New Player Here, Where Do I Start...

[TheCoyoteHunter]

Good day guys,

I'm getting into IL-2 and I need some info on where to start.

I have made up my mind that I want to start with the Great Battle series.

I would like to avoid Steam if possible.

 

Sorry, if these questions seem dumb, only other flight sim I've played is DCS, and its pricing and marketing seems very different to the IL-2 store.

 

1. Do I need to have a certain "one" of the Great battle series titles 1st, before getting any of the others?

2. From what I have gathered, some maps and planes are included with any one of the Great Battle titles, please confirm that this is correct.

3. What would you recommend me as a 1st purchase? I love the P51-D, but also like the German planes as well. 

4. Premium vs Standard, from what I've gathered, difference is you get 2 extra planes with Premium.

 

Currently looking at BATTLE OF BODENPLATTE, it has the P51-D, as well as some other interesting planes.

 

Thanks

Coyote

[JimTM]

1 hour ago, TheCoyoteHunter said:

...

 

1. Do I need to have a certain "one" of the Great battle series titles 1st, before getting any of the others?

 

If you buy from the IL-2 store, you can get any title you like. With Steam, you need Battle of Stalingrad first.

 

1 hour ago, TheCoyoteHunter said:

2. From what I have gathered, some maps and planes are included with any one of the Great Battle titles, please confirm that this is correct.

 

In multiplayer, you can fly any map as long as you have at least one of the planes used on that map. In singleplayer, you need the specific map and planes that you want to use. Certain planes from one map that you own can be used in the career feature for certain other maps (see the notes under planes in this post). Aside from that, there is no duplication of maps and planes between the titles. There are some extra maps though, aside from the title maps. For instance, the Lapino map is a small one that came with Battle of Stalingrad but I'm not sure that it comes with all titles. There are a couple of other extra maps (Velikie Luki and Novosokolniki) that are treated the same as Lapino.

 

FYI, Velikie Luki is shown west of the Battle of Moscow area on this map

 

1 hour ago, TheCoyoteHunter said:

3. What would you recommend me as a 1st purchase? I love the P51-D, but also like the German planes as well. 

 

I suspect that Battle of Bodenplatte would be the one for you, given your love for the P-51D. You also get the following German planes: Bf 109 G-14, Bf 109 K-4, Fw 190 A-8 and Me 262.

 

Check out the following links (which are listed under Game Guides in the IL-2 Resources post):

• A Buying Guide on IL-2: Battle of Stalingrad and Great Battles (by Sheriff)

 

• IL-2: Great Battles – Which one should I buy? (by ShamrockOneFive)
  Covers releases up to April 25, 2020

 

1 hour ago, TheCoyoteHunter said:

4. Premium vs Standard, from what I've gathered, difference is you get 2 extra planes with Premium.

 

I believe the difference is that you get the collector planes associated with the particular map with the Premium option for that map. See "Collector Planes" in the red menu at the right side of the IL-2 Store page for a list of the collector planes for all the maps. Most of these planes are at a much reduced price right now.

 

Note that there are some collector planes that do not come with any map and must be purchased separately: Yak-1B Series 127, the Ju52/3m, the U-2VS, the La-5FN Series 2, Bf109G-6, Hurricane Mark II, Yak-9, Yak-9T, C-47A (preorder), and IAR-80/81 (preorder).

 

Edited February 21, 2022 by JimTM

[Monksilver]

@TheCoyoteHunter

 

Word of caution, Battle of Normandy is in early access at this time which means not all the planes are available yet and more importantly neither is the map. So if you get BoN you won't be able to play any campaigns with it and will be limited to multi player only. If you get Bodenplatte then the BoN planes can be used on that map. So at this time only get BoN if you are also getting BoBP.   I suspect  you will find that the question of which of the editions to get first ends up not being important as you will end up wanting to get all of them, I got BoK first on 4.4.20 and by 06.05.20 I had the rest of them, the sim has that effect on you.

 

It is also more cost effective to buy the premium editions than buy the standard and then buy the collector planes later on.

 

 

 

 

[cardboard_killer]

3 hours ago, JimTM said:

In singleplayer, you need the specific map and planes that you want to use.

 

Is this the case? I was pretty sure all the maps were available with the purchase of any module, just not the flyable planes, historical scenarios (and/or related campaigns) and careers.

[JimTM]

42 minutes ago, cardboard_killer said:

 

Is this the case? I was pretty sure all the maps were available with the purchase of any module, just not the flyable planes, historical scenarios (and/or related campaigns) and careers.

 

As far as I know, that is the case for singleplayer but it is not the case for multiplayer (as long as you own a plane being used). For instance, the only module that I do not own is Tank Commander. In the Quick Mission builder, I cannot select the TC map (Prokhorovka). If I create a mission in the full mission editor on the TC map, using one of the free tanks, the mission does not show up in the missions screen. Please let me know if you have a different experience.

