generated hundreds of posts, thousands of views and a lot of fun for a lot of fliers! But we are always looking for a few more. The assistance and camaraderie that you get from something like this or Olham's DiD campaign if you are new to WOFF will help increase your enjoyment of the sim and make you a better pilot as well.
This time, we are jumping into Escadrille SPA 81 in the fall of 1917. I have to say, I was not excited about this one at first. I flew the SPAD in OFF and couldn't do a thing with it. I flew the SPAD in the Hat In The Ring expansion and couldn't do a thing with it. I flew the SPAD in WOFF at release and couldn't do a thing with it. To prep for this challenge, I flew a few QC's after the SPAD patch recently and shot down 3 of the 4 Albatros DV's against us! So, my opinion of this a/c has recently "evolved"
In order to participate in this challenge you must: 1. Declare your interest and intent in this thread on or before Saturday, June 21 2014. 2. Create a pilot using the manual squad creation option flying for the French in SPA 81 escadrille with a start date of November 1, 1917 with the rank of Adjutant. (We have some flying experience!) 3. Commit to flying 4-6 missions per week with this pilot, but no more than one per campaign day. 4. Report at least every weekend in this topic thread with his current successes or failures. 5. Faithfully communicate to your brethren the falling of your avatar when such event actually transpires.
This is kind of a "Who's Line Is It Anyway" sort of affair where we try to have fun and the points don't really matter. We will declare a winner and there will probably be some kind of a prize but the main thing is just to have fun with good people.
Reporting can be by any of the following methods: -Text is good -Pictures are better -Videos are what this sim is made for!
There were some great reports and pictures and vids in the last challenge, so look over them if you want some ideas! Shiloh in particular had some great screenshots of his combats.
This is single elimination, so one death and you are out. Keep in mind that even if you are not playing "dead is dead" in the workshop, at the end of each mission it will still tell you that "Sadly, your pilot has died" if his injuries were fatal so you don't need to switch your settings for this. If you land behind enemy lines with less than DID workshop settings, use these guidelines: in or on the edge of No Mans Land, you escape. Within 5 miles of the front, 50-50 (flip a coin). More than 5 miles behind the lines, you are captured, war over!
When you set up your pilot, click on "Manual Squad Deployment" in the lower right hand corner of the enlistment page. Set up the following screen so it looks like this:
Scoring:
Missions: +2 point each Time survived: +2 points each week Confirmed kill: +3 points each Becoming an ace: +5 points (only once) Promotion: +5 points each promotion Medals: +3 points each Survive to end of Challenge: +10 points
Here's my experiences on the SPAD so far: •Fly a few QC missions before we start. You can't turn and burn like a Nupe, but it is actually pretty competent in a turn fight against the Albatros as long as you don't hold the turn too long. Work on finding where the stall point is. •If you do stall out, or yank the stick to quickly, don't worry, those wings aren't coming off like in the last challenge! •You are pretty fast. In my QC, I got one Albatros on my tail and I didn't like it so I just...left. Just leaned on the throttle and left him behind. Keep your speed up as it is your way out of a bad situation. •You have one fast firing gun with a lot of ammo. That's much better than the Nupe, but not as good as your enemies who will have two fast firing guns with more ammo!
This challenge will have a have a hard end date of Sunday, July 13th. That gives us three weeks and a day. You can have a maximum of 19 missions total. Then we can tally the points and declare a winner. You are certainly free to continue to fly your pilot after that if still alive, but for point determination, we need a cut-off date.
Prize for winning: I will be supplying an open edition print of the winner's choice from Russell Smith: Open Edition Prints
Permissions: You may use whatever aids you are used to using. The official setting for rear guns will be “Less Acc”. Please set your weather to “Historical Weather.” Flight model should be realistic and you should have weapons jams and limited ammo and all that jazz... The point is to have fun and we had outstanding support and sportsmanship from all fliers last time and we would love to see some new faces! Feel free to lead your flights if you want!
As far as time advancement, please follow these guidelines:
Allow time to advance as normal except fly no more than one mission per campaign day (time advance manually as necessary)
For every month of campaign time, you can advance two days on the calendar. (48hr pass to visit mum) For every promotion, advance five campaign days. For every five kills, advance 3 campaign days. For becoming an ace, advance 3 campaign days (cumulative with 5 kills above)
Keep in mind this is a challenge, not a competition! Your first job is to stay alive! (Note to self: Stay Alive!) I'd love to see most of these pilots go on to great careers after our challenge is over! Good Luck, er, Bon Chance! RR
Official challenge start time is Saturday, grab some QC time in those SPADs and we’ll be (W)OFF!
I will update this area with pilots and scores as the challenge progresses, so you can always check here for the latest info…
List of Pilots: Rick Rawlings - 64 corsaire31 -88 Rover 27 Olham - 25 Adger -42 Shiloh - grounded due to technical difficulties - 15 Glubber - 5 Slick Wilhelm -19 gaw1 Kaische MFair -52 Robert Wiggins - 91 MudWasp RAF Louvert - 50 Leaf85 - grounded due to technical difficulties loftyc pkpowers - 16 carrick58 Combs CatKnight -56
Strikethrough indicates a pilot's demise, d.n.p. = did not participate, number to the right of the pilot is the final score
Thanks Olham!
