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#4483798 - 07/23/19 04:16 AM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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Great Reports Sir. Keep Bashing the Huns. "We will never Surrender!" cuss

S!Blade<><

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#4484262 - 07/26/19 10:03 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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Indeed we will not surrender, young sir. I do hope, though, to avoid having to 'fight them on the beaches' because if it comes to that, my BoB2 RAF campaign will have been lost smile

Below is a 'holding' pic, pending the next report, based on missions flown today and which should be up sometime on the morrow.

Hurricane I of 213 Squadron at low level at the Swingate Chain Home RDF station, near Dover, whose castle is visible top left, with the port in the very top LH corner. BoB2 correctly has the four original transmitter towers for this site in 1940, between which the wire aerials were strung, as well as the four smaller wooden receiver towers in a rectangular pattern which are just outside shot to the right. The Chain Home Low stations by contrast had a single tower, in high or low versions, with a rotating 'matress' transmitter/receiver antenna on top.

[Linked Image]


Attached Files shot_324.jpg
Last edited by 33lima; 07/26/19 10:07 PM.

SimHQ Battle of Britain II screenshots thread
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#4484298 - 07/27/19 09:38 AM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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The morning's plots on the General Situation Map dry up as the withdrawing raids reach northern France. Time auto-accelerates to x300 when nothing's happening, but drops back to 20x about mid-day, when the next raids start to appear. There's a single raid. Hostile 102, out to the west, currently heading for my damaged fighter bases Tangmere or Westhampnett. But to the east, the Straits of Dover are swarmed by several raids coming in on one another's heels, all of them sixty-plus. I scramble extra squadrons to meet them and fret impatiently as my blue and white markers start gathering on the table. First to make contact is 266 Squadron, by which time the leading raid is already at the coast and splitting into smaller raids of thirty-plus.

[Linked Image]

Here I am in the centre of the pic, flying UO-R, leading Green Section on the right of our battle formation. Thankfully, we're still able to put up the full twelve aircraft - we're going to need every one of them, on this show!

[Linked Image]

Ahead, slightly higher and crossing left to right, are about twenty bombers which look like Dornier 17s. Another ten or so are immediately to their left, going the other way. This is strange...

[Linked Image]

Somebody - could have been me, I can't remember - calls them in - mentioing fighters, which I'm thoroughly alarmed that I hadn't spotted, and still can't see.

The boss orders us to get stuck in (regulars will know that these R/T calls, and more, really do happen in BoB2, and that I'm not embellisihing the story with made-up details). I edge Green Section slightly further out to the right, to give us a bit of leg room. Here we go again!

[Linked Image]

...to be continued!

Attached Files shot_394.jpgshot_395.jpgshot_396.jpg16 Aug 1206.jpg
Last edited by 33lima; 07/27/19 09:50 AM.

SimHQ Battle of Britain II screenshots thread
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"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." (attributed to Marcus Aurelius)

#4484316 - 07/27/19 05:00 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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Suddenly, the main bunch of Huns turns towards us. Escorts! I've mis-identified Messerscmitt 110s as Dornier 17s, on account of their twin tails. Now we're in for a serious scrap!

[Linked Image]

But no - they ARE Dorniers. And they're not coming for us, simply turning for home.

[Linked Image]

I climb up and roll in after them. The rest of the squadron - you can just about make them out to the left of my canopy frame, bottom centre of the next pic - seem to be after the Huns out to the right, so I slide over to attack the left of the German formation. I didn't notice at the time, but there are three distant groups of aircraft out beyond and higher than the Dorniers, just above the centre of the next pic.

[Linked Image]

I roll out onto a curve of pursuit, intending to tackle the left-hand bomber.

[Linked Image]

Over to the right, the boys are also closing in. The two groups of Dorniers I saw turn around are now clearly tagging onto the tails of the group that was already heading back to France, when I first saw them - that's the group above my cockpit. Their formations look untouched. But 266 will soon have something to say about that.

[Linked Image]

I open fire as the range winds down, getting my first hits just outside of the Hun's starboard engine.

[Linked Image]

My next burst hits somewhere between the engine and the wing root. That's better!

