ETO Battle of Britain campaign Mark III - Page 3
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Thread: ETO Battle of Britain campaign Mark III

  1. #51
    The aircraft behind are the Huns, and they're coming to get us.



    But the ones to are right are our escorts, and they're already turning in to cut off the 109s – these Spitfire boys are certainly on the ball today!



    Meanwhile, we have those ships to deal with. I want to bring the boys in behind the convoy and look for the tell-tale wakes. I see none. It looks like the ships are riding at anchor, or hove to, or whatever the matelots call it when they’re not going somewhere. I eventually realise I’m in front of the ships.

    Sod it – I order the squadron to attack anyway, this time without picking specific targets. This is acknowledged smartly on the R/T and off they go. So far, so good.

    I spiral down to one side of the flotilla and await developments before singling out a target of my own. I don’t have long to wait. There’s an explosion on the ship nearest me, as the first bombs strike home.



    Then another, this time one of the launches.



    Then another of the merchantmen is hit, on the far side of the group.



    Then the ship in front of that is hit.



    All in all, I reckon we’ve hit four of the bigger ships. Why our bombing accuracy - and speed of delivery - is so much better than before, I have no idea, but it’s a very welcome improvement.

    Right - now it's the turn of the boss!

    ...to be continued!

  2. #52
    Bang! There goes another one!


    The damaged ships are burning but not yet sinking, so I decide to try to finish off one of them.



    I aim to pass diagonally over the two ships on the far side of the group. Bomb bay doors open! Flak, previously very heavy, seems curiously absent. Are the gun crews all on shore leave in Guernsey?



    I'm still a bit high, so I decide to skip the first ship and let the furthest one have all four of my 250-lb GP bombs, by which time I’ll be nearer masthead height.



    Right, here we go!



    ...to be continued!

  3. #53
    Bang! There goes another one!



    The damaged ships are burning but not yet sinking, so I decide to try to finish off one of them.



    I aim to pass diagonally over the two ships on the far side of the group. Bomb bay doors open! Flak, previously very heavy, seems curiously absent. Are the gun crews all on shore leave in Guernsey?



    I'm still a bit high, so I decide to skip the first ship and let the furthest one have all four of my 250-lb GP bombs, by which time I’ll be nearer masthead height.



    Right, here we go!



    ...to be continued!

  4. #54
    Sorry about the duplicate post, an edit that became a double - noticed to late to delete! Story to be concluded later.

  5. #55
    Got him! The already-battered vessel takes another hit, roughly amidships.



    Possibly two hits in fact, as there are just two waterspouts from my four bombs.



    And where is the flak? Still no-where near me, I'm very glad to say. Maybe all those hits the boys got earlier have shut them up. Meanwhile, my target is rolling over to port.



    Yes, there she goes. That'll be the end of her! In un-modded CFS3, the ship would probably have been vertical and half out of the water, doing an impression of Titanic on a bad day before disappearing within another few seconds.

    While this rather more realistic nautical drama is playing out, other Blenheims can be seen buzzing around, doing what I'm not quite sure.



    As I bank away, the stricken ship is over on her beam ends and clearly doomed.



    Time to call it quits! I order the boys back. Spirits are high, losses are low - nil, I think - and I want to keep it that way.



    However, there remains the small matter of getting everybody home, through skies filled with people who will want to stop us from doing any such thing.

    ...to be continued!

  6. #56
    Right - time to take stock, while I wait and watch for the squadron to re-form. I've been concentrating on matters naval for the last few minutes. I now need to find out what all the flyboys are doing. Which is hard to say. There's several aircraft astern, Blenheims undoubtedly included, but there doesn't seem to be any aerial combat going on. Which is good news, of course, from our standpoint.



    But first appearances can be deceptive. There's something going on, up there.



    In fact, it's our escort shooing down one or more Dorniers. If these are the same people who were bombing bridges next to our airfield as we took off, I have very little sympathy for them, to be quite honest.



    Anyway, we're still in the clear, so it's back to Dear Old Blighty we go.



    Good-bye, Guernsey. Maybe we'll nip across on the ferry for a summer holiday, when all this is over and the Channel Islands are back in British hands.



    It's easy to let the mind wander to thoughts of happy holidays in warmer climes on a fine day such as this.



    But it's a little too soon to be making any such plans, as we'll find out before long.

    ...to be continued!
    Last edited by 33lima; July 3rd, 2020 at 15:13.

  7. #57
    For a while, all goes well. Feeling safer lower, I tootle along at a few hundred feet for a bit.



    Nothing bad happens, so I speed up the process, courtesy of CFS3's highly time-accelerated version of warp. Which takes us up to over twenty thousand - then comes out, still over water, with what looks like a bunch of midges buzzing about, to our right rear.



