Bitter Beginnings 40/41

[Nolly]

Semi-historical recreation of typical missions from both sides in the early war years 1940 to 1941.

 

Provisional Mission Order:

 

Dates, missions, pairings and A/C may change.

 

1940A1     Dynamo                 Hurri IIb

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/81167-bitter-beginnings-4041/?do=findComment&comment=1227380

 

 

1940B1    Chain Home            12/9/40       Hurri scramble, High alt        Hurri IIb (Boost)
1940B2    Aldertag                 13/8/40       Escort, Bf 110, High alt        Bf110E

 

1940C1    Night Fighter         XX/11/40    Night interceptor                Hurri IIb (boost)
1940C2   Terrorangriff          12/12/40    Night terror bombing             He111

 

1941A1    Argy Bargy             XXX/41        RCAF Barge attack (Bad Weather)    P39
1941A2   Directive 23            Feb 41        Port dive bomb                    Ju88

 

1941B1    Lifeline                   May/41        Port Defence                    Spit Vb
1941B2    Wake Up Tommy  June/41        Ship attack                        bf109F2

 

1941C1    Rodeo                    Oct 41        Targets of opportunity, France    Hurri IIc (boost)
1941C2    Fighter-Bombers  Nov 41       Tip and Run (Bad Weather)        bf109F4

 

General Notes:

1. Research has been done on events of the era, but these have then been taken as inspiration for the missions rather than making an attempt as a faithful recreation.
2. Missions are loosely paired on a theme. Aircraft and Marks are as close as the available planeset and my basic research allows
3. This will all be strung together as one scripted campaign when complete. Each mission will be released when ready as a beta version here, and feedback incorporated into the final, so bug reports and general feedback welcome!

4. i like long flight times & bad weather.

5. Final Scripted Campaign will require the following to play: BON, BOM, BOS, BOK, Hurricane, Spitfire Vb

 

Coming Up: MIssion 2 "Convoy OA178" will be up this week. 

Edited November 3, 2022 by Nolly

[Nolly]

 

Campaign Mission 1 - DYNAMO.zip

 

Requires BON and Hurricane Collector Plane (initial module specification error in settings corrected on 2/11/22)

It's a campaign with one mission so unzip into the campaign folder.

 

 

 

Known issues 31/10/22:

Objective and mission logic not fully tested.
mod restriction not working (tried to restrict boost)
image for campaign poorly cropped
Image for mission 1 poorly cropped

Edited November 2, 2022 by Nolly

[Sandmarken]

Thx Il waited for some cool sp missions in normandy map ?

[Nolly]

dunno about "cool", but it is a mission on the map

[Blitzen]

Thanks!

[taffy2jeffmorgan]

That's strange? downloaded " Bitter Beginnings 40/41 campaign mission 1 Dynamo which says Hurricane mission over the English Channel which I have placed in my campaign folder, but when I look at my scripted campaign screen the new addition shows a tank mission " Clash at Prokhorovka " which is locked. 

 

I have all they maps and planes required 

Edited November 1, 2022 by taffy2jeffmorgan

[Nolly]

Testing now. @taffy2jeffmorgan Has anyone else had this issue? (says 24 downloads at time of writing)

Does the campaign image show a soldier carrying a loaf of bread?

 

Edit: Works for me, but i think i know why it doesnt for you, and have queried the  brains trust here.

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by Nolly

[taffy2jeffmorgan]

5 hours ago, Nolly said:

Testing now. @taffy2jeffmorgan Has anyone else had this issue? (says 24 downloads at time of writing)

Does the campaign image show a soldier carrying a loaf of bread?

 

Edit: Works for me, but i think i know why it doesnt for you, and have queried the  brains trust here.

 

Yes it does show what looks like a group of British troops and one is carrying what looks like a French loaf ?

[Paddlefoot]

i have this locked out in my campaign folder too.

[DN308]

You have to put BoN=‘&tows’ 7

[Nolly]

6 hours ago, taffy2jeffmorgan said:

Yes it does show what looks like a group of British troops and one is carrying what looks like a French loaf ?

Groovy. The brains trust has provided so it will be fixed this eve (aus time).

Edited November 1, 2022 by Nolly

[taffy2jeffmorgan]

Thanks Nolly

[Nolly]

@taffy2jeffmorgan now fixed, with thanks to brain trust

[taffy2jeffmorgan]

So do I now just click on the original download at the top of the page

[Nolly]

yep, please let me know if its good now

[taffy2jeffmorgan]

Yes Nolly, all is now working just fine, Thanks.

[Azuradasbadazura]

Fixed ,confirmed. thanks.  Looking forward to next mission.

