Thursday Night Fly-In video

[=IRFC=Gascan]

For some reason, I'm not seeing it on HSD. He was wearing his Koi skin, as seen here: 

Part of me likes seeing the cloudy snow/rain maps just to mix things up, but it also makes it much harder to navigate and find fights. I like your suggestion, Baer. Is it possible to shorten the length for those maps, while keeping the others at the normal 3 hours? 90 minutes is just barely enough time to roll the map if you get started immediately with a squad working together, but its not easy. On the other hand, it would get the less desirable map out of the way with less pain and suffering for the players who don't enjoy it as much.

 

[US103_Baer]

On 7/31/2021 at 11:41 AM, gascan said:

For some reason, I'm not seeing it on HSD. He was wearing his Koi skin, as seen here: 

 

How'd you download it? I can't find it but got his Camels/Pfalz from HSD.

 

On 7/31/2021 at 11:41 AM, gascan said:

Part of me likes seeing the cloudy snow/rain maps just to mix things up, but it also makes it much harder to navigate and find fights. I like your suggestion, Baer. Is it possible to shorten the length for those maps, while keeping the others at the normal 3 hours? 90 minutes is just barely enough time to roll the map if you get started immediately with a squad working together, but its not easy. On the other hand, it would get the less desirable map out of the way with less pain and suffering for the players who don't enjoy it as much.

 

 

To make it do-able in 90mins we've previously mentioned that targets could be simplified and brought close to the front, creating a few areas of intense activity up and down the lines on both sides. Recons could be Arty style only, not backfield. Just a thought.

[J99_Sizzlorr]

6 hours ago, US28_Baer said:

[...]

To make it do-able in 90mins we've previously mentioned that targets could be simplified and brought close to the front, creating a few areas of intense activity up and down the lines on both sides. Recons could be Arty style only, not backfield. Just a thought.

Way too much work. Instead of making it shorter in duration I could offer to change the weather so that there is no rain, better visibility but still heavy overcast.

 

Edit: Actually that is impossible, the fog comes with the overcast cloud settings. There is no overcast option withouit the heavy fog no matter rain or no rain. So I can offer to make the sky heavily clouded, keep the rain and lower the fog by increasing the haze.

Clouds would look more like this then

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by J99_Sizzlorr

[RNAS10_Oliver]

On 7/31/2021 at 4:41 AM, gascan said:

For some reason, I'm not seeing it on HSD. He was wearing his Koi skin, as seen here: 

 

6 hours ago, US28_Baer said:

How'd you download it? I can't find it but got his Camels/Pfalz from HSD.

 

 

Perhaps the skin type of "Other" is the reason that you guys are struggling to find this one.

Edited August 1, 2021 by RNAS10_Oliver

[J99_Sizzlorr]

It looks like rain is only possible when you have set the clouds to overcast so it has to go as well. Thats a pity. We do not have any overcast options without the dreaded fog and no rain option without  the overcast. Even though these wearher patterns exists there is no way to get them ingame.

 

 

I am sorry I tried but when I make the changes I thought of the mission will look and feel the same as the other missions. My hands are tied maybe @Jason_Williams can give us more weather options like rain without overcast or overcast without fog in the coming updates. Until then I don't want to change the weather or the mission duration. 

 

I made the suggestions here: 

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by J99_Sizzlorr

[=IRFC=Gascan]

Well rats! It was worth a shot. Thanks for taking a look, Sizzlor, and good suggestion for the new weather types.

 

Oliver, you nailed it. Otto's Koi skin is listed under "other" skins.

[US103_Baer]

@J99_Sizzlorr yeah, thanks, understand.  For sure more (and more realistic) weather patterns would be great. 

 

[US103_Baer]

Thursday 19th August 2021

 

Guess which map. Go on, guess. I swear the thing follows me around.

 

There was a decent number of pilots desite the map and fortunately it didn't run full length as the Entente ground pounders did an excellent job. The 2nd map was such a relief!

 

So not good weather for Spads initially,  but managed a few engagements and the squad did pretty well. I kept getting kicked off the map, but a Modem/router reset seemed to help.

 

Stream in 2 parts because of that. 

