I've had a few days away from my BoB2 RAF campaign and simming in general - apart from a brief interlude (that word again!) with Cliffs of Dover Blitz Edition - 'A Plus' for effort (except for the limited number of stock SP campaigns, there's a LOT of content and functionality in there); but 'D Minus' for implementation (there's still so much that's either broken or just badly executed). But you can't not like the aircraft...



But enough of that, this is a BoB2 screenshot thread. And I'm back on campaign. With a jerk, for after several real-world days away, when I load the game, I'm back where I left off, lunchtime on 23 July, with Hostile 101 still in the air. By now, the raid is heading back to Nazi-occupied France, south over the English Channel. I barely have time to take in the scene from the Ops Room map when I'm offered a chance to jump into a mission again. I take a deep breath and mouse-click 'Fly'. This time, I'm with the Hurricanes of 12 Group's 607 Squadron, come down from RAF Wittering to the north, to harry the retreating raiders.

My first sight of Hostile 101 is the bombers, twenty to thirty of them, which I mis-identify as Dorniers. They are higher, but we can certainly catch them up. However, life is not so simple.



Looking right, ahead of the bombers, I see two groups of fighters, a smaller one maybe a mile ahead, the larger one a bit further ahead again. This is not going to be so easy, after all!



The closer group of 109s breaks up and comes at us, while the others curve around threateningly. At bottom, you can see what I'm hearing on the R/T - the squadron leader giving his orders.



Yellow Section and my Green Section are 'B' Flight, so 'take the fighters' it is. Six against about a dozen, and that's assuming the other 109s leave us alone.



As I turn into the 109s, the bombers sweep majestically overhead. The raid doesn't seem to have lost a single aircraft - the escorts have done a good job of keeping the intercepting squadrons busy, including the Spitfires of 609 squadron, with which I was in action against Hostile 101 just a few virtual minutes earlier. They look to be Heinkels, definitely not the Dorniers I had taken them to be.



I cut around inside the hurtling shower of Messerschmitts, hoping Green 2 and Green 3 can keep up, or at least not get shot down, but knowing that's unlikely in this melee. Up ahead, there's just a swirling mass of aircraft, most of them 109s. This is going to be one of those days!



...to be continued!

I've managed to avoid the first onrush of escorting Messerschmitts. Better still, I have ended up somewhat outside the developing dogfight. After a look in the mirror, I sweep back in, looking for someone I can sneak up on, while they are otherwise occupied. No point taking a chance on a fair fight, when you can catch someone unawares.



This works out better than expected. A quick burst sets a 109 smoking. Hardly has he started turning than a second burst has this effect - unexpected, shocking even, but satisfying. I have little time to take in Yellow 3's report of friendly aircraft, let alone look in the direction indicated.



After a bit of turning this way and that while trying not to bleed off too much speed, I catch a second 109, who rolls left and dives away smoking. Tunnel vision being what it is, at the time I didn't notice the two aircraft chasing a third machine, over to the right.



We're out over the water and so it's easier to avoid losing sight of the Hun. I watch him level off and run for home, then I run after him.



The 109 seems sluggish and I manage to catch him after a short chase, creeping up in his blind spot. He breaks right and down only after I hit him again.



The Hun keeps on going down, seeming to lose control and regain it every so often, all the while getting lower and lower. I'm reluctant to get fixated and rather than lose height to make sure of him, I pull up and away. Better a Probable than get shot down, or even lose precious height in a combat zone, just for the sake of confirmation.



By this time, the skies seem to have emptied of other aircraft and I set a course for home. Not before time, because my fuel gauge is reading rather low. The Hurricane had a single gauge which you had to switch between left and right main tanks but I'm not sure how it works in BoB2. Anyhow it's time to go home; no point hanging around here anymore.



I cross the south coast with the town of Worthing just ahead of my starboard wingtip and Brighton visible a bit further along the coastline, just beyond the estuary. Rather than make the long flight back north to Wittering, I settle for having made it back over Blighty, quit the mission and return to the Ops Room.



By 12:34, I can see that Hostile 101 is well on its way home to northern France; 504 Squadron, whose marker is nearby, may be the friendlies reported earlier by Yellow 3. The main body of 607 Squadron is quite a bit further north of where I quit the mission, about half-way back to Wittering. To the west, 609 Squadron's Spitfires, with which I flew my previous mission against this same raid, are nearly back at Middle Wallop. A look at BoB2's 'Hostiles List' reveals that Hostile 101's target was the coastal belt fighter airfield at Westhampnett, attacked again and out of action, with nearby Hawkinge damaged.



Time to check some statistics! They are not good. The 'Claims' tab on the Review screen shows our figher losses, on the ground and in the air, are now lagging significantly behind our claims of enemy aircraft destroyed. And our fighter production is falling behind losses. How long this state of affairs can go on remains to be seem.



