23.02.2008, 07:08
~S~Hello again Slot Fans! Time for another update 8)
The Pacific Team, responsible for bringing you The Slot, has decided to release five (5) different versions of the map, so that mission builders have the maximum flexibility required to simulate the wide range of historical clashes occurring across the entire spectrum of conflict in the Solomon Island combat area. Here is a brief description of each map:
Slot_42E - This map represents the Solomon islands, as a snap-shot in time, on 7 August 1942. The Field at Lunga Point is a bit of a compromise between the way it appeared when US forces landed on D-Day, and it's appearance when the first group of USMC aircraft arrived at the end of August. This map is ideal for creating pre-invasion carrier strike missions flown against targets at Lunga Point, Tulagi, Gavutu, Tanambogo, and Halavo. It also includes the Japanese Sea Plane Base (SPB) at Tulagi, and the one set up by USS Mackinac (AVP-13) and VP-23, in the Maramasike Estuary, on the morning of 8 August 1942. Because of the paucity of Japanese airfields close to Guadalcanal, the vast majority of the Japanese combatants involved will probably be air spawned, but we felt the effort to provide you with a historically accurate version of the combat area, on-or-about D-Day, was something that would be of value to prospective mission builders.
Slot_42 - This is the definitive map for the great ground and air battles that occurred in the jungle and skies over Guadalcanal during the Japanese occupation. With this version of The Slot you will be able to recreate all the historical missions you have read so much about in the many excellent historical works written about this campaign. A quick perusal of the map will show you all the areas that were the scenes of combat during this period of the campaign, including Edson ridge, the Sandbar that was a funeral pire for general Ichiki's brave troops near Alligator Creek, as well as the Gifu, the Seahorse, and the Matinikau area. This version of The Slot is the arena for "Zekes vs. Wildcats". It also includes the Japanese airbase at Munda, in the New Georgia Group. Munda was completed in late-November, early-Dec 1942, and adds a great deal of playability to The Slot.
Slot_43E - The appearance of the map in this version represents Lunga Point following the completion of the airfield complex in the north coastal plain of Guadalcanal. As a US or Commonwealth pilot, you have the option to select aircraft launching from Henderson (Bomber 1), Carney (Bomber 2), or any one of the three fighter strips in this area. It also includes the new fields built in the Russells, at Sunlight and Renard, and the picturesque SPBs in the same location. Japanese pilots can now stage through Munda, or fly all the way up the Slot from any one of a number of airbases on Buka, Bougainville or New Georgia. This map is the backdrop for many of the missions flown by long-range bombers, F4U1 Corsairs, and twin boom P-38 Lightnings. Wildcats, Zekes, PBY Catalinas, Bettys, Emilys, Vals, and Kates are still mainstays, but many of these aircraft are starting to get a bit "long in the tooth". All the pre-invasion mission flown against Munda, Vila, and massive dogfights over the New Georgia Group will keep mission builders busy.
for months
Slot_43L - When loading this map you will see the Solomons combat area as it appeared following the Munda Campaign, and the US airfield building frenzy in the New Georgia group. This is the map mission builders will use to recreate the softening-up operations on Bougainville, in preparation for the USMC landings at Cape Torikina.
Slot_44 - By this stage in the campaign Guadalcanal was beginning to fade into the background as a combat airfield complex. US and ANZAC forces were moving inexorably northwest, towards Rabaul, and ANZAC forces were grinding down Japanese occupation forces on Bougainville. Combat operations flown from airfields at Piva, Torikina, Barakoma, Ondonga, Munda, Stirling, and Segi Point will be the focus of missions flown on this version of the map, with emphasis on "mudmoving" missions by ANZAC forces battling Japanese defenders on Bougainville. Japanese airfields will be mere shadows of their status during earlier phases of the campaign.
Here is a spreadsheet showing the airfields to be included with the above versions of The Slot.
