Changes and tweaks to career mode

[Yogiflight]

@LukeFFI don't know, if you can change this, but in Free Hunt missions, the diving down to 1000m, when leaving waypoint 3 (action waypoint), still deep into enemy territory, doesn't make sense. You would never do this, go that close to light and medium AA defense. In fact I would place waypoint 4 a few kilometers into friendly territory and go down to 1000m there.

[LukeFF]

36 minutes ago, Yogiflight said:

@LukeFFI don't know, if you can change this, but in Free Hunt missions, the diving down to 1000m, when leaving waypoint 3 (action waypoint), still deep into enemy territory, doesn't make sense. You would never do this, go that close to light and medium AA defense. In fact I would place waypoint 4 a few kilometers into friendly territory and go down to 1000m there.

 

No, I can't do anything about that. That's @=FB=VikS's territory.

[Yogiflight]

5 hours ago, LukeFF said:

 

No, I can't do anything about that. That's @=FB=VikS's territory.

Yes, I thought so, but wanted to ask at least. Maybe VikS will have a look at it.

[Sowercrowd]

Guys, the free hunt missions are in dire need of a major overhaul.They are a total career killer right now. I just lost another wingman who wasn't capable of anything useful. He did not announce, react or fight the enemy. He was shot down within 30 seconds, although we had the height advantage.It's like babysitting an absolute rookie, so ridiculous... I shot down three attackers and was barely able to make it to the landing strip, chased by another 3 MiGs...This is so frustrating. I think, I'll take a hiatus for some weeks now.

[LukeFF]

5 hours ago, Sowercrowd said:

Guys, the free hunt missions are in dire need of a major overhaul.They are a total career killer right now. I just lost another wingman who wasn't capable of anything useful. He did not announce, react or fight the enemy. He was shot down within 30 seconds, although we had the height advantage.It's like babysitting an absolute rookie, so ridiculous... I shot down three attackers and was barely able to make it to the landing strip, chased by another 3 MiGs...This is so frustrating. I think, I'll take a hiatus for some weeks now.

 

Please post such reports in the Technical Issues forum, along with the mission file(s). This topic here is to discuss changes that have been recently implemented or are close to being implemented.

[Yogiflight]

After more than 10 traffic interdiction missions with the Bf 110, I have to say they are not what they should be. In the way they are currently running, they are the same the ground attack missions were before the fighter escort was implemented for the 110. We got intercepted every single mission, usually before reaching the target zone, only three times we were able to start ground attacking before the Russian fighters attacked. It surely happened that those missions were intercepted, but this should not be the rule, otherwise those missions do not make sense without fighter escort.

Additionally, the 110 should, like in the other ground attack mission types, attack more in the depth of the enemy territory. In the two missions we started attacking ground targets before we were intercepted and I was not the flightleader, we attacked targets at the frontline, which would be more the target area of the Schlachtflieger.

As I am squadron leader meanwhile, I will take my pilot out of traffic interdiction missions, because the way they are running, it only makes sense flying them without bombs, with less fuel and at higher altitude, as they are nothing but free hunt missions. And that is really sad, because this mission type would promise interesting missions.

 

[LukeFF]

4 hours ago, Yogiflight said:

After more than 10 traffic interdiction missions with the Bf 110, I have to say they are not what they should be. In the way they are currently running, they are the same the ground attack missions were before the fighter escort was implemented for the 110. We got intercepted every single mission, usually before reaching the target zone, only three times we were able to start ground attacking before the Russian fighters attacked. It surely happened that those missions were intercepted, but this should not be the rule, otherwise those missions do not make sense without fighter escort.

Additionally, the 110 should, like in the other ground attack mission types, attack more in the depth of the enemy territory. In the two missions we started attacking ground targets before we were intercepted and I was not the flightleader, we attacked targets at the frontline, which would be more the target area of the Schlachtflieger.

As I am squadron leader meanwhile, I will take my pilot out of traffic interdiction missions, because the way they are running, it only makes sense flying them without bombs, with less fuel and at higher altitude, as they are nothing but free hunt missions. And that is really sad, because this mission type would promise interesting missions.

 

Yes, I would make a report about this in the technical issues section of the forum, so that the appropriate developers will see it. 

