Thanks Smithcorp, having left BoB2 gathering dust for years, I'm glad I finally took the plunge and persevered this time.
Even the training missions are little gems! IIRC these pics are from 'Interceptions - rear attack on bombers'. I could have chosen to fly in any of the planes in either a Spit or Hurri squadron or as a bomber gunner, and opted to fly as Tennis Red 2, with 501 Squadron.
I never actually saw the bombers. The boss called safeties off and ordered an attack but by the time I had oriented myself - I was approaching London's dockland...
... the others were gone, like they'd never been there. All I could see was the 'top cover' Spit squadron peeling off and diving steeply down to my left rear.
There was some pretty fierce ack-ack, over to my right and below, but what they were firing at, I could not make out...
I did see this fellow though, as he flew past in an effort to avoid a Spit which was chasing him. I dutifully hung around to cover the seemingly-solitary Spit from above, as the combat drifted a bit lower. But the Spitfire seemed to be making a bit of a meal of the fight so when the 109 temporarily shook him off, I had no compunction in going for the beggar myself.
I got some hits on him and down he went, possibly not fully under control. Rather than go down after him I decided to keep my height and put him down as a 'Probable'. I even did a bit of a victory roll, showing off to the virtual camera my authentic early 1940 split black and white recognition undersurfaces, complete with the aluminium fuselage the makers used until they realised the Air Ministry meant the whole lot should be black and white, divided down the middle. Typical BoB Development Group attention to historical detail. Love it - this sim really does' the Battle' justice, and the air to air experience is probably the best in any sim I have played - a real workout, scary and exciting.
For an encore, I turned east and chased after a large group of aircraft that was being tracked by black AA bursts as it withdrew down the Thames Estuary, maybe a thousand feet or more higher. For a while, I flew straight and level, struggling to gain ground without overboosting my engine.
Clearing my tail, I noticed an even fiercer ack ack barrage back over London itself. You can't see it in this screenshot, but the bursts appear first as a sharp white flash, giving a realistic and suitably violent impression of each burst. I turned back to have a pop at whatever it was, since it was (a) lower down not higher up and (b) seemingly coming my way. I'm all for economy of effort - why go chasing the enemy when you can just let him come to you?
As I came up to the barrage, staying above and looking down, I could see there seemed to be several fighters below, on a reciprocal course, at least a couple of what looked like 109s pursued by some of our chaps. I rolled in after a 109 as it passed below me on the right, and we were soon in a merry little dogfight which whirled round and round, and up and down, over the rooftops of the great capital city, just east of the docklands.
I managed to stay behind the 109, and slowed him up with some hits, firing in short bursts. Suddenly he rolled over onto his back and went down vertically. I didn't think he would pull out, and he didn't. He crashed close to, but fortunately not into, a gasometer amongst a lot of terraced housing.
Looking at the pics afterwards, the Hun ended up at the end of somebody's garden - I just hope the residents were not in their Anderson shelter, at the time.
Still up for a scrap after all that excitement, I chased after another small group retreating to the east. Note the functional rear view mirror, and the realistic greenish tint to the bulletproof glass windscreen - if I recall right, fitted at the insistence of Air Chief Marshal Dowding, who told the civil servants that his boys ought to be at least as well protected as a Chicago gangster.
I gave myself a fright when I nearly ran into these fellows. Yes, these barrage ballons do have cables, as I noticed when one slipped past not too far beyond my starboard wingtip; and yes they will spoil your day in BoB2, if you hit them.
So I left the stragglers to it. 'Twas a couple of our boys, one leaving a light trail of smoke who must have been really gung-ho, chasing down a 109. No need to get involved, so I called it a day.
Now, for me, that was about as immersive an experience as it comes, yet it was 'only' a training mission, one you can replay from many positions, and one of many single missions in which you can do the same. And that's before you even get into the commander and pilot campaigns you can also play. No mean package, this, still 'gold standard' stuff and a truly worthy representation of the Battle of Britain experience.