Official Historical Campaign "Steel Birds"

[BlackSix]

Steel Birds

Spring 1943, the final stage of the Battle for the Caucasus. The German 17th Army holds the Kuban bridgehead firmly, repelling all Soviet troops attacks. Both sides prepare for upcoming operations and are rapidly increasing the number or aircraft they can put into action over the Kuban. One of the largest and fiercest air battles on the Eastern front is ready to explode.

You've just been appointed flight commander in 5. Staffel of the German ground attack unit II./Sch.G 1 and you will fly a modified attack variant of the newest Fw 190 A-5 fighter plane. Your objective is to attack artillery batteries, vehicle convoys, armored columns, airfields and battle formations of the advancing enemy. Your opponents are mountainous terrain, strong anti-aircraft fire and numerous Soviet, American and British-made fighters.

The tide of the air war is slowly turning against the Luftwaffe, are you up to the challenge? Can you halt the Soviet advance?

Timeframe: April 14th – May 16th, 1943
Unit: II./Sch.G 1
Available aircraft: Fw 190 A-5
Duration: 15 missions
Average playtime: 8 hours
Languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Russian and Polish
Author: Alexander =BlackSix= Timoshkov

This campaign requires IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Kuban 

Detailed information:

Скрытый текст

Origins of the Battle
In the wake of the defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad in early 1943, the main forces of Army Group A faced an immediate threat of getting surrounded and crushed in the North Caucasus. The German command launched an urgent redeploying of its units: the 1. Panzerarmee retreated to Rostov, while the 17. Armee withdrew to the Kuban where it put up a formidable defense at well-fortified positions that came to be known as the Blue Line. Meanwhile, after liberating Krasnodar, the North Caucasian Front forces of the Red Army gained 50 to 60 kilometers of ground in February and March while repeatedly attempting to obliterate the German forces in Kuban. 

  

The course of the Kuban battle in April 1943 from the North Caucasian Front reporting map and the frontline at the start of the campaign on April 14.

Luftwaffe Forces
Preparing for the operation to eliminate the Soviet bridgehead near Novorossiysk, German command assembled a powerful aviation group. Organizationally it was part of the I. Fliegerkorps of the Luftflotte 4, based at the Taman Peninsula and Crimea airfields. On April 14, 1943, it included:

– Fighter groups II. and III./JG 3, II. and III./JG 52, Croatian and Slovak squadrons (Staffeln) and night fighter Staffel 10.(N)/ZG 1;
– Bomber groups III./KG 4, I. and III./KG 51, II. and III./KG 55, as well as separate Staffeln 7.(Eis)/KG 51 and 9./KG 55;
– Dive-bomber groups I., II. and III./St.G 2, I./St.G 3, III./St.G 77;
– A separate Panzerjäger Staffel 8.(Pz)/Sch.G 1;
– Various transport and support units.

Also, а ground attack unit II./Sch.G 1 arrived at the Anapa airfield in mid-April, and this campaign is dedicated to its combat missions.

  

The Luftwaffe fighters, ground attack planes and bombers during the spring battle of Kuban.

II./Sch.G 1 and Fw 190 A-5/U3
This unit was formed at the beginning of 1942 and equipped with Hs 123 and Hs 129 ground attack aircraft. Starting in May 1942, II./Sch.G 1 took part in the battles over the Crimea and Kharkov area, and then supported the Army Group B's offensive on Stalingrad.

In mid-January 1943, II./Sch.G 1 was withdrawn from the front for refitting. The 5. and 6. Staffeln were equipped with ground attack modification of the Fw 190 A-5 fighter, and the 7. Staffel continued to use the Hs 123 B-1 biplanes.

The Fw 190 A-5/U3 armament consisted of two 7.92-mm MG 17 machine guns, two 20-mm MG 151/20 cannons and three bomb load options: 4 x SC 50, 1 x SC 250 or 1 x SC 500. Specialized ground attack modification U17 entered service with the Gruppe only in June 1943 and had reinforced armor and additional wing bomb racks. 

  

The Fw 190 A-5/U3 ground attack aircraft with various bomb-load options.

About the Campaign
You'll take on the role of the newly appointed flight commander in 5. Staffel of the II./Sch.G 1. Under the command of Hauptmann Frank Neubert this Gruppe has just completed a retraining program and has relocated to Anapa airfield to support the operations of the German 17th Army.

The campaign is set from April 14 to May 16, 1943 and are centered around the struggle for a bridgehead at Novorossiysk (Operation Neptune), and two major Soviet offensives in the area of Krymskaya, which ended with the withdrawal of German troops to the new line of defense in early May.

The sharp increase of the Soviet air strengths in the Kuban led to one of the largest and fierce air battles on the Eastern front during the entire war. In this difficult situation, you have to strike at artillery batteries, transport and armored columns, airfields and battle formations of the advancing troops. 

   

The Soviet, US and British-made fighters, ground attack aircraft and bombers of the Red Army Air Force during the Spring battle for the Kuban.

  

  

  

  

  

A huge and detailed review of the campaign by ShamrockOneFive 

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[AndreiTomescu]

Great that you re posted this campaign. Thank you. It is truly awesome. Playing it almost made me smell the mud of defeat. But the Germans and their allies made quite a firm stand in the Kuban region, until the evacuation of the Crimea peninsula, and this is all about in this campaign.