HeinKill, question about mission 3 of S Tag. The Germans don't have a route to return to their airbase in France . . . well, the first squadron of Bf-109s that I chose did not. My question is this - if there is no waypoint route leading back to France, will it matter which airbase I choose to land at? Sometimes I really enjoy coming back for a landing (especially after a great mission).

Hi

It wont matter which you land at, and I also choose to land back in France flying Luftwaffe. There is no formal success criteria in these missions unless the flight is assigned an escort, or a specific ground target. Other wise the success criteria is simple - a) are you alive and b) did you get any victories?

Why do some flights not have takeoff and landing waypoints? I want a variety of airstarts and groundstarts in each mission. The airstarts are usually intended to get you into the action early, but if I give them a landing waypoint, due to the porked COD AI they will often just head for home instead of hanging around to fight!

Thanks HeinKill, that explains it.

If you are into historical accuracy, I have chosen LG2 and Erpro 210 for these missions because Both were based at Calais in Sept 1940 which is easy to find just by visual navigation. Erpro 210 was at Calais Marck while LG2 was at Calais. In later missions during the invasion proper, the Luftwaffe captures a field in Britain you will use.

8 Feb update. Missions 9-11 are complete, just need packaging.

For this, day 3 of the Sealion invasion, I have populated Dover with shipping, guns and vehicles, and created two new 'fronts' - one between Folkestone and Dover along the Dover road as German forces push on the port, and another north of Folkestone at Selstead, where retreating British forces are making a stand to try to halt the German advance on Canterbury.

Highlight of mission 9: LW: scramble from Hawkinge under fire / RAF: train attack
Highlight of mission 10: LW and RAF: support or repel large scale bombing raids on Manston and Hawkinge
Highlight of mission 11: LW: Bridge attack / RAF: Attack on vital German 2nd echelon resupply convoy

Here is the preview of Mission 9

Indeed! Meanwhile, the battle rages . . .

Seelowe 9: Sept 24 morning, S-tag +2

After devastating engagements with the British Home Fleet overnight, Kriegsmarine Admiral Raeder has demanded more air support over the Channel to minimise shipping losses. But most LW air support continues to be used for escort of resupply aircraft and ground attack. The Kriegsmarine put to sea with 3 destroyers and 17 E-boats, but was successfully engaged by British destroyers and cruisers, losing all 3 destroyers and 7 E-boats. 1 British destroyer and 1 cruiser were sunk by U-boats, and one U-boat was lost in a surface engagement. Germany now has 10 Divisions ashore at Folkestone and Newhaven, but many are incomplete and awaiting arrival of their second echelons. Sailing conditions are deteriorating as poor weather moves over France. Lympne airfield was abandoned by first light due to intensive British bombing, but German armour forced the New Zealand Division to fall back from Folkestone and Hawkinge Fighter Command airfield, with 35% casualties, while the German 34th Division has broken through British lines and is driving on Dover. The German 22nd Division has broken out of Folkestone and started its push on Canterbury, with British forces trying to regroup around Selstead. British RDF masts on the Isle of Wight, Folkestone coast and Dover have been knocked out by Stuka attacks - less effective mobile units are filling the gaps.

0730 GST. At Selstead, the retreating NZ Division digs in to make its stand. In woods and fields...





In camps hastily erected and patrolled...





They nervously wait for the enemy they know is rushing toward them...

Scouts of the German 22nd Division meet them and engage



While heavier armour of General Ferdinand Schaal's 10th Panzer grinds toward the new front line





Further south, along the Folkestone to Dover road, the 8th Panzer begins its advance





Precious supplies following close behind



Overhead, Blenheim light bombers, volunteers all, make for the newly captured and heavily reinforced Hawkinge Airfield, now bristling with German and captured British light and heavy AAA.



At Hawkinge, the weary pilots of LG2 respond to the alarm, and prepare to lift into the air. The previous night they had abandoned Lympne under a hail of bombs and returned to Calais. At dawn they were ordered back to the battlefield, to Hawkinge, and yet another day in the menacing shadow of the RAF.



The triple-A starts its heavy barking as they lift off.



The whistle of bombs frighteningly clear even over the throb of their straining engines. The British dithering over the attack on Lympne the day before now replaced with a cold resolve to disloge the Luftwaffe from wherever it may perch.









Back at the Folkestone-Dover road, Erpro 210 banks toward the front, now marked by the hulls of burning tanks and shattered guns.



