We got a lot of juicy nuggets of information in this week’s IL-2 developer diary (can I call it that with Tank Crew and Flying Circus starting to share the limelight?) and I thought it would be a good idea to go over and get a sense of where we’re at and what is yet to come.
Where we’re at with IL-2: Great Battles
The three titles being developed for IL-2: Great Battles at this point are IL-2: Battle of Bodenplatte, Tank Crew – Clash at Prokhorovka, and Flying Circus Vol 1. All three of these are being developed simultaneously and are fully compatible with each other and with the three previously released titles. 1CGS is growing the series in multiple directions while building on their core gaming engine. It’s an ambitious and impressive plan and I’m certainly rooting for them.
Content has been released for all three titles so far. The Bf109G-14, FW190A-8 (and F-8) and Spitfire IXe (in LF and HF configurations) are all available to fly right now for IL-2: Battle of Bodenplatte’s 1944 and 1945 Western Front themed scenario.
For Flying Circus Vol 1, which is focused on April 1918 Western Front Arras sector, we have the SPAD XIII and Fokker Dr. I have both been released into early access.
Tank Crew has made the Kursk tank battle KV-1s and PzKpfw VI Ausf.H1 “Tiger” tanks available to drive.
We’ve got a great start on all three titles but they are still just starting to come together. What’s coming next? Well lets have a look.
Coming next to the IL-2: Great Battles Series
This week’s dev diary comes with a lot of clues as to what is coming and when. Let’s parse through the clues and get a sense of what is coming up next for the series and let’s start that with IL-2: Battle of Bodenplatte.
What’s next for Bodenplatte
The next two aircraft to release with the series are now confirmed to the P-47D-28 Thunderbolt and the Bf109K-4. According to the developer diary they are intended to be released in the Autumn which means that we may see them as early as the end of September or by the end of November. That’s a wide arc but I see them coming sooner than that.
The FW190A-8 is also receiving additional modifications that will off up four variations of the one aircraft including fighter, heavy interceptor, and both F-8 and G-8 ground attack variants.
Expanding the Flying Circus
Flying Circus has two new aircraft currently under development. They are the Sopwith Camel and the Pfalz D.IIIa. According to the developer diary, they will arrive sometime after the patch that includes the P-47 and Bf109K-4. That puts these aircraft in the November/December timeframe.
Though there has been no word about the Arras sector map recently, it’s thought that it may arrive sometime in spring 2019.
Development time needed for Tank Crew
For Tank Crew, the timeline is a bit longer for new tanks. 1CGS third party partner, Digital Forms, is busy creating new tank models while 1CGS is working on the new map featuring high resolution terrain mesh and on additional features such as animated crew members.
Four new tanks, M4A2 Sherman, T-34-76 mod. 1943, PzKpfw IV Ausf.G and PzKpfw III Ausf.M are due in the first few months of next year along with the Kursk map, AI enhancements that enable the crew to work together as part of a team, and new UI elements to help control the tank and manage the team as tank commander. These are all due in the winter to spring of 2019 and likely will arrive in some significant pieces adding plenty of capability in one or two patches.
And there you have it
There’s a lot going on with these three titles and its tough to keep up-to-date with everything but I am trying to stay on top of it. I am keeping periodic updates for Flying Circus and IL-2: Battle of Bodeplatte (and soon Tank Crew) in my new roadmap section.
Stormbirds 
I’m quite curious as to when the Fw 190D-9 will be released as we saw the 3D WIP back in June and last week we saw the first images of its cockpit along with the P-47. So I honestly believe that its almost done. Like you mentioned earlier, it’s probable that the Bf 109K-4 and the P-47D-28 will be released in the patch that will come with the new effects.
Cheers.
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Good points for sure. The D-9 may come in the patch closer to December that also features the Camel and the Pfalz.
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I am of course very excited to see the P47 and 109K coming soon. I was wondering after reading the Dev Journal what “Autumn release” meant. I think mid Oct as the Jug might have been harder to simulate/model than anything other than the ME262, hence the dev team blowing their August timeline.
As well I look forward to the 109K as I find the G-14 and 190 A8 in quick mission at all altitudes completely outclassed by the MkIX.
My opinion might change when you can fly the 109 G14 and 190A8 as a career, allowing the pilot to initiate a dogfight with the appropriate energy levels. Does anyone think the P47 is going to be the same? (Positioning and energy management being key to the effective use of the Jug)
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The P-47 is a tricky one. It has a superb reputation but then its sometimes a misunderstood one.
At lower altitudes the P-47 may suffer a bit when it comes to fighter versus fighter duels. At higher altitudes where it has room to use its power and weight… Deadly. I think it’ll see a lot of use by people who specialize on this type.
I will probably load it up with as many bombs and rockets as possible and just fly it that way. It may be less of a fighter at that point but its second role as a fighter-bomber is certainly a fun one!
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6 ton plane, 2.5 tons of ordnance, 8 .50 cals, those convoys don’t stand a chance lol.
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Not a bit! Should be a ton of fun!
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I will interject here i must say that in reading many many many air combat memoirs and accounts that the P-47D especially the 28 with upgraded engine and paddle bladed prop were known by us pilots to have similar maneuverability as the P-51 and medium and low alts due to the insanely powerful R2800. So the way the P-47 plays will have more to do with the flight model than reality as models have a hard time showing reality. this shows very true in IL2 as i very rarely black out which is common at about 6 Gs without D-suits which were uncommon. from my experiences with other sims i feel that IL2 does not properly model G-forces on the pilot because i constantly pull over 6 Gs in aircraft even pulling back fully and dont black out. so yeah at maximum G force the P-47 may seem lack luster but i think that at 5-6 Gs the P-47 will be a contender
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If any flight model system so far is up for the challenge… I think the one devised for IL-2: Great Battles is at least most of the way there. We’ll see what they come up with (and from Eagle Dynamics some time after that).
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i agree sham what i saying is the flight model is only as good as the parameters put into the model so the question is with they truly model the aircraft or just input numbers found on spec sheets to be honest that seems to be what happened to the p-40 there are plenty of documents and information showing better performance than is modeled in the game while some of it may based on climate it does not account for all of it.
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Some types are definitely harder than others. Eagle Dynamics allegedly used an expensive and professional wind tunnel simulation for their P-47 FM so the head to head comparison here is going to be interesting more than usual.
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