Ironman career - how far have you gone?

[tattywelshie]

So, for us career mode folks, how far has everyone got with their career in ironman mode? Anyone made it from Moscow to Bodenplatte with the Luftwaffe? I've only made it to about 20 odd missions in ironman mode before death strikes! That's flying fighters, bombers...I don't think I've ever gone longer than 5 missions! 

[zan64]

really curious what others experiences have been

 

this is my next big project, i think key to it is going to be fly like real life, be extremely cautious engage only when advantage and when jumped make a fighting RTB  

[YouBet]

Interesting question. Looking forward to others' responses.

 

I don't think I've flown 20 missions without being either captured or killed. Sometimes I get hit without even seeing the perpetrator... mostly it's my fault.

[tattywelshie]

3 minutes ago, zan64 said:

really curious what others experiences have been

 

this is my next big project, i think key to it is going to be fly like real life, be extremely cautious engage only when advantage and when jumped make a fighting RTB  

I mean I know there are obviously things that put us at a disadvantage to real life pilots, like basically never having proper cover from wingmen, and no radar plots etc etc, but I still find it interesting to see how far people have got.

[Irishratticus72]

I went all the way.....

[[CPT]Crunch]

I couldn't find the unlocks for the Ironman suit.

[LukeFF]

I've completed an Ironman Spitfire Vb career on the Kuban map, but that involved a lot of time off for being wounded. But hey, it counts! ? 

[tattywelshie]

1 minute ago, LukeFF said:

I've completed an Ironman Spitfire Vb career on the Kuban map, but that involved a lot of time off for being wounded. But hey, it counts! ? 

Impressive, such a bummer when you miss a good missions from being injured lol 

[JG4_Moltke1871]

Maybe it’s up to the plane? I have one survivor in Ar 234 on Bodenplatte finish successfully a career. On Moscow I survive with my Ju88 attack only on altitudes 6000+, but this career still need long time to go. Otherwise, many corpses have already accumulated in my hangar…

[Hotaru_Ito]

Quite a ways, but I've also started skipping a lot of missions in order to make my score go up at a realistic rate. Roll d6, fly on 6 minus 1 per twenty kills, else skip. I got through Normandy and Bodenplatte in Tempests that way, ended with 17 victories, 5 of which were V-1s. Working on a P-47 career, got through Normandy and now partway through Bodenplatte, currently 12 victories there.

 

I also got through Bodenplatte in Tempests back before I set up my die-roll system. Ended up with 79... that career was the one that inspired the die-rolls. It was fun, but also pretty silly.

 

My Germans tend to make it through Moscow and get killed or captured sometime in Stalingrad. I've got a series of 109 careers going where I start a new one roughly where the last one left off. I'm on my fourth pilot there, midway through Normandy. First one had 83 victories but none of the others have broken 30. By far my best career pilot ever made it through all of Moscow in F-2s and F-4s before getting shot down in Stalingrad with a final score of 135.

 

As a Soviet pilot I haven't made it through Moscow in vanilla yet, although a couple of PWCG campaigns have got as far as Stalingrad, and one started in Kuban and made it to the end of the war. I play the five current vanilla campaigns on easy-easy-medium-hard-hard for Germans, opposite for Allies, so Moscow is a cakewalk for my German pilots and a deathtrap for my Soviet ones. Did manage to run up 22 victories in Hurricanes once though.

[Voidhunger]

I cannot finnish any of my careers because Im stuck in time dilation...Im still flying

[RyanR]

My shortest was "one bullet".

 

-Ryan

[Hotaru_Ito]

11 minutes ago, RyanR said:

My shortest was "one bullet".

 

-Ryan

 

I've had a couple of those, too.

 

My very first career in Rise of Flight, first time out in my Nieuport 28, got hit by an observer in a DFW and ditched behind enemy lines. Still my only career fighter pilot to never get even a single victory. 

[Trip]

With the fw190 a3 on Stalingrad, my pilot was alive for 63 sorties until I got bored.

Always had terrible luck in Moscow, would never go past the third week.

Currently am doing an Ironman LA-5 (Stalingrad) and 109 G2 (Stalingrad). Plan is to see if I can finish those campaigns eventually.

 

[AEthelraedUnraed]

Never done a true ironman, but on a Moscow career flying the Mig I once got to mid December before I had to refly a mission. And that was something I might just as well have survived in real life; I deadstick-landed about 100m short of the front line in the middle of nowhere and got captured.

