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Battle of Britain Tutorial II: Assign a Squadron
By Len "Viking1" Hjalmarson

Game: Battle of Britain
Version: UK Release
Category: Air Combat Simulation (WWII)
Developer: Rowan Software
Publisher: Empire Interactive
Release Date: Released
Links:
[ Playable Demo ][ First Look ][ Preview ][ Pilot Career How-To ][ Flight Models in BoB ]
[ The Strategic Side of BoB ][ Creating Aircraft Skins in BoB ][ Ju-88 Gunnery in BoB ][ BoB Tutorial I ]
Article Date: February 6th, 2001
Article Type: Training

Back to Tutorial I

Intro

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While it isn't initially obvious to the player, the Operations Room interface becomes the entry into the simulation game. In other words, components like TASKING, usually isolated from an immediate interface with campaign system, are now the connecting point between the simulation and strategic game. Even if you are interested primarily in flying and fighting in Battle of Britain, it is still useful to learn to effectively use some of the strategic components.

This tutorial will show you how to assign a specific squadron to a specific task. This becomes useful in a variety of situations.

• You want to fly for a specific Squadron
  
• You want a Squadron from a certain base to patrol a given target
  
• You want to substitute one Squadron for another
  
• You want to substitute one aircraft type for another
  
• You want a nearer Squadron to patrol a given target (saves time)
  
• and others!

Tricks of the Trade

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Now let's talk about the method of assigning a specific squadron to a specific task. This will get us into some of the intricate mechanisms of the game and show you just how much control you actually have! The method is quite simple, but there are a couple of tricks to learn the first time around.

Select Air Base

For this practice run I have selected Lympne AF base on the south coast. The goal is to get a Squadron of Spitfires in the air from a coastal field.

The Mission Folder

Clicking on the base brings up the dialogue box for the base. Clicking on Patrol then brings up the Mission Folder. You can see that the program has already generated a mission (in red), in this case a Flight (6) Hurricanes. BoB does all this work for you, but our purpose is to tamper with it! Click on TASK to begin tampering.

The Task Dialogue

The TASK dialogue pops up. The dialogue tells you the current composition of the flight as well as the goal. MIXED flight is the default response of the RAF, since Hurricane and Spitfire flights were paired together. The goal was for the less maneuverable Hurricanes to engage the bombers while the Spitfires engaged the fighters.

You don't need mixed flights for patrols, however, and a mixed flight will take longer to form than a single aircraft type. The key here is to first change the MIXED flight to a single type of aircraft. I clicked and selected SPITFIRES. (I also clicked on the red down arrow to the right of 1 FLIGHT to change the default from SQUADRON to FLIGHT).

Working in the Task Dialogue

Next select the Spitfires tab. Now you are presented with more information, including the Unit, Target, and Status. Click on the actual Unit (in this case 54 Squadron) to make a change.

The Spitfires Tab

Click on 54 Squadron, Unit Dialogue pops upelow Unit

Clicking on the Unit brings up the selection list. I want 64 Squadron to handle this patrol. I simply click on 64 Squadron in the Unit List and they are substituted for 54 Squadron.

Eureka! We have 64 Squadron..

You can see in the Mission Folder that the new Squadron has been substituted, though the Order number (F001) stays the same. This method is simple and consistent, but there is one wrinkle that may throw you off.

In the following image I clicked on Detling AF base. Notice that when the Mission Folder pops up, the Detling mission is highlighted in white. This means that it is not the ACTIVE mission. To make it active simply click on it and it becomes red. If you fail to do this you'll find yourself very confused when moving to the next stage, and you won't actually be modifying tasking for the correct mission.

Mission Folder. F001 is selected (red)

Before clicking TASK first click on the line that lists your current objective. Clicking on the white line turns it RED. Now when I click on TASK the game brings up the dialogue for the objective I want to work with.

The Task Dialogue Again

The strategic game in Battle of Britain is exceptionally well done and interfaces beautifully with the 3d game. With a little practice you fly the game you want to fly!

On to Tutorial III: Build Custom Missions

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