Phase 3: Official Combat Reports from The Front

Another tip from the front. Anti Aircraft during the Great War was almost totally inaffective as far as accuracy. To make up for this the Archie batteries threw up a lot of ordnance in the hopes of hitting something. It was considered a nervewracking inconvience by pilots and was considered the worst luck to be shot down by it as it was a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have been at the wrong place at the wrong time several times in Phase 3. Some pilots had such contempt for the Archie batteries that they would perform stunts over them just to taunt them. Archie was most effective to mark the presence of enemy aircraft to patrolling scouts. If you see a lot of Archie up on your side of the line you will know that there are enemy aircraft at thet spot. Here is a screen from phase 3 to demonstrate. Check out those beautiful clouds.
 
Jasta 6 has the word that there are incoming aircraft. 7 Fok DVII's scramble. I climb and cut to the right and see a Camel come down on a strafing run across the airfield, I know it is a risk to go after him before the as there are still more Camels coming down and I will be a handy target but I can't resist the opportunity as this Camel comes into my sights. My fire is effective and he goes down right onto the airfield. I have barely passed over him when I take some punishing hits that start a trail of heavy smoke. I pull up and right and the attacking Camel shoots past me, it is Capt Roy Brown of 209 Sqn. I barely make it down to the airfield and roll past the wreckage of the Camel I shot down trailing a thick plume of smoke. I quickly shut off the engine before it bursts into flames. Those 209 Sqn Camels really trashed the place.
 
Great reports

Great reports from the fields, Makai, and combined with useful hints. On my next flight, I'll watch for dense AA fire, to find the enemies. The second part teaches us: more haste - less speed. Pilots like Richthofen would have resisted that eagerness to attack immidiately just for one good shot, when it makes him the duck for another hunter. But honestly - I couldn't have resisted either; so my pilots never get very old. Keep sending these great combinations of short reports and action pics; they're "pouring more petrol into the flames". Cheers; Olham :applause:
 
Anti Aircraft during the Great War was almost totally inaffective as far as accuracy.

I don't know Makai, one burst from Archie was enough to blow my trusty Nieuport fighter into a cloud of wood chips and flaming debris... sometimes they get lucky... very lucky! :isadizzy:
 
These reports are so making my mouth water. Amazingly immersive. Keep'em coming chaps. If I can't load P2, your diaries make fantastic reading in the meantime...:kilroy:
 
Here are a few screens that demonstrate what OVS and I were describing about the new AI in Phase 3.
I have padlocked this Camel which is being dogged by one of my squadron mates. I stay close but hang back watching both of them. The camel makes a maneuver that causes the DVII to pull up and away. I see my squad mate flash up out of sight to my right and I move into position and deliver some concentrated fire into the engine and the Camel starts trailing smoke and cuts sharply up and to the right and I flash by him. As I look over my right shoulder I see the my squadron mate drop in on him again and finish him off.
If there is one EA left and 2 or 3 of your squadron mates are after him don't try to drop in and join the fray, nearly everytime I have risked this I have ended up as raining debris from a mid air collision. Circle around and watch your squad mates tear into the EA like sharks.
The AI will work in concert against you like this as well. I have had a few occasions now where I got the distinctive impression that they were working me over good as a team. As soon as I would shake one the other was on me.
I apologize for the overuse of the Jasta 6 Fok DVII. I really am testing a wide range of different aircraft on both sides of the line but it seems I keep getting some good opportunities to demonstrate what Phase 3 is like when flying with Jasta 6.
Cheers
Makai
 
RFC 56 Over Arras

I decided to start a new run as a pilot with the RFC. I needed a change of pace. I assigned myself to RFC 56 in late May 1917. Knowing I was in MvR's territory, I was hoping to come across him sooner or later.

First mission, protect a balloon. The Jerries must have known we were planning a defensive patrol as we never made it to the target. Jasta 30 showed up with a surprise attack short after take-off, about 5 miles from the drome. They gave us a run for the money, and I wound up with quite a few bullet holes in my wings.. so I had to ditch. I did manage to down one of the ***'s in a field short of a river.