Edited February 21, 2022 by JimTM

[TheCoyoteHunter]

Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated!

 

I just purchased BATTLE OF BODENPLATTE premium as my 1st venture into IL-2.

The addition of the "Dora" pushed me to get the premium version, I don't know much about the P-38J, but it looks interesting.

 

BATTLE OF STALINGRAD is on my wish list, it has some very interesting planes as well.

 

Regards

Coyote

 

[JimTM]

23 minutes ago, TheCoyoteHunter said:

Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated!

 

I just purchased BATTLE OF BODENPLATTE premium as my 1st venture into IL-2.

The addition of the "Dora" pushed me to get the premium version, I don't know much about the P-38J, but it looks interesting.

 

BATTLE OF STALINGRAD is on my wish list, it has some very interesting planes as well.

 

Regards

Coyote

 

 

Nice! You're welcome TheCoyoteHunter. Welcome to the community.

 

I think you'll like the P-38. It can carry a whole lot of bombs and is quite maneuverable with the first notch of flaps, which you get automatically with a quick poke at the flaps button. Requiem's got a good introduction to it:

 

 

[cardboard_killer]

36 minutes ago, JimTM said:

For instance, the only module that I do not own is Tank Commander.

 

Tank Commander is not part of IL-2:BoX, so have to buy it to get the map. Again, I'm pretty sure that any BoX module gets you all the BoX maps.

[=FI=Blue2]

Actually Jim is correct unless something has changed dramatically & I somehow missed it (always possible).

 

For single player, you have to own the module that a given map came with in order to fly or drive on that map.  That goes for quick missions, single missions, or campaigns.

 

Multiplayer is a little different.  If you own ANY module, you can join any [non-password protected] multiplayer server regardless of what map it is using with the current mission.  However, you can only pilot planes (or drive vehicles) that you own.

So, if the current mission map on that server offers no planes or vehicles that you've purchased, your only choice will be to fly as a gunner, or jump in aother player's vehicle as a crew member (if vehicles are also offered in that mission).

Of course, this assumes there are players on the server who have unlocked those positions.  Each player has independent ability to lock or unlock crew postions on his own plane or vehicle.

[SAG]

On 2/21/2022 at 4:20 PM, cardboard_killer said:

 

Tank Commander is not part of IL-2:BoX, so have to buy it to get the map. Again, I'm pretty sure that any BoX module gets you all the BoX maps.

 

You don't get all the maps with any module for Singleplayer. You can fly on any map you don't own in Multiplayer though.

[SAG]

On 2/21/2022 at 10:45 AM, TheCoyoteHunter said:

Good day guys,

I'm getting into IL-2 and I need some info on where to start.

I have made up my mind that I want to start with the Great Battle series.

I would like to avoid Steam if possible.

 

Sorry, if these questions seem dumb, only other flight sim I've played is DCS, and its pricing and marketing seems very different to the IL-2 store.

 

1. Do I need to have a certain "one" of the Great battle series titles 1st, before getting any of the others?

2. From what I have gathered, some maps and planes are included with any one of the Great Battle titles, please confirm that this is correct.

3. What would you recommend me as a 1st purchase? I love the P51-D, but also like the German planes as well. 

4. Premium vs Standard, from what I've gathered, difference is you get 2 extra planes with Premium.

 

Currently looking at BATTLE OF BODENPLATTE, it has the P51-D, as well as some other interesting planes.

 

Thanks

Coyote

 

Sale is going on right now!

Get many planes for the price of one  

[PatrickAWlson]

On 2/21/2022 at 10:45 AM, TheCoyoteHunter said:

Good day guys,

I'm getting into IL-2 and I need some info on where to start.

I have made up my mind that I want to start with the Great Battle series.

I would like to avoid Steam if possible.

 

Sorry, if these questions seem dumb, only other flight sim I've played is DCS, and its pricing and marketing seems very different to the IL-2 store.

 

1. Do I need to have a certain "one" of the Great battle series titles 1st, before getting any of the others?

2. From what I have gathered, some maps and planes are included with any one of the Great Battle titles, please confirm that this is correct.

3. What would you recommend me as a 1st purchase? I love the P51-D, but also like the German planes as well. 

4. Premium vs Standard, from what I've gathered, difference is you get 2 extra planes with Premium.

 

Currently looking at BATTLE OF BODENPLATTE, it has the P51-D, as well as some other interesting planes.

 

Thanks

Coyote

 

Not sure how into flight sims you are, but one thing that I have found is that when I fly a plane I have to focus on that plane.  They all have their differences, with IMHO the German planes being easiest to fly because of their automated systems.  P51 is also pretty automated and handles really well, so that is a good Allied starter plane.  P38 is also really nice to fly as the counter-rotating props eliminate a lot of pull.