Timestamps in description. 

Part 1

 

Part 2

 

Edited August 22, 2021 by US28_Baer

[VeltroRoF]

No vids from the 5th?
I had a small addendum ready.

 

=IRFC=Artun, US213_Picard, J9_Hammer, Otto_Matix and me fighting at Entente balloon:

 

Thursday night - 6 Aug - Fight at Balloon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc-zfZIAmHw

edit: This coincides with Baer's stream below at 2:11:32

Edited August 22, 2021 by VeltroRoF

[US103_Baer]

12 hours ago, VeltroRoF said:

No vids from the 5th?
I had a small addendum ready.

 

=IRFC=Artun, US213_Picard, J9_Hammer, Otto_Matix and me fighting at Entente balloon:

 

Thursday night - 6 Aug - Fight at Balloon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc-zfZIAmHw

 

 

Hey Veltro. 

Yeah I didn't post as it was a bit of a dud night for me.  But there were scraps going on and I did watch a few.

 

Here's the stream for your reference. 

Timestamps done

 

August 5th

 

[US103_Baer]

THURSDAY 26th AUGUST 2021

 

Really decent turnout made for a fun session with some large formations and engagements. Counted 38 pilots concurrent at one point.

 

3rd PG had a strong turn out but were quite surprised when a large formation of around 8 or 9 Germans crossed over slightly higher at maybe 4.5-5k and forced us into plan b That must've taken a bit of organising, can imagine the Comms! At one point the enemy planes were literally spread out across my entire view. It was quite a sight!

I don't think there are enough D7Fs so i assume a bunch were Pfalz D12s. As expected Central are going to rule the high ground now.

That left us to hunt lower though Parsons and I did later find a lone Dr1 above us at 5k. I'm not quite what his escape plan was, but it didn't work.

 

Did some stalking, a couple of bounces and witnessed some larger scraps thru the night with D7s and Bristols, Camels, Spads and even a DH4, so there was always something happening.

 

Timestamps to action in description.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by US28_Baer

[US103_Baer]

THURSDAY SEPT 2nd, 2021

 

Started with the Rain map, but fortunately only had 30mins remaining. The next map had really clear skies and more pilots joining in - which meant lots of who-will-blink-first contests with high D7fs and Pfalz D12s. So again it wasn't all action but you had to look sharp and try apply smart tactics to make the most of opportunities.

It's still amazing to me how quickly the scene can change from casually tracking a couple of high EA to a deadly scrap with 10+ aircraft.

 

 

Here's my stream of events.

Timestamps of highlights in description.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2021 by US28_Baer

[=IRFC=Gascan]

Good stuff. I was heading north to meet the recon and saw him spiral down the whole way. Congrats!

[US103_Baer]

THURSDAY SEPT 9th 2021

 

Clear skies signaled high Pfalzs, D7fs and very long range visibility. Surprise bounces were unlikely and sure enough the whole session involved either trying to dodge high EA or press them into doing something silly. Managed to get a couple of runs in but gunnery let me down a little and fresh arriving higher EA often forced us away. Hangman got a measure of revenge for last week with a good prop hang when we were over hun lines. Just managed to get home with a dud engine.

 

Ended the night with a quick couple of sorties in a Hurricane.

 

Timestamps in description

 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by US28_Baer

[US103_Baer]

THURSDAY 16th SEPT, 2021

 

Lots of action but damn frustrating. When we got a good position I either blew the attack or found the Huns had installed additional armour plating. Of course maybe i should just aim better, but yeah, frustrating, so had to edit the video down to just highlights. ?

 

Session started by letting a pair of b/w Fokkers off the hook. Then we had some good scraps with the Orange Perils and Greentails in the clouds. Klug almost had my number right at the end when i went after his mate despite knowing he was on my tail. Really dumb, but got lucky.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2021 by US28_Baer

[JGr2/J5_Klugermann]

 

Were you with him.....at the end ???

[JGr2/J5_Klugermann]

 

 

We all weep for Baer enlightened one...

[US103_Baer]

Thursday 23rd September 

 

The end is never pretty..

 

Was good to see the return of many vets and a healthy crowd in following the latest update and improvement to control jamming.  Think I saw near 40 at one point. 

