Official Free Historical Campaigns "Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey"

[Kubert]

On 5/21/2026 at 9:12 PM, Kubert said:

Now as campaigns are patched, I am gonna refly them again. Without deaths...if possible.

So I did. Both A6 and F8 at once, switching campaigns in chronological order according missions date and time, for ultimate, 22 missions long, FW-190, multi-role experience.  All missions worked as expected. Didn't encounter any friendly inactivity, so fixes did the trick. 

You can guess which score board is from which campaign. 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

I've managed to finish them without death, but not without mission restart...two emergency landings behind friendly lines. The first after a hit by a debrie from downed IL-2 to propeller, the second after AA hit to the engine and fuel tank. Other than that, I was only once damaged by La-5.

Spoiler

Good job, I will probably replay A6 campaign again.  FW is addictive even when it is not my favourite plane, and my fighter skill in it requires some sharpening. It's perfect ground attacker though.

Edited May 30 by Kubert

[Juri_JS]

1 hour ago, Kubert said:

So I did. Both A6 and F8 at once, switching campaigns in chronological order according missions date and time, for ultimate, 22 missions long, FW-190, multi-role experience.  All missions worked as expected. Didn't encounter any friendly inactivity, so fixes did the trick. 

  Hide contents

No tank kills?

Edited May 30 by Juri_JS

[Kubert]

No. Also no tanks destroyed in my first playthrough. I've seen some tanks, but went after trucks, AA guns or rocket launchers instead. Tanks are immune to cannons and small bombs. For 250kg bomb was battery of katyushas or group of vehicles too tempting target. I hit one and the others got cought in AoE. While on tank, I believe, direct hit is needed with 250kg bomb. Not sure if near miss is enough.  

[Juri_JS]

Unfortunately we don't have AB 250/500 cluster bombs in the game. In 1944 the version with SD4HL submunition would be the weapon of choice against tanks.

[kraut1]

27 minutes ago, Kubert said:

No. Also no tanks destroyed in my first playthrough. I've seen some tanks, but went after trucks, AA guns or rocket launchers instead. Tanks are immune to cannons and small bombs. For 250kg bomb was battery of katyushas or group of vehicles too tempting target. I hit one and the others got cought in AoE. While on tank, I believe, direct hit is needed with 250kg bomb. Not sure if near miss is enough.  

Hi Kubert,

In my Kurland Pocket Campaign,

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/89556-jg54-courland-pocket-fw190-a8-kurland-kessel-1945-campaign-v01/

that was much more later as the great Gefechtsverband Kuhlmay Campaign of this post, I have created some few very late ca. Feb... May 45 FW190-A/F8 Missions with Panzerblitz rockets. But these rockets were used really late in the war, I have assumed that the nearby SG3 group borrowed some to F8s to the JG54...

What could maybe possible in respect of historical correctness and what works really well against tanks:

The FW190-A/F/G8 with 1 SC1000: with this bomb you have a really good chance  to knock out a T34/KV-1S with the 1 bomb hit and aiming is not so difficult due to the big effective blast radius...😁...
 

 

[Kubert]

500kg bomb is enough for a tank, or two at once(personal experience ). In Steel Birds campaign are two anti-tank missions with 500kg bomb. Explosion of this beast is so huge, that it is need to be careful to not be caught in a blast of a bombs from friendlies in our formation. In Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey F8 is only one mission with 500kg bomb...against a bridge. But it is ok, I like default loadout 1x250 + 4x70. 

[Juri_JS]

With some training you can actually destroy tanks with 50 kg or 70 kg bombs. I do this in a 30° dive and drop two bombs to increase hit chance, works quite well. I think there was also a video tutorial that explained how to use the gunsight for aiming in such attacks.

[Kubert]

3 hours ago, Juri_JS said:

drop two bombs to increase hit chance

I am using like that small bombs against soft targets. Good to know 50/70 kg bomb can destroy a tank, but I'll keep using them for a soft targets. Tank + small bomb is outside of my skill set.  I am usually diving at a target in sharp angle...maybe 70° or so, yet my direct hits are maybe 60-70%. Near miss and AoE of a bomb mostly do the job. Maybe I will try 250kg bomb for a tank, but not 50/70kg. When flying IL-2 I am using 100kg against a tanks, but even when they are slightly bigger than 70s, usually take me all four or six of them to take down one or, when very lucky, two tanks. 

[Juri_JS]

I remember reading an old interview with a Stuka pilot, who said that 50 kg bombs were enough for tanks, but I've never found a detailed description of Stuka anti-tank tactics when such bombs were used. Apparently a 50 kg bomb hit within 3 m of a tank would destroy or disable it, works in the game too.

Edited May 31 by Juri_JS

[Kubert]

In F8 campaign, I few times carpet bomb line of four katyushas with four 70kg bombs. Don't know what exact distance is between them, but when my bomb fell between the two, they both survived.  From this experience, I deducted, that AoE of 70kg bombs is very small and didn't even try to use them against tanks...thinking they will be immune, or direct hit will be necessary, and knowing I am unable to hit them with such precision. 

