Cool thins that happen in IL-2 campaign missions

[IceFire]

I'm working on two campaigns side by side right now and while one is finished, the other is just getting started and I'm looking for a little creative help.

Although I don't tend to do off the wall sort of missions I do want to offer some potentially interesting or unique combat situations if I can. What are some of those "cool" moments that have happened to some of you as you've played through missions and campaigns? Stuff that sticks out in your mind. When you're scripting a campaign it's useful to pay heed to these moments and to try and capture them now and again.

[Splitter]

Surprises are good. New models of enemy planes showing up without warning. Targets of opportunity presenting themselves on the way to or from a patrol area. Going after a flight of bombers and getting bounced by their escorts.

One thing I hate in some campaign is always entering a fight at a clear disadvantage or on even terms. Those things happen...but shouldn't the advantage be on the player's side sometimes too?

Other surprises that lead to important judgment decisions center around coming into contact with additional enemy flights after the "main battle" in a mission. especially if you are leading your flight, you have to decided if fuel and ammo make another fight possible or if discretion is the better part of valor....and running if you can :).

In one of the best campaigns I have flown, the first few missions were training type missions. For newer players, those missions would have been very informative. For veterans, you are forced to fly aircraft that you would not normally pick.

Those are the things that seem to make a campaign memorable to me. Most of the things that I remember are "different" types of kills or surprise snap shots which I am not sure one could set up in a campaign....they just sort of happen.

Splitter

[_RAAF_Smouch]

I'm working on a co-op at the moment where we will ground pounding in the main battle zone while several flights of B-24's are going to dropping 16 x 500lber's from 20,000ft into the area as well.

[SEE]

Generally the same as splitter as far as campaign interest and variation is concerened. I don't have the time to do my own campaigns but I did on the old CFS series. The only one that I did that was different required pilot 'decision making' based on real time events. Mission success was based on not killing a 'friendly' which is the opposite to most campaign missions. In a nutshell, I used moving enemy armour to set the time limit and these would surround and over run an allied position if not halted. If the enemy ground armour reaches its objective you will certainly kill a friendly and its mission failed.

Pilot decisions involved selection of route, ground defences, etc, identifying the target zone (Damaged C47, palls of smoke and allied light armour dotted around it) wether to engage/assist/evade when the flight was intercepted. On reaching the target area - observing which of the flanking enemy columns posed the most immediate threat, were there any targets that could prevent their progress. It all took time - and there wasn't a lot of it......anyway I am wittering so will get me hat and coat..........:grin:

[Former_Older]

Deceive the player :) Intelligence isn't always accurate

Have the player briefed for a very tough mission for example. When they arrive, let's say at the ground attack area, everything is already wrecked. A lone enemy recon plane is low, slow, and unarmed. Give them a few minutes to shoot it up. Then that's when the enemy fighter A/C show up. Or alternatively, that's when a whole slew of unarmed enemy transports parade by, and the player has wasted time and ammo on the hapless recon plane, and might miss the most glorious sitting duck target of his career!

[IceFire]

Some great ideas! Keep sharing! :)

[Splitter]

Well, another thing that is frustrating but maybe not something you can control in a campaign: enemy planes that follow you to the ends of the earth.

I think as one got deeper and deeper into enemy territory, the will to pursue for a kill would become less and less. Especially when AAA was present.

I am currently flying a campaign where is "seems" that the enemy planes have a realistic level of fuel. They will turn around and go home if you can tangle with them long enough, but they don't seem to mind AAA.

So a suggestion would be to play close attention to the enemy fuel supply. Maybe by limiting that you can simulate realistic behavior.

Splitter

[csThor]

One suggestion would be to run totally unexpected into extremely heavy AAA in an area totally devoid of anything else (that you know of, that is :twisted: ). And then have the character/unit commander wondering what is there that warrants such protection ...

[Splitter]

I am currently flying a campaign where the first mission is a rescue. You have to escort the rescue plane to the target and protect it until it takes off again (actually, a new plane spawns as landed planes cannot take off again). It was a neat little twist on the standard mission I thought.

I could see a night mission in an two seater to pick up a down pilot or spy....not sure it is possible to do though.

A recon mission to observe enemy armor or such in a light plane would be a nice monotony breaker in a campaign too.

Splitter

[Ltbear]

With zuti`s help i have moved from coop to DF.

When i create a campaign i make a list.

Where
Year
planes used

Primary target for each map

Strength (ballance for both sides)
How far away i want to walk from history facts.

Normaly i start with a homebase map. This is where you get the welcome to bla bla, we use bla bla practice in these areas.

I normaly set up the briefing so i can alow enemy planes at some places, like

Pilots from the navy have been assigned a few captured enemy planes. They get a bonus and some extra leave for each one of you they shoot down (USAAF VS US navy) competitors :)

Then we use that map the first evening, also to get into the planes used for the campaign.

Next map is here you are, here is where the enemy are, have some flight over the area.

From there the maps escalate towards, the end goal. I create around 10 maps where most of them can be repeatet with nor problem (how i set them up)

The one running right now are about the philipines. Japanese build up to the north, enemy planes flying caps around the frontline and dayli strafing attacks from enemy planes on the allied airfields close to the front. Japanese torpedo boats making raids on the shipping and the IJN trying to blocade Luzon Island.

Next map is escalation where straifing will be more like direct attacks and manila will begin to be bombed.

The campaign will end up with allieds running, but then i move to the next interesting place and build a new DF campaign the same way, just alowoing more and more planes that follows the timeline.

Doing it this wa require you can control your self and accept limitet planes etc.

For the philipine campaign im moving slowly through the 1941/1942 planes, trying to keep it balanced. and keep the 1942 planes in a limitet number so its basicly P-40`s vs Zeros and KI-43`s

well not sure if it helped but this is how i do it :)

LTbear

[IceFire]

That is similar to my method... I create a large Word file with dates, events, plane types and associated squadrons, where they would be, known historical events or anecdotes, and then I build missions based on that. I do like to try and toss in some interesting events... each mission needs to have *something* interesting that happens. That's my campaign philosophy... right now I'm tapping some great potential here folks. Thanks!