Official Historical Campaign "Blazing Steppe"

[BlackSix]

Blazing Steppe

 

 

This campaign is set during the early stages of the Stalingrad battle when the German XIV Panzer Corps breached through to the Volga River and the Luftwaffe unleashed all of its might on the civilian districts and defense lines of the city. To compensate for the heavy losses the 8th Air Army suffered during the Summer, Soviet High Command started to move all available reserves, including air regiments and air defense forces personnel to the Stalingrad area in the middle of August. You will be the second-in-command squadron officer of the 11th IAP (fighter regiment) that just arrived at the front line, in the thick of the unraveling air battle.

 

Timeframe: August 28th - September 13th, 1942.
Regiment: 11th IAP 268th IAD
Available aircraft: Yak-1 series 69
Duration: 15 missions

The campaign consists of 15 missions created using modern historical research and scientific works, including war maps and documents from the archives. Based on users' feedback, we reworked the flight path tracking and main goal completion mechanics significantly, so completing the missions should become more convenient, especially on the Expert difficulty level. Blazing Steppe is scheduled to be released in June 2017.

 

This campaign requires IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad.

 

 

 

Quote

If you need to reinstall game and you want to save your progress in the campaign then copy and save folder ...\data\swf\il2\usersave\...

[Jade_Monkey]

Looking forward to playing it!

[dburne]

So glad I Pre-Ordered this one, really looking forward to it!

[LLv24_Zami]

I`ve already flown this through in beta, now flying second round with no icons.  And all I can say it`s top notch quality as was the earlier campaign from BlackSix.

 

If you like SP, get it now. It`s worth it 

[310_cibule]

Can one obtain promotion and/or awards as the campaign progresses? Thx for an answer in advance.

Edited July 6, 2017 by 310_cibule

[BlackSix]

Can one obtain promotion and/or awards as the campaign progresses? Thx for an answer in advance.

Any new content and features for the scripted campaigns are not yet ready...

[310_cibule]

Any new content and features for the scripted campaigns are not yet ready...

 

Sounds it will be sometime :-) Very well.  Thx for the respons

[Blooddawn1942]

I have only flown the first two missions so far. What I can definitely say is, that Han has a real talent in writing. His descriptions of the stuff that's going is so dense in terms of atmosphere, that I easily see my comrades and me sitting under the wings of our Yaks seeking shelter from the burning sun while we are waiting, that the airfield staff is sorting out things for us. Really great writing Han!

Looking forward to the next missions!

Edited July 7, 2017 by Blooddawn1942

[BlackSix]

Сertainly, Han has talent in writing but these are my missions and texts

[Blooddawn1942]

Сertainly, Han has talent in writing but these are my missions and texts

Oh my god! Shame on me!! Mea Culpa

I messed it totally up. Sorry BlackSix! Then of course the honor belongs to you! I really love your writing. Also in your first campaign!

[ST_ami7b5]

Excellent campaign!

[dburne]

I started flying this today and have only completed the first three missions so far, but am really loving this campaign.

Excellent job BlackSix!

 

Thank you so much for doing this one up!

[YoYo]

Thx, didnt tested yet but I'll start it soon.

[pilotpierre]

Great campaign Black Six, 4 missions in and thoroughly enjoying it.

[dburne]

Whooeee, am on Mission 7 and those pesky 109's are absolutely kicking my tail in this one. Tried it three times and I am getting waxed very quickly. May have to rethink my strategy on this one, it's a tough one.

[LLv24_Zami]

Whooeee, am on Mission 7 and those pesky 109's are absolutely kicking my tail in this one. Tried it three times and I am getting waxed very quickly. May have to rethink my strategy on this one, it's a tough one.

That is a fun mission! Getting a little higher might help and just try to stay alive 

[dburne]

That is a fun mission! Getting a little higher might help and just try to stay alive 

 

Lol, yep 5th time was the charm, and that is exactly what I did - finally made it!

 

Pretty sure we were up against some very experienced Ace 109 pilots I tell ya. What a relief to get through that one, it was certainly a challenge.

[LLv24_Zami]

Lol, yep 5th time was the charm, and that is exactly what I did - finally made it!

 

Pretty sure we were up against some very experienced Ace 109 pilots I tell ya. What a relief to get through that one, it was certainly a challenge.

Yes, there were some very aggressive Bf-109 pilots 

[BlackSix]

Oh my god! Shame on me!! Mea Culpa

I messed it totally up. Sorry BlackSix! Then of course the honor belongs to you! I really love your writing. Also in your first campaign!

Excellent campaign!

I started flying this today and have only completed the first three missions so far, but am really loving this campaign.

Excellent job BlackSix!

Thank you so much for doing this one up!

Great campaign Black Six, 4 missions in and thoroughly enjoying it.

Thank you!

 

Whooeee, am on Mission 7 and those pesky 109's are absolutely kicking my tail in this one. Tried it three times and I am getting waxed very quickly. May have to rethink my strategy on this one, it's a tough one.

The 7th mission is one of the most difficult in the camapaign, maybe I should simplify it in the future

[SCG_Space_Ghost]

-snip-

 

The 7th mission is one of the most difficult in the camapaign, maybe I should simplify it in the future

 

Definitely not!

[dburne]

 

 

The 7th mission is one of the most difficult in the camapaign, maybe I should simplify it in the future

 

I would say not as well, while it is certainly a challenge it can be done, as I successfully did after about 5 attempts.

