Kills, and how to claim them

Well, as with any fighter or ground attack squadron, we like to keep a count of what we have killed, and proudly display the results on our badges.

As a squad, we participate in various online wars, and this is where we get our tallies which are counted and displayed on our badges. There are many online wars that we fly in, but it is only in wars validated by the CO that scores are counted (subject to authenticated evidence and witnesses). Currently, the wars in which scores can be counted are Forgotten Skies, and the Smirnoff Campaign run by the 249th IAP European Section, and the Finnish LLv34 Squad.

The way it works is fairly simple; in any war, or campaign, when you fly you are given a "pilot persona". This is like a "life" within the war. If you fly a mission and you return safely, then your persona has 1 mission recorded in the war stats. If you complete a further 3 missions, then your persona has a total of 4 missions completed in the war stats. If, however, on your 5th mission you are killed, then your persona is reset and you begin anew, so your 6th mission would be the 1st for your new persona.

To indicate kills we have achieved in a war, we have three categories of markers on our badges.

These are as follows:

Bomber Sortie Mark

This mark is a bomb, which shows the number of successful sorties you have made flying in either a level bomber or dive bomber aircraft (this also includes aircraft armed with a torpedo) within one lifetime or "persona".

This mark also represents the number of successful Photo Reconnaissance missions you have completed. The Recon missions can be completed in any aircraft, but evidence must be presented in the form of at least one photograph showing some form of disposition of enemy forces.

Aerial Kill Mark

This mark is an aerial kill star which denotes how many aircraft you have shot down either in a fighter aircraft, or as a gunner in a multi-cockpit aircraft, within one persona.

Ground Kill Mark

This is a tank which denotes the number of ground kills you have achieved within one life span, or persona. How we calculate these is slightly more complicated than the previous two credit markers, but is easy to do.

(NOTE: In regard to flying in a bomber aircraft, or ground attack aircraft where you have AI gunners; if these gunners down an enemy aircraft in a mission, then you will receive credit for the kill, and a star may be added to your aerial kills tally.)

Determining your kill totals

Now, how we count our kills in these war scenarios is very similar to the counting of missions. If within one persona you achieve a total of 3 aerial kills, then you will receive 3 aerial kill stars on your badge. If you successfully complete 2 sorties in a level or dive bomber then you receive 2 bomber sortie marks on your badge.

The "rules" we use for these are simple:

Bomber Sorties

To receive credit for a bomber sortie, you must have flown a mission in a bomber aircraft such as a B-25 Mitchell, or a Ju-87 Stuka for example, and landed safely (avoiding capture and death) to be given credit on your badge.

There are three categories of bomber aircraft for which you can claim sorties for:

Level Bomber
Dive Bomber
Torpedo Bomber

List of flyable aircraft which you can claim sorties for

There is one final category for which sorties can be claimed, and this is Photo Reconnaissance missions. These missions may be completed in any aircraft: fighters or bombers. To have a sortie attributed to a PR mission, you must provide at least one photograph showing the disposition of enemy forces.

Aerial Kills

To receive credit for aerial kills the kill must be recorded in the missions stats, and you must land safely (or at least avoid being captured or dying), otherwise you do not get the kill (i.e. if you achieve 3 kills in one mission, but you died in that mission, you cannot claim those 3 kills).

As well as shooting down bandits in a fighter aircraft, you can also increase your tally by flying as a gunner in a multi-cockpit aircraft. If you shoot down an aircraft from a gunner position, then you will be able to add another star to your tally.

Also, if you fly in an aircraft with AI gunners, and during the mission these gunners shoot down an enemy aircraft, then you will receive credit for that kill. This is because flying a bomber or ground attack aircraft makes you a rather large and vulnerable target, so it seems only fair that you receive credit for your crews actions in this instance.

Now, the number that is actually displayed on your badge is your best result in one persona. So, if you have had a total of 4 personas, and in each of these personas you achieved a certain amount of kills, here is how you would decide which numbers to claim on your badge:

Persona #1 - Bomber Sorties: 0, Aerial Kills: 3
Persona #2 - Bomber Sorties: 3, Aerial Kills: 4
Persona #3 - Bomber Sorties: 1, Aerial Kills: 0
Persona #4 - Bomber Sorties: 6, Aerial Kills: 1

Based on these results, the claims you would have displayed on your badge for aerial kills would be 4 (results from persona #2) because that is the best total you have achieved in one persona; and for bomber sorties, you would claim 6 (persona #4) as that is your best result within one persona. You can increase these tallys simply by achieving a higher number of sorties or kills within one persona.

Ground Kills

Now, ground kills are a little more complicated. Basically, due to the many different types of ground targets that are present in the Forgotten Battles/Pacific Fighters game, we don't give individual totals for each type of ground target destroyed.

Ground kills can be claimed by any pilot flying any aircraft except for level, dive & torpedo bombers.

These aircraft are excluded from claiming ground kills.

We score ground kills on a points system. In the Forgotten Skies war, for example, every ground target has a points value attached, and this could be anything from 20-100 points for one ground target (i.e. a bridge has a value of 20 points, and a tank has a value of 100 points). We give one ground kill for every 100 points achieved within one persona.

Full scoring list of ground targets.

This means that if you fly a mission and you destroy 3 tanks (100 points each), and 4 trucks (40 points each), and you have landed safely, you will receive a total of 460 points. This means that you will have 4 ground kill marks on your badge.

Also, the score is accumulative, which means if you fly your next mission and you destroy only 1 truck with a value of 40 points, that gets added to the previous total of 460, and gives a new total of 500 points. This would allow you to claim 5 ground kills on your badge.

Lastly, in order to claim these kills, you must write a post in the public forum giving a brief account of how you achieved the kill(s), when they were achieved, and how many. You must also provide a link in the forum post to the page where the mission stats are recorded (how to do this will be explained).

back