![[Image: airfieldmatrix.jpg]](http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i247/pacettid/airfieldmatrix.jpg)
The Pacific Team plans to release all five (5) versions of The Slot, in a single download, using a single map folder. We are still planning to release the map (all five versions) in late-March 2008. We do not plan to release Dogfight versions of the map, but encourage members of the map making community here to do so...we are going to keep pushing up the Slot to Rabaul. 8)
The Pacific Team, responsible for bringing you The Slot, has decided to release five (5) different versions of the map, so that mission builders have the maximum flexibility required to simulate the wide range of historical clashes occurring across the entire spectrum of conflict in the Solomon Island combat area. Here is a brief description of each map:
Slot_42E - This map represents the Solomon islands, as a snap-shot in time, on 7 August 1942. The Field at Lunga Point is a bit of a compromise between the way it appeared when US forces landed on D-Day, and it's appearance when the first group of USMC aircraft arrived at the end of August. This map is ideal for creating pre-invasion carrier strike missions flown against targets at Lunga Point, Tulagi, Gavutu, Tanambogo, and Halavo. It also includes the Japanese Sea Plane Base (SPB) at Tulagi, and the one set up by USS Mackinac (AVP-13) and VP-23, in the Maramasike Estuary, on the morning of 8 August 1942. Because of the paucity of Japanese airfields close to Guadalcanal, the vast majority of the Japanese combatants involved will probably be air spawned, but we felt the effort to provide you with a historically accurate version of the combat area, on-or-about D-Day, was something that would be of value to prospective mission builders.
Slot_42 - This is the definitive map for the great ground and air battles that occurred in the jungle and skies over Guadalcanal during the Japanese occupation. With this version of The Slot you will be able to recreate all the historical missions you have read so much about in the many excellent historical works written about this campaign. A quick perusal of the map will show you all the areas that were the scenes of combat during this period of the campaign, including Edson ridge, the Sandbar that was a funeral pire for general Ichiki's brave troops near Alligator Creek, as well as the Gifu, the Seahorse, and the Matinikau area. This version of The Slot is the arena for "Zekes vs. Wildcats". It also includes the Japanese airbase at Munda, in the New Georgia Group. Munda was completed in late-November, early-Dec 1942, and adds a great deal of playability to The Slot.
Slot_43E - The appearance of the map in this version represents Lunga Point following the completion of the airfield complex in the north coastal plain of Guadalcanal. As a US or Commonwealth pilot, you have the option to select aircraft launching from Henderson (Bomber 1), Carney (Bomber 2), or any one of the three fighter strips in this area. It also includes the new fields built in the Russells, at Sunlight and Renard, and the picturesque SPBs in the same location. Japanese pilots can now stage through Munda, or fly all the way up the Slot from any one of a number of airbases on Buka, Bougainville or New Georgia. This map is the backdrop for many of the missions flown by long-range bombers, F4U1 Corsairs, and twin boom P-38 Lightnings. Wildcats, Zekes, PBY Catalinas, Bettys, Emilys, Vals, and Kates are still mainstays, but many of these aircraft are starting to get a bit "long in the tooth". All the pre-invasion mission flown against Munda, Vila, and massive dogfights over the New Georgia Group will keep mission builders busy.
for months
Slot_43L - When loading this map you will see the Solomons combat area as it appeared following the Munda Campaign, and the US airfield building frenzy in the New Georgia group. This is the map mission builders will use to recreate the softening-up operations on Bougainville, in preparation for the USMC landings at Cape Torikina.
Slot_44 - By this stage in the campaign Guadalcanal was beginning to fade into the background as a combat airfield complex. US and ANZAC forces were moving inexorably northwest, towards Rabaul, and ANZAC forces were grinding down Japanese occupation forces on Bougainville. Combat operations flown from airfields at Piva, Torikina, Barakoma, Ondonga, Munda, Stirling, and Segi Point will be the focus of missions flown on this version of the map, with emphasis on "mudmoving" missions by ANZAC forces battling Japanese defenders on Bougainville. Japanese airfields will be mere shadows of their status during earlier phases of the campaign.
Here is a spreadsheet showing the airfields to be included with the above versions of The Slot.
The Pacific Team plans to release all five (5) versions of The Slot, in a single download, using a single map folder. We are still planning to release the map (all five versions) in late-March 2008. We do not plan to release Dogfight versions of the map, but encourage members of the map making community here to do so...we are going to keep pushing up the Slot to Rabaul. 8)