The pic above shows to the left BoB2's Log Book window, which lists your missions flown and their results, but without identifying the squadron. I'm not sure why only two are listed for 23 July when I had flown four, by the time this screenshot was taken, but the way the air battle is going, that is the least of my worries!

Amazing! This is like an ever evolving book for me. Each time I finish reading your reports I am caught up imaging where this is all going and how it will end. It would be interesting to see your remaining assets and production rate for the Spitty & Hurricane and also the remaining estimated production rate, overall strength of the Luftwaffe 109s, 87s and Bombers. I am enjoying this immensely 33lima.
Godspeed and keep up the Good Fight Sir!

S!Blade<><

In Lima's hands, and through his eloquent powers of description, this game proves itself a simulator in the truest sense of the word.

Well done.

Interesting AARs Lima. Nice intro to one of the best single player sims. Very nice.

I'm very interested to learn more about the dual boot method that your using under Win 10 : Win7/SDD/EasyBCD. Sounds like something I'd like to try. I tried BOB2 under 10 and had the usual crashes everyone else has. I Still have it on a XP using the older BDG updates. I sure would like to get this classic on better hardware with the new BDG updates.

So how is it going? - less crash? is the campaign still running ok? Would you do anything different? Any system details here or elsewhere would be greatly appreciated. -Vox

Thanks for the feedback guys! I'm ready to fly my next missions in BoB2 and will pick up the story here again soon!

Vox, of all the advice online I found, the bit I went with was CountMike's post # 6 here: https://www.tenforums.com/installation-upgrade/42241-dual-boot-windows-10-windows-7-using-2-hds.html

Limited space on my 'new' PC's existing Win 10 SSD was one reason I opted for a second SSD for Win 7 rather than partition the first one and have 10 and 7 on that, but reading that post helped convince me that separate was better/safer. The extra capacity and faster load times of a cheap SSD for Win 7 were icing on the cake, worth the small extra outlay.

I had some issues to troubleshoot, and the usual hassle of installing drivers for everything after getting Win 7 working, but was able to Google my way through the former with no fuss, and the latter was no worse than merely tedious.

I never bothered trying to simplify choice of O/S and if I want to switch, I just hit F2 on boot and picked from the BIOS. But I have just left it booting into Win 7 and don't bother switching. Any games I want to play either run fine in Win 7 even tho not installed on the Win 7 SSD (eg Il-2 '46 both DBW & CUP installs, Steel Fury, Steel Armour, CFS3+ETO expansion, all my Steam games, Trainz 2009); or they ran after a tweak to reflect the fact they were no longer on the 'C' Drive (eg First Eagles 2/Strike Fighters 2, Open Rails); or they will need me to boot into Win 10 to play them, or I'll have to delete them and reinstall them in Win 7, whenever the fancy takes me (eg Wings over Flanders Fields, Iron Front).

My original BoB2 install is on an HDD salvaged from my previous PC and now in the new PC's case, and this runs from there fine, in Win 7; but I installed BoB2 again on the Win 7 SSD for faster loading times and that's what have played, ever since. I might load the French campaign onto the original BoB2 install. Both are updated to BDG 2.13, as you say that's where we all want to be (haven't tried the Beta 2.14 yet as I don't want to have to start my current campaign afresh)

With the Win 7 setup, I got a few CTDs over a couple of days (out of over 3 months of playing BoB2 fairly intensively) but that stopped when I reloaded an earlier campaign save, after noticing something which led me to suspect something was corrupted. Steady as a rock, otherwise. Single missions and campaign - have only been playing the RAF commander campaign so far, which leaves the Luftwaffe commander and both sides' pilot campaigns to look forward to.

Thanks Lima that really helps. Ive heard about dual booting BOB2 but yours is the first detailed description I've seen . I was a little confused about dual booting . I had pc at work that was set up to dual boot win xP and win8. It was set up the conventional way i.e. by installing each OPS into its own partition on a single disk.

I think installing each OPS on its own disk with its own boot-loader, drivers, games etc makes things simpler-At least in theory! One key seems to be disconnecting each disk before installing the other OPS so that the boot-loader isn't spread across both disks. Then when both are set-up , reconnect both disks and use the BIOs to select disk to boot from. sounds simple enough. The Asus MB i'm currently using has a good UEFI BIOs. which should make managing the boot drive selection easier.

Hardly have we dealt with Hostile 201 than another raid, designated Hostile 101, thirty-plus, appears on the plot. It's headed towards the north-east of London, possible target the 11 Group fighter base at North Weald - again! A look at the Mission Folder - I am slowly getting the hang of the many useful info boxes in BoB2 - reveals that the AI Controller is scrambling 601 Squadron to intercept.