 

We had quite a few fights at cloud height with multiple EA, which are always fun, including a running battle with a large formation that came over down south. Spent a while over Baupaume too, trying to catch planes forming up.

 

The end of the session found a couple of us over Brazieux trying to get a rando D8 that was shooting up our field. Talbot was hammering him from a dh4 gunner seat too. Just a bit of a laugh really.  Unfortunately i dived on him thinking no-one else was in, and didn't call out my attack. But someone was, and we collided. Real careless on my part. 

So this vlife is over. Its been a good one - since Thanksgiving day 2020 and the incident with a Gardimus CL2 wing. Final tally 104. 

S!

 

 

Edited September 26, 2021 by US28_Baer

[US103_Baer]

THURSDAY 30th SEPT, 2021

 

Some good scraps above, between and below the clouds today with SA at a premium.

Ran into good D7 and Dr1 pilots in formations which led to a couple of tense, drawn out engagements. There were the usual mud scraps and i got drawn into one, but i really don't like that style and quickly extricated myself!

 

Our 2-seathers were clearly getting the job done but so were the Central guys and it looked like we just had to hold the South balloon for the last 10minutes and Entente should win. Across came some Fokkers so we engaged them over the mud, unfortunately there were more that got through unseen - coming over low i guess - and i turned back to the balloon just in time to see in go down in flames! Really though we'd lost it there, but somehow the victory was assigned to Entente anyway. I have no clue how.

 

The fighting and tactical battles in multi layers of clouds looks and feels amazing at times. Can't wait to see what the new weather update adds to that experience.

 

Timestamps in description

 

 

[JGr2/J5_Klugermann]

Nice bounce Baer, pk'd. Literally checked my six about 5 seconds before you opened up and had just dropped down from 4k to check out a contact.

[=IRFC=Gascan]

Those double clouds are so much fun to fly and fight in! They add so many considerations and challenges. That scrap low at the end was a flight of Dolphins against I think 2x D7, a Pfalz D3, and a Halb or two. Great fun, but not the Dolphin's best altitude (we were climbing up after finishing off the southern artillery target). Unfortunately the Recon overshot the landing strip can crashed. The parser scored the match as a draw since neither side completed the mission, although the game called it an Entente victory since we shot up more targets and downed more planes (26 vs 21).

[US103_Baer]

12 hours ago, J5_Klugermann said:

Nice bounce Baer, pk'd. Literally checked my six about 5 seconds before you opened up and had just dropped down from 4k to check out a contact.

Yeah, had been tracking you, though priority was supporting Picard & Rockwell with the higher EA. But they had it covered and you circled back below me. What's a guy to do? 

 

4 hours ago, gascan said:

Those double clouds are so much fun to fly and fight in! They add so many considerations and challenges. That scrap low at the end was a flight ofDolphins against I think 2x D7, a Pfalz D3, and a Halb or two. Great fun, but not the Dolphin's best altitude (we were climbing up after finishing off the southern artillery target).

 

I had a pretty smartly flown D7 up with me at cloud height at the end.  Tried to use the clouds to flank him but he covered it off.  We tried to set him up, but he made a diving attack on a friendly then carried on down into a cloud to hide. Nice work.

 

Is cool to see how ppl are using the clouds. Often seems just like the actual pilot accounts. 

Edited October 2, 2021 by US28_Baer

[JGr2/J5_Klugermann]

On 10/1/2021 at 9:43 PM, US28_Baer said:

Yeah, had been tracking you, though priority was supporting Picard & Rockwell with the higher EA. But they had it covered and you circled back below me. What's a guy to do? 

 

 

 

 

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.

 

[US103_Baer]

THURSDAY OCT 7th, 2021

 

A night of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!

Several good positions I messed up thru impatience, positional mistakes and generally being a bit crap.

 

So some unnecessarily tense action. There was good stuff too though. Dragging 3 angry D7s down into a large formation of SE5s and Spads was great. For some reason it was impossible to see the friendlies from above, so the D7s couldn't have seen them either. I knew roughly where they were, Talbot called the directions and Parsons finished one quite spectacularly.