[Linked Image]

The Hun banks left, out of formation, and drops what looks like a large bomb. This re-inforces the impression that we've somehow succeeded in turning back this lot, before they reached their target. There are not-infrequent reports from the RAF side of this happening, but it appears it was usually a case of the raid being aborted for some reason. I can't believe thirty Dorniers are really running away from a dozen Spitfires.

[Linked Image]

I pull up and around to plan my next move, having noticed very little return fire and heard only one or two hits. I soon realise that my Hun is straggling, but has levelled off. Disappointing. He's clearly going to need a bit more encouragement to go down. So be it!

[Linked Image]

...to be continued!

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Last edited by 33lima; 07/27/19 07:21 PM.

SimHQ Battle of Britain II screenshots thread
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#4484334 - 07/27/19 10:20 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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I roll in again after the damaged Dornier, who seems to be falling further behind his mates. I can't see the rest of my own squadron at present, though there is what looks like another large, escorted raid, manouevring further out over the Channel. It's very likely the one I didn't notice earlier.

[Linked Image]

I keep an eye on the new Huns as I close in on the straggler. They seem to be heading north, towards England.

[Linked Image]

It's not long before they're passing on my left, the bombers below beginning another course change, with a cloud of fighters, up above. Fortunately, these escorts stick to their own job and leave me alone.

[Linked Image]

This time, I finally manage to despatch the Dornier.

[Linked Image]

I look around before making my next move. The Huns the boys were attacking are still running for home, no longer a threat to dear old England. So I'm sorely tempted to let them go, and instead, have a crack at the incoming raid. If I can sneak in and clobber even one bomber, then get out quickly before the escorts can react, that's one less bombload landing on home soil.

[Linked Image]

So I chase after them, ignoring the others, who are rapidly receding in the direction of the French coast.

[Linked Image]

I can't work out where all those escorts have gone, though. Perhaps they had to turn back early for want of fuel. Anyway, this is no time for looking gift Dorniers in the mouth...or in the cockpit, or whatever.

[Linked Image]

I'm trying to work out what the Huns' target might be and how long I've got, before they reach it. But I'm a bit puzzled by the unfamiliar coastline.

[Linked Image]

But soon, it's time to concentrate on gunnery, rather than navigation.

[Linked Image]

I break up and left after my pass, unsure what effect - if any - my fire has had.

[Linked Image]

There he goes! Got him, after all!

[Linked Image]

By this time, it's dawned on me that the coast up ahead is France, and that I've been attacking the same formation! Obviously, I got completely disoriented in mid-Channel, and tacked onto the outgoing raid, not the incoming one. Which would explain the absence of escorts. Oops! Time to vacate the premises.

[Linked Image]

Turning north - and checking my Direction Indicator, this time - I soon see the raid I had intended to tackle, complete with that escort. The Huns look to have reached the coast, and I race after them. Whatever ammo I have left, I will fire off at these fellows. I hear Green 3 on the R/T telling me he can't keep up, but I can't see him and am not inclined to hang around. I have urgent business to settle with this raid.

[Linked Image]

...to be continued!

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Last edited by 33lima; 07/27/19 10:33 PM.

SimHQ Battle of Britain II screenshots thread
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#4484359 - 07/28/19 12:00 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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The raid I'm chasing turns out to be a large gaggle of Heinkels - you can see that with BDG's multiskin installed, not only do they bear the authentic griffon unit badge and code (G1) of Kampfgeschwader 55 'Grief', but also individual aircraft letters. Unfortunately, a spot of sight-seeing is all I can manage, as my ammunution runs out after a very short first burst.

[Linked Image]

It's possibly just as well that my attack was barely pressed home, because I'm able to make myself scarce before these chaps can get at me. That was the plan, except that I didn't manage to get a bomber before my necessarily hasty departure.

[Linked Image]

I spiral tightly down to leave the bombers behind while clearing my tail, just in case. But there's no sign of pursuit. My brief attack has been treated with complete disdain, evidently. So I start looking for somewhere to get down, seeing that I'm somewhat inland from Folkestone and knowing that the fighter bases of Hawkinge and Lympne, though previously bombed, are in the area.