The next pic shows more of these boxes which I have called up. The Squadron List, top left, 'does exacttly what it says on the tin'. Clicking on its entry for 601 brings up the box for that squadron, in the form of an open tab for its base, West Malling, bottom left. Clicking on this box's 'Diary' button brings up the Squadron Diary, bottom right. This shows 601's results from its last mission. Top right is the Aircraft tab from the Review box, which summarizes how I have got from a starting position of 768 fighters available two weeks ago, to the 615 I now have left - not a pretty picture!



Opening the Hostiles List - not pictured here - I see that this new raid is reported to consist of thirty Ju88s. I hit the 'Authorise' button. A recent read of the comprehensive BDG 2.13 Manual's campaign guide made me aware that this was an easier way of scrambling additional squadrons against a raid, than what I have been doing so far.

As expected, having been scrambled earlier from a nearer base, 601 sights the enemy first and I get the offer to fly - which I accept, rather than letting the campaign AI fight the battle from the 2d map.



I've mentioned before choosing Green 1 (leader of Green Section) as my usual position in the squadron formation, so it's maybe a good time for a pic of the selection screen. Here you can see the squadron's radio code name, 'Angel' - most of these are authentic in BoB2, and they are actually used in the missions R/T traffic. 'A' flight is on the left; 'B' on the right. BoB2 appropriately has both flying a mission together in squadron formation, not as separate flights as in Wings over the Reich.



And here I am as Green 1, flying UF-W, N2359. 'UF' of course is 601's authentic squadron code. Serial numbers are not unique in BoB2 but individual aircraft code letters (numbers, for German single-engine fighters) are, as you can see from Green 2 to my left rear...



...and from the other visible squadron aircraft, ahead. We are flying roughly north over the Thames Estuary, in pursuit of Hostile 101, with the river winding its way off towards London, in the distance. You can see that we have not gained an awful lot of height since taking off from West Malling, which is not far behind us.



Up ahead - more 'up' than 'ahead' - is the raid, drifting diagonally across our noses from right to left.



I use padlock and then the command menu to report the Huns to the boss, rather than waiting for him. At this point, I realise there's a cluster of smaller specks close ahead of the three waves of Hun bombers.



Again without waiting, I lose no time in pulling up after them, bringing Green 2...



...and Green 3 with me...



At this point, things get a bit strange. The boss - Angel Red Leader - orders the squadron to reform. Perhaps this is a reaction to my splitting off. I look around for the others, but apart from my own section, the only other Hurricane I can see is a solitary machine up ahead, bravely chasing the Huns. I decide to do likewise.



Soon, we're getting close to the bombers' height, so I ease off the rate of climb. By this time we are well to the north-east of the capital. Visible above my cockpit is London's docklands, with the Thames's 'U' bend nearly cut off by the East India Docks. The Milwall Docks, which should be an L shape to their south, are not represented in BoB2.



But I have more important things to worry about! The bombers are now attracting Ack Ack fire, but my real worry is that I have lost sight of their fighter escort, which is no longer where I last saw it, up ahead of those Ju88s. That's my reward for looking around and taking pictures! Now, I will have to be extra careful. Were the 109s - they were too small for 110s - lured away by the solitary Hurricane, or by the rest of 601? The R/T is quiet so perhaps not, but it's all a bit of a worry.



The Huns were bound to start turning left for home at some point, and now they do so. Fine, we can cut the corner and get at them all the sooner. Won't be long now!



...to be continued!

Here we go! With Green 2 tucked in tight to my left, we go for the Huns.



On my right, Green 3 seems already to have picked his own target, and has levelled off.



A final glance in my mirror - fully functional in BoB2, when turned on - shows no sign of those 109s - maybe low on fuel this far north, they have just gone home. Up ahead, the Junkers are still turning left, also keen to be home and out of it. They've probably already bombed some unseen target. No time to fret over that now!



The Huns settle onto a new course to the south-east. As usual, I decide to take the one on the left rear, but make a bit of a mess of my run, in a clumsy effort to get a nice picture rather than a clean shot. I should really try out BoB2's gun camera recorder!



I open up at close range, damaging the Ju88. Smoke obscures him and the next second, as I break, I clip him with my starboard wing, losing most of it in the process! And revealing that the damage textures are re-using some external ones, visible from the mini-roundels. The flash to the left of my surviving wingtip is an AA burst; the missing Millwall Docks should be just left again of that, south of the West India Docks that are present. But this is hardly the right time for sight-seeing.



If I could have seen him, it might have been some consolation to know that my target had come off just as badly.



This pic, taken before I began to roll over, shows that one member of Green Section is diving away, but the other one is still after the bombers.



No flying controls seem to be answering, as my Hurricane rolls wildly and heads for the deck. I chop the throttle, wait a bit, then bail out. This goes well, but I hope my kite lands in open country and not on somebody's roof. BoB2 isn't a skydiving simulator (now, there's an idea!) so I can do nothing about my own trajectory.



