Hellfire Corner

[9./JG52 Hans Gruber]

A semi-historic mission based on events in early August 1940. The aircraft set is historic with radar for red to detect large formations through the Mission menu (Tab-4). You'll want to connect to the Luton (Ash) station before requesting a report. Blue AI bombers will spawn periodically to attack red targets in order to advance the mission. Bf 109 E1B/E3B/E4B do not have access to 50kg bombs, only 250kg. Mission length is 4 hours. Special thanks to ATAG_Bliss for scripting/hosting, 5./JG27 Vogler for support, & FG_Kodiak/No.401 Wolverine for radar.

Blue briefing

August 1940 – Hellfire Corner v1.7

Victory in France is ours. Now we must turn our attention to Britain.

Bf 109 / Bf 110 Orders

- Establish air superiority over South-East England.

- Escort our bombers as they attack enemy shipping and airbases.

- Enlist with Erprobungsgruppe 210 out of Calais-Marck and fly fighter-bombers against the targets listed below. Note there is a shortage among 50kg bombs and priority has been given to the Kampfgruppen.

Ju 87 / Ju88 / He 111 / Erpr.Gr.210 Orders

- Destroy English shipping in the Channel. Our Freya unit at Cap Gris Nez has detected enemy shipping sailing from Dover (AX23) towards Dungeness (AV20). Put these ships on the bottom of the Channel.



- The British have setup large radio masts along their coastline that we believe is a primitive form of aircraft detection. Destroy the installations at Dover (AX23.9) & Dunkirk (AU25.3). Focus your attack on the buildings at the base of the towers.



- Destroy the RAF airbases at Manston (AX26.3), Hawkinge (AW23.5), Lympne (AV23.2), & Eastchurch (AU26.5). Drop your bombs on runways, hangars, & workshops to knock the base out of action. (Note: 10,000 kg of bombs required per airfield to destroy target.)

Note: 40 points required to win mission. Ships & Chain Home sites are worth 1 pt each. Airfields are worth 10.

Red briefing

August 1940 – Hellfire Corner v1.7

“What General Weygand called the battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin.” – Winston Churchill

Fighter Command Orders

- Provide fighter cover over a merchant convoy moving through the Channel. This convoy is westbound departing from Dover (AX23) and heading to Dungeness (AV20).

- Intercept enemy air raids on our coastal airbases and installations. Use Chain Home RDF (Tab-4-1) to locate enemy groups. Likely targets of enemy bombers include RAF Manston (AX26.3), RAF Hawkinge (AW23.5), RAF Lympne (AV23.2), & RAF Eastchurch (AU26.5).

Bomber Command Orders

- The Germans have been gathering their forces in preparation for an invasion. The Calais railyard (BB21.8) is loaded with equipment. Destroy the railyard to disrupt their plans.



- The airstrip at Caffiers (BB20.4) is home to an elite Messerschmitt unit that was recently outfitted with a new variant of the 109 which boasts increased performance at higher altitudes. This new fighter is designated the Bf 109 E-4/N. Crater the runways and render their base inoperable to put the E-4/N's out of action.

- The airfield at Calais-Marck (BC21.7) is being used by an experimental group of elite pilots pioneering the use of fighter-bombers. Radio intecepts identify the unit as Erprobungsgruppe 210, flying Messerschmitt 109's & 110's. Their attacks come at high speed and low level and they are gone before we can even scramble. Knocking their base out for even a few hours would be a relief for our airfields and convoys.

- The Germans have setup a ship detection radar at Cap Gris Nez ( AZ20.8 ) which they are using to locate or convoys sailing through the Channel. Destroy the radar and any surrounding vehicles and structures.

[ATAG_Freya]

YES! This looks great, Hans!!! Can't wait to fly it! Very nice briefing too, plenty of tasks for both sides to sink their teeth into!

Same goes for the other two new ones! Question - are these going on right away, all three into the current rotation or replacing....other missions?

[ATAG_Bliss]

Thanks Gruber, especially the detailed briefings!

@Freya - as soon as I get them.

[9./JG52_J-HAT]

Nice! All of a sudden three new missions, great!

[EG14_Marcast]

Congratulations Gruber, another great map!

[ATAG_JTDawg]

Thanks man

[ATAG_Bliss]

This mission is now in the rotation and will be the next mission on the server!

[Bear Pilot]

Awesome! I love these historically based missions! Can't wait to get home and fly them.

[9./JG52_J-HAT]

Flew this one yesterday. Great fun with lots of action concentrated around Dover and Hawkinge. When there were just the ships left it really got exciting. At a point I counted 10 contacts fighting over the ships, with us 5 coming in.

We attacked Manston and there wasn't a single soul there, though. That was the first target to go.

