The Royal Aircraft Factory's Bleriot Experimental 2 has come in for a fair amount of criticism. However, for its time, it was a capable and safe flying machine (hence 'Stability Jane', one of its kinder nicknames). Its main faults were probably a failure to shift the observer to the rear seat (like the Germans did with their C types), from whence he'd have had a decent field of view and fire; and to fit more powerful engines - I think the Belgian Air Force did both, with theirs. Probably, it should have been replaced earlier by the R.E.8 (with the crews better trained and issues worked out), which in turn should have been replaced as intended, by the abortive Sunbeam Arab-powered Bristol F2B. But aero engine supply issues always dogged British production of more effective aircraft and quantity had to be maintained if the RFC was not to let down the BEF. It never did, not even during 'Bloody April'. So suitable homage is due to the Quirk (another of the BE's nicknames) and the crews who flew it.

With that in mind, I've flown several BE2 campaigns in the sims in which it's playable (unforgiveably, not including Rise of Flight) and my latest effort sees me in WoFF BH&H II donning the mantle - or should that be, the flying helmet and goggles - of the fictional and very possibly short-lived Lt. Richard Kennedy...



...with 6 Squadron (not '6 RFC' - pul-eeze!) in France, in late May 1915.



I didn't spend any time orienting myself with WoFF's fullsome map-based situation reporting tools, but I did cast a brief eye over the relevant pages in one of my favourite WW1 airwar books, Ralph Barker's 'Brief History of the Royal Flying Corps in World War One'; more to get in the mood, than anything else.

Here's the briefing for the first mission. Rather bizarrely, it's a patrol of the lines at altitude (for the time) and in flight strength, rather than any of the tasks usually flown - usually singly - by 'working aeroplanes'. I can try to rationalise this - let's say the CO is making me take a bunch of new pilots aloft to get a look at the Lines in our sector, and is a big believer in 'safety in numbers'. At least, there will be plenty of other BEs to shoot at, if the Fokkers turn up. Not that this usually saves me in these situations, as I found out to my cost in a recent campaign with an RE8 squadron.



This is my BE. There are many like it, but this one is mine. Apart from national markings, including the short-lived Union Jacks on wings, it's devoid of identification, beyond a faded serial number on the fin, which was usually rounded rather than triangular by this time [EDIT - got that wrong - the rounded fin is more of a late 1916 feature). We certainly have the 'modern' V-strut landing gear, in place of the original skids.



Despite being flight leader, I've been given a kite with only a rifle for my observer. Two of the others have Lewis Guns, as seen with the chap who's had the gall to take off ahead of his leader. I'll have to see about who gets what guns, when I get back. If I get back.



From his rather anxious demeanour and the way he's hanging tight to that .303, my observer seems to share my concern.



I swing around Abeele as we gain height - very slowly, both vertically and horizontally. The others start to slide into formation, which I changed from the default V to echelon - to the right, I think.



As you can see, our aerodrome seems to have cinder strips laid down as runways, which is probably useful when the weather isn't so good as today.

Once airborne, I cut a few legs out of the flight plan in favour of a more direct route to the front. We've plenty of time to get to just short of six thousand feet, I reckon. As you can see, and as I'd forgotten, WoFF's version of echelon puts the leader in the middle. I think I'll stick to a V formation in future.



Patience is a virtue, especially if you're flying a BE without time acceleration.



Still, it's a fine day, and WoFF's scenery has never looked better. Onward and upward we go - slowly.



...to be continued!

Nice!

Where's the action?

Hey! Do you WANT me killed???

Soon - well, not really 'soon', more like 'eventually' - the Lines come into view up ahead.



My observer is keeping a good lookout - as good as he can, sandwiched there between the wings.



By this time, while the two other rifle-armed BEs are in formation, the two with machine guns are lagging behind. I decide against waiting for them, having the distinct impression that if I go any slower, I'll be travelling backwards.



We're now over the enemy trenches and turn onto the northerly leg of out patrol line, flying at about 5,500 feet.



