IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad News

Dear Friends,

Good news today - one of the most experienced campaign designers James =Jaegermeister= Yarbrough has finished his new creation, a brand new campaign called Overlord, just in time for us to try and include it in the update coming out next week.

This means that if the testing goes well, the 5.107 update will have something nice for everyone: the La-5F Soviet fighter for Eastern Front scenarios and multiplayer, two additional Flying Circus Vol.III Early Access aircraft, Hanriot HD.1 and Niueport 17 GBR, for the Great War gentlemen, and if you prefer the late WWII Western Front, this excellent historical campaign will be right up your alley.



Here's what the author has to say about his latest effort.

The 354th Fighter Group, commonly referred to as the "Pioneer Mustang Group," was the first USAAF unit to be equipped with the new P-51B/C Mustang during WWII and to see combat in Europe. They flew long-range escort missions over the English Channel with the 8th Air Force's heavy bombers in the months leading up to D-Day. As final preparations were made for the invasion of Normandy, the 354th Fighter Group was reassigned to the IX Tactical Air Command and committed to direct support of the ground troops going ashore. The 354th flew escort for C-47s dropping paratroopers and towing gliders on D-Day.

Your role in this campaign begins as a replacement pilot arriving with the 354th Fighter Group on D-Day and assigned to the 356th “Red Ass” Squadron under the command of Major Richard Turner. In mid-June 1944 the Pioneer Mustangs flew strike missions across the English Channel from ALG Lashenden during the first V-1 rocket attacks on London and were directly in the path of the “Doodlebugs” as they headed towards their intended targets. They moved to ALG-2 at Criqueville in late June where they flew ground attack, search and rescue, fighter-bomber escort, and fighter sweep missions during all the major battles of Operation Overlord. After the Allied breakout at Saint-Lô, the 354th FG was reassigned to the new XIX Tactical Air Command and moved east with Patton’s 3rd US Army through Paris and eventually into Germany. Due to the hectic flight schedule and squadron reorganization, you will move up from wingman to element leader and finish the campaign as a flight leader.


This is a historically based campaign depicting real events, however, the number of planes and specific
squadrons involved in the missions have been altered slightly, and some event locations have been moved for improved gameplay.

We hope you'll enjoy the campaign, new aircraft, career mode additions, and all the other improvements in the upcoming update. It's just around the corner!

Dear friends,

The upcoming update 5.107 will introduce three new airplanes to the game - the La-5F Collector Plane we already discussed and two new planes for the Flying Circus Vol.III Early Access program: the Hanriot HD.1 and the Nieuport 17 GBR.

The Hanriot HD.1 was developed by Pierre Dupont in the summer of 1916 for the Hanriot company as a classical biplane made mostly of wood with two-spar wings (the rudder frame and the nose part were metal). The upper wing had a small V-angle while the lower one was straight. There were 3 fuel tanks in the fuselage: two behind the engine and one more behind the pilot's back.


At first, the HD.1 was meant to take over from the older Nieuport 11 and 17 planes, but the new Spad 7s were already in use on the front lines and got positive feedback from pilots for their in-line engines. Meanwhile, Nieuport squadrons still used Le Rhone engines. As a result, the French Air Force (Aviation Militaire) decided not to switch to HDs as it wasn't cost-effective, and the acquisition was canceled.


However, the Entente allies found this plane attractive - it was more firm, maneuverable, and slightly better than the Nieuport in general. The Italian Air Force (Aviazione Militaire) was the first to order this plane. Societa Nieuport-Macchi started manufacturing HDs in November 1916, and in the summer of 1917, the first Hanriots were delivered to the front lines. By the end of the war, the Italians had 831 Hanriots. The Belgian Air Force, Aeronautique Militaire Belge, ranked second in buying these new planes, and the French Hanriot manufacturer constructed 125 aircraft. Belgian squadrons began flying HD1s on August 22, 1917, and they used them effectively, especially the Belgian aces like Coppens, de Meulemeester, and Olieslagers.


When the Nieuport 17 arrived on the battlefield in March 1916, it swiftly replaced the Nieuport 11. By the end of 1916, every squadron in the French Aviation Militaire had Nieuport 17s. Its superiority over any British plane led to its adoption by the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service. The Nieuport 17 GBR was customized for British service with an overwing Lewis MG replacing the Vickers in the nose and Imperial system instruments instead of metric.