[IckyATLAS]

On 5/14/2022 at 1:12 AM, Yogiflight said:

After more than 10 traffic interdiction missions with the Bf 110, I have to say they are not what they should be. In the way they are currently running, they are the same the ground attack missions were before the fighter escort was implemented for the 110. We got intercepted every single mission, usually before reaching the target zone, only three times we were able to start ground attacking before the Russian fighters attacked. It surely happened that those missions were intercepted, but this should not be the rule, otherwise those missions do not make sense without fighter escort.

Additionally, the 110 should, like in the other ground attack mission types, attack more in the depth of the enemy territory. In the two missions we started attacking ground targets before we were intercepted and I was not the flightleader, we attacked targets at the frontline, which would be more the target area of the Schlachtflieger.

As I am squadron leader meanwhile, I will take my pilot out of traffic interdiction missions, because the way they are running, it only makes sense flying them without bombs, with less fuel and at higher altitude, as they are nothing but free hunt missions. And that is really sad, because this mission type would promise interesting missions.

 

This is a general problem with mission design. I started to work with the editor from the moment it came out (about 7 years now) , so I consider to have a good expertise about how to use it even if I am far from perfection. Having designed a campaign (Online for free) where I try to have every mission completely different from all points of view air, sea and ground, and with much detail, persistence of effects on the map from one mission to the other, it is just an enormous amount of work which simply cannot be profitable. If you want to sell and be profitable (I mean for the Devs) then the approach is different. And typically it is to have a base frame for a certain type of mission (interception, bombing etc.), that you will use and reuse just changing a few parameters (type and number of planes as an example, meteorological conditions, and trajectories on the map) adding  a few simple things here and there. I simplify a little but you get the idea. By doing this the immediate feeling after a few missions is repetition and not much of a variation. By mixing the mission types you create a little bit of variety but again this repetitiveness effect will quickly appear.

If I consider the time that I spent (it is a hobby and a pleasure so it cannot be monetized) you would be horrified about the total cost if each hour should be paid a normal salary. And in that case you should add even more work because for a paying "product" there is much more testing and debugging.

 

[tattywelshie]

13 minutes ago, IckyATLAS said:

This is a general problem with mission design. I started to work with the editor from the moment it came out (about 7 years now) , so I consider to have a good expertise about how to use it even if I am far from perfection. Having designed a campaign (Online for free) where I try to have every mission completely different from all points of view air, sea and ground, and with much detail, persistence of effects on the map from one mission to the other, it is just an enormous amount of work which simply cannot be profitable. If you want to sell and be profitable (I mean for the Devs) then the approach is different. And typically it is to have a base frame for a certain type of mission (interception, bombing etc.), that you will use and reuse just changing a few parameters (type and number of planes as an example, meteorological conditions, and trajectories on the map) adding  a few simple things here and there. I simplify a little but you get the idea. By doing this the immediate feeling after a few missions is repetition and not much of a variation. By mixing the mission types you create a little bit of variety but again this repetitiveness effect will quickly appear.

If I consider the time that I spent (it is a hobby and a pleasure so it cannot be monetized) you would be horrified about the total cost if each hour should be paid a normal salary. And in that case you should add even more work because for a paying "product" there is much more testing and debugging.

 

Yeah I can imagine the design of campaigns to be an absolute pain and time consuming task. I have mentioned this before, but I really do believe there could be legs in having an enhanced career mode which is a payable DLC, which might go to some way to paying someone to sit down and go through it. 

[Yogiflight]

5 hours ago, IckyATLAS said:

By doing this the immediate feeling after a few missions is repetition and not much of a variation.

This is not what I am critizizing, though. My point is, I am flying a ground attack mission, but in fact it always is a fighter mission, because we get intercepted each time. This is not a big issue in ground attack missions with fighter escort, because usually the fighter escort deals with the enemy fighters (although I have to say, that the 110s have a big tendency to jettison their bombs and engage enemy fighters, when in fact staying on course to the target would be the thing to do). But in ground attack missions without fighter escort, it should be the exception, that enemy fighters engage, because otherwise those missions don't make sense as ground attack misions. You always have to see, how it would have been in reality. Your traffic interdiction missions get intercepted every single time, so you lose aircrafts and pilots and have no success with destroying ground targets. Why would you go on flying those missions, at least without fighter escort?

