Salute to 401 Squadron

Greetings!

I just joined the forum to see what's up. I had run across one of Wolverine's posts on the 1C Forum and went looking for you. I was reading up a bit on the Canadian involvement in BoB and wondered if there were any RCAF squadrons active in Cliffs of Dover.

My brother and I are long time users of Forgotten Battles, then the merged FB+AEP+PF, and finally 1946. We started out just flying together over dialup, then joined a startup squadron, the "Black Sheep" 8th Fighter Squadron for a few years, which then merged with another squad and changed to the 78th Fighter Group, which subsequently died. We also had another Canadian friend join us, and we also have played some FSX multiplayer, and Condor the competition soaring simulator. We bought Cliffs of Dover when it came out, but never really got into it, and haven't really been active since 2011 until recently.

We've started using CoD a bit now, and it's almost like starting over again. I'm trying to recreate some of the simple old missions my brother and I used to fly at the beginning, just to get a feel for the FMB again. I don't think any of us are interested in going the whole squadron membership route at this point, due to the commitment that would be involved, but would like to stay in touch at the public level on the forum.

Your five campaigns sound very interesting, and I'm wondering if they are available for use. I assume they are COOP missions, or am I mistaken? Are you running your own server? Where do you usually fly online?

Oh yeah, we are all Canadians...I'm in Plainfield, ON, my brother near Pembroke, and our friend in Sarnia.

Hi Bulau,


The campaigns we've run in the past have evolved as the game has evolved over the years. Initially we ran basic co-op style campaign mission using the AI as opposition, but the Cliffs of Dover AI leaves a lot to be desired and we gradually began to create missions and campaigns that were PvP in nature.


We are currently flying an Online Campaign with and against other players on the ATAG Bomber Campaign server every Saturday at 8pm eastern. The forums for that campaign are over at the ATAG website (ATAG Forum Link).

The campaign is a mix of intercept missions, escort missions, and bomber runs, with players flying every aircraft. Resources are persistent and aircraft are limited with regular production (influenced by resources) offering new ones to replace those lost. We're always looking for new pilots to join in and I'd direct you to read the following post on the ATAG forum regarding it (http://theairtacticalassaultgroup.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21166). We could definitely use a couple more escort pilots.

Our past campaign missions aren't currently available for public download as they aren't quite so polished as they could be. We may go back at some point and update them for public consumption.

Currently, our numbers are all Canadian. We have members on the East coast, in the praries, and in Ontario as well. We regularly fly with members of |450| which is an experienced group of Australian players.

We used to run our own server, but the costs of supporting it were prohibitive after a while and we had to shut it down. The ATAG group has generously allowed us to host our mission on their second server for now.

We fly using Teamspeak 3 software to communicate and it's pretty necessary for the way in which we operate. We fly using sections (Red, Blue, etc.) and pass orders down the chain. We take turns leading sections, though I generally always lead the flight. Overall, we're pretty casual and friendly, but we do try to conduct our missions with a degree of professionalism. Chit chat is generally saved until after the mission or kept to short quips now and then.

If you haven't already downloaded and applied the Team Fusion patches to your game, you really ought to do so. Links and instructions can be found here: http://theairtacticalassaultgroup.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10566

Get the patches, get set up with Teamspeak (these days we are using the ATAG Teamspeak server for comms during flight: http://theairtacticalassaultgroup.com/forum/showthread.php?t=732), and come say hello if you see us online. As I said, Saturday at 8pm eastern is our current squadron night.

Salute!


Wolverine

OK, thanks! We have already installed the TF 4.312 patches, and are used to using Teamspeak. I'll see if my brother and our friend would like to try the ATAG Campaign. We are not completely comfortable with CEM yet, but I don't think that will be too much of a problem. I've registered on the ATAG forum, since my questions on the 1C forum seem to go a long time without replies...doesn't seem to be much activity there any more.

Understood about your own campaigns. What about access to the forum sections? I was able to go in a read the briefings for #1 and #2, but #3 and up require special access. I'm especially interested in those because that was when their active duties started, and even the briefings would give me enough info to make some ad hoc Co-Ops for my brother and I to fly together.