Platzschutzstaffel Pitomnik Campaign (Bf-109 G-2)

[Juri_JS]

 

After numerous suggestions to turn the Platzschutzstaffel Pitomnik mission pack into a campaign, I finally caved in. I've create a campaign based on the experiences of Kurt Ebener, the most successful pilot of the unit, so only the missions in which he participated made it into the campaign. The campaign has 13 missions. Eight come from the mission pack, five are completely new. Looking at the old missions, I wasn't really satisfied, so they got a complete rework. The new versions have much more random elements and overall the mission logic should work much better. The old mission pack is no longer available.

 

DOWNLOAD LINK:

http://www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/download.php?view.1009

 

The missions and the background story are inspired by the diary Ebener wrote during his time in the Stalingrad pocket. The complete diary hasn't been published yet, but parts of it were used and quoted in books and articles. While writing the background story I usually tried to stay close to the content of the original texts and avoided taking too much artistic freedom. What I've added myself is mostly some additional information on the situation inside the Stalingrad pocket. 

 

Kurt Ebener:

 

Installation:
Extract the folder 'data' from the 'Platzschutzstaffel_campaign.zip' file into the IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad main directory. This will put the campaign files and the skins in the correct sub-folders .

 

I'd like to thank photog95661 who helped me with the English version of the briefing texts.

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by Juri_JS

[Chief_Mouser]

Excellent! Thanks very much.

[Juri_JS]

A warning - Since patch 3.007 AI pilots have huge problems to reform their formation after combat and continue to the next waypoint. When this happens in one of the missions in which the player is a wingman, I would suggest to continue to the next waypoint alone.

 

Initially I wanted to wait for a fix before I release the campaign, but apparently the developers won't fix the issue anytime soon, so I've decided to release it despite these AI problems.

[JohnHolmes]

MASSIVE THANK YOU

 

Im really looking forward to playing this. Merry Christmas thank you for your efforts.

[Juri_JS]

I just noticed an error in the briefing text files. I will update the upload later today.

 

EDIT:

OK, I've updated the download.

Edited December 19, 2018 by Juri_JS

[Juri_JS]

And as always, if you have any nice screenshots from the campaign please post them here.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2019 by Juri_JS

[Juri_JS]

While working on it, I‘ve also done some research on the fate of the pilots mentioned in my campaign. It‘s shocking to see that few survived the war.

 

Kurt Brändle, Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3.

KIA 03.11.43, shot down into the sea by P-47 escort fighters or Canadian Spitfires while intercepting an attack on Amsterdam by medium bombers. His body was later washed ashore near Zandvoort on 30 December 1943.

Credited with more than 700 combat missions and 180 air victories.

 

Franz Daspelgruber, Leutnant 3./JG 3, later Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of 10./JG 3.

MIA 16.07.43 in air combat with B-24s northwest of Taranto.

Credited with 46 victories.

 

Gustav Dilling, Feldwebel in 5./JG 3.

KIA 14.06.44 during combat with B-26s.

Credited with 51 air victories.

 

Kurt Ebener, Feldwebel in 4./JG 3.

01.03.43 transfer to Ergänzungsjagdgruppe Ost as an instructor.

07.04.43 awarded Ritterkreuz and promotion to Leutnant.

31.03.44 transfer to 5./JG 11.

WIA/POW 23.08.44, shot down by American fighters southeast of Paris and in January 1945 repatriated, due to severity of his wounds.

Credited with c. 150 combat missions and 57 air victories.

Survived the war; died 07.05.75 in Fischbach/Germany.

 

Richard Eisele, Unteroffizier in 3./JG 3.

KIA 14.01.43, shot down by enemy fighters over Pitomnik.

 

Hans Frese, Feldwebel in 4./JG 3, later Leutnant and Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 3.

KIA 08.03.44, crashed near Belzig/Germany.

Credited with 44 air victories.

 

Gustav Frielinghaus, Leutnant/Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän in 6./JG 3.

01.05.44 – 25.06.44 Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3.

Credited with c. 350 combat missions and 74 air victories.

