Il-2: Who Still Plays?

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Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 7,989

Just wondering who among you may play this amazing flight simulator. I got the latest (and I think final) version, Il-2:1946 sometime in 2007 I believe and I still fire it up fairly often. I don't play online as many do, but I enjoy it just the same.

For those who do, which are your favorite airplanes?

I'd have to say my overall preferred mount is the P-40 series. I just like the way they fly. Good handling, great turning circle, good firepower (especially in the P-40E and P-40M models), great diving capabilities, and a good cockpit layout all combine to make the P-40 my best aircraft.

I've been practicing with the Hurricane variants a lot lately as well. Although slower and burdened with a poor rate of roll, I find their overall handling, turning circle, stalling characteristics (not nearly as prone to enter a spin as many other types), and overall firepower very good.

I love the twelve guns of the Hurricane IIB although I find that all too often I can't get enough solid hits in before running out of ammo. Those Brownings spit those .303 shells out fast! The Hurricane IIC is absolutely devastating with its four 20-mm cannons and I find that patience is truly a virtue with it, as you can annihilate just about anything you can get into your sights.

My most recent mission with the IIC was a huge success. I set up an intercept with six Hurricane IIC's against four Bf-109E-7/Z's escorting four Ju-87B-2's. I managed to knock out the Stuka leader and then at least three Bf-109's though the game credited me with a fifth kill so perhaps I got all four? Either way it was fun. While engaging the second Bf-109, his wingman (no idea where my wing was at this point) began to hammer me with cannon and machine gun shells. One of my wing guns jammed, and in the ensuing fight, it was basically me latched onto the tail of one -109 with his wingman hammering me with machine gun rounds (he ran out of cannon ammo without scoring too many hits thankfully). I had a second gun jam due to more 7.92-mm rounds, but I was finally able to knock one of them down although I realized at some point I had an elevator shot away. My pitch control was weaker, but I managed to hang in there and finally get those last two Jerrie. :)

(For the record I am by no means bragging. I'd get my behind handed to me if I played online, so for my the computer A.I. is a pretty good challenge most of the time.)

So what say you all? Who plays, and what do you fly?

(For the record I have quite a few bombers I like to fly as well, and if the thread gets hits, I'll go into those.)

Original post

Member for

20 years 6 months

Posts: 7,025

:) It's on my H/D and i still fly with a squad very rarely but to be honest i had lost interest in it UNTIL ,[whispers - - - - the new mods appeared,shhhhhhh]
Have a look at http://allaircraftarcade.com/forum/index.php
http://allaircraftarcade.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=3
http://www.canons-skins.com/aaa/jan/so5.jpg for example.

It has nothing to do with cheating and the so called scaremongering that went on,it allowed people to improve the sim to what Oleg should've been doing in the first place,better maps,better engine sounds.:)

Member for

15 years 7 months

Posts: 403

I still play!

I first bought IL-2 Sturmovik quite a few years ago and found it very enjoyable, although I never did missions on it as I was fairly rubbish. I think I thought I just couldn't latch onto a fighter and hit it as thats what happened in the relitively few times I tried. I just used to play quick missions and choose large numbers of bombers as enemys as they were easyer to take down. Gradually I got a little bored and new sims turned up such as FS2004 and CFS3 and I neglected it.

About 2 years ago I bought IL-2: Forgotten Battles for something like 7 Euros in Germany:D But when I got home I was annoyed to find it didn't work on my PC due to specs! So it lay unplayed...until I got a better computer, on which I currently play it.

I have only had it installed for a week and a half so far so have been getting back into the swing of things, now managing to shoot down fighters due to simply practicing:rolleyes: I am by no means good and still have many things to learn such as memorising more and more of the key commands!

I started a campaign in the I-16 (with unlimited ammo though;)) just to get used to things, I shall soon begin one with realistic settings.

I do enjoy setting up small missions with a gaggle of hurricanes against a few 109s or 110s. I make the Hurricanes early marks (I) in RAF schemes and in my mind (even though it's over somewhere like Smolensk) it's the Battle of France!

