"The Cold Blue" Server - Escort vs Interceptor High Altitude Action

[357th_KW]

I've started a new MP server called "The Cold Blue".  It's based around escorting or intercepting AI bombers, generally flying at high altitudes.  The server is currently running 24/7 with a different, focused playlist each week. 

 

 

The server runs a series of historically based missions, where a formation of AI bombers is heading to strike a target.  Players are tasked with escorting or intercepting these bombers.   The bomber route is marked on the map, and text radio messages will help the players find the bomber formation.  The available spawn points shift across the map to follow the battle so that players are always within range of the action.  Points are scored for shooting down bombers, escorts and interceptors.  The value of those victories and losses vary based on the mission - the briefing will tell you what you need to focus on for that particular mission.  There are now more than 40 missions that run on the server, ranging from USAAF bomber escort, to RAF 1941-42 "Circus" raids, to Luftwaffe raids on Malta, escort of Ju52s over Russia and the Med, as well as some Normandy and Battle of the Bulge themed tactical maps.

 

 

Be advised, the bombers are more durable and their gunners more dangerous then what is usually seen in a MP environment - fast slashing attacks are recommended.  Please come and check it out!  The discord server can be found here:  https://discord.gg/9MmUuPEMzU

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 9 by 357th_KW
Updated server description and screenshots

[Charon]

You all have got to try this. It's impressive how well this works.

 

I find myself adopting a lot of historical tactics that I would never use on a normal server. I make head on attacks (stern attacks on the whole formation are just too deadly). I willingly take gunpods in Bf 109s: the firepower is needed to bring down bombers. For once, the 'Sturmböcke' Fw 190s are a reasonable tool, rather than just a novelty. Only once bombers are damaged and drop out of formation is it worth switching to stern attacks.

 

 

It works well as an escort, too. It's challenging to spot incoming fighters, and there's a tension between chasing down the kill and keeping up with the bombers. The P-47 gets to really use it's altitude performance; meanwhile it's given me new appreciation of how obsolete the Hurricane was by 1942.

 

 

The AI spawns work well and make it enjoyable even if you're the first one on the server.

[the_emperor]

9 hours ago, I./JG3_Charon said:

I find myself adopting a lot of historical tactics that I would never use on a normal server.

 

Indeed. Those formations of B-26s are very dangerous if you come in a lonely 109...

9 hours ago, I./JG3_Charon said:

I willingly take gunpods in Bf 109s: the firepower is needed to bring down bombers.

oh yes, in those split seconds you have your guns on target those gunpods are what make the difference

[-332FG-brooklynspo]

A bunch of us from 332 FG had a great time on your server last night. We split up between Axis/Allies for the first couple rounds and then joined forces later on. Thanks for putting this together! 

P.S. The Discord link is dead.

 

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by -332FG-brooklynspo

[Mad_Mikhael]

I like the idea, but I don't like the sometimes-immortal bombers.

[354thFG_Leifr]

Yes, much better for the Luftwaffe to blast four or five bombers out of the sky with each pass. ?

[357th_KW]

To provide some perspective on the toughness of the US four-engine bombers, the August 1943 Schweinfurt-Regensburg raid is a good example.  The targets were both well beyond the range of Allied escorts, and so they played almost no role in the battle.  Due to a weather delay for the Schweinfurt portion of the raid, the Luftwaffe was able to launch against both raids at near full force.

 

The Regensburg raid was made up of 127 B-17s - the LW was able to launch 404 sorties against the inbound leg of this raid, with 197 making contact with the bombers.  The bombers then proceeded to North Africa, surprising the defenders and so no attacks on the outbound leg were possible.  24 B-17s of this force failed to return, and another 3 were scrapped in North Africa.

 

The Schweinfurt raid was made up of 188 B-17s.  The LW launched 468 sorties against this raid (being able to attack both the inbound and outbound legs) with 244 making contact.  36 B-17s of this force were shot down, and another 3 scrapped in the UK.  
 

For the day, that totals 315 B-17s vs 441 interceptors with very little interference from escort fighters.  The result was 60 B-17s shot down - about 19%.  It’s likely that a significant portion of those were shot down by flak as well.  So even under ideal conditions, it was taking over 7 attacking fighters to down a single bomber.  Heavy bombers were really tough to kill, and the LW recognized this - they increased armament significantly, and credited pilots for simply damaging a bomber enough to separate it from its formation - this was considered a bigger accomplishment then shooting down a damaged straggler.