Survived the war; died 11.09.63 in Düsseldorf/Germany.

 

Rudolf Germeroth, Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän in 3./JG 3, also commander of Platzschutzstaffel Pitomnik.

KIA 14.10.43, shot down by P-47 near Antwerp.

Credited with 8 air victories.

 

Kurt Hofrath, Unteroffizier 2./JG 3.

KIA 03.01.1943, probably shot down by enemy fighters during transfer flight from Pitomnik.

Credited with 21 air victories.

 

Theodor Kaiser, Unteroffizier in 1./JG 3, later Leutnant and Staffelkapitän of 3./JG 3.

WIA 17.12.44 in combat with P-47s over the Ardennes.

Credited with 22 air victories.

Survived the war.

 

Adolf Leib, Leutnant in 2./JG 3.

KIA 22.02.44, shot down near Haringvliet/Holland, bailed out but was found dead in his chute.

Credited with 4 air victories.

 

Werner Lucas, Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän in 4./JG 3.

KIA 24.10.43, shot down by Spitfires near Leiden/Holland.

Credited with 106 air victories.

 

Heinz Obst, Unteroffizier 3./JG 3.

MIA 03.01.1943, probably shot down by enemy fighters during transfer flight from Pitomnik.

Credited with 5 air victories.

 

Georg Pissarski, Unteroffizier in 4./JG 3

KIA 10.06.43, shot down by Spitfires north of Gent.

Credited with 9 air victories.
 

Georg Schentke, Leutnant in 2./JG 3.

MIA/KIA 25.12.42, bailed out after shooting down an Il-2, captured but never heard of again. Allegedly beaten to death by Red Army soldiers.

Credited with 90 air victories.

 

Rudolf Traphan, Feldwebel in 5./JG 3

KIA 11.04.1944

Credited with 13 air victories.

 

Otto Wirth, Unteroffizier in 3./JG 3.

KIA 08.10.1943

Credited with 12 air victories.

 

Edited April 4, 2019 by Juri_JS

[Dutchvdm]

39 minutes ago, Juri_JS said:

While working on it, I‘ve also done some research on the fate of the pilots mentioned in my campaign. It‘s shocking to see that few survived the war.

 

Kurt Brändle, Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3.

KIA 03.11.43, shot down into the sea by P-47 escort fighters or Canadian Spitfires while intercepting an attack on Amsterdam by medium bombers. His body was later washed ashore near Zandvoort on 30 December 1943.

Credited with more than 700 combat missions and 180 air victories.

 

Franz Daspelgruber, Leutnant 3./JG 3, later Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of 10./JG 3.

MIA 16.07.43 in air combat with B-24s northwest of Taranto.

Credited with 46 victories.

 

Gustav Dilling, Feldwebel in 5./JG 3.

KIA 14.06.44 during combat with B-26s.

Credited with 51 victories.

 

Kurt Ebener, Feldwebel in 4./JG 3.

01.03.43 transfer to Ergänzungsjagdgruppe Ost as an instructor.

07.04.43 awarded Ritterkreuz and promotion to Leutnant.

31.03.44 transfer to 5./JG 11.

WIA/POW 23.08.44, shot down by American fighters southeast of Paris and 01.45 repatriated, due to severity of his wounds.

Credited with c. 150 combat missions and 57 air victories.

Survived the war; died 07.05.75 in Fischbach/Germany.

 

Richard Eisele, Unteroffizier in 3./JG 3.

KIA 14.01.1943, shot down by enemy fighters over Pitomnik.

 

Hans Frese, Feldwebel in 4./JG 3, later Leutnant and Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 3.

KIA 08.03.44, crashed near Belzig/Germany.

Credited with 44 victories.

 

Gustav Frielinghaus, Leutnant/Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän in 6./JG 3.

01.05.44 – 25.06.44 Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3.

Credited with c. 350 combat missions and 74 air victories.

Survived the war; died 11.09.63 in Düsseldorf/Germany.

 

Rudolf Germeroth, Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän in 3./JG 3, also commander of Platzschutzstaffel Pitomnik.

