My After Action Report I filed with my Group. Fantastic job, chaps!
Well, I quite enjoyed that!
Thanks to Bliss and Watchman bouncing all about Teamspeak we got ourselves spawned in our Spits at Eastchurch and all on the same TS channel -- no small feat! Kudos to Shrivey for putting on today's Squad Leader Headdress and leading the rest of us shrinking violets out to the airfield. Saw one or two ignominious explosions while taxiing out, but I trust everyone was able to respawn quickly.
Take off was performed smoothly and we all managed to keep Shrivey in sight using our new exclusive-to-ATAG formation which is a carefully laid out pattern of echelon left/line astern/vic/finger four/line abreast effectively designed to jam the enemy's TS Channels with a continuous chorus of "WTF's???". As Shrivey smartly led us out in a fast climb towards the Thames Estuary, he assiduously called out throttle and prop percentages, with several of us assiduously calling out "Uh, what's that in boost and rpm's, please?". Hey, we all got there, didn't we.
Suddenly everyone is calling out "Break, break, break! 109's!!! Two of 'em!". With great precision and consummate skill ol' Snapper slams his Spit into a panicked....er....carefully practised high-speed stall, the absolute absence of any control surface coordination designed to throw off the aim of the most determined experten Luftwaffe ace. It worked!! Not only did I lose any 109's, but I also managed to lose my entire squadron!!!! Adeptly regaining control of my spinning Spit after a brief 10,0000 foot plunge, I set course towards London.
Five minutes later as I realized the Estuary was now the North Sea, I swung about 180 degrees - making a mental note to get my obviously defective compass changed at first op. Bloody erks. Faintly I can hear the excited cries of my squadmates engaging an escorted bomber stream. (Actually, it wasn't faint at all -- it just sounds good.) pouring the coals to my long-suffering Merlin, I hasten to join the fray. Anguished cries of "109 on my 6!!", "I'm taking hits!", "I've just had a f'ing launcher crash!" fill my headphones. Ahead I see the telltale bursts of black AA to mark the location of the ensuing dogfight. Suddenly, I see a small dark shape against the white cloud behind it. I positively identify it as a Junkers/Heinkel/Dornier-thingy and "I'm going for it boys!"
As I close the J/H/T-thingy grows in my sights, and I push the firing button as I flash by. Having delivered a stunning 1/20 second burst on its left wingtip, I swing around for another pass. Recovering from my second high speed stall of the day, I pick up my terrified victim making a desperate attempt to flee my murderous assault. Licking my dry lips in grim anticipation, I curve in behind him -- his wingspan perfectly framed within the range bars of my illuminated reflector sight. "DIE, YOU NAZI SCHWEINHUNDT!!!!" I scream as I push the firing button once again. And.......nothing. Screen freeze. Gentlemen: this SUCKS!!!!!
Oh well. It was fun, nonetheless. Hopefully the next beta will get these launcher.exe failures resolved. Then we'll get 'em!
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