 

So I realize the bombers on the server are very challenging - they’re meant to be that way.  A couple days back I was able to make three head on passes against the bombers with a 109 G-6 with gun pods - I managed to kill one immediately, damage another that went down about 10 minutes later resulting in a second kill, and force a third from the formation.  So it’s also possible to have some very good outcomes.  Good tactics and good shooting help, but there’s some luck involved as well - and you’ve got to dodge the escorts as well.  It’s a tough mission, just like it was in the real world.  But that’s also why I have some other missions where you’re engaging mostly Spit Vs in 190As and 109Fs.  As I expand the missions the goal is to have a good mix - some will be tough for one side, some for the other, and some in between.
 

Things are still in a test phase, and adjustments can and will be made where needed - I really appreciate the feedback.

[Mad_Mikhael]

15 hours ago, 357th_KW said:

To provide some perspective on the toughness of the US four-engine bombers, the August 1943 Schweinfurt-Regensburg raid is a good example.  The targets were both well beyond the range of Allied escorts, and so they played almost no role in the battle.  Due to a weather delay for the Schweinfurt portion of the raid, the Luftwaffe was able to launch against both raids at near full force.

 

The Regensburg raid was made up of 127 B-17s - the LW was able to launch 404 sorties against the inbound leg of this raid, with 197 making contact with the bombers.  The bombers then proceeded to North Africa, surprising the defenders and so no attacks on the outbound leg were possible.  24 B-17s of this force failed to return, and another 3 were scrapped in North Africa.

 

The Schweinfurt raid was made up of 188 B-17s.  The LW launched 468 sorties against this raid (being able to attack both the inbound and outbound legs) with 244 making contact.  36 B-17s of this force were shot down, and another 3 scrapped in the UK.  
 

For the day, that totals 315 B-17s vs 441 interceptors with very little interference from escort fighters.  The result was 60 B-17s shot down - about 19%.  It’s likely that a significant portion of those were shot down by flak as well.  So even under ideal conditions, it was taking over 7 attacking fighters to down a single bomber.  Heavy bombers were really tough to kill, and the LW recognized this - they increased armament significantly, and credited pilots for simply damaging a bomber enough to separate it from its formation - this was considered a bigger accomplishment then shooting down a damaged straggler.

 

So I realize the bombers on the server are very challenging - they’re meant to be that way.  A couple days back I was able to make three head on passes against the bombers with a 109 G-6 with gun pods - I managed to kill one immediately, damage another that went down about 10 minutes later resulting in a second kill, and force a third from the formation.  So it’s also possible to have some very good outcomes.  Good tactics and good shooting help, but there’s some luck involved as well - and you’ve got to dodge the escorts as well.  It’s a tough mission, just like it was in the real world.  But that’s also why I have some other missions where you’re engaging mostly Spit Vs in 190As and 109Fs.  As I expand the missions the goal is to have a good mix - some will be tough for one side, some for the other, and some in between.
 

Things are still in a test phase, and adjustments can and will be made where needed - I really appreciate the feedback.

The problem is we don't have a B-17, we don't have huge formations and these bombers are in the loop of being literally immortal. And you don't need to dodge escorts because AI is dumb. As I said, the whole idea is awesome, but we don't have the tools to realize it.
That said, I encourage everyone to try this server and see for themselves if they like it. ?

[357th_KW]

5 hours ago, Mad_Mikhael said:

The problem is we don't have a B-17, we don't have huge formations and these bombers are in the loop of being literally immortal. And you don't need to dodge escorts because AI is dumb. As I said, the whole idea is awesome, but we don't have the tools to realize it.
That said, I encourage everyone to try this server and see for themselves if they like it. ?

Combat boxes ranged in size throughout the war, but an 18 plane formation (the size I’m using) wasn’t unusual - obviously there would have been many boxes in a stream, which is unfortunately beyond the capability of the game at this point.  But it wasn’t uncommon for combat to be focused around just a couple of the boxes.  This same problem of scale applies to EVERY game mode and server in IL-2.  You just don’t see squadron and group/wing sized formations, because the game just can’t handle it.  
 

And as I explained above, the bombers are not immortal and can be killed in one pass with well placed hits.  We had 40 players on Friday night and on one mission the entire bomber formation was shot down.  We also had a lot of players fail to dodge the escorts on another mission, and they barely made a dent in the bomber formation.  I appreciate that players of this game are used to bombers being very weak, and so this experience is likely a little jarring.   