Many top Allied pilots flew Nieuport fighters, like Albert Ball and Canadian ace W.A. Bishop. Captain William Avery Bishop, of 60 Squadron RFC, scored 28 of his 72 kills in a Nieuport 17, B1566 between April 20th and July 20th, 1917. He also conducted an air raid on a German airfield on June 2nd in this aircraft, earning him the Victoria Cross.

The beta-testing of the new aircraft and many Career mode changes is ongoing. New mission types 'Advancing troops support' and 'Defending troops support' are in development. All night missions in all theaters of war will receive updates with new features that were introduced in the previous update. These features include searchlight beacons, AAA friend or foe identification, and night fighters. The newly added squadron, 32nd GIAP, will offer the La-5F and La-5FN planes from July 5th to October 7th, 1943.

The new update is planned to be ready for release the week after the next one. "Two weeks, be sure";)

Dear friends,

While the previous update, 5.106, was released just a few weeks ago, we are of course busy preparing for 5.107. It will bring further improvements to the career mode - new mission types will be available in more theaters of war, the amount of Luftwaffe presence in the Normandy and Rhineland missions will be reduced to better reflect the realities of the late war, and there will be other improvements. New aircraft will also be added to the sim - this time the Hanriot HD.1 and Nieuport 17 GBR (British) will be added to Flying Circus Vol.III Early Access, while the La-5F Series 38 will be released as a Collector Plane.

Their beta testing starts today, so the release should happen this month if there are no serious problems. We'll tell you about the new Circus planes in the next DD, and today we'd like to introduce a WWII plane for a change - the La-5F ser.38.

What makes it different from one of the first collector planes we ever released - the La-5 ser.8 and then the La-5FN?

The biggest visual change is the better-looking model, especially the cockpit - the first La-5 was released in our sim simultaneously with the Battle of Stalingrad module 10 years ago!


In terms of tactical characteristics, the La-5F was an evolutionary improvement of the La-5 on the way to the La-5FN. There weren't enough FN engines to power all the fighters produced until 1944, so the mass production of the La-5F was inevitable through 1943 with continued improvements here and there.

Gradually, the initial shock of the industry's evacuation to the East was overcome - while in 1942 many of the factories still had shortcomings, workers had to work in hastily built hangars that for a time didn't even have a roof, supply chains had to be rebuilt from scratch, and most resources were in short supply, the quality of production naturally took a back seat to quantity. As working conditions and resources improved, production standards gradually rose, resulting in, among other things, better aircraft: La-5s produced in summer-autumn 1943 became about 150 kg lighter.

The small design changes added up. For example, the elevator became slightly larger at the expense of the vertical stabilizer surface. 3 fuel tanks were installed instead of 5 as on the FN - carrying less fuel (465 instead of 539 liters) was considered a good trade-off for saving the weight of the tanks and the fuel, as many pilots preferred to take less fuel anyway. While there weren't enough FN engines to go around, the M-82F engine became the norm. All this meant that the 1943 La-5F was a more dynamic aircraft than an early La-5.

The biggest improvement from the pilot's point of view was the new bubble top canopy with emergency jettison (even our La-5FN series didn't yet have emergency jettison). This eliminated one of their biggest fears, not being able to bail out of a burning aircraft, which caused many to fly with open cockpits, which severely limited the speed of their aircraft. Now they could put that fear to rest and enjoy the improved field of vision - the main reason why bubble top variants became the norm in all air forces later in the war, despite the increased drag they had compared to older canopy designs.


To sum up, the La-5F in the sim (work on the FM is not finished at the time of this writing) should be a bit more agile than the older La-5, turn a bit better than even the FN, offer a better field of view, and be slower than the FN in level flight and climb because of the more powerful engine of the latter. With a cockpit designed for today's standards, it will be a nice addition for the second half of the 1943 timeframe.

Dear friends,

Update 5.106 has been released! It brings three new aircraft, many improvements to the career mode and several historical campaigns, and other changes. In addition, two of the campaigns that were previously only available on our website are now available on Steam.

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The three new planes are the armed sibling of the C-47, the Lisunov Li-2 Collector Plane, and two new additions to Flying Circus Vol.III Early Access - the German Albatros D.II and the French Nieuport 17 fighter.

The Lisunov Li-2 was a Soviet version of the DC-3 built under license. Although it looked similar, it was quite different from the original because it was adapted for Soviet production - all measurements were converted to metric, it had different instruments, cargo doors, landing gear, even the engines. This Soviet C-47 sibling was like a gunship wannabe - in addition to being able to carry bombs, it had turrets AND a forward-firing machine gun. Normally, going the "jack of all trades" route means sacrificing something in each trade, but the USSR needed versatile aircraft. While the Western Allies had plenty of long-range fighters to cover their bombers and unarmed transports during the war and enjoyed air superiority most of the time, the Soviet VVS usually did not have that luxury.


