This is a large scale map of Crete, with surrounding areas to encompass Axis air bases, including Scarpanto. I tried to make this map of Crete as accurate as I could within my abilities. On balance, I don't like flying great distances over blue water - so although all land masses are 1:1 scale and geographically accurate you'll note that Crete has been moved north, Scarpanto a bit west. Things are still far enough away for my taste to get a sense of scale, and it does include the sea areas where the Luftwaffe engaged the Royal Navy. Airfields are in correct locations with runway orientations as near to accurate as I could find, although the Santorini airfield is fictional.
Included are 27 custom textures with tree and BumpH files where appropriate.
Also included are a complete set of QMB+ missions, some loosely based on events from the battle. See the readme included with the missions for details including installation instructions.
VERSION 1.3
v1.3 contains:
refined BumpH and tree files, a updated map_T which eliminates some texture anomalies, and best of all, indexed ed maps and texture files for faster load times and reduced HD space.
You can get v1.3 here:
https://www.mediafire.com/?d4iyzidqjw5Historical note:
As many if not all of you know, the Battle of Crete was a pretty lopsided affair in the air. On Crete, the Allies had around two dozen aircraft in May 1941, and maybe half were operational. They did try to send a few more into Iraklion after the Germans invaded, but it was too little too late. The only available carrier, the Formidable, had been badly damaged in the evacuation from Greece. It still did manage to launch a weak airstrike against the Scarpanto airfield, achieving total surprise. Otherwise, it was the Luftwaffe, all the time, pounding the RN. In the end the RN lost three cruisers and six destroyers. Many more ships, including two battleships and a cruiser, were badly damaged. Countless transports, freighters and other small craft were destroyed.
So why make the map? Well, If you're a ground pounder, there are plenty of historical missions available to you, on land and sea. This map cries out for a Stuka campaign. Likewise, just making the Formidable fully operational, not too far a historical stretch, opens up many more possibilities. I felt that such a historically significant air force operation warranted a large scale map, as never before or since has a navy with total superiority on the waves and sea room to maneuver been so completely and utterly defeated by air power alone. I don't believe the Germans had so much as a single destroyer operational during the battle, and, other than a few torpedo boats, the Italian Fleet refused to join the fight.
But mostly I made the map because my father's family is from Crete, and it is the only WWII battlefield I have seen and likely will ever spend any significant time upon. I've stood amidst the graves of the Fallschirmjäger on Hill 107 overlooking Maleme. I've heard the stories of my uncles who fought in the resistance, and it is a tribute to them and my fellow Cretans that I made the map. -S!
Credits:
To KevinP who got me started in this with his map building tutorial (and my wife thanks you, really, she'd like to thank you in person Wink ), Redwulf_32 for the map_c toolbox and coast alignment tool, Delco for Autopop, ZipZap for his random villager utility, and particularly ZUTI for his zActors tools with its GUI, folder navigation, and drag and drop functionality. It made the endless decompiling and recompiling of the actors.static tolerable.
Two textures are based on the work by Compans (an airfield recoloured) and vpmedia (the bigcountry texture reworked as a Cretan village). The rest are original and based on google earth images of the Cretan countryside.
Please see the readme for additional historical notes.
Have Fun! -viking
Headed toward Maleme
Heraklion
Onward to strafe Rethymno
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Topic: Map Board is Active - Welcome to Crete (Read 20834 times)