[Juri_JS]

SD 70 should be similar to a heavy artillery shell. I have some doubts that the game calculates the fragmentation effect correctly. 

[CzechTexan]

With practice, if you can get the bomb close enough, you can destroy a tank with a 70 kg bomb.  Use a shallow dive on the tank and drop when the tank is under the nose of your plane.  The Stuka usually has 4 x 70 kg bombs so that's 4 tries to practice with. 🙃  Or, maybe straddle the tank and drop 2 bombs, one on each side.

Below is from the 2nd mission.  I had to get rid of that pesky balloon!

[Juri_JS]

13 hours ago, CzechTexan said:

With practice, if you can get the bomb close enough, you can destroy a tank with a 70 kg bomb.  Use a shallow dive on the tank and drop when the tank is under the nose of your plane.  The Stuka usually has 4 x 70 kg bombs so that's 4 tries to practice with. 🙃  Or, maybe straddle the tank and drop 2 bombs, one on each side.

I think you get the best results when using the Stuvi for such attacks. I usually start the dive from 500-600 m at an angle of around 30°.  It can help to aim 1 meter in front of the target to take into account for the slight delay in the bomb release.

[Kubert]

After four playthroughs of A6 campaign and three of F8, I am finally satisfied with my performance as FW-190 pilot.  Transition from FW hater to FW (almost) fan was successful. Really "easy to learn, hard to master" plane. But, it works...with a lot of discipline and some tactics. 

Spoiler

 

It is time to let Focke-Wulfs rest. I was flying FWs six weeks exclusively in all three official campaigns. Time well spent.  

Edited June 11 by Kubert

[Juri_JS]

8 hours ago, Kubert said:

It is time to let Focke-Wulfs rest. I was flying FWs six weeks exclusively in all three official campaigns. Time well spent. 

Stuka campaign next? I just reflew the campaign myself, this time not for testing, just for fun. In my opinion Ju-87 D-5 with Stuvi is the most effective aircraft against ground targets we have in the game.

[Kubert]

1 hour ago, Juri_JS said:

Stuka campaign next?

Soon, but not next. First, I need to learn fly that thing...and learn dive bombing...and what Stuvi is and how to use it.  I am completely uneducated in dive bombing, avoided it for a long time. I've tested Stuka more than three years ago for a few hours, that's all my experience. So, after training yes, but something more familiar in a mean time.

[LukeFF]

I have been flying the Ju 87 campaign. It's very good but it's also very demanding on your navigation and target recognition skills. So, be prepared for that! 

[CzechTexan]

Direct Hit!

I like the details of the bridge destruction...it's very satisfying!

[Juri_JS]

8 hours ago, LukeFF said:

I have been flying the Ju 87 campaign. It's very good but it's also very demanding on your navigation and target recognition skills. So, be prepared for that! 

In reality Stuka crews would be shown aerial photos of the target during briefings, which made finding targets much easier. That's why Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey also included some recon Bf-109 G8s. Unfortunately that's not possible in Il-2 GB briefings. Maybe it's a feature that should be added to Il-2 Korea?

[=BW=Uri]

Закончил кампанию "Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey - Ju-87 D-5", кампания понравилась, проходится на одном дыхании, много целей, Штука очень точное и эффективное оружие как пикировщик, а с двумя пушками ещё и отличный штурмовик. Общее замечание по кампании - на мой вкус, можно было бы чуть добавить сложности - за все 10 миссий меня ни разу не атаковали истребители и я не получил ни одного попадания от зениток - они просто по мне не стреляли.

И ещё один момент в миссии #6 - уничтожение двух барж не пошло в статистику, просто не засчитались. Не уверен, что это баг кампании, а не всей игры, но может быть можно с этим что-то сделать.

За кампанию спасибо!

Edited June 15 by =BW=Uri

[Juri_JS]

1 hour ago, =BW=Uri said:

Закончил кампанию "Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey - Ju-87 D-5", кампания понравилась, проходится на одном дыхании, много целей, Штука очень точное и эффективное оружие как пикировщик, а с двумя пушками ещё и отличный штурмовик. Общее замечание по кампании - на мой вкус, можно было бы чуть добавить сложности - за все 10 миссий меня ни разу не атаковали истребители и я не получил ни одного попадания от зениток - они просто по мне не стреляли.
 

Thank you for reporting. There was indeed a problem that stopped the AAA and fighters from targeting the player when flying the Stuka. Will send the devs a corrected campaign version.

Regarding the barges not couting as kills, that's probably a game issue.

Edited June 15 by Juri_JS

[LukeFF]

I finished up the Ju 87 campaign last night. Very well-done and one I would like to revisit in the future. 👍 On to the Fw 190 F-8 campaign next!