ETO Battle of Britain campaign Mark II

[33lima]

One thing about large formations - I've read that the maximum number of aircraft able to be specified in a spawn formation is 16, and that for many formation types (strangely some are better than others) you can more reliably get only 8. Hence I've been experimenting with three spawn files listed for a single die roll entry in a spawn table. The trouble is, there is a random element to where exactly the formations of 8 planes appear. I can give two bomber formations on the one line of the spawn table, identical spawning parameters and they can be 100s of meters, or separated by 30 seconds, apart.

It is only with missions as opposed to campaign missions that big BoB-type formations can reliably be assembled, it seems.

Two or even three formations 8 bombers within 100m of each other would be ok if they could stay that way, more or less. It would represent two or three slightly under-strength staffels. A gruppe was the LW's normal operational unit and they might put up two or three staffels for a particular raid. In real life the staffels might have a bit of trouble maintaining close formation with each other, and anyway, the gruppe formation would likely change en route, at least from transit to bomb run, so a rigid 'parade ground' formation of 20 or so bombers all in close formation would not always be what you'd see.

Rince33 managed to get this in the ETO BoB campaign; they were flying a bit low (about seven thousand feet) but it was still quite convincing, for a CFS3 bomber formation:

This is how a gruppe formation can look in BoB2; I think this was on the way home after bombing...

By the time I was making my second attack, the staffeln had closed up with one another again (in BoB2 campaigns, there are ten in a bomber staffel, flying this double-wedge).

The individual staffel formations are much tighter and better kept than I expect CFS3 campaigns (or maybe even missions) will ever be able to do, but if a CFS3 bomber formation can have two or better still three groups of eight operating fairly consistently in even the sort of formation shown in the first BoB2 pic, that would be a huge step forward in realism!

To finish the story, I ran into the bomber I was attacking and tore off most of a wing, but managed to get out. The Dornier is now missing from the right of the formation, for similar reasons

 

[33lima]

Meanwhile, back at the unexpected air battle over our base...

...I'm soon chasing down my first intended victim. The Spitfires is the supreme dogfighter and in this sort of low-level battle, I have little difficulty with this fellow.

See what I mean?

I'm soon after another. It's hard to keep 'eyes on' when he's turning into the glare of the rising sun...

...but though he twists and turns like a hare, I'm soon on top of him - he's just visible beyond the LH bracket of my reflector sight's glass - which should be round at this stage of the war, yes I know.

Trying to make use of the vertical doesn't do the Hun much good!

Two down! I try to get some of the others into action, but from their responses, it's obvious they already have their hands full. We're apparently heavily outnumbered and the odds need evened up some more - which is where I come in...

...to be continued!

 

[33lima]

I'm quickly on the case of another Messerschmitt who dives in an effort to get away. He's a bit low to try that, though...

...and I nail him when he pulls up. A hat trick!

I'm not done yet, though. There are 109s everywhere, generally on their own, weaving and dipping in and out of the intermittent umbrella of Ack Ack bursts over our aerodrome. I decide this one will be next.

He knows I'm after him and darts this way and that. I follow his every move, staying above him and gradually gaining ground. I know there are other 109s close by, but I'm relying on the way I'm throwing my own kite about the sky, rather than a good look-out, to stay out of trouble, and concentrate on my target.

The Hun tries to get away by pulling up into a zoom climb, but he hasn't the speed for it. I come in behind and let him have it.

He then tries a steeply-banked right-hander but another good burst settles his hash.

Four down! Maybe now we've got a fighting chance!

...to be continued!

 

[33lima]

Looking around just in time, I realise there are two 109s behind me. I call for help, but nobody answers. It looks like I'm the only one left - apart from Huns!

Once again the Spit's turning ability saves my neck. Not only that, it soon puts me behind a 109. By this time, I must be nearly out of rounds, though, so it ain't looking good.

I stay with the 109 through every evasive manoeuvre he can pull, which is a lot. With ammo nearly gone, I take no chances, and finally shoot only when I'm close and have a good sight picture. It pays off - the first short burst takes off the 109's tail!

I'll only get the chop if I try to land or run for it. Nothing else for it, but to stay on the offensive. So I head back into the Ack Ack fire, in search of another Messerschmitt.

I find one, too!

But have I any rounds left? I'll find out in a second!

...to be continued!

 

[33lima]

Once again, there's a merry chase around the sky as the 109 tries to get away.

And once again, a short, well-aimed burst from close range removes the Hun's empennage.

There's at least one more of the beggars out there, though. He seems to be in a bit of a panic, from the way he's throwing his kite around. In the end he goes up like a lift...

...but goes down like a stone, after I've taken off his tail feathers.

And there they are. One Me109 tailplane, in fair used condition.