Last edited 7/13/14 12:30PM US Pacific time
Last edited by Rick_Rawlings; 07/13/1407:39 PM.
The older I get, the more I realize I don't need to be Han, Luke or Leia. I'm just happy to be rebel scum...
Oh man I just realized it's Spads VII, not XIII .... well I'm in anyway !
Edit : I think I will keep the video for the very unusual french words ! Good one again !
Last edited by corsaire31; 06/17/1407:39 PM.
Gigabyte Z87P-D3 - CPU I5 4670 Haswell @ 3.6Ghz - 8 Go Ram - GPU HD 7850 2Go OC - SSD Samsung 128Go - HD 2 x WD Black 1 To - 27" Iiyama Pro Lite - Logitech Extreme 3D Pro - Saitek Pro Flight Yoke - Rudder Pedals - Quadrant - Cessna Trim Wheel - Track IR 5 - Logitech G35 headset ... and a big coffee maker ! Flying in FSX/Air Hauler, Wings over Flanders Fields, Rise of Flight, IL2 1946 Hsfx, Condor soaring.
Yay! I apologize retroactively for my mangling of your native tongue...
edit: I refused to look up anything other than the spelling of the title cards, I only relied on what I could remember from high school. I cringe to think on how bad my conjugations are...
Last edited by Rick_Rawlings; 06/17/1407:44 PM.
The older I get, the more I realize I don't need to be Han, Luke or Leia. I'm just happy to be rebel scum...
Yay! I apologize retroactively for my mangling of your native tongue...
Was only kidding, nice touch from you to do it ( you have maybe used Google translation ? )
Last edited by corsaire31; 06/17/1407:45 PM.
Gigabyte Z87P-D3 - CPU I5 4670 Haswell @ 3.6Ghz - 8 Go Ram - GPU HD 7850 2Go OC - SSD Samsung 128Go - HD 2 x WD Black 1 To - 27" Iiyama Pro Lite - Logitech Extreme 3D Pro - Saitek Pro Flight Yoke - Rudder Pedals - Quadrant - Cessna Trim Wheel - Track IR 5 - Logitech G35 headset ... and a big coffee maker ! Flying in FSX/Air Hauler, Wings over Flanders Fields, Rise of Flight, IL2 1946 Hsfx, Condor soaring.
Oh man I just realized it's Spads VII, not XIII .... well I'm in anyway !
Hey, hey - show some more patriotism, and respect for a great design, Corsaire!
Rick and all, I just checked this new campaign, and I'd like to be in there. In my DiD Campaign I may be on a two-seater, in hospital, or on an Eindecker for the next weeks, and I could do with a good fighter plane - which the SPAD was. Okay, it has only one gun yet - but pilots like Guynemer showed the Germans, what a SPAD is! Not a turn fighter at all - you better use only energy fighting methods. But then you will feel safe like on your mom's knees (as it was as a baby, I mean of course!).
Rick, must I read any other rules elsewhere than those above here?
Vice-President of the BOC (Barmy OFFers Club) Member of the 'Albatros Aviators Club' - "We know how to die with Style!"
Gonna get me some QC time in the Spad Bonjour to all ...put me in Rick Thanks
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.
Have you tried them since they were patched? I was pleasantly surprised!
Originally Posted By: Olham
Shiloh, have a second look. The SPAD has it's own beauty...
Rick and Olham I love the way the Spad looks and it's durable as hell but I'm a pure turn-fighter pilot. I haven't mastered the art of energy-fighting so it makes for a tough go. Maybe when I learn more, I'll embrace the Spad but right now I don't feel the love.
Shiloh, the turn-fighting is the art. The energy-fighting is simple compared to that: attack from higher up, and return to your altitude advantage with the energy from you attack-dive. The SPAD (and the S.E.5a) with it's strong engine is predestined for that.
Vice-President of the BOC (Barmy OFFers Club) Member of the 'Albatros Aviators Club' - "We know how to die with Style!"
That's good advice and I'll take it Olham. Maybe I just need some practice.
...and make sure you don't let them lure you into turn-fighting attempts. Maybe hard to forget, but that could hand your head to them on a silver plate.
Vice-President of the BOC (Barmy OFFers Club) Member of the 'Albatros Aviators Club' - "We know how to die with Style!"
I didn't say I don't like the Spad VII at all, it's only that I really have a love story with the XIII (220 hp are better than 150 and two machine guns are better than one) And you get away from anything except for the few DVII Fs at the very end of the war, in too small numbers to be a problem.
Last edited by corsaire31; 06/17/1410:29 PM.
Gigabyte Z87P-D3 - CPU I5 4670 Haswell @ 3.6Ghz - 8 Go Ram - GPU HD 7850 2Go OC - SSD Samsung 128Go - HD 2 x WD Black 1 To - 27" Iiyama Pro Lite - Logitech Extreme 3D Pro - Saitek Pro Flight Yoke - Rudder Pedals - Quadrant - Cessna Trim Wheel - Track IR 5 - Logitech G35 headset ... and a big coffee maker ! Flying in FSX/Air Hauler, Wings over Flanders Fields, Rise of Flight, IL2 1946 Hsfx, Condor soaring.