Deep Immersion DiD Campaign -- Player Instructions

(With thanks for the inspiration to Olham and CatKnight, creators of our previous DiD campaigns)

The coming of war seemed an invitation to adventure, glory, honours. Or perhaps it was an escape from the slum, from the farm, from unemployment, or simply from boredom. By late 1915, however, war had become an all-devouring beast that made cripples of men and widows of women. Casualty lists spilled over the pages of the daily newspapers. Bombs tore up parks and tenements. Chlorine and phosgene clouds spread their greenish tentacles over the land. Trenches were dug deeper. And always there was the hammer of the guns.

Still, there was another kind of war being fought high above the mud. It was a war where death seldom came from chance shell fired from miles away, where skill and courage made a difference. Up there, you could see your enemy. Better yet, at day's end there was a real bed and hot food. So for you, it is time to ignore the fellows who swear they’d never be caught in one of those damned flying machines. Forget your mates talking about falling in flames. Those things happen to others.



Introduction:

The Deep Immersion Campaign is a chance to follow your pilot day by day through the war and share his story with the rest of the WOFF community. It is a DiD (dead is dead) campaign, meaning that if your man is killed you will have to start again with another pilot. If you’re using Robert Wiggins’s splendid “User Files Backup Program, you may revive your pilot only if you lose him to an accident not related to flying in the sim (e.g. a home emergency pulls you from the sim without properly pausing, a power failure occurs when you are over enemy lines, the cat eats your joystick cable while you are flying, etc.).



The hand of fate

The campaign moderator (CM) will play the role of Fate and will, in accordance with historical plausibility:

• assign each player to an operational squadron;
• initiate transfers;
• award medals, which will be conferred by RAF_Louvert (AKA “The Gong Fairy”) in the campaign thread; and
• initiate long leaves, such as home leave, transfer to training units, etc.

The campaign moderator (CM) will do his best to be fair and balance any bad luck with good, so that you won’t always be flying an inferior aircraft. But, as would happen in real life, you might not always be flying your favourite machine and you're sure to have new experiences in WOFF. The Deep Immersion Campaign may see you fly in machines you’ve never spent much time in before, or in unfamiliar sectors of the front.


Enlistment date:

You may fly training missions starting on 1 December 2018 (which in the campaign will be 1 December 1915). Your training missions will use the Quick Combat “free flight” feature and must be flown in accordance with the instructions below.

The operational phase of the campaign will begin on or after 1 January 2019, which in game terms will be 1 January 1916. From that point on, your 2019 dates will equate to the same date in 1916, and so on until war’s end. If you fall behind due to real life pressures, you may fly additional missions to catch up, but please try not to get too far out of sync. If you need to take some time off, please send a message to the CM and we'll invent a story for your narrative to explain your absence



Enlistment name:

Each pilot is to be given a first, middle, and last name. To avoid repeating the same old names as our previous campaigns, your first pilot’s MIDDLE name should begin with A, your second pilot’s MIDDLE name with B, and so forth.

You may fly one pilot at a time, and when he’s dead he stays dead. You may begin a new career with a new pilot on the following day. As a option, you may wish your new pilot to be the same nationality as the pilot who shot you down.


Enlistment ranks:

Use manual enlistment and choose your pilot’s name, nationality, birth date, place of birth, and the assigned squadron for operational deployment.

If you wish to start as an NCO pilot (common for Germany and France, less common for the UK, start as

German Luftstreitkraefte: Feldwebel
German Kaiserliche Marine: Flugmeister
France: Sergeant
RFC: Sergeant
RNAS: N/A.

If you wish to start as an officer, choose the above NCO rank in-game, but in your accounts give yourself junior officer or senior warrant officer rank until promoted in-game, for example:

German Luftstreitkraefte: In game, start as a Feldwebel, but in your written accounts you will remain an Offizierstellvertreter until promoted Leutnant.
German Kaiserliche Marine: In game, start as a Flugmeister, but in your written accounts you will remain Oberflugmeister until promoted Leutnant zur See.
France: In game, start as a Sergeant, but in your written accounts you will remain Sous Lieutenant until promoted Lieutenant.
RFC: In game, start as a Sergeant, but in your written accounts you will remain a 2/Lieutenant until promoted Lieutenant.
RNAS: In both game and accounts, start as a Flight Sub-Lieutenant.


American enlistment:

Americans may enrol into the French Aviation Militaire (fresh from the Foreign Legion) or into the RFC or RNAS (enrolment in Canada – at risk of loss of citizenship due to taking a loyal oath to the Crown). Transfer to the USAS will be an option in early 1918.