It had to happen - looking back, I see that one of his friends is clearly planning to return the favour. Beware of the Hun in the sun!

...to be continued!

 

[33lima]

My poor Spitfire is quickly riddled with more holes than a thing with a lot of holes.

This is the Hun's Eye View of me trying to get out of his line of fire; too late, alas.

Time to get out, while I still can!

My abandoned Spit goes down in a steep corkscrew. At first I think she's headed for our own hangars, which would be somewhat unfortunate. But no, as if by a conscious act, she veers off to the right, aiming for just beyond the perimeter track. The 109 was following her rather low, but manages to pull up in time.

The Hun circles underneath me as my aircraft explodes in a cornfield.

That was a narrow escape! All that remains is to check the results - and the debriefing part of my briefing mod.

...to be continued!

 

[33lima]

I land rather heavily, but this time, manage to avoid being dragged headlong by my parachute canopy.

Happily, I don't have far to limp to the airfield. Once there, I rest my weary but intact bones on a conveniently-placed stack of crates - a deck chair would have been more comfortable - and discover that my little briefing mod is working as intended. Which is the good news. The bad news is that it's confirmed that the mission's not reckoned a success. The fact we were intercepted well short of the raid we were supposed to intercept will have something to do with that.

I'm credited with nearly a squadron of 109s shot down, single-handed! 'Nearly' - the ones I didn't get, got me. But at least I'm still able to climb onto crates, and soon enough, to fly a Spitfire again.

Given the excessive squadron strength in CFS3 - about forty pilots, nearly twice the establishment an RAF fighter squadron would have had at this period, and with just the over-long squadron roster to go by - I find it next to impossible to work out how the squadron I'm leading fared from the CFS3 debriefing system. Counting who rejoins you after the combat is the only way I can do that, regularly. This time I didn't get the chance. Maybe it's just as well!

 

[Daiwilletti]

I had a look in the dialogues folder and didn't see anything useful, although I was actually looking for the apparently non-editable advice in briefings on waypoints and giving orders, which isn't too bad. I'd prefer to be able to close up the overview/objective with the 'flavour' text which follows but couldn't find that setting anywhere, either.

Found it!
dlgdboverview.xml
Looks like you can change the label to whatever you want
<Label ID="ctrl3" Caption="Overview:" X="10" Y="17" Width="63" Height="14" FontName="pptypelt"/>

 

[33lima]

Thanks Dave. That file's just got 'PILOT MEDALS' in my install, which is a bit non-intuitive. dlgpagemis_brief.xml and dlgbebrief.xml have 'OVERVIEW', but I'd concluded from the presence of the other text strings in that file ('ARMAMENT', WAYPOINTS, 'TIMELINE, 'STATS' etc) that they set the labels for the tabs in the briefing and debriefing, which I don't want to lose.

 

[33lima]

609 Squadron, Hinton-in-the-Hedges, evening, 19 July 1940

The bad news is that the enemy have fought their way into London. There is no good news.

We're scrambled to intercept a raid over the capital's north western suburbs, between the RAF bases at Northolt and Hendon.

Consulting my map, this is how the mission looks. We've nearly fifty miles to go, as the crow or Spitfire flies.

This time, there are no Spits piling up behind me - all of my flight gets away, to join the four already airborne.

At least the weather's pretty good this evening, with just a few scattered clouds.

The boys are swinging around to join up as I turn onto our interception vector, down to the south-east. After last time, I don't take it for granted that they aren't 109s! But the only aircraft around are our own Spitfires.

The enemy occupying London! It's hard to believe! Time to see for ourselves, what's going on down there.

...to be continued!

 

[33lima]

Ankor's shaders really set off and showcase the fine work of everyone who contributed content to CFS3 in general and to the ETO Expansion in particular. I think it looks great.

Trying not to dwell on admiring the scenery, I’m soon gaining height, levelling off at intervals to have a good look around, in case of marauding Huns. After getting attacked at our own airbase on the last show, well north of London, I realise the enemy must now have 109s based on captured airfields in the south of England. They could be anywhere around us.

All is clear, however, and I warp half-way to London for another check. Coming back out into real time, the outskirts of the capital are clearly visible ahead.

What difference can eight Spitfires make to the overall situation?

My incentive here is that the CFS3 campaign apparently extrapolates your squadron’s results to your side’s operations generally. I’ve not seen a huge amount of evidence for it so far, but that’s the theory. To the extent it works, this approach to campaigns is perhaps CFS3’s hidden gem, even if -as it's doing here - it can quickly hare off into the realms of alternative history. It’s the Battle of Britain, Jim, but not as we know it.

