Overview:
-Estimated achievement difficult: 7/10
-Offline: 46/50 (890/1000)
-Online: 4/50 (110/1000)
-Approximate amount of time to 1000: 20+hours.
-Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1 (Replay missions on higher difficulty).
-Number of missable achievements: None.
-Do cheat codes disable achievements?: No Cheats.
-Does difficulty affect achievements?: Yes.
-Glitchy achievements: Yes. See "It Was Easy."
-Unobtainable achievements: None.
-Extra equipment needed?: Flight stick may increase desirability and may ease the difficulty of the game.

Introduction:

Welcome to Birds of Steel, and 2012 air action, combat simulator, WWII game. Birds of Steel at its core is a historical flight simulator battle game that has the ability to appeal to the casual war gamer as well as the seasoned flight veteran. With historical campaigns, unique flight experiences, funny dialog, and a history which can never be over-done Birds of Steel soars to the top of our historical games.

We will tackle the game in a few distinct parts for ease and least confusion.

Abbreviated Walkthrough:

Tutorial-
In this game not only are there achievements tied to the tutorial, but it is absolutely necessary to master the controls and schematics of the game. The tutorial is divided up into a few different missions which will enable you acquire a good understanding on how the game works and will net you three (3) achievements in the process:

"Take Off"
"It Was Easy"
"Preparing"

Historical Campaigns-
This section will be the meat and potatoes of your time here on Birds of Steel. There are two dynamic campaigns to play through, the Japanese and American. There are story related achievements linked to both campaigns so I advise playing through them both to completion as it will also contribute to your exp earned for "Half-Way." As far as difficulty goes, I advise playing through the game on simplistic unless you are adept at simulation games. Of course you will not earn as much experience, but the difficulty even on this lowest selection is surprisingly high. Also note that you may need to turn up the difficulty for certain achievements, but those will be covered on a case-to-case basis and are outlined in detail in the achievement guide.

Single Missions-
There are but a few achievements linked to single missions in Birds of Steel. You are looking at "Malta," "Kuban," "Ruhr," and "New Guinea" for achievements linked directly to single missions. That being said, single missions are also a great spot to rack up some good exp and can also be a good place to raise the difficulty and try to earn even more experience than in the Dynamic campaigns.

Multiplayer-
All multiplayer achievements are guaranteed to be won against human players, but have also been unlocked sporadically with just bots. Multiplayer experience does count toward "Half-Way." You will be going for the following achievements which are directly related to multiplayer:

"You Will Be Ace"
"Good Start"
"Brave Spirit"
"Leader"


Conclusion:
Birds of Steel definitely isn't an easy breeze in the park even for the most seasoned simulation gamer. The full 1000 will test your patience, your dedication, your skill, and your will to finish another game off. Using the Achievement Guide and Roadmap provided for you here should make the process a bit easier. Hats off to you soldier, and best of luck in the war.

I also wanted to thank Merch for his help in refining and compiling information for this guide. Wouldn't have been the same without you good sir.

[x360a would like to thank THE DEADLY DOG for this Roadmap]

Birds of Steel Achievement Guide

Printable Guide
Show completed achievements
Show secret achievements

There are 50 achievements with a total of 1000 points

  • You Will Be Ace

    Multiplayer related.

    You will need to kill four enemy planes in a versus mode in order to unlock this achievement. Note that AI do not count toward this tally and that it has to be done against human players.

  • Receive 5 medals

    Multiplayer related.

    Medals are awarded in versus mode. They can also be won against human as well as bot opponents. The following are possibly the easiest five medals:

    • Great Britain - France and Germany Star
      Win 10 versus missions on the Ruhr map.
    • Great Britain - War Medal 1939-1945
      Win 5 versus missions.
    • Japan - Order of Military Merit
      Win 10 versus missions.
    • Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
      Win 10 versus missions.
    • Good Conduct Medal
      Win 5 versus missions.
  • Win a battle against superior forces in Versus mode.

