Rami's mission & scenery thread

[511Flyer]

I spent a few days on the island of Leros during an island hopping holiday. I knew nothing of the major sea and air battles that took place on the island during WWII, but they were very bloody, with the allies on the losing side.

There is a cemetery on the island, which is beautifully maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who do a wonderful job all over the World. It was so peaceful there, and reading the epitaphs of so many young men who died in the conflict, actually brought tears to my eyes.

So much of WWII history is centered on Europe, that Greece and others countries that also suffered greatly, are largely forgotten.

Dennis.

[Rami]

I spent a few days on the island of Leros during an island hopping holiday. I knew nothing of the major sea and air battles that took place on the island during WWII, but they were very bloody, with the allies on the losing side.

There is a cemetery on the island, which is beautifully maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who do a wonderful job all over the World. It was so peaceful there, and reading the epitaphs of so many young men who died in the conflict, actually brought tears to my eyes.

So much of WWII history is centered on Europe, that Greece and others countries that also suffered greatly, are largely forgotten.

Dennis.

Dennis,

Thank you for your compliments. This is one of the reasons I chose to do the campaigns in Greece. One of the more popular campaigns I updated and released was the Gladiators! campaign, which I greatly expanded to thirty-five missions. Given the response to that, I decided to continue the story. Given the fact that it's in an area often unexplored in CFS2, and the fact that the terrain can have an enormous impact on the outcome of aerial combat, I felt like it was a worthwhile endeavor. There are two German campaigns coming, as well as a campaign from Rhodes and Sicily that centers on Cretan and naval actions.

[skylane]

Hello Rami!

Thank you for this new campaign!

Last week I returned from a few weeks of vacation in Greece. We were on the island of Zakynthos, off the west coast of the Peloponnese. On the way, we also drove through the area from the Albanian border south towards Patras, where much of the action of the Gladiator campaign happened. A very fascinating mountainous landscape, very different from what we usually associate with Greece! I tried to imagine what it was like, flying there, often in bad weather...

I'll start with installing your Balkans campaigns in my Med install now, and fly them on my days off. I'm looking forward to your next campaigns in this theater!

Once again, thanks for all your work!

Wolfgang

[arfyhun]

Thank you very much Rami. Dennis, I second your words in your post.

Graham.

[kelticheart]

Impeccable work, historically sound, as always my friend!

Thank you very much!
KH :ernae:

[Rami]

Impeccable work, historically sound, as always my friend!

Thank you very much!
KH :ernae:

Stefano,

You'll enjoy reading the mission descriptions...I didn't hold back on any of them. Operation Marita will be the same way. Right now, there are 42 missions for those two (bomber / fighter) campaigns.

[Rami]

Hey guys,

Hooraw noticed a flaw in the campaign file, and so it required a minor correction.

[Rami]

Hey guys,

I'm finishing up the German campaigns for Operation Marita, and discovered that I was a base short in the eastern Aegean from the source documents I have been using for the Balkan campaigns. Achim was generous enough to build a base on the island of Karpathos, between Crete and Rhodes. It was used as a major base of operations for Cr-42s, He-111s, and Ju-87s in the Eastern Aegean.

I'll add it to the Greece package this weekend. Thanks, Achim! :ernae:

[misson]

Thank u Andrew for keep working in diferent sides and campaigns. It will be welcome.

[Rami]

Good morning,

The JHS_Greece package has been updated to include this base. Enjoy!

[Worthless]

Installed it. Thank you Achim and Rami.

[Devildog73]

Wow, Achim!

Excellent work as usual!

Rami,

Thanks for your time on station also!

When I need a break from the island hopping in the Pacific rim, I will be back to the Med and Europe.

[Rami]

Devildog,

I'm in the final stages of Operation Marita. There will end up being about sixty missions, evenly split between a bomber and a fighter campaign.

I'm not sure whether I'll do the British Cretan campaign right away, I may go back to Europe and continue working on the 20th Fighter Group.

[Rami]

...Placeholder...

[Rami]

A new entry has been added to Add-Ons Library, category CFS 2 Campaigns Add-Ons

Description: This is my chronicle of the Luftwaffe in Greece from the time of the German invasion on 6 April, 1941 until the abandonment of Crete at the end of May. These two campaigns, "Phase III" of the Balkans project, is meant to follow the march of the Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht through the invasion as they wrested control of the sky from the Allied forces trying to hold them back. The two campaigns are flown from the different perspectives of a German fighter and bomber pilot, highlighting the major engagements during the campaign, and is, for the most part, historically accurate.

There has been little effort by other designers to chronicle this period of the war in Greece, although Don Pyers might have intended to continue his Gladiator campaign to include some of this activity. All missions in this campaign have been created from the ground up using various sources, including the works of Roald Dahl, Christopher Shores, Brian Cull, and Nicola Malizia. Each mission contains a synopsis of either the actual event or the overall tactical situation in Greece that allows the flyer to get a sense of the history and the losing effort to keep Greece from being trampled by the German military. When possible, the missions have included the actual pilot names, including "Pat" Pattle, who was killed during "The Battle of Athens," and Pilot Officer Roald Dahl, who would become an intelligence officer, screenwriter, and most famously, a renowned author of children's books.

Starting from bases in Bulgaria, this campaign covers most of the major missions and events that steadily force the Greeks back from their northern defensive lines to the Thessaly Plain and their efforts to defend the city of Athens and the withdrawal of Allied forces from the mainland. After the fall of Athens and the abandonment of the mainland, the scene shifts to Crete, where once again the Allies will lose their grip on the island, albeit with considerable losses for the Germans.

