We in TBD Group are working on the Normandy 2.0 map making up targets for Mosquito Intruder & Ramrod missions. One idea was to to have German supply convoys moving west to resupply the Caen area and to see if we could stop them by destroying bridges. So we set up a fuel supply train with a DRG loco and several fuel tank cars well east of an iron bridge crossing a river. A mile or so further north we set up a Tiger tank convoy heading west that crosses a wooden road bridge. Both bridges are defended by two nearby 20mm quad flak emplacements.
To test the mission, I took an air start Spitfire equipped with 2 x 250 lb and one 500 lb bombs and on approaching the area I managed to suppress one of the flak units and to blow up the rail bridge (a major feat in itself for me !). From the air I could see smoke and fire to confirm a good hit. Unfortunately a minute or so later my aircraft got badly damaged attacking the second flak unit and I had to bail out.
As I descended slowly under parachute I realised that I was not far from the railway line and decided to try and walk back to the bridge. Once on the ground, a smart push on the stick and my pilot started walking with his trajectory corrected by using the rudder pedals. I must have been about a mile from the bridge so it took me some time to walk back eastwards along the railway lines towards the bridge.
A nice stroll in the French countryside with the sun rising from the east casting long shadows. I took the time to observe the different trees and shrubs, local farm buildings, road crossings with the occasional cheeping of birds to accompany my pilot’s footsteps. Suddenly this bucolic atmosphere was rudely interrupted by an approaching train from behind.
This was a two track railway line and I was walking back along the westbound track expecting to see eastbound traffic on the other track, but I did turn round to check. To my surprise I found a train reversing up the track I was walking on, so I quickly stepped aside. As it went past I noticed that it was the supply train that I had created in the mission editor and thought that in a few moments I’d hear a crash as it attempted to cross the bridge I destroyed.
But time went by with nothing to break the morning calm. So I thought that maybe I had only damaged the bridge, or that someone had done a quick repair job and decided to carry on walking to check for myself.
On arriving at the bridge location, I was happy to see that it was well destroyed with pieces missing and structures lying on the banks of the river. The screenshot in the article header shows that the destroyed bridge is nicely modeled with my pilot standing nearby surveying his morning’s work. However it seems that destroying any old iron girder bridge does not stop train traffic.
On the DCS forums I read loads of posts about programming bridge destruction in the Mission Editor. Some articles talked of programming ‘lua’ scripts and even of using M.I.S.T. (a bit too mumbo jumbo for me). Others suggested identifying the bridge by double-clicking on it to get the ‘assign as’ function up, which basically creates a small trigger zone over the span of the bridge. Then in the Trigger menu using the ‘Destroy Map Object’ filter you then program the bridge to explode (not explode unit) and the scenery destruction, which can be set from 0 to 100%. If the bridge is not destroyed it is suggested to increase the size of the explosion (by default it seems to be at 10 but you can extend this to 10000 – at this value objects several yards away are also destroyed, 1500 seems to work well.) You can also use the ‘Bomb in Zone’ filter, but this requires you to specify the type and number of bombs required to destroy the object. This can be fastidious if you are configuring the mission for several types of aircraft. Curiously there is not an option for WWII style unguided rockets or HVAR. However having played with all this, using different sets of filters and parameters, my classic iron girder rail bridges when destroyed would still not stop trains Aaaagh !
So I decided to test the destruction of rail bridges on other maps like Channel, Syria, Persian Gulf and Caucasus, some worked and others didn’t. In the end I came to the conclusion that only certain types of iron bridge become effectively (not just visually) destroyed so as to stop train traffic and this without any artifice or programming. Coming back to the Normandy 2 map it took me some time to find the right type of iron bridge – basically if in the ALT view you zoom in on a bridge and see rails and sleepers, it won’t work. You need to find bridges that have a solid plateau when you zoom in. Upon reflection this seems logical as bombs probably pass between the rails and sleepers even if you try to aim at the bridge supports (good luck !).
Photo 1 : A ‘classic’ iron girder rail bridge as often found on the map. Note that on close inspection one can see the rails and sleepers. Clearly the train is doing a Harry Potter, flying though the flames and destruction with ne’er a care in the world. The only time a train stops on a bridge like this is when it crosses during bombing and takes hits.
Photo 2 : A ‘solid plateau’ type iron girder rail bridge burning merrily with a train stopped in its tracks. At last ! No special programming is required, but you can embellish the size of the explosion if you want to.
Photo 3 : an ALT map view of the solid plateau type single span rail bridge in photo 2 crossing another rail track. If you look closely you can see it has been destroyed.
Photo 4 : SAT map view of a single span destroyed rail bridge with AI train stopped. On the left is a two span iron solid plateau road bridge – AI road traffic either stops or reroutes if this and other types of road bridge are destroyed.
So in conclusion having spent two days screening forums and testing I thought I’d publish this to save a bit of time for others who want to add some follow up effects on gameplay rather than just blasting objects to smithereens. Have fun !
PS : If you want to join us on our WWII Mosquito and fighter/bomber missions, contact us through the TBD Group Discord channel. We fly WWII most Monday nights.