[[CPT]Crunch]

Like the concept but it looks more like a rat trap.  The bomber streams were massive and the Luftwaffe got the choice where and when to strike in concentration.  Nothing like that is possible as the game itself won't allow it, so it's just another head on kill the rat trap, very inflexible one at that, no thinking required, and that's why it'll ultimately die.   

[R33GZ]

I had a quick fly on this server yesterday. I noticed a few people were on, so joined in as the only luftwaffe player.

 

First thing I noticed, was there was no windsock or indication of runway. I took a punt and figures there was no wind and I was on a grass strip. I was right about the wind I think, but the grass strip turned out to be a major airport with three different runways and I had just charged out across the parking and admin area. 

 

In the 40min I was on I only received 1 intercept update. After a while I saw some contrails at about 8k so turned to follow, these were 45° off the intercept course I had been given. Is this intentional? It would have been very easy to miss as I only just saw them at max zoom. With overcast cloud cover, visual navigation was basically impossible.

 

I like the idea of the server and understand it's a beta... maybe a few tweaks to make it slightly more user friendly could be considered?

[357th_KW]

On 7/29/2023 at 2:21 PM, R33GZ said:

I had a quick fly on this server yesterday. I noticed a few people were on, so joined in as the only luftwaffe player.

 

First thing I noticed, was there was no windsock or indication of runway. I took a punt and figures there was no wind and I was on a grass strip. I was right about the wind I think, but the grass strip turned out to be a major airport with three different runways and I had just charged out across the parking and admin area. 

 

In the 40min I was on I only received 1 intercept update. After a while I saw some contrails at about 8k so turned to follow, these were 45° off the intercept course I had been given. Is this intentional? It would have been very easy to miss as I only just saw them at max zoom. With overcast cloud cover, visual navigation was basically impossible.

 

I like the idea of the server and understand it's a beta... maybe a few tweaks to make it slightly more user friendly could be considered?

 

My apologies - I've been so wound up about trying to get bomber formations working and determining server performance limits that I haven't turned back to some of the little things like airfield detail.  I'll work on getting those fleshed out, so that it's clearer to players where they should be taking off.

 

With regard to the radio updates, they're running about every 10 minutes or so.  I've realized part of the problem there is that you don't see them from the map view, so it's easy to miss them.  Are the location, font size and color ok?  Those are all easy to change.  I can raise the duration of the messages as well (they're at 30 seconds right now), which would make it less likely for a player to miss them when navigating.  I've taken some steps to increase frequency as well in the 1941 Channel Front map, and I can make similar changes to the other maps as well.  An ideal solution would be to have actual audio through SRS, but I'm likely a long way from rolling that out.  Hopefully someday I'll get there.

 

Thanks for the feedback - its really helpful!

[R33GZ]

11 minutes ago, 357th_KW said:

 

My apologies - I've been so wound up about trying to get bomber formations working and determining server performance limits that I haven't turned back to some of the little things like airfield detail.  I'll work on getting those fleshed out, so that it's clearer to players where they should be taking off.

 

With regard to the radio updates, they're running about every 10 minutes or so.  I've realized part of the problem there is that you don't see them from the map view, so it's easy to miss them.  Are the location, font size and color ok?  Those are all easy to change.  I can raise the duration of the messages as well (they're at 30 seconds right now), which would make it less likely for a player to miss them when navigating.  I've taken some steps to increase frequency as well in the 1941 Channel Front map, and I can make similar changes to the other maps as well.  An ideal solution would be to have actual audio through SRS, but I'm likely a long way from rolling that out.  Hopefully someday I'll get there.

 

Thanks for the feedback - its really helpful!

Hell man, no need to apologize, you've done a great job, it's an excellent idea. I would say I was probably staring at the map trying to figure out where in the blazes I was lol. The colour and font size is good, even for my blind eyes

 

Even just a wind direction and speed in the briefing would help

 Although a windsock would probably be easier to add than changing multiple briefings 

Edited July 31, 2023 by R33GZ

[357th_KW]

I've started posting a semi-regular series of updates on changes and improvements I'm making on the server discord, and I figured I should post it here as well.

 

Two weeks ago, Combat Box held their regular Friday Night Flights event on The Cold Blue. The event was a big success - we had 40 players online and the server didn't melt! The server ran very well, but IL-2 has limits to how many aircraft it can render. With 60 plus aircraft in one small section of sky, we appeared to exceed that limit. As a result players weren't always seeing all the aircraft around them, and contacts were appearing at very close range.

