my previous comments about women sounds "caveman" to use a quote. In some ways I suppose it is. Ive struggled with the issue of gays in the military too. It just seems there are questions people arent fully considering when it comes to changes like this. You wouldnt believe where my mind has taken me this last 24 hours thinking about all this stuff. But I'll tell you what, Ive come a LOT further on these issues than most of you younger people ever dreamed of.

My wifes' father passed away recently. I thought I would add a tribute to him here as he honored me by calling me his friend... Corporal Henry Stafford Northcott 15th Scottish Infantry, British army 1941-46 Birth: Sep. 7, 1922 Wood Green Greater London, England Death: Oct. 9, 2012 Vancouver British Columbia, Canada Henry was an swimmer athlete as a youth winning many awards. As a young man he fought Hitler's armies in North Africa and Europe winning a letter of commendation from Gen. B. Montgomery along with many medals. He was also wounded in action in the hedgerows of Normandy. 10 years after the war he moved his family to Canada seeking a better life for them. He and his family crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Elizabeth to the new world. In Vancouver where they finally settled, he took work as a civil engineer helping to build Canada and Vancouver. In retirement, he loved woodworking, stone carving, and his little shop in his garage. He was dangerous in chess and loved a good crossword puzzle. Just as he bravely faced the enemy on the field of battle, Henry fought doggedly against cancer for four years. He died from cancer one month after his 90th birthday. He left behind a wife of 65 years, Mary, and three lovely daughters whom he loved with all his gentle heart. His legacy will forever be a good family who loves each other after his example.

I am not deranged simply because we disagree jonathan, I am trying to voice my opinion. Do they not allow opinions in Sweden? As for the immaturity aspect, I submit you try reading the newspaper or listening to the news. There are harrassment and rape claims every day it seems in the military. Certainly there could be more due to higher reporting as you said. There can also be more as crazyhorse said due to manipulation which I have suspected myself ever since women were integrated. There can also be more due to the fact that for the last 20 years, teenagers have been thrown into the mix together doing what teens do. Having a rifle does not mean they are suddenly mature just as going to college doesnt. Take a close look at a high school or dorm room and youll see the behaviour Im talking about. And for your info, its not just men misbehaving, women nowadays are just as ill behaved. In the old days, right or wrong, this was the reason for seperating the sexes in certain circumstances. It saved a lot of trouble. If the swedish women do well in the military than kudos. Ours do well also. And yet there are STILL problems that cant be ignored as most people in this discussion recognize. And yes I can say a gender is simply not capable of something because women can NOT perform at the physical level men can, a few exceptions aside. That is fact my friend whether you like it or not and no amount of yapping and pc feminist politics will change that. My 14 years of military service WITH women has shown me that. Im sorry, but I dont thnk women should be in combat units, espesially special forces. If you think thats a caveman mentality fine, I dont care. Its my opinion. I do agree that women make meaningful contributions in the military every day. And yes, Im sure more than a few have been shot at and acted appropriately. Beleive it or not, I am just as proud of any woman in military service as I am of any man, they EARNED that respect just by getting an honorable discharge. I just feel there are jobs they are not suited for just like diplomacy isnt a job suited for you. And I really dont see where I have ever excused rape in any way shape or form. Try actually reading what I have written. Now you will excuse me if I discontinue this arguement. How about we agree to disagree and leave it at that?

First off, your digressing from the main issue; whether women can perform at the standard the military expects physically. I do not think they can with but few exceptions in the combat arena. I also am NOT making excuses for men behaving badly against women. I would report, if not beat the living daylights out of, any man attempting a crime against a woman. You know, just like the old days. The point about whether men and women should serve together because of sex issues has been rendered somewhat moot as its already done. However, I am of the opinion that there ARE risks due to immaturity, etc. when you put young men and women together like this as we are now presently experiancing. It is not an excuse, it is a statement of fact and an opinion.

Here's an interesting article... http://uk.news.yahoo.com/women-in-combat--will-us-military-ruling-change-the-role-uf-uk-female-soldiers--142200614.html#PRfPTBS

The point Im making is they havent acted all that well if the numbers of assault have risen, as they have. Just for the record, I am NOT saying its ok for men to behave that way. Im saying that young people, and yes, sometimes older people, will do stupid things if put in the position to do so. The older generations understood that kids will be kids and acted accordingly. And the arguement about only those fit need apply, wonder how many that will finally be? Probably not very many. It only takes one female to slow down and entire company.

