DF mission "Battle of Kursk"

[:FI:Genosse]

Folks!

Yesterday a couple of our :FI: chaps and I gave this mission a try. After a duration of two hours of flying over the open wide ranges of the Kursk map the match was a tie. Anyhow, whoever is interested to know what happened there should download the 43 MB (!) big .ntrk file here!!!

For those of you how took part on yesterday´s match: what kind of improvements/corrections shall be done on this mission? What do you think about it in common?

Cya later over Ponyri, Gents!



* not available!

[:FI:Genosse]

Folks!

I found a site exposing in the "Battle of Kursk" generally but also the aircrafts during this campaign. Here´s a list of the flown planes:

German side

• Messerschmidt BF109
  Focke-Wulf FW190
  Messerschmidt BF110
  Henschel HS-129
  Junkers JU-87 "Stuka"
  Heinkel HE-111
  Junkers JU-88
  Henschel HS-123
  Junkers JU-52
  Fieseler Fi-156 "Storch"

Soviet side

• Lavochkin La-5
  Yakovlev Yak-1
  Yakovlev Yak-7
  Yakovlev Yak-9
  Ilyushin IL-2 "Sturmovik"
  Petlyakov Pe-2
  Boston A-20
  Polykarpov U-2/Po-2
  Polykarpov R-5

source: http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/avenue/vy75

Some of these planes are still not flyable but what do you think about the available ones?

[:FI:Gadje]

Thanks Gen enjoyed it m8.... even you shooting my plane down when I was just coming to pay a courtesy visit and drop crates of vodka for you poor Ruskies.

I liked the map, loads of detail very atmospheric. Being large though it needs lots of players to join to work well as a df mission.

My first impression was that the Russian fighter plane set was a bit weak. But the Lagg66 seems to be able to cope well and the balance seemed ok.

It would be good to try with the more authentic planeset you found and see how it goes.

[:FI:Moog]

I thought that there was a good sense of the ground war taking place - I was in an IL-2 cruising over our own villages behind the front lines and yet they were being overrun by German armour. There was artillery going off as well, or maybe they were just stray tank shots.

It took about one minute to get from wheels-up to nosing down at a Panzer, but it was a different story altogether if you were in a fighter and looking for aerial engagements... perhaps two opposing fighter bases closer to the front lines would benefit the fighter jocks. The ground pounders don't have too far to travel, although that said, I only flew Red and don't know how far the German crates would have to go.

It's pretty difficult to ID enemy ground targets behind your own lines! Mush have been hell in real life.

Any chance we could have a massive group of tanks behind the German lines at the start of the mission, and have them roll closer to the Red side bit by bit as the mission went on?

There were a few nice clusters of PzIVs and SdKfzs in and around the villages but I didn't see much going on in the open country... maybe some arty emplacements could be added to spice up the target list?

We should pick one or two towns, maybe Ponyri and, uh, Macarena (aye Gen and Rules ) as the main target of the German advance, if these are historically correct of course. That way the Red side could get a sense that they were really defending a priority area while the blues could get their kicks supporting the armour advance.

I think there could be a great mix of DF and ground attack in there. There are some good high-altitude fighters in the planeset so there would be enough time for each side to get up to 3-4000m before engaging enemy fighters... but it's a long way down to the deck and the priority of both sides is either supporting or else attacking the ground forces.

Good work Gen, I look forward to flying there again soon!

[L.F]

wow moog, you seem to be competing with tactical for the longest posts



Sounded like a great mission,


regarding the planeset, where you thinking of the He-111 H2 or H6?

[Finbar1]

The screenies are making me drool.....

[:FI:Genosse]

But the Lagg66 seems to be able to cope well and the balance seemed ok.

It would be good to try with the more authentic planeset you found and see how it goes.

Yeah, it´s always the same problem when creating missions ... to guarantee a well balanced planeset ... I´ll see what I can do about the new listed planes ... I hope the Ju-88 will be added to IL2/FB/AEP/PF soon tho ...

... perhaps two opposing fighter bases closer to the front lines would benefit the fighter jocks. The ground pounders don't have too far to travel, although that said, I only flew Red and don't know how far the German crates would have to go.

Well, Rules thought of the opposite yesterday and I´ve to agree with him ... the fighter would shoot down the enemy (fighter) bombers too easily without having much problems. BTW, the German bombers have to travel miles in order to get into the target area ... I could use runways to move these bases closer to the front line but as long as these runways are not plain as the ground they stand on I don´t like to use them ...

Any chance we could have a massive group of tanks behind the German lines at the start of the mission, and have them roll closer to the Red side bit by bit as the mission went on?