    It's actually a small formation of Junkers 88s, apparently unescorted and drawing attention from our own escort. Who are having an even more exciting time than we are, if anything.



    Nothing nasty comes our way and finally, we approach the coast, on a reciprocal of the course on which we came out.



    Just when I'm beginning to think we've now got nothing worse ahead of us than a rather boring flight back up to Staverton, Bogies are sighted astern.



    It's no mere bunch of Hun bombers, this time - we're being chased by 109s! From the dreaded Invisible Pilot Squadron, to boot.



    Pilots or not, they're after us, and we're in trouble!

    ...to be continued!
    Last edited by 33lima; July 3rd, 2020 at 15:15.

  8. #58
    Throttles all the way forward and nose down, I race for the ground. But from the confused picture revealed by the Tactical Display, something seems to be happening with our pursuers, back there.



    In fact, our ever-faithful escorts are in the process of rescuing us once again!



    We're not out of the woods yet, though. We've left the air fight behind, but not one of the Huns, who has obviously eluded the Spitfires and is now close behind us, on our right.


    I see the 109's guns winking and his tracers zip out towards the Blenheim he’s attacking. Then the smoke of hits. The Hun fires again, and this time, the hapless bomber bursts into flames!



    For want of anything more useful to do, I switch to the dorsal turret and after jinking about briefly, the AI pilot settles onto the course for home, continuing to dive. Meanwhile, the burning Blenheim has peeled out of formation and is flying off to one side, visible just above the horizon.



    The damaged bomber's nose drops and he goes down vertically, still on fire. If anyone got out, I didn't see them.



    All this way, to end up losing an aircraft and probably a crew, just when we thought we were home and dry! And we're not there yet!

    ...to be continued!

  9. #59
    The victorious 109 has followed his victim down. The invisible pilot now seems to be in residence, as you can see.



    The beggar is soon climbing up after us again.



    All I know is that he's down under my tail somewhere and I fear the worst.



    By now, however, the ground is coming up fast. The Hun suddenly seems to lose interest, and drifts away to the south. We've made it!



    Not only that, but the mission ended cleanly. It was rated a success, too! Even my new debriefing file seems to be behaving itself.



    My personal tally lives up to my expectations, with two hits from four bombs and one ship sunk. Considering the boys damaged my target first, I'm happy to chalk that one up to the squadron.


    After the operational and technical frustrations of the last few missions (fun though they were) it’s like the CFS3 sun has come out from behind the clouds. Fingers crossed it stays like that, though I'll not make any assumptions about whether I've really resolved my CTDs on the basis of just one mission. An action-packed and exciting mission it was, at any rate!

  10. #60
    59 Squadron, Staverton, evening, 13 July 1940

    Our second trip of the day is another anti-shipping mission - if I can work out why the campaign won't give us anything else I will fix this, unless it interferes with the fighter version of the campaign (which reasonably enough seems to offer only interception missions).



    Once again, our route takes us down to the south of the Isle of Wight, but not so far out into the Channel, this time.



    I decide to take two 500-pound bombs, instead of four 250s. We're soon taking off into clear blue evening skies, leaving behind our impressively-detained base.



    Our to our right as I climb out, I can see some Spitfires; our escorts, presumably. They seem a bit agitated, although I can't see why. Incidentally, the blurry instrument panel is back, but I fixed that with a cfs3config adjustment after the mission.



    I start a gentle turn towards the south, as the evening sun starts to sink towards the western horizon, bathing the English countryside in a restful golden glow.



    There's nothing restful about the scene behind us, though. A small group of Heinkels is sweeping towards our base, pursued by our escort!



    It looks like we got off the ground just in time!

    ...to be continued!
    Last edited by 33lima; July 5th, 2020 at 05:45.

  11. #61
    There are the Heinkels...



    ...and there are the Spitfires, attacking them. Based on past experience, I'm optimistic they'll re-join us when they're free, and still have some ammo left, when they do,



    The Huns turn around and then drop a few bombs on our airfield. The last we see of the action is the Spits chasing the Heinkels back the way they came.



    By this time, we've settled onto our assigned course. There are no Hun fighters around so I'm hoping we'll have an uneventful run down to the target and a profitable evening's bombing, when we get there!



    ...to be continued!

  12. #62
    Hopes of an uneventful leg to the south are interrupted when we come out of warp well short of the coast. Now what?



    Crikey! Where did that lot come from? Beware the Hun in the sun! Me110s, by the look of it - big trouble, lots of it.



    Fortunately for us, our Spitfire escort tears into the 110s, who, surprised in their turn, sheer off to our rear.



    The air battle disappears behind us with surprising rapidity...



    ...as I watch anxiously from the dorsal turret.



