Friar

Gulp.....

These are the details of the missions in the campaign. I doubt we will get to complete all 5 on a single Saturday session as you can see they are quite detailed. Mission Details Mission 1 October 9, 1941 16:30 hours 18th Tank Brigade Village of Budayevo 10 km southeast of Gzhatsk Order of the Day: The fascists are advancing eastward towards Mozhaisk, creeping slowly and brazenly in the direction of Moscow. In the nearby Vyazma pocket our surrounded comrades struggle to escape a torpid death, devoid of ammunition, supplies, and hope. Even more bad news plagues us - Gzhatsk has fallen to the German infantry SS-Regiment Deutschland. And they are not waiting for us to catch our breath. Further Waffen-SS troops have been sent to probe territory east of the city, towards our location. The 18th Tank Brigade is ordered with all haste to impede the continued German advance eastward by establishing a blocking position at Budayevo, southeast of Gzhatsk. Reports indicate that Hausser's SS-Regiment Der Führer comprised of infantry and light armor is heading in our direction on the road to Mozhaisk. Our ambush cannot fail. The farm houses in Budayevo will provide us cover and our unshakable union will provide us strength.Notes: Support from ”little forty-five” anti-tank guns .Mission success upon impeding enemy advance towards Mozhaisk. Mission 2 October 11, 1941 15:00 hours 18th Tank Brigade Mozhaisk Order of the Day: It seems the last mission have merely poked the lion, as now two regiments of the 2nd SS-Panzer-Division Das Reich and a detachment of the 10th Panzer Division are bearing down on our position. We should not fear this over-ambitious enemy. Instead, we should be courageous and assured, as Comrade General Zhukov has been transferred from Leningrad to assume command of our forces here in front of Moscow. He has already laid our path to victory by ordering a defensive line across which the fascists cannot and will not advance. Mozhaisk will be held by the 5th Army, Rokossovsky’s 16th Army will defend Volokolamsk, and the 43rd Army will guard Maloyaroslavec.Be strong comrades. Polkovnik Sergey Kalihovich’s 19th Tank Brigade has arrived by rail in Mozhaisk and is now moving toward our position as reinforcement. We must hold this point on the Mozhaisk Line with our very lives. Notes: Support from 19th Tank Brigade and anti-tank guns. Mission success upon stopping enemy advance towards Mozhaisk. Mission 3 October 17, 1941 08:00 hours Kalinin Tank Raid - part 1 21st Tank Brigade Group 2 Order of the Day: The fascists creep ever closer to Moscow, with giant pinchers forming to the north-west and south. You are to take part in an assault on German occupied territory along the front lines just outside of Moscow, centering on the city of Kalinin. Begin the assault in the staging area near Turginovo, infiltrating the occupied villages of Panigino, Pushkino, and Kvakshino as you move north along the Volokolamsk Highway. Cause as much destruction as possible to German vehicles and infrastructure en route to Kalinin. In order to confuse the enemy, the 21st Tank Brigade will advance upon Kalinin from three different points of origin in three groups. Group 1 will cross the front lines between Pushkino and Kvakshino and join your push north towards Kalinin. Group 3 will advance north along the road from Il’inskoe -Tsvetkovo, and later join you and Group 1 near the airfield directly south of Kalinin. All three groups will then push into Kalinin, escaping to friendly territory south of the river Volga along the highway towards Gorodnya and Zavidovo, if able. Notes: Follow the path of the red line. Expect anti-tank guns around villages. Rearm / refuel available near Pushkino. Join Group 1 after rearming. Mission success upon taking Kvakshino. The assault on Kalinin continues in the next mission. Mission 4 October 17, 1941 09:00 hours Kalinin Tank Raid - part 2 21st Tank Brigade Group 1 Order of the Day:The raid on Kalinin is well underway with Group 2 reaching Kvakshino, half the distance to Kalinin. You are to join with Group 2 in Kvakshino and advance north along the Volokolamsk Highway, taking the villages of Troyanovo and Naprudnoye along your route (in red). As you approach the airfield south of Kalinin and turn north-west towards the train depot, Senior Lieutenant Makovsky's Group 3 will advance on the airfield. Your primary task of this mission is to destroy the Kalinin train depot. Escape to friendly territory south of the river Volga along the highway towards Gorodnya and Zavidovo, if able. Notes: Follow the path of the red line. Expect anti-tank guns around villages.Mission success upon destruction of Kalinin train depot. Optional: participate alongside Group 3’s raid on airfield. Optional: escape Kalinin to friendly territory. Mission 5 December 6, 1941 08:15 hours 127th Tank Brigade 16th Army Order of the Day: The situation is grim. German Army Group Center is at the gates of Moscow. Panic has hit the streets, with people fearing we will soon meet our end, encircled by the enemy, like our starving comrades in the city of Leningrad. During the past few hours, however, our despair has suddenly given way to a unique form of courage that can only be born of desperation.Soviet 16th Army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Rokossovsky, is positioned west of Moscow with the task of defending the Volokolamsk Highway. Today you will help launch the Soviet counter-offensive to drive the fascists away from our capital city. You command a platoon of T-34's in the 127th Tank Brigade of the 16th Army, pushing west along the Volokolamsk Highway. You must punch a hole in the German front line, allowing our troops to liberate the villages of Nakhabino and Dedovsk. Notes: Punch through the enemy lines. Liberate Nakhabino and Dedovsk.Join Group 2 outside of Nakhabino. Mission success upon liberation of Dedovsk.

