Flying warbirds in DCS World is an interesting experience for me as I had purposely separated the modern jets from the warbirds infavour of IL-2: Great Battles Series. Now with both WWII experiences now available to me it’s been a fun journey adapting to a sim that I know so well but with a subject matter that I more closely associate with another simulation. This post is some of my thoughts and experience with mission one of the Epsom Campaign for DCS: Spitfire IXc plus a few comments on what the Spitfire IX is like in DCS World.
Setting out on my first Spitfire IX combat mission
I’ve practiced in the quick missions but this was my first full combat sortie in the DCS Spitfire IX and it took me three tries to get it right with each attempt proving to be a solid learning experience.
My first attempt ended badly with me jamming on the brakes a little too hard and the Spitfire doing it’s best to topple forward and damage the engine, lose a propeller, and generally ruin the mission. To add insult to injury, my wingman then proceeded to taxi into my now damaged Spitfire.
Brakes are different here than what I’m used to and when you tap them just a little too long they can really brake the aircraft and force it to nose over. Something I have to really watch when using a push button for braking – rudder pedals with brake in my future for sure!
My second attempt went much more smoothly with me taking off right on schedule as dictated by the mission briefing.
But this mission was also to be cut short. On the lookout for enemy activity, we came across quite a lot of flak. The flak drew me to a group of parked vehicles that were protected by some 37mm flak batteries and those flak batteries got the better of me on my second pass with my Spitfire being turned into a flaming pile.
Attempt number three and now I think I’ve got this figured out. Flying the mission I found yet another group of vehicles but this time they were far more poorly defended by AAA batteries (though many were nearby). I also adjusted my attack pattern using more trees and hills to mask my approach giving them less time to track me. This is something that does seem to work well against DCS World’s AA guns.
Making several passes on the targets I was able to kill a good number of trucks.
I decided that it would be best if I continued the patrol route and saved up some ammunition in-case we ran into enemy fighters or spotted more vehicles on the ground.
During the patrol, the Luftwaffe was absent (although plenty of Allied aircraft were up) but we did spot some more trucks and an armored vehicle.
I made several passes on these vehicles until the majority of them were burning before moving on towards yet another group of vehicles nearby.
After a few more passes, the guns were empty and it was time to return to base.
Setting course for home, there was a little trepidation as my guns were empty and I wasn’t really prepared to take on any enemy fighters. Fortunately, none appeared and it was a straight shot back home.
Lining up on the field with the Spitfire IX in DCS World isn’t that different from IL-2. The biggest difference is keeping on top of the trim which you constantly need to manage in DCS World. The Spitfire here seems very sensitive to trim adjustments so keeping things on center really seems to help. Adjusting the control curves also makes a big difference.
Fortunately, landing in both sims is pretty much the same approach profile and the same three point technique seeming to work with both. The flaps in this version of the Spitfire seem to have slightly less of an effect on the attitude of the aircraft but I’m really splitting hairs here.
Success in the end with my Spitfire successfully taxied and parked.
It was a great experience, lots of fun to fly, and I’m looking forward to future missions.
Stormbirds 
I have just finished the campaign and it is a very good one. Very realistic, great briefings, many planes involved…
Just small hint: to stay alive you should usually make only one pass while strafing (the same did real WWII pilots and campaign manual recommend this too) and then rejoin and continue to seek other targets. There are plenty of them in the missions.
Cheers, Tapi.
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That’s a great suggestion! I might want to do that 🙂
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Please fix the spelling of “brakes”.
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Yikes! Fixed.
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What joystick are you using? If you are just concerned with making the Spitfire brakes as realistic as possible, get a joystick with a brake lever, like the VKB Modern Combat Stick or the similar stick from Virpil. You can use that with whatever pedals you are currently using or the stick twist to simulate the way the real Spitfire brakes worked. Of course if you need one and only one brake/rudder solution for every aircraft you might fly, then rudder with toe brakes would probably be best.
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Right now I’m using the VIRPIL WarBRD which is a great grip but no brake lever which would be the most authentic experience. Instead I’m using push button on my HOTAS.
Some modules work better than others and the Spitfire is dicey the way ED has set it up.
Eventually I’ll get a different grip and pedals ☺️
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Nice review! I just finished the Mustang sister campaign made also by Bunyap and Wags (Charnwood) and it has been made with the same love to details.
As another posters said, best idea is just to not focus on the same objective too much, since flak gets deadlier every time you pass over the target. Just drop your bombs on the primary and leave for an armed recce.
I don’t know if they did the same on the Epson campaign introduction, but in the Charnwood one you have the real results of every sortie you fly and you will see that most of the time they did little to no confirmed damage, but a lot of “we strafed stuff, probably some damage” or “near misses on target” with a few “Target destroyed” or “confirmed several cars and trucks destroyed”
It is a great campaign, and the new Normandy map looks really gorgeous.
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I decided to have a little break with the il-2 GB and try WW2 in DCS. The Spit seems to have great physics but unfortunately i could not have fun. There is something wrong with the overall performance of the sim and quality of the maps. I think i got a little spoiled by the il-2 GB overall quality and attention to details. I could only play until the 5th mission until i realized i was not having the ideal immersion..
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Nice review! I am curious for DCS and Il-2 GB if you turn icons/labels on for the campaign? I have tried the DCS Mig-15 without it and some missions were close to impossible without them. IL-2 I am playing with them on but am thinking next mission might try with them off. Just curious how other people play the offline campaigns.
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Frequently with offline campaigns I put the icons/labels on. I already spend lots of time looking around trying to spot dots in multiplayer so I feel justified to have a bit more fun here with the icons on.
Everyone is going to find they have a different experience here so feel free to fly however you like!
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