Official Historical Campaign "Fortress on the Volga"

[BlackSix]

Historical Campaign "Fortress on the Volga"

 

 

The campaign is set during the peak of fighting between the Red Army Air Force and the Luftwaffe during Autumn 1942 in the skies above Stalingrad. Continuous German ground assaults on the destroyed city were met with ever more powerful Soviet counterstrikes. The fight for air superiority was just as furious and dangerous. You'll be the deputy Staffel commander in I./JG 52 that has been redirected to Stalingrad from the central part of the Eastern front.

 

Timeframe: September 24th - October 10th, 1942.
Unit: I./JG 52
Available aircraft: Bf 109 G-2
Duration: 15 missions
Average playtime: 6 hours
Author: Alexander =BlackSix= Timoshkov

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

 

 

Although a completely independent campaign, "Fortress on the Volga" continues to tell the story of a German pilot that began in our "Ten Days of Autumn" campaign.

 

All missions are based on historical events and contain a number of additions and innovations compared to the previous Scripted Campaigns:

- While "Ten Days of Autumn" was a semi-educational campaign that introduced you to the new game mode, "Fortress on the Volga" (like "Blazing Steppe") offers a normal difficulty level. It will be challenging!

- The mission structure has been changed. Now there is a possibility that additional aircraft groups will appear in the vicinity. This can either simplify or substantially complicate your task, ultimately increasing the replayability of the whole campaign.

- Whenever possible, air and ground battles will continue for another 15-20 minutes after the mission’s objective has been completed.

- A large number of new maps and operation records available from the Ministry of Defense archives allowed us to recreate the movement of the front-lines not only near Stalingrad, but also at the defense lines occupied by the Soviet 57th and 51st armies to the South of the city and along the Don to the Northwest in detail.

 

 

Buy the campaign in our store

[Danziger]

Bought! Updating my install. Can't wait to get into this!

[Taxman]

All ready bought, need to wait until I get home to install.  Thanks BlackSix, and happy holidays to the whole BOX team.

[Oyster_KAI]

Bought! I'm making a strenuous effort to read story with huge english..........

It's worth it....

[Swing]

Bought...!

[Freycinet]

Wauw, looks like some intense air battles there. Superb stuff.

 

Thanks so much for making the campaign! Well deserved Xmas hols for you!

[molotovb]

Looks great!  Is there any sort of devilish hackery that can convert these into a series of 2 player co-op missions?

[Field-Ops]

I'll finally have time to play this weekend so I cant wait to start where 10 days of autumn left off

[Blooddawn1942]

So I'm half through with the campaign. Excellent work as usual BlackSix! 

I really really enjoy the missions! ??

[BlackSix]

Thank you, I've tried very hard to make the best missions for this campaign.

[BlueHeron]

I think you succeeded.  Just finished today, this was really enjoyable with some seriously intense action!   Thanks for putting so much into it, and Merry Christmas!

[BlackSix]

Thanks, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone!

[Jade_Monkey]

@BlackSix , will there be a scripted campaign for Bodenplatte once it officially releases?

 

It could be cool to do one where each mission you replay the same day from different angles, using different planes and sides on each mission.

[BlackSix]

Yes, we plan to do an official free  scripted campaign for Bodenplatte.

[pilotpierre]

??

[Field-Ops]

You really do put your heart and soul into these campaigns BlackSix

[Blooddawn1942]

I've just finished the campaign. And what a joy it was. Thanks for the hard work and the incredible good writing. 

Some missions put my rig to its knees due to the many AI units. But that's a problem on my end since my system is good enough for everything maxed out on the monitor but gives me problems since I fly in VR. 

Anyway. Fantastic work!

[BlackSix]

Thank you, guys!
What can you say about the difficulty level? Did I create an easy campaign again or the difficulty seems normal to you?

[Blooddawn1942]

Regarding my taste it was spot on.

Not to easy but not to difficult either. Well balanced to give the player some sucess and spares him frustration. Though I have to admit that I use icons since I fly with VR resulting in many kills, more then I would have achieved without icons. (47 in this campaign) 

 

I just had to refly one mission but that was because of a dumb mistake I did. 