The picture above reminds me of the sketch below from a 13 Group illustrated publication 'Forget-Me-Nots for Fighters', said in its intro from the Group's AOC at the time of the Battle of Britain, Air Vice-Marshall RE Saul, to be '...the outcome of discussion amongst the Training Staff, on the best and simplest way to bring to the notice of new Fighter Pilots certain salient points in air fighting'. It's not unlike the British Army's little book 'Basic Battle Skills' which soldiers from the 1970s and after will remember. We called it 'the Dick and Dora' book after the illustrated reading books used in primary schools. Unlike Basic Battle Skills, this WW2 RAF version is humorous, and perhaps all the more memorable for that. I always remembered this pic, since first seeing it in Arms and Armour Press's 'Fighting in the Air'.



As I fall, the Ju88s are coming under attack from more Hurricanes. It looks like the rest of 601 has arrived at last. Go get 'em, boys!



My animated pilot figure automatically reaches across for his ripcord and pulls. But no parachute appears! Instead there is a blood-curdling scream of horror and my virtual self starts thrashing wildly with his arms and legs. It's a bit shocking, really.



The Hun I had attacked is also falling, as the air fight goes on. I continue to flail about silently.



By the time I hit the ground, my Hurricane had also arrived.



Even though I'm not playing the BoB2 Single Pilot Campaign and have no single identity, it really came as a bit of a shock to the system to end this mission in such a violent fashion. Especially having survived so many scrapes with the other virtual pilots whose cockpits I took over, across a fortnight of intense air battles, flying several sorties a day. At any rate, any lingering doubts I might have entertained about Battle of Britain II's wargame-based campaign being any less immersive than a conventional pilot career are long swept away. Truly, this is a sim amongst sims!

It's shortly after 1pm on July 23rd, and something unusual and different is happening. Looking down at the Ops Room plotting table, I can see the marker of a Luftwaffe raid, Hostile 202, moving steadily down the English Channel, its course slightly north of east. I have seen this before and wait for the raid to turn north. But it doesn't. I hear a WAAF announce its likely target is the port of Plymouth. So far I think Dover is the only port the Luftwaffe has bombed, and it's across the narrowest part of the Channel. Goering's boys seem to be expanding their repertoire!

Nearing its target, the raid is reported to have split up, spawning Hostile 301, thirty-plus Messerschmitt 110s. Their marker sweeps on ahead of Hostile 202, which latter a look at the Hostiles List tells me is composed of a similar number of Dorniers. Hastily, I start authorising additional squadrons to be vectored against the Dorniers, with 87's Hurricanes first to sight the Bandits.



Fancying a go with a Spitfire again, I decline the offer to fly with 87 and wait till 92 arrives on the scene, very soon after. They've come all the way down from RAF Pembrey in South Wales and are doubtless keen to see a bit of action. So keen that when the mission loads, 87 has not yet gone into action.

As usual, I choose to fly as Green 1. If I can hold on till August, I have promised myself a promotion to flight leader, which I believe opens up more command options on the radio menu, available only to flight and squadron leaders. If I don't lose the campaign by the start of September, after a virtual month flying as flight leader, I will promote myself further and lead a squadron. 'If'...!



Up ahead is the enemy - the thirty or so Dorniers of Hostile 202. Dutifully, I report the sighting to the boss, who acknowledges, but seems hesitant to give the usual order to attack. Trailing behind the bombers and lower down, there are two other groups of aircraft, possibly 87, 213 or 234 Squadrons. They're unlikely to be Huns given what's been plotted on the map, but you never know.



I should really stick with the squadron, on the basis that I'm a mere section leader and it's the boss's job - even an AI boss - to decide what to do, not mine. But I tend to remember what Nelson said before Trafalgar - that confusion being normal in battle and signals not always being seen, no captain can do much wrong who places his ship hard aboard of that of an enemy. So having heard no orders this time, I open the throttle and take Green Section into battle, on my own initiative.



Being to the right of the Dorniers, I pick the rear bomber on that side for my target. But these Huns seem particularly alert and especially accurate. My Spit is soon at the centre of streams of tracer, flashing back from Hun gunners, long before I'm in position to start shooting myself. Sharp plinks tell me they're hitting me, too!



I avoid the temptation to break off and settle on a closing course behind and below my chosen victim. I try hard to ignore the return fire, even thought I am hit again as soon as I level off. As soon as my sights are on, I start shooting, trying to concentrate between the Dornier's starboard engine and wing root.



I see the flashes of hits and then dense dark smoke streams back from the Hun, who begins to bank left. Breaking right, I can see that he is well alight!



As I disengage, I'm well aware that I haven't escaped unscathed. But up front, my Merlin is running smoothly, and all controls are answering. Time for another crack!