 

Last patrol was a lone hunt over Douai. I hung around the recon a while thinking it might attract something, but they seemed to be fine so headed North, and of course 2 minutes later they were mauled by a Dr1. Sorry Kotori! In trying to get back and help i'd lost alt and found myself with a D7 between me and the lines. Bugger. I headed south hoping he'd lose interest but on he came and started shooting forcing an increased dive. Eventually he went into tracking mode and some helpful clouds allowed me to escape. Wasn't best pleased about the whole thing and as i was still well in enemy territory i decided to turn and climb east and see if i could still get something out of this patrol.

Returning to Douai i stooged around for a while and was about to go home when a Fokker type came along 1000m below. Got the sun behind, dived hard and hit him with a long burst. Finally something worked. Didn't even bother zooming, just carried on west at full speed while watching him fall apart.

The Sim has a lot of real issues, but to me, it still gets pretty immersive at times.

 

 

Timestamps in the description, mostly.

 

Edited October 10, 2021 by US28_Baer

[US103_Baer]

THURSDAY 14th OCTOBER, 2021

 

Solid turnout again with close to 40 players on, great to see.

 

The first map had clear skies and Sun low in the West. I found visibility tricky and a high D7 caught me totally unawares. Fortunately i got a timely call out on comms (thanks Picard) but still never saw him till a long way down a steep dive. Later got a good vertical attack on a CL2 and was climbing back looking at all the friendlies feeding on my kill(!) when a Spad came in from a rather aggressive angle...of course it wasn't a Spad, but a D12. Damn those things look similar from the front at a glance. Fortunately D12s can't dive so was able to escape ok. Really in two minds about getting that FM fixed ?

 

Second map also had pretty clear weather and although the Sun was in the East, at least visibility was normal.

We decided to escort Squirrel's northern recon but it was soon obvious the Huns were ready with plenty of EA climbing to intercept. They spread out and closed in and the recon had no chance to get thru. We withdrew West with some Huns attacking and others staying up. It looked like there were planes spread out from one side of NML to the other from 2500m up to 4000m and multiple skirmishes taking place. A really dangerous place to be, but managed to de-wing a D12 and make an escape into clouds before the chasing pack arrived.

 

So the Recon had to be attempted again! This time we got it done ok but ran into plenty of trouble on the way back. Should've polished off a black D7 and a purple Dva from good bounces, but poor gunnery saw them survive and get away. Back to 'the butchery' training.

 

S! all. Tough fights and great fun

 

Timestamps done

 

Edited October 15, 2021 by US28_Baer

[JGr2/J5_Klugermann]

@2.20  That was Gascan and I with the Alb. You had to be close to 1000m above us. We were waiting to see who you would bounce.

 

I never saw anyone dive so fast and then get out of Dodge...LMAO.

 

Btw, I assume your screen resolution is much better than the stream cause I can't see half the shit you're bouncing until you're close.

[US103_Baer]

Yeah thought it was you, red nose, green tail,  unusual lozenge.

Can see I was tracking you down the mud and wondering if I was being set up for the d7. Then when he became a viable option you turned back so i knew it would be a one n done at best. Didn't even see the Alb till almost rolling over to dive. Figured you'd be right on me so didn't hang around

 

Game res is good though still 1080p. Thought most contacts visible on stream. Maybe it's YouTube having trouble differentiating contacts against ground colours. Anyway upgrading old gpu not an option at moment. Prices are crazy

[=IRFC=Gascan]

It was an interesting fight for sure. We were pushing our recon up north at the same time you guys were. When the two groups of escorts started squaring off, our recon skipped away to the south and snuck around to take photos while we tried to spoil your flight. Since you stayed high, we kept focusing on you as you ran north and we got spread out. When we turned back west, Mueller was able to engage a pair of SE5s and the recon. The first guy you set up on was Majors in a D7, and he dipped down to join the fight below. I don't know if he actually saw you. You then successfully bounced Kotori in his D12 while he was looking down at the fight and blew him out of the sky. It doesn't look like a lot of hits in the video, but the parser shows a bunch. After that, the four of us on comms broke off to reform, but two guys in D12's not on comms went in after the recon. I kinda feel bad, they were both killed by the time we got back in the area. I think we chased you guys around a bit to keep you busy enough to miss our recon, and I put a few bullets into Parsons, but nothing much really happened.