    Multiplayer related.

    For this achievement to unlock you need to finish a versus game against a team with more human players than your team has.

  • Leader

     

    30

    Win a battle in Versus mode as the leader.

    Multiplayer related.

    This is essentially the same as saying win a match as host. You need to create a lobby and must beat at least one other human player for the win.

  • Rookie

     

    10

    Earn the second rank

    See "Half-Way."

  • Earn the fifth rank

     

    See "Half-Way."

  • Earn the tenth rank

     

    Everything you do both offline and online contribute to your rank. The higher the difficultly the more exp you will net, if playing online, killing human players opposed to bots will yield more exp, ect.

  • Complete the Pre-War chapter.

    The Pre-War chapter is simply the tutorial that is absolutely necessary to learn the dynamics of the game. Once you land on the aircraft carrier the mission is over and the achievement pops.

  • Complete the American Historical campaign.

    Story related. See "Winner."

  • Complete the Japanese Historical campaign.

    Story related. See "Winner."

  • Complete the Japanese chapter "Attack on Pearl Harbor".

    Story related. See "Winner."

  • Complete the American chapter "Battle of Wake Island".

    Story related. See "Winner."

  • Complete the Japanese chapter "Battle of Midway".

    Story related. See "Winner."

  • Complete the American chapter "Battle of the Coral Sea".

    Story related. See "Winner."

  • Complete the Japanese chapter "Guadalcanal Campaign".

    Story related. See "Winner."

  • Winner

     

    20

    Complete any Dynamic campaign

    Story related. This is awarded for completing either dynamic campaign. The above achievements are linked to the Japanese and American dynamic campaigns. You should complete both for max exp since rank 10 requires quite a bit of experience.
    Some quick advise from Merch:
    "It's basically a series of sets of missions in a certain area. There's a couple of thing to note about it: you can only use planes you have unlocked in the hanger, and each mission requires a specific plane. Also if you die you will have to pay to respawn. That said this is the best place outside of versus to gain credits and exp.

    The easiest way to get this achievement is to set the year to 1939 so you can use the free default plane, and set it to three wins for victory. I'd recommend the Soviets here since have the best starter plane."

  • Malta

     

    20

    Complete any mission in the Single Missions chapter "Siege of Malta".

    Story related. See "New Guinea."

  • Kuban

     

    20

    Complete any mission in the Single Missions chapter "Battle for the Kuban".

    Story related. See "New Guinea."

  • Ruhr

     

    20

    Complete any mission in the Single Missions chapter "Battle of Ruhr".

    Story related. See "New Guinea."

  • Complete any mission in the Single Missions chapter "New Guinea Campaign".

    Story related. Single missions are different than dynamic campaigns. Each one of the achievements above is a fairly straightforward mission and upon the completion of each comes the achievement. New Guinea simply requires doing one of the missions from the "New Guinea Campaign."

  • Land on an aircraft carrier.

    You should get this achievement on the fourth mission of the tutorial during which you are told to land on the aircraft carrier. If you fail your first time to land on the aircraft carrier you must restart the mission. It will not count for the achievement if you land a second time after failing. Note that this achievement appears to be glitchy as some report to reloading after failing and still unlocking it while others have to replay the entire mission.

  • Fly in each Italian plane.

    Here's how we get to the planes:
    From the main menu press to get to the hangar then keep scrolling with either or until you get to "Germany." All you need to do is start a test flight with the planes on the left hand side of the plane tree. They are as follows with pictures credited to why2cj. Note that you must be at least Rank 9 to fly all the Italian planes.

    CR.42 Falco - Rank 0

    G.50 Seria 2 - Rank 1

    G.50 Seria 7AS - Rank 2

    M.C.200 Serie 3 - Rank 4

    M.C.200 Serie 7 - Rank 5

    M.C.202 - Rank 9

  • Fly in each Australian plane.