[Linked Image]

I spot an airfield, slide back the hood and lean out to get a better look at it. It's Lympne, I think.

[Linked Image]

Flattening out my downward spiral, I look over my shoulder to see if the grass landing area looks safe. Which it does, although two of the big hangars are now just areas of cleared rubble. And a Bofors Gun near the perimeter track on the left is banging away at something, sending tracers up into the sky.

[Linked Image]

As I come around for a low and fast approach, I can't see what the gunners are firing at. Perhaps some of those 109s came down for me, after all. But the Ack Ack fire stops and I get down without mishap, not before seeing the large pall of smoke clearing from somewhere over to the east.

[Linked Image]

It looks like poor old Hawkinge has caught a packet - again. The Luftwaffe is certainly keeping up the pressure!

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Last edited by 33lima; 07/28/19 04:54 PM.

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#4484376 - 07/28/19 03:59 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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Brilliant Shots and reports Lima. cheers


They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
#4484385 - 07/28/19 05:28 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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Thanks Adger! Next instalment coming up very soon!


SimHQ Battle of Britain II screenshots thread
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#4484386 - 07/28/19 05:32 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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My next mission starts right after my last one ended - lunchtime, 16 August 1940. This time, the actio is further to the west. Spitfires of 152 Squadron have come across from 10 Group airfield Warmwell to intercept Hostile 102, a sixty-plus raid headed for coastal fighter bases Tangmere and Westhampnett. Accepting the offer to fly, as usual I jump in as Green Section leader. In the pic below you can see some distant specks, upper left, which I didn't notice at the time, but I think is possibly 111 Squadron, whose Hurricanes were also scrambled against this raid.

[Linked Image]

Most sources say 152's code letters were UM, but in Michael JF Bowyer's 'Fighting Colours - RAF fighter camouflage and markings 1937-1969' there's a reference to SN being carried by that squadron, reported seen on Spitfire Mk II P7286 in July 1940, written off in a landing overshoot while still serving with 152, in 1941.

Be that as it may, the Huns we've come to get are now in plain view. And as usual, there's rather a lot of them. There are Heinkels up above, and more on the same level, turning away from us. But the pressing concern is their escorts. The boss has hardly finished ordering us to select our own targets, when the nearest 109s, visible upper right, are turing in and coming down on us, nearly head on. In at the deep end!

[Linked Image]

Rather than going head-to-head with these unfriendly and clearly ill-intentioned people, I turn hard left, intending to come around behind them. Looking about for the Huns as I do so, it's clear the party is already in full swing.

[Linked Image]

Still in a left-hand turn, I get a momentary fright when a bunch of fighters suddenly crosses my nose from right to left. Then I realise they're Hurricanes - 111 Squadron, 'Treble one', has arrived, by the look of it!

[Linked Image]

Levelling off, I go for a pair of yellow-nosed 109s, but notice another one, without the yellow markings, climbing up behind them. He's nicely placed to pop me off if I slip in behind the first two.

[Linked Image]

Meanwhile, the air fight has already claimed its first victims.

[Linked Image]

I try to swerve in behind the third 109, but he dives away. So I take up pursuit of the yellow-nosed pair, instead.

[Linked Image]

I get off a burst at the number 2, who breaks up and away from his leader, with me after him.

[Linked Image]

Sparks fly as I catch the 109 with what looks like a really good burst.

[Linked Image]

The Hun disappears just below my nose, then there's a bang and a gout of black smoke. He blew up! Unable to do anythng else, I fly right through an expanding shower of Messerschmitt parts, large and small, and emerge unscathed on the other side. That was a bit scary!

[Linked Image]

It's barely visible, but in the pic above, you can just about see, to the right of the smoke, another 109 going up vertically, top centre of the screen.

Unaware of that, I transfer my attention to the leader, who is turning hard left.

[Linked Image]

Suddenly, there's the sound of rounds hitting my kite. I break hard and down and look in the mirror, but see only blue sky and a trail of orange flame. I've been caught napping, and I'm on fire!

[Linked Image]

My vision goes black but I open the canopy, chop the throttle and - hoping I'm not still going too fast - bail out.