Ok, I'll play the devils advocate here... Well, Im curious...how well do they handle a 90 pound ruck? Can they keep up with the men on a 20 mile hike? From what I saw in the Guard, they could not. For those that say we use vehicles now, we did in WW2 and Korea and both times men were walking when the enemy set them on their heals, ie; chosin res. and bastogne just to name a few. Aphganistan has a hell of a lot of hiking with rucks; how do they do there? Ever had to slow and wait for them to catch up? I have no doubt women are smart enough. And yes, most jobs arent an issue, so dont give me that predjudice crap. I am asking valid questions. And yes, if they have a black belt they MIGHT be able to beat a man in one on one combat if he isnt similarily trained. But there is a reason women havent been in combat as a rule till now. And most women in combat units probably wont be blackbelts, hand to hand training aside. I have seen video after video of female cops in fights and their contribution hasnt seemed to be much more than getting in the way and screaming. I did see the females in my Natl Guard unit run at far slower times, saw several cheating, and heard a LOT of whining about how they couldnt hanfle being yelled at, etc. I saw our female battalion commander fall out of a stupid 2 mile run cause she couldnt hack it. I watched men breaking out of company run formations to run circles around the plattoons as we ran because it was not a challenge to run at the speed that enabled woment to keep up. I am not impressed. If we lower our standards as I have seen in the past we are NOT doing ourselves a service. PS. Oh, and one more thing I'll point out. Since the so-called integration of women in the service, rape and harrassment has soared from what it was in 1980. There was another valid reason men and women were kept seperate in the military. Teenagers and 20 somethings are going to behave as they do no matter the rules. And I got news for ya, their behaviour hasnt gotten any better these last 20 years. But hey, as long as the feminists are happy...

Looking forward to this release. Looks way cool.

What an incredible story!

File Name: ****World War Two period music for SF2**** File Submitter: pcpilot File Submitted: 07 January 2013 File Category: Menu Music ****World War Two period music for SF2**** Ever since I first attempted a WW2 install for SF2 many moons ago, I have strove to make it as much "period" as possible. Of course, the music on each screen was modern and didnt fit in with WW2 in my estimation. I decided to try to locate some music from the era. Well, it wasnt hard at all! My first search located a wonderful plethora of websites and stations that still play and love the era and its music. It was all quite fun and interesting. Out of them all, my favorite has quickly become the VI corps music website located at http://www.6thcorpsmusic.us/. This is only a small part of a website put together by a woman in honor of her father who fought during WW2 in the 6th engineer corps. I was able to download a number of songs from this website, my favorite being Glenn Miller, and convert them to .wav format for use in SF2. Install is simple. Just unzip the file into your StrikeFighters2 folder. Let it overwrite your menu folder. For the hangar music, I have included my hangarscreen.ini. As long as you havent extracted yours from your SF2 install for any other purpose, simply do nothing. If you have extrated it for whatever reason, its still simple. Just open the ini in a txt editor and add this... BackgroundMusic=HangerMusic.wav And there ya have it. Hope you enjoy this music as much as I do. If not, visit the VI corps website and download and convert your own favorites, it was fun! Of course, this is oriented towards U.S. tastes at the time. I'd love to see a German, British, or even Japanese version of menu music come out. The .mpg files can be converted here... http://media.io These music files are considered public domain and are released under the CombatAce Freeware Licensing agreement. You are free to modify these files and use them as you wish as long as the files are not used in payware of any kind. If you use them, please remember to give credit. These files are released to a great community of simmers at CombatAce and SimHq. Have fun and God bless. Jeff "pcpilot" Gerald PS. Dont sit under the apple tree is dedicated to my mother Mary. Click here to download this file

ROFLOL! Yes, Its all Glenn Miller with one exception...the hangar "music" is a Bob Hope recording at Camp Roberts in Calif. during the war. It was a trip to realize where he was doing his show. I was at Camp Roberts from 1996-2000 in the Calif. guard. A lot of the old barracks and shops were still there, albiet abandoned and decrepit, as well as the old "grinder" parade ground. It was both moving and thought provoking to think about all the thousands of guys who went thru that camp back in its heyday.