...to be continued!

As I pull up and to the right, I see a single fighter, probably Green 2 or 3, making a firing pass at the Dorniers, without doing any visible harm. As a mere section leader in BoB2, AFAIK you can't issue orders, just lead your two wingmen around until contact is made, after which it seems they default to attacking the mission target. Anyhow I roll left and come in diagonally for another pass. As I do so, the boss comes up on the blower and announces a course to the north-west - the direction of our base at Pembrey. Somewhat distracted as I am, I neglect to check my fuel gauge. If you haven't opted to fly from take-off, there's a tendency to neglect this, and 92's long trip to the scene of action may well have left us short. But now, I have eyes only for those bombers.



Off to my left rear, some other aircraft appear to be chasing the Huns. Fine - they're not chasing me!



This time, I slide all the way across the rear of the German formation, while still out of range of their gunners.



Then I level off and come in behind the fellow on the left rear. Again, the return fire comes thick and fast, and I take some more hits.



But on my second burst, my target suddenly blows up!



I recover quickly from the surprise and instead of breaking off, roll right and attack the Dornier next to him. A few more bursts from close range and he starts ditching his bombload, rolling left and out of formation, trailing smoke. A hat trick!



Breaking left, I flit through some cloud, just as the Hun crew takes to their parachutes.



Once out of range, I start to roll right for another pass, but nearly go over on my back. My damaged kite now wants onto roll to that side of its own accord. And my engine is running unevenly.



Behind me, my victim is spiralling steeply down, while the the four silken blobs of the crew's 'chutes drift earthwards - literally, for unless there's a nasty wind from the north, they won't get their feet wet.



I stil have some rounds left and am reluctant to leave before I'm empty. These Huns haven't bombed yet and every one knocked down or out of formation is one less stick of bombs on somebody's head.



However, my Spit is controllable only with difficulty. Over-correcting badly, I end up on my side, slipping left wing down through the Hun formation while blazing away, hitting mostly empty space.



I level off underneath the bombers and end up coming out ahead of the Huns, narrowly missing a collision in the process. Crikey - this is dangerous!



Sliding awkwardly out of range and determined not to risk that again, I see that other fighters are now rushing up behind the bombers - you can barely see them in this pic but there are two groups in the lower contrails, the larger, rearmost ones just to the right edge of the pic.



My right-rolling Spit wants to take me in that direction so I let her do so, taking me across the rear of the formation, but lower down. Once I get across to the inland side of the Huns, I will be better placed to make a forced landing on terra firma, should my surging motor pack it in. From there, I'll simply watch the fun. No more wild attacks for me, I've already earned my pay.



As I slip across, a bunch of Hurricanes is closing fast on the Dorniers. There'll soon be something to see!



...to be continued!

I don't have long to wait before the leading section of Hurricanes smacks into the Dorniers. Their first victim catches fire and begins to fall away, even as the rest of the pack closes in.



At about this point, I take a look at the in-game map, which I do rarely as it shows rather a lot. Probably, this can be reduced but I use it so little that I've left it alone, for now. The map is a zoomed-out view of the 3d world with no placenames, Strike Fighers style; there is a closer level of zoom which looks like a satellite image. The map shows that Hostile 202, me with it, is ten miles east of the likely target, Plymouth harbour. The three RAF roundels behind it will be the Hurricanes I can see, probably 213 Squadron, followed by 87 and 234, the latter flying Spits. The roundel that's tracking north is probably my own squadron, 92, heading back up to Pembrey for want of fuel - note the R/T message from one of my section, Green 3, and our squadron leader replying to my request for his position. The enemy raid off to the left will be Hostile 301's Me110s, which have swept ahead to Plymouth, unaware of the trouble the Dorniers, lacking close escort, have run into.



That trouble steps up a notch when the main body of pursuing Hurricanes weighs into the bombers. The next Dornier is falling away even before the last of the fighters has attacked...



...while the chutes from the first Hun show that the crew made a good escape from their burning bomber.



The sky over there seems to be filling up with falling aircraft and descenting 'chutes.



Suddenly, the picture changes. A long stream of aircraft zips past in the opposite direction, slightly lower. Who are these people, and what are they playing at?



I'm out of the battle so I do something I wouldn't normally - turn labels on, briefly. I've set these to display just a single character so even when I do use them, I just get friend or foe identification. And these are foes. It can only be the 110s of Hostile 301. As for what they're doing, the Messerschmitts are actually attempting to cut off a second RAF squadron which can be seen coming up behind.



Up ahead, more 'chutes and more planes are falling. Incidentally, the far west and far north of the extensive BoB2 map has more repetitive terrain textures, as you can see in this pic.



