HOW IT WORKS
Each map sector, be it land or sea, may be in any of these 4 different levels of "state" (or "conquer"), at any given moment:
Recon (no special sector-sign on the online map)
Bombing (on the online map the sector will have a short red line on it)
Attack (on the online map the sector will have a medium length red line on it)
Supply, or Conquest (on the online map the sector will have a long red line on it)
At the start of the campaign, every sector (both Red and Blue) will be in Recon state.
Victory will be gained with the fullfillment of the objective described in the briefing, through the acquisition of MERIT-POINTS.
By making the REQUEST on the website, we will choose an enemy sector, within 20km from the front-line, where action will take place. If we acquire more MERIT-POINTS than the enemy, we'll win the battle and the sector will switch into the next state, Bombing.
The same "concept" applies to the remaining two states, Attack and Supply. If we always win, we'll conquer the sector and it will change colour accordingly.
It's also possible to choose a friendly sector, which is in a more advanced state than Recon, in order to restore it to a previous state, in case of victory.
For example, let's say we have a friendly sector in a Supply state. By choosing that sector and winning the mission, that sector will be now in Attack state.
Phase 4 is the most important, because the difference between Red and Blue MERIT-POINTS determines how many sectors will be conquered.
If the difference is minimal, only the "action sector" will change colour, but the higher is this difference, the more will be the conquered sectors around the action one.
If the Attack MERIT-POINTS are less than those of the Defence, the sector will not have any change.
This applies both to Reds and Blues, so in a typical mission there will be Reds attacking sector "X" (with Blues defending it), and Blues attacking sector "Y"(with Reds defending it).
The chosen sector for any mission won't be available for further missions until submitting the report to the website. After 3 hours it won't be possible to submit such a report, and the sector will become available again.
MISSION AND BRIEFING
The missions are extremely balanced both in flight time and targets (within the limits of the different kind of airplanes available!) and hence there is a time limit calculated in relation to flight distances, which all must respect and which is written in the briefing, after which you'll lose points!
Every mission is composed of 8, 12 or 16 flyable airplanes for each side (Reds/Blues).
In the 16 vs 16 mission for example, consider Each side is divided into 2 8-element groups: Action (or Attack) and Counter-Action (or Defence).
In the Action (or Attack) group there are 4 heavy planes whose task is the fullfillment of the mission objectives (their outcome will directly determine the MERIT-POINTS), and 4 light planes for providing escort and cover to the 4 heavy ones.
The same sub-division (4 heavy and 4 light airplanes) will apply to the Counter-Action and the Defence groups.
Let's look at the different types of available missions for each sector and each side:
Recon: the 4 heavy airplanes in the Action or Attack group (or at least one of them) must turn their wingtip smoke on over the recon target, which will obviously be over enemy territory.
Bombing: the 4 heavy airplanes in the Action or Attack group must hit the enemy ground targets (static objects) which can be over enemy or friendly territory, according to the chosen sector.
Attack: the 4 heavy airplanes in the Action or Attack group must hit the enemy ground targets (moving objects) which can be over enemy or friendly territory, according to the chosen sector.
Supply or Conquest: the 4 heavy airplanes in the Action or Attack group must turn their wingtip smoke on over the target, which can be over enemy or friendly territory, according to the chosen sector.
The 4 different kind of missions are influenced by the territory of the chosen sector over which the action takes places, as SEA / COASTLINE / LAND / FOREST / TOWN, so there will be different land or sea scenarios.
It will be possible to find oneself onboard a Carrier or on a more comfortable land airbase, performing various actions during a naval or tank battle, or among entrenched artillery pounding a nearby town.
We believe that with this system you will never play 2 missions resembling each other, unless the same!
A thorough reading and understanding of the briefing is strictly required!
Before choosing our airplane, we find the "MISSION DATA" with the type of mission (1,2,3, or 4) that will dictate our behaviour, time and weather forecast and lastly the BANNED WEAPONS list.
After choosing airplane we'll see our Mission Briefing (Red or Blue) which is made up of 2 main parts, called "DEFEND FLIGHT DATA" and "ATTACK FLIGHT DATA".
Each part contains a first section about take-off and landing, and a second section called "AIRPLANE" with the type of airplane "Beat" and "Escort" while the third section "TARGET DATA" provides us with information about the flight and the targets.
What is the mission target?
As already said, the briefing informs us about the presence of our forces in the sector, but nothing more than that.
Our target is therefore something present in the sector and visible on the map, as an airfield, a bridge, a town.
In the event that the map dosen't include suitable structures in the action sector, the mission generator will provide the requested contents, choosing among the most appropriate for that zone (Aifield, Fort, Mechanized Camp, etc...).
In every case, our Waypoint #4 will always be positioned over the target zone, in order to give us precise position idications and above the target will be a red or green flares. If you play with the red, target will have a green flares and vice versa. .
In each of the 4 available types of mission we will then have a known location of our targets, but the target's type still remains quite uncertain, due to the aforementioned details.
In the ATTACK kind of mission, the only one containing moving ground targets, finding the target will be a complex task, but by calculating our Time Of Flight in relation to our troops known location/speed/direction, we will be able to determine enemy's position by the time we arrive on the target zone.
As said, it won't be an easy task but it will sure be much more rewarding!
SCORE AND MERIT-POINTS
The SCORE is bound to the number of human pilots taking part in the mission.
The total number of Red and Blue human pilots will form the total score that will be given only to those pilots who will fullfill the mission objectives and will land back safely to their home bases.
Landing or bailing out over enemy territory will assign a fraction of the total score.
The pilot who will rescue a friend (landed or bailed over enemy territory) will get double points, and this will also make the rescued pilot obtain his full score.
The MERIT-POINTS are the base defining which side wins.
They are in fact more important than the pilot's score, and they are directly responsible in deciding who wins.
For this reason, if the Red side MERIT-POINTS are lower than the Blue's, Red pilots won't gain any score!
It is therefore very important to total high MERIT-POINTS!
MERIT is a value obtained summing up all the actions performed by one side's pilots.
Obviously, getting the goal described in the mission briefing gives the most MERIT-POINTS, while performing actions (even successful ones) not required in briefing gives very low MERIT-POINTS.
To rescue a captured pilot you only have to land close to him, wait him reach the plane, takeoff and return to base.
Some explaining data-tables will be published at a later point. |
