S3 Series

http://www.squadselectseries.com

New map up for Frame 3.

IJAAF entered the fray in Frame 2 with their Ki43s putting a maximum effort over Port Moresby. The Oscar proved an unpleasant surprise for the defending fighters at Port Moresby which were overwhelmed by superior numbers and quality of aircraft. The IJNs attacking Vals and Kates were not so lucky suffering 39 losses to the defending fighters at Moresby and along the Kododa Trail. The higher flying G4M1s proved too fast and escaped interception. Their bombs were damaging though closing 92 and 93 at Port Morseby and 76 to the north. Allied B25s were out in force to retaliate closing 67 and heavily damaging 83 late in the frame escaping a hornets nest of angry IJAAF with the help of timely P40 reception escort. During the night daring P39s snuck into the Kokoda Trail and plastered 77/78 with hundreds of 37mm shells strafing and bombing their way up and down the steep valley. But in the end the mastery of the Ki43 proved decisive forcing the Allies inferior P40s and P39s to either die, run away or stay grounded in Australia.

For Frame 3 there are four closed fields; 67, 76, 92 and 93. Which will remain closed for Frame 3 and open in Frame 4.
IJN based upon their success at Port Moresby will try and invade Milne Bay with a large invasion fleet of DDs and FRs steaming past Goodenough Island to 103-106 area. This needs to be protected all the way until T+160 when it will unload. The IJ will need to CAP it with rotating cover as well as keep the three main Allied airfields suppressed in the area. There may even be a few foolhardy Allied DDs in the area attempting to delay the invasion fleet. The Allies need to attack the fleet with all possible aircraft. Moving ships are a very good source of points.

Will update the summary when the S6 posts.

Notes
- arena AAA was not very effective at Port Moresby, it could be either the total amount of AAA in the terrain or the traditionally low settings use for S3s. Ki43s should not be able to loiter low in the area without serious fireworks. Arena settings will be adjusted up slightly to make low approaches to locations more difficult. This is a global setting and will effect attacks by either side on terrain locations.
- AI otto on the Kate and Vals seemed to be weak enough to encourage attacks on them. Vals reported to be particularily hard to down but no complaints on their otto. G4M1 otto is still out for debate as their were not many organized attacks on them. B25s late in the frame were attack with 1 out of 8 player and AI bombers being shotdown, otto effectiveness was not observed by the CM in this case.

Good Luck in Frame 3

Jabo sir,
What are we going to do about F88? Reported unusable.
Can we swap? Close 88 and open 93 for use in Frame 3? Seems like a good solution, same size same points.....

Re: Late Frame B25s Otto - Jabo, elements of Lf6 noted lite otto fire from the B25s. But their speed and tactical prudence prevented extended time in the bomber's danger zones.

What exactly makes it unusable? I tested it offline and was able to takeoff and land successfully in both the P-39 and P-40 7/10 times. The issue I was having was there doesn't seem to be enough, uhh resistance, on the runway. If I landed near the threshold over 120mph I could not stop before flying off the other end. If I landed slower around 90mph I stopped about halfway with brakes applied almost at touchdown. To be fair, my brake settings were at 35% due to 190s having an nasty tendency to flip at the slightest touch even at slow speeds.

Phenix posted sticky problems which is the exact opposite of what I experienced.

sticky grass and sinking were reported

Is this is happening on the airfield strip itself? They have bounding boxes which are supposed to get rid of sticky grass. These boxes are very tight to the field so the minute you leave the strip you may sink into the ground if they are a bit higher or hit regular terrain and rapidly slow down.

I know the selection of close airfields is a PITA. You have to zoom right in to select the right one otherwise you keep getting the one that overlaps. Spindz made a new command that keeps you at the fieldlanded so normally you should have to worry about selecting your airfield first. Just fly and you will be fine. That is unless we have a bug where it puts you at the nearby airfield. Its a new terrain so we will test it out and correct if needed.

As a beta tester of this terrain I went back and checked F88 yet again to see if I missed something somewhere. I did high speed and low speed landings, wheels up and wheels down, on the runway and on the grass to either side. I did these in the P-40E and P-39D in case the 3D model had anything to do with it. As of yet I have not been able to repeat or find any source of sticky areas or sinking on or off the runway. In fact, I had a harder time stopping.

Were the players who experienced sticky grass on a Mac? I am having difficulty finding 88 unusable on the PC.

I was one of the sticky grass/runway guys at F88. I landed around 120mph and started to brake initially but noticed my tail was not dropping. I instead pulled back on the stick, but not enough to take off again and let go the brakes to let it settle. At about halfway down the runway I noticed my tail started rising as the plane slowed a bit, so I went full elevator, but the plane just slowly nosed over with no application of the brakes. =Weis= had a similar experience. I don't know Trigger's experience, but I know he mentioned it was like he hit a huge bump or something. We were all in P40's and I personally was landing from the water side, not sure the others. We had 2 guys who did land OK.

I am on a PC.