[Linked Image]

There's possibly the beggar who got me, another yellow-nose, and there are other 109s about, too. Plus a wedge of bombers sailing on, undisturbed.

[Linked Image]

I'm pleasantly surprised that my 'chute actually opens, given I was probably going fairly quickly. That hard turn I made when hit didn't save my Spitfire, but it may have bled off enough just speed for the 'chute not to fail. Soon I'm standing precariously in my little one-man dinghy, with no sign of land. Hopefully, the spreading yellow dye will help the local lifeboat, or some of those nice Air Sea Rescue people, find and pick me up.

[Linked Image]

There are still plenty of Huns about and as it happens, I'll very soon have an opportunity to get my own back those blasted 109s!

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Last edited by 33lima; 07/28/19 06:48 PM.

SimHQ Battle of Britain II screenshots thread
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"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." (attributed to Marcus Aurelius)

#4484587 - 07/30/19 08:14 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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I'm no sooner back in the virtual Ops Room than I get another offer to fly - Spitfires again, but this time with 66 Squadron, south-east of London, intercepting one of the raids that came in across the Straits of Dover. I've hardly settled into the cockpit when the boss orders us in, with 'B' Flight as usual to take the fighters. But what fighters?

There seems to be a cloud of small specks nearly dead ahead, between what looks like some bombers, slightly left, and some Ack Ack bursts, slightly right. Fair enough, that'll be the escorts that Blue and my own Green sections have to tackle.

[Linked Image]

The Hun fighters seem keen to save us the bother, for they're headed our way, in two distinct groups.

[Linked Image]

And here they come! Unfortunately, the leading bunch are a bit higher. I'm guessing there's another RAF outfit in the vicinity, to attract the attention of so many Messerschmitts. But as usual, the impression is that you are often on your own, even if you aren't. BoB2 does a great job of recreating that feeling.

[Linked Image]

I turn around, not too tightly so as not to lose too much speed, and climb up after the nearest 109, who seems to be after a Spitfire that's hard on the heels of one of his friends.

[Linked Image]

I cut the corner and line him up...

[Linked Image]

Got him! He rolls over and goes down after my first burst. Something that could be the cockpit canopy or the pilot flies off and the Hun drops vertically, like a rock.

[Linked Image]

I haven't time to watch him crash, as I'm quickly engaged with another 109.

[Linked Image]

This time, I'm a bit more careful about what's going on behind me. Which is just as well. Two aircraft are on my tail and closing fast. They might be Green 2 and 3, but I doubt it!

[Linked Image]

I tighten my right turn, nose down into a hard break, and get out of it.

[Linked Image]

I convert the resulting steep downward spiral into a vertically-banked turn. By now, I'm quite low. I don't think all of 66 had red spinners, incidentally, just the CO, but it's no bad thing to have the occasional squadron sporting something different.

[Linked Image]

My tail clear, I climb cautiously while looking around. The Huns behind me seem to have cleared off. But over on the right, to the south of the Medway estuary. The Ack Ack boys have again found something worth shooting at. Better have a closer look!

[Linked Image]

...to be continued!

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Last edited by 33lima; 07/30/19 08:36 PM.

SimHQ Battle of Britain II screenshots thread
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#4484680 - 07/31/19 08:07 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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I head on over to investigate what the gunners are firing at, but am distracted en route when I run into several fighters, well spread out and evidently in the course of some sort of dispute.

[Linked Image]

Approaching cautiously, I manage to come in behind a 109...

[Linked Image]

...but lose him when he rolls over and dives underneath me somewhere, after taking a few hits from my first burst. Trying to pick him up again, I lose quite a bit of height, once more.

[Linked Image]

Climbing up again cautiously, a faint grey smoke trail reveals a small group of 109s, heading away from me and going for home - they are too well spaced out to be RAF fighters.

[Linked Image]

Better still, when I cose in, I find myself behind a straggler who looks like he's trying to close up. I reckon it's the one I lost track of, possibly damaged as he's easy to catch up.

As we reach the coast, I get within range, and let him have it.

