Are there any Ju-87G "Kanonenvogel" (with 37mm AT guns under the wings) campaigns around? Especially any ones based on the exploits of Rudel?

That series of battles was to feature prominently in a WIP that I had for short time.
I cancelled the WIP for 3 main reasons.

1. During the BoB missions for Stuka. Each mission was at least 1:15 min. Unless every mission was an airstart.

2. During my Kanonvogel flight trials, I discovered that more often than not, a full magazine expended into a T-34 by both player or AI aircraft would not take out the tank.

3. The template work for ground objects for missions in areas such as Kursk require an immense amount of time for anything even approaching a vastly underportrayed level of immersion, that it is not practical for me as mission builder.

To put that kind of effort into a mission in which I have 24 rounds to expend that won't even take out a tank that took 45 minutes to find cancelled this WIP in the very early stages.

On my back burner, however, I have a concept for an SG2 late war campaign on the new Bessarabia map in which the exploits of Rudel flying an Fw-190F8 are portrayed.

Sorry to be so negative during such a happy time of the year, I just had to explain beyond saying "No I have never seen one."

Cheers,
B50

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Browning50cal,

Thanks! I think I understand the problems. (Knocking out T34/85 with the Kanonenvogel is a b*tch, but it can be done much more easily with the standard T34.)

Would you consider just posting a single mission? This is such a special plane with such a special weapon it is perhaps worth it, just in order to take the "Kanonenvogel" for a spin!

There is a fictional winter 43/44 campaign called "Nutcracker" on M4Today, but you need to edit the info file to get it going.

Yeah I considered a Ju87G campaign on the same template as my "Cauldron II" campaign, but really I think it's too much of a one-trick pony to build a campaign around. And for me, on a purely aesthetic level, the Stuka cockpit is horrendous.

What you could do Poltava is download "Cauldron II: Battle of Kiev" and go into the FMB for missions 10 and 14 (I think) and activate the JU87G as the player aircraft (beware air starts). If you want to build your own missions around mine, you are more than welcome....

I've also found T-34s (even the /76) to be very hard to kill with the 87G. In testing a Kursk mission recently I got one T-34 after expending all my rounds and getting many hits. The mission is a 12 v 12 squad teamplay mission and the Stukas have to hit a small Soviet armoured counter-attack. The G-1 is actually more effective against the halftrack-mounted AA guns while the D-5 is best against the T-34s - kinda the reverse of their historical employment To get around that I added a couple platoons of SU-76s leapfrogging along the edge of a wood with the T-34s, which should give the 87G some easy targets, as the SU-76 was pretty fragile (However, I've not tested the mission from the G-1 cockpit since that change).

Not a campaign, but if you'd like the mission (it's pretty much finished)...

The t-34 is a b**ch to kill with the Ju-87G unless you hit it at the same angle as the sloped armor(45 degree).

I tend to aim for the thin top decking over the engine - I believe that was the intent IRL too. I've taken on quite a few tanks with various cannon-armed ac and have a feeling that hitting the rear of the turret may be better than hitting the top decking, but I certainly couldn't prove that's how the game works without a lot of testing.

In my experience an attack on the rear is the best, and there I've knocked out a number of T34's with one hit.

Anyway: found this interesting German newsreel clip showing the Kanonenfogel in action, at Kuban, against small sea vessels.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7f3_1200171304

wow,that vid is amazing,thx for posting it.cheers.

STUKA OVER THE HEIGHTS
Poltava, I'm working on an Il-10 Sturmovik campaign for the Seelowe Heights/Kustrin Bridgehead battle. AussieJim already had a nice map template for his Dornier campaign and he is letting me use it...I'm adding a lot more objects and there will be plenty of targets for both sides.

When I'm finished, I will probably do a Stuka/Rudel campaign for this same map template. I don't fly German planes and I have not tried the Stuka-G but I've always thought it played a major role throughout the war and planned on flying it some day. It'll be interesting to fly a ground attack plane of the other side.

I don't have much info on Rudel or this particular plane during the Seelow Heights battle so if anyone has any websites to goto then that'd be good. I'll also include the other types of stukas to drop bombs as well.
Any suggestions for building this stuka campaign?

Great news! Do you have Rudels own account on the Seelow Battles, in his autobiography "Stuka Pilot"? (It was there he lost his leg, while making a final run against a JS-2 tank at an Oder bridgehead.)

I could copy it for you.

poltavapoltava, send me it

The only German account I have is from the book GOTTERDAMMERUNG about Germany's last few months of the war. It does have the story of Rudel's flights in January and February up to when his leg was broke. It's not a lot but it's enough to get me an idea of how his squadron operated. I'd like to find more info somewhere.
Poltava, How big is the copy of the Rudel story that you have?

Now I'm debating whether or not to do this Ju-87G campaign. It may be just too hard to knock out tanks and people might get frustrated, including me. I just wonder how many people would want to fly it. Maybe I could add the FW-190-F8 ground attack versions and stuka D-5 to make things more interesting. Anyone have opinions or suggestions?

A campaign with only the kanonenvogel will be not just VERY tricky, but slightly un-historical, as bombs were used when the tactical situation dictated it, and the FW190. A mix perhaps?

I have posted separately Rudels own story about him losing his leg while using the Kanonenvogel in february 1945.