[9./JG52 Ziegler]

It's a nicely balanced mission. We had a couple good sorties last night flying some escort and CAP

[9./JG52 Hans Gruber]

I am aware of an issue with the blue objectives being completed quickly with higher player counts. I am working on a revision adding more targets to accommodate higher player numbers. Your patience is appreciated.

[trademe900]

This is an awesome mission. Very nicely balanced for all player numbers. It's my favourite mission along with Homeplate. Armory has deadly flak that rewards high level bombing and the other targets are good fun for 110s, etc. Then of course, the boat fights and channel battles with fighters galore. Fun!

[92 Sqn. Philstyle (QJ-P)]

I am aware of an issue with the blue objectives being completed quickly with higher player counts. I am working on a revision adding more targets to accommodate higher player numbers. Your patience is appreciated.

It would be great if we could develop some kind of robust code that would sense the player numbers and adjust the objectives accordingly.

It would take some smart planning to ensure it worked for all scenarios.... but it would be nice to implement.

[EG14_Marcast]

It would be great if we could develop some kind of robust code that would sense the player numbers and adjust the objectives accordingly.

It would take some smart planning to ensure it worked for all scenarios.... but it would be nice to implement.

I don’t know if it’s a good thing….what happens if the number of players increases or decreases? Some targets appear or vanish?

[92 Sqn. Philstyle (QJ-P)]

I don’t know if it’s a good thing….what happens if the number of players increases or decreases? Some targets appear or vanish?

Good question... This is what I mean by "robust", it needs to take account of all scenarios.

So, what are some options?

1. When the number of players reduces, the maybe the "tonnage of bombs" required to destroy a target goes down? Maybe the %-required for a target goes down?
2. Then the number of players increases, the maybe the "tonnage of bombs" required to destroy a target goes up? Maybe the %-required for a target goes up?

3. Maybe, if a certain number of players is detected, the game can add new "secondary targets", or objectives? Maybe only a % of the secondaries needs to be destroyed? If player numbers got back down again, the % required to complete the secondaries goes down too.

HERE's one main problem with this, which I could think of right away; (if one problem is easy to find, there are likely to be more problems....)

Let's say the mission is nearly empty. You need 5000kg of bombs to destroy the target.
Then, 50 people join. Now you need 10,000kg to destroy it. People start bombing and get to around 7,500KG.

Now, can they roll the map simply by leaving the server? If the attacking players all leave, maybe the objective will drop back down to 5,000KG required. But they already have 7500kg.. so the map finishes.. just because people left the server!!

That's not a good outcome at all. This is why such a code would need to be "Robust", in order to take account of these kinds of scenarios.

[EG14_Marcast]

........This is why such a code would need to be "Robust", in order to take account of these kinds of scenarios.

This will be for sure a good exercise in map building but.....do we really need it? In my opinion, a map should be built for a quite high number of players. If the map is good (as all the maps in the actual rotation are) and there are less players, they won't care if it will take longer for them to close it. For example, I'd enjoy very much "extended versions" of Homeplate, London Raids or Fall Rot just to say a few.

[92 Sqn. Philstyle (QJ-P)]

If the map is good (as all the maps in the actual rotation are) and there are less players, they won't care if it will take longer for them to close it.

Unfortunately this does not appear to be true. Some people have been destroyed their own targets on one of the missions, because they do not like how long it takes to win it in the normal way.

[EG14_Marcast]

Unfortunately this does not appear to be true. Some people have been destroyed their own targets on one of the missions, because they do not like how long it takes to win it in the normal way.

Yeah, I forgot

[9./JG52 Hans Gruber]

v1.4 changelog:

- New objectives for red & blue. All airfield targets are now area bombing targets. See updated briefings in OP.
- Added Bf 109 E-4/N to Caffiers. Limited to 8 at any one time. Base can be knocked out and then no E-4/N's are available.
- Blue fighter-bomber base at Calais-Marck can be knocked out.
- Updated despawn script to remove fire effect. Abandoned planes will no longer jettison canopies.
- Removal of AI flights to test server stability.

I think this will be fun. Don't like the E-4/N or jabo's? Knock their bases out then no more can spawn.

[9./JG52 Hans Gruber]

v1.5 changelog:

- Added a 2 m/s (4 knot) wind from the W.
- Added a wind sock at every spawn point in line with the way the boards will face. The wind sock indicates the start of the runway.
- Added an air raid siren at every spawn point.
- Cleaned up airfield spawns since the little hangars were removed in TF 4.3.
- Scaled back AAA in France & England due TF 4.3 flak accuracy improvements.