[Nolly]

#2 Convoy OA178

requires BOS and BON

its a one mission campaign so extract to the "campaigns" folder

Im not happy how this one turned out, but hope you enjoy amyway  

 

 

Known issues:

Objective and mission logic not fully tested.
Capitalisation, text colour and consistancy in in-game subtitles.
consider change to a longer airfield, and adjusting route so the markers arent such a dose. (le Harve Oct?)
Stork 2 and 3 struggle to keep up in normal flight, reason unknown
Bombers dont drop on initial dive, even when its perfect, reason unknown.
Alert Enemy A/C need Wps rather than attack areas, and need to be optimised post attack (Currently force delete on return to coast).

Campaign Mission 2 - Convoy OA178.zip

Edited November 13, 2022 by Nolly

[Nolly]

Placeholder, 03 - Chain Home"Campaign Mission 3 - Chain Home.zip

 

For later improvement:

shorten bombers ingress to make for a shorter flight
WP not deactivating after Worthing intercept
Arrow from WM to Eastbourne not coming on, icons need a full do over

Edited November 18, 2022 by Nolly

[Nolly]

Campaign Mission 4 - Seeschlange.zip

**** Seeschlange

 

This one is a high alt challenge, and brings the weaknesses of the BF110 in the early war into harsh focus. Its breathless at height. enjoy

 

for future:
add a scoring counter: how many bombers come back?
aa gun in trees needs to be repositioned

Edited November 19, 2022 by Nolly

[Azuradasbadazura]

Could you tell me how to complete the first mission?  After some combats, is there any sign to go home?

[Nolly]

You should get a return to base command after an hour (or 90 minutes, i cant remember).

 

There will be a counter that counts how many ships are sunk within the hour in the final version. So just trot back and forth to rearm until your time is up.

 

I think i did play that one through right to the end to test all that but not sure. note taken to review the player guidence and objective logic  

thanks

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by Nolly

[Azuradasbadazura]

Wow, a little bit long time.  I'm playing in unlimited arming mode.  Anyway I'll try,thanks.  Looking forward to  your fantastic continuous missions.

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by Azuradasbadazura

[taffy2jeffmorgan]

Thanks Nolly,Enjoyed the mission 4 [seeschlange] don't fly the Me110 that often but found the mission immersive, got jumped by a couple of Hurricanes mid-channel and more again as we crossed the English coast.

 

Cheers 

[Nolly]

3 hours ago, Azuradasbadazura said:

Wow, a little bit long time.  I'm playing in unlimited arming mode.  Anyway I'll try,thanks.  Looking forward to  your fantastic continuous missions.

 

See my first post, I like long flight times?

 

Just keep on shooting then

2 hours ago, taffy2jeffmorgan said:

Thanks Nolly,Enjoyed the mission 4 [seeschlange] don't fly the Me110 that often but found the mission immersive, got jumped by a couple of Hurricanes mid-channel and more again as we crossed the English coast.

 

Cheers 

Thanks, that's what I was hoping for. Did the 109s run out of juice?

Edited November 20, 2022 by Nolly

[taffy2jeffmorgan]

On 11/20/2022 at 12:12 PM, Nolly said:

See my first post, I like long flight times?

 

Just keep on shooting then

Thanks, that's what I was hoping for. Did the 109s run out of juice?

Not sure, but more than likely so history tells us!

[Nolly]

Campaign Mission 5 - Moonlight Shadow.zip

[Nolly]

Remember these are Beta. good bug reports will be rewarded by your names bieng incorperated into the final missions

[DN308]

I would prefer not to have to report anything and have you done a bug free campaign at once

[Ulricus]

Nolly, thx for these 5 (beta) missions. Diversified with surprising moments (where do all the Hurris come from! ?) - giving me a lot of fun. ?

 

You have a faible for 'big wing" scenarios, bringing Battle of Britain movie scenes to my mind, and for RRR missions, which I always highly appreciate. Being used to Hurri and Spit, mastering Stuka (great idea with the flares) and Me110 (nursing her home on one engine ?) were new challenges and piqued my interest in these planes. And not to forget the Night Fighter mission, which kept me busy over an hour and which I assume was technically not easy to program.

 

You asked for observations and I found that in the current beta missions 3 and 4 no Mission Objective was set, making it impossible to advance further in a common campaign (which was my first attempt before I modified all into SP missions). Looking up the 404 Hurri sqn code, I found that this RCAF sqn in WW2 seems to never had Hurris in their inventory (according to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/404_Long_Range_Patrol_and_Training_Squadron?wprov=srpw1_0 ) - but perhaps you got other/better sources.

 

After nearly a year, I hope you find the time (and desire) to realize your above outlined plan for the sake of making further creative missions for the simmer community. These betas were really promising! ?

Edited October 13, 2023 by Ulricus