Here's two shots during the mele. It was fast, so I didn't take many. Look closely at the first shot, that's me waving off of the wing of the Albatros.

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OvS
 
Well... ever get tha feeling you're being made fun of?

So on to our next mission. Another bright and sunny day in Flanders. We were assigned to partol the front, east of Arras.

While on the way to the target, we came across a group of DFW's from Flieger-Abteilung 13 (FA 13). I quikly noticed one was already smoking!! I was LIKING my chops at this one!!! I line her up, and get under her belly. The gunner opens up but he can't hit me. I lay into the belly and straff the underside, killing the gunner, and knocking out the tail. The pilot panics, and starts the decent.

I follow, keeping tabs like a starving vulcher. I pop some lead into her here and there, to keep the pilot honest, and bring her in. She goes down in a field, east of Arras. I not the location for the report. ;)

We regroup and continue on... I take a quick count of ammo... 94!!! Goodness... I only have 94 rounds left! Man, I wasted too much on that DFW!!! I sure hope.... uh-oh... this can't be.

Sure enough. As my luck would have it. Jasta 11. Not just Allmenroder, Schafer, and Wolff, but none other than the Brothers Richthofen as well... and some extra Jasta 11 slob thet probably tossed in there for fun.

Great... 94 rounds, and I'm up against the best!! Well... I am Otto... so here goes nothing.

The mele starts with a break in all directions. The go everywhere, we break into pieces. 5 of us, verses 6 of them. I try to pick one out, but it's just too fast, and with my limited ammo, I have to make sure I am accurate.

Somehow, I break off from the crowd, and find myself alone. But I get the funny feeling I'm being stalked. Sure enough... here come Manfred, diving down on me... why me? This guy really wants a piece of me!!! For the first time in any WWI sim, I've ever flown, I actually felt like I was being hunted!

Now it really goes bananas! Manfred and I, twisting, turning, one-on-one. A fight to the death. I could not believe my eyes. I was in a dogfight with the best. This sim is truly unbelievable. I felt like Manfred was making fun of me. At one point, he passed me flying upsidedown, as if taunting me!! The combat ensues for a good 10 min. I must be making him really mad because he can't get a shot it. Same for me though. He's REALLY good... best I've ever seen. I can't stay on his tail long enough for a clean shot.. remember.... 94... that's it... well... now 71... ooops.... 65....

Well... it gets worse... Lothar decided it was time to help out his older brother and jump in. Not one, but two aces now. This is just getting ugly. Lothar gets a shot it and peppers my left wing. Damn... now I can't turn too well. The SE5a is still doing well though, and holding her ground. I'm down to 45 rounds now... and Kurt shows up. Nice.. now I am doomed.

I finally made that mistake books are written about, and Manfred lays the lead into me. It's over... I'm going down. I ditch on a hill behind enemy lines. Yes... I also broke all of Boelcke's rules, can you blame me?

Aside from the results, this was by far the best mission I have flown yet. The dogfight between me and MvR lasted for 15 minuets before anyone else jumped in, and truth is, I really felt like he was making fun of me. At one point he dropped in front of my nose, I lost him under me, and next thing I knew, he was behind me.... how... I don't know. I could swear the speed that he passed in front of me he'd loose it for sure. Nope....

Anyhow... I was captured, and thus ended my 2 mission career with RFC56. Another victum to the guns of Manfred. I have to admit, it was an honor to be shot down by the best. But I know he'll be talking about me for a long time.... ;)

OvS
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Vell, its goot to have you back on zis zide of zee lines anyvay. Keep 'em comin'! I love reading these reports.

