Overwhelmed by GilB57's GREAT map WestFront Winter 1944-45 I put together a Mission Pack for it:
This is NOT a campign, but a Mission Pack, portraying the events on the Western Front on a single day, January 1 1945, when the Luftwaffe started Operation ”Bodenplatte” (Groundplate), trying to cripple Allied air forces on the ground in the Low Countries during the Second World War. The ultimate goal of Bodenplatte was to gain air superiority, to allow the German ground forces to resume their advance in the Ardennes.
UPDATED! Fixed a detail in RAF squadron set up that made these missions unplayable for some people. Altered the Germans skins – only blanks now, with markings on for all. Altered some of the variants flown. Lowered the wind velocity somewhat.
Added three more missions, portraying the attack on Brussels-Evere. Updated the skin pack.
You can download it here: http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=Downloads3&file=details&id=859The mission pack contains
EIGHTEEN different single missions, portraying the attacks on four allied airfields:
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Asch (Allied code name: Y29), close to the front line north of Maastricht. The airfield had been built in November 1944 and was home to the 352nd Fighter Group, Eighth Air Force, and the 366th Fighter Group, Ninth Air Force. It was attacked by Jagdgeschwader 11.
*
St. Trond (A-92), northwest of Liege, and home for the USAAF 48th and 404th Fighter Group. It was attacked by Jagdgeschwader 2.
*
Gilze-Rijen (B-77), between Breda and Tilburg. It was used by RAF units, and was attacked by elements from Jagdgeschwader 3 and Kampfgeschwader 51.
*
Brussels-Evere (B-56), just outside Brussels. It was one of the most densely populated airfields in Belgium: the main force consisted of 60 Spitfire XVIs of No. 127 Wing RAF. Also present were B-17s and B-24s of the Eighth Air Force. The airfield was attacked by II. and III./JG 26.
You will be able to fly the following aircraft:
* Bf-109 K4
* Fw-190 A8
* Fw-190 D9
* Me-262 A1
* He-162 A2 (A hypothetical mission)
* Spitfire Mk IX
* Typhoon Mk IB Late
* Tempest Mk V
* P-47 D22 (Razorback)
* P-47 D27 (Bubbletop)
* P-51 D
REQUIREMENTS: This mission pack was built with HSFX 5.0 for 4.10. You should be able to run it on earlier versions of HSFX or Ultrapack, i.e. 4.09. Also it requires that you have Gilb57's map. You can find it here:
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,14661.0.html Operation Bodenplatte was originally planned for 16 December 1944, but it was delayed repeatedly owing to bad weather until New Years Day, the first day that happened to be suitable. (The idea that the Luftwaffe hoped to exploit the fact that Allied pilots would be hung-over is a myth.)
Secrecy for the operation was so tight that not all German ground and sea forces had been informed of the operation, and some Luftwaffe units suffered casualties from friendly fire. Most commanders were also refused permission to brief their pilots until moments before take-off. This created a lot of confusion. Commanders only managed to get across the bare essentials of the plan. When the operation got underway, many German pilots still did not understand what the operation was about, or what exactly was required of them. Many attacked the wrong targets, if any at all. Also the quality of the German pilots were bad at this stage at the war, and many of them had big problems performing the tricky and dangerous low-level attacks that were called for.
The operation achieved some surprise and tactical success but was ultimately a failure. A large number of Allied aircraft were taken out (one calculation says 290 destroyed and 180 damaged), but the losses of the Allied Air Forces were replaced within a week. The Allies lost few airmen, since most of their aircraft were destroyed on the ground without pilots. Conversely, the Germans lost fighter pilots they could not replace, including three Geschwaderkommodore, five Gruppenkommandeure, and 14 Staffelkapitäne — the largest single-day loss for the Luftwaffe. Luftwaffe Intel noticed no lowering of the Allied air activities later that very same day, only that the enemy morning patrols were delayed…
Bodenplatte was menat to cripple Allied airpower, but in the long run it was the Luftwaffe that really got hurt.
Thanks for looking! And of course a special thanks to Gilb57!