    But all seems well again. A check with the view from the mirror sight of the rear-facing gun mounted in that little blister under the nose confirms no-one is sneaking up underneath us, either.



    Now, perhaps, we'll be free to get on with our job.

    ...to be continued!

  13. #63
    We plough on and can now see the coast up ahead, with the Isle of Wight slightly left of our track, as it should be.



    Our escorts soon re-join, but they don't hang around for long. Suddenly, a shower of Spitfires is dropping from the skies just ahead of us.



    This is what they're dropping on - a group of 109s, who look like they're about to get a very nasty surprise.



    The Spits are soon giving them hell...



    ...and once again, the air fight drops away behind us. Thus left in peace for now, I request a navigation update, which indicates we're now about thirteen miles out.



    Power, attitude trim and down we go!



    ...to be continued!

  14. #64
    The soon-to-be-setting sun in the west makes a fine sight, but I've no time to admire the view.



    Down we go, towards an as-yet-unseen target.



    A quick check of the situation reveals that we have company - bad company, and close by!



    Messerschmitt 110s are diving on us from abeam and out of the sun! Two are heading straight for my section on the left. After a split-second wondering what to do about it, I decide to pull up, as they're going down.



    My next move is to the dorsal turret. The Huns who came closest have swung out well to the left, and I start testing the range and my aim with short bursts.



    My pilot sensibly settles back into his dive, while the two 110s circle out of range, as if planning their next move.



    And this time, there's not a Spitfire in sight!

    ...to be continued!

  15. #65
    Long time lurker here - I'd just like to say I've really been enjoying your mission reports and look forward to more. I haven't been flying CFS3 for quite some time (mostly because of neck trouble - staring fixedly at a computer screen is not a good idea) but your mission reports are making me feel very tempted to fly again... Cheers, David.

  16. #66
    Thanks for that David! And I hope you're 'well enough to fly again', soon!

    Meanwhile, back over the Channel, my formation is suddenly attacked from behind. A Messerschimitt sets a Blenhiem on fire and wheels away, before I can get off a single round at him.



    The stricken bomber flies on briefly...



    ...before peeling out of formation and going down.



    But my attention is quickly drawn back to the Hun who got him. The 110 hasn't gone far and now looks like he's setting up for another pass!



    All the while, we're getting closer to the target...except the target isn't there.



    It's only afterwards that it will occur to me that maybe I didn't see any ships on the Tactical Display because I'm not up front, in the pilot's seat. For now, all I can think of is that we've come all this way, just to get shot down!

    ...to be continued!

  17. #67
    Suddenly, my attention is drawn back to the left, where the original two Me110s have darted back in towards us.



    They don't make easy targets of themselves but I manage to get off a couple of bursts, this time.



    This seems to have the desired deterrent effect, for the Huns just melt away again.



    Or so it seems...

    ...to be continued!

  18. #68
    The navigator/Tactical Display is now telling me that we're practically on top of the target that I can't see. In desperation, I order the boys to attack, without picking a specific target. As on the last mission, this should result in them attacking the mission objective, but in retrospect I think the lack of responses on the R/T may indicate that I need to be flying the aircraft, to issue such commands. You can see that I have collected some hits from the last attack, so it wasn't entirely ineffective.



    Utterly without warning, there's an awful racket and fragments fly as streams of violet and red tracer sweep my aircraft, holing it from nose to tail!



    I've been attacked from below by an enemy I never even knew was there!



    For a spilt second I just sit there in complete shock. Then, back in the pilot's seat, I break down and right, instinctively turning back for the coast. The 110 doesn't come after me straight away; possibly he thinks he's got me.



    I think so, too. I dump my bombs and head for home. Clearly, I'm not VC material. But I'll settle for not being shot down while hanging around to bomb ships that aren't where they should be.



    Home we go! I don't rate my chances of making it, which makes me feel less guilty about leaving the others. I've led them right to the target and ordered them in; I can do no more...except perhaps draw off one or more of the Huns. If they don't get me, engine failure probably will.



    All that confidence instilled by the success of the previous mission didn't last very long!

    ...to be continued!

  19. #69
    Down we go, aiming for the eastern tip of the Isle of Wight.



    Behind, bombs splash into the sea. No ships are visible, so perhaps the others have just followed my example and dumped their bombloads.



    All I can see from the cockpit is a confused picture full of unidentifiable aircraft, some of which appear to be closing up.



    As they get nearer, I can see that some of them are Blenheims. Others are definitely not.



    Suddenly, that friendly coast seems a long way away!



    ...to be continued!

  20. #70
    By now, our formation - minus the aircraft already shot down - is back together, if a little widely-spaced.



    The next victim is the Blenheim on the outside left of the formation, who is attacked from astern.