-Rooster
 
Mission with SE5a's from 60 RFC. Lousy weather for flying, but my little squad of 3 goes up anyway to patrol along the line near the coast.
Who would be up in this weather? As we get near the coast I spot a couple of specs high above us on our side of the line going West that look like a couple of DFW's. I start to climb up towards them. As I get close to the first one I notice I have lost the rest of my troop somewhere in the clouds. The DFW's are from Ss-29 and they have made the fatal mistake of not staying close together, still one can be deadly if not approached with caution. I swing back and forth under his tail as the gunner swings left and right to get a shot at me. I hear hits go through my wings but nothing vital has been hit yet. I get some concentrated hits to his engine and the DFW flames and he goes down. I climb up after the other one and tracers from the gunner are coming at me but no hits yet. The gunner is firing from a long distance. I come up under the tail and pop up behind him, Lewis gun blazing away and pieces coming off the DFW. My shots must have finished off the gunner because there is no more fire coming from the back seat. More fire produces a trail of smoke then I run out of ammo. The DFW is still flying towards his target whatever that was but he is losing altitude. I fly along watching to see if he goes down. My squad mates have finally caught up with me and circle around the DFW but do not attack. usually they are merciless. They must know he is done for. I watch to see if he will land but he runs out of air over the forest and I just see a flash then a plume of smoke coming up out of the trees. The squad forms up and we head back to the airfield. We have saved our side from a potential attack, I guess the rainy day flight was worth it.
The weather is one of the major immersive elements in Phase 3. Historical weather has been programmed in the game. There will be days you go to the mission briefing then find that the flight has been cancelled. If you get consecutive flight cancellations don't think there is something wrong with the program. I have had missions cancelled 4 days in a row to bad weather before.
 
Great reports, OvS and Makai, keep them coming!

Good to hear about flight cancellations, Makai. I was beginning to think that the program was having you fly in all kinds of weather, owing to the screenshots. There should be cancellations owing to weather, as well as the off chance, like you had in your mission, that one would be required to fly.

Great job on these reports!
 
when its out?

ok i'm a newbi from germany . today i 've search on google for a ww1 fly-simulation an i found a link to a forum where one guy speak about OFF. i found the official site and this forum. my questions are:

- what iss Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3? the versions of the mod?

- i found out that phase 1 and 2 downloads are not available. phase 3 will coming soon and then i can download OFF??when it will be released?

i would be very happy, if i can get some answers :p ;)

greetz from germany
doc
 
LoL "Tschüss" nice :) :p

Thanks for your answers :) :)
then i will wait for P3.
 
Black Baron in the wrong seat

Sehr geehrter Herr Baron
How could you ? Enlist in an enemy Squad. just for a change ? You might have been dead ! I well understand zat it may be boring sometimes to be as superior as we are, but pleaze, don't do that again. And, by ze way: Manfred didn't fool 'round with you - just a minute ago, he told me, he had well recognized you (from your "exhaust(ed) tan"), and let you live. But he might not next time... So, if you need some change, try a PFALZ or something, but don't do zzat again - pleaze ! The fazzerland needs you!
Hochachtungsvoll
Baron von Mahlo (Der Weinrote Baron)

PS: great, thrilling report. It twisted my "waiting-for-P3-strained" nerves up like a rubber band in these little toy planes. God, we will all have to learn...
 
Not to worry... I'm back in the 'right seat' ;)

This was a cut and dry mission with FA 3Lb. We were sent to bomb a Krumpet drome, with NO opposition, and Jasta 2 in escort. Not, much to write about, it was a smooth flight, no rain, but it looked like it would. It started off sunny, but by the time I reached the target, it was cloudy.

I dropped my load, and watched my wingies follow through as well. It must have been a popular target as more DFW's from Schusta 27b came in and dropped some bombs as well. I hit my mark and blew up a truck and damaged a hangar.

No combat, very little Ack-ack, so we went home without a scratch. It was a good mission to just enjoy, and practice my bombing skills. :)

There's always something fun to do in this game. The RE8's you see were passing within 2 miles of our 'convoy'. What was nice is that my 3 Jasta 2 escorts broke formation, did a recon of the EA and came back. I guess once they realized the EA was non-threatening, they turned away from them and let them go. Good call. :)

OvS

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