Out to our right now is Hunland. But no Huns. Not in the air that we can see, at any rate. Apart from that observation balloon down there.



The gun-armed BEs are still lagging. I feel I should be taking photographs with my camera, presumably a 1915-era A Type which could take only six photos and required the glass plates to be rather laboriously changed manually. But that's not our job today.



After a while, I start hearing the occasional 'crump' sound. Archie has joined the party, marked by the odd dark puff in the sky.



I ignore the desultory shellfire and on reaching the northern limit of our patrol line, turn right to fly the leg in reverse. Turning in this direction might help my two laggards to catch up.



Sure enough, the two kites with the Lewis Guns are soon nicely echeloned back off my right wingtips.



''Bring on the Fokkers', I'm tempted to say, 'we're ready for them', But I know only too well what's likely to happen, should they show up. So I don't say it.

...to be continued!

We rumble up and down our patrol line...



...alone, apart from Archie, and not very much of that. I alter heading and height a little from time to time just in case, but there's so little ground fire that evasive action seems hardly worthwhile, except as practice.



Finally, boredom overtook us and we...no, not began to speak, turned for home.



There are worse things than boredom, of course. Like having your homes smashed and unhabitable. Like the ones down below us, as we leave the Lines behind.



We arrive back at Abeele...



...and I order the flight 'Land here.' They make a long right-hand circuit and do so, apart from one who appears to land long and does a go-around. Perhaps he wants to do some circuits and bumps.



Wait a minute...where are those cinder tracks? Either I've landed on the wrong airfield, or mis-identified one as Abeele after becoming disoriented after taking off.



At any rate, were all safe and sound. And the sortie has been successful. Uneventful, though, hence this AAR is more of an extended screenshot thread for B.E.2c groupies...if such a thing exists.

Update - I've binned this career after finding that my second mission was another patrol in flight strength, but this time well BEHIND our own front lines. I know new pilots made a flight or two to check out the vicinity but this too much! No amount of clicking the alternative mission/target buttons made any difference. Pity.

If you click the "Back" button to the main campaign screen, you should be able to click the advance time button and be assigned a new mission that way. Or, fly the mission anyway, experience "engine trouble," and return to base. Hopefully, you won't be assigned the same mission next time.

Is there no chance there could be marauders encountered behind your lines?

Thanks!I may do that, easier if less capable than using a mission editor utility to change inappropriate mission types and numbers. I had scrubbed a mission inadvertently by using the Back button, but it never occurred to me to use it deliberately.

EDIT - well i back buttoned as you suggested BB and that got me another patrol (the bad news), but this time over the enemy trenches (the good news) but with ten aircraft not one, five each from A and B Flights (the additional bad news). I realise there were times when aircraft flying a recce were escorted ('accompanied' might be a more descriptive term) by other aircraft from their own squadron. If fact due to losses, in January 1916 it was ordered that a recce aircraft was to be escorted by at least three of its kinsmen; tho this would effectively have inflicted massive virtual attrition on squadrons and from the RFC communiqués of the time, one to three aircraft per recce flight might be more realistic. If only the loadout screen enabled you to change the roster, as it does in Third Wire sims.

So I'm back in action with 6 Squadron. I also took the opportunity of increasing air activity to the highest setting and likewise AA fire, thereby increasing both its rate of fire and (gulp!) accuracy. As will be seen this helped - to a degree. But more (but less or no more lethal!) AA fire looks still to be desirable. And a loadout option to reduce the number of aircraft (not 'craft', this isn't a naval sim!) for recces and art obs (haven't flown one of the latter yet in BH&H II) would be welcome, as well as reducing massively the probability of drawing a patrol mission for such squadrons (except for low-level Contact Patrols).

Anyway thanks to your tip, I'm at least back in the skies in my 2c!