[Linked Image]

But the wily Hun repeats his disappearing trick. I turn to clear my tail, and by the time I've decided I'm in the clear, I seem to be on my own. But looking out to sea, I notice a solitary speck, heading south east.

[Linked Image]

I suspect it's the same 109 I winged, because once again, I am able to close the range, indicating possible engine damage, despite the lack of a smoke trail. This time, there's no mistake.

[Linked Image]

By this juncture, the R/T chatter from the squadron has dried up and the skies really do seem to be empty. Time to go home! And this time, I've definitely got the better of the escorts!

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Last edited by 33lima; 07/31/19 08:12 PM.

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#4484946 - 08/02/19 10:09 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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The lunchtime raids are still coming and going when I jump into my next interception. This time it's with 602 Squadron, one of the Auxiliary Air Force units formed before the war from 'weekend fliers' who ended up playing an important part in the Battle of Britain.

Here I am, in LO-K. We're headed south, over the English Channel. The port below and behind my tail is Folkestone; the one just behind my radio mast is Dover.

[Linked Image]

The raid we're intercepting is a big one, but is already half-way back to France - we're rather late for this party. Without waiting for the boss to react, I report it to him - Caleb Red Leader - on the R/T. He acknowledges...

[Linked Image]

...and orders us to attack, with my section taking the fighters. There's a cloud of them above and between the three groups of bombers, although looking at the picture now, they could actually be our boys, since they seem to be in flights of three. My suspicion that these are not the escorts we are supposed to tackle is re-inforced when I see a solitary 109 moving left, as if to flank us. What I didn't notice at the time was at least a couple of other 109s, who were flanking us on the right - which you can see near the top right of the pic above. Also, I didn't notice the other three groups of bombers, centre right, with fighters barely visible behind them. This bunch was coming the other way - towards England. As I was later to discover!

I chase the 109 to my left but to my surprise, instead of trying to cut in behind us, he goes racing across the Channel, back the way we came. What's he up to? I consider breaking off to rejoin the squadron, but can't see them, so I continue the chase. The Hun is fast and I'm unable to close the range.

[Linked Image]

Just off the South coast, yet another solitary 109 cuts across me from left to right and I switch my attention to him.

[Linked Image]

However, he seems to see me coming and sheers off to the east, at top speed. Once again, I'm caught up in a long tail chase. I edge slightly to the south, waiting to cut the corner on the Hun when he turns right for France. But he just keeps going.

[Linked Image]

By now, I can clearly see Dover ahead to my left. Suddenly, I see a small group of fighters cross my nose a long way off, moving right to left. Other fighters are closing in on them from behind, and as I watch, they start shooting. At just that moment I hear Green 3 - one of my own section! - announcing on the R/T that he's being shot at. The small group is obviously my own squadron - part of it anyway - and the fighters attacking from behind are obviously Huns! Desperately, I try to intervene, but they're a long way off.

[Linked Image]

Long before I can get in range, a check in my mirror reveals what can only be friendly Ack Ack bursts behind me. Above them, I can just about see two specks, coming up from behind. They're a long way back but taking no chances, I break hard right.

[Linked Image]

By the time I've turned through about 180 degrees, my tail is clear, but I can't now see any sign of whatever it was that the gunners were firing at. Or the rest of the squadron and its attackers, for that matter.

[Linked Image]

Further west, however, I can now see a big raid crossing the coast into English skies. At last, a target I can do something about! I steer to cut them off, ignoring for now the fading Ack Ack bursts which I can just about see straight ahead, further inland. In the excitement, it doesn't occur to me that I'm slightly bonkers, trying to tackle this lot on my own.

[Linked Image]

Except I'm not on my own! As I get closer, I can see there's an air fight going on, just below the flights of bombers. Some fighters are climbing up towards the bombers, and others are dropping like stones, down onto them. Some of our boys are trying to get past the escorts and into those Hun bombers. Clenching my teeth impatiently, I close the range.

[Linked Image]

...to be continued!

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Last edited by 33lima; 08/02/19 10:20 PM.

SimHQ Battle of Britain II screenshots thread
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"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." (attributed to Marcus Aurelius)

#4484984 - 08/03/19 09:20 AM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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As I approach the raid, Ack Ack fire breaks out in front of me, possibly directed at a 109 which crosses ahead from right to left. He keeps on going, so I continue to make for the bombers.

