Dear friends,

We've just released the big update 6.001. It starts the Early Access of the new Great Battles module Odessa and Leningrad - Siege and Liberation. The Odessa map, iconic early war biplane I-153 Chaika and LaGG-3 series 4 fighter are already available while the other content is to follow in the coming months.

The Odessa map is WIP of course, but you'll notice it looks really good already in Quick Missions mode. It encompasses parts of the Ukrainian and Moldavian SSRs and Romania: dogfight over the city or roam along the Dniester, Prut and other rivers - it is truly spacious and densely populated (there are 650 settlements, 27 railway stations and 48 airfields at this time already). Try out the legendary I-153 Chaika with its range of modifications and the early LaGG-3 built in June/July 1941 - compared to the later one you might remember from Stalingrad, this one has two extra machineguns (and is subsequently heavier) and slightly different instruments. Of course, the new models have better detail as well.

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Please note that we're using a dynamic early access discount this time as a 'thank you' to early adopters of the new module - the sooner you buy it, the lower the price is. It will gradually move to the full price at the time of the release with each content addition. We plan to add two more aircraft, Yak-1 series 23 and famous Yak-3 in the next update during the Summer. In total, there will be 8 planes (in addition to the already mentioned ones there are Bf 109 E-4, Ju 87 D-5, IL-2 mod. 1944 and La-7) and two maps, Odessa and Leningrad.

Of course, the update is not just about the new module - it brings a number of improvements and fixes across the board. Please take a look at the changelog:

1. The I-153 “Chaika” fighter is available to the “Siege and Liberation” module owners;
2. LaGG-3 4th series fighter is available to the “Siege and Liberation” module owners;
3. Odessa map is available to the “Siege and Liberation” module owners;
4. Steel Birds and Sky Nomads campaigns are updated: small issues fixed, Li-2s added;
5. Iron Wind campaign is updated: difficulty level is tweaked, I-153 and French translation added.
6. Fixed (increased) wing durability of Bf 109 fighter family;
7. Fixed AI landing algorithm settings for F.E.2b, Handley Page O/400, SSW D.IV, Sopwith Pup, Sopwith Triplane;
8. Bf109 G-2: with the 1943 engine modification, 1.15 ATA at 2300 RPM is now achievable not only with manual engine control, but with automatic propeller pitch control enabled;
9. Me 410 A-1: corrected bomb holder positions when using 250- and 500-kg bombs;
10. MC.202: added dust filter animation when landing gear is released;
11. Fixed physical boundaries of the large cargo ship (type-1) mast;
12. P-40E-1: fixed a bug with too shiny aircraft texture from a distance;
13. Sopwith Camel: fixed fuel gauge animation;
14. Ju 87 D-3: corrected captions for cockpit oil radiator flap control handle;
15. Fokker E.III: fixed an issues with incorrect anemometer readings, fixed reflection in cockpit clock;
16. Airco D.H.2, Nieuport 28: fixed an issue with missing part of rotating propeller and engine;
17. Albatros D.3: fixed bug with incorrect texture of over-wing machine gun when a different paint scheme is applied;
18. Tempest Mk.V ser.2: added missing VHF radio antenna;
19. Sopwith Strutter and Sopwith Strutter B: fixed bug with rendering parts of the sight on top of the machine gun body;
20. Hanriot HD.1: fixed overlapping of paint schemes on the central part of the upper wing in first-person view;
21. Sopwith Dolphin and Nieuport 17 (both variants): fixed a bug with a small roll control twitch (auto oscillation) on aircraft under AI control;
22. Late Spad 7: corrected climb speed for AI;
23. B-26: corrected climb speed and throttle for AI;
24. MiG-3 ser. 24: corrected name of AM-38 engine modification;
25. P-51B-5: added missing button on the throttle grip;
26. Career mode: corrected scenarios of patrolling from bombers and patrolling the front line
27. Career: the P-40 engine modification, which was officially allowed in 1942, won't be selected in 1941 by default;
28. Fixed visual appearance of the headlights on many ground vehicles;
29. Minor text edits.