Yes but in 1915 this should be single enemy two-seaters, maybe more if on a bombing mission, absolutely not a suitable target for BE2cs as those who tried it found out, barring the occasional success with mostly Lewis Gun aricraft. Besides as we know, RFC and RAF patrols were by doctrine Offensive Patrols, over the Lines of 'Distant' ie over enemy territory, unlike the German scouts who most of the time fought over their own side (MvR's last flight largely illustrating why).

It's not easy to replicate all the missions seen in real life as they evolved over the war, so the best bet is probably to minimise or - if that's the only way - eliminate rare missions for certain types. In FE/FE2, wordpad edits to campaign files can allow or remove any one or more of the range of available mission types to each individual squadron, and if allowed, further specify its percentage probability. Like this entry for 2 Sqn in May 1917:

[AirUnit007]
AircraftType=RE8
Squadron=
UnitName=16RFC
ForceID=1
Nation=RAF
DefaultTexture=RAFBrown1
StartNumber=2
BaseArea=Chocques Aerodrome
RandomChance=100
BaseMoveChance=0
MaxAircraft=12
StartAircraft=12
MaxPilots=12
StartPilots=12
Experience=70
Morale=100
Supply=10
Intelligence=40
MissionChance[SWEEP]=0
MissionChance[CAP]=0
MissionChance[INTERCEPT]=0
MissionChance[ESCORT]=0
MissionChance[STRIKE]=90
MissionChance[CAS]=50
MissionChance[SEAD]=0
MissionChance[ARMED_RECON]=80
MissionChance[ANTI_SHIP]=0
MissionChance[RECON]=90
MissionChance[BALLOON_BUSTING]=0
MissionChance[BALLOON_DEFENSE]=0
UpgradeType=NEVER

I see, thanks for the info.

The same afternoon - 27th May 1915 - we're off on another patrol of the Lines in flight strength, thanks to Buckeye Bob's suggested use of the Back button to scrub a patrol well into our own territory. This time I will rationalise this as a recce flight, to get photos of the trenches and report any unusual activity observed 'on the other side of the hill.' I could also have taken some bombs and treated it as an armed reconnaisance sort of show. I'm unable to reduce the numbers to a more realistic single aircraft or to eliminate the participation of A Flight, which means the whole squadron is flying a mission capable of being performed by just one of its aircraft. It's like the campaign engine is assigning us patrol missions suitable for scouts/fighters from 1916-18. Anyway, I'm going with a slightly-reduced fuel load and in diamond formation. I've the privilege again of having Louis Strange - one of the true RFC pioneers, and inventor of mounts for the Lewis Gun - in my flight



I'm hoping that someone at Wing will put a stop to these over-manned sorties, but until then, orders are orders! We have an F.E.2 in the squadron, as you can see, and he's flying with my B Flight. I realise that RFC squadrons often operated mixed types in the first few months of the war, but I thought that 'Fees', when they arrived, were put in their own squadrons.EDIT - in fact, 6 Squadron got an early delivery of four FEs in June 1915, so its appearance here is about right.



As you can see, the weather has deteriorated during the day, with rain, low cloud and general murk having replaced scattered cloud and blue skies.



For a while, I can see A Flight behind and below to our right, but eventually they disappear from view. I've increased both flight activity and AA fire to the highest settings and am soon rewarded - despite the extensive cloud cover - when AA bursts alert me to the presence up ahead of other aircraft.



It looks like a pair of Aviatiks, snooping around just on our side of the Lines. Rather than trying to catch them, I proceed with our own mission.



As we near the Lines, I have time to admire the effect of animated rain drops on my goggles.



We duly trail our coats up and down our assigned track over the enemy trenches, which I can see at times through gaps in the cloud. I decline to descend below the cloudbase for a better view. Archie is only slightly more active; perhaps the clouds are screening us, but there's nothing like the noisy and nerve-wracking bombardments often featuring in pilots' accounts. I throw in a few minor course and height changes, just in case, while trying to minimise straggling.



I think I made three runs before getting rather bored and diving for home.