 

Based on that, I've decided to run a 32 player cap for right now, and we'll see how that works. Hopefully this will strike a nice balance between ultimate scale and performance.  With that stress test complete, I think we're past the Alpha test phase now - the server works reliably with these mission layouts. Now I'm going to be focusing on refining gameplay, squashing bugs, and expanding the variety of missions.

 

This week I worked on polishing the Channel Front missions.  Radar call-outs have been expanded, airspawns have been added to the Axis side so they can stay in the fight throughout the mission, some bugs with the AI were fixed, and slight changes were made to the weather. I've also added wind socks and airfield signs to make it easier for a new player to find their way to the runway. Hopefully players will find these missions more engaging and exciting then before.

 

My goal for this week is to add those airfield improvements to the Mighty 8th missions. After that, I need to continue working on the next mission - "The Siege of Malta".  This series of missions will feature Axis bombing raids, escorted by Macchi C.202's and Bf109s. Hopefully this will be a fun role reversal for everyone. 

 

There's been some discussion on the discord of organizing a weekly flyout event - possibly Tuesday or Thursday evening.  No firm plans have been made, but maybe I'll see some of you online tonight. 

 

Thanks as always for the feedback and support!  Big thanks to the admin team and players of Combat Box for giving me a chance to stress test the server - you guys are the best!

 

 

Edited August 1, 2023 by 357th_KW

[357th_KW]

It's been a frustrating past couple weeks.  My original goal was to just add some additional detail to the airfields on the Mighty 8th missions, but I ended up pushing to add some other big changes as well.  I doubled the amount of AI fighters, and also doubled the amount of heavy flak.  I also added a randomizing feature for the interceptors, and completely revamped the AI programming to try and get some improved AI behavior.  The end result was a mixed bag, and I've ended up rolling back the updates for the moment.

 

The changes to the AI programming did produce some different behavior - this combined with the randomizer opens up the possibility to have some very diverse encounters with the AI.  This feature is going to get deployed again in the near future, and also be applied to escorts as well.  As a result, the same mission should play differently every time - the type of interceptors, their position and altitude, and their level of aggression and focus on the bombers will vary every time the mission runs.  Likewise, the type, location and altitude of the escorts, along with their timing will vary.  Gaps in the escort screen may or may not open up at various different times each mission.  I'm hoping this will create a much more dynamic experience for players.

 

The expanded AI made for some exciting visuals, but also increased the load on the server significantly.  In order to offset this, I came up with a scheme to shed AI as players logged onto the server.  Unfortunately, this proved to be much more difficult then I originally assumed.  Trying to get this working reliably ended up consuming the better part of two weeks.  I've decided to shelve this feature for now - the extra AI fighters didn't necessarily add a lot to game play, and would result in server instability and crashes anytime the server population rose very high.

 

The extra flak seems to run very smoothly, and that will be implemented going forward.

 

My hope is to have new versions of the three Mighty 8th missions rolled out this next week, incorporating the improved AI coding and randomization, along with increased flak, increased airfield detail, and a few back end bug fixes.  In addition, I'm close to having a reverse bomber route completed, which will add some more variety with a potential to escort or intercept bombers on their way home from the target area.  In the future, I hope to include a few more routes in both directions for the bombers to further expand these existing missions.

 

I'd like to give a big thanks to @Sketch, @Alonzo, @haluter and all of the Combat Box admin crew!  They've been very helpful with advice and support, and I'd never have made it this far without their mentorship.

 

 

[357th_KW]

It's been a busy week of testing and updates, but I've updated all 3 of the Mighty 8th missions to the new AI standard.  All of the AI escorts and interceptors are on randomizers now.  The timing, location, aircraft type and even tactics of the AI will vary with every mission play through.  I was also able to iron out a few bugs along the way and streamline the entire mission to restore some of the performance lost with all the additional code.  The amount of flak in the flak zones was doubled for better visuals.  Some additional detail and signage was added to airfields, along with windsocks to provide a better experience for players as they taxi and takeoff.  Additionally, some adjustments were made to the timing of the Luftwaffe airfields and spawns, allowing players a little more choice in where they spawn and better opportunities to get ahead of the bomber box.  Late mission air spawns have also been added to all missions now, so as the mission timer is winding down, players on both sides still have a chance to get into the action.  I've also reduced the accuracy of the AI bomber gunners by a step - they're still very dangerous in a big formation, particularly with a slow 6 o'clock approach.  But attacking the bomber formation should be more manageable now.  Finally I've added very limited numbers of the Me262 to the November 1944 mission, playing the historical role of Kommando Nowotny.  They only become available when a number of player escorts are airborne.  My remaining priority for the Mighty 8th series is to add additional bomber routes (both penetration and withdrawal legs) as well as adding some more environmental detail (bomb-damaged cities, etc).  Once all the pieces are in place, it's relatively quick and painless to change the time frame and plane set - eventually I plan to have a number of additional variations ranging from mid 1943 through Spring of 1945 (yes Ta-152H, I'm looking at you).

