1. #1
    I have made some good progress on a new fictional campaign based around the spirit of the ANZAC forces. I decided to keep it fictional rather than try to replicate a historical battle, as I just don’t have access to the kind of documentation that would be required. Secondly, keeping it fictional allows me to be a bit more creative without the inconvenience of historical fact getting in the way of things LMAO

    It will basically be two campaigns in one:
    20 missions in RNZAF Corsairs and 15 missions in RAAF Beaufighters.

    Heres the jist of the campaign from the intro: (note that it’s the first draft and needs a bit of polishing)

    With the Japs just days away from being eradicated entirely from New Guinea by the Allied forces, General MacArthur is already planning his next move to keep the enemy on the back foot.
    The Philippines look to be next on his hit-list, with the recapture of the port of Manila a high priority, starting in the Leyte Gulf and pushing north. Securing the Philippines will also sever supply lines to enemy forces stationed in Borneo and throughout the rest of Indonesia, making the job of pushing them out that much easier.

    This is where you and your group come in…

    Situated roughly 600kms off the northwest coast of New Guinea (in the Philippine Sea) are a chain of Islands named the "Kepulauans". The Japs established a number of small airstrips and harbours amongst these islands not long after their rapid expansion into the region.
    From here they distribute food, fuel, and munitions throughout their forward garrisons, while the airstrips themselves are an important stopover point for their aircraft to rearm and refuel.

    Your Squadron of F4U-1D's will be deployed by Royal Navy aircraft carrier to aid in the seizure of these islands by the ANZAC forces. Once an airstrip has been secured, Bristol Beaufighters of 30 Squadron, RAAF will join you. Together you will fly in support of the ground troops as the enemy presence is swiftly eliminated.

    Once these Islands have been captured, the way will be clear for the Allied invasion of the Philippines.

    After some basic training in New Zealand (Northwest Crimea) the RNZAF Corsairs will transfer to a Royal Navy aircraft carrier where they will rendezvous with a similar group leaving Australia loaded with the Aussie Beaufighters of 30 SQN.
    The taskforce will then make its way to the Philippine Sea for an assault on the Kepulauan Islands. (Palau)
    The RNZAF will spend the first few missions securing the southern airstrip and harbour.
    Once that objective has been met, the RAAF Beaufighters will transfer from the carrier to the airstrip.
    From there the RAAF will carry out most of the air-to-ground work, with the RNZAF flying cover.
    I’m trying to create the missions in such a way so that they can be flown from both airforces, although each will have a number of unique missions not available to the other as well.

    I’ve finished the map templates for Whenuapai AFB, in New Zealand and completed all the NZ based missions, while I’m about 90% finished with the Kepulauan Islands map template.

    Anyway heres some WIP shots of what I have come up with so far...

    Whenuapai AFB â€" Auckland, New Zealand







    The taskforce emerges through the mist somewhere in the Philippine Sea


    HMS Courageous with her flight deck laden with Beaufighters of RAAF 30 SQN



    An RNZAF PBY of 5 Squadron locates an enemy sub while scouting out ahead of the taskforce



    Depth charged back to the surface, Corsairs from HMS Victorious finish off the enemy sub



    Mission complete, returning to the carrier



    On final



    WIP Enemy Harbour on Southern Kepulauan Islands



    WIP enemy airstrip on Southern Kepulauan Islands



    Most of the skins are the work of vpmedia and look awesome. I also hope to use a few more of both Tchaika's and Jesters Ink if I can get their permission.

    I got a lot of my ideas and inspiration from other people’s campaigns that I have completed recently, and have shamelessly stolen or adjusted those ideas and techniques to fit my own LOL.
    Also the sticky “Object Placement thread” was invaluable as well.

    There is still a way to go before I’m finished and ready to start open testing, but barring any unforeseen snags it shouldn’t be too far off from completion. (Fingers crossed)

    If there is enough interest, I will keep this thread updated of my progress.

    BTW, I haven’t yet come up with a proper title, but was thinking along the lines of “ANZACS in the Pacific”, but it doesnt really sound right to me so im open to suggestions
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  2. #2
    Choice, Bro! Where's the cabbage trees? I thought the red and white bus looked just right, like one of the old school buses in the country areas. I like the fictional idea too- gives you way more freedom to explore all the different scenarios. I like real campaigns as well but you can generally get more variety this way. keep up the good deeds, it'll be great to fly another RNZAF campaign again. If you need testers I'd be happy to help out.

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  3. #3
    It's looking like a great piece of work Achilles.

    Nice to see a good length campaign for little ol' NZ, and of course our brothers-in-arms across the ditch.
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  4. #4
    nice screens mate, i hope you will finish it soon
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  5. #5
    hotspace's Avatar Senior Member
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    Looks very, very good m8

    Hot Space
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  6. #6
    -HH-Dubbo's Avatar Senior Member
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    Looks awesome mate. Looking forward to it
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  7. #7
    Hey FlatSpinMan - nice sig

    'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency', right?

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  8. #8
    Ta JunkoIfurita ,
    I actually just grabbed it off a quotations page under Douglas Adams and can't remember which of his works it is from. He has some inspired lines, doesn't he? His stories sometimes leave me wanting a little more but i do like how he phrases things.
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  9. #9
    @Achilles NZ,
    For titles, how about something warm and fuzzy that would appeal to all right-minded people, something like,
    "Hands off the Bledisloe - it's ours!"

    If I have anything actually worth contributing here I'll post about that, too.



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  10. #10
    Cheers for the feedback peeps
    But as you can see its still in fairly early stages with only the first four missions completed.
    I have finished most of the dull and boreing templates createing the airfields, harbours etc.
    I have the missions all planned out on paper, but I just have to pull finger and create them now.

    Because of my low end system specs, there wont be any massive formations of enemy aircraft or thick flak barrages etc to deal with, but the missions should be on the easy side of challenging, especially with some of the low altitude strikes

    I noticed that with awesome campaigns like "Straight Shot" & "Castaways" that you dont need to overload each mission with content to make them enjoyable so long as they are well laid out.
    As this will be my first publicly released campaign, Im hopeing to be able to do something at least half as good as those.

    I hope to be able to include a bit of everything, like carrier ops, torpedo runs, intercepts, escorts amd general ground attack sorties etc.

    Originally posted by FlatSpinMan:
    @Achilles NZ,
    For titles, how about something warm and fuzzy that would appeal to all right-minded people, something like,
    "Hands off the Bledisloe - it's ours!"
    LMAO! Although it does have a nice ring to it, I dont think our friends across the ditch would appreciate it too much
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