[Linked Image]

Getting closer, the situation becomes clearer. There seem to be two groups of bombers. And the rearmost bunch is being whittled away steadily by fighter attacks coming in from astern. Below my raised wing, you can also see an air fight going on. It's clear that the escorts have been unable to hold back all of our boys. My tactics of scrambling additional squadrons against selected raids, in an effort to concentrate sufficient force to overwhelm some raids rather than merely nibble at all of them, seem to have worked - this time, anyway.

[Linked Image]

More Ack Ack fire breaks out slightly to the right and I see it's aimed at two bombers streaming light smoke trails. They've obviously broken off from the main formation in an effort to get home. And they're coming my way - perfect!

[Linked Image]

I swing in behind the retreating Huns, who turn out to be Dorniers. They're going rather slowly - perhaps I've become too used to chasing Messerschmitts recently! - and I overshoot the second machine. Relived not to catch any fire as I sweep past him, I go straight into an attack on the leading bomber, instead. This goes reasonably well.

[Linked Image]

The crew starts bailing out as I zip past the Dornier. All this happens directly over the fighter base at Hawkinge - which in BoB2 is an excellent match for the official Layout Site Plan reproduced in Birtles' 'Battle of Britain Airfields', complete with its interrupted perimeter track with a turning loop at one of the 'loose ends'. Last I heard, Hawkinge was damaged, though apart from a row of small bomb craters to one side of the hangars, it looks to be in good shape.

[Linked Image]

The second bomber is approaching Dover by the time I'm coming in behind him.

[Linked Image]

And that is as far as he gets!

[Linked Image]

Not a bad day's work, this time; but I've got at least some ammo left, so I'm not quite done here, yet.


...to be continued!

Attached Files shot_4061.jpgshot_4081.jpgshot_4091.jpgshot_4101.jpgshot_4111.jpgshot_4121.jpgshot_4131.jpg
Last edited by 33lima; 08/03/19 09:29 AM.

SimHQ Battle of Britain II screenshots thread
CombatAce Mission Reports
"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." (attributed to Marcus Aurelius)

#4485092 - 08/04/19 06:17 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
Joined: Sep 2010
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33lima Offline
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33lima  Offline
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Belfast, NI
Turning back inland, I can see three distant groups of aircraft of indeterminate national origin. Of more immediate interest is a single damaged aircraft heading towards me. The question of its nationality is resolved by the Ack Ack fire being directed at it.

[Linked Image]

The range is closing very quickly and I decide I have nothing to lose - except some of my remaining ammo - in making a head-on pass. He's another straggling Dornier.

[Linked Image]

I don't notice any hits but quickly turn after the Hun and catch him again near the port of Folkestone. This time I make no mistake.

[Linked Image]

I potter about for a bit and while inland from nearby Dover, I spot a fair old barrage of Ack Ack fire roughly over the famous port. Looking closely, I can see in the barrage a trail of smoke from an aircraft heading south - another damaged Hun making for home, evidently.

[Linked Image]

I chase him out to sea, closing rapidly. Again, he's a Dornier.

[Linked Image]

I'm sure I don't have many rounds left, so I'm quite glad when my first or second burst settles the matter by setting his starboard engine on fire.

[Linked Image]

Two of the crew bail out; you can see one of the 'chutes in the pic below.

[Linked Image]

Not a bad trip! I didn't have any luck with the 109s this time, but wreaked a fair bit of havoc amongst straggling Dorniers. Every aircraft removed from the enemy's order of battle is one less to meet next time, barring replacements which will cost the Germans a lot more than the petrol and ammo I used to knock them down. On the down side, I feel rather guilty at having been lured away from the squadron early, then being too far away to catch the 109s that were chasing them. As usual though, the more I read about the Battle, and the more BoB2 missions I fly, the more I realise how supremely good this sim really is at recreating the sights, sounds and feeling of flying and fighting in it. Top drawer stuff - not for nothing is Battle of Britain II called a time machine by those who have shared the experience.