Zip file in opening post has been updated. Changelog I have updated the map to change the spawn randomness, from 60% to 67% so hopefully that will prevent no Tigers spawning. I have also added the Tiger Description into the Mission Brief. The time has been moved to 17:00, the weather has been changed to overcast (and may be raining). I have moved the Tiger spawn points to new locations (in case you knew where they were....queue evil laugh....)

Player Tank Number Sweeper #2 Sid #3 Friar #4 FT #6 Painless #9 Perfesser #11 Squawk #12 Parts #13

Thanks to Sid, Skins are now available

Yes, Sorry Swep, there is that possibility if all 3 triggers fail to fire. Its at 60% chance at the moment I will increase it.

Salute I have converted a 5 mission single player campaign into dog fight maps (all player v AI). All the hard work(and believe me from looking at the mission editor, it was HARD work!) was done by a chap called Elliot543 (https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/64060-volokolamsk-highway-t-34-scripted-campaign/). It is my intention to run these on Saturday night, or start them anyway. The details of the campaign are below. Sid has been working on some T34 skins with a player number on them (1-20, its my bat and ball so I am taking #4) for just such an event, which we can use to assist with ID. I will be making these available as soon as I can so you can download them in time. You will download them....won't you?.... It would be great to have you there (also be good to have some idea of numbers attending so I can adjust the missions if needed. Please leave a note in the thread below). Usual time 19:30ish / 20:00 messing about. Then I think I will aim to start the missions around 20:15. Volokolamsk Highway Tank Crew Campaign Moscow, October - December 1941 Order from Lieutenant General Rokossovsky: “Immediately move to the offensive in the direction of Pushkino, Ivantsevo, Kalinin with the aim of blowing the flank and rear of the enemy to assist our troops in the destruction of the Kalinin troop grouping.” In mid-October of 1941 the German Wehrmacht captured the city of Kalinin, only 180 kilometres north-west of Moscow, leaving the Soviet capital dangerously exposed to German attack. The Stavka concluded that Kalinin must be re-taken at any cost and chose the 21st Tank Brigade for this near impossible task. The decision was made that the assault on German occupied Kalinin would not be supported by any other units or aircraft. Thus, the 21st Tank Brigade was alone and solely responsible for the successful execution of what was to become one of the most famous tank raids in the history of armoured combat. The 21st Tank Brigade, primarily consisting of T-34’s, was organized into three groups for the raid on Kalinin. Group 2, commanded by Major Lukin, was to cross into occupied territory near Panigino, then move north along the "Volokolamsk Highway" towards Kalinin, meeting up with Group 1, commanded by Captain Agibalov, in the vicinity of Pushkino. Group 3, commanded by Senior Lieutenant Makovsky, would move north along the road from Il’inskoe -Tsvetkovo, meeting up with Group 1 and 2 near the airfield directly south of Kalinin. Along their routes, all three groups were ordered to cause as much havoc as possible to German vehicles and infrastructure and to primarily focus on the destruction of the Kalinin airfield and train depot. This campaign re-enacts historical armoured engagements leading up to and including the 21st Tank Brigade’s raid on Kalinin. You will begin in the 18th Tank Brigade defending areas around Gzhatsk and Mozhaisk, resisting the German advance toward Kalinin and Moscow. The final mission allows you to take part in the December Soviet counter-offensive at the gates of Moscow, commanding a platoon of T-34's in the 127th Tank Brigade of the 16th Army, pushing west along the Volokolamsk Highway.