It was a blast!

[BlackSix]

I would say not as well, while it is certainly a challenge it can be done, as I successfully did after about 5 attempts.

It was a blast!

This is very bad news for me, I try to do user friendly missions...

[SCG_Space_Ghost]

This is very bad news for me, I try to do user friendly missions...

 

They are user friendly. You're taking it (almost intentionally) the wrong way.

 

We appreciate a challenge. We like learning from our mistakes. If you dumb things down and make them more hand-holdy than you're taking away the elements that make things fun.

Edited July 11, 2017 by Space_Ghost

[dburne]

This is very bad news for me, I try to do user friendly missions...

 

Not at all, whilst I certainly would not want nearly impossible missions, I do enjoy a good challenge and having to rethink my strategy to successfully complete a good mission. This mission certainly fit the bill for the latter.

[unreasonable]

Having just started the campaign, and completed mission 1, I am glad to see that a Commissar has a supporting role - and more generally that there is some good writing to get you into the mood. A little role play always helps.  I am looking forwards to playing the rest of the campaign.

 

What the first mission also shows up, however, is a couple of irritating features of the game as it currently stands which I wish could be changed. 

 

When you arrive at a certain way point, the PC takes over your voice box and tells your flight to prepare to land whether you the player want them to or not. So they turn on their landing lights to help any marauding Germans identify the location of the airfield, and then circle around the strip.  But they do not actually land, even long after the other AI flights have completed their landings and switched off.  

 

This is really annoying: AI wingmen in RoF did not behave like this - they did what they were told, (more or less competently), unless you were too far away, and the PC never tried to take over your prerogative as the player. It all worked pretty well.  Interception missions in the old campaign had the same problem.

 

Obviously this is not "Blazing Steppe" specific, it is just that when you play an SP campaign like this that these unwelcome and intrusive innovations in game-play become most obvious and annoying.  

[Blooddawn1942]

This is very bad news for me, I try to do user friendly missions...

They are! Don't worry.

I succeeded in No. 7 in the second attempt. It is tough. No question. I had to change the tactics at the second try and it worked. Just finished No. 8 and the overall difficulty of the campaign is spot on. Not to easy and also not unnecessary difficult. I never feel frustrated. If I'm being shot down it's due to mistakes I did and not because the missions are too hard.

[dburne]

Yeah I completed Misson 8 earlier today, got that one on first attempt. It was fun. 

 

Fun shooting those HE 111's, just have to be careful and try to stay out of a good line of sight for those rear gunners...

[LLv24_Zami]

Don`t worry BlackSix, as you can see from other comments, mission 7 is not too difficult 

[dburne]

Just completed mission 10 so I guess I am now 2/3 of the way through it.

Still loving every minute of this one!

Fantastic Campaign!

[BlueHeron]

Another excellent campaign.  Reasonably short transit times, plenty of variety in how each mission plays out, and feel really engaged with the overall air/ground battle throughout.  As always, you need to really know your aircraft do do well in this campaign.

 

Great job!  Finished mission 10, struggling with mission 11.

[dburne]

 

 

Great job!  Finished mission 10, struggling with mission 11.

 

Oh yeah, just had a couple of tries at Mission 11 and got my butt handed to me both times. Some dang good 109 pilots in this one.

Going to be a bit of a challenge, looking forward to beating this one!

[Blooddawn1942]

No#11 was the first mission where I was credited with no kills. Friendly AI did all the job. Had no Difficulties with this one.

[Cybermat47]

No#11 was the first mission where I was credited with no kills. Friendly AI did all the job. Had no Difficulties with this one.

How did you encounter the enemy in mission 1?

[216th_Jordan]

How did you encounter the enemy in mission 1?

He obviously did not follow the pre-planned flightpath! The kommissar will not be pleased Tovarish!

[dburne]

How did you encounter the enemy in mission 1?

 

Unless my eyes are failing me and I am seeing double he is referencing Mission #11 ?

[BlackSix]

The kommissar will not be pleased Tovarish!

And he'll exclude him from the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks)!

[Blooddawn1942]

How did you encounter the enemy in mission 1?

I obviously excluded No.1 in my listing, for it was not really a Mission. More a introduction .

And he'll exclude him from the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks)!

So it's off to a penal unit for me then? Edited July 14, 2017 by Blooddawn1942

[unreasonable]

Five days leave. In Stalingrad!

 

Getting the hang of this now - up to mission 6.  So far the German fighters are taking a pasting - not so much from me as from the other AI Yaks.  The Yaks perhaps simply suit the AI style better than the 109s.

[BlackSix]

So it's off to a penal unit for me then?

Hmm, no but you may lose your post of the second-in-command squadron officer)

[Cybermat47]

I obviously excluded No.1 in my listing, for it was not really a Mission. More a introduction .

Commissar BlackSix decides what counts as a mission, not you, tovarisch squadron janitor.

 

So far the German fighters are taking a pasting - not so much from me as from the other AI Yaks. The Yaks perhaps simply suit the AI style better than the 109s.

What's funny about that is that the opposite is true for my current PWCG career. I set the majority of AI to be novices to reflect the poor state of Soviet training at the time, and my AI German wingmen, who are mostly set to novice as well, are slaughtering the Yaks. One of them shot down five Yaks within two or three days - though, given his rank, he might be set as average or veteran.

Edited July 14, 2017 by FFS_Cybermat47