 

Fun fight for sure, and I don't think either side was really expecting it. We both chose the Northern recon first to avoid the brawlers who usually operate down south., which set us up for a head-on fight. I had my video recording going, but it bugged out and the file was bad, otherwise I'd love to post another view of the fight.

[US103_Baer]

Ah, didn't realise it was 2 recon patrols meeting. Cheers. 

[US103_Baer]

THURSDAY 21 OCT, 2021.

 

Solid night with 4 maps running back to back with good numbers as the evening shifted from Europe to the US. 

Our lot were split in 2 teams with a bunch flying Bristols and the rest Spads.

 

Parsons and I managed to catch a couple of D7s unaware but didnt get involved in a big scrap till near the end, when a flight of D12s and D7s came over fairly high. We'd just taken off and saw them over their side already. Although we struggled to climb to a decent position, they saw us too and forced us to drag them back to the airfield at MSE. It got pretty chaotic at times and some PD3s joined the party as well. 

The D12 is a real threat up high but the shocking dive and DM ruins it.

It was also another occasion that shows the arcadey vis model not working for WW1. Yes, in WW2 its fine, with the different speeds and maneuvering distances, but doesnt work for our slow planes and tight maps. Too easy to see everyone a million miles away

 

 

 

Timestamps in description
 

 

Edited October 23, 2021 by US28_Baer

[US103_Baer]

THURSDAY 28 OCT, 2021.

 

Fun session. Good numbers but a bit light on Central side.

 

Flew out first with Parsons and Picard and found an unusual flight of a D8, Dr1 and Pfalz D3. Unfortunately we couldn't get more than 1 Spad at a time on them, and they were definitely aware, so all we could do was a couple of hit n runs. Bit disappointed not to do more damage. Then we found the famous Orange Fokker in the clouds up north and he gave us a real run around but we finally got half a chance and took it quite well. 'New' guy Williams then joined and we found a D7 down south over enemy lines which was soon joined by another diving in from high. A series of skirmishes ensued and Williams scored his first victory. Later we had 2 flights patrolling behind enemy lines, which was was pretty quiet until we bumped into a couple of distinctive Fokkers from JG1.

 

Ended the evening with a fly out in P-38s. Fair to say I'm not very good, but enjoy flying it a lot and making progress.

 

Timestamps in Description

 

 

Edited October 29, 2021 by US28_Baer

[ST_Catchov]

24 minutes ago, US28_Baer said:

Good numbers but a bit light on Central side.

 

13. The excessive wing frame resistance to enemy fire of Fokker D.VII and Fokker D.VIIF was corrected 

 

 

Coincidence or Karma?

[US103_Baer]

24 minutes ago, ST_Catchov said:

 

13. The excessive wing frame resistance to enemy fire of Fokker D.VII and Fokker D.VIIF was corrected 

 

 

Coincidence or Karma?

Haha ? 

In truth i haven't noticed much difference in D7 wing strength. Whatever they did, or didn't do, its still a tank. Which is ok if they strengthen damage resistance on ALL the weaker planes, as they've done the CL2.

[US103_Baer]

THURSDAY NOV 4th, 2021

 

Bit of a slow night but some tense action at times against a bunch of D7s with good SA and tactics.

Managed to just about get the jump on them first time, but they saw us at the last moment.

Extended away and they got interested in our other flight. Was in a good position there too but they were pretty aware and couldn't get a good shot in.

We all separated until, of course round 3, when 2 of them engaged our lower flight. Rolled over to attack but they saw us coming and broke/drag until our energy and alt was used up, so had to dive out.

 

Latter part of the session was trying to deal with 4 high D7s who had good position above us. Lots of attempts to use cloud cover and various other tactics, only some of which worked.

 

Ended up in WW2 Hurricanes finding whole new ways to not see 109s.

 

 

Timestamps done

 

 

Edited November 5, 2021 by US28_Baer

[US103_Baer]

THURSDAY 11/11/21

 

Somehow fitting that 11/11 should have a great session with large numbers for 4 maps in a row. Great to see.

