I am pleased to announce a setup thats a little different from the CT norm. This setup was designed by eskimo. The basic idea is that the there is a single figher for each side at each airfield. The initial battle line has early war aircraft. As you move deeper either way into enemy terrirory both sides get more advanced planes. Dogfight dynamics and game play strategy should look very different than anything yet so far.
1. At every airbase only one fighter type is available.
2. Throughout the arena, every German, British and US Army aircraft is available, but most are available at one base only. If you like flying a variety of aircraft, then this is your arena!
3. No particular air battle is represented in this arena set-up, but instead the entire Western Front air war will be fought as the war progresses, from the Battle of Britain, to the Fall (or Triumph) of the Third Reich.
4. When the war begins (in the Northern-middle part of the Lake map), the only fighters available on the front lines will be 1940 BOB participants. As bases are captured in either direction, later war aircraft will be found on the front line of defense and offense. When one side gets pushed into a corner, only 1944 and 1945 planes will be available on the front line.
5. All planes are perk free. Even at the beginning of the war, 1944/45 planes will be available - but only at rear bases 100 miles away from the action. The cost of late war planes is the same for everyone - the time that it takes to fly to the front!
6. No battle for a base will be the same! Since a different aircraft will become available when a base gets captured, the dynamics of the fight will change dramatically.
* For example, if the Allies wish to attack A-39 from A-41, they will only be able to do so with Spit-IXs, and they will be going up against FW-190F-8s. If they are successful in capturing A-39, they will find the P-51B as the only fighter available. Pushing the fight to A-45, however, will pit them against ME-262s! So, with the capture of only one base, the fight can change from {Spit Vs 190} to {P-51 Vs 262}.
7. As the war progresses in either direction, more advanced ground vehicles and bombers also become available.
8. Dogfights will most likely look very much like real WWII dogfights as far as plane types involved in a single fight is concerned. When you meet a group of enemy planes in this arena, it will be very likely that they will all be of the same type, instead of a hodge-podge mix of 3 to 5 different types. There should be some great and realistic looking films being shot this week!
9. Each side will have the upper hand in plane performance in many battles, and be at a disadvantage in many others. Part of the strategy to winning this war will be to know the capabilities of all aircraft and figuring out a unique strategy for every base capture-campaign.
For example; if the Allies conclude that Plane-A is no match for its Axis counterpart at the base next door, they may decide to avoid a direct fight and attack, and instead capture the adjacent Axis base, which would give them Plane-B, knowing that it would be a much better match against the feared Axis plane/base.
Likewise, the Axis may realize that capturing A-27 and A-28 will deny the Allies of the heavy hitting Lancaster bomber for the rest of the war. Strategy in this set-up can be huge.
10. Due to the superiority of Allied bombers and the greater bomb-load capacity of Allied fighter/bombers, the Allies will get bombers at 9 of their 17 bases, opposed to the Axis getting bombers at 14 bases. (Of the originally owned bases. As bases are captured the same proportion of bombers will become available at the new bases.)
Here's why the SFMA map was chosen:
1. Narrow front, with a maximum of 4 bases in width at any point as the war progresses. The initial natural front of the war in the North of the SFMA map is only 3 bases wide, which forces the fight to BOB planes at the beginning. The natural progression of the war will go through 6 layers in either direction, representing 6 time periods of the war. It's important for all of the players in the CT to feel like the entire front to represent a particular time/era of WWII. As bases get captured (in either direction) they should feel as if the war is advancing in both territory and time.
* I think a narrow front is ideal for the CT at this point. With smaller numbers it's good to keep everyone close. It also makes it very easy to find the fight.
2. Symmetrical map with evenly spaced bases. There are already too many strategy variables with this kind of set-up.
3. Minimal carriers.
4. A tried and true, bug free, high frame rate map. Many players log off from the CT for the rest of the week because of map bugs or poor frame rate.
5. Fictional map that represents an advancement of time as the front moves.
6. The only time that "the look" of a map really matters, is when you are looking at the actual map. When you are flying and fighting, all that you can really see from your plane looks the same from one map to another.
Here are the arena variables:
Close Encounters - Arena Settings
SFMA Terrain - Axis vs Allies
Ack Lethality - 0.7 except at Bishop Neutral Country
Obj. Downtime - 1.5
Wind - 0
Perk - All Planes set at 0 perk cost
ENY +OBJ Value - Leave the same
Fuel Burn Rate - 1.2
Country Change Time - 30 Minutes
Ship Downtime - 30 Minutes
Country Rotate - Fixed
Radar Dot - 500'
Radar Bar - 300'
Radar Update - 2.5 Minutes
Aircraft enable list:
Knight -Allies (Northwest)
* (C-47 - available at all airfields listed below for Knights & Rooks)
A-19 Knight= P-47D-30 Rook= JU-88, 190A-8
A-20 Knight= Spit XIV Rook= JU-88, 109G-10
A-21 Knight= P-51B Rook= JU-88, 190F-8
A-22 Knight= Spit IX Rook= JU-88, 109G-2
A-23 Knight= Spit V Rook= JU-88, 109F
A-24 Knight= Hurri I Rook= 110C
A-25 Knight= B-26, Temp Rook= JU-88, TA-152
A-26 Knight= B-17, P-38L Rook= AR-234, ME-262
A-27 Knight= Lanc, Typhoon Rook= AR-234, 110G-2
A-28 Knight= Lanc, P-47D-25 Rook= JU-88, 190A-5
A-29 Knight= B-26, Hurri IID Rook= JU-88, 110C
A-30 Knight= Spit I Rook=109E
A-31 Knight= P-51D Rook= JU-88, ME-262
A-32 Knight= B-17, P-51D Rook= AR-234, 190D-9
A-34 Knight= B-26, Mossie VI Rook= JU-88, 109G-6
A-35 Knight= Hurri II-C Rook= 109E
A-36 Knight= B-26, P-47D-11 Rook= JU-88, 190A-5
CV-56 Knight= Seafire Rook= 109G-2
............................. ............................. ............................. ...............
Rook - Axis (Northeast)
* (C-47 - available at all airfields listed below for Knights & Rooks)
A-37 Rook= JU-88, 190A-8 Knight= P-47D-30
A-38 Rook= JU-88, 109G-10 Knight= Spit XIV
A-39 Rook= JU-88, 190F-8 Knight= P-51B
A-41 Rook= JU-88, 109G-2 Knight= Spit IX
A-42 Rook= 109F Knight= Spit V
A-43 Rook= JU-88, 110C Knight= Hurri I
A-44 Rook= JU-88, TA-152 Knight= B-26, Temp
A-45 Rook= AR-234, ME-262 Knight= B-17, P-38L
A-46 Rook= AR-234, 110G-2 Knight= Lanc, Typhoon
A-47 Rook= JU-88, 190A-5 Knight= Lanc, P-47D-25
A-48 Rook= JU-88, 110C Knight= B-26, Hurri IID
A-49 Rook= 109E Knight= Spit I
A-50 Rook= JU-88, ME-262 Knight= P-51D
A-51 Rook= AR-234, 190D-9 Knight= B-17, P-51D
A-52 Rook= JU-88, 109G-6 Knight= B-26, Mossie VI
A-53 Rook= 109E Knight= Hurri II-C
A-54 Rook= JU-88, 190A-5 Knight= B-26, P-47D-11
CV-57 Rook= 109G-2 Knight= Seafire
202s and field Guns enabled for bish at bish fields to prevent milkrunners
Jarbo
CT Staff