I come out of warp for good about twelve miles out and at twenty-one thousand, which seems consistently to put me a few thousand feet above the enemy. Which is no bad thing, though it does mean that you're liable to miss things down below, if you don't switch on the TAC from time to time. I remember that 249 Squadron's Tom Neil in 'Gun Button to Fire' records how frustrated they were once they moved south to Boscombe Down, flying around with little help from their Controller, often finding out later that the clear summer skies around them were full of enemies they never seemed to see. Missed interceptions may have happened a lot in real life, but they aren't much fun. Especially if your (lack of) success is what gets extrapolated.

At first, the skies around us this fine evening are clear, apart from some Bogies whose movements don’t seem threatening. I ignore them and press on, as they’re clearly not our target (no purple arrowhead indicator on the TAC, equivalent to information from the Controller in an air defence scenario).

Another check indicates our interception point is ahead and nearly quarter right, ten miles out. The Bogies have disappeared astern somewhere. By now, on our right, I can make out the prominent group of reservoirs to the west of London, and the Thames meandering its way across the capital from west to east, up ahead. Closer ahead are two airfields, the nearest one Northolt I believe.

But it’s Bandits not landmarks I came here to look for.

...to be continued!

 

[33lima]

As is my wont, I turn off the TAC again and start scanning visually. The airfield below is I think Hendon, scene of pre-war RAF flying displays which included sundry biplanes doing aerobatics and more warlike things like blowing up compounds occupied by recalcitrant Johnny Foreigners who refused to behave - plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, the cynics amongst us might dare to think. Also just visible is the Isle of Dogs, hemmed in by the famous U-bend in the Thames.

If any of the boys are in a cynical frame of mind, they keep it to themselves and follow me dutifully into who knows what.

Another check indicates the Bandits are ahead and left, 5 miles out, just beyond the 4 mile range to which I just adjusted the TAC.

There they are! First one...

...then two groups. Which one should we attack? After some hesitation, thinking the ones ahead might be fighters and the ones behind, bombers, I decide to send most of the boys after the latter. I will remain aloft with the rest a little longer, in case there are indeed escorts in the vicinity.

Banking steeply right to look down, apart from the flashes of some explosions, all I can see are some distant little silhouettes, flitting along in the opposite direction, a few thousand feet lower. They could be Me110s, or perhaps Dorniers. I decide to go for them and order the rest of the boys to get stuck in

We’re all committed now, though against what exactly, I’m still not very clear.

...to be continued!

 

[33lima]

I spiral down and pick up on a distant, fast-moving aircraft. The TAC confirms there are many others around, but this is the only one I can see out in front and at my level.

It's only as I'm close to letting him have it that I realise that I'm chasing another Spitfire!

Checking behind , there’s a brief split-second of panic before it clicks that the two aircraft back there are also Spits.

Up ahead is another aircraft and this one’s definitely a Hun – an Me110, in fact.

The big Messerschmitt pulls up into a steep climb, starts a turn and then rolls over to go down again, but it doesn’t do him much good.

Breaking off to take stock, I turn on the TAC, just as one of the boys reports being hit. I can see little of what’s happening on the monitor. But the TAC - which displays what my pilot is able to see, if not identify – shows that the skies around are still filled with aeroplanes. On top of that, there’s a lot of bombing and/or shelling going on directly below; that much I can see with the Mark I Eyeball. Several explosions are blossoming on an airfield, RAF Hendon I believe. Bombs, artillery fire or both, it's hard to be sure. But then two or three bombers reveal themselves by tracking over the grassy airbase and I roll in after them.

At this point, as I later found out, the screenshot key stopped working without warning. A few minutes later, the sim completely locked up. In between, I attacked and destroyed a Ju88 and then went for a straggling flock of maybe half-a dozen Dorniers. I was then attacked by a couple of Me110s and took more hits, having already been caught by return fire from the bombers. A call for help was answered, but before it arrived, one wing was badly holed, leaving my kite wanting to roll to one side and really able to turn only in that direction. At one point, I nearly spun in, but managed to recover at low level.

Would I have got away with it? I’ll never know, because just then everything completely stopped!

This is the second or third time - not all in this campaign - that something like this lock-up ha**** me, each time preceded by screenshots stopping a few minutes before the end. Apart from frequent pausing to take pics, the only common factor I can think of is that I have recently had FRAPS running in the background, so I can easily get pics of briefings and debriefings, as well as of the action. Strange, as CFS3 is usually very stable for me. Anyway, we’ll see at what point the saved campaign picks up again. At the rate it’s going, we could be throwing in the towel, any time!

 

[Daiwilletti]

hi 33Lima, sometimes you can get an idea about crashes from the D3D8 log which is a txt file in the root of your install (A file associated with Ankor's shaders). I often get memory buffer overflows, leading to lock-up then crashes. The only reliable way to reduce them for me is to use an intermediate-sized scenerysheet and maybe back off scenery budgets a bit. I've tweaked a number of things which are memory-heavy and can back them off too.