File Name: Solomons campaign File Submitter: pcpilot File Submitted: 07 January 2013 File Category: User Made Campaigns ***Solomons campaign Readme*** This is a "quick" and dirty little campaign for those who have made a Pacific war install. I wanted to do more than just single missions so researched how to make a camapign on my own. It was a little frustrating, but also quite rewarding and fun. I espesially liked the research part. Which brings to mind, this is not a strictly historical campaign. The units that are flyable did fight during the camapign but there are tons of details Im sure people could pick apart till the cows come home. What you need... To start with, the Solomons Version 3 terrain and wrenchs' planes readily available at combatace. You'll need the F4F-4, P-39/P400, P-38F, SBD-3 and SBD-5, F4U-1_TMF, A6M2, D3a Val, and Ki-43IIb packages from Wrench. He has done an OUTSTANDING job breathing new life into these models. Also the Betty G4M2 from armourdave. Add Starys' solomons and phillippines visual updates and wrenchs' pacific ships. I also added Kesselbrut's Pazific_GOP infantry and AAA units. Also look for the ShermanM4A3 and Type95 tanks, I forgot what the name of the pack I found them in but they are found at combatace. If you want to add a little more "period" feel to this campaign, add my Menu music and Pacific AirWar menu screens, also found at combatace. Just unzip this file into your C:\Users\Jeff\Saved Games\ThirdWire\StrikeFighters2 PAW folder, (or whatever you named your PAW install.) Hope ya like 'em. Please let me know if there are any issues, I have not been able to test as thoroughly as I would like. These files are released under the CombatAce Freeware Licensing agreement. You are free to modify these files and use them as you wish as long as the files are not used in payware of any kind. If you use them, please remember to give credit. These files are released to a great community of simmers at CombatAce and SimHq. Have fun and God bless. Jeff "pcpilot" Gerald Click here to download this file

Taken from wikipedia... Alton Glenn Miller (March 1, 1904 – missing in action[1] December 15, 1944) was an American big band musician, arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known Big Bands. Miller's notable recordings include "In the Mood", "Moonlight Serenade", "Pennsylvania 6-5000", "Chattanooga Choo Choo", "A String of Pearls", "At Last", "(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo", "American Patrol", "Tuxedo Junction", and "Little Brown Jug".[2] While he was traveling to entertain U.S. troops in France during World War II, Glenn Miller's aircraft disappeared in bad weather over the English Channel. PS. ...and NO, Im not THAT old...

Guys like him have always been my heroes. RIP Shifty...

Wait a minute...I thought computers were supposed to make our lives easier??? Sorry, love to play with the smilies...

THAT is a very cool story. Very neat to see this plane getting airworthy. And the reason why is all the more compelling.

File Name: SF2 Menu screen Pack File Submitter: pcpilot File Submitted: 04 July 2009 File Category: Menus -SF2 Menu screens and icons- This pack includes all the menu screens and icons you need to turn SF2, or any version of Strike Fighters into a WW2 Pacific air war install. What it DOES NOT include are campaign or instant action inis, or the icons for the in-game map. I decided this pack was enough as there are already some excellent files of that nature available on CombatAce website. I highly recommend Baltikas' campaigns for a start. Also check out Dfangs' in-flight map icon packs located here... http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?autocom=downloads&showfile=1829 To install, simply un-pack the menu and flight folder into your SF2 mods located here for WinXP... C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\ThirdWire\StrikeFighters2. If You are running Vista or Win7, then this is the File Format.This is where you should find your "Mods" folder. <User Name>/Saved Games/ThirdWire/StrikeFighters2 PAW/Menu Also, for the initscreen, you need to do this...Go to your main install of the game. Mine is here...C:\Program Files (x86)\ThirdWire\Strike Fighters 2 PAW. Place the INITSCREEN.bmp in the Menu folder. Then, go back out of the menu folder and rename your StrikeFighters2.ini to whatever you have called your exe for your PAW install. Mine is StrikeFighters2 PAW.ini. I then opened the ini and added the following line under the [sTARTUP] heading...LoadingScreen=Menu\INITSCREEN.BMP. It should look like this... [startup] IntroMovieList= LoadingScreen=Menu\INITSCREEN.BMP StartupScreen=MainScreen Keep in mind this isn't all the screens in the pack, just a sample. Hope ya like 'em. These files are released under the CombatAce Freeware Licensing agreement. You are free to modify these files and use them as you wish as long as the files are not used in payware of any kind. If you use them, please remeber to give credit. These files are released to a great community of simmers at CombatAce and SimHq. Have fun and God bless. Jeff "pcpilot" Gerald Version Notes: Ver.1.1 Changed file format to jpg. Also added initscreen. Ver.1.2 Added Campaign screen, loadingscreen, and loading wav. Click here to download this file

FYI, I realized I somehow missed a screen; the campaign screen, which I have made already. I will add it and a loading screen here shortly. I am also adding a basic campaign to go along with the screens and some period menu music that really adds a 40's "flavor". This music will replace most of the music used by thirdwire. The crash of guitars, etc. seems a bit out of place in 1941... The screens you can right click I think and save the campaign screen to your menu folder and the loading screen to your flight folder.