Glad someone else still plays it and that theres a thread on here where we can chat:D

Ps: I know you weren't being arrogant, It's just fun to talk like a fighter pilot!!!

Cheers, Huw:cool:

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 7,989

If you want tips with the Hurricane, please ask. I'm getting the hang of the different versions, and in the right hands it's a pretty good fighter.

I tend to fly "workhorse" type airplanes (i.e. P-40 and Hurricane) as opposed to the "glamour" birds (i.e. P-51, Spitfire). I've always been drawn more to airplanes that are the workhorse types so that's what I tend to fly in the game.

Member for

15 years 7 months

Posts: 403

If you want tips with the Hurricane, please ask. I'm getting the hang of the different versions, and in the right hands it's a pretty good fighter.

I tend to fly "workhorse" type airplanes (i.e. P-40 and Hurricane) as opposed to the "glamour" birds (i.e. P-51, Spitfire). I've always been drawn more to airplanes that are the workhorse types so that's what I tend to fly in the game.

I understand where you're coming from. But the only reason I fly it is that there are no glamour birds like the P-40 and Spitfire on Forgotten Battles! Not that I'm disagreeing with you but I would like to try them, but simply can't! I do really enjoy flying the Hurricane in combat though, I feel I get on well with it compared to other aircraft;) and it's a steady and versatile gun-platform that can take the hits and get you home.

I have a general wondering for you about the way you fly the sim. Do you fly as realistically as possible (Eg: Cold startups, clickable cockpit, altering all the little things that an actual pilot would do) and do you navigate the enire sortie or just use the autopilot?

I woul like to learn to do it all as realistically as possible, if you currently do, do you have any tips on learning. Are the lessons on the sim all that good?

Cheers, Huw:)

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 7,989

I fly with a mix of the realistic and unrealistic. I use realistic settings as far as flight models, ammo, fuel, damage, and other things. I turn off the blackout/redout setting though, and I think I've turned off the engine overheat as of late. For the quick missions I tend to fly, they usually start off close together so navigating is not really necessary although I will do it manually on occassion. I have only played a few campaign missions and those are in a Stuka. I'm sure I'll get to the others someday, but I have so much fun with the quick mission builder that I just haven't really felt the need to play them though they are fun.

As for the P-40, I think it is in Forgotten Battles. Are you sure it isn't included?

On another note, I had a fabulously successful mission in the Hurricane IIC today. I setup a massive dogfight which included four Hurricane IIC's (one of which was me), four P-39N's, four Spitfire Vb's, and four P-40E's all of which were Soviet and I had our massive formation facing sixteen Fw-190A-4's. It was a crazy fight that lasted quite a while. Final score? Ten Fw-190's went down for the loss of three Hurricanes (I was the only one that survived), three Spitfires, and three P-40's. No P-39's were lost. I'm also rather proud of myself in that I managed to destroy five Fw-190's. Very rarely do I manage five kills in a mission, and certainly not five fighters! I tried to engage a sixth -190 and I had run out of ammo after shooting down my fifth Focke-Wulf. I had that sixth one in my sights too. :(

That cannon-armed IIC is one mean bird. Nothing survives its firepower, and I mean nothing.

Member for

15 years 7 months

Posts: 403

Sorry, yeah the P-40 is in Forgotten Battles, I was talking about the P-51 and Spitfire. Mybe I'll buy 1946 at some point;) but for now Forgotten Battles is fine.

I shall have a tussle later and see what happens:)

Cheers, Huw:)

Member for

15 years 11 months

Posts: 729

I just got it actually. Their offering the entire 5 series pack for €7 on Steam powered at the moment :D

Member for

15 years 7 months

Posts: 403

Just flown a sortie in the Mk.IIC.