Your first posting:

To start the campaign, send a PM to Raine, preferably on or before 24 November 2018, with the name and nationality of your new pilot and a brief biographical sketch. State whether you would like to fly training missions in December or begin your campaign with a posting to the front in January. Also indicate whether you will begin your career as an NCO or junior officer.

Your training missions in December will simulate the final stage of training, when you will begin to fly an operational type.

The CM will send you by return PM details of you first posting, including the aerodrome and aircraft on which you will complete your training missions, your first operational (i.e. non-training) squadron, and your starting rank.

The CM will assign your first pilot to fly two-seaters. Expect that your first assignment will last a while, as quick transfers to single-seat units are not historical.

Later pilots may find that their first squadron is a single-seat unit, especially later in the war, but that’s up to fate (in this case, the CM).


If you are flying training missions...

1. Set your enlistment date for your operational squadron as 1 December 1915.

2. In the Workshop, under “More Settings,” ensure that “Log” is set to “All” and that “Campaign Date Advance” is set to “Manual / Auto.”

3. Let your campaign load and you will see your squadron details for 1 December 1915, or on the first day of flyable weather after it (December 1915 was a very wet month). Go to the Briefing Room to get a campaign mission, but DO NOT FLY THIS MISSION, as it will be an operational mission at the front and you still need to earn your wings. Instead, exit the Campaign screen and go to Quick Combat.

4. In Quick Combat, set the parameters to “Free Flight,” and set the region to your assigned training region (e.g. England, Germany), and set the field to your assigned training aerodrome (e.g. Netheravon, if that is where the CM told you to train). Ensure your initial altitude is set to “Field” so you take off from the ground rather than start in the air. Be sure you choose the assigned type of aircraft for your training flight.

5. In Quick Combat, fly one mission per day if you have overcast conditions, two per day in sunny weather. After the last flight of the day, exit Quick Combat and return to the Campaign screen.

6. In the Campaign screen, find the button reading “T+” and advance the time to the next day. The Campaign will then advance to the next day. Go to briefing room and generate the next campaign mission. Unless flights are cancelled due to weather, it will generate a mission on the next flyable day. DO NOT FLY THIS OPERATIONAL MISSION. Instead, return to Quick Combat and set up your next training mission from your training field. Continue until you have completed all your training missions and have a minimum of 15 hours of flight time. At that time you may deploy to the front, but may not fly from your new squadron until 1 January 1916.



Training missions

(Credit to OldHat and RAF_Louvert for the inspiration here)

Your training will be complete when you have completed the following:

1. TWO missions involving takeoff, climb to 1000 ft / 300 m, and land on your airfield five times. Ensure you leave your engine on when landing. If you damage your machine, you may not fly until the following day.

2. One mission involving a circuit below 3300 ft / 1000 m for 15 minutes within sight of the aerodrome. Do not turn off your engine. Then take off again and fly a circuit for at least 1 to 2 hours a bit farther away but still within sight of the aerodrome and below 6600 ft. / 2000 m.

3. One mission in which you climb to 10000 ft / 3000 m and remain there for at least an hour. Stay within sight of your aerodrome.

4. One mission in which you fly for an hour before landing somewhere other than an aerodrome. Do not turn off your engine and fly back to your aerodrome. Taxi back to your hangar.

5. TWO missions in which you take off and climb to 6600 ft / 2000 m. Cut your engine and glide down to you aerodrome, landing within 50 ft of a selected location.

6. TWO missions in which you practice aerobatics: slips, loops, and spins.

7. One cross-country flight to another airfield about an hour away. Land, keeping the engine on. Then take off and fly home.

8. Same as (7) above, but at night.

9. TWO flights practising strafing and / or bombing a ground target. RAF_Louvert has included ground targets for training at Catterick and Thetford for RFC pilots, so this will include a cross-country flight. RNAS, German, and French pilots should practice on an isolated farm house near the home training airfield.

10. Deploy to the front after 25 December but not fly from your new squadron until 1 January 2019 / 1916.


NOTE: You may prefer to make custom missions using OldHat’s instructions here: Old Hat Missions

Alternatively, you may wish to create these missions using JJJ’s mission builder.

Or Luddites like me can simply fly then in Quick Combat.



Deployment to the front

RFC pilots will deploy from their assigned training airfield in England to St-Omer. RNAS pilots will deploy from their assigned training airfield in England to St-Pol-sur-Mer. They will be deemed to transfer from St-Omer / St-Pol to their squadron by tender before 1 January.

French pilots will complete their training near Paris at La Réserve Générale de l’Aviation at Le Bourget and will deploy in their operational aircraft directly to their squadron on or after 1 January 1916.

German pilots may ferry an operational type to their squadron, or may simply “take the train” there on or after 1 January 1916.


In-game aids

While flying “full real” is preferred, you may use the following three aids if you must.

