| S3#99 – Operation Crossbow; Northern France - Spring-Summer 1944 Game Settings
Basic Rules Initial Format - changes after in bold italics. 1. Arena Entry - When you go online you will see two logins to the S3 arena. The regular one is for the classic interface and the other is for the CA wingman jumping interface. Each pilot should choose the proper login for their a\c type and skill level. Both have advantages and disadvantages for bomber\strike pilots.
2. Operational Restrictions - each side may only conduct operations in the area outlined in the game map. German aircraft cannot go over England except to attack shipping in the Dover area. 3. Ord\Aircraft Restrictions - there are no ord or drop tank restrictions. All aircraft may fly any loadouts available and from any airfields. This includes the new Spitfire XIV which has been modified to represent the type available in early 1944. 4. Aircraft Minimum Fuel - all aircraft must take at least 100% internal fuel with or without drop tanks. 5. Squad Aircraft - each pilot must fly the aircraft listed for their squad on the A/C table. Only 1 a\c type per frame, no switching a/c types during play. The only exception is the use of the 109G6 and 109G6\R6. Pilots may interchange these two types of similar a\c during a frame. With hardly any bomber\strike pilots remaining in the S3s all squads should decide how best to use the a/c listed for their side and missions. Penalty planes can be flown in a frame replacing a required ride. 6. Squad Basing - one squad or composite group per airfield to begin play. Afterwards squads may rebase to any open field. An open airfield is one which does not have a squad currently using it. This means a squad can rebase later in the frame to a field whose squad is done for the night. 7. Luftwaffe Scramble - at T+0 the LW may launch no more than 2 steps of fighters to patrol or attack the Dover area. LW Command will order airfields to scramble depending on the number of contacts reported on radar or by visual sighting from patrols. As more e/a are detected more scramble orders will be announced. The CM will indicate to the Frame CO when 1 airfield may scramble and he\she can then choose which one. Once all airfields have been scrambled then play may continue as normal for the rest of the night. 8. Aircraft drones - every player that uses an eligible bomber\strike a\c in a frame may take up to 3 wingman with their lead aircraft. To do so they must use the bomber\GV login so they can jump between their drones making them more effective and immerse. All bombers both player flown and AI will have the same damage strength and count the same as regards to points. It is best to keep your AI with you and not have them attack targets as they are prone to get lost and then are easy targets for enemy aircraft. Proper formations need to be flown while using these AI drones. For take-off it is recommended to put your AI in trail as close as possible so they dont wander. After you are airborne the minimum distance between AI is 100 ft. Players need to be aware of their AI when running formations and try and not stack them against each other. Using slightly different altitudes helps in this overlapping. Any formation deemed to be too clustered will be asked to shake out their separation a bit. With lag and such it is difficult but please try and make your formation look as realistic as possible. All bombers and strike aircraft may take drones. Bomber pilots that wish to use the old system simply have to login using the fighter login and select the number of wingmen they want, 0 to 3. Using this system when you die you are finished for the night and cannot jump to your AI wingmen. AI drones do not appear in the log so kills by them or structures destroyed by them cannot be counted by the S6. 9. V1 Launch Sites and Storage Depots - each of the 15 indicated V1 launch sites will send V1 drones toward London during a frame. Their frequency is determined on the available storage depots. Close the depots and you lessen the frequency of launches. Reduce the ski sites and you stop the number flying against London. 10. V1s - V1s will fly at approximately 340-360mph at 2-5000ft along the indicated red routes toward London. Shooting them down scores points for the Allies, not shooting them down scores points for the Germans. The final launch will be by T+120. 11. Shipping Targets - moving AI ship routines are important targets for both sides with their possible routes indicated on the game map. You will need to recce these routes if you expect to find shipping. A few ships, possibly a convoy or nothing at all may reside along these routes. A range of DDs, FRs and boats will be in these routines. FRs are notorious for lag collisions so use stand off weapons on these. Boats are the difficult to hit with ord so usually need to be strafed down. DDs and FRs cannot be strafed down. Allied shipping at or near Dover is the only surface target available for the Luftwaffe. They and the Allies score points for sinking static or moving ships. 12. Field Closure - all fields closed will remain down for the rest of the series. Fields that have more than 90% of their structures destroyed will be ruled closed as well. 13. Flak - both sides have numerous flak positions making crossing each coastlinel a hazardous operation especially at low altitude. There is a flak and barrage balloon belt protecting London from V1 attack and heavy coastal gun positions in the Pas-de-Calais region. 14. Improved FMs - as FMs continue to be developed its important to test drive your aircraft before an S3 event. Speed limit tolerance has been overhauled so it is now wise to test your power dives in each aircraft type. There is a fine line between overspeed warning and structural failure. For most aircraft this means do not use power in steep dives. 15. Bomber Hardness - bufftuff will be high at 2.0 with corresponding weak otto in this event with mainly heavy bombers. Bombers continue to be relatively easy to down especially the AI variety. Not sure if the increase hardness will transfer to the CA switching wingman login but it should help the bombers choosing to fly the classic login with one life in one a/c. 16. Engine Overheat - a random chance of engine malfunction will occur if you run your engine beyond the specified 145 degrees. Use the various WEPs wisely. 17. Safe Ditch - if you run off the field and ditch within 10 miles(52800ft) of the tower the ditch is NOT awarded a kill. It is assumed that aircraft and pilot can be salvaged. 18. Ditch Forced Exit - you have 5 seconds to exit a ditched aircraft. This stops trying to outlast a kill message, drawing ack fire or passing along intel at a nearby field. 19. Penalty Planes - players that commit errors in basic rules and do not attempt to correct the error during play will have a penalty plane assigned to them to conduct a hair-raising mission behind enemy lines. If they survive they can teleport and replane in their regular ride. Examples of penalty plane errors include flying different a/c during a frame, teleporting fields when not allowed by special rules, gunning from ships or flak positions. If a player immediately addresses the error they will not be assigned a penalty plane but always inform the CM so the log entry will be ignored. It is up to each squad to make sure the penalty planes are flown.
20. Victory Points - points are awarded for e/a losses, enemy pilot KIAs and POWs as well as destruction of surface targets. Relative points for objects is available in the summary for this event. V1s shotdown score points for the Allies but those that make it through score points for the Germans. 21. Victory Conditions - The side with the most VPs at the end of the series wins. BDA, ships sunk, closing fields, planes shot down and pilot losses all score points. S3 Clarifications - the S3 staff reserves the right to make a ruling on questions or game situations not answered completely or missed by the rules. For further clarification please post on the S3 forum or email Jabo. [ Aircraft - Series Map - Player Rules ] |