 

2 hours ago, Hotaru_Ito said:

Quite a ways, but I've also started skipping a lot of missions in order to make my score go up at a realistic rate. Roll d6, fly on 6 minus 1 per twenty kills, else skip. I got through Normandy and Bodenplatte in Tempests that way, ended with 17 victories, 5 of which were V-1s. Working on a P-47 career, got through Normandy and now partway through Bodenplatte, currently 12 victories there.

That's actually a really good suggestion! Quickly raking up unrealistic amounts of kills is one of my major pet peeves. For bombing or ground attack missions, I wouldn't mind if 80% or so (whatever the historical number is) of all missions would be without opposition, but of course for pure fighter missions that would lead to rather boring gameplay. For those cases, I wish there was some kind of a "super-fast" career mode that would only give the amount of missions that would realistically result in enemy contact.

[oc2209]

49 is my record. Shot down and captured on the 50th.

 

Started in Moscow, I think. Ended in mid-October in Bodenplatte. Skipped a lot of sorties in between, as I was in charge from the beginning. Only flew 109s. I also think I skipped entirely over Kuban, because the 109's pretty meh there, compared to a lot of the competition.

 

So yeah, a scummy, heavily cherry-picked 49 sorties on Ironman. Said scumminess partially mitigated by playing on hard difficulty with no visual aids and only keyboard view controls.

[R33GZ]

5 hours ago, LukeFF said:

I've completed an Ironman Spitfire Vb career on the Kuban map, but that involved a lot of time off for being wounded. But hey, it counts! ? 

Hahaha, I think my best is about 20 days... and at least 15 of those were skipped due to various injuries sustained during forced 'landings'

[Ghost666]

Longest 40+ sorties in a Pe-2. Shortest crashed on takeoff 1st sortie. PWCG, in a DVa about 30 sorties and 50 kills.

[LukeFF]

37 minutes ago, R33GZ said:

Hahaha, I think my best is about 20 days... and at least 15 of those were skipped due to various injuries sustained during forced 'landings'

 

Oh yeah, I forgot, I had one other career recently that I lost that really was a bummer - a I./KG 51 pilot who made through Stalingrad and Kuban unscathed in Ju 88s, and then I put the career on hold until the Normandy career was ready. Once it was, I took off on my first mission in an Me 410 and yep, sure enough, he was killed by a 40 mm round to the canopy.  

[zan64]

2 hours ago, LukeFF said:

 

Oh yeah, I forgot, I had one other career recently that I lost that really was a bummer - a I./KG 51 pilot who made through Stalingrad and Kuban unscathed in Ju 88s, and then I put the career on hold until the Normandy career was ready. Once it was, I took off on my first mission in an Me 410 and yep, sure enough, he was killed by a 40 mm round to the canopy.  

legit F to that pilot

 

i might start this challenge today, only question is IL2 or I16...

[tattywelshie]

8 hours ago, zan64 said:

legit F to that pilot

 

i might start this challenge today, only question is IL2 or I16...

I16!

Just started an ironman HE111 career in Kuban, one mission in, got attacked whilst on the bomb run, missed the target, lost an engine and had to bail out, luckily made it back to German lines, can't see it getting any easier! 

[BornToBattle]

How far? Not very. I think I got up to 8 or 10 missions and that was running cargo in the Ju-52. Then I switched off and put myself in the ‘109 F4. Did about 6 or 7 missions in that before I got captured as a POW. Unfortunately I don’t spend as much time in IL2 as real life and other endeavors demand too much of my “me” time.
 

I'm still eagerly awaiting the in-house FC2 career mode though. Gonna spend a lot of time in that one, if it ever comes out.

[Bando]

36 minutes ago, BornToBattle said:

I'm still eagerly awaiting the in-house FC2 career mode though. Gonna spend a lot of time in that one, if it ever comes out.

You and me both.
I have recently been doing VR and it's great in those flimsy little wooden crates.
Career mode in one of these 'll be fantastic.

[Lusekofte]

I started only attackers or bomber careers

funny enough after a advice from Luke I tested JU 88 in Stalingrad. This was the first I survived more than two. I think I am still at mission 7 or 9 since I do not fly much lately. 
I was thinking starting a Mig 3 career just to see what happen

[tattywelshie]

14 minutes ago, 216th_Lusekofte said:

I started only attackers or bomber careers

funny enough after a advice from Luke I tested JU 88 in Stalingrad. This was the first I survived more than two. I think I am still at mission 7 or 9 since I do not fly much lately. 
I was thinking starting a Mig 3 career just to see what happen

Ah I started a he111 career, I’d be amazed if I make it more than 3 missions. I take it the ju88 is a better bet? 

