To begin, I'd like to say that every unit had to have a guy like me: A Screwup who somehow has the favor of the Gods to succeed at . . . well, most things.
My MaMa, (Grandmother), taught me that none of us can do anything on our own, and we have a need for a deity, whether it's just perceived, or actually real. My great-aunt, Lil, taught me that we can bend reality, and reshape things with our will, provided we can summon the proper amount of emotion (emotion = energy) for the task.
You see, I'm a pilot from a Cherokee family. A family that's been split apart by the U.S.A so many times that we are now scattered across many states. But my family fought, and some died for this nation. It was hard for me, when I first got this game, to fly a German . . . ANY German aircraft. These missions, this game, and the wonderful pilots from all OVER the World have been a saving grace for me. That's what new pilots don't get about IL2: This is THE game which transcended its own beginnings and became a repository of history, telling the story as it really happened from the standpoint of all sides. Including the nations who were already treaty-bound and had NO choice as to who they would fight for, such as Finland.
And so, here is an AAR which I hesitated to share. The reason being that I felt like I did so many times in the U.S. Army, when the Drill Sgt. would intentionally belittle you in front of your entire platoon. Nothing special about me though, because the bastards did it for all of us. But we are not in the military here, and this WAS typical of what actually happened sometimes, and my difficulty settings are partly responsible for this, so here goes:
Escort Mission- HS129's
I listened to the Commander's briefing and was convinced that I understood everything. The 129's were going in, low-level, and were to be protected first and foremost! They would attack tanks while we provided top-cover. Normal takeoff. My communication with Ground Control (er . . . that would be my map and indicated waypoint settings) positioned me at the first waypoint and wouldn't give orders to proceed after passing the waypoint several times. It seems my wingman had some sort of a problem and this was presumably to wait for him. All the while I gradually gained altitude.
After my wingman made it up to join me, the bombers were well ahead of us. And yet, the tower was recalling us to our first waypoint from the flughafen. Taking her up a bit higher. When would we be allowed to join our escort?
FINALLY! We are given orders to proceed, even as our bombers are nearing their target. Would we get there in time? And do we trade off this altitude advantage? Yes! Gradual descent all the way to the target in hopes that we can get there in time to help. Fortunately, no aircraft seem to be in the area right now according to comms (yeah, map again). We came up on the bombers at over 320 mph, and they were just beginning their work. No enemy fighters visible.
Smoothest bomb-run on the tanks, ever! I didn't see a single one of our big toys go down. They went on past their targets and didn't return. Now, I had to decide if I would stay in the area and strafe tanks, or rejoin the bombers, in case enemy planes would appear. I decided that the primary objective had to be taken care of first, and so headed for the formation with my wingman.
And not one . . . not a single fighter appeared to challenge us. In the end some of our 129's took some ground fire, but it looked like no losses. We arrived over our airfield and the bombers continued on to their respective bases. I "landed" safely, but never made it to the parking area. Here's a pic of me getting a mission complete as I once again break off my landing gear.
And here is a score for obeying orders to the letter, even though not a shot was fired from my plane.
So there it is: A very relaxing joyride in the FW. WITH POINTS!!!
*I flew this mission again, this time choosing the option to attack a ground target, and immediately 2 enemy fighters appeared. I got my butt kicked and the first score was higher anyway. This is in no way a complaint, but a surprising find about choices in these missions. Thank you, Haukka!
Bird Out