In the next shot, you can see four of 213's Hurricanes sweeping around behind me as they come in for another pass at the Dorniers. Below my raised wing is the next intercepting squadron, coming in from the west. The 110s cutting them off seem to have split into two separate groups. Possibly, some of them have decided to come back our way, where the bombers are having a very bad day.



I never saw the bombs fall but probably they have, for now the remaining Dorniers turn left to make their getaway. As in real life - for all the reports of raids being broken up or turned back, it seems the Luftwaffe rarely gave up, and only turned back without bombing when they could not hit a target, eg due to cloud cover.



I decide to go home before either my rough-running engine quits, or some of those 110s arrive and decide to pop off my damaged, solitary kite. A call to Control reveals the nearest airfield is 50 miles away, so it's high time I made myself scarce. A last look back as I leave reveals the Huns are still being remorselessly harried.



I quit the mission at that point rather than make a long return flight with a risky landing at the end, in my shot-up and hard-to-control crate. Back at the Ops Room, this is the scene after the air fight is over and both raids are withdrawing back the way they came.



Results in BoB2 are updated at different points, but this may well show 92 Squadron's final results from this action. I definitely got three Dorniers and the three damaged Spitfires also reported in the Squadron Diary are likely to be me and the other two in Green Section. We seem to have been the only ones engaged before the squadron went home, low on petrol.

My intended four-squadron concentric attack on Hostile 202 didn't come off - only my section of Spits and 213's Hurricanes actually made contact, with the 110s returning in time to cut off the late arrivals. Nevertheless, between Green Section and 213, we seem to have destroyed or knocked out of formation between a third and a half of the bombers, mostly before they reached their target. A decent afternoon's work, by any standard!

The first chute failure horrified me too.

Well, 23rd July is over; I've made it to the end of another hard day. The final hours of the afternoon phase presented me with two big raids. I opted to fly four times, twice against each raid.

First on the scene is Hostile 401, a hundred-plus raid whose marker tracks north up the east coast, past the Thames Estuary. It's likely target I can see for myself - a convoy off the East Anglian port of Lowestoft. There's nothing else on the plot so I decide to give it a hot reception, authorising two additional squadrons to intercept, on top of the two the campaign AI scrambles.



The Spitfires of 66 Squadron are the first to report spotting the Bandits and I accept the offer to fly with them. When the 3d world loads, we are mixed up with a second Spit squadron, which looks like 603, code XT. I report the Bandits up ahead using BoB2's radio menu system and the boss orders everybody to help themselves. At that poiht, both squadrons bank left and away - 66's are the aircraft with the blue undersides (and no roundels), this colour being one of several substituted for the new Sky colour, seen on the others, before paint supplies caught up with the change. Our mob's Spits have red spinners, reportedly introduced by 66's CO after he was bounced by a wingman! In the distance, you can see another RAF squadron coming in on our left.



The raid has about thirty bombers of some description - Stukas, they turned out to be. Its convoy target is about as far north as Me109s can come, but this raid has both 109s and 110s for escort and they react immediately to our presence. I'm rather glad I allowed the other Spits to draw away from my section, because the former are swamped by a shower of diving escorts, and a wild dogfight quickly develops. The third RAF squadron - seen under my nose - also looks to be about to collect a storm of escorts, who can be seen coming down under my raised wing.



I pick up one of the people who have engaged 66, confirming they are Messerschmitt 110s.



The fellow I'm chasing keeps his speed up and doesn't make an easy target. When he pulls up, another 110 slides into my view from the left, closer in, and I switch targets to him. Ahead, there are Spits and 110s going in all directions, while high and right, the raid ploughs on, framed by what looks like a mix of more escorts and other RAF squadrons trying to get at the bombers.



My second target rolls over and dives away.



I stick with him, but he's good, and again makes a difficult target.



Up behind us, the raid is drawing away, taking its own separate air fight with it. The escorts still seem to be doing a good job of protecting those Stukas.



At last I land some decent hits on the big Messerschmitt and he dives away, smoking.



I generally pause before following down a damaged enemy - partly to clear my tail, partly to avoid losing height needlessly. If the enemy isn't going down, I can make further 'boom and zoom'-type attacks. But this time, I won't need to bother - the 110 settles into a steep dive towards the North Sea, and doesn't pull out.



It's a pity that Hostile 401 had such a strong escort, which so far has proved a match for my grand plan to hammer it with a strong force, rather than nibble at it with a couple of squadrons. But I got one of those escorts, and I've ammo left - time to find another target!

...to be continued!

By now, the skies in my immediate vicinity seem to have cleared. To my left rear, the raid is drawing away, and lower down, some distant aircraft are milling about. Streamers of dark smoke show where damage has been done.



Suddenly, I see a group of fighters coming inland, crossing my nose from right to left, just a short way off. They look like Hurricanes, but as they go past, they begin to break formation threateningly.