I had a perfect flow of missions and story. This I prefer much more than a frustrating difficult level resulting in reflying every mission. 

Edited December 27, 2018 by Blooddawn1942

[Trooper117]

If I get half a dozen kills in a campaign I'm doing well 

Never use icons though... but then again I play for the atmosphere and challenge, not just to get kills... have to say I much prefer scripted campaigns to the career.

[Field-Ops]

I found the difficulty so far depended on if I came in with an energy advantage or not. Escorting the 110's I was matching their altitude and speed so when we got jumped and thrown into the furball I landed back at base with my engine dyeing as I came to a stop not knowing if I had shot down who I was latched on to until I looked at the AAR. The next mission I came in above clouds and was able to nail 4 LA5's as I managed my energy advantage well then shot down another 2 I16's as they came in to land. Every mission before that however I only got away with 1 kill or so.

 

Also I wouldn't call your campaigns easy. You can live just fine if you play it safe and strictly by the book but if you want to get greedy it can slap you in the face real quick. I crashed three times in my most recent playthrough of 10 Days of Autumn cause I thought I knew what to expect and got greedy. 

[LukeFF]

8 hours ago, BlackSix said:

Thank you, guys!
What can you say about the difficulty level? Did I create an easy campaign again or the difficulty seems normal to you?

 

I think it's set up just right. I'm through mission number 5 so far, which I had to replay a number of times due to bad tactics on my part (not utilizing my climb rate and instead staying around to mix it up with the La-5s, which is a bad idea). 

 

The only other thing that can make kills easy is when the AI goes into its landing pattern routine, which turns them into passive drones. But, at the least, the airfield AA guns keep that from being too much of a problem. Hopefully in the future, the AI can be programmed to break out of its landing routine if it senses it's under attack. 

[Hirschmannhirschmann]

Have played them through and must say again a class Kampanie. Looking forward to more. Another question, can we hope for a German translation? I had read something like that.
Good for players who can't speak German or English.
Thank you for the work and keep it up.

[BlackSix]

9 hours ago, Hirschmannhirschmann said:

Another question, can we hope for a German translation? I had read something like that.
Good for players who can't speak German or English.

Yes, we're waiting the German translation, looks like it will be ready in Jan - Feb 2019.

[R3animate]

I’ve been meaning to reply with impressions but I’m still playing through 10 days of Autumn. I’ve never given the scripted campaigns a fair chance before. They’re so much fun! I love reading the briefing between missions, didn’t expect to enjoy it all so much. Nothing beats taking off at a busy airfield.

[ShamrockOneFive]

On 12/27/2018 at 5:53 AM, BlackSix said:

Thank you, guys!
What can you say about the difficulty level? Did I create an easy campaign again or the difficulty seems normal to you?

 

I feel like this campaign ramps up the challenge a bit more than Ten Days and that's a good thing. I'm still never faced with a no-win scenario where I'm overwhelmed (well... unless I go looking for trouble :)) but the intensity is certainly present.

[BlackSix]

28 minutes ago, ShamrockOneFive said:

I'm still never faced with a no-win scenario where I'm overwhelmed (well... unless I go looking for trouble :)) but the intensity is certainly present.

Is it a mission №13?

[ShamrockOneFive]

Just now, BlackSix said:

Is it a mission №13?

 

I haven't got there yet... Will let you know ?

[Elem]

I've just finished this campaign and wanted to thank you for what has been one of the most intense and exciting campaigns I've ever flown. I rarely fly the Axis side but I have loved using the 109 in this and especially the chance to use it with the 20mm gun pods. Wonderful work Black 6.

[LukeFF]

On 12/28/2018 at 10:19 PM, BlackSix said:

Is it a mission №13?

 

Very tense mission! Well done!

Spoiler

 

I was very fortunate to not be shot down by either of the La-5s that followed me back to Pitomnik. I was just about to touch down for landing when I saw tracers whizz by my plane. Fortunately, I had enough ammo left to shoot down one of the two stalkers. 

 

Side question: is there any AAA active at Pitomik? I didn't see any of it fire when those two La-5s were right above our airfield.