[Hotaru_Ito]

Got a Ju-88 career on Moscow going right now, have flown a dozen or so missions. Even after bumping the difficulty up from "easy" to "normal" I hardly ever even get hit or lose a plane in the formation, although I do generally bomb from 2500 meters instead of 1500. Got a Pe-2 career on "hard," but have only flown one or two missions there.

 

I'm curious about others' experience with vanilla bomber careers, I've only ever tried one in He-111s before and got shot down on the first mission. Is it flak that gets you or fighters? And do you start as squadron leader or not?

[tattywelshie]

23 minutes ago, Hotaru_Ito said:

Got a Ju-88 career on Moscow going right now, have flown a dozen or so missions. Even after bumping the difficulty up from "easy" to "normal" I hardly ever even get hit or lose a plane in the formation, although I do generally bomb from 2500 meters instead of 1500. Got a Pe-2 career on "hard," but have only flown one or two missions there.

 

I'm curious about others' experience with vanilla bomber careers, I've only ever tried one in He-111s before and got shot down on the first mission. Is it flak that gets you or fighters? And do you start as squadron leader or not?

I started a HE111 career yesterday in Kuban,  difficulty on medium. I flew one mission, got attacked whilst I was busy fiddling with the bomb sight whilst on the bomb run and got badly damaged. Managed to limp across to friendly territory and bail out. Trouble is, with the bombers the AI gunners are shite so i reckon the best way of longevity in a bomber campaign is let the AI do the bombing and flying and take control of the guns only.

[twilson37]

I have finished one career out of probably a hundred, I started in Stalingrad flying Hurricanes(only about 10 missions) and then Kuban in a Yak-1 for about 30 more, total I had 23 kills.

[Hotaru_Ito]

1 hour ago, tattywelshie said:

I started a HE111 career yesterday in Kuban,  difficulty on medium. I flew one mission, got attacked whilst I was busy fiddling with the bomb sight whilst on the bomb run and got badly damaged. Managed to limp across to friendly territory and bail out. Trouble is, with the bombers the AI gunners are shite so i reckon the best way of longevity in a bomber campaign is let the AI do the bombing and flying and take control of the guns only.

 

Interesting, my experience is the other way around, better to focus on bombing and let the AI handle the guns, which I'm garbage at in VR. My escorts generally keep enemy fighters away and my gunners handle the rest. If they don't shoot them down, they at least damage them enough that they veer off. I think I've still got mod installed that's supposed to make gunners LESS accurate, but it's pretty old so maybe something has changed and now it's having the opposite effect. I will experiment.

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

Have never done one.  How flexible are the missions?  For example, can you set your own way points and altitude to target?

[Hotaru_Ito]

1 minute ago, VBF-12_Stick-95 said:

Have never done one.  How flexible are the missions?  For example, can you set your own way points and altitude to target?

 

Only if you are squadron commander.

 

One thing I wish we had is an option to give the player squadron commander privileges without actually being squadron commander, so you can get the gameplay convenience of being able to set up waypoints, change pilots and loadouts for missions, etc. while still having the RP value of starting out as a fresh recruit and climbing through the ranks.

[VA_Kamicosmos]

2nd Day, 4th mission.  Balled up my Stuka on landing cause I got impatient waiting for all the other stukas and our escorts to land first.  (Does the player, regardless of rank and position in the squad, always have to land last?)

 

Also, this was funny, cause I forgot to uncheck Iron Man, so I was rather confused when I could just refly the mission.

 

(Also, this was kind of extra funny/dumb.  A friend of mine just got into the game, and only has Stalingrad (as I advised him to wait for a sale, which should be coming on Labor day....or fall...or halloween....) Anyway, while he's waiting he is doing a IL-2 Stalingrad career.  So I told him I'd give him some virtual competition by flying a Stuka career, coming at Stalingrad from the other side.  So...well, I guess he's ahead in the game now!)

 

I'll be restarting the career tonight, and I might just go Iron Man on it again...

[Lusekofte]

5 hours ago, tattywelshie said:

Ah I started a he111 career, I’d be amazed if I make it more than 3 missions. I take it the ju88 is a better bet? 