Salute, I thought that some of you may want to download the two dog fight maps I have produced in case you either wanted to play with them on your own, or host them on your own server. Features Summer Version 1. Town Skirmish: There are 3 towns on the map, each with a red and blue start at either end of the town with a flag located roughly in the middle to act as an area of interest to focus the action, if you wish. AI Status: NO AI 2. Battlefield: Start on open ground and head towards the enemy spawn point. Once you have spawned in you will have 8 enemy tanks set off to face you. AI Status: AI Tanks Included 3. Target Range: Spawn in (no sides you can pick any tank from both sides) and blast away at targets arranged at 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 2000m, 2500m and 3000m. It is also set to unlimited ammo. AI Status: No AI 4. Tiger Hunt: Spawn in at the Allied Town Skirmish point at Prokhorovka. You will notice a German truck near by. If you choose to damage it, that will be the trigger for up to 3 Tiger Tanks to be spawned in around the town. Each of the 3 tanks has a 60% chance of being spawned so you may get 1,2 or 3 targets. You will receive a notification on the screen as each is spawned in. The notifications will appear on the top, middle and bottom of the screen. So you may get a notification at the top and middle, top and bottom or just middle etc. depending on how many thanks get spawned in. Once you have killed them they do not re-spawn. To re-set you will have to re-start the server. I am working on adding random positions but for now if you work out where the tanks are hiding (they do not move) I will edit the map and release a new version. Winter Version 1. Town Skirmish: As the summer map but in snow and fog AI Status: No AI How to Use the Maps on your own Machine. Save the files down into your game folder for example C:\Program Files (x86)\1C Game Studios\IL-2 Sturmovik Great Battles\data\Multiplayer\Dogfight The attached zip file has the files in another folder. You be best to extract the files to a downloads folder and then copy them to the above location. Start up you game, go to Multiplayer Select Dogfight Select Create Server Scroll down the screen to the "Mission Rotation" list. You should now see the two maps "DangerDogz Tank Crew Dogfight Summer" and "DangerDogz Tank Crew Dogfight Winter". Click on the the map you want and select "Add to Rotation" You should now see it appear in the box on the right. Click "Continue" at the bottom of the screen. Your server should now start up. Have fun. Any problems or questions please let me know. Regards Friar TankCrew DogFight Maps.zip

Here is what myself and FT got up to last night on a public IL2 server. I wanted to blow sh*t up - FT wanted a navigation exercise

Dont have to watch the video Kira to know that you can not out run a zero in a P40 you have to out turn them. I saw it in a film about Pearl Harbour....

Just noticed that I had posted in this thread about AAA at spawn points. But thanks for the reminder about what we could do for the next combined event.

German Intelligence intercepted from last nights mission 3 German flights I./JG2 Ltn. Eberhardt Grottger FW190-A8 Ltn. Wolfram Kuchler FW190-A8 Ofw. Marko Nachtigal FW190-A8 Ofw. Nikolaus Kaiser FW190-A8 Air start NE of Keltz start at mission start (12:30) Patrol SE of Nettersheim 2621,2622 / 2721,2722 Land at Koln-Butzweilerhof (2024 np2) I./KG51 Hptm. Elmar Seyfried FW190-A3 Hptm. Augustus Kollmann FW190-A3 Ltn. Theodor Hartknoch FW190-A3 OFw. Eugen Krampitz FW190-A3 Air start SE of Duren at mission start (12:30) Patrol and attack targets around Eupen 2418 Land at Twente 0624 II./TG1 Maj. Holger Finger JU523mg4e Fw. Kristof Kronheimer JU523mg4e Fw. Volker Nimitz JU523mg4e No information obtained at time of posting

I should be good to go as well

I am trying to include a target range with exactly what you want, vehicles at set ranges 500m, 1000m, 1500m etc on the Tank Dogfight map but am having trouble finding flat ground on the Prohorovka map. The practice mission Crash has given you does work a treat. Just do not move your tank out of the revetment, if you do the targets start firing back!

Support for VR comes out tomorrow (22/12). I have not been in much since the early days but will take another look at the VR quality. Cheers Friar

I was wondering what the thoughts are the following? Ref the sound in IL2. Many of us, due to the volume in cockpit have the in-game sound turned right down (I have mine at about 12%) so that we can hear each other in TeamSpeak. There have a few posts over in the IL2 forums that have said that the game is best run with the in-game sound at 100%. What they do is to use the Windows Sound Mixer to have the in-game sound at 100% so that the full range of sounds are generated but then turn it down in the Windows Sound Mixer settings to the required levels for the game. TeamSpeak can then also be set to say 90%. I am going to try this myself and see if it makes a difference.