 

 

[Field-Ops]

I was surprised on mission 7 where you are just on a patrol.

 

Spoiler

I lost my wingman somewhere in the middle, no idea what drug him off and I went back for him but never saw him again. Decided to continue the route and just when I was about to land a Yak nails me so hard my engine stops and I'm forced to glide back from a very far distance. I felt like I didnt deserve to survive much less pass the mission but I landed hard enough to break my rear tail wheel.

 

Man this campaign is exciting! I'm still sad I havent been able to dedicate more time to it.

[pilotpierre]

Recently got home from overseas and finally got to play this. I agree with others that this is the best Scripred campaign to date. The difficulty level and duration of the individual missions is spot on for my liking. Very interesting missions to date that have brought a spark back to the game. 

 

 This is one campaign that will be played more than once. Bravo Zulu Black Six.

[BlackSix]

On 1/8/2019 at 9:36 AM, Field-Ops said:

Man this campaign is exciting! I'm still sad I havent been able to dedicate more time to it.

 

14 hours ago, pilotpierre said:

This is one campaign that will be played more than once. Bravo Zulu Black Six.

Thanks!

On 1/8/2019 at 8:50 AM, LukeFF said:

 

  Hide contents

Side question: is there any AAA active at Pitomik? I didn't see any of it fire when those two La-5s were right above our airfield.

 

There are 3 anti-aircraft batteries near Pitomnik, I checked them in the editor and they have to fire.

I repeated your situation (but with Yak-1s) - all batteries were active...

[LukeFF]

10 hours ago, BlackSix said:

here are 3 anti-aircraft batteries near Pitomnik, I checked them in the editor and they have to fire.

I repeated your situation (but with Yak-1s) - all batteries were active...

 

Ok, thanks! Maybe the planes were farther away from the AA guns that I realized.

[R3animate]

Just finished the third mission. This campaign is a real treat. I love reading the briefings while en-route to the objective. Also, THANK YOU for putting suggested altitude/speed in! I know a lot of people ignore it, but it certainly lines up any little surprises you have if we're in the right place at the right time.

Edited January 20, 2019 by R3animate
Typo

[R3animate]

Finished Mission 4 - Baptism of Fire this morning.

 

This is probably the most exciting mission I've played yet.

 

It begins with 110s flying overhead as you take off to join them. On your left, a squad of 109s attacking what appears to be a nearby airfield... to the right, the smoldering ruins of what used to be a town near the river.You fly over Barricaddy(Voroshilovskiy?) and the 110s begin their work. A trio of Laggs swoops down from overhead. In the chaos I don't see the second squad. The 110s are getting torn to bits. I finally get a good line on one but tunnel vision sets in... I'm lining up shots but flak starts exploding left right and center... don't cross the Volga.

 

I fall back to rejoin the 110s as they retreat but two of the Laggs are coming back for me. I climb until another 109 joins me and engage. One of the Russians is smoking badly, the other is on my tail. I hit the deck to evade but he follows me back to the airfield. As I begin turning to try and evade and land, I see cannon rounds fly past the right side of my plane... I start to think it's over when the Lagg banks left and is chased by my wingman. As I open the canopy, shut off the engine and roll my flaps back into position I look over to the left. Airfield AA takes out the Lagg. I finish the mission with 4 credited victories (three of which I saw, the forth must have been the one that fled over the Volga).

 

Most fun I've had yet. Loving this purchase. I had no idea that Stalingrad looked so good, it's so easy to entire sections of the map if you don't play career or scripted.

[BlackSix]

"Fortress on the Volga" campaign is now available in German thanks to II/JG11ATLAN, ram0506 and =27=Davesteu

[Diggun]

On 1/24/2019 at 2:20 PM, R3animate said:

This is probably the most exciting mission I've played yet.

I would like to agree with this statement! Very very hectic indeed... 

[6FG_Big_Al]

Wow. I finally managed to finish the campaign today and I'm impressed. It was really fun and the reports before the missions were great written (and translated). I also liked the mix of the missions - it never got boring!

Thanks for your work ? I will defenetivly do the others soon.?

 

best regards Rico

 

[BlackSix]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it)