greer@mwk.uucp (If we took the bones out, it wouldn't be crunchy, would it?) (10/24/90)
In Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain, I have encountered a
a slight problem. In the eighth Stuka scenario (may apply in other
situations, but this is where I found it) I can sink one ship by dropping
the single large bomb, but the other four bombs only damage the other
ship. Is it possible to sink this ship (or any ship) with the four small
bombs? If not, does damaging a ship (which is not noted on the mission
summary, unlike a sinking) improve your mission score, or would it be
better (if you can evade/destroy the fighters) to seek a "target of
opportunity" on land?
Also, does strafing have any effect other than personal satisfaction?
Even in the bombing of Detling (where you can strafe and destroy grounded
RAF fighters) I have been unable to discern any effect on the mission
rating from a successful strafing run.
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Tom Greer | This stuff springs entirely from my own mind, and is
M. W. Kellogg | neither endorsed by nor known to my employer, the
601 Jefferson Ave. | U. S. government, the Vogon Poetry Appreciation
P. O. Box 4557 | Society, or any other entity wise enough to avoid
Houston, TX 77210-4457 | reading it.wbt@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) (10/25/90)
In article <5533@mwk.uucp>, greer@mwk.uucp (If we took the bones out, it wouldn't be crunchy, would it?) writes: > > Is it possible to sink this ship (or any ship) with the four small > bombs? If not, does damaging a ship (which is not noted on the mission > summary, unlike a sinking) improve your mission score, or would it be > better (if you can evade/destroy the fighters) to seek a "target of > opportunity" on land? I don't think you can sink it with the 4 bombs. Your final score seems to be based on how many enemy planes you shoot down, how many bomb hits you score, how many near misses, and how well you complete the mission. From that respect: You could drop all 5 bombs on the same ship. That's five hits, one ship sunk. I'd bet that scores as well as 5 hits, one sunk - one damaged. I don't know if hits on a land target count as hits in this mission; they probably do. I think the safest score is to drop one bomb and sink one ship, and hit the other with the remaining four. > Also, does strafing have any effect other than personal satisfaction? Only against parked aircraft, in which case it's just like shooting them in the air, only easier. Never seems to affect buildings or runways. My questions on "Their Finest Hour"... 1) During a Luftwaffe campaign; is there any point to assigning computer- flown fighters for escort ? They always seem to get shot down without even hurting the enemy. 2) During an RAF campaign, the pilots aren't any better. Even assigning a pilot I'd previously worked up to over 1000 points only resulted in a downed plane and an ended career; not air victories. For both campaigns, I find that the only way to succeed is by flying the fighters yourself and shooting down everything you find. For Germany, this isn't too tough; take a 109 or (my choice) 110 and start near the English coast, while your bombers start at the airfields. This gives you time to clear the RAF from the air (expect 8 fighters initially, fewer as you cut the RAF's strength). Under this system, all campaigns will be won by cutting the RAF's strength in aircraft below the 50% level. This is because if even 1 RAF fighter gets through, he will break up your bombers. The only way I've won differently is by flying a bomber. After the RAF is on the ropes (about 60% strength) you send 3 bombers toward one target (let's say you're working on airfields) while you attack another at the other end of the island. The three will be shot down, probably without scoring any hits, but you're free to attack. The nice thing about flying a 110, BTW, is that when the C-4B version is available you can take along some bombs and hit targets with just a few percentage points operational, rather than wasting an entire mission on them. To win as the RAF, you just have to be a bloody good pilot. I assign all computer pilots to CAP Intercept Fighters, to try to keep the Messers off my back while I engage in the painful task of killing bombers. The RAF is a much tougher job than the Luftwaffe. 3) In a campaign, is there any point in attacking radars or RAF HQ's ? I really love this game, BTW, despite the gripes above. It has some realism problems (really... should I be able to score hundreds of victories against Spits and Hurri's with an Me110 ? Even Rudel downed only about 20 aircraft (Russian, at that) in a Stuka; my Stuka did better than that against Spits, and in less time). I wish they had Boulton-Paul Defiants, though... Is it true there's a sequel (bombing of Germany in '44-'45) coming up ? - - - - - - - - valuable coupon - - - - - - - clip and save - - - - - - - - Bill Thacker AT&T Network Systems - Columbus wbt@cbnews.att.com "C" combines the power of assembly language with the flexibility of assembly language.
pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com (Robert Pomeroy) (10/27/90)
In article <1990Oct24.203432.721@cbnews.att.com>, wbt@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) writes... >My questions on "Their Finest Hour"... > >1) During a Luftwaffe campaign; is there any point to assigning computer- >flown fighters for escort ? They always seem to get shot down without >even hurting the enemy. I cheated in the game a little. I edited the pilot files with Cygnus Ed made four killer BF109/110 pilots. In my early Luftwaffe missions, I would take out one stuka and assign three of my cheat pilots as escort. They still didn't shoot down much, but they did keep the other guys busy. (They were all top rank, a few medals, 10000+ points, 2500+ missions, 2000+ kills) Even these pilots get shot down now and then. I don't think the game is too good in this respect. When I fly a BF109, I knock out quite a few spitfires before getting too badly shot up. It seems that my cheat pilots should be able to knock out a couple per mission anyway. Oh well. > >I really love this game, BTW, despite the gripes above. It has some >realism problems (really... should I be able to score hundreds of victories >against Spits and Hurri's with an Me110 ? Even Rudel downed only about >20 aircraft (Russian, at that) in a Stuka; my Stuka did better than that >against Spits, and in less time). Yeah, in a BF110, I can easily knock out waves of Spits without sustaining more than a few hits. Not too realistic, but fun just the same. >- - - - - - - - valuable coupon - - - - - - - clip and save - - - - - - - - >Bill Thacker AT&T Network Systems - Columbus wbt@cbnews.att.com > "C" combines the power of assembly language with the > flexibility of assembly language. --- Robert Pomeroy pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com - DEC thru 12/90 rpomeroy@lynx.northeastern.edu - Starting 1/91
brad@nro.cs.athabascau.ca (11/03/90)
wbt@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) writes: > Is it true there's a sequel (bombing of Germany in '44-'45) coming > up ? Yes it is true. It's called Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (SWOTL). Based on the final stages of WW-II. It includes the Me 163 Komet and Me 262. Out first for the PC (of course...sigh) then for the Amiga etc...maybe by Easter for the Ami. Brad