[EG14_Marcast]

v1.4 changelog:

- New objectives for red & blue. All airfield targets are now area bombing targets. See updated briefings in OP.
- Added Bf 109 E-4/N to Caffiers. Limited to 8 at any one time. Base can be knocked out and then no E-4/N's are available.
- Blue fighter-bomber base at Calais-Marck can be knocked out.
- Updated despawn script to remove fire effect. Abandoned planes will no longer jettison canopies.
- Removal of AI flights to test server stability.

I think this will be fun. Don't like the E-4/N or jabo's? Knock their bases out then no more can spawn.

I played it yesterday on the blue side. Really great fun! Pity that there weren't enough bomber pilots to close it, but I liked the adding of new airfields targets and the new radar at Dunkirk. Unfortunately we had the same annoying bug of the hovering ships, is there anything to do on that?

[9./JG52 Hans Gruber]

I flew the mission for more than an hour last night mostly over the ships and didn't see any hovering. Usually that happens when ships are not moving but in this mission they are in constant movement at quite high speed. Try flying away from them till they disappear and then come back to see if the server correctly reports their position.

[EG14_Marcast]

I flew the mission for more than an hour last night mostly over the ships and didn't see any hovering. Usually that happens when ships are not moving but in this mission they are in constant movement at quite high speed.

It happened when it was about 1 hr. to the end. There were 4 ships left, 2 of which hovering, SE of Folkestone. I was passing on deck west of them heading to France after a raid on Hawkinge.

[Zisi]

I don’t know if it’s a good thing….what happens if the number of players increases or decreases? Some targets appear or vanish?

Then the map may end a little faster than intended, but thats not really a problem. The easiest way of doing this would be to simply base it on the time of day, as the population curve is fairly predictable through the week, with higher numbers on the weekends. Hypothetically you could have 2-3 variations of a map intended for 0-30, 30-60, 60-100 players.

[9./JG52 Hans Gruber]

v1.6 changelog:
- Added Frontlines script by LG1_Vogler.
- Reviewed AAA placement.
- Add light MG AA defenses to all spawn points (Zwillingssockel36).
- Moved the ships a few km South to avoid areas where the water is buggy post TF4.0.
- Changed Bf 109 E-4/N to Bf 109 E-4/N-DeRated. Still limited to 8.
- Added Bf 110 C-4/N-DeRated.
- Increased strength of Caffiers & Calais Marck.

[AKA_Knutsac]

Gruber, thanks for continuing to tweak your missions. I haven't flown the revised mission yet, so maybe you fixed this. The Bofors gun at the Dover Chain Home site is (was?) located in a depression immediately behind the antenna towers. In that location the visabilty is really limited and you can't engage aircraft coming in from the coast (south). Would be great if the gun was moved to either side of the antenna array on higher ground. IRL there were eighteen 3.7in guns (four batteries of 4 guns, one with 2 guns) and 15 to 20 Bofors guns around Dover and Swinegate (where the radar facility is).

~S~

AKA Knutsac

[92 Sqn. Philstyle (QJ-P)]

IRL there were eighteen 3.7in guns (four batteries of 4 guns, one with 2 guns) and 15 to 20 Bofors guns around Dover and Swinegate (where the radar facility is).

Do you have a dated source/ link for this information?

[9./JG52 Hans Gruber]

Knutsac, your passion for AAA is admirable. If AKA participates in the ATAG campaign they should make you czar of AA.

When it comes to the RL number of guns I would urge that you keep scale in mind. In the summer of 1940 there were 100's of aircraft buzzing around over England & France at any one time. In our online scenarios we have 100 a/c max. In my opinion you have to scale the air defenses accordingly.

There are a few hundred guns in every mission and with the limited time I have I tried to position them the best I could. I'm sure there are many that could be better positioned but the majority should at least be on level ground and out of tree lines. I focused more on the guns around spawn points but all guns got at least a cursory look.

[AKA_Knutsac]

"Knutsac, your passion for AAA is admirable. If AKA participates in the ATAG campaign they should make you czar of AA."

LOL...I'm actually a retired US Navy Fire Controlman, our unofficial motto "If it flies, it dies" (also "In god we trust, all others we track"). It wasn't until TF made some of the guns usable that I became aware of how truly pathetic the AI gunners are, and also interested in actual AA doctrine during the period. Just like we desire our aerial gunners put up a reasonable defense so bombers aren't ducks, ground-based defenses should make pilots think long and hard before going in alone, low, and in multiple passes against important ground targets.

Phil, there's a book titled "AA Command: Britain's Anti Aircraft Defenses During WWII" that is kind of the bible on the topic. It's currently out of print and rather pricey. But below are two online resources that give a decent overview (especially the first by Gen Pile):

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/U...ette/38149.pdf
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/U...fUK-XXIII.html

~S~

AKA Knutsac

[sw1ive]

That's a good idea...

this is a good thread...

start study...

we need one thread like this for everyone map...