1. TAC. If used, TAC must be set for surface units only. May not be set for balloons or aircraft or all,

2. F5, and

3. Cntl Z.



Workshop Settings

Campaign date advance: Manual
Weather: Historical
Wind: On
Rain / Snow: On
Campaign Mission Frequency: Historical
Log: Campaign Only
AI Never Backs Down: Off
AI Enhanced Skill Levels: Off
AI Reduced Vision: On
AI Damage Affects Skill: On
Unlimited Fuel and Ammo: Off
Player Flight Position: By Rank
Player Flight Altitude: Historical
Encounters: Realistic
Mission Frequency: Historical
Transfer: Subject to Review
Flight Model: Realistic
Claims: Normal
Promotions: Normal
Outcomes: Normal
Main Guns: Less Accurate
Rear Guns: Less Accurate
Player Guns: Normal
Gun Jams: On
Ground Gun Accuracy: Normal
Invincible: Off
Random Craft Failure: On
Target Range: Historical



Dot Visibility

Fly with labels set to “dots only.” You may briefly go to “Information” labels to check the name of a witness when you down an enemy machine, but must return to dots only afterwards.
In Workshop, set the distance at which dots are visible as follows. This will simulate gradual gain of air vision:

• 3400 m until > 25 hours flown in combat
• 4000 m until > 50 hours flown in combat
• 5000 m for 50+ hours flown in combat.


Familiarisation flights

Once at your squadron let the WOFF Campaign Manager schedule you a mission but ignore the directions. Instead, complete two circuits around your home airfield and land. Set all other aircraft in the flight to 5% fuel so you will fly alone.

On your next mission less the WOFF Campaign Manager schedule you a mission, but ignore the directions. Fly to the front and back. Again, if hostile aircraft attempt to engage, disengage and RTB.

On your third and following flights from your home field, follow mission instructions.



Squadron transfers

After 35 hours (including transfer and familiarisation flights) you may, but are not required to, request a transfer to another squadron. Do this by sending a PM to the CM (Raine), detailing your total hours and specifying the desired squadron. The CM will either deny the request (in which case you must wait for 10 more hours of flight time), approve the request, or demand that you transfer to another squadron that you will be assigned.

Once your request is approved, you may request the transfer in-game. Because transfers are set to “Subject to Review” in the Workshop, the game may still refuse your request. Sorry, but higher command sucks...

Once in a new squadron, you may ask for additional transfers, but the longer you wait, the more likely the CM will be to approve the request.

There may come a time (especially if you're playing the French) when your squadron becomes unplayable due to lack of useable aircraft. If that happens, you have three options:

1. Emergency transfer: Your pilot sits for a week (7 days). After that, you may restart him in a new career with any squadron from his country. You'll need to manually track the pilot's combined record.

2. Wait: If this is a problem that will eventually correct itself (such as a squadron switching to a different plane), you can choose to wait it out. Your pilot will simply be inactive until he can play again.

3. Retire: You can retire the character and start a new one.


Long transfers

The CM may assign a pilot to a period away from the front for a period of time. You can also request a break like this if you're going through a busy time in the real world. As CM, I'll simply assign an explanatory story, which you can work into your written accounts. RFC pilots should expect a required period on Home Defence or instructor's duties every few months. I'll PM any special instructions when this happens. If you hate this idea, PM me and we'll work something out.



Flight reports

The essence of the Deep Immersion campaign will be the flight reports. Ideally, we’ll get to know your pilot and read the “ripping good yarns” you will write about him. Please try to breathe life into your character and give us an idea of who he really is. We’ll do our best to keep it historically accurate.



Campaign moderator and flight reports

From time to time, the CM may PM players with plot suggestions, interesting facts, or other ideas for your narratives. You are free to ignore these or use them as you choose. The intent is to add to the unpredictability of the campaign.

Because the game award system is not tremendously historic, the CM will PM players with announcements of awards at appropriate moments.

RAF_Louvert will play higher command. The CM will send him a message recommending a decoration, and he will have to approve before it’s final. At that point, RAF_Louvert will post his wonderful investiture photos and medal art and you may then mention the award in your written accounts.



Pilot stats and information

RAF_Louvert will periodically post a chart (such as the one shown on page 2 of this thread) showing the stats for our pilots.



UPDATE Additional rules (Thanks to Fullofit for the ideas)

Regional air activity - set to medium
Historical mission types - On
Gun sight view F6 is allowed.
Let WOFF assign the number of missions per day. There is no campaign limit.
There is no limit on the number of confirmed victories in a day. There were caps in the former campaigns, but recent versions of UE with historical claims settings are tough enough.
External view not allowed if you have a head tracking system.
The target balloon in a balloon busting mission is the only allowable balloon claim.

Good luck to all!

Raine