Anyway, I suppose I should be glad to have survived my first day at the front and avoiding doing anything too stupid. I'll keep the higher settings for air activity and AA fire as they certainly make even the 1915 skies a little livelier, even if they cannot be sustained into 1918's busier skies on my PC. Which if so would be a pity, as I think they represent what should be the default or even minimum levels in each case, from what I've seen.

Awesome pal, just a thought have you tried Bletchley,s mission mods for BHaH II from the mods page..not sure if it’ll help with mission type/ occurrence etc mate.

Enjoying the screenies and reports Lima, thanks for posting. In terms of mission tweaks, if using Bletchley's custom missions, don't forget to enable "3rd-party mission mods." in the WOFF menu. The only other thing that I can think of, to manipulate missions further - is to use JJJ's excellent Mission Editor (allows for reduction of aircraft nos. in your own flight, also, if I remember correctly, for removal and/or manipulation of A Flight, etc.). For the record, I usually reduce flight numbers when doing early-war WOFFing simply by setting select pilots to 5 or 10% fuel - that way they do a couple of circuits and land, while I and another one or two fellows continue with the assigned mission.

Cheers all,
Von S

Thanks for the tips guys!

Reducing fuel to 5% - I hadn't thought of that, VonS! Clever!

I think little of using PWCG's campaign generator for RoF, as it enables me to control factors like flight size, who leads, and flak density, as the benefits to my mind much outweigh the hassle. So instead of hankering, I suppose I shouldn't hesitate to use JJJ's ME to reduce flight numbers, swap out mission types that feel unrealistic to me, and do anything else it does that I think is needed.

The worry of course is that other factors - like possible gaps in patrol coverage (possibly due to ORBAT gaps) and MG lethality (even at the current lowest setting) - turn out to mean that my preferred default of single 2-seaters for recce or art obs missions results in an even earlier bath than I usually get.

Putting all this together, what it seems I'm after for careers in working aeroplanes is:

1. the ability to reduce flight numbers for recce and art obs missions, usually to one aircraft with no A Flight (but not always for recces, who would sometimes be 'escorted' by aircraft from their own squadron);
2. to eliminate most instances of separate escort flights by fighters/scouts (mostly, as it did sometimes happen);
3. the ability to replace unrealistic mission types (patrols, as a rule) with the more common ones (art obs, photo and general recce, bombing, contact patrol - the latter possibly by taking a flight patrol mission, reducing it to one aircraft and then flying it at say up to or below 3,000 feet);
4. much denser and slightly more frequent AA barrages, largely so there's a greater chance of spotting other A/C before being jumped, without having to set the TAC at long range or turn on labels;
5. a further reduction in AI MG effectiveness; and
6. the current high air activity level to be sustainable even late in the war.6
By the sound of it, 1 & 3 can be done with JJJ's ME; 4 & 5 possibly with a mod; 5 night not be necessary if 1918 sees more air activity anyway and is equivalent to earlier years on a medium setting.

It would also be nice to reduce the default AI flight size during (say) the first year of the war so that what you USUALLY meet in the sky is one other aircraft, friend or foe (instead of routinely seeing flights of Fokker Eindeckers).

As things changed so much during the war, it must be very hard to reflect that variety in a campaign.
.

Great points Lima - nos. 4 and 5 may be modified using that other excellent tool by JJJ - the "MultiMod" (allows for better/worse dispersion of AA, also for changes in AI, and player, M.G. effectiveness).

In terms of those air-density settings in WOFF, while some of it seems obscure, I think the general purpose of it is that it reduces or increases the diameter of aerial activity. For example, a setting of medium or heavy will give you widening circles of activity, even if you veer far off course of your mission path. I keep that setting on "light" well into 1916 and only occasionally encounter the odd enemy aircraft - chances of encounters may be increased slightly by manipulating that other setting, for forced encounters, to something like "medium."