KIA 14.10.43, shot down by P-47 near Antwerp.

Credited with 8 victories.

 

Kurt Hofrath, Unteroffizier 2./JG 3.

KIA 03.01.1943, probably shot down by enemy fighters during transfer flight from Pitomnik.

Credited with 21 victories.

 

Theodor Kaiser, Unteroffizier in 1./JG 3, later Leutnant and Staffelkapitän of 3./JG 3.

WIA 17.12.44 in combat with P-47s over the Ardennes.

Credited with 22 victories.

Survived the war.

 

Adolf Leib, Leutnant in 2./JG 3.

KIA 22.02.44, shot down near Haringvliet/Holland, bailed out but was found dead in his chute.

Credited with 4 victories.

 

Werner Lucas, Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän in 4./JG 3.

KIA 24.10.43, shot down by Spitfires near Leiden/Holland.

Credited with 106 air victories.

 

Heinz Obst, Unteroffizier 3./JG 3.

MIA 03.01.1943, probably shot down by enemy fighters during transfer flight from Pitomnik.

Credited with 5 air victories.

 

Georg Pissarski, Unteroffizier in 4./JG 3

KIA 10.06.43, shot down by Spitfires north of Gent.

Credited with 9 air victories.
 

Georg Schentke, Leutnant in 2./JG 3.

MIA/KIA 25.12.42, bailed out after shooting down an Il-2, captured but never heard of again. Allegedly beaten to death by Red Army soldiers.

Credited with 90 air victories.

 

Rudolf Traphan, Feldwebel in 5./JG 3

KIA 11.04.1944

Credited with 13 air victories.

 

Otto Wirth, Unteroffizier in 3./JG 3.

KIA 08.10.1943

Credited with 12 air victories.

 

 

Very disturbing image indeed. It was either make it till the end of the war or die trying... 

 

Grt,

 

M 

[Swing]

So great  another christmas gift ...thanks for the campaign and all your works Juri 

 

 

[Semor76]

I ´ve got a problem in mission 6 "return flight": after escorting the bombers to the stalingrad pocket and a sucessfull landig at Pitomnik, the after briefing tells me that the mission count as failled.

 

Did I miss something here?

[Juri_JS]

You are right, there is a mistake in the mission. Here's a hotfix:

 

Mission 6 fix.zip

 

Later I will also update the download.

 

EDIT:

Campaign download updated!

Edited December 20, 2018 by Juri_JS

[Moebelwagen]

Thank you very much, Juri! I already enjoyed the single missions very much, but binding them together as a campaign looks very promising and I will definetly play them again! ;-) Vielen Dank!

[Juri_JS]

Thank you.

 

The old missions added to the campaign were much improved. So it should be interesting to fly them again. There's now much more activity in the air and the types of enemy fighters encountered are partially randomized. Some events are also randomly triggered or they happen when a certain number of aircraft has been shot down, which should increase replayability. Moreover I've added some of the aircraft types we got with Battle of Kuban.

[GOA_Walter_Nowotny]

Excellent, thank you Juri!!

[JohnHolmes]

Thank you a ton Juri

Great campaign. I kept wanting to fly over the front lines where Kurt Ebener brother was positioned to protect him from Ivan attacks. What a desperate struggle those last days in the pocket must have been. I will def replay this again and again.

 

[keeno]

Thanks Juri!

 

[Juri_JS]

On 1/24/2019 at 8:27 PM, JohnHolmes said:

Thank you a ton Juri

Great campaign. I kept wanting to fly over the front lines where Kurt Ebener brother was positioned to protect him from Ivan attacks. What a desperate struggle those last days in the pocket must have been. I will def replay this again and again.

 

Thank you. This reminds me that I wanted to place some guns and other stuff at the location where Ebener's brother's anti-tank unit was positioned. I will add it when I update the campaign.

[Juri_JS]

I've uploaded a new version. The campaign is now fully compatible with game version 3.010.

http://www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/download.php?view.1009

 

Red/blue front markings on the map are now correctly displayed and there are some minor changes to the ground units positioned along the front.

