Sturmovik flyers, ready for the upgrade?

[Feathered_IV]

Now that the new Sturmovik is almost upon us, it really made me think. If you're anything like me, you've been flying that lumpy Il-2 model since Forgotten Battles was a boy. Maybe even longer.

 

Despite all the free updates, addons, mods, and TD's excellent enhancements to the 1946 series, its very namesake has hardly moved a pixel since 2002.

 

Now we're on the brink of something great. The mighty Cementer is finally ready to take its place among the growing list of aircraft to get the next gen treatment. It's been a long, long road for the Il-2. I reckon this new release is a real milestone, and a good omen for the future.

[ATAG_Slipstream]

Never liked it myself.It wasn't actually that good in real life, and once the Luftwaffe had discovered its achilles heel, the rad, it went down very easily. Bit of a death trap really, especially for a gunner with a field mod!

[Fifi]

Not really my cup of tea...but i will happily fly it, if it's not too jumpy made. Hopefully it's an heavy crate, so it shouldn't be...

Waiting for the Stuka at first.

[Feathered_IV]

Blasphemy!

[ATAG_Slipstream]

Stuka will be much better...

[JG4_Sputnik]

I just can't wait to try this juggernaut myself But even more so I'm looking forward to point my guns on its weak spots

I'm very curious how its DM will be modeled since all the other planes are going down very quickly.

[SYN_Ricky]

Really looking forward to flying it as well as the Stuka

[Reflected]

I just can't wait to try this juggernaut myself But even more so I'm looking forward to point my guns on its weak spots

I'm very curious how its DM will be modeled since all the other planes are going down very quickly.

 

Exactly my thoughts! Although I think DM in general is very WIP, so we might not be able to see that just yet.

 

I'm also waiting for the Stuka, but I'll be happy to have the Ilyushin in game too. With the RoF/BoS level of detailing it's fun to fly any plane, every one of them is so different and has its charm.

[Finkeren]

Very much looking forward to the flying infantryman. It's going to be so much fun, even if it's not very effective.

 

Pity though, that we won't be getting it this week.

[Brano]

I used to fly sturmoviks and peshkas a lot in my active days of old IL2.I had a lot of thrilling memories flying bombraids over Sevastopol and Krymea with comrades in arms (MP). It was great fun to fly like 6 of us,climbing,trying to avoid hungry wulfs-fockewulfs,finding and hitting targets,got shot down,cover wounded/smoking friends.Speaking about ''not effective'' How so? Which aircraft in those times equipped with bombs and rockets could do better? If speaking about effectivness,it is always good to give example/compare. US or GB rockets were as innacurrate as Soviet RS.And they had no plane (in significant nr.) mounting anything bigger then 20mm Hispano.

I will die proudly in my sturmovik with pinched radiator as many times as Motherland needs to

[smink1701]

I would imagine it's like flying a truck with wings.  Maybe at the bottom of my list.  I'm hoping there's a P-39, P-40 or Hurricane in my IL2 future.

[III/JG53Frankyboy]

in a short try in cologne, it felt heavy :D

[Finkeren]

I'm not saying the IL-2 was less effective than its US and British counterparts, but it doesn't seem to have been very feared by the infantry and tank crews it was targeting.

 

Especially against dug infantry and AAA it seems to have been quite ineffective due to the inaccuracy of its attacks. The more precisely delivered and heavier bombs of the Pe-2s seem to have been far more deadly.

 

Like most attack planes of the period the IL-2 was propably more effective in an interdiction rolle against softer targets.

I would imagine it's like flying a truck with wings. Maybe at the bottom of my list. I'm hoping there's a P-39, P-40 or Hurricane in my IL2 future.

I think you imagine quite wrong. As slow as the IL-2 was, it was an easy, pleasant plane to fly with very good maneuverability.

 

The addition of the rear gunner shifted the CG backwards and impacted handling in a negative way, until the swept-wing version was introduced early in 1944, but nonetheless it retained quite pleasant characteristics.

[dkoor]

Hands down, this game is a far cry from having a soul without a set of ground attacking aircraft such is Stuka and Il-2.

 

IMO all things really are about them... fighters are there to make sure that those big boys do their job without being harassed.

[Kaenzdhi]

even if it's not very effective.

 

Lol, the best attack aircraft of WW2

 

but it doesn't seem to have been very feared by the infantry and tank crews it was targeting.

 

 

The Black DEATH !

[=AVG=Zombie]

Anyone here remember the UBI.com 1.22 servers? 

[Tr.Gr.186_Schutze]

You forget that the il-2 will be an early version. So all the newbies will be for a treat. It will require strong dedication to fly it well.

