On the server you have a FIGHTER PILOT CAREER and a separate BOMBER PILOT CAREER. Fly clean, fight hard, and above all STAY ALIVE to keep your career moving forward. The promotion system rewards pilot who achieve victories, who fly continuous missions (ie, landing & taking off again from the same airport rather than hopping all over the map), who land their planes in one piece--writing off as few as possible, who avoid self-damaging their aircraft, and who stay alive through many sorties and missions.
Above all, it rewards pilots who pursue a long and varied career, who develop many facets of their pilot career, rather than simply focussing on dogfighting, who fly complete extended missions rather than just jumping to into the nearest dogfight furball, and who use their sorites to help their team reach strategic and mission objectives.
Parachuting or landing safely anywhere on friendly ground is quite safe; parachuting or landing in friendly water slightly less safe; parachuting or landing on enemy ground quite dangerous; and parachuting or landing on enemy waters the most dangerous of all (as it was in real life).
For career purposes, best option is to land your plane at a friendly airport in one piece. Next best is to land or parachute anywhere in friendly territory--this is quite safe. Far worse is to land or parachute in enemy territory--you have a fighting chance, at best, to escape and survive. Worst of all, of course, is to get shot down or crash your aircraft.
In contrast to most CloD servers, parachuting to the ground is quite safe (as it was in real life during WW2). What happens after you reach the ground in enemy territory or on water may be different, however.
In contrast to most CloD servers, once you are on the ground and stopped (or moving very slowly) you are quite unlikely to have a career-ending death. You may lose your aircraft to enemy attack or low-speed crash, but you will most likely survive. This is simply because these ground activites are not modeled as part of the game--you can't jump out of your plane and dive into a ditch in-game, for example. So, for career purposes, once you are on friendly ground and stopped, you are pretty safe.
If you are still in the air at the end of a mission (or when the server disconnects for any reason) all is well and your career will continue. Successful landings do bolster your career--but missing the opportunity to record a successful landing is the only consequence of flying until server disconnect.
In-game, use chat commands <career, <session, <ac, <nextac and <obj to check your current career (rank, stats, kills), session stats, available aircraft, and aircraft that will be available when you receive your next promotion.
You start out your career with access to just two red and two blue aircraft. However, if you fly productive missions, you should receive a promotion(and unlock access to further aircraft) every 3 - 4 flights / 1 - 1.5 hours of flight time.
Additionally, you unlock access to the Spitfire 1A(100 Oct) and the ME109 - E3 (fighter pilots) or HE-111P-2 and BR.20M (bomber pilots) immediately when you reach five kills.
When you spawn in, you will see many aircraft listed. However, a beginning pilot has access to only two of them. If you spawn into an unauthorized aircraft, you will receive a message. Use Chat Command
In-game, use chat commands <career, <session and <obj to check your current career (rank and stats) and session stats.
Bomber pilots in Cliffs of Dover tend to have short but storied careers--it is just a fact of the situation and theater. For that reason, bomber pilot can rise through the ranks very quickly, and with few air-hours, in comparison with fighter pilots.
Bomber pilots will want to concentrate on destroying as many targets as possible, while also extending their career through as many sorties as possible, to reach the highest possible rank before their inevitable-but heroic--demise.
TWC Tactical Campaign Server Stats are more lenient than Cliffs of Dover Stats in one specific area: Deaths while you are on the ground.
Many times if you hit a hangar or other ground object at low speed, after your aircraft explodes in CloD, you will see a message, 'You were injured in that incredible fiery explosion, but somehow survived. Your career will continue.'
This happens when you are on the ground and the collision speed is relatively low.
To maximize your chances of survival, make sure you are on the ground and going as slowly as possible prior to any impact or collision. For example, if you slide along the ground and crash into a hangar or house at 10-20MPH, you will very likely survive. If you crash into the building 20 feet up at 90MPH, you will almost certainly die.
TWC Tactical Campaign Server Stats are more lenient than Cliffs of Dover Stats in one specific area: Deaths while you are on the ground.
