1CGS has a habit of surprising us and here they are surprising us again with a major patch coming just two weeks after the last one. Patch 3.012 is now live and this time, we’ve got five pieces of content spread across their three products and they are: the Prokhorovka map, the M4A2 Sherman, the PzKpfw.III Ausf.M, the FW190D-9, and the Fokker D.VIIF. Fire up your auto updaters (for the 1.56 GB patch) and let’s dig into the details!
Dora-9 is here!
Probably my most flown version of the FW190 in the original IL-2 series, the FW190D-9 is one of the final variants of the FW190 series. It, in many ways, represents the last of the breed and is certainly the last to appear in any significant numbers.
The FW190D-9 comes with the EZ 42 gyro gunsight, a first for the IL-2 series. There’s also MW50 injection, 500kg bombs, the the R4M Orkan rockets. As is custom, 1CGS has not shied away from adding options and this is great to see especially as the FW190D-9 in IL-2: 1946 first appeared in 2003’s Forgotten Battles release and from there on never received its ground attack armament (or any options at all).
This is great to see and its also a great thing for future aircraft like the P-51D which we already know is going to come with bomb and rocket armament options – I love to see options and most of you know I want to see more there too.
Fokker D.VIIF
Speaking of options… we just received the Fokker D.VII in the last patch and now we’ve got the D.VIIF. Reinhold Platz, the aircraft’s designer, went looking to increase engine power and found it in the BMW IIIa which at full power was able to put out 240hp – at least for a short time. The D.VIIF appreciably improved the performance of the fighter and puts it at the top as one of the best fighters of WWI. The BMW engine supply was difficult to come by and so both D.VII and D.VIIF fighters served together until the end of the war.
I can’t wait to take this fighter up to see what it’s like.
The Prokhorovka map is here
With 16-times the detail of other maps in the IL-2: Great Battles Series, the Prokhorovka map brings with it a far higher level of detail than your conventional map, albeit in a smaller overall size (of 100x100km). The map is a compromise meant to offer higher details for tanks while being big enough to support combined arms fights.
It looks extremely good!
My impressions of the map will be coming out eventually although it may have to wait a couple more paychecks as I still haven’t got into Tank Crew.
Sherman and Panzer III
These tanks are just the third and fourth to release into the series but Tank Crew takes a major step forward now with four tanks and the titles map to support it. I also suspect that this will help increase attention on Tank Crew from people who may not necessarily be flight sim fans but are tank simulation fans.
The M4A2 Sherman and the PzKpfw.III Ausf.M are far more maneuverable than the Tiger and KV-1S tanks so it will be interesting to see these tanks up against the heavies of Tank Crew and see how the balance will play out between all of these in competitive matches.
What’s next and other thoughts
Although the impression I had for a while now was that the FW190D-9 would come with the Me262, it appears that the famous German jet fighter of WWII will be waiting a bit longer. That’s ok and frankly not too surprising given the depth of content released today and the likely extra developer time required to get the series’ first jet engine powered aircraft up and running. It’s also the series first swept wing aircraft and getting the flight dynamics right on this aircraft is going to be important.
After the Me262, it is the P-51D Mustang that is likely the next to appear in the series. 1CGS aircraft team has been showing us the fruits of their labour on the P-51D, P-38J-25, B-25D, and Tempest Mark V (Series 2) in recent updates as well.
Taking guesses on exactly when these will arrive is difficult but Jason did indicate that June was their target for the Mustang.
A lot of eyes will be focused particularly on the P-51D and so it is my hope that their is as much effort put into the British-powered, American-designed, legend of a fighter. I know some of you are anxious to have it now but I’m willing to wait if it means that we get as much attention paid to this fighter as possible (a couple of engine/fuel octane modifications would be immensely cool).
The next few months are going to be very interesting!
Stormbirds 
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