    Here's how we get to the planes:
    From the main menu press to get to the hangar then keep scrolling with either or until you get to "Britain." All you need to do is start a test flight with the planes on the right hand side of the plane tree. They are as follows with pictures credited to why2cj. Note that you must be at least Rank 9 to fly all the Australian planes.

    Boomerang Mk I - Rank 3

    Boomerang Mk II - Rank 4

    Wirraway - Rank 5

    Beaufighter Mk 21 - Rank 7

    Beaufort Mk VIII - Rank 9

  • Fly in one of each country's planes.

    Go to Missions and then to Single Missions and choose a Campaign. Here is the breakdown per campaign.

    Eastern Front Campaign:

    • Germany
    • Russia

    Mediterranean Theater Campaign:

    • Germany
    • Great Britain
    • Italy

    Pacific Ocean Theater:

    • Australia
    • Japan
    • USA

    Western Front Campaign:

    • Germany
    • United States


    Simply play one mission with each of the seven (7) countries and on your final country the achievement will unlock.

  • Complete any mission in CO-OP mode

     

    Co-op mode can be found in the multiplayer/versus menus. All you need to do is grab one friend or one online partner and simply complete a mission together. Note that this has also been confirmed unlocked after completing a single mission solo.

  • Earn any skin for your plane

    For each unlocked plane you are able to unlock a different skin for it. Aside from costing credits for the planes, you will also need to beat a challenge for that specific plane to unlock the extra skin.

    Here's a pretty easy combo of plane price and challenge difficulty:

    Amass 7,800 credits and then head over to the Hangar and buy the USSR IL-2. It's challenge is to kill 30 ground units in versus. Let's set it up:

    Versus - Create Session - Kuban Battlefront Domination.
    Unless you have another player with you make sure it is not private.
    While in the lobby press to switch sides so you are able to play as the USSR with your starting plane now being the IL-2 since you just bought it.

    During the mission you'll fly over the airfield. Make sure you don't get shot down (goes without saying) and destroy as many ground targets as you can. You can kill "X" number and then restart the level as the game will track the kills for you. After you complete the challenge you will be notified about the new skin and will unlock the achievement.

  • Earn any decal for your plane

    Like skins, decals are awarded by completing certain challenges. Not all challenges give decals and not all challenges for decals are easy. There are two specific ones that take the prize as being the easiest to beat:

    Yellow Sun - Winning 5 versus games.

    Yellow Lightning - Killing 5 players. (If you chose this challenge you can couple it with "You Will Be Ace" which is awarded for killing four (4) other players.

  • Destroy 100 planes

    This will be natural progression of the game. You should grab this achievement without evening going for it as many of the missions have well over 10+ planes to shoot down. You can always grind this out in versus or other multiplayer modes.

  • Destroy 100 ground units

    This one will be a bit harder to accumulate with natural progression unless you are a stickler for killing all enemy targets. If you plan on grinding this one out go to the "Battle for Henderson Field." Kill as many targets as you want and then simply restart the level and allow the game to keep tally for you. If you are curious about how many kills you have go to the start menu and then to your logbook.

  • Destroy all vehicles on Wheeler Field in the mission "First Wave".

    There are four (4) jeeps roaming around the airfield area. Be careful when you swoop in to kill them as destroying the buildings will trigger the cut scene. Just make sure to use your machine guns.

  • Bomb two different targets by one loadout in the mission "Second Wave".

    Bomb two ships! Use your bomb on one ship and wait for it to reload and come around for a different ship. Note that you need to hit the two flashing targets, the other ships DO NOT COUNT. Once your second bomb hits that ship the achievement will unlock. Be sure not to switch planes.

  • Make "Touch and Go" on Ford Island in the mission "Return to Oahu".

    Ford Island is the small island in the middle of Pearl Harbor. All you need to do is simply land all your wheels on the ground like you are going to land and then simply take right back off.

  • Land your damaged aircraft on the airfield in the mission "The Two Against Thirty-Nine".

    Simply put by the end of the mission all you need to do is land one of the two available planes and the achievement will pop once you come to a stop.