The D.II was the first in the pantheon of legendary Albatros fighters. It became the symbol and icon of the fighter plane in the Great War. The rapid mass production of Albatros fighters allowed Germany to maintain air superiority until April 1917. "Bloody April" has become synonymous with the heavy losses of British aircraft in 1917. Its pilots noted the good power of its twin machine guns, good forward and upward visibility, responsive handling, high speed, and impressive rate of climb. The fighter took part in battles all along the Western Front.


The Nieuport 17 was intended to be a further development of the Nieuport 11 fighter. Compared to its predecessor, it had a larger wingspan and surface area, a more powerful engine, a Vickers machine gun, and metal aileron control wires. The plane was initially built in several French factories, but licenses were soon purchased by other countries: Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Finland and Japan.

Pilots noted its good climb rate and visibility, as well as its excellent maneuverability. The plane's powerful engine and high dive speed exposed the main drawback of the "one and a half wing" design - a weak lower wing due to only one spar. There are two known occasions when pilots made successful landings after losing their lower wings.


As you can see from the change list below, there are many improvements to Career Mode that we hope you like. More are on the way!

If you prefer to make your purchases on Steam, there are a lot of new things that are being released there today at the same time as the update. Two campaigns that were previously only available on our website have been updated and released there: Ten Days of Autumn and Hell Hawks Over the Bulge. In addition, several new bundles have been released - Steam Bundles allow you to purchase multiple aircraft and campaigns, along with the corresponding modules, at a discounted price. While they are mostly aimed at new players to make it clearer which aircraft or campaign belongs to which module (for example, they all include the Battle of Stalingrad for newcomers), they can also be beneficial for seasoned players - the content you already own on Steam is excluded from the total price, so it may be cheaper to buy a bundle even if you own all but one of its contents.

Battle of Moscow Deluxe Battle of Stalingrad Deluxe Battle of Kuban Deluxe Battle of Normandy Deluxe Late War Bundle Soviet Aircraft Western Aircraft

We hope you enjoy the new update and that it will enrich your gaming experience! See you in the skies!

Update 5.106 Changelist

1. Soviet Li-2 Collector Plane capable of carrying cargo, paratroopers, bombs, defensive and forward-firing armament, has been released;
   
2. Albatros D.2 airplane is available in Early Access for all owners of "Flying Circus Vol. III";
   
3. Nieuport 17 airplane is available in Early Access for all owners of "Flying Circus Vol. III";
   
4. Ten Days of Autumn campaign is updated and is now available on Steam as well (tactical numbers and correct camo, the aircraft quantity in the air is increased by one third, the number of convoys and artillery batteries is doubled, numerous edits to briefings, illustrations redesigned, all missions finalized and retested);
   
5. Hell Hawks Over the Bulge campaign is updated and is now available on Steam as well (script triggers, aircraft tactical numbers, generic and unique paint schemes for three participating squadrons, faster mission loading);
   
6. Sky Nomads campaign is updated (slightly reduced the difficulty of the 10th mission and changed the briefing of the 15th mission);
   
7. Normandy and Rheinland Career mode: new mission type - Intruder;
   
8. Moscow, Stalingrad, Kuban Career mode: added Artillery Spotting missions for USSR (IL-2 and U-2) and Germany (Bf 109 E, Ju-87);
   
9. Rheinland Career: added photo reconnaissance missions on Spitfire XIVe;
   
10. Career: updated free hunt missions, added patrol area marks the map and updated mission score logic;
    
11. Career: enemy night fighters can be encountered near the front line during night combat patrol missions;
    
12. Career: fighter cover has been added, enemy free hunters removed from transport missions in all career timeframes;
    
13. Career: trains appear in combat reconnaissance missions correctly;
    
14. Stalingrad Career mode: Ju 52 transport mission have fighter escort;
    
15. Rheinland Career mode: in the transport escort missions during the Market Garden and Varsity operations the transport aircraft have mixed loadouts;
    
16. Western Front WWI Career: BoSta 13 during the first phase (1917) and SchuSta 27b after 29.09.1917 careers progress correctly;
    