Salute, Please see the post below I found over on the IL2 Forums; Okay.....skeptics, I challenge you to join us this coming Sunday 2:00 PM EST, for one of our closed server combined arms missions. Set in mid July 1941, for ground combat we will go up against all AI Soviet resistance, and I can assure you, you will have immersion and the fastest 3 hours you've experienced in a long time. For air combat, SCG_TeRReF will head up a para drop mission to capture a Soviet air base and hold it. In addition, our air assets will assist with our panzers moving forward to their objectives. Stiff resistance, artillery strikes, AT in the woods and gullies, and plenty of enemy formations determined to stop our offensive. Can't forget those damn IL-2's and that threat from above... We have room for both panzers and pilots. Just PM me for more information if you are interested. 14:00 EST is 19:00 UK time. I have PM'ed the organiser to say that I am interested, asking how many slots are available and that and may have some pilots and tankers from the Dogz interested and waiting to hear back from him. Its tomorrow so a bit short notice but is anyone else interested in having a go? Regards Friar

I am currently building a Sherman mission for the Allied forces in Europe. The below are the only suitable skins I have so far so if you are thinking of joining our Saturday evening (UK time 19:30/20:00) sessions you may want to download them. They are not my skins I found them over in the IL2 forums. Salute PS - Sid is also currently building some generic numbered American skins should we need them for a squad event. C Squadron 23rd Hussars 11th Armoured Div v8.dds M4A2_13-18 Hussars HQ.dds M4A2_24th Lancers A Squadron.dds M4A2_27th Armoured Regimental B Squadron CANADA.dds M4A2_USMC_3rdTB_Ateball.dds

geez Jabo, its right next to the "Any Key"

I am on my second X52 pro and would recommend.