 

 

Spoiler

 

I've now turned my attention to getting Malta up and running.  Because of the short bomber routes, I'm testing out a multi-wave setup that should be a little different from previous missions.  While doing some skin research I stumbled onto @HBPencil's beautiful Malta skins for the Spitfire Mk.V and it's really given me some motivation to get this under-represented theater translated into multiplayer.  Hopefully I'll have a working Malta mission up and running in the coming weeks.

 

[357th_KW]

Come join us tomorrow, Thursday September 7th for The Channel Front!  @ACG_Dubsy and some of his squad mates flew with us last week and they'll be back tomorrow, so we should have a nice little crowd.  We'll be kicking off around 1950 BST/ 1150 Pacific.  We'll be running through all four Channel front missions, starting things off with July 1942, featuring an RAF Circus mission with Boston bombers escorted by Spitfires, including a few of thew new Mk IX's.  Opposing them will be the Fw190A's and Bf109G's of JG2 and JG26.  Come take part in some high altitude engagements featuring the classic Spitfire vs 190/109 matchup!  The Channel Front mission set will be running all evening, so hopefully those of us in the US can keep the action going.

 

Hope to see you guys there! 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2024 by 357th_KW

[357th_KW]

Work has continued on developing more missions and variety.  I've rolled out a new return route for the July 7th, 1944 Mighty 8th mission.  And some additional bomber routes are in the works - my goal is to give each of the missions it's own bespoke route, based on the actual historical route.  I've tried so far to base each mission on an actual historical battle, digging into various resources to determine things like the actual weather conditions, bomber routes, and what type of fighters were participating.  The goal in all this is to have a series of missions that each play a little differently, as the mix of aircraft changes during the campaign.

 

 

 

In order to give players an opportunity to experience this evolution of forces and tactics, and because we've had a good turnout with the past few Thursdays, from now on we're going to be running a special event every Tuesday and Thursday.  Strategic Bombing Tuesdays will feature Mighty 8th (and a future 15th AF themed campaign) missions all day.  And Channel Front Thursdays will feature the Channel mission set.  The mission sets for both of these events will continue to expand as I add more missions.  Come join us on Tuesdays and Thursdays and experience a whole campaign unfold throughout the day!   

[357th_KW]

A reminder, it's Strategic Bombing Tuesday!  Come join us for classic P-47/38/51 vs 109/190 action high above the clouds, all day long!

 

[357th_KW]

It's Channel Front Thursday!  Get your Spitfire or 109 fired up, and come join us all day for high altitude dogfights over the English Channel.  We're running these missions all day, and should see a good sized group around 1900-2000 BST.  If you love Spits vs 109s and 190s over the channel, today is your day!

 

[357th_KW]

I'm thinking that instead of trying to run two flyout days, it might make more sense to do two or three flyouts focused on specific times.  For example, one for Euro primetime, one for US primetime and maybe a US latenight/Australia afternoon?  I've got a little poll running on the discord for players to let me know what region they're in.

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2024 by 357th_KW

[KG100_Brannon]

Good job creating this server KW !  

[357th_KW]

ALARM!  Dicke Autos inbound!  It's Strategic Bombing Tuesday and we're running those missions all day.  The latest updates include a mix of different bomber routes (currently 3 different ones, and more coming soon), some adjustments to spawn locations and timings to help players get in the fight, some tweaks to bomber durability and a possibility for the Me262 to make an appearance during the November 1944 mission.  Come join the battle over the Reich!

 

[357th_KW]

It's Channel Front Thursday!  Come join us all day for some classic Hurricane and Spitfire vs 109 and 190 action over the Normandy map!

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by 357th_KW

[357th_KW]

Scramble - Bandits reported over the Grand Harbor, Angels 10!

 

 

I'm happy to announce three new missions on The Cold Blue, featuring a new campaign - The Siege of Malta.