Edited February 15, 2019 by Juri_JS

[alpenspion]

Hey Juri!

 

kannst Du deine Sturmoviks over Stalingrad Missionen nicht auch zur Kampagne umbauen? Die macht echt Spaß!

[Juri_JS]

2 hours ago, alpenspion said:

Hey Juri!

 

kannst Du deine Sturmoviks over Stalingrad Missionen nicht auch zur Kampagne umbauen? Die macht echt Spaß!

Nein, da fliegt man ja jede Mission von einem anderen Flugplatz. Das passt nicht wirklich für eine Kampagne. Außerdem plant BlackSix meines Wissens eine Sturmovik-Kampagne, da möchte ich ihm keine Konkurrenz machen.

[alpenspion]

50 minutes ago, Juri_JS said:

Nein, da fliegt man ja jede Mission von einem anderen Flugplatz. Das passt nicht wirklich für eine Kampagne. Außerdem plant BlackSix meines Wissens eine Sturmovik-Kampagne, da möchte ich ihm keine Konkurrenz machen.

 

Hast Du Dir mal überlegt eine historische HS 129er Kampagne zu machen? Wäre echt cool! Ich liebe Deine Kampagnen!?

[Juri_JS]

Just now, alpenspion said:

 

Hast Du Dir mal überlegt eine historische HS 129er Kampagne zu machen? Wäre echt cool! Ich liebe Deine Kampagnen!?

Der Versuch ist leider gescheitert. Es gab zu viele KI-Probleme.

 

P.S.: Damit es keinen Ärger von den Moderatoren gibt, solltest du hier besser auf Englisch schreiben.

[JUSTPLANECRAZY]

Just completed this BRILLIANT campaign thoroughly enjoyed it as with LIONS OF KALININ ,very much appreciated THANK YOU.

[frosen]

Thanks for this excellent rework of your already very good single missions pack! It was very entertaining and also interesting with the diary part. Well researched! 

[von_Tom]

 

Is it possible to change these campaigns into co-op missions?

 

von Tom

[Juri_JS]

25 minutes ago, von_Tom said:

 

Is it possible to change these campaigns into co-op missions?

 

von Tom

I am not expert on coop missions, but I guess it would work if you only want to fly the missions from the German side. But adjustments to the mission logic would be necessary and it's not enough to simply enable the "Cooperative Start" option for all planes. For example at the moment things like mission success/failure only get triggered by the player aircraft, this is something that needs to be changed.

 

If you want to make the missions flyable for the Russian side too, this would be an awful lot of work and it's probably easier to create new missions.

[MasserME262]

While Im suffering this career, Im enjoying it at the same time (how's that even possible?). The problem with me is the snow, that makes me spotting much, -much- more difficult. That, and the fact that the weather is often bad and there's good turbulences that makes everything more difficult for me. I just finished the (10th mission?) where you escort a Bf110 that has to do a reconnaissance mission (tho he engaged enemy fighters 2 times).

Its helping me to escort planes better, and improves my situational awareness a bit, but I have to work on that yet.

 

Its my first user-made SC, and the second I play overall (first was Fortress on the Volga), and I like it, good job and thanks for it?

[104th_IronMike]

Hi Juri, thanks for this campaign, one of my all time favorites. I wonder if the bomber gunners got even tougher, because I cant get past mission 4 without Pssarski dying, or both of us dying, while it is usually snipeshot that kills my pilot. It's horrible, doesnt matter how fast you boom and zoom on them, they have jedi aiming, often sniping the pilot while pulling away quite far out. I wonder if lowering the bomber ai skill to average would not be better for a more flowing experience, after doing it 7 times in a row now, kinda bummed out to continue, if you know what I mean. Thanks for taking a look.