JU 88 is faster and in Moscow period USSR fighters struggle to climb and catch up, unless you got co alt. Mugs on your tail. Somehow the sorties also was not that repeatable

[Hotaru_Ito]

6 minutes ago, 216th_Lusekofte said:

JU 88 is faster and in Moscow period USSR fighters struggle to climb and catch up, unless you got co alt. Mugs on your tail. Somehow the sorties also was not that repeatable

 

That's probably why I'm having such an easy time of it in the 88, the fighters always spawn below us. On the rare occasions they catch up at all before the escorts shoot them down, they end up attacking from dead-on six o'clock where they're sitting ducks for the gunners.

 

 

28 minutes ago, VA_Kamicosmos said:

(Does the player, regardless of rank and position in the squad, always have to land last?)

 

AI totally ignores the player when it's flying circuits. If there are only a few planes, I wait for them, but usually I leave the formation before we get all the way home so I can sneak in first (or just end mission in the air).

 

Another option is to turn on AI autopilot as you're approaching the field. It will join the queue and set you up on final when it's your turn, then you can turn it off and make the landing yourself.

Edited November 2, 2022 by Hotaru_Ito

[Cpt_Cool]

I have one soviet pilot in kuban who started in Moscow flying P-40s. Good ol' Stanislav has led a charmed life. The P-40s got a lot of intercept missions over friendly territory, and its pretty tough. Still plenty of close scrapes over the years (would not have made it very long with the current pilot deaths on rough landings). Its taken years even on rapid career just cause i dont have a ton of time to fly. But i should try to get him to the finish line sometime.

[I./JG52_Woutwocampe]

My best Ironman career... I had like 40 kills. It was a long while ago, in a Spitfire, probably the mark V.

 

I GOT SHOT DOWN BY MY OWN WINGMAN WHEN I ORDERED HIM TO COVER ME.

 

Do I need to say more?

[VA_Kamicosmos]

3 hours ago, Hotaru_Ito said:

AI totally ignores the player when it's flying circuits. If there are only a few planes, I wait for them, but usually I leave the formation before we get all the way home so I can sneak in first (or just end mission in the air).

 

Another option is to turn on AI autopilot as you're approaching the field. It will join the queue and set you up on final when it's your turn, then you can turn it off and make the landing yourself.

 Excellent, thanks!  On other careers, there's less of us so yes, I either zip in and land first (or am the only one left...) or it's only a few other planes so I 'enjoy' flying the pattern for a bit...plus a few times we've gotten jumped in the pattern, so I don't mind being on guard in a fighter.  But...waiting on 7 other stukas, and then 8 109s to land, I was like...oh come on now!  Good to know I can break the formation without penalty.  Thanks!

 

(Ironically, next mission, coming up on base, and oh look...LaGGs!  I even got a few rounds into one from the Stuka!)

Edited November 3, 2022 by VA_Kamicosmos

[tattywelshie]

9 hours ago, 216th_Lusekofte said:

JU 88 is faster and in Moscow period USSR fighters struggle to climb and catch up, unless you got co alt. Mugs on your tail. Somehow the sorties also was not that repeatable

Ahhhhhh, that makes sense, I do quite like the HE111 in terms of defensive armament, the dorsal turret is a lot easier to control than the horrible JU88 twin gun turret thing where you have to keep swapping all the time. But then the JU is in a different league from the 111 in terms of speed and agility. I've got two careers on the go for the both of them, made it past mission 1 on both of them, actually managed to land the JU back at base though, very satisfying!  

[Lusekofte]

41 minutes ago, tattywelshie said:

Ahhhhhh, that makes sense, I do quite like the HE111 in terms of defensive armament, the dorsal turret is a lot easier to control than the horrible JU88 twin gun turret thing where you have to keep swapping all the time. But then the JU is in a different league from the 111 in terms of speed and agility. I've got two careers on the go for the both of them, made it past mission 1 on both of them, actually managed to land the JU back at base though, very satisfying!  

I also like the 111 it is the only bomber we have with proper bombardier pit. 
I wonder why one cannot access bombaimer interphase from that position. 
Bombers are best simulated in Clod. If I had more time I would fly it a lot more

[tattywelshie]

12 minutes ago, 216th_Lusekofte said:

I also like the 111 it is the only bomber we have with proper bombardier pit. 
I wonder why one cannot access bombaimer interphase from that position. 
Bombers are best simulated in Clod. If I had more time I would fly it a lot more

Yeah I always find that odd how you can't access the bombardier from where the bombardier actually sits, seems odd!