They close on British AT emplacements flanking the road into Dover...the precariously thin line of brown uniforms that is all that stands between the Wehrmacht and the biggest port along the South Eastern coastline. Their bombs fall...



Shattering life, limbs, and minds...







But not resolve. British AAA answers back...



And rushing down from Croydon, Hurricanes of 111 Squadron arrive just in time to chase the marauders off









Pushing their mighty Daimler Benz engines to the limit, the 109s of LG2 reel in the Blenheims and fall on them like hawks on sparrows.







And to the East, Spitfires from 64 Squadron at Manston approach. Their orders...support the defence of Dover, engage enemy ground forces on the Folkestone Dover road and help the ground troops halt their advance - at any cost!

The Spitfires scream across the harbour, as the troops in their trenches cheer...



Then they swoop inland, guns blazing

(Continued)

One Spitfire breaks away, and spots a telltale plume of smoke on the railway tracks along the base of the Cliffs near Folkestone. A captured German troop train! Headed east toward Dover and the front.



The young pilot drops his nose and pours a stream of lead toward the engine



But the behemoth chugs onward, completely unmoved. He counts the carriages as he flashes past...seven, eight, nine...





He hauls his machine around for another pass, the train hidden in an alley of poplars, visible only by the steam from its engine



He closes again...lower...lower...his finger only reaching for the firing button at the last possible minute this time





While at Selstead, the German advance grinds to a halt, stymied by a Kiwi refusal to admit defeat.







On the train line near Folkestone, the Spitfire pilot watches his bullets march harmlessly alongside the tracks and the troop train powers on...



He pulls his machine up and banks desperately as the cliffs flash before him





He turns one more time. And as he drops his Spitfire toward the alley of trees once again, he does the arithmatic in his head.



9 carriages.

100 men in each.

Nearly a thousand German troops, headed for Dover.

One Spitfire.

5,000 lbs. 8 Brownings. 48 Gallons of fuel.

One pilot.



One life to give.

He touches his fingers to his forehead, making a sign of the cross. And drops his Spitfire down into the alley of poplars.



He thumbs the gun button and his Brownings hammer







He keeps his finger on the button, even as he closes his eyes











It is 0815 on S-tag +2

Can't wait, looking great as always! Love the details in the camps, they look very real (although I would have thought only the RAF targetted the Red Cross, always with the excuse "Ze Germans are using them as cover!")

Neato

OK Missions 9 to 11 are up!

http://www.box.com/s/1irh61pbq5en4r9a63j8

For those who have just joined us, a small resume...



Missions 9 to 11 offer the following scenarios and player flyable sorties:

Mission 9: Hawkinge falls. German troops break out of Folkestone toward Dover and Canterbury.
Mission 10: Heavy fighting at Selstead and Dover, major raids on Hawkinge (by RAF) and Manston (by LW)
Mission 11: Second echelon of German troops en route in channel convoy. German troops break through Selstead and reach Kingston on the outskirts of Canterbury. German paratroops land near Manston and attack toward the airfield.

Sorties available:
Bf109e4: escort, scramble and cap missions
Bf109e4b: close air support
Bf110C7: close air support
Spitfire Ia/IIa: scramble, intercept, combat patrol, convoy patrol, close air support
Hurricane IIa: scramble, intercept, escort, close air support
Blenheim IV: ground attack, shipping attack
Heinkel: airfield attack

Missions 6 to 8 here: http://www.box.com/s/g94sjjo8imjvm19ndu55

Missions 1 to 5 here: http://www.box.com/s/vagzc0uivt3hyppsb46z

Screenies from the latest missions:

LG2 intercepts Blenheim raid on Hawkinge







Over Dover, 111 Squadron Hurricanes mix with Erpro 210 Zerstorers attacking British positions









LG2 Bf109s scramble out of Hawkinge



The second wave of German reinforcements tries to force the Channel





10th Panzer approaches Kingston on the river Stour, and its vital bridges





Oblivious to death approaching from above









Taken by surprise, British Territorials at Manston face off against Kampfgruppe Brauer, dropped by Glider near the airfield






64 Squadron Spitfires and Bomber Command Wellingtons approach the German convoy





And are set upon by LG2s 109s









As the fighters tangle, the bombers close, heavily mauled by naval AAA









Steamers sink, as a 64 Squadron Spitfire ploughs into the waves

The sacrifice of that Spittie pilot going head to head with the locomotive was very poignant, thanks.