(above) 2cm FlakVierling 38 mounted on Zugkraftwagen 8t rail wagon
The German Armed Forces made extensive use of European railway networks throughout WW2 as an essential part of their military transportation system. Rail had the single advantage of being capable of concentrating enormous quantities of men and materiél at a given destination very rapidly, often moving entire armies from one front to another literally overnight. However, the very importance of rail transportation made Axis trains a prime target for Allied fighter-bombers, hence the need for effective integral anti-aircraft defences. This modification replicates a Flakz ugkraftwagen (Flak Railway Wagon) as used extensively by the Wehrmacht to afford protection to their military trains against Allied air attack. This rail vehicle was essentially a standard Zugkraftwagen 8t railway flatcar mounting a 2cm FlakVierling 38 four-barrelled light anti-aircraft cannon. These Flak Wagen were usually employed at the rate of three per train, one at each end of the rolling stock and one in the middle of the train. Occasionally a train would have a Flak Wagen coupled-up ahead of the locomotive itself which gave the gun and its crew an excellent field of fire. The Flak Wagen is an alternative to my previous Flak Car modification. This mod replaces the standard Axis Wirbelwind in the Mission Builder or Dynamic Mission Editor (DME): Select Create > Flak > Axis > Wirbelwind The Flak Wagen objects are fully maneuverable on the ground and will respond to the usual mouse and numeric keypad controls. Once you have precisely positioned the new objects don't forget to SAVE, SAVE, SAVE! WARNING: This modification uses high-resolution (512 x 512) images and should only be installed on computers whose video cards support high-resolution textures. Attempting to install high-resolution textures on a system with a video card which does not support them may cause the game to crash. Before installing this or any other custom modification, you are advised to make a backup your original WW2.sqs archive. It is highly recommended that you download and install the excellent Jane's WW2 Fighters JCPanel which enables you to make multiple individually modified copies of the WW2.sqs archive and to very simply switch between them. Follow the steps below to load and install this modification: Extract the contents of this modification ZipFile to your WWII Fighters\Data directory. Assuming the default installation, this is: C:\Program Files\Jane's Combat Simulations\WWII Fighters\Data. The files will have been extracted to a new folder, C:\Program Files\Jane's Combat Simulations\WWII Fighters\Data\Flakwagen. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the new C:\Program Files\Jane's Combat Simulations\WWII Fighters\Data\Flakwagen folder. To install the modification, double-click on the Axis Flak Wagen Installation.bat icon as shown below. This will open up a DOS session and the installation will proceed in the DOS window. When the installation is complete, a message saying "DONE...CLOSE DOS SESSION" will be displayed in the window. Close the DOS session by clicking on the 'X' close button in the top right corner of the window. Installation is now complete. Note:- some versions of Windows will automatically close the DOS window after installation is complete. The Flak Wagen objects can be combined with any number of the other available Axis railway rolling stock mods as part of complete trains. These objects can be easily maneuvered into position using mouse or numeric keypad in the DME (Dynamic Mission Editor) mode, but for more precise alignment the best method is to edit the PositionX and PositionZ co-ordinates of the individual objects in the mission script itself. Once assembled into trains, the movement of these objects can be programmed through the assignment of Way Points and Way Sets within the mission script. These railway objects can be readily employed anywhere within the campaign area of Jane's WW2 Fighters, but perform more realistically when used in conjunction with MEGA's excellent Railroad Track terrain modification as depicted in the images above. A couple of sample terrain tiles complete with installation software are included with the Axis Locomotive modification. Also included with that mod is a sample mission with a complete train, including Flak Car or Wagen, assembled on the railway tracks. It should be noted that, ordinarily, the Wirbelwind flak vehicle is not able to open fire whilst on the move. However, provided that the Flak Wagen has been assigned to a Way Set, and that it's speed is left set at zero in the mission script, this vehicle will not only move with the remainder of the train but will also engage Allied air targets whilst on the move. A minor side-effect of this arrangement is that the distance between the Flak Wagen and the next rail vehicle in front will be increased due to a slight time delay before the Flak Wagen moves off at the start of the mission. The solution to this is simply to edit the PositionX co-ordinate for the Flak Wagen in the mission script in order to reduce the initial distance between the Flak Wagen and the next rail vehicle. Due to their importance to the Axis war effort, and their relative vulnerability, trains were a particularly attractive target for Allied fighters and fighter-bombers. The Flak Wagen were formidable opponents and more than equal to the threat of Allied air attack. However, when attacked with bombs, rockets, cannon or machine-gun fire they can be successfully destroyed, as shown above. The usual aerial attack technique was to approach a targeted train obliquely from the side or from astern, and at no more than 20 feet above ground level. Good luck and good hunting! © February 2006