Attached Files shot_4141.jpgshot_4151.jpgshot_4161.jpgshot_4181.jpgshot_4191.jpgshot_4201.jpgshot_4221.jpg
Last edited by 33lima; 08/04/19 06:32 PM.

SimHQ Battle of Britain II screenshots thread
CombatAce Mission Reports
"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." (attributed to Marcus Aurelius)

#4485168 - 08/05/19 02:18 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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Blade_Meister Offline
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Posts: 2,079
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Nice reports 33Lima. Fantastics pictures and some great writing as well. Nice flying to wreak so much havoc and down so many Huns. How does BOB WOV, dare I say, compare with other Sims you have flown as far as 'the feeling of fight/FM. Missed seeing your overview map and details of where you stand operationally. Maybe I am impatient and that is coming next?

S!Blade<><

Last edited by Blade_Meister; 08/05/19 02:22 PM.
#4485210 - 08/05/19 06:32 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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33lima Offline
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Thanks Blade. As for FMs/feeling of flight, I think it's one of the best. On release - and I might have been able to fix this by fiddling with settings, but never really got into it - I found BoB2 produced serious 'hunting' of controls. You'd be playing the 'single fighter vs single bomber instant mission and chasing the Heinkel headed for Dover (from astern, I could rarely be bothered with fancy beam or head on attacks, gunners be darned). You'd move the stick up or down, or bank slightly left or right to get your sights onto him, and every time they would just pass through the target, like I was constantly over-correcting. Very hard to get a steady aim, ended up squeezing off a few rounds every time the sight picture was briefly right. Frustrating. I don't know what update fixed that but it's long gone.

Among BoB2's strong points as a flying experience is its very good simulation of stalls, spins; the visible and audible judder from being out of trim on approach is especially convincing, just like you read about it. Also very good is the feeling of controls stiffening up if you over-do your rate of knots. Really scary, pulling hard back on the stick in a dive and you suddenly realise you are going to pull out a lot less rapidly that you were expecting, while the ground or sea rushes up. Likewise your rate of roll is noticeably reduced. I gather that opening the canopy on the Spit or Hurricane produces a realistic reduction in your airspeed from increased drag. The change in ambient noise is also well done. You get the stall horn on the Spit if you chop the throttle below a certain airspeed. Engines can surge if you drop the revs too quickly. Merlins lose power under negative G. Overall, it feels very good, up to or in some respects better than anything else. Ground handling is nothing like as frisky as Il-2 BoS but I found that wildly over-done, at least on release.

I tend to review results in snatches - there is so much info available in terms of level of assets damaged, aircraft losses, replacement numbers and types, and claims of enemies destroyed plus intelligence estimates of their replacement rates. It's hard to to know how bad it is, whether you are winning or losing, because its a battle of attrition overlaid with the fog of war and you might think you are winning but not be (or vice versa). At the moment for me, it's more vice versa smile But as 'HR 'Dizzy' Allen who flew Spits in the Battle wrote in 'Who Won the Battle of Britain?', that's how air campaigns are - you can't know you hold air supremacy, it's only ever an assumption, and your assumption could be wrong.

Last edited by 33lima; 08/05/19 06:38 PM.

SimHQ Battle of Britain II screenshots thread
CombatAce Mission Reports
"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." (attributed to Marcus Aurelius)

#4485222 - 08/05/19 10:31 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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Adger Offline
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As always great shots and reports Lima.thanks also for the write up regarding the FM,s etc cheers


They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
#4485243 - 08/06/19 07:11 AM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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The_Admiral Offline
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All over the place
Beautiful, as always. I have been an avid lurking reader so far, but I needed to express the love I have for the love you dedicate to the job ^^

Keep up the great work!

Last edited by The_Admiral; 08/06/19 07:14 AM.
#4485309 - 08/06/19 06:40 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
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33lima Offline
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33lima  Offline
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Thanks for the feedback Adger mate! And also to Admiral for 'breaking cover' - that's exactly why I write, to share my enthusiasm. And why I write the way I do - not constructing a story around the mission (a perfectly valid alternative) but as a player who is 'into' the sim and wants to convey that enthusiasm - as well as an accurate, illustrated and unembellished depiction of how the sim plays. 'Into' it, to the extent of using politically-incorrect and possibly even mildly offensive terms that my pilot persona would have used at the time - hence my foes in this campaign happen to be 'Jerries' or 'Huns', but could equally well be (and have in the past been) described by me as 'Tommies', 'Amis', or even 'Fascist invaders'. smile But I'll stop before I find myself repeating Gunnery Sergeant Hartman's mantra on that topic!