 

The first mission is set in February 1941, and features Bf110E's, Bf109E's and Hurricane IIa's.  The second mission is set in November 1941, featuring Hurricane IIb's and Macchi C.202's.  The third mission is set in April 1942 with Hurricane IIb's and c's and Spit V's vs 109F's.  The server will be running these new mission every other hour for the next few days so players can get a taste of them - come check it out!

[357th_KW]

The Cold Blue is back online again.  We've got 11 different missions running in the play list, with 3 different campaigns - The Siege of Malta, The Channel Front and the Mighty 8th.  Historical mission dates now range from February 1941 to November 1944.  I've decided to start adding contrails into all the Mighty 8th missions, and any Channel Front missions where altitudes make it reasonable.  These maps are quite hazy in most weather conditions (even with haze turned off completely in the mission editor) and spotting can be a real challenge for many players.  I keep getting feedback on this, and it's not fun for anyone to fly around for an hour without encountering anything. 

 

I'm going to continue working on adding more variety to the existing campaigns, but I'm also going to start working on some other stuff to mix it up even more.  I'd like to do some Eastern Front stuff - those planesets can be quite imbalanced from a fighter vs fighter standpoint, but focusing on the escort aspect of things can make these sort of asymmetrical matchups interesting.  I'm also going to look into doing some Western Front tactical missions - Dieppe, Normandy, Market-Garden, the Battle of the Bulge etc.  These offer some interesting and unique matchups.

 

 

[357th_KW]

Tomorrow is November 2nd, 2023 - the 79th anniversary of 8th Air Force Ramrod # 698.  This real life mission is the basis for the November 1944 mission on The Cold Blue.  Come and join us tomorrow, Thursday November 2nd, to experience this mission (and some other 8th AF inspired missions)!  In the past we've had pretty good turnout around 1900 GMT.  I'm also going to try and host a late night crew around 9-10pm Pacific time (0400-0500 GMT) later that evening.

 

 

Here's some historical background on the mission, quoted from Donald Caldwell's "Day Fighters in Defence of the Reich: A War Diary 1942-45" :

October 1944

 

For the first time in the war, all of Germany’s air defences reported to a single headquarters, Luftflotte Reich. Its principal operational commands were I. Jagdkorps, covering the Reich itself, and II. Jagdkorps (through Luftwaffenkommando West, the downgraded Luftflotte 3), covering the western battle area. The map below shows the new Jagddivision boundaries. Note that the collapsing battle lines had eliminated the western, eastern and southern boundaries. The month provided an unbroken series of disappointments for the air defences. They were fated to remain quantitatively inferior to the Allies. The USSTAF had finally reached its full size and outnumbered the Luftwaffe by 5 or 10 to one on any given mission. Galland’s grosse Schlag (‘Big Blow’) was intended to even the odds, and planning continued for this one-shot mission. In practice, this meant keeping depleted units non-operational until they could be built up to full establishment strength, which kept the daily availability figures lower than they could have been.

 

The shortage of aviation fuel did not yet affect operations, although it had nearly strangled the pilot training program. The Jagdgruppen received trained replacement pilots from disbanded bomber units during the autumn, but these men were a decidedly mixed blessing. They were all instrument rated, giving them an advantage over typical German fighter pilots, but generally lacked elementary fighter pilot skills, and operational training in the combat units to provide them with these skills had been cut back severely. There were still hopes that the Luftwaffe could regain its qualitative edge over the western Allies. Day fighter production rates remained high throughout the autumn, but the types produced were nearly all obsolescent Bf 109Gs and Fw 190As. There were a few improved Bf 1 09Ks and Fw 190Ds coming out, but Luftwaffe hopes rested in its two revolutionary new types – the rocket-propelled Me 163 and the jet-engine Me 262. The Me 163 was killing its own pilots at a shocking rate, and would prove to be a technical dead end, but the Me 262 was a true war-winner – or at least a war-extender. The Me 262 fighter programme had been stalled for several months by Hitler’s demand that the jet be employed exclusively as a bomber, but der Führer had at last been won over. The first Me 262 fighter unit of Gruppe strength, Kommando Nowotny, entered operations from Achmer, but it did not fulfill the hopes placed in it, apparently due to the technical incompetence of the unit’s commander, Major Walter Nowotny, and a strange lack of follow-through by Generalmajor Adolf Galland, who tolerated the lethargic performance of Nowotny, one of Galland’s worst appointments.