I latch onto one of them and stay with him long enough to confirm that - yes, he's a Hurricane.



Further inland, other groups of aircraft are heading out to sea, towards the raid. Our machines, I'm fairly sure.



I turn after them, intending to join up with them in chasing after the Huns.



But the lowest group - more Hurricanes - changes course back inland. BoB2 seems to reflect the historical situation that each squadron had a separate radio channel; on this you can communicate with your squadron and 'Control', at the Sector airfield which tasks you, but not other squadrons. So I have no way of talking to them or hearing what orders they may have been given.



Instead, I chase after a small group of fast single-engine aircraft also heading out to sea. Slowly, I catch up. The dihedral on their wings tells me they are certainly not Hurricanes, and they are rather few to be one of the RAF squadrons scrambled to intercept this raid. Messerschmitt 109s!



I slowly close the range, taking the one on the right. A quick pass and I'll be gone, before the others know what's happening! Besides they will be low on petrol, this far north, and won't be able to hang around.



I give the Hun a decent burst, see the flashes from hits, pulling up and away...at which point I see that I'm attacking what's left of 603 Squadron, and have just shot down a Spitfire!



Horrified, I can't bear to see whether or not the pilot gets out, and end the mission at once. I sit at my desk for a few seconds, staring at the Ops Room map. When the next prompt to fly comes, I grab it, keen to redeem myself!

...to be continued!

Hostile 401 has by now been intercepted by two squadrons of Spitfires, which the escorts have largely succeeded in keeping at bay. For orientation, the pic below shows the Ops Room view very shortly before battle was joined as described in the last post. You can clearly see the markers representing the numbered RAF fighter squadrons - 66, 603, 253 and 46 - coming in to intercept the raid. Where a raid marker has split into two or more as seen below, this usually indicates escorts splitting off.



The Spits of 66 and 603 having done their bit, next squadron to make contact is 46, one of two Hurricane outfits coming down from 12 Group. By the time I take over as Green 1, the raid is headed back south and we’re immediately into a tail chase.



More to the point, the air fighting seems largely to have died down - and many of the escorts the escorts are still in, or back in, position.



Behind and to our right is what I take to be the second Hurricane squadron, 253. Up ahead is the raid, which is heading roughly south, back the way it came, off the North Sea coast of East Anglia.



A limitation of BoB2 is that close escorts don’t weave. This makes it a bit easier to sneak up behind the nearest enemy aircraft, which turn out to be Messerschmitt 110s. In my anxiety to wipe away the memory of my recent ‘friendly fire’ incident, I neglect to worry at all about what the rest of the squadron is doing. Such is my haste that I find myself closing too fast. I manage only a short burst at my chosen target, but make up for this by switching to the one next to him, before breaking off. Net result – two 110s are falling out of formation, smoking.



I get out of there quickly, losing sight of Green 2 and Green 3 in the process. BoB2 - by design, apparently - gives section leaders little control, so I don’t feel too bad about my lack of any better leadership.



I settle down again above some clouds. I think the AI couldn't see through these in the original game, but can, with the otherwise-superior volumetric clouds in BoB2. The trade-off being accepted. I haven't noticed at all, so good call, IMHO. I also really like BOB2's RAF schemes - not just their variety, but the convincing depiction of 'sand and spinach', as Matt Dark Green and Matt Dark Earth were known. I rather despair that certain more modern sims are reproducing Dark Earth as rather brown, and worse, may be convincing a new generation that RAF WW2 camouflage colours were slightly glossy, much as seen on 'restored' warbirds. Whereas people who actually knew them, knew differently eg Michael JF Bowyer, who wrote 'Close inspection of the aircraft showed the camouflage paint to be very rough when touched, thick and very matt so that the aeroplanes gave the impression of being very badly finished'. This is a look the BoB2 texture artists have, IMHO, captured far better than any other sim.



The raid seems to be flying on unperturbed, so I close in again, on my own as far as I can see. This time I come in behind some 109s. I take a bit more care than I did last time, to make sure they really are Huns.



My target falls away smoking. He seems to be the only one with the yellow nose ID markings that really didn’t appear till mid-August. The other 109s, by contrast, are in the early ‘clean’ finish with no mottle to darken the pale blue sides.

But I’ve no time to dwell on such things – that’s the Belgian coast up ahead and it’s high time I was going home.



The other 109s don’t come after me – they will be doing well to make it home, having come so far north.

Back at the Ops Room, a review of squadron diaries reveals that all four bagged some Hun escorts for modest losses. But only a handful of the dive-bombers went down – there was no Stuka party, this time. Overall, there’s a positive RAF balance sheet for this raid – it’s just a pity that I contributed one of our losses!

But the day’s not done yet. What turns out to be the last raid of the day - Hostile 651, sixty-plus is already crossing the Channel, heading for the already-bombed fighter airfields at Hawkinge (which is out of action) and its satellite, Westhampnett (which is barely operational).