Many times if you hit a hangar or other ground object at low speed, after your aircraft explodes in CloD, you will see a message, 'You were injured in that incredible fiery explosion, but somehow survived. Your career will continue.'
This happens when you are on the ground and the collision speed is relatively low.
To maximize your chances of survival, make sure you are on the ground and going as slowly as possible prior to any impact or collision. For example, if you slide along the ground and crash into a hangar or house at 10-20MPH, you will very likely survive. If you crash into the building 20 feet up at 90MPH, you will almost certainly die.
The TWC Tactical Campaign Server features Ground Support Vehicles at every airport--and also across the countryside wherever you should land or crash land.
Ground Support vehicles are servicing your aircraft when you spawn in, and will soon depart. When you land, Ground Support Vehicles will soon arrive to service your aircraft. If you have damage--or if you crash land--you will be met by one or more ambulances and fire trucks, depending on the severity of your damage and injuries. If you land in enemy territory, you maybe met by an armored vehicle, there to search for you and take you prisoner.
Ground vehicles will generally avoid you and should not crash into you or damage your aircraft (and if they do, it is generally a low-speed ground crash resulting in damage to aircraft but not loss of your life). However--if you crash into them, you can very well kill yourself or do severe damage.
Check carefully for ground vehicles before taxiing, taking off, or landing. Before taking off, zoom your view in the direction of your take off and ensure that no Ground Vehicles are in your path. Ground vehicle can and do cross the runway, or park on or very near the runway. It is your job to ensure that your takeoff path is clear before using it.
Be aware of the behavior of Ground Vehicles when you land. Wherever you land or crash land, Ground Support Vehicles will gather. So if you land and taxi to the spawn-in area before de-planing, Ground Vehicles will gather around your aircraft, creating a nuisance for anyone trying to spawn in. Consider taxiing to the opposite side of the runway from the spawn-in area before deplaning. Try to get off the runway if possible before de-planing. If you stop on the runway, Ground Support Vehicles will rush to your location, closing the runway for a few minutes.
If you crash land, Ground Emergency Vehicles will gather to your aircraft, wherever it is. So, for example, if you crash on a runway, that runway will be closed for several minutes as Emergency Vehicles attend to you and remove the stricken aircraft. It may be a smart strategic decision to crash land off the runway--perhaps in a remote corner of your airbase instead--simply to avoid closing it for your teammates.
Note that Enemy Ground Support Vehicles are valid targets that will gain you Ground Kill Points. Fuel trucks, in particular, explode spectacularly.
Your Ace Level is based purely on the number of kills you have participated in. Full Victory counts 1, Shared Victory counts 0.5, and Assist counts 0.25. 5 kills=Ace, 10 kills=Double Ace, etc. When you die, your Ace Level--and the privileges that go with it--are reset.
Your Ace Level partially determines which aircraft you have access to. Five kills earns access to specific Spitfire & ME109 aircraft, independent of your current rank. In game, use Chat Commands <ac and <nextac for details about aircraft availability.
One important bonus aircraft for each side (Spit 1A 100 Oct / ME109E-3 for fighter pilots; He-111P-2 for red bomber pilots & BR-20M for blue bomber pilots) is awarded when you achieve the rank of ace (5 kills).
What that means is that even a Tyro/Neuling with five kills has access to the most important aircraft needed to fly and have fun in CloD--a good turn fighter, a good energy fighter, and a good bomber with large bomb racks for each side. Skilled pilots should be able to complete reach that level within just one or two flights.
Yet at the same time, if you continue to move through the ranks, you will have access to even more aircraft at each level.
It also ensure that the proportion of aircraft is more realistic. In the Battle of Britain, the skies were not filled with 109E-4/Ns and Spit IIAs. Small numbers of those more advanced aircraft were available to only a very, very few of the most skilled pilots. For example, only 15 E-4/Ns were ever built. Far more pilots were flying Hurricanes, 109E-3s, and such.