 

Action all night from up at 5k+ down to the mud. Highlight was bouncing a formation of Fokkers over enemy lines which somehow morphed into 8 of the buggers chasing us across the mud. They stayed together and stayed high which made it very difficult to attack. Eventually some were drawn away and I ended up sandwiched inbetween covering our lower guys and watching the high flights. Led to some awesome sights though. Turns out the highest Germans were Pfalz DIIIas. How long it must've taken to get them up above 5k i dont know, but brave men they were!

 

After that Hunter and I found ourselves with altitude and a little fuel to burn, so we went sausage-side looking for trouble. I got a great bounce on a D7 and super wounded the pilot in first burst, but his plane did weird-D7-shit™ pulling up, stalling and flopping about, right into my flight path as i pulled away. Instant Dead. No-ones fault, just a damn frustrating way to die.

 

 

 

Timestamps done

 

Edited November 12, 2021 by US28_Baer

[US103_Baer]

Thursday 18th, 2021

 

Wing-offs everywhere. Some of ours some of theirs and in the end mine too when i rolled while in a dive, not even pulling out, just rolling away to extend after attacking a D7. Pretty frustrating.

 

Talbot's ridiculous wing loss
https://clips.twitch.tv/SmellyGoldenDuckM4xHeh-IsRAYLqVrq6vCJ40

 

Timestamps in description

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 19, 2021 by US28_Baer

[US103_Baer]

Thursday 25th Nov 2021 (Thanksgiving)

 

Quiet night with most of the American contingent stuffing themselves with Turkey or suffering from the effects thereof.

 

We escorted a couple of Bristols but one exited in the least safe direction so we followed him thinking he'd need our help. Of course he was fine and the other Bristol (with the plates) who did the sensible thing, was the one that ran into trouble!

 

Didn't see much after that till we had a good scrap with a high Dr1 and then picked off one of a bunch of Fokkers who attacked Brazieux AF.

 

Timestamps in description

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by US28_Baer

[US103_Baer]

THURSDAY DEC 2nd, 2021

 

Great fun during today's session and around 40 pilots on at one stage.

Saw large, mixed formations of D7s, D12s and CL2s patrolling high and doing offensive missions. With all the paint schemes seen together it really did look great - quite 'circus-like'. One salmon/red D12 even looked pretty! 

Of course we got tangled up with them on several occasions and managed a decent Recon escort as well.

 

Timestamps in description

 

Edited December 4, 2021 by US28_Baer

[US103_Baer]

THURSDAY 9th DEC, 2021

 

New Clouds, a new German 2-seater and a new centurion (US93_Rummell). Today's session had a lot going for it. Got off to a slow start but had about 40 online in the latter part of the evening.

First a mega-congrats to Rummey for getting past 100 pvp victories in a single streak. He not only did it pretty quick, but often flying alone too. I can't comprehend how he managed it tbh.

SPADs huh, the real ace-makers!

 

At first glance the clouds in today's map didn't seem much different, but when you got up there, they were a thicker and a lot more varied in shape. The gaps between them came into play as well.

Early on we had a good setup on 2 fokkers behind Hun lines but another 'friendly' dove in prematurely, and sure enough they disappeared into a nearby cloud. Previously we could've posted up and waited for them to exit, but not this cloud. Way too big.

Clear that not everyone is quite as savvy yet. We bounced a D7 hun-side and, after the inital attack, he could've made a run for a cloud, but chose unwisely. A recon DFW shortly later also didn't make best use of heavy cloud cover when heading home and flew in the gaps. Funnily, his D7 escort did take the cloud route, and was a much tougher proposition.

So it looks like clouds are going to be a big deal tactically for WW1 and it'll be great to see what Sizz and other mission-makers come up with.
 

Saw several DFWs, high and low. They're good planes and seem pretty tough, though will reserve judgement on wing strength until we've tested more.

 

Timestamps to a few highlights in the description

 

 

Edited December 11, 2021 by US28_Baer

[US103_Baer]

THURSDAY 16th DEC, 2021

 

 

Timestamps done