Meeting The Backroom Boys - #2 It has been pretty quiet around the Chapel over the last few days, I think that a lot of the pilots must have gone home for Christmas, so as there were no souls in need of my spiritual guidance (I would guess that they were all probably letting the “spirit” guide them now anyway!) I decided to take another trip up to the airfield to see who was about. I jumped into the Jeep I have on permanent loan from the Car Pool, the Priory’s work can keep me out pretty late and the taxi service around here is virtually non-existent. (Some of the Cab Companies won’t even come to some of the venues I find myself in! Doing the Priory’s work certainly can be tiring at times.) and headed off to the Airfield. The short drive takes me across the town square, down to the junction with the main road. Looking over to my right I see that the “Downed Pilot” seems fairly quiet today also (note to self….good time to go and see Brenda me thinks). Anyway, I turn left on to the main road and head up to the airfield. Driving around here is not the safest of occupations let me tell you. The American chaps will insist on driving on the wrong side of the road, the Brits are fine, we all understand which the correct side is. No matter how many times we discuss it with them, they still insist on doing it (now please forgive this impression but you will have to go with me a bit on this one, stand up straight, chest out, salute and bark out loud as if on the parade square, “Our Way, The Right Way, The American Way”). I understand that they did try an experiment to drive on the correct side of the road once in one of the Southern States, although only doing large sixteen wheel trucks first was never going to work in my opinion. Driving onto the Airfield, it all looks pretty quiet; I can see a few of the planes have been parked up for the Christmas period. I can see old Llocky working on my beat up FW190. I must pop over and say thank you. If it wasn’t for him I don’t think that I would get much flying time in at all. I noticed a Jeep parked outside the Control Tower and a light on at the top, I guess ATC must be operational. I decided to drive over and go and see who was about. I knocked on the Control Room door and went in. I have never ventured to this nerve centre of the airfield before. I was not sure what to expect, although I don’t think I could have ever been ready for the sight that befell me. Sitting behind an arc of screens was a man dressed in a Hawaiian T-shirt (loud colours and jazzy patterns), a red and blue striped tank top (sleeveless pullover), tan coloured, knee length shorts, socks and sandals. His hair was black and shiny (possibly gelled/greased/oiled), with a neat parting down the middle. “Hello” I called out, slightly apologetic, trying to get his attention. He looked up a bit startled. His attention was then immediately transferred back to a screen on his desk. “Victor One Nine Six Whisky Lima, please be advised that normal approach is required for runway Two Zero Zero”. Just at that point a Spitfire in the markings of the Royal Canadian Air Force came flashing past the Control Tower, wing tip smoke on and inverted. The Controller looked up briefly, uttered something about the Provinces and returned his focus to his desk. “Hello” I tried again. This time he raised his head from his desk and looked over in my direction. I was greeted with a thick New York/Bronx accent, “Yea, Wadder ya want? I ain’t here for not for nuffin’ you know!” (Which, I believe went some way to explaining his dress sense) “How do you do” I replied, “Friar, Friar-one is my name”. He came back at me with “Oh it’s you” whilst nodding his head, as if all that had gone before, now made sense. “And you are?” I nervously enquired. He removed the gum that he had been incessantly chewing, stuck it under his desk, stood up and offered out his hand over the top of this screens, “Chuck, err, Charles Stickenoffski”. The formalities at this point, seem quite normal and were running true to protocol, except that Chuck was offering me his hand at approximately two feet to my right. This quite threw me I have to say. A feature of Chuck that had previously gone totally un-noticed by me then struck me like a dull blow with a frying pan to the head. I was standing next to the coat stand and Chuck was wearing the thickest pair of glasses I think that I had ever seen. I moved slightly to my right, took hold of his hand, which re-centred his focus on to me, shook it warmly and said “Pleased to meet you”. “Yea what ever”. He let go and sat back down at his desk. Put his hands behind his head, his feet up onto the desk, and promptly began to topple backwards, just saving himself in time. He stood up, pushed his arm out in front of him, shrugged his shoulders and adjusted his shirt collar, and looked around to make sure that it was only me and him in the room. “So Friar, word on da street is you’re one of da good guys and can be trusted, is dat true?” “Yes, I can be trusted” I replied, (secretly thinking that I may just about to be given some more material for my next publication) “Is there something I can help you with?.” “Yea, first off, call me Fetch, it’s what da bro’ from the hood’ call me”. “Fetch?” I asked. “Yea Chuck Stick….?” “Oh…..” I paused, then got the joke, “Right, Chuck Stick, I see, very good” and did a very silly mime of throwing a stick. Chuck looked at me as though that was not the first time that he had seen that done. I coughed nervously. “So what is it that you would like my help with?” He beckoned me around to his side of the desk, the array of screens certainly looked impressive, Sky Sports, NBC Football, Playboy Channel, Nickelodeon and one small green RADAR screen. He gestured for me to sit down, again looking round over both shoulders to make sure no one else could hear. “You see Friar...” he was interrupted by the crackle of the radio, “Pffft hayhayhay bling-bling-blong haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa broooo haaaaaaaaaaaa Did I tell you about my new girlfriend?” Chuck rolled his eyes, pressed the Push To Talk button on his headset and said (without even asking for a pilot identity) “Psycho, you are clear to land runway Two Zero Zero, Tower out”. Not wanting to be disturbed again he turned off the radio. “Shouldn’t you leave that on” I said whilst nervously pointing to the blips on the RADAR screen. “Naw, they’ll be fine” he replied. “You see Friar” he began again; as he spoke he removed his glasses, leaving his eyes in a squint. He rubbed them and slowly they went back to normal. “I got dis ting for Brenda, you know, the barmaid down at da Downed Pilot”. “Yes, I think I know of her” I replied, not wanting to give too much away. “Well, it’s like this Friar. When I go down there for a drink, and she pulls me a pint of your fine English Bitter,” his face turned skywards and held a wistful expression, “the pint that swirls like the wheat in a golden English meadow, the luscious creamy texture that slowly massages the back of your throat as it slips effortlessly down” Chuck then closed his eyes and slowly licked his lips as if to savour every last drop (that last sentence was sponsored by the British Beer and Brewing Society) she gives me this little wink, and well, I just go weak at da knees. But then when all you fly-boys come in I don’t get a look in. I not sure if she even remembers dat I am there. What can I do to get her to notice me Friar?” “Well” I nervously started, “Well, I have heard that Brenda is a very popular girl and keen to join in with the staff from the airfield, although I must warn you that I think she can turn nasty, a bit violent. I did hear that one of the motor pool mechanics described her as a “slapper” so if you do get close, watch your face.” I rose from the chair and said “Leave it with me and I will see what I can do. It’s been nice meeting you, and perhaps your keep a runway clear just for me when I attempt an approach?” “Friar, the way you come in, I’ll keep the whole friggin’ airfield clear!” I waved good-bye and left the Control room. I climbed back into the Jeep and headed off the airfield and back home. As I drove my thoughts turned to Brenda, well actually two things came to mind when I think of Brenda……Brenda and a pint of Spitfire. © Friar-One January 2007

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