This is a air-to-ground mission for the Mosquito with dynamic elements that requires the player to navigate a low level ingress to strike a well defended stationary target. Enemy response will change based on the player choices (route, altitude, attack success, etc.) Enemy aircraft may come from different directions and at different times. The player may elect to engage enemy fighters or attempt to outrun them. To succeed the player need only destroy the target and safely return to friendly territory.
*REQUIRES CHANNEL MAP*
*REQUIRES WWII ASSET PACK*
v1.1 Update - Corrected azimuths (never trust the intel guys), nerfed enemy interceptors just a bit, added some scenery.
v1.2 Update - Added some custom kneeboard elements, landmarks, and cues to assist with navigation. (If you want to try navigating the hard way.)
v1.3 Update - Fixed a bad navigation cue. If you make it back to the Channel friendly fighters may come to your aid.
OPERATION LOCKPICK
16 1530 JUNE 1944
RAF Hawkinge
SECRET
SITUATION:
Allied forces continue to reinforce the Normandy beachhead following the devastating storms that recently swept through the area. We are now urgently building strength while the enemy marshals forces for a large scale counterattack.
The infamous 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" is preparing to move from the Pas-de-Calais area to Normandy. This division, formed in the earliest days of Nazi history, is well equipped and has a ruthless reputation from its time on the Eastern Front. The Allied Air Forces will do everything possible to delay and attrit this division as it attempts to move to Normandy.
Allied intelligence has located the division headquarters in Lillie within the remains of the 16th century citadel. An immediate strike may kill or wound key leaders in the 1st SS Panzer Division and delay their movement to Normandy.
The Luftwaffe is on alert and the enemy is likely to scramble fighters to intercept any Allied aircraft.
Weather conditions are favorable with light winds from the southwest and broken cloud cover.
MISSION:
Enfield flight will conduct a raid to destroy the headquarters of the 1st SS Panzer Division near Lille.
Immediate departure is required because intelligence indicates the division is preparing to move. Planners have prepared a route that will avoid most heavy air defenses. You may deviate from the route but may encounter heavier resistance. A low level ingress is recommended to avoid detection.
- Takeoff to WP1 (Wissant): 130 degrees magnetic for 22 miles (note recently destroyed E-Boat)
- WP 1 to WP 2 (IP): 105 deg mag for 52 nm (note Cassel radio tower at midpoint)
- Target Citadel is in the northwest portion of the city
- WP 3 is 7 nm south of Lille over a forest
- WP 3 to WP 4 (Etaples): 270 deg mag for 56 nm
- WP 4 to Home: 325 deg mag for 39 nm
Frequencies:
A - 124.00 (Flight)
B - 118.50 (Hawkinge)
C - 118.45 (Manston)
Takeoff from runway 22.
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DEVELOPER NOTES:
This mission incorporates dynamic elements such as mid-mission AAA activations and a variable air-to-air threat. Enemy aircraft may come from different directions and at different times. The player may attempt to engage enemy fighters or elect to outrun them. To succeed the player need only destroy the target and safely return to friendly territory.
Significant deviations from the recommended route will have consequences but not impossible ones. Flying too high will also increase the enemy response.
This is an entirely fictional mission set against the early days of the Normandy Invasion. The 1st SS Panzer Division did relocate from Pas-de-Calais to Normandy in the weeks following D-Day, arriving in late June and early July. The division commander at the time would be seriously wounded in combat and evacuated - but two months later by artillery, not an airstrike.
Already infamous for atrocities committed on the Eastern Front, the 1st SS Panzer Division would go on to commit the Malmedy massacre of Allied POWs in December, 1944. The division was transferred back to the Eastern Front in early 1945 and effectively destroyed by the advancing Red Army.
