We don’t know how many flight sim games are out on the market but we know it’s quite a few. What we do know is how Aces High has remained at the top of the combat simulator market and that reason can be summed up in one word: dedication.
Besides the loyal employees at HiTech Creations we are also aided constantly by volunteers who help us with Aces High and who are mainly responsible for the Special Events that happen throughout the month.
We are proud to announce the Top Pilot Rankings for Tour 138. The Top Overall/Fighter was Wmaker and the runner-up was cuervo. Congratulations to both of you and the hundreds of other gamers who participated.
Pretty cool stuff happening Sunday, August 21st. On that day there will be an Endurance Air Racing event, making it a Heavy Metal Sunday. We just love that name! This adds elements of refueling, unlimited re-ups, and numerous amounts of laps and these events never fail to please the competitors.
This marks the beginning of Season 4 at Aces High for this event and each new year brings improvements to this special event for our combat simulator.
Check out the Special Events page at http://www.ahevents.org/events-calendar.html for more information.
The special events calendar is loaded for the month of August. Our loyal and dedicated team of volunteers keeps things hoppin’ around HiTech Creations.
On August 19th there is a FSO Frame 3; on the 21st we will stage the HMS-Enduro and the SEC Contingency; and on the 24th there is Snapshot Cologne.
If you are new to Aces High we urge you to sign up for one of the many special events held each month. You will find tutorials available to you to help you learn as well as chat rooms where you can ask your real questions in real time. All of this and more awaits you on Aces High, the combat simulator designed by the best for the best.
HiTech Creations likes to bring a little of the history of World War II to our loyal customers. We figure if you are going to play the best World War 2 flight simulator on the market you may as well be told a little something about the major battles. With that in mind today we bring you a thumbnail sketch of the Battle of Okinawa.
Fought for 82 days between April 1st and June 21st, 1945, the Battle of Okinawa was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II and resulted in the highest number of casualties of any battle in the Pacific Theater.
Also known by its codename Operation Iceberg, this battle was the successful attempt by the United States and the United Kingdom to capture this large island and use it as a base for air operations when the final attack on mainland Japan took place. Needless to say, the Japanese understood all too well the importance of holding onto Okinawa and in fact, shortly after losing this battle (three weeks) the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were dropped effectively ending the war against Japan.
In the end it was a very costly battle for both sides as well as civilians living on Okinawa. Japan suffered over 100,000 casualties while the United States tallied 50,000; tens of thousands of civilians were killed or wounded during the eighty-two days of fighting. Estimates of civilian losses have ranged between 40,000-150,000.
The battle has also been called the “Typhoon of Steel” because of the sheer numbers of combatants and the intensity of fighting. Whatever you choose to call it, this battle saw ferocious combat as four divisions of the U.S. 10th Army and two divisions of the Marines (the 1st and 6th) saw almost continual fighting for the entire 82 days of battle.
We at HiTech tip our hats to the brave soldiers who gave their all so that we can enjoy the trappings of freedom here in America. We hope that Aces High is a lasting tribute, a flight simulator game that beautifully captures the memories of that war. It was with a sense of awe and respect that we designed this combat flight simulator and that respect is always in our thoughts as we continue to revise this war game. Stay tuned till next week when we will review another of the great World War 2 battles.
A major battle being fought in the desert in Egypt during World War II? The first question many students of this war ask is why? When the majority of the European theater of the war was fought in a 500 mile radius, why was there a major confrontation in a seemingly desolate and unimportant land?
The key, of course, was control of the Suez Canal and the shipping importance attached to that canal. That was the main objective of Germany in what was known as the Western Desert Campaign fought between the Axis forces of Germany and Italy and the Allied forces comprised mainly of Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. The famed Panzer Army Africa under the leadership of Rommel and the British Eighth Army commanded by General Auchinleck did battle from July 1st to July 27th, a942 at El Alamein, Egypt, 66 miles from Alexandria, Egypt and the Suez Canal.
By battle’s end it was pretty much a stalemate with 13,250 casualties for the Allies and 17,000 casualties for the Axis, but of greater significance was the fact that it halted the German advance and led the way to a complete defeat in the 2nd Battle of El Alamein months later.
This was a classic example of one combatant establishing a very defensible position, using geography to provide cover and defense and protect against a possibly crippling flank attack. The Axis army was left with no other option than to attack and then attack again an army that was dug in and beautifully protected. History has many such examples of the terrain being used to defend an army and ultimately weaken an attacking army and the Battle of El Alamein was a great example of this happening.
The importance of the Suez Canal need not be studied in depth but we will only mention that to control the Suez Canal would be to control all shipping to and from Africa and the Middle East and to also provide a perfect launch spot for attacks from the Mediterranean Sea. It was not, however, to be for the Axis Command and it ended up being a stinging setback in their overall battle strategy.
Aces High, the combat simulator that so beautifully replicates World War 2, was created by HiTech Creations and has proven over the years to be the leader among World War 2 flight simulators. Anyone interested in experiencing the feel of World War II through a flight simulation game need look no further than Aces High. War games don’t get any better than this one.