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, Yogiflight said:

This is not what I am critizizing, though. My point is, I am flying a ground attack mission, but in fact it always is a fighter mission, because we get intercepted each time. This is not a big issue in ground attack missions with fighter escort, because usually the fighter escort deals with the enemy fighters (although I have to say, that the 110s have a big tendency to jettison their bombs and engage enemy fighters, when in fact staying on course to the target would be the thing to do). But in ground attack missions without fighter escort, it should be the exception, that enemy fighters engage, because otherwise those missions don't make sense as ground attack misions. You always have to see, how it would have been in reality. Your traffic interdiction missions get intercepted every single time, so you lose aircrafts and pilots and have no success with destroying ground targets. Why would you go on flying those missions, at least without fighter escort?

 

I do agree as well and hopefully something can be done about it. Just last night I was reading in Black Cross / Red Star about the operations of a C-6 unit in the Demyansk region in March 1943 - 9.(Eis)/KG 1. Bergstrom writes there that with their 500 km/h top speed and flying at low level, they could usually make a clean escape after attacking a train. Every now and then they were intercepted by enemy fighters, and in fact he relates a mission where 2 out of 3 were intercepted and shot down by Yaks. Even so, he pretty much makes the point that this was a rare thing. 

[LukeFF]

Hey guys! It's that time again for another update on what changed in career mode with the latest update:

• First, a note on Mosquito career missions: Traffic Interdiction missions should be occurring at night, but this wasn't ready for this build, so for now they are set during daytime hours.

Updates to other stuff:

• The default Ju 88 C-6 formation is now 3 planes instead of 4 (per a citation in Black Cross / Red Star Volume 4).
• The Fw 190 A-6's loadout when configured as a G-3 has been updated.
• The MC 202 has a better mission set on both the Moscow and Stalingrad maps.
• The MC 202 unit on the Stalingrad map is now based again at Tatsinskaya.
• Improved awards criteria for Germany and Great Britain

And...the one that took the longest time but one I'm really proud of: vastly improved lists of first names and last names for all 4 nations. You should be seeing far less repetitions in pilot names now, since each nation has several hundred surnames and first names to choose from (I think for the Germans, for instance, the count of surnames is something like 750 ?). This will probably be an ongoing project (I still have mountains of sources to look through for more names), but for now the difference should be noticeable.

 

Just a couple of notes here about this last change: the game does not play nice when trying to generate names with umlauts and that funky German double-S symbol, so where relevant the letters are rendered ae, oe, ue, and ss. Also for Great Britain, the list of names comes predominantly from the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and a few from South Africa. I know people want unique names for the squadrons made up of foreign volunteers (e.g., Poland, France, and Norway), but all of the RAF squadrons are part of one database for Great Britain. There would have to be a coding change made in order to have Polish names for Polish squadrons, etc.

[sevenless]

4 hours ago, LukeFF said:

 

• First, a note on Mosquito career missions: Traffic Interdiction missions should be occurring at night, but this wasn't ready for this build, so for now they are set during daytime hours.

 

Just flew a dawn bombing mission with 305 squadron (17:05h at 25th November, strike a target at Grevenbroich). You can´t beat that twilight atmosphere. Excellent! Dusk and dawn missions would be fabulous! Not only for the Mossie. Would love to see that for other planes as well in BoN and BoBP. I.e. hit and run missions with Me 410 or Fw-190G on the english coast etc.

Edited May 31, 2022 by sevenless

[Yogiflight]

21 hours ago, LukeFF said:

the game does not play nice when trying to generate names with umlauts and that funky German double-S symbol, so where relevant the letters are rendered ae, oe, ue, and ss.

The first name 'Jurgen' should be 'Juergen', as it is with an 'Umlaut'. Didn't look if this was changed already. If so, forget the post.

[LukeFF]

24 minutes ago, Yogiflight said:

The first name 'Jurgen' should be 'Juergen', as it is with an 'Umlaut'. Didn't look if this was changed already. If so, forget the post.

 

Yes, I think I made that change.