 

2 November

8th Air Force Mission #698: 1,100 of 1,174 HBs (all BDs) target Merseburg/Leuna, other central German synthetic oil plants, Bielefeld rail targets, TOT 1203-54h – lose 40-2-583, claim 36-35-27. 873 of 968 escorts (all 15 FGs + 1 FG 9th AF P-38s) claim 102-6-25, lose 16-0-0.

 

A full-strength 8th AF raid following a straight-line course to the oil targets in central Germany provoked a strong defensive effort by the I. Jagdkorps. JG 300 and JG 301 were stood down, but Gefechtsverbande were formed around JG 3, JG 4 and JG 27. The first two had the typical organisation of a Sturmgruppe escorted by several light Gruppen, while JG 27, which was operating as a full Geschwader for the first time in the war, contained only light Gruppen. The two Sturmgruppen were guided to vulnerable bomber Pulks by the experienced 1. Jagddivision controllers and made effective attacks – IV(Sturm)/JG 3 on the 91st BG, II.(Sturm)/JG 4 on the 457th BG – before the American escorts broke through the Bf 109 escorts and took their revenge. JG 27 was unable to make any headway against the bombers before being driven to ground by P-51 s; its losses today were the greatest of any day of the war. The jet and rocket fighters were up, but the jets of Kommando Nowotny were burdened with WGr 21 mortar tubes – there was still a dispute over their best armament against bombers – and could not reach the bombers, although they did claim three escorts for the loss of one jet fighter and pilot. One III./JG 54 Staffel had the mission of protecting the jets’ take-offs and landings with its new Fw 190D9s, and the five fighters it scrambled from Achmer downed two B-17s without loss, outshining the jets. I./JG 400 scrambled five Me 163s from Brandis, but since this was the only rocket fighter base and was in the day’s target area, it was blanketed by sweeping P-51s, and the Mustangs and leading B-17s downed four of the rocket fighters, killing three pilots. I./JG 400 could report no success and was unable to fly another mission in this strength for four months. After the mission, the 8th AF wrote off 42 bombers, most owing to the two successful Sturmangriffe, as well as 16 escorts. I. Jagdkorps lost 71 KIA or MIA, 31 WIA and 133 fighters. The day was an unmitigated disaster for I. Jagdkorps. It had scrambled 490 fighters, of which 305 made contact. 133 of these were shot down: a loss of 44 per cent. On 6 November, victory claims being processed for this mission totalled 52 for the fighters and 30 for the Flak. At the Fuhrer conference on that date, Hitler studied these data and made it clear that he had lost all confidence in the Jagdwaffe; that it was ‘… insanity to go on producing the aircraft … [when] the hope of decimating the enemy with a mass deployment is not realistic’. Although it did not become clear for two more weeks, Galland’s planned ‘Big Blow’ and any hope for a massive victory by the RLV force died at that moment.

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by 357th_KW

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

This server looks awesome @357th_KW!!! Does it have a stats page?

[357th_KW]

11 minutes ago, drewm3i-VR said:

This server looks awesome @357th_KW!!! Does it have a stats page?

No, I haven’t set up stats.  I’ve been debating whether it’s worth it.  I’ll have to play around with the stats package and see what is possible.  One of the key aspects of this server is that every mission is asymmetrical.  So I’d hate to use a basic stats system that appears to reward people for always flying the best/newest/most advantageous planes - the point is more about the experience, and to allow players to enjoy both sides.  I’m not entirely sure what the right answer would be.  I’ll try to tackle that and SRS over the winter though.

 

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

54 minutes ago, 357th_KW said:

No, I haven’t set up stats.  I’ve been debating whether it’s worth it.  I’ll have to play around with the stats package and see what is possible.  One of the key aspects of this server is that every mission is asymmetrical.  So I’d hate to use a basic stats system that appears to reward people for always flying the best/newest/most advantageous planes - the point is more about the experience, and to allow players to enjoy both sides.  I’m not entirely sure what the right answer would be.  I’ll try to tackle that and SRS over the winter though.

 

Can what CB/Finnish use be reused? PM me. Happy to help if I can!

[Sheriff88]

Visited for the first time last night. Like the large formations. Did not realize there are different mission options. I'll have to check that out.

Why not allow player to spawn with rest of friendly force instead of having to fly single ship to rendevous?

[357th_KW]

This Thursday November 16th, we'll be having our weekly flyout.  We're going back to the Channel Front and featuring a new mission that debuted last week, set in July 1943 feature the legendary Hawker Typhoon!  We typically see good population at 2000, 0200 and 0500 GMT.  Come join us for some classic Spits vs 109s/190s plus the new addition of the Typhoon.

