The work to update my old campaigns to BAT goes on
And although most of my time is devoted to converting YOT to BAT, and could not resist making my first conversion to the TGA module as well. First, but not last:
The campaign is for all those interested in the air fighting during the Spanish Civil War. Your mount is the nimble Dewoitine 372. Prepare for a lot of biplane dogfighting! It uses a number of the randomizing features of the C&C Mod, so weather, time of day, skill of the opponents and even the number of enemy aircraft can vary, even if you replay a single mission! Total overhaul for BAT, including Taxi-to-Takeoff and a wealth of new ground detail. The number of aircraft involved has been doubled in most missions, as the performance of BAT 3.6 allows this - and then some! In one of the msiions you will fly the Aero A.101 "Papagallo".
You can download it here: http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=Downloads3&file=details&id=1212Here you have some shiny screenies:
About the Dewoitine 372: The Dewoitine 372 was a French high-wing monoplane fighter designed by Dewoitine but produced by Lioré et Olivier. The aircraft was of all-metal construction with valve head blisters on their engine cowlings.
The first prototype flew in October 1931. Flight testing resulted in the need for multiple revisions in both engine and airframe, so it was February 1934 before the second prototype was up in the air. Its performance prompted the French government to order for 28 for the Armée de l'Air and Aéronavale. The Lithuanian government ordered 14 that remained in service with their tiny Air Force until 1936, when they were sold to the Spanish Republican government.
The Dewoitine 372 was pretty fast for its day (380 km/h) and very maneuverable, due to its parasol-wing design. It was also a good climber. The aircraft was armed with 2 x fixed forward-firing 7.7 mm Browning machine guns in the fuselage and 2 x 7.5 mm Darne machine guns in the wings outside the propeller arc. In fact the Dewoitine 372 was slightly superior to the best enemy fighter, the Fiat CR.32, but often squandered away using bad tactics.
About the Battle for Belchite 1937: The battle for Belchite took place during the Republican offensive in Aragon which was launched on the 24th August 1937. The campaign itself was aimed at relieving the pressure on Republican and Basque troops who were being hard-pressed on the northern front at this time. The hope was that the Nationalists would be forced to withdraw troops from the north to reinforce their forces in Aragón, but this hope was mostly unfulfilled.
Belchite itself was not the main objective of the offensive (the ultimate goal was Zaragoza), but after some early initial successes for the Republicans, Belchite was were the Nationalist resistance stiffened. Belchite was a fortified town with a population at the time of just under 4,000. The town was destroyed in the fierce fighting, when outnumbered Nationalist troops attempted to hold out, despite lacking access to food and water. Belchite was bypassed by Republican forces leaving it ten miles behind the lines and surrounded by the International Brigades.
Finally the Internationals took the town by storm and the surviving defenders surrendered on September 6th 1937. But the delay that the stubborn resistance caused meant that the Nationalists were given time to bring up reinforcements, stopping the Republican advance. The offensive is in general looked upon as another Republican failure, albeit not a defeat.
Thanks for looking!
Ah, yes, the title is a quote from Federico Garcia Lorca's poem "Lament For Ignacio Sánchez Mejías":
His eyes did not close
when he saw the horns near,
but the terrible mothers
lifted their heads.
And across the ranches,
an air of secret voices rose,
shouting to celestial bulls,
herdsmen of pale mist.
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Topic: "Herdsmen of Pale Mist" - Battle for Belchite 1937 (Read 1839 times)