    All the while, the 110s are buzzing around us, like bees or wasps round a pot of honey.



    The Blenheim who's been attacked is beginning to fall behind, and one of the Huns rolls in for the kill...



    ...which he duly gets, but not without being sent down himself, wings holed by return fire.



    Throttles wide open, I race for the water, to get as low as I can without running into it.



    Sinking ships is long forgotten. Now, it's just a matter of staying alive.

    ...to be continued!

  21. #71
    Suddenly, there's that horrible, whooshing explosion that every CFS3 player knows only too well. Behind, a Blenheim under fire has blown up and disintegrated. Further out, another bomber has also been hit hard.



    One of the broken Blenheim's wings tumbles crazily while the fuselage, with the other wing attached, plunges seawards.



    It's hardly surprising that nobody gets out of the wreck.



    Meanwhile, the damaged Blenheim on the outside of the formation trails smoke, but is gamely maintaining formation.



    The 110 which attacked him looks to be lining up for another pass. At the same time, flak starts bursting nearby.



    The question is, whose flak? And will it make any difference?

    ...to be continued!

  22. #72
    As it happens, it's our flak - which I suppose makes it ack ack. It's coming from an emplacement on the western extremities of the Isle of Wight, the rest of which is in enemy hands.
     


    The gunner boys are giving the Huns a good old pasting...or at least, trying to. At this location, we should really have not a flat spit of land, but the spectacular chalk-white cliffs known as The Needles, so the CFS3 topography is a little off. At least it means that having now reached really low level, I don't need to hop over them.
     


    At any rate, the 110s trailing us now seem a little less keen to press home their attacks. And by some miracle, my own aircraft is still going strongly.



    Soon, I'm racing over the Solent at what feels like wave-top height. At which point I notice that something is kicking up clouds of dirt along much of the horizon ahead. I hope it's not what I think it is...



    Yes it is! There's a battle raging, just about where we'll make landfall. Instinctively, I adjust course slightly to the left, so as not to come in right on top if it.



    In over dry land we race at last! Whatever happens after this, at least it will happen over friendly territory...except that much of it is in enemy hands.



    ...to be continued!

  23. #73
    With the Huns snapping at our heels and artillery falling ahead, we roar across the coast. By some miracle, my kite is still holding together and staying in the air.



    More shells throw up fire and dirt just to our right, as we come in. Instinctively, I edge away from it all.



    German armour is nearby. Who’s attacking and who’s defending is unclear.



    Seeing the enemy on our own soil and so close by, I feel compelled to do something. All I’ve got is a single forward-firing Browning, but I bank right and let fly with it at the nearest enemy vehicle. In the dust and fading light, I can’t even see clearly what I'm shooting at. But at least I’ve had a crack.



    More shells explode as I come off the target. For a few moments, the pursuing Me110s are forgotten.



    I start a turn to the left which will take me away from the barrage and back onto my course for home. Getting there is now the problem - this time with enemies below, as well as above us.



    …to be continued!

  24. #74
    A look behind reveals several straggling Blenheims. The 110s now seem to be further back or higher up.



    Taking this as a sign that staying low is hindering the aerial pursuit, I stay down on the deck while continuing my turn onto a more northerly heading. A check of the air situation reveals a confusing picture, with identified Huns apparently threatening the tail-end Blenheims. What I don't notice is that despite being able to see them through my windscreen, the unidentified aircraft to my left front are single-seaters - Spitfires, in fact. Either our escort is catching up again, or a fresh squadron is entering the fray at a very opportune moment.



    Our formation comes back together again - it looks like we have only four out of eight still flying. It's at about this time that I realise the 110s are no longer chasing us, thank goodness.



    That leaves us and the flak, and all I can do is jink every so often, in an effort to put off their aim. Every half mile or so, someone else takes a pop at us. Further signs of battles on the ground are also apparent.



    Fighting my nose-heavy kite all the way, I hug the tree-tops and hope for the best!



    …to be continued!

  25. #75
    On we go! And the flak keeps blazing away at us. Slowing down into a climb seems futile, if not suicidal. So I stay low and continue to jink. It seems doubtful whether we can do another twenty miles of this, which I reckon is what's needed to take us back over friendly territory.



    Together, we roar over a town I don't recognise. Off to the left, artillery fire is falling. It's all pretty chaotic.



    Will this be our last sunset? I quickly banish the thought from my mind.



    Without warning, I have better things to do than admire sunsets. The engine note fades away and the revs fade with it. I haven’t been watching the instruments since reaching the deck so missed any warnings they might have given me. Have I fallen victim to the dreaded CFS3 ‘all engines or nothing’ failure syndrome? No time to worry about that now - we're going in!

    ...to be continued!

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