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!
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