Unfortunately tanks and other vehicles can´t move in DF missions so there´s no way to do so ...

There were a few nice clusters of PzIVs and SdKfzs in and around the villages but I didn't see much going on in the open country... maybe some arty emplacements could be added to spice up the target list?

That´s what already has happened ... there´re some artilleries placed nearby the airfield in the main target area as well as some truck columns in the back of each territories. BTW, tanks have been replaced with historical correct ones ... ty, Rules!

We should pick one or two towns, maybe Ponyri and, uh, Macarena (aye Gen and Rules Wink ) as the main target of the German advance, if these are historically correct of course. That way the Red side could get a sense that they were really defending a priority area while the blues could get their kicks supporting the armour advance.

The briefing of this mission will be amended but it already says where to find the ground targets ...

regarding the planeset, where you thinking of the He-111 H2 or H6?

Don´t know by now ... I´ve been told that there´re some differences between both version not concerning the ordnance only ...

The screenies are making me drool.....

The thought of a cold bottle beer make me drool now ... f*****g humidity!



Ty for your statements, folks!

[:FI:TacticalS!]

Folks!

I found a site exposing in the "Battle of Kursk" generally but also the aircrafts during this campaign. Here´s a list of the flown planes:

German side

• Messerschmidt BF109
  Focke-Wulf FW190
  Messerschmidt BF110
  Henschel HS-129
  Junkers JU-87 "Stuka"
  Heinkel HE-111
  Junkers JU-88
  Henschel HS-123
  Junkers JU-52
  Fieseler Fi-156 "Storch"

Soviet side

• Lavochkin La-5
  Yakovlev Yak-1
  Yakovlev Yak-7
  Yakovlev Yak-9
  Ilyushin IL-2 "Sturmovik"
  Petlyakov Pe-2
  Boston A-20
  Polykarpov U-2/Po-2
  Polykarpov R-5

source: http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/avenue/vy75

Some of these planes are still not flyable but what do you think about the available ones?

Gen do you have that Excel spreadsheet done by Ian Boys et al regarding planesets for most of the Eastern & Western operations? Very handy for those looking to build historic missions. Want it mate?

TactS!

[:FI:Genosse]

Gen do you have that Excel spreadsheet done by Ian Boys et al regarding planesets for most of the Eastern & Western operations? Very handy for those looking to build historic missions. Want it mate?

Tactical!

Oh, yes indeed! I´d love to get it ...

Ty, m8!

[:FI:TacticalS!]

YOU can't have it!

Well, ok mate here is the link - http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/ohearns/IL- ... ik/PDT.xls" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I'll keep it in my small little Webspace until I need the room. Anyone feel free to grab it.

You will need either Microsoft Excel or something compatible. A whole lot easier than researching.

Happy mission building!

[:FI:Genosse]

I can´t get rid of the impression that this document is just a list of all available planes in some online campaigns though ... in the end for every location there´re 300 units in the end ... or did I miss something there?

Never mind, mate! It´s rather interesting to know what planes took where part in WWII!

Ty again!

[:FI:TacticalS!]

My understanding from posts over at SimHQ from Ian Boys, and others associated with the table, is that a lot of work/research went into gathering the figures. I suspect it was/is used for online wars, though I believe it was originally used for the stock IL-2 generator engine.

Reliable? I wouldn't focus so much on the numbers listed, as they indeed total to 300 for some reason, but I do believe for the most part the planes listed and the proportions can be relied upon. Hence, for me at least using DCG, if I want to fine tune the experience I will try to balance the squads with this list (i.e., if Yak-9 was the main fighter than most DCG squads will have this plane). In addition, without killing historic immersion, you can also throw in the lesser known planes for a surprise or two without feeling guilty (like some Spits I did in Kursk 1943).

TactS!

[:FI:ZekeMan]

Sir Gen, very nice server! Was only able to fly a couple hops today and had to leave rather abruptly, but when I wasn't crashing on take off, I actually took out a couple Kats and crashed while avoiding AA fire! LOL.

Still having some problems trimming the plane and setting my controls. I think I have it figured out by the time everyone buys BoB and leaves FP behind...


Z

[:FI:Nellip]

Genosse - loved the Kursk mission on Sunday, sorry I could only stick around for a brief time.

Like the picture of the He111 on the gallery. I did get badly shot up by both Gurberly and Ianus I think, but made it back to base on one engine (not none!!!) and with damaged rudder controls, half the crew dead and most of my instruments shot away. Don't usually find the He111 that robust - maybe a reult of the patch.

Amyway, great mission with tons going on and would gladly fly again if you feel like hosting. Pings were a bit high - could be due to all the bits falling off my aircraft!