[LukeFF]

Hey all,

 

There weren't a ton of updates from me this time around, since the last update was just two weeks ago, but I did make one last final update to the German, British, and American pilot names. I say 'final', because there's only so many lines before the config file says no more. ? 

 

So, all of this means that there is a massive number of surnames and about 200 first names for each of these nations (the Soviet one is a bit smaller, but still pretty big). For the Americans, the surname list now reflects better the fact that German, Italian, and Polish immigrants represented a large chunk of the American population in the 1930s and 1940s. The two main sources for this last big update were unit rosters from two Troop Carrier Groups.

 

For the British, I leaned heavily on a big list of POWs that were with the Royal Canadian Air Force, with the idea that there will be more French-Canadian names in the database. I also randomly sampled some wartime squadron logs for this task.

 

The German name update came primarily from a list of pilots and other members of KG 51 at the end of Das Flurschaden Geschwader, Jan Horn's big book on KG 51's operations in 1944-45.

 

Finally, a note about the Ar 234: you might see that it is scoring huge numbers of ground kills on missions where you don't participate. I have a plan in place to rectify this issue, and the bonus is that it should make the kill list for other planes on AI-only missions more accurate as well. Hopefully I can have that in place by the time the Normandy career is ready. Until then, just assume your Ar 234 wingmen are massively overclaiming. ? 

[sevenless]

Luke,

 

saw on one mission a german pilot with the first name "Haso". I guess that is a typo and should read "Hasso" as the german general Hasso von Manteuiffel or the german SAP founder Hasso Plattner. Maybe you find the time to correct this.

 

Hasso von Manteuffel – Wikipedia

 

Hasso Plattner – Wikipedia

 

Otherwise great job with the new name lists. Way more natural now ?

[LukeFF]

25 minutes ago, sevenless said:

Luke,

 

saw on one mission a german pilot with the first name "Haso". I guess that is a typo and should read "Hasso" as the german general Hasso von Manteuiffel or the german SAP founder Hasso Plattner. Maybe you find the time to correct this.

 

Hasso von Manteuffel – Wikipedia

 

Hasso Plattner – Wikipedia

 

Otherwise great job with the new name lists. Way more natural now ?

 

Thanks!

 

In regards to Hasso or Haso, this comes from a list of JG 54 personnel. In particular it is referring to Haso Reymann, a pilot in 6./JG 54. 

 

He comes up in this search result here and in the JG 54 personnel spreadsheet I have on my PC: http://www.aircrewremembered.com/KrackerDatabase/?q=haso&qand=&exc1=&exc2=&search_only=&search_type=exact

 

But, if that's most likely the result of a typo or that Hasso is more common, I can submit a fix.

[sevenless]

2 hours ago, LukeFF said:

 

Thanks!

 

In regards to Hasso or Haso, this comes from a list of JG 54 personnel. In particular it is referring to Haso Reymann, a pilot in 6./JG 54. 

 

He comes up in this search result here and in the JG 54 personnel spreadsheet I have on my PC: http://www.aircrewremembered.com/KrackerDatabase/?q=haso&qand=&exc1=&exc2=&search_only=&search_type=exact

 

But, if that's most likely the result of a typo or that Hasso is more common, I can submit a fix.

 

Hi Luke,

 

That is interesting. Indeed that does not seem to be a typo but a very very rare first name. Seems to be of balkan origin. Anyhow leave it as is. Obviously the first name "Haso" is absolutely fine though very rare. You learn something new every day.

 

Haso - Names Encyclopedia (namespedia.com)

[453=SGII_Wotan]

does the new b26 generate in missions now in career mode?

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, 453=SGII_Wotan said:

does the new b26 generate in missions now in career mode?

 

Yes

[Juri_JS]

On 6/16/2022 at 12:08 AM, LukeFF said:

 

Thanks!

 

In regards to Hasso or Haso, this comes from a list of JG 54 personnel. In particular it is referring to Haso Reymann, a pilot in 6./JG 54. 

 

He comes up in this search result here and in the JG 54 personnel spreadsheet I have on my PC: http://www.aircrewremembered.com/KrackerDatabase/?q=haso&qand=&exc1=&exc2=&search_only=&search_type=exact

 

But, if that's most likely the result of a typo or that Hasso is more common, I can submit a fix.

