Flying the Spitfire IXc in BlackSix’s Ram Squadron campaign for IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles has been a real joy. The classic fighter fits the scenarios laid out in this campaign exceptionally well. But is BlackSix able to bring this Western Front campaign experience to life like his previous efforts on the Eastern Front? Let’s review Ram Squadron!

Disclaimer

As is policy here, I always disclose if someone has sent me something for free. BlackSix got in touch and sent me this campaign as a gift. My thoughts continue to be my own and the campaign author has no editorial control over the contents of this review.

The Normandy Spitfire experience

Covering the time period between June 23rd and August 19th, 1944, Ram Squadron puts you in 2nd Tactical Air Force’s No. 401 RCAF “Ram Squadron.” This is a Spitfire unit flying the Mark IXc from Normandy during the intense fighting through the region following the initial D-Day invasion.

Ram Squadron gives you 15-missions of short to medium length to experience as the battle rages on the ground and in the air. The campaign creator, Alexander =BlackSix= Timoshkov, based the missions on the logs recorded by the unit during the operational time there so what you have is an experience grounded in authenticity and portraying the typical mission set of the unit during this time.

That mission set is somewhat varied as it turns out! While the Luftwaffe is sometimes scarce, other times its out in force, and the campaign gives you that kind of up and down experience where sometimes you’re facing off against an opponent that has suddenly fielded large numbers of aircraft while its unable to operate at other times and is more rarely seen.

This is all consistent with the 2nd TAF’s experience and it means that you’ll also lean in on some of the low level tactical recon roles and even a few strike missions interspersed through the campaign as well.

The level of detail includes representing shifting paint schemes from the full D-Day scheme at the start of the campaign to progressively removing the stripes as the campaign continues. I love that sort of detail.

In short, you really get a good sense of what a Spitfire pilot would experience in the 2nd TAF and it gives you a very good Spitfire IX experience all around!

Mission setup and challenge

This campaign will put your Spitfire flying through a mix of experiences from medium to high altitude flying and low altitude tactical operations scouting for enemy vehicle convoys or dropping the occasional bomb on the enemy targets.

I found the missions are a mix of challenges to your flying experience and while BlackSix typically weaves and errs on the more approachable side of things, there are some truly epic fights I had with a swarm of Fw190s in one mission and some really incredible moments bouncing a far larger number of fighter bombers in another that really stood out among the various the experiences.

This challenge fit me like a glove as the missions aren’t overly long so a mistake made, and I did make one or two, generally doesn’t mean an overly long replay to get back on track. I did get randomly shot down by some flak the one time, and I landed with plenty of bullet holes in a few other missions.

I think this is a good level of challenge as the AI seems to be well scripted to fight you when the mission intends for it and let you fly home when the battle is done. That helps put this above and beyond your average career mode experience where things are a little more free flowing – hand scripted campaigns still reign supreme in that sense where BlackSix has been able to extract a fair bit from Great Battles AI.

Another strong point of the campaign experience is the varied weather and time conditions. Even though there is a certain repetition to the types of flights that you fly, every mission has its own feeling thanks to weather and time differences – in other words, there’s no copy and paste here. Similar missions are never the same!

One of the more atmospheric flights saw us takeoff during midday with strong rainshowers all around. The combination of sun, dark cloud contrast, and blue water of the English channel really made for some spectacular views. Later in the mission I was fighting Fw190s dodging between rain showers. Spectacular! In another, it was a late day escort flight flying over a burning Le Havre coated in low cloud. The contrasts really help keep things fresh.

If you want a closer look at some of the missions, check out my flight journal article about the first three missions here!

Typical immersive approach

BlackSix is two-decade-plus veteran campaign developer for the IL-2 series and this release is every bit as immersive as previous efforts.

While you don’t get any custom voice overs, there are text messages that occasionally pop-up during the mission which alter your initial plans and send you into more urgent action. It’s good to be left guessing as to what might be happening beyond your initial mission parameters!

Better yet, the campaign employs BlackSix’s typical approach to mission detail with large numbers of AI aircraft flying to and fro on their own independent missions. Smart design means that they disappear out of view saving on CPU resources but you’ll never really notice either. More importantly, the sky feels busy with Allied aircraft all doing their own thing and that helps make it feel like you’re part of the bigger plan underway. It’s not just you and your Spitfire wing against the entirety of the enemy force.

There’s also plenty of ground fire going back and forth between frontline groups, there’s artillery, smoke, fires, and more. All of this adds up to make for an immersive experience. Every mission has these elements baked in.

Another common element here is the narrative driven briefings which mix pilot experiences with more straightforward mission briefings. You can skip down to the bottom and just get the nuts and bolts of the experience, however, the narrative part I really appreciate as a way to further experience and immerse myself in the campaign. These are difficult to write and get right and it shows both the depth of research and skill on hand.

A couple of problems

I’ve only run into maybe one or two issues that bugged me during the campaign.

First, while the mission sets out specific reserve fields to land at you should find yourself unable to land at home base, there was at least one instance where I landed at B-6 instead of B-18 (entirely my mistake) and I ended up with a mission failed despite a successful mission. I had to repeat it over again to make it work.

Second, this isn’t specific to the campaign itself but the AI of my own unit seemed to be very reluctant to setup for a ground attack on some of the ground attack and strafing missions. Their efforts were limited and half-hearted. Especially compared to some of the more aggressive AI units nearby. I suspect this is more Great Battles AI causing a problem but its nonetheless something that stuck out at me during a few of those sorties.

Final thoughts

I’ve reviewed a lot of campaigns over the years and I think BlackSix’s style of short and medium length sorties with typically fast action, the occasional big set-piece style dogfight or ground attack setup, and a fast return to base are the absolute right combination for me. Ram Squadron continues that tradition well with a time tested experience that I’ve been enjoying since Ten Days of Autumn came out years ago (review here).

Ram Squadron is a refined IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles experience drawing expertly on historical research to offer a compelling experience that bridges narrative with squadron log book history and weaves it into something that is both fun and compelling. There’s lots of fighter versus fighter combat to keep you entertained but some ground sorties in the mix help keep things fresh and interesting.

I can’t help but find the Spitfire experience here part of the draw too! Its likely my most flown type across multiple flight simulators and specifically within Great Battles where the IX has been a common mount for me in single and multiplayer. The combination of speed, maneuverability, firepower, and visibility makes it a top performer and it feels very at home in these Normandy battles. I’m grateful that we’ve got a campaign that makes good use of this earlier IXc model!

This is another easy to recommend campaign for most IL-2 Sturmovik players. Single player can sometimes feel less than rewarding in some instances but scripted campaigns are very much worth the experience in my opinion as that hand crafted approach help make for a more engaging time over the standard missions that the campaign generator throws at you. Make sure you’ve got IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Normandy standard edition first and then dig in to Ram Squadron!

You can buy Ram Squadron for $9.99 USD on the IL-2 Store or on Steam. It goes on sale frequently including right now so you can pick it up for virtually nothing.

Screenshots

Screenshots from the review and from the first three missions flight journal.