 

 

 

14 hours ago, Sheriff88 said:

Visited for the first time last night. Like the large formations. Did not realize there are different mission options. I'll have to check that out.

Why not allow player to spawn with rest of friendly force instead of having to fly single ship to rendevous?

 

Yeah there are now 12 or so different missions in the full rotation - some based on 8th AF bomber raids, some based on RAF Circus and Ramrod ops over the Channel in 1941-43, and some based on Axis air raids on Malta (using Kuban as a stand-in map).  I'd love to be able to dynamically spawn the players into a formation, or with AI wingmen etc, but there's just no way to do that with the current airfield options in MP.  I've tried to find a balance where players are able to be reasonably close to the action (including airspawns for the interceptors on many missions), while still giving them the ability to choose their own path to the battle and stalk a bit. 

 

I probably need to put together a couple tutorial videos for the server, as players who are trying it out for the first time often struggle to find the bombers.  At some point down the road I'm aiming to add SRS which should allow a lot of the radio messages to be transmitted over voice as well as text, which would likely help as well.

[Sheriff88]

2 hours ago, 357th_KW said:

 

I probably need to put together a couple tutorial videos for the server, as players who are trying it out for the first time often struggle to find the bombers.  At some point down the road I'm aiming to add SRS which should allow a lot of the radio messages to be transmitted over voice as well as text, which would likely help as well.

Thanks for your quick response. Great job!

[Sheriff88]

Went on server last night. "Siege of Malta" was up. Chose Luftwaffe bomber escort. Navigation was easy thanks to prominent geographical features. Caught up with bombers just as they were hitting target. Got nailed by AAA turning for home!! Engine knocked out but altitude was such I made it back to make dead stick landing !

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by Sheriff88

[357th_KW]

Just wanted to post a little update.  The server is unfortunately offline for the moment due to a hardware failure.  I'm hoping to have it back up again soon, but I don't yet have an ETA. 

 

In other news, we ran the new 1943 mission for two Thursday flyout events and had pretty good turnout.  I'm going to try and to work on adding some more 1943 and early 1944 content as, this is a nice era where fighter performance is fairly balanced.

[357th_KW]

The server is back up and running the normal rotation today.  Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!  I'll have another flyout event set up for next Thursday.

[Sheriff88]

Logged into Cold Blue last night.

Chose to fly Luftwaffe intercept of US bomber stream in G6. In first mission I never found target. Took forever to fly to altitude then chase stream. No contact! Second mission much easier as I spawned in air over Schipol airfield. 

Spotted lone aircraft that I thought might be JU-88 heading for intercept. Identified as a B-26 and as I closed in it was hit by a Fw-190

 

 

It did not go down and led me to bombers.

 

  I engaged and downed a B-26.

 

However, I got hit and had to bail out.

 Video here.

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by Sheriff88

[357th_KW]

Tomorrow December 14th, The Cold Blue will be hosting another Thursday Flyout event featuring 3 missions focusing on the Bf110!  Escort Luftwaffe bombers over Malta in the Bf110E, or tackle US heavies over the Reich in the Bf110G2, Me410 and Ju88C.  We usually see good turnout around 2000 GMT, 0200 GMT and 0500 GMT.   Hope to see you there!

 

Edited March 4, 2024 by 357th_KW

[357th_KW]

This Thursday we'll be rolling out a new Mighty 8th mission set in May, 1944. This one features a new southern bomber route over parts of the Rhineland map we haven't seen before. It also features the initial deployments of the Bf109G-6/AS as well as operational trials of 150 octane fuel by P-47D squadrons. We'll aim for the usual 2000 GMT, 0200 GMT and 0500 GMT.

 

 

This mission is modeled after the real May 12th 1944 raid, which marked the first strike on the German synthetic oil industry.  This mission also featured a historic clash of aces between Hub Zemke, commander of the 56th Fighter Group and Gunther Rall, gruppenkommodore of II./JG11.  Zemke had to limp back to base in his damaged Thunderbolt, while Rall was shot down and wounded by another Thunderbolt.

 

 

Server discord is: https://discord.gg/ys8VE5DD

[357th_KW]

Join us tomorrow, January 4th, for a Thunderbolt themed Thursday Flyout!

 

 

We'll be running 4 different USAAF escort missions set in 1944 featuring the mighty Thunderbolt! We'll aim for the usual 2000 GMT, 0200 GMT and 0500 GMT. Hope to see you all there!