Snafu

Midway, 1942 82 years ago today, in the middle of the Pacific, a battle erupted that would change the course of the Pacific war. In the early morning, at 06:20, the two idyllic islands known as “Midway” were fiercely attacked by Japanese naval aircraft; they were met by 26 USMC Buffaloes and Wildcats from VMF-211. Avengers and B-26 bombers had already taken off to look for the Japanese carrier force that had been spotted by a PBY less than one hour prior. The battle then shifted to the sea and evolved into a clash of unprecedented proportions, and is known to this day as the Battle of Midway. That first aerial engagement over the Midway islands was already a bloody encounter, and what followed at sea became known as the most important carrier battle ever. Many pilots lost their lives that day, and they never knew they had been part of a war- deciding struggle. Thanks to the sacrifice of the airmen and sailors of the US Navy and US Marine Corps we can still enjoy freedom today. That’s why, on this 82nd anniversary, the Combat Pilot Team salutes those that paid the ultimate price at Midway, and those that serve and protect our freedom to this day. D-Day, 1944 80 years ago on the 6th of June, the second world war produced one of its biggest and most important events. US rangers, among the first to go into action on D-Day, scaled the sheer cliff at Pointe du Hoc, destroyed the German battery there, while securing the area. The liberation of Europe had begun! Or had it? Well, one could argue that the liberation had already begun about a year prior. On July 12th, 1943, the red army launched “Operation Kutuzov”, which put an end to German offensive ambitions at Kursk. This battle saw the Soviets taking the initiative from the Germans on the eastern front, and it would remain this way until the very end. By the time D-Day started, the Soviets had already pushed hundreds of miles westward, liberating Smolensk, Odessa and Tarnopol. As the allied leaders had agreed during one of their conferences, the Soviets launched their next offensive, “Operation Bagration”, shortly after D-Day. However, the 6th of June 1944 marked the beginning of the end. The Normandy landings were successful, and the days of Nazi terror were numbered. We (Barbedwire studios) visited Pointe du Hoc last year on the 6th of June, and were left in awe. Standing at the top of that sheer cliff, looking down, you can imagine how hard it was to get up there while fighting off the defenders. In fact, it doesn’t matter on which date the liberation of Europe started; what matters is that the allies worked closely together - successfully - to end an era of terror and fascism, and D-Day was one of those days that were instrumental and significant to the defeat of the axis powers. Above all, let’s remember and honor those that risked or lost their lives for our freedom. Lest we forget. The Combat Pilot Team

It's more realistic and generally more intense, as it requires more micromanagement. And then there's the historical approach that is the basis for the content, including landscapes. You can read about it here: https://www.barbed-wire.eu/our-dedication-to-realism-and-history/

My favorite bit of the DD is the wing folding mechanism on the Wildcat, ngl. 😉

Once you go shark, you never go back - sorry 🙃

Thank you and everyone else as well! As it so happens, we have announced the US faction for Gates of Hell on june 6th. Western front like you haven't seen before, even if you might be tempted to think you have, after watching the teaser:

I know... however, this topic has the correct game name and a bit of explanation.

Call to Arms is a franchise of RTS games. These are themed in different eras: Call to Arms is a modern day military RTS and Gates of Hell is set in ww2. My favourite in the franchise is (by far) Gates of Hell. For any fan of realism and a historical approach to games, this immersive game is the ticket. It has top- down view that can be instantly switched to 1st person view for tanks and vehicles, and 3rd person view for infantry. Snipers do have 1st person as well. These are the main points that make GoH different from other ww2 games on the same engine: - the damage model is very refined - the sound is very realistic - it has a dynamic campaign system - the maps are modeled after real locations so using the landscape and using real life tactics is actually a thing - it is a stunningly beautiful game with endess replayability As we speak, both are available at an almost ridiculous discount right now (sale ends june 6th): https://store.steampowered.com/sale/calltoarmsfranchisesale

It is indeed Rall's 109! Well spotted, ngl

Thanks a lot guys, that's great. 😍 Perhaps I should point out that realism and historical elements are what sets this game apart, so even if GoH isn't in your usual niche, you'll probably like it anyway. This image, in a way, shows you how we work. I posted it a long time ago when we were scripting a singleplayer mission. I asked the community "this is a scene from Petrovka, july 1943. Which famous person is in this screenshot?". I suspect people in the CP forum would know, and if you don't (which is quite okay), you now have a nice little puzzle to entertain yourself with. Just remember we take history very seriously.

Later came the dynamic dogfights, allowing ships (and anything else) to move in a DF server. That, to me, was the epitomy of realism after many years of everything being static in a DF. Cule and myself ran a dedicated dogfight server for that reason. As for deck operations, 1946 may have had a mechanism to make freshly spawned a/c into non- collision objects, but there were many accidents and almost all accidents came with lots of collateral damage. Certainly needs some consideration on how to avoid this.

Sounds correct to me. Boyington's story is a must- read, unbelievable stuff.

Welcome! Well, data on the subject being rare, maybe you could consider sharing part of it? We have a channel for that on our official Discord server. Thanks in advance!

I last ran IL-2 1946 a few months ago when our squad hosted regular friday night Pacific dogfights. Scenarios like Burma, Singapore, Sumatra, Tarawa, Okinawa and Guadalcanal (and then some).

I agree, and I'm personally quite interested in the Burma campaign too... and maybe some underexposed Singapore and Dutch East Indies would be nice. We'll see how wide the scope can be made.

Welcome guys, good to see you here!