It's a typo. The Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries by Henry deZeng and Douglas Stankey lists him as Hasso Reymann.

[WarSlothdsbeckett]

I use IL2 almost exclusively for the single player career mode and I think it has been developed extremely well. I do have a couple suggestions though. I agree with Bill Bates that a lot of careers have ended with a crash landing only a couple hundred yards from friendly lines, and having the opportunity to escape captivity would be a really cool improvement. Secondly, and this may already be the case, but when a player completes one career, (i.e. BOM), does the player have the option to pick up the next career (in this case BOS), where the former one ended as far as stats, rank, awards etc... are concerned? If not already a feature this would be a great addition to the career mode experience. Thank you!

[LukeFF]

3 hours ago, WarSlothdavidbeckett said:

Secondly, and this may already be the case, but when a player completes one career, (i.e. BOM), does the player have the option to pick up the next career (in this case BOS), where the former one ended as far as stats, rank, awards etc... are concerned? If not already a feature this would be a great addition to the career mode experience. Thank you!

 

Yes, you have the option to move on to the next phase once your unit has completed its time on the current map. If you continue with the same unit, all of those AI pilots will also transfer over to the new map.

 

Unfortunately, I can't do anything about evading capture; that's something for the coders to do. 

[Xray-Delta]

I really like your third and fourth idea as options to the game and your first idea sounds brilliant, no idea if it's practical but you could even blend it with tank mode and escape via a tank.

[LukeFF]

Hey all,

 

One change made it into the latest update today. That concerns how stats are calculated on the missions where you don't take part. I had set up a system to calculate these stats before, but the inclusion of the Ar 234 made me realize I needed to recalculate a few things. So, all the numbers have been redone, and so now you should be seeing more realistic results when generating missions where it's just your wingmen that are flying.

[Swing]

Hello Luke  I just saw the new (beautiful) image of the early access of Battle of Normandy on the home screen of the site where we see mosquitoes shooting rockets above the bocage...But AFAIK the first operational use of rockets by Mosquitos FB.VI took place on 26 October 1944, so no Mosquitos with rockets in Normandy...Am i right ?

[LukeFF]

3 hours ago, Swing said:

Hello Luke  I just saw the new (beautiful) image of the early access of Battle of Normandy on the home screen of the site where we see mosquitoes shooting rockets above the bocage...But AFAIK the first operational use of rockets by Mosquitos FB.VI took place on 26 October 1944, so no Mosquitos with rockets in Normandy...Am i right ?

 

Correct, rockets will be not be available as a loadout for Normandy as well - it was all MGs, cannons, and bombs.

[LukeFF]

Just a note on the Me 410 on the Rhineland map: this is a semi-historical unit option, since by the fall of 1944 II./KG 51 was converting to the Me 262. There were other units still flying the Me 410, but farther to the East (especially ZG 76). You won't see it as an AI opponent, and if you'd rather just skip over flying it, you can just start your career in December 1944, when II./KG 51 realistically returned to the front with their Me 262s.

[CAG_Kirk]

Would it be possible to add an option to make frequency of contact more historical based on the current time in the campaign? Currently my pilot has 68 air kills for only 20 missions flown. It seems even on moderate difficulty I am encountering hordes of fighters every mission with very few no contact missions. I understand many people just want to fly if there will be action, so it could be just an option you have to enable for the people who would like a more true to life experience.

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, II./JG52_Kirk said:

Would it be possible to add an option to make frequency of contact more historical based on the current time in the campaign? Currently my pilot has 68 air kills for only 20 missions flown. It seems even on moderate difficulty I am encountering hordes of fighters every mission with very few no contact missions. I understand many people just want to fly if there will be action, so it could be just an option you have to enable for the people who would like a more true to life experience.

 

That would have to be something the game's coders would have to change.

[Stonehouse]

Probably needs program changes but add tactical codes for aircraft that use them?