We had 6 Mk.IIC escorting 8 Blenheims. We ran into a pack of huns, 4 Me109s and 2 Fw190s. Our fighters peeled off, going head on with the enemy. I was slightly behind some of the others. When in range firing began from each side and a few got hit on each side, when crossing all hell broke loose. 3 Hurricanes collided with thier head on counterpart, was quite a shock flying through and suddelny having 3 fireballs explode around you! One of the Me109s just rolled over and went in, either his controls were shot up or he was killed. My number 3 set upon the remaining Fw190 that was running in on our Blenheims and one of them got a shot on him, causing a fuel leak. He peeled of his attack and turned to my number 3. The FW190 won. This left me, my wingman, and Fw190 and an Me109 out of the 12 fighters. My wingman was relitively useless as he had 2 of his cannons jammed and therefore was being kicked to the left whenever he fired. The Fw190 was obviously having problems, leaking fuel and flying slowly on the straight and level. I got a cannon shell to his wing which sent him earthwards. I turned about and set upon the remaining 109, who I now noticed had a light trail of fuel behind him. He did a good job to shake me off but I managed to stick on him and hit him with a belter, he shed half of his port wing thanks to my trusty cannons! He bailed and as he hung from the silk drifting slowly earthwards I turned to passed him and did a victory roll! The enemy los all for Me109s and both of the Fw 190s. 4 of our Hurricanes were lost, along with their pilots. We only lost one Blenheim in the battle(And all of the crew bailed safely) although on the way home one had to shut down an engine that had been smoking since the battle and slowly lost altitude until she bellied on the plains below, not too far from base.

It was a fun (if somewhat quick) sortie!

Cheers, Huw:)

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 7,989

I told you.....that Hurri IIC is a good bird isn't she. Not the fastest thing out there, but she's got it where it counts in my opinion.

Member for

15 years 7 months

Posts: 403

I told you.....that Hurri IIC is a good bird isn't she. Not the fastest thing out there, but she's got it where it counts in my opinion.

Oh yes I agree totally, my favourite plane in the sim! Tried the P-40 and P-47 earlyer.

The P-40 was alright, spun once or twice in a dogfight, I felt I couldn't push her too much aerobatically. The ither thing I felt was missing was a bit of harder hitting powere - cannons! Managed a few kills but thats it, then when attempting to shake an Fw190 I turned jut too hard and spun...Hello ground!

This was even worse in the P-47, just pulling into line behind the enemy I always, ALWAYS spun out. I tried this a few times at different speeds, angles of bank and flap settings and to be honest not much worked for me. Not one for a dogfight in the Jug, much better suited to ground attack, where she can really make a bang!

Might test a few of the russian thoroughbreds soon, see how they size up!

Cheers, Huw:)

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 7,989

The P-40 is actually one of the better turning dogfighters in the game if you know how to get the most out of it. Keep trying and you'll get it. I'm still far better with the P-40 than any other plane. Don't forget you can use your flaps at a combat setting which will help to further decrease your already small (for Allied planes) turning circle.

The P-40's .50's are potent weapons just make sure you make short bursts. You'll get better results than even the twelve-gunned Hurricane IIB (which has .303 weapons).

As for the P-47, you don't turn with it, and you generally don't use it at low-altitude. It's a boom and zoom fighter, and when using those tactics, it's very hard to defeat. Keep up the practice.

Member for

18 years 5 months

Posts: 37

I was one of the few original beta testers way long ago, and IL-2 1946 is still on my HD...

I'm in a pretty much inactive squad (61 ShAP) and I mainly fly the IL-2 :)

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 7,989

Cool! The Il-2 is a good bird to fly. So much fun to shoot up tanks and trucks with it.

I tried out a new plane today...the Fw-190. I've only flown it a few times before, so I decided to give it a whirl again and wow did I have an awesome first mission! I setup a massive 24 plane dogfight with four Fw-190A-4's (one of them me), four Bf-109F-4's, and four Bf-110G-2's against four Soviet Yak-7B's, four Spitfire Vb's, and four P-39N's.

In short, I managed to shoot down three Yak-7's, three P-39's, and two Spitfires! I still had ammo remaining in both the wingroot 20-mm guns as well as the cowling mounted 7.92-mm guns! I couldn't believe it.

The Fw-190 is so reponsive. It's fast, dives well, turns well, rolls well. The only bad things about it, is that it doesn't climb as well as some other planes, and it's so responsive that it's easy to over control it and get it into a stall which will soon result in a spin.

I realized after flying the Fw-190 just how good the handling is on the Hurricane. You can be a lot more violent with the controls and the Hurricane won't bite you. The Fw-190 certainly will.