17. Western Front WWI careers: potential career progression issues to Phase 2 corrected for French Escadrille SPA 26, British squadrons No.1, No.2 AFC, No.11, No.18, No.19, No.20, No.23, No.43, No.46, No.48, No.56, and No.79, and German Jasta Boelcke, Jasta 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, 35b, and 40s.
    Kuban Career mode: fixed German ground attack aircraft not having bombs in escort missions;
    
18. Career mode: corrected taxiing at Tangmere airfield in Normandy and Bolshaya Rossoshka near Stalingrad (previously the lead aircraft could crash into another planes on the runway);
    
19. Normandy Career mode for USA and UK: in all escort missions the escort flight comes from the UK side;
    
20. ShVAK gun internal firing sounds updated;
    
21. Fuel gauge switch control has been implemented on Ju-88, Bf 110, Me 410, Fw 190D9, A-20, C-47, Li-2, Hurricane and Typhoon aircraft. The switch no longer activates "automatically" from time to time, there is a new command for this (RShift + I by default);
    
22. Spitfire Mk.V, Spitfire Mk.IX, and P-38 aircraft have the fuel gauge button control implemented (P-38 has a remaining fuel reserve control button). The button is no longer pressed "automatically" from time to time, you have to press and hold the button to operate the fuel gauge (RShift + I by default);
    Ground spotters correctly give targeting info to AI pilots;
    
23. Fixed a problem with AI pilots climbing as a flight while carrying a heavy bomb load;
    
24. Corrected airframe strength of Nieuport 11 and Halberstadt D.II (slightly increased) and Siemens-Schuckert D.IV (slightly decreased);
    
25. Nieuport 11: RPM indicator now gives correct readings;
    
26. Nieuport 11: corrected engine thermal model, overcooling tendency is decreased;
    
27. Nieuport 11, Halberstadt D.II: corrected visual flight stick position and fuel gauge bulb in the cockpit;
    
28. Hs 129: corrected typos and errors in cockpit textures (Oyster_KAI);
    
29. Halberstadt D.II and Mosquito F.B. Mk.VI series.2 are visible at long distances (more than 10 km) correctly;
    
30. Ju 88A-4: lower gunner uniform matches the time of year and timeframe.
    

Dear friends,

Today we would like to tell you more about the upcoming update 5.106, which is currently in beta testing. It will bring not only new aircraft you already know about - two new WWI aircraft for Flying Circus Vol. III (the Albatros D.II and the Nieuport 17) and the armed C-47 sibling, the Li-2 Collector Plane - but also new career mode missions and historical campaign updates.

There will be many improvements to the Career Mode missions in this release. Of course, the arrival of the Li-2 means that the VVS will get cargo delivery and airborne operations missions on the Eastern Front, including the new mission of dropping supplies over enemy-held territory at night. Since the Li-2 was also used as an ad hoc bomber, the pilots of the Li-2 will receive bombing missions as well. This actually depends on the regiment you are serving in - GVF (Civilian Air Fleet) pilots will get more transport missions, while DD (Long Range) regiments will be tasked with bombing missions more frequently. Opponents flying 'Auntie Ju' Ju-52s will get slightly more fighter escorts for Stalingrad missions. IL-2, U-2VS, Bf 109 E-7 and Ju-87 (II./St.G 1) pilots may be assigned to artillery spotting missions: those serving in 811 ShAP may even get something unusual - spotting small ship guns.

Your comrades on the western front will not be forgotten: New Intruder missions will be added for the Mosquito, Tempest, Typhoon, and Me 410 (various variants including lone and night attacks). Pilots of the 401st FS will see more escort missions available to them during the defense of Bastogne and Operation Varsity, as well as RAAF pilots of No. 453 Squadron during the days of Market Garden. Spitfire XIVe photo reconnaissance missions are also varied. You may be tasked with reconnaissance of an enemy-controlled port, an airfield, part of the front line, or a specific target.

There are also fixes such as correct target acquisition by ground spotters. Wingmen can now climb better with a bomb load. Allied escort aircraft in Normandy career missions will appear from the direction of England.

Historical campaigns that many of you love will also get attention - Hell Hawks and Ten Days of Autumn campaigns will be updated with tactical numbers for all aircraft, mission script corrections, and in the case of "Ten Days" will even have 30-100% more aircraft and vehicles thanks to the fact that an average Simmer PC has become more powerful. P-47D-28s will get the 386th, 387th and 388th FS liveries. These are in addition to the existing liveries. Several other campaigns will be updated as well.

Hopefully, sooner rather than later, the update will arrive this month. In the meantime, we hope you'll enjoy the new calendar. It shows this American-Russian gunship in action (FullHD version, 4K version).