Incidentally since the next mission is yet to be flown, and prompted by Blade_Meister's recent enquiry, I thought I'd take the plunge and review some campaign stats, beyond what I can see from just looking at the General Situation Map (aka plotting table) in BoB2's virtual Ops Room. Here's what it looks like at what we in the UK still call tea time on the 16th August, less than a week into my campaign, after PC probs forced me to re-start it. Which I chose to do at the point the Luftwaffe switched from attacking mainly convoys, to going for the airfields and radar stations.

[Linked Image]

Looking at the map and starting just east of Southampton, and clicking on the red-ringed or red-crossed items to bring up a info panel (like the one displayed for Biggin Hill, bottom centre), I can see we have:

- Lee on Solent Coastal Command airfield, damaged (two hangars destroyed)
- Westhampnett fighter airfield. damaged (landing field heavily, rest lightly)
- Tangmere fighter airfield nearby, U/S (landing field ok, rest heavily or critically damaged) [U/S being an RAF abbreviation meaning unserviceable or out of action]
- Lympne fighter airfield, U/S (everything critically damaged!)
- Hawkinge fighter airfield, U/S (again, everything critically damaged)
- Dover (Swingate) Chain Home (RDF/radar) station - damaged
- Manston fighter base - U/S (lightly to critically damaged)
- Dunkirk Chain Home station - U/S, but mobile unit is covering (CH stations had so-called 'buried reserves') on site or nearby - kit in underground bunkers, which could be brought into use in an emergency)
- North Weald fighter airfield, damaged (lightly to heavily damaged)
- south of London, Kenley fighter airfield damaged (none or lightly damaged)
- nearby, Biggin Hill fighter airfield - damaged (as shown in the open data panel)

Open top left is the 'Claims' tab on the 'Review' info panel. This shows that 'the narrow margin' (to borrow the title of a famous book on the Battle by Wood and Dempster, on which the BoB movie was broadly based) is indeed narrow - and my claims may well be inflated!

Bottom right is the opened info panel for Dover CH station. The legend at the bottom 'Missions: Patrol: Readying' indicates that I have tweaked the offered AI campaign directive to order a patrol to be flown over radar gaps, and that the one allocated by the AI in response is making ready.

It's worth repeating that unlike Vox, who earlier described his approach very comprehensively, and who is *really* playing the campaign as well as flying the missions, I'm letting the AI fight the campaign, with just a few interventions. Which I might have been better not making, if the results I'm getting are anything to go by!

As you can see, there is no simple winning/losing read-out. I may be doing well, badly or indifferently. 'Badly, bordering but still short of disastrously' is my assumption - but like I said in an earlier post, my assumption could be wrong! Either way!

Must dash! It may be tea time, but there's a war on, don't you know?

[Linked Image]

Attached Files 16 Aug status2.jpg
Last edited by 33lima; 08/06/19 06:47 PM.

SimHQ Battle of Britain II screenshots thread
CombatAce Mission Reports
"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." (attributed to Marcus Aurelius)

#4485314 - 08/06/19 07:52 PM Re: BoB2 screenshots - the RAF campaign [Re: 33lima]  
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 718
SkyHigh Offline
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Ireland
Your methodology is excellent and provides a very accurate description of what must surely be the best representation of the battle available in a pc simulation. Letting the AI fight the campaign is quite a realistic portrayal of what it was like to be a pilot in the battle, although the single-player RAF campaign, which I understand you are not playing, might be more representative of this. You have no real idea of how the battle is going, which is just as it would have been for any pilot, on either side, in the midst of the battle. Thank you for all these accounts and we all owe a debt to the people responsible for developing and bringing this game to us, which evidently nurtured few billionaires. A true labour of love.

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