Enjoy!

Andrew Talbot

Any comments or feedback is welcome, either contact me through mailto: drew3424@comcast.net
or, you can PM me through my SOH surname: Rami

To check it out, rate it or add comments, visit Operation Marita.zip
The comments you make there will appear in the posts below.

[Rami]

Good evening,

Here is another labor of love for all of you to enjoy...Operation Marita. This was the last truly successful offensive campaign for the Germans before Barbarossa eventually turned the tide of the war. This package has fifty-three missions, evenly split between bombers and fighters. (They are two separate campaigns) Each campaign is slightly dynamic, so you end up flying about twenty-five missions each. Both campaigns begin on April 6th, 1941 and end on May 28th, 1941. (The evacuation missions following that until the end of the campaign on June 1st, 1941 will be part of the Dodecanese campaign)

Most of these missions are focused on land targets, although there are moments in each campaign where you focus on destroying the British Navy. These missions are often a reflection of the Royal Air Force missions I released about two weeks ago, but many other cover events not used in the RAF campaign.

There has also been great care, similar to the RAF campaign, to emphasize historical accuracy, although some missions are amalgams of days where there were several patrols or small missions, and/or the same target was attacked on consecutive days or within a short period of time.

Most missions are my original design, but handful of missions have also been incorporated from the "Hellas" campaign when possible. However, this was the exception rather than the rule. For the most part, this campaign runs true to the historical facts, even using real pilot names when the data is available. The same holds true for the mission descriptions and synopses, for those who are interested in the history.

There will be more naval missions in the Dodecanese campaign, which is also nearing completion.

Stuart277 - I am still in the process of evaluating your ships, but if the testing goes well, I may do a "patch" for the five missions where I could incorporate more of your ships in this campaign. They will be more prevalent in the Dodecanese and British Crete campaigns.

Many thanks to Shadow Wolf 07 and Talon, both for Shadow's beta testing and Talon's "encouragement" to focus on more original historical campaigns, though he has all the subtlety of a mafia hit. Both he and Talon also suggested covering missions from multiple sides, so I thank them for that as well!

And another round of thanks to Achim, for building the bases to help all this happen!

More to come, folks!

[stuart277]

Hi Rami,

I have'nt checked out your work yet, but I reckon it'll be first class.

I should have a WW2 Arethusa Class cruiser ready in 3-4 days. They are mostly done, but I am pretty busy this weekend (and the next 4-5 weeks).

Without researching, these ships may be of use to you in your campaigns.

Cheers,

Stuart277

PS I heard that Boston won the baseball.

P.P.S. I also heard that you are a red Sox supporter

P.P.P.S. I am sure that you are fairly happy about the result.

[Rami]

Hi Rami,

I have'nt checked out your work yet, but I reckon it'll be first class.

I should have a WW2 Arethusa Class cruiser ready in 3-4 days. They are mostly done, but I am pretty busy this weekend (and the next 4-5 weeks).

Without researching, these ships may be of use to you in your campaigns.

Stuart277,

HMS Warspite
HMS Valiant

HMS Glengyle

HMS Ajax
HMS Coventry
HMS Gloucester
HMS Fiji
HMS Carlisle
HMS Naiad
HMAS Perth
HMS Orion

HMS Ilex
HMS Nizam
HMS Jaguar
HMS Greyhound
HMS Herperus
HMS Hero
HMS Diamond
HMS Hotspur
HMS Defender
HMS Griffin
HMS Wryneck
HMS Janus
HMS Kashmir
HMS Kimberly
HMS Hereward
HMS Hasty
HMS Imperial
HMS Jervis
HMS Kipling
HMS Kelly
HMS Jackal
HMS Kelvin
HMAS Vampire
HMS Havock

[Discus]

Thanks Rami for all this hard work!!

I'm not flying too much lately. I've been overloaded with my work during the last two months but I´ll try installing this campaign soon.

Cheers, Discus

PS: Thanks to all the supporters, aircraft and scenery designers, aircraft tweakers/improvers, skin painters, ship designers, sound makers, other campaign makers, CFS2 gurus/advisors, you, our faithful librarian, and SOH for keeping our precious CFS2 files through this years.

[Rami]

Thanks Rami for all this hard work!!

I'm not flying too much lately. I've been overloaded with my work during the last two months but I´ll try installing this campaign soon.

Discus,

First, you're very welcome. It was a pleasure to work on this one. I have enjoyed working on all sides of it so far!

Second,

It will be ready for you whenever you are ready. No pressure involved! :salute:

[watchdog22]

Hi Rami,

I have a texture for the Ju88 at about 80%, it just needs dirtying up a bit. Hoping to upload tomorrow.

[Rami]

Hi Rami,

I have a texture for the Ju88 at about 80%, it just needs dirtying up a bit. Hoping to upload tomorrow.

Watchdog22,

Something like this?

[watchdog22]

Yep, something very like that. I finished it last night Oz time and tried to upload but Ickie was weaving some sort of magic. At work at the moment so I can't post a screenshot. I won't be home tonight so I'll do it tomorrow.

[watchdog22]

The texture is about to be placed in the upload queue. I was unable to fully texture the starboard engine cooling gills. The screenshot was taken before some last minute details were added.

Cheers,

[kelticheart]

Thanks, Rami!

Cheers!
KH :ernae: