September Side Splits have been posted and Frame 1 objectives have been sent to squadron officers.
NOTE: Septembers FSO will require CiCs to plan for both Hour 1 and Hour 2, please keep this in mind when drafting your orders.
Allies CiC: Arabian Knights
Axis CiC: Kommando NowotnySo that everyone is onboard I will briefly explain the changes being made to the event, as well as the scoring system.
This month's FSO will attempt something a little different.
Rather than treating each Friday as an almost completely independent battle, Operation Bagration will function as a three-frame campaign.
What happens in Frame 1 will affect Frame 2.
What happens in Frame 2 will affect Frame 3.
And the cumulative results of the first two frames will help determine what equipment is available when the campaign reaches its conclusion.
The goal is to make your actions during each frame matter beyond simply adding points to the scoreboard.
Each frame will consist of two primary combat periods:
Hour 1 — T+0 to T+60
Organizational Break — T+60 to T+65
Hour 2 — T+65 to T+125
During the five-minute break, pilots will have an opportunity to land and both sides will reorganize for Hour 2.
In Frames 1 and 2, the offensive and defensive roles will reverse for Hour 2.
Strategic infrastructure destroyed during Frame 1 will determine how long the enemy has access to its Premium aircraft during Frame 2.
Frame 1 strategic destruction will also begin accumulating toward Frame 3 vehicle availability.
Depending on how successfully your side defended its strategic infrastructure during Frame 1, your Premium aircraft may be available for the entire combat hour—or only a small portion of it.
Strategic destruction during Frame 2 will determine Premium aircraft availability in Frame 3 and will be combined with Frame 1 destruction to determine vehicle availability in the final battle.
Strategic targets have two completely separate effects during Operation Bagration.
First, destroying strategic objects earns points toward winning the current frame.
Second, the percentage of strategic infrastructure destroyed affects the enemy's equipment availability later in the campaign.
This means protecting your strategic targets matters even if your side is currently ahead on points.
Likewise, a side losing the current battle may still inflict enough strategic damage to give itself an advantage the following Friday.
| **Strategic Infrastructure Destroyed** | **Premium Aircraft Availability Next Frame** |
| -------------------------------------: | -------------------------------------------: |
| **0–15%** | **60 minutes** |
| **15–30%** | **50 minutes** |
| **30–45%** | **40 minutes** |
| **45–60%** | **30 minutes** |
| **60–70%** | **20 minutes** |
| **70–80%** | **15 minutes** |
| **80–90%** | **10 minutes** |
| **90–100%** | **5 minutes** |
Premium aircraft availability resets for each combat hour. This way the Hour 2 attacking side does not start at a disadvantage.
For example, if your side enters the next frame with 30 minutes of Premium aircraft availability, those aircraft will be available:
Hour 1: T+0 to T+30
Hour 2: T+65 to T+95
Strategic destruction from Frames 1 and 2 will be combined to determine vehicle availability during Frame 3.
Vehicles open at T+45.
| **Cumulative Strategic Damage** | **Premium Vehicles** | **Legendary Vehicles** |
| ------------------------------: | -------------------: | ---------------------: |
| **0–15%** | **75 min** | **75 min** |
| **15–30%** | **60 min** | **50 min** |
| **30–45%** | **50 min** | **35 min** |
| **45–60%** | **40 min** | **25 min** |
| **60–70%** | **30 min** | **15 min** |
| **70–80%** | **20 min** | **10 min** |
| **80–90%** | **10 min** | **5 min** |
| **90–100%** | **5 min** | **0 min** |
Premium Vehicles
Allied: T-34/85
Axis: Panther, Wirbelwind
Legendary Vehicle
Axis: Tiger I
Standard vehicles will remain available regardless of strategic damage.
The actual winner of each frame will still be determined using points.
| **Destroyed Asset** | **Points** |
| ---------------------------------------------- | -----------: |
| **Strategic Target Object** | **2 points** |
| **Bomber — Tu-2 / Ju 88** | **5 points** |
| **Premium Fighter** | **4 points** |
| **Attack Aircraft — IL-2 / Ju 87 / Fw 190F-8** | **3 points** |
| **Non-Premium Fighter** | **2 points** |
There are effectively two battles being fought at the same time during Operation Bagration.
The point battle determines who wins Friday night.
The strategic battle determines what happens next Friday.
Destroying enemy aircraft helps win the current frame.
Destroying enemy infrastructure helps win the current frame and weakens the enemy for the battles that follow.
Protecting your own infrastructure preserves your side's equipment.
By Frame 3, the battlefield you enter will partially be the result of what you accomplished—or failed to protect—during the previous two frames.
This is a bit of an experiment for FSO, and that's intentional.
The objective is to create larger engagements, give defending forces a meaningful mission, make aircraft preservation matter, and most importantly make all three Fridays feel like parts of one continuous campaign rather than three isolated battles.
Good luck to both sides. See you over Belorussia.