  • Rearm on the airfield between attacks on hostile ships in the mission "American Counterattack".

    Go out and attack one of the cargo ships. Make sure to dump at least one of your bombs. Now turn around and head back toward the airstrip. On simplistic difficulty you will rearm in mid air.

  • Destroy 6 enemy bombers before they reach the Wake in the mission "Japanese Raid".

    There are a huge number of bombers to destroy. The key though is to hit them where their gunner cannot shoot you from. This is typically the side or diagonal or especially underneath them. Remember to target bombers with flashing locators as the ones with solid red have already made it to the island.

  • Damage destroyer with machine gun fire in the mission "Invasion of Tulagi".

    Fairly easy one. You will get the order to open fire on the destroyer. Let your machine guns loose and once the destroyer catches fire you will be told to return to the carrier. You will earn the achievement once you make it to the waypoint. Make sure only to use machine gun fire.

  • Don't let enemy fighters destroy any bomber of your group in the mission "Attack on Lexington".

    You have 12 bombers that need to survive making it to the objective. The achievement requires all 12 making it to the objective.

    Focus on the fighters that are attacking your bombers directly and allow the other planes to take care of the fighters that sneak by the formation. Remember to play on simplistic difficulty to make this achievement a tad bit easier and more manageable.

  • Don't die in the mission "Shokaku Defense".

    There are three distinct waves you need to survive through. Remember this can be done on simplistic difficulty.
    First wave is dive bombers. You'll start out above them, but remember in order to render the divers defenseless you need to shoot at them from below where their gunners cannot hit you.
    Second wave is torpedo bombers, and you will be incorporating the same technique here of getting below them to kill them.
    The third wave is not so much a wave as it is a kill limit. You need to kill four (4) fighters. The problem isn't them messing you up as you should be on simplistic difficulty so much as it is you flying into one thus killing yourself.

    Quick Tip:
    If your plane has taken a lot of damage hit the button and move to a full health plane. Simple.

  • Destroy two hostile fighters with the rear gunner in the mission "To Scratch One Flat-top".

    This is a fairly easy achievement. Half way to your first waypoint you will be told that Zeros are on your tail. Press to switch to your gunner and mow them down. If you don't get the two (2) kills at this point you will have one more chance later in the mission.

    After you torpedo the Japanese ship and are making your way to the waypoint in order to escape Zeros will come down on you again. Again press to be the gunner, and this time around there will be significantly more Zeros, and they will be much closer to your plane.

  • Find the TF-17 carrier fleet in the "Counterattack" mission.

    This achievement is fairly easy. Here's the step-by-step.

    1. Take off.
    2. Meet your leader and complete that objective.
    3. You want to point yourself south-east or for those using the cockpit view about 45 degrees to the right.
    4. You'll see the fleet. Keep flying toward them.
    5. Once they come in range so you can see their type and their red font the achievement will pop.
  • Destroy 5 light targets on Midway Island on Simulator difficulty in the "Midway Atoll" mission.

    All I can provide you is general tips to make this experience much easier:

    • Have as many planes left as possible because on Simulator difficulty the AA guns will rip you apart.
    • Approach the island from the right hand side to use the natural cover of the map against the AA guns and to your advantage.
    • Look for the cloud smoke to determine where the AA guns are.
    • You can target gun encampments which do not fire back at you as they will count toward the light targets.
    • If you get down to needing one more kill you can always fly your plane into it and grab the last one.
  • Destroy 3 enemy bombers in each wave on Realistic difficulty in the "First Carrier Fleet" mission.

    A quick aside, it has been confirmed for some people that the achievement unlocks after the 2nd wave of bombers, so you may luck out and get it early. We will be using FailedSeppuku's pictures again to bend the rules in order to make this easier:

    Thanks to FailedSeppuku for the pictures.

    Now let's do the walkthrough:

    1. Obviously we need to take off.
    2. -Note- Best way to shoot down bombers