[Juri_JS]

21 hours ago, 104th_IronMike said:

Hi Juri, thanks for this campaign, one of my all time favorites. I wonder if the bomber gunners got even tougher, because I cant get past mission 4 without Pssarski dying, or both of us dying, while it is usually snipeshot that kills my pilot. It's horrible, doesnt matter how fast you boom and zoom on them, they have jedi aiming, often sniping the pilot while pulling away quite far out. I wonder if lowering the bomber ai skill to average would not be better for a more flowing experience, after doing it 7 times in a row now, kinda bummed out to continue, if you know what I mean. Thanks for taking a look.

Bomber AI skill is already set to low, only the flight leader has normal skill. I agree that the Pe-2 gunners are much too effective. If you have problems to complete the mission just ignore the bombers and return to Pitomnik.

[GAE_YaniBarto]

thanks, I'm currently flying it
Nice job

[104th_IronMike]

On 6/8/2020 at 9:01 PM, Juri_JS said:

Bomber AI skill is already set to low, only the flight leader has normal skill. I agree that the Pe-2 gunners are much too effective. If you have problems to complete the mission just ignore the bombers and return to Pitomnik.

 

Ok wow, that surprises me even more then. I tried it couple more times, and I swear their snipeshots are humanly impossible lol, the distance and angles the kill the pilot 9/10 is crass. Good advice thanks, I should prolly just move past it and not look back too much. Else as I said, my favorite campaign. Thanks again.

[kroepke10]

Hallo Juri_JS,

I finished my first mission. I shot down 4 bombers and hit 1 fighter. The landing was succesfull. But the mission was failed. What is the goal of your first mission?

[Juri_JS]

12 minutes ago, kroepke10 said:

Hallo Juri_JS,

I finished my first mission. I shot down 4 bombers and hit 1 fighter. The landing was succesfull. But the mission was failed. What is the goal of your first mission?

All you have to do is to land, but if you damage your plane on landing the game might register this as a failed mission.

[Juri_JS]

New version available:

http://www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/download.php?view.1009

 

Changes:

- It's no longer necessary to select the correct player skin. It's now selected by default.
- Fixed wrong Yak-1b skins in mission 5.
- New smoke effects.

[UFA_Bagel]

@Juri_JS nice campaign, thanks for your efforts! Finished it recently. Following a real pilot's diary is a great idea. Would love to see more campaigns like that. Especially liked longer ferry missions when you should carefully calculate your risks engaging enemies far from friendly territory and transport cover missions when you deal with multiple enemies, having limited resources both in terms of planes and fuel, and a very fragile and slow planes under your protection.

Edited January 4, 2021 by ACG_Elegz

[vonGraf]

On 12/17/2020 at 5:45 PM, Juri_JS said:

New version available:

http://www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/download.php?view.1009

 

Changes:

- It's no longer necessary to select the correct player skin. It's now selected by default.
- Fixed wrong Yak-1b skins in mission 5.
- New smoke effects.

 

Please is it possible to get an alternative DL link here too?

[Juri_JS]

8 minutes ago, vonGraf said:

 

Please is it possible to get an alternative DL link here too?

Yes, see first post.

[Juri_JS]

Download link to Axis and Allies Paintworks should work again.

[Juri_JS]

LF_Gallahad has translated the campaign to Spanish. Put these files into the Platzschutzstaffel Pitomnik Campaign folder:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JIG1RqBkaoMeHusJlcjtyVEIGqJsxXZJ/view?usp=sharing

 

I will also add the translation to the download.

[vonGraf]

I finished the campaign yesterday and I like it. Thank you for creating this fine work.

First time I had a Bf-109 G model in this game and I'm looking forward playing the 'Beule' with the better armament

Some missions I flew directly a second time to get a better result (or a result at all); that's a pro I like in these kind of campaigns. Contrary to the game's career.

Especially the story from the diary I found quite moving and reminded me of my recent re-read of Fritz Wöss' 'Dogs, do you want to live forever' Stalingrad book.

A nice view were the firing 'Stalin Organs' I had beneath me in one of the last missions; i never had this great picture in this game before.

I had two crashes while in the landing approach because the airstrips were damn difficult to see when flying in low height and I lost and missed them somehow, bouncing in the bushes/trucks.. ? No problem, my fault.