How about an update VI?

[Charest]

I'm just curious about what the guys are doing lately. I do not need no official stuff, just want to know on what are the programmers working right now. I know HARD Sarge ran a test with BOB recently, but except from that, we are clueless since 2 months!
Please?[:)]

[Hard Sarge]

may be easier to ask questions then for me to just say things


overall, been working for a bit on trying to get the BAF added in (needs its own targets and command/control system) and what not

been running tests on the different sub battles and trying to see if we will be able to include them in the release or if we may have to pull them and add them in later

I think I got some pics from Avanalanche I can show off (I hate that word)

[Hard Sarge]

well, not sure how well these will show anything, but at the time, I thought they meant something

this battle is more a ground attack battle, you need to gain AS, and knock down defences and take land (which the last you only have indereceit control of)

the Axis start out with a nice amount of points, and gain more as stuff gets repaired

what will hurt them is they also get points for the number of ready planes they have on hand, and once the Allies land, most of the ITs units are going to go away, very ruff game for the LW, they have to pick and chose which raids to attack, if they attack, the Allies have to find them, and take them out

first shot is a mission around the boot

[Hard Sarge]

as you see, I got a few bombing raids to the AFs in the area, with a stack of Sweeps plotted behind them, to try and catch any Axis planes on the way in or back out from the raids

(in RL, I think these would be called Point Escourt, you flew to a point, and waited for the raid to pass though the area, and then were free to do your own thing)

(plus now a days, I think we also would call it area denile)



of course, I think they would call it something they could spell

[Hard Sarge]

which, over all, the sweeps, fancy area Escourt didn't work out too well, think I got 2 and lost 1 from all the sweeps, the Axis didn't want to play that day

more raids going to the boot

[Hard Sarge]

a little better (just in case, at times, it is easier to post the pic and then talk about it

again, some sweeps along with raids heading out (easier to tell the Main raids as they get clumps of boxes) the sweeps should be the single boxes (but don't count on that)

also, off to the side, you see another raid, my guess is that is the 17s headed off, the other raids and sweeps are more a blocking force then Main Force

also see I have gain a little since the first pic, but so have the Axis

(a human player I am sure would pull everything from the boot as soon as the battle starts, the AI wants to hold that area, which means, lots of action in the south)

[Hard Sarge]

and still the boot gets hammered

[Hard Sarge]

ahh, the battle is starting to heat up, lots of stuff going on in the boot, but mainly to keep the LW honest

off to the side, you see a B-26 raid headed to Corsica, Sardina has been hammered, very bloody and very one sided, the P-38s and B-17s have all been moved over to Sicly there work over Sardina being finished

the plan/hope is the 26s will alert and draw off the LW in the north, and with the speed of the 26s outrun them home (most of the raid is over water, over land, that would not be a very smart or good plan)

the 17s are headed out to the north (simi north) first deep raid of the battle

again, you can see the score is getting better

(and just in case, pic 1 and 3 are the plotting screens, showing all the raids before the day starts, the 2nd pic is a shot of the raids in action)

I'll get some more pics shortly

[Hard Sarge]

opps my bad, that was the raid to a main LW AF, the next day was the deep raid north (a little East of Rome, I like to go after the Power supply in Italy)

[Hard Sarge]

okay this is the current map, the troops have landed and are moving forward, but I have been getting bad weather, Enemy troops on the move, that is the time to hit them, once they get in place and start to dig in, it just wasted bombloads, but on the move, you can slaughter them

score is looking much better now, but the front line will stableize shortly, so the gain from taking ground will stop

[Hard Sarge]

may be a little HARD to see, but those Grey AFs are the over ran LW fields that are being repaired for the Allies, shortly, once they come on line, the Allied Air will be able to move closer to the front lines

[Hard Sarge]

to me, the game is still mainly about air to air combat, and it has been pretty much one sided, the Med has tons of planes, while the LW and IT are pretty worn down

[Hard Sarge]

and the bloodbath the Med was

[Hard Sarge]

my 38s

remember, most of there kills have been over Sardina, it is a quick in and quick out, the mainland is going to be a different story

[Hard Sarge]

you may notice that the losses do not add up, the 4th FS has just changed over to the 38, there losses were with another plane type

[Hard Sarge]

Spit VIIIs, I really like this plane

one hassle, in RL, almost none of the Squadrons flew just one type of plane, most would have some Vs, some VIIIs and some IXs, so it is really guessamit, on what each unit really flew, or really flew the most with

so, units I have giving the V, I know flew them, VIIIs flew them alot, and IXs flew them alot

so, there may be cases where people can say, hey, this unit flew the V not the VIII, I have found pics of VIIIs with that unit

Vs are still the main Spit when the game starts in the Med

[Hard Sarge]

and just in case, not everything has been rosey

some have taken it on the chin

[Hard Sarge]

and one of the old weak sisters

of course, as is the case most times, being in the right place, at the right time, means more then anything, but...

which remember, close to the Allied lines, the Allies are very overpowering, it is once you start to get away from the lines, that it starts to get dangerous

[Hard Sarge]

Raids are getting a little HARDer to plot right now, AFs and fighter cover is too far away

but, then again, most of the enemy is far away also

a strike on the RR at Lorenzo, with a flanking strike on some troops on the move, and more flanking strikes on targets that don't mean anything, but should cover the flank from any enemy based on the coast

a just in case strike on Sardina to keep the LW honest

[Hard Sarge]

here is what the raids look like

by my recon (2 days old) I only find 12 enemy planes in my area of Opp

but move of them will of been moved north of Rome, the trick is to find them and make them join the battle