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 
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