The Luftwaffe seems determined to keep our coastal airfields out of action. This forces me to bring in fighters from further away and reduces the prospects of raids being intercepted before they bomb. You can see what they are trying to do, and the sense of it. Doing something about it, that’s the tricky part!

...to be continued!

A WAAF confirms that the damaged coastal fighter base at Westhampnett is the likely target for Hostile 651. Nearby Hawkinge is still out of action and I’m not sure how long repairs will take. No aircraft are currently based at either airfield – maybe just as well! At any rate, I know this may well be my last chance today. So I decide to have another go at putting up a couple of extra squadrons against a raid. If we’re to go down, we might as well end with a bang, rather than the proverbial whimper! First to meet the enemy are the Spitfires of 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron, their County affiliation indicating they're an activated reserve unit, in this case from the Auxiliary Air Force.

This unit has a particular significance for me. About forty years ago, I made a 1/32 Revel Spit 1 model for the father of a work colleague who had flown the type with 616 in 1939-40. Based on a single photo of his aircraft and a likely not accurate black & white profile in Aircam's special on BoB fighters of a different 616 pilot's machine, I finished this with a black port wing but incorrectly painted the rest of the undersurface in Sky. The starboard wing should have been white and the nose and rear fuselage, Aluminium. It looks like somebody has made a worse mistake here, for the boss's Spit is in early Photographic Reconnaisance Unit colours ('camotint' aka duck egg green)! The rest of us have squadron code YQ, not the strictly accurate QJ which was also carried by 92 squadron in 1940 for some reason - 616 reportedly didn't adopt YQ till 1941.



This time, I remember to padlock and call in the Huns, about thirty Ju88s with 109s for escort. They’re not far ahead of us and only slightly above, as they near the coast.



The boss acknowledges my report and orders B Flight – in BoB2, that means Blue and Green Sections – to take the fighters.



However, by the time he’s finished doing all this, I’ve already taken Green Section in behind the bombers...



...who, not unreasonably, start shooting at us.



Their accuracy is above average and I quickly start taking hits. At this point, probably, the smart move would have been to shoot back. However, deterred by the Hun gunners’ accuracy and a reluctance to disobey orders, I roll away in search of the 109s. In doing so, I pass across the rear of the nearest wedge of bombers and get properly done over.

I roll the other way in an effort to get out of the line of fire, or at least make myself a more difficult target, but succeed only in taking yet more hits. I feel like a live, practice target in a Hun air gunner’s shooting gallery. Clearly, I’ve made a bit of a mess of this one.



By the time I’m clear, my Spit’s engine is running rough and I’m having real trouble maintaining any semblance of control. Actually attacking anything is right out of the question. Trying to hold her level, I fall off onto one wing and side-slip past a bunch of 109s, who don’t seem to think me worth bothering about.



They’re quite right, I decide. My role in this air battle is over before it’s even begun, with not a round fired from my eight Brownings. I call it quits, throttle back and bail out, while I still have plenty of height. Better wet feet and a ride home in a boat, than trying to land or ditch this thing.



But I’ve got one last chance. The Hurricanes of 3 Squadron, sporting their distinctive white prop spinners, have caught up with the Huns and as usual, I jump into Green Leader's machine.



...to be continued!

By this time, all I can see up ahead is fighters, which the boss orders attacked. At our level and slightly left, there's a dogfight going on, while another formation is on a steady course above them. I assume it's these fellows we are to attack, and pull my nose up in a climbing turn to come after them.



Closing in, I can see they are definitely 109s. But before I get there, some of them start dropping onto the rest of the squadron, who scatter in apparent alarm or confusion. Not a great start!



Soon, we have a dogfight of our very own in full swing. I chase these two for a while...



...before latching onto this fellow, who is on his own.



After a short scrap, I send him down, smoking. By this time, we are nearly over the coast.



The 109 pulls out and looks like getting away. The sky close around me seems clear, so I decide to go down after him. This time, I leave nothing to chance.



Looking out to sea, I can make out against the sky some distant specks, dancing around in a fight. The bombers must not be too far away, but the rest of the squadron is probably still fighting its battle with the 109s and that's where my loyalties lie. So I head back south, out over the Channel.

Suddenly, with no cause that I noticed, my Hurricane rolls violently to the right. What on earth...? Has a wing fallen off or something?

As a matter of fact, it has...



Chopping the throttle and bailing out leaves me hanging under a silken canopy for the second time in minutes, none the wiser as to why this time.

At this point, before I can do anything more at the Ops Room level, the curtain comes down on the fighting for 23 July 1940. I haven't checked out any details yet, but apparently, we didn't do to badly.



Perhaps, we might yet win this battle!

Well done. A nice read.