[Trident_109]

I like the Stuka's appearance and deadly accuracy, but I just can't seem to get into flying the bugger. Those gull wings attract me like hips on a girl, but it flies like a pig and slow as molasses (the Boston Molasses Flood not with standing).

 

The IL2 isn't the prettiest plane either but something about it draws me in. At any rate, I'm excited about it's release and will gladly crash and burn while attempting to destroy a few tank columns.

[SYN_Lt_Dan]

Can't wait to limp home on half a wing shot out instruments and a missing rudder 

[IonicRipper]

^ same here. I fell in love with its thoughness in Il2 1946. Cant wait!

[Sternjaeger]

Lol, the best attack aircraft of WW2

 

That's a bit of a stretch.. 

[Fifi]

I'm not saying the IL-2 was less effective than its US and British counterparts, but it doesn't seem to have been very feared by the infantry and tank crews it was targeting.

 

Especially against dug infantry and AAA it seems to have been quite ineffective due to the inaccuracy of its attacks. The more precisely delivered and heavier bombs of the Pe-2s seem to have been far more deadly.

 

 

IL2 was not feared...not because of bad plane or ineffective plane, but more of ineffective Soviet pilots 

Plenty of them just dropped and ran as fast as possible! (of what i readed)

[AX2]

http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/3699-data-about-il2-service-records-and-weapons-statistics-and-te/

 

[ShamrockOneFive]

IL2 was not feared...not because of bad plane or ineffective plane, but more of ineffective Soviet pilots 

Plenty of them just dropped and ran as fast as possible! (of what i readed)

Never read that particular bit.

 

The problems that the IL-2 had were numerous but it had very little to do with the aircraft itself or really the pilots either. The issues were organizational from the training system to the tactics employed. In some areas pilots were not given adequate target information or briefings, recon wasn't done properly or wasn't communicated to the appropriate levels to be useful, communication with ground forces was inadequate, pilots weren't trained to fly in effective formations and IL-2 groups would often get strung out after an initial attack, escorting fighters weren't trained to defend the IL-2s adequately or the fighters didn't show up because they were given the wrong or outdated information, etc..

 

Organizationally the VVS left a lot to be desired and it learned its lessons slowly. They did learn but like most large organizations it takes a while to learn lessons and be more effective.

 

When the IL-2 groups did work correctly they were absolutely devastating.

[andyw248]

Looking forward to flying anything that flies, as long as it's modeled as well as the two planes we've got so far... I think the IL-2 will offer a lot of opportunities for online pilots, e.g. organized attacks on ground units and convoys. Synchronized efforts against a fighter attack would also be interesting...

[II./JG27_Rich]

I said it once and I'll say it a gin All I want to do is get into a fight with humans

[Feathered_IV]

Not been much of a fan of multiplayer since the heyday of the original series.  I do fondly remember Bomber Night though, and how they ran a Sturmovik mission with about 25-30 Il-2's forming up in a gaggle. 

[LukeFF]

Since we're talking about the Il-2, this is a great read from a veteran who flew the type:

 

http://english.iremember.ru/airmen/39-yurii-khukhrikov.html

 

We got hit a couple of times. A shell hit a wing on the twenty-eighth sortie. We made it back miraculously -- the hole was about a meter in size. If a bullet hits, the smell of burned metal can be felt. I smelled it. Turned my head -- there it was, a hole. But I was lucky -- the shock wave and fragments went to the gunner. His legs were mangled. Communications were disrupted. We landed in Wittenberg. I taxied, turned off the engine, jumped out onto the wing -- the gunner, Viktor Shakhaev, Siberian, born in 1926, was just lying there. Guys ran to us, pulled him out. Barely saved his legs. But it turned out that I was also hit. A fragment scratched the back of my head. Where did it manage to penetrate? They wanted to put me in a hospital, but I refused. War ended for me in Wittenberg. I had flown 84 sorties.

 

 

84 sorties in an Il-2. That's very impressive.

Edited January 25, 2014 by LukeFF

[II./JG27_Rich]

Not been much of a fan of multiplayer since the heyday of the original series.  I do fondly remember Bomber Night though, and how they ran a Sturmovik mission with about 25-30 Il-2's forming up in a gaggle. 

Well we need exactly that. Or get DiD started again.

[Georgio]

I remember reading about one German's attack on an IL-2 where he poured everything he had into it and the plane just shrugged it off. It wasn't called the 'cement truck' for nothing.

Looking forward to this and hopefully some fighter cover immensely.... ;D