Ambreville
Deity
Battle of Britain v. 05
For use with BtS 3.13
Won't fly with 3.17 or 3.19 Patches
For use with BtS 3.13
Won't fly with 3.17 or 3.19 Patches
This is a work in progress. I am looking for a partner to help complete the Python or SDK coding needed to incorporate game concepts specific to an Air Mod. PM me if you are interested.
This scenario is a must for WWII airplane buffs! 
Battle of Britain, as the name implies, is about aerial warfare. This two-player game is an experiment (so don't expect everything to work 100% smoothly) to explore whether a game can be run with almost nothing but air units. Besides aircraft, there are very few land units (basically defensive AA, workers, GP's, execs, and spies). Sorry, no tanks, no infantry here. There are ships, mostly for "feel" -- I put them there as an excuse for target practice!
Strategy
The game is about paralyzing the enemy's industrial capability, most notably its ability to build aircraft. In this scenario, aircraft require specific factories. Messerschmitts require a BFW factory, Spitfires a Vickers factory, Lancasters an Avro factory, etc... If you can locate these factories and knock them out, you will dominate the game. Otherwise, you can also focus on refineries, flight schools, and map resources.
This scenario uses Dale's Combat Mod as its primary basis, which allows the bombing of civil or production buildings. You will need these missions to gang up on the enemy's factories. You can also bomb ships in ports and engage enemy fighters. If you can catch aircraft sitting in an airbase, you're likely to destroy most of them. Use spies to locate the best targets. Although the scenario is labeled "Battle of Britain", it is playable to late 1945.
Victory Conditions:
There is a list of things that need to be added for the scenario to become fully functional. Current victory conditions are based solely on Victory Points. More varied ways of winning would be ideal (Air Superiority/Tactical Victory vs Strategic Victory for example). I do need help with this.
Other things needed:
- A better system of pre-req resources to build aircraft or affect their performance (for example: if no aluminum is available, a CIV cannot build aircraft. If no oil is available, aircraft cannot fly. If no "trained pilots" resource is available, aircraft should incur a combat penalty. Etc. Thread.)
- Night bombers & Night Fighters (Thread)
- Interceptable air missions (rebasing and recon cannot be intercepted so far -- Thread).
- Bomber escort missions for fighters (Thread)
- Expanded combat bonus system for air units (Thread)
- Ground Radar improvements (or unmoveable units) giving an intercept bonus within a set radius.
- Spies able to assassinate enemy GPs and execs (Thread). The latter should be invisible except to spies.
Put in your two cents' worth in the BoB Poll. Let me know which new feature would be most desirable:
CLICK HERE FOR POLL
Known Issues:
You may have some problem saving a game in progress. It seems to happen early during the game.
The airplane animation leaves a bit to be desired (not clear which unit attacks what during the AI's turn)
Unfortunately, effect of AI-controlled missions only appear during the player's following turn, in the log. The squadron names of the units can make this a bit confusing (thread here). The info delay is definitely annoying. The attack and defense unitclass modifiers aren't recognized in the interception mechanics. Ignore these for now.
Historical Notes
Luftwaffe and RAF orders of battle should be approximately correct, as far as the relative number of units and general types are concerned. One air unit in the game equals to about three real world squadrons, for scale purposes. Combat strengths and ranges of the various aircraft types should be OK too (although I still plan on further adjustments). So far, I'm still missing the Do17 geschwader and all the night fighter units. I included local resistance hideouts in German occupied cities (outside of Germany itself), whose purpose is to substantially degrade the benefits these cities provide the "Reich". I needed to do this to balance the scenario, given the relative disparity of powers involved.
Air Units currently available are
- Hurricane Mk I, II
- Spitfire Mk I, V, IX
- Typhoon
- Swordfish
- Blenheim
- Beaufighter
- Mosquito
- Wellington
- Lancaster
- Meteor
[*]Bf109e, f, g
[*]Bf110
[*]Fw190a, d
[*]Ju87 Stuka
[*]Ar.196
[*]Ju88
[*]He111
[*]He177
[*]Ar.236
[*]Me.262
[*]P38 Lightning
[*]P40 Tomahawk (lend lease only)
[*]P47 Thunderbolt
[*]P51 Mustang
[*]B17 Flying Fortress
[*]B24 Liberator
I'm still hoping to get my hands on unit graphics for the He219 Uhu, A20 Havoc, Fw200 Kondor, and either the PBY Catalina or the Short Sunderland. A Gestapo-looking spy would be great too.
Installation
Click here to download the scenario. PM me if, for whatever reason, CivFanatics' download page gives you some trouble. Don't forget to delete older versions.
Unpack the download in:
C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword\Mods
Do not unpack the mod in My Games folder. Go into the Public Maps subfolder within the Battle of Britain mod, and double click on the map file there to launch the game. The unpacked mod requires 136 megs of space.
Credits
So far, major credit goes to Dale, whose Combat Mod I've used as the primary basis. Many thanks to Sto, Zebra9, General Tso, and Fierabras for their support with my Python challenges! Kudos for The Coyote (Swordfish, Ark Royal, Bf.110, Mosquito), Dutchking (updated Graphic User Interface, B17, He177, Typhoon, Blenheim), Nautil (Fw190a, Spitfire MkI, Hurricane, Bf190e, P38, P47), SnafuSmith (Beaufighter, Stuka, Wellington, Ar.196), Wolfshanze (Liberty Ship), RabbitWhite (P51), and Sharik (V1, V2) for their unit graphics. I've borrowed a number of graphic elements from Asiox3 1939 mod for Warlords, the Me.262 and the B24 -- thank you! I'm sure there is more credit due. I'll update the list (or let me know if you find something of yours I've incorporated here).
Reference
RAF Squadrons
RAF History
WWII Control Towers
RAF Commands
Luftwaffe 1933-1945
Aviation in WWII
Battle-of-Britain.com
Battle of Britain (Wikipedia)
Air Warfare Encyclopedia Vol. 1, AIRtime, D. March & J. Heathcott
Warplanes of the Third Reich, Galahad Books, W. Green
Military Aircraft Encyclopedia, Rand McNally, E. Angelucci
Complete Book of WWII Combat Aircraft, Military Press, E. Angelucci & P. Matricardi
The Great Book of WWII Airplanes, Bonanza, illustrated by R. Watanabe
Forklift not included.
Screenies
See download page.
I've started a trial game meself - as the RAF, so to speak - and decided to play it safe, building up production and defenses, figuring I'd need 'em plenty. As I mentioned when I had me 1st glimpse at it: very interesting indeed. Hope you'll figure it out for an update!