 

Although would also have to fix the B26 tactical codes before you could use them for campaigns though as they appear in the wrong places. They should be 3 letter codes on the fuselage side similar to the RAF rather than 2 letter codes with one on tail and one on nose like they are now

Edited August 30, 2022 by Stonehouse

[LukeFF]

Hey all! So, there were a ton of changes to career mode in this last update, as the official post from the team shows. I just wanted to write up here everything I can think of that was changed:

• All Eastern Front phases of career saw improvements in the missions assigned to the various units, based on the time of the war being simulated.
• Soviet units now have a full regiment of ~20 planes, instead of the half-size regiments of before that only gave you 12 planes and thus little room for recovering from casualties.
• The standard Soviet formation size was increased to 8 or 9, depending on the type of regiment and the phase of the war.
• New blank P-39 skin added to the latter phases of the Kuban campaign.
• Small tweaks to the Order of the Patriotic War medals.
• New mission for Normandy and Rhineland: Armed Reconnaissance. Like it sounds, it's going out and hunting for anything that moves or that can shoot at you. This is a BIG one that significantly increases the accuracy of the Allied mission set. The later it went in to 1944, the more the Allied fighter-bombers were tasked with Armed Recon. This mission type can also be seen at night with the Mosquito and Me 410. It'll also occasionally show up in 1945 for German fighters.
• New missions for Normandy: Attack Enemy Beachhead and Bomb Enemy Beachhead. These are German missions where you can bomb and strafe Allied landing craft coming ashore at Normandy. German fighters and larger planes like the Me 410 and Ju 88 A-4 and C-6 fly these mission types. Depending on the date of the mission and the squadron, you will be tasked with either bombing or strafing these targets (note: historically, after June 12, 1944, the Luftwaffe abandoned fighter-bomber attacks on the beachhead, because they were accomplishing little. After that time, any fighter attacks on the beachhead will be with guns or BR21 rockets).
• New mission type for Normandy: Patrol Beachhead. Like it sounds, you'll patrol the beachhead for German planes attempting to attack the landing forces.
• New mission type for Normandy: bomb/attack V-1 launch site. Depending on the type of plane and unit you're in, these attacks will be carried out with rockets or bombs.
• New mission type for Normandy: Diver Interception Patrols (aka hunting for V-1s). These missions take place during both the day and night, with the P-51B, Spitfire IX, Spitfire XIV, Tempest, and Mosquito.
• Not a new mission type, but Traffic Interdiction is now much, much more widely used on the Rhineland map for Spitfire and Typhoon squadrons.
• Tons of new blank skins were added to Normandy and Rhineland. This includes new blanks for the Bf 109 G-6, Fw 190 A-6, Fw 190 A-8, Fw 190 D-9, Bf 109 G-14, Bf 109 K-4, Me 262, Ju 52, Ju 87, and Ju 88 A-4. For the K-4 and Fw 190 D-9, you'll see a general transition through what I like to refer to as Early, Mid, and Late paint schemes, based on the date in the campaign. For the G-14, there is one new late-war skin that shows up in 1945.
• Probably other stuff that I forgot but that'll probably come to my mind 2 minutes after writing this. ? 

Edited September 7, 2022 by LukeFF

[Alexmarine]

10 hours ago, LukeFF said:

•  
• Soviet units now have a full regiment of ~20 planes, instead of the half-size regiments of before that only gave you 12 planes and thus little room for recovering from casualties.

 

Should the german Geschwader also see an increase in planes available to mirror that? (Not for the units that are at Staffel strength of course)

 

Overall a really nice list of updates, the new blank skins are particularly appreciated ?

[Airborne506]

17 hours ago, LukeFF said:

Hey all! So, there were a ton of changes to career mode in this last update, as the official post from the team shows. I just wanted to write up here everything I can think of that was changed:

• All Eastern Front phases of career saw improvements in the missions assigned to the various units, based on the time of the war being simulated.
• Soviet units now have a full regiment of ~20 planes, instead of the half-size regiments of before that only gave you 12 planes and thus little room for recovering from casualties.
• The standard Soviet formation size was increased to 8 or 9, depending on the type of regiment and the phase of the war.
• New blank P-39 skin added to the latter phases of the Kuban campaign.
• Small tweaks to the Order of the Patriotic War medals.
• New mission for Normandy and Rhineland: Armed Reconnaissance. Like it sounds, it's going out and hunting for anything that moves or that can shoot at you. This is a BIG one that significantly increases the accuracy of the Allied mission set. The later it went in to 1944, the more the Allied fighter-bombers were tasked with Armed Recon. This mission type can also be seen at night with the Mosquito and Me 410. It'll also occasionally show up in 1945 for German fighters.
• New missions for Normandy: Attack Enemy Beachhead and Bomb Enemy Beachhead. These are German missions where you can bomb and strafe Allied landing craft coming ashore at Normandy. German fighters and larger planes like the Me 410 and Ju 88 A-4 and C-6 fly these mission types. Depending on the date of the mission and the squadron, you will be tasked with either bombing or strafing these targets (note: historically, after June 12, 1944, the Luftwaffe abandoned fighter-bomber attacks on the beachhead, because they were accomplishing little. After that time, any fighter attacks on the beachhead will be with guns or BR21 rockets).
• New mission type for Normandy: Patrol Beachhead. Like it sounds, you'll patrol the beachhead for German planes attempting to attack the landing forces.
• New mission type for Normandy: bomb/attack V-1 launch site. Depending on the type of plane and unit you're in, these attacks will be carried out with rockets or bombs.
• New mission type for Normandy: Diver Interception Patrols (aka hunting for V-1s). These missions take place during both the day and night, with the P-51B, Spitfire IX, Spitfire XIV, Tempest, and Mosquito.
• Not a new mission type, but Traffic Interdiction is now much, much more widely used on the Rhineland map for Spitfire and Typhoon squadrons.
• Tons of new blank skins were added to Normandy and Rhineland. This includes new blanks for the Bf 109 G-6, Fw 190 A-6, Fw 190 A-8, Fw 190 D-9, Bf 109 G-14, Bf 109 K-4, Me 262, Ju 52, Ju 87, and Ju 88 A-4. For the K-4 and Fw 190 D-9, you'll see a general transition through what I like to refer to as Early, Mid, and Late paint schemes, based on the date in the campaign. For the G-14, there is one new late-war skin that shows up in 1945.
• Probably other stuff that I forgot but that'll probably come to my mind 2 minutes after writing this. ? 

As someone who really only does SP and subsequently usually just Career, these changes are fantastic - comparing it to when I started playing ~2 years ago it’s a big improvement. I’m especially enjoying the higher altitude for bomber escort missions - just had one over the channel last night, climbing up past 10k feet I got so excited; my P47 might actually stand a chance in a dogfight!  

[LukeFF]

9 hours ago, Alexmarine said:

Should the german Geschwader also see an increase in planes available to mirror that? (Not for the units that are at Staffel strength of course)

 

Overall a really nice list of updates, the new blank skins are particularly appreciated ?

 

Thanks! Yes, technically the German Geschwader also should be around 40 planes, but the problem is then that we have one giant group that then isn't divided into Staffeln with commanders for each one, etc. I did test this once to see if it can handle a unit that big - and it can - but it comes with all those problems just mentioned.  Hopefully one day we'll have more detail unit management that will allow such things.

[LuftManu]

Excellent @LukeFF. The work around Normandy and improvements on the career has been great! Thank you very much and the team for the work!

[l_commando]

I have two small changes I would suggest for the P-38 career in Normandy:

 

1. Move the 474th Fighter Group's field to either RAF Winkton or RAF Hurn as they are closer to their historical base at RAF Warmwell.

 

2. Make the new olive drab Invasion Stripes skin the default one for all P-38s for the invasion phase. As this photo shows, most P-38s on D-Day (at least in the 370th Fighter Group) were still in olive drab

 

EDIT: 2.5. The Mid and Late 1944 olive drab skins for the P-38 seem to be mixed up in the skin selector menu

Edited September 10, 2022 by l_commando
added point

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, l_commando said:

I have two small changes I would suggest for the P-38 career in Normandy:

 

1. Move the 474th Fighter Group's field to either RAF Winkton or RAF Hurn as they are closer to their historical base at RAF Warmwell.

 

2. Make the new olive drab Invasion Stripes skin the default one for all P-38s for the invasion phase. As this photo shows, most P-38s on D-Day (at least in the 370th Fighter Group) were still in olive drab

 

Okay, thanks, I'll see what I can do. ??

[ROTER_BART]

Hi Luke,

 

Do you know if there are there any plans to include Ju 52 careers for Normandy?