Keep in mind that aerial activity, and diameter of activity, is automatically adjusted in WOFF as the years progress - so you will have more encounters, and activity, in 1918 - even on the lightest activity setting - than in 1915. If you hardly ever veer off (too much) from your suggested flight path for missions - it's probably pointless to have air activity/density higher than "medium" at any period in the war - it will only result in an FPS hit with no major benefit (of immersion) to the player/flier.

Cheers all and happy WOFFing (and toggling of settings in the WOFF menu),
Von S

Thanks VonS!

I did notice a difference with the air activity increased from medium to high - but that was based on precisely one mission, so hardly a valid conclusion on my part! I'll try both JJJ's MultiMod and his mission editor - sounds like they should between them cover off nearly all of what I'm after.

As it's realistic not to fly far from your unit's area of ops (unless moving base) I'd prefer if the air activity setting mainly or solely affected that 'bubble' - rather than encouraging indisciplined flying! But I'll stick to the medium setting if it doesn't really affect what's going on well outside the area of my assigned mission. One thing I dislike about FE2 is that it often has me flying to target areas far to the north or south of the area of the Lines opposite my base.

Yes, modded FE2 could have been the gold standard of WW1 sims. had a few more things in it been done right - such as trees that you can actually crash into (not the phantom, alpha trees currently available and that ruin immersion) - as well as more reasonable mission distances (not those dreaded long recon. flights that send you to the other side of the virtual map) - but it is what it is.

The other thing that always troubles me about FE2 is that there is no way to pin down repeated flights so that they start from the same aerodrome, if flying only single missions - it's always a random throw of the dice in that single mission editor, if it can be called an editor - so I can never really get true "rolling single missions" going in FE2. Oh well, maybe one of these days I will stumble on a trick to pin down the aerodrome for single missions - or I might look into those Armchair Aces campaign files for FE2, that Ojcar did awhile back, and will tinker with some file editing. Maybe that will give me more immersion in FE2.

Anyway, happy flying in WOFF and hope that JJJ's MultiMod and MissionEd give you more historical two-seater flights.

Cheers,
Von S

After a corrupted morning mission due to a failed effort at using a mission editor, my next show is on the afternoon of 28th May and is billed as a patrol to the Lines with three other BEs of my B Flight, with others from A Flight 'in support'. I choose to interpret this as a photo and visual recce mission, but decide to take along four little Cooper bombs to enliven proceedings for the Huns down below. I also use the Loadout screen to reduce the rest of B Flight's fuel to 5%, so they will potter about then go home, leaving me to fly the mission on my own.



The weather isn't quite as murky as on our last hop.



The fuel trick has evidently succeeded; the rest of B Flight has already given up on following me.



I know my observer is a keen type, but I'd be perfectly happy if he kept his rifle out of the way somewhere until he needed to use it. As it stands, if and when he starts swinging it around against the slipstream, it's a good indication that he's spotted something he doesn't like the look of.



As we come to the Lines, there's some intermittent shellfire striking the enemy trenches.



Despite reasonable visibility, Archie is conspicuous by his absence. We turn to make our photographic run without interference from air or ground.



Having made a straight and level run to simulate taking a strip of photographs, I let fly with our Cooper bombs. No particular targets are visible, so they're just adding to the general mess and mayhem down there.



Next, we have a good look at a damaged bridge, to see how repairs are getting on.



Then it's back home we go, with our precious photographs. It's only about this time that Archie bothers us, and even then the firing is desultory.



Someone else is getting the same treatment. Can't tell anything from the colour of the bursts, but it looks like it's another two Aviatiks, as seen the day before.



Eventually, Abeele is in sight, just to the right of our track. My observer is alert to the last.



Just when a nice cup of tea is almost within reach, something clips one of my wheels - possibly a tree-top. My machine carries on for a second, then flips into an uncontrollable nose dive. Goodnight, vienna!



Well at least the Fokkers didn't get me, and I now have some ideas which should somewhat improve my next 2-seater career!

Ouch!

17 days for scout pilots during Bloody April. More like 17 hours in a BE!