The campaign mission outcome is influenced by successful missions, but in part the impact is determined by the die-roll following the mission, as described in the Campaign SDK. A little bit of individual skill, a little bit of luck. In the Documents/install/ *.cmpstat file, there is a successmod parameter which influences the die roll. It takes a couple of mission successes to turn positive if the successmod is negative. If the successmod is -20 (max negative), then even a good mission outcome may still leave the frontline moving backwards - a heavy burden for a small flight of men and AI to shoulder . . .

 

[33lima]

Thanks for that Daiwilletti. I ran CFS3 ETO again since to test out some A/C copied over from Firepower but will check that log if and when I have the same problem. The screenshots stopping before the lock-up does tend to suggest running out of memory (I have 8GB with background services fairly lean, and 1.5 of VRAM, but have texture and scenery budget files in the assets folder designed to push out the blurry terrain textures which I may need to back off a bit.

So fickle old Lady Luck plays a role in the campaign progression, which helps explain why one early reviewer complained that his success didn't seem to matter much. Fair enough I suppose. All the more reason that BoB campaigns need one of the tweaks you suggested to reduce the chance of the Germans invading before about mid-August to the level of 'Somebody got lost in the fog, rowed over to England, found everybody asleep and grabbed the keys of the kingdom'.

 

[rince33]

All the more reason that BoB campaigns need one of the tweaks you suggested to reduce the chance of the Germans invading before about mid-August to the level of 'Somebody got lost in the fog, rowed over to England, found everybody asleep and grabbed the keys of the kingdom'.

Second that, things do seem to happen too quickly, experiencing this in my stand alone install.

 

[33lima]

609 Squadron, Hinton-in-the-Hedges, evening, 19 July 1940 (replay)

For some reason, resuming after the lockup (using the auto-saved campaign file not the one I created manually, IIRC) the briefing picked up some minutes later in the evening, but not much. The Controller (me, picking which sector and target to go for) decides to order us up against enemy aircraft in the front-line sector we're doing well in, the square that's green.

The order to scramble - and get a move on, please - reaches me a I'm lounging about but ready to go, flying helmet and parachute and all. Not for me, slouching comfortably in a deck chair with my 'chute on the tailplane and my flying helmet in the cockpit.

We're soon our way, with one flight of four Spits already in the air and orbiting to our right as we leave the ground.

All is not well, though. I suddenly hear one of the others on the R/T, announcing he's been hit hard - which in CFS3 as we know, generally means got the chop. Has there been another pile-up on the runway behind me? Apparently not, although there is only one other Spit behind me, not another three. What the...

Sure enough, a glance to the right reveals a row of aircraft streaming straight at our other flight.

We've been hit by fighters on take off, all over again!

...to be continued!

 

[33lima]

I turn towards the developing dogfight on the right and order the boys in. By this time, the air defence people have woken up. There's still no sign of whoever it was on the R/T reporting getting shot down, but there's no time to worry about that now.

There's one! Movement, and his yellow motor cowling, give away the 109, who is slipping in underneath me.

By the time I've come around after him, the range has opened out, but he goes into a fast right-hander and I can cut across his turn.

I get a shock when I realise the Hun is after a Spitfire! He wastes no time and the Spit goes down burning, before I can get into range!

The 109's break takes him across my line of flight. As a result of this, he ends up flying through the hail of .303s which I throw into his path.

After a short chase I get behind him and settle his hash. Retribution is mine, this time!

But there's plenty more where he come from, whereas we have at least two less Spitfires than we started with.

...to be continued!

 

[Daiwilletti]

Progress with Pat's BoB

Thought I'd mention in this thread, for continuity, that further BoB campaign work has been done in the Pat's BoB install. I really hope you manage to eject the Hun from Blighty, 33Lima!

On re-reading this thread, I've taken notes about all the campaign issues mentioned, in the hopes of much improving a BoB campaign for Pat's BoB.

Another comment for future reference - for those souls who want to reverse ETO to it's original state after trying the Bob files, one thing that seems to happen is that there is a mismatch between the unlimitedpilots.xml file in the root install, and that in the AppData pathway. So after reverting to the stock ETO files, suggest deleting uisel.xml and unlimited pilots.xml, in the AppData pathway. These files rebuild when running ETO again.

But in the meantime, I'm hoping to hear how your campaign progresses, 33Lima!

 

[33lima]

Well the Mark II campaign play-through has served this purpose and I can eventually restore the ETO to its previous state, though I will keep some possibly many features like corrected service entry dates and the ability to choose a different aircraft in the ETO version of this campaign and its revised spawns.

Before then I just need to eject the invaders, or at least make them pay the heaviest possible price for their temerity!