So I have a new appreciation for the Fw-190 as well as the Hurricane.

Member for

15 years 7 months

Posts: 403

I shall have to give the 190A-4 a whirl, but I do recall the 'over flying' into as spin feature of its handling!

Just flown a sortie with 4 P.11cs (One was me), 4 I-153 m-62s, 4 U-2VSs and 4 Brewster Buffaloes against a host of German He-111s, Ju-88s, Ju 52s and Ju-87s. I'm quite impressed with this outdated bird! I remember flying it a lot in IL-2 the first time round just because it was good to learn to fly in.

I began by coming round and above the Ju-88 pack, on firing one broke off anf above, my obvious target. I set him on fire with relative ease! Ithen went after the Ju-52s as I had fallen slightly behind the 88s. Icame from slightly below to avoid return fire, set a fuel tank on fire forcing the hun to say bye bye to his wing! After climing up toward it and then closing the throttle a little to slow I had lost a bit of speed and even at full throttle couldn't keep up with the other Ju-52s and Ju-88s ahead of them. I scanned the sky and at my 8 'o clock there were a few fighters having a go at some He-111s, I headed over. There were only 2 bombers remaining. They had both already taken a beating but hadn't given up, one of them hovever was ever increasingly loosing altitude over a forest - good luck chum! The other was coming along steadily so I decided to have a pop, I came round ahead of him and slightly above. As I came close I pulled back the throttle to decrease speed, maximising the shooting window. My hits began at the nose and raked down the fuselage and I pulled round for 3 more attacks, surprised I still had bags of ammo left! She finally bellied onto the snow below...this is where the stupid factor comes in! I went down for a low pass to have a look at my quarry, the one remaining gunner took a pop at me causing a fuel leak and a sudden loss of power. I tried to nurse her to the deck but hit a bit hard resulting in the gear tearing off, damn!

It may be more difficult with snappers about though!

Cheers, Huw

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 7,989

Yeah, the P.11 is remarkably fun to fly. It's slow, but it turns on a dime. Give the Gladiator a shot too. It's fun as well.

Member for

15 years 7 months

Posts: 403

Yeah, the P.11 is remarkably fun to fly. It's slow, but it turns on a dime. Give the Gladiator a shot too. It's fun as well.

I would but there's no Glad in Forgotten Battles:(

Cheers, Huw:)

Member for

20 years 6 months

Posts: 7,025

I would but there's no Glad in Forgotten Battles:(

Cheers, Huw:)

:) it;s not called a Gladiator,it's listed as a J8a 1937 although i do also have a Glad mk1 and Mk11 listed.It may be in the 1946 version of the game but i don't think so.:)

Member for

15 years 7 months

Posts: 403

:) it;s not called a Gladiator,it's listed as a J8a 1937 although i do also have a Glad mk1 and Mk11 listed.It may be in the 1946 version of the game but i don't think so.:)

I'm pretty sure I would have seen it if it was in Forgotten Battles, but will check when I get the CD back from my dads on wednesday.

Cheers, Huw:)

Member for

20 years 6 months

Posts: 7,025

:) it MAY be in the ACES EXPANSION PACK:).

It is well worth it http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/1102368/IL2-Sturmovik-Forgotten-Battles-Aces/Product.html £4.99 Free Delivery

Pacific fighters if you want to try the USA V Japan and carrier landingsf
http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/181699/Pacific-Fighters/Product.html £3.00 Free Delivery .
Look in the F/B for J8a :)

Member for

15 years 7 months

Posts: 403

:) it MAY be in the ACES EXPANSION PACK:).

It is well worth it http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/1102368/IL2-Sturmovik-Forgotten-Battles-Aces/Product.html £4.99 Free Delivery

Pacific fighters if you want to try the USA V Japan and carrier landingsf
http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/181699/Pacific-Fighters/Product.html £3.00 Free Delivery .
Look in the F/B for J8a :)

That is FANTASTIC value!!! Thanks for pointing these out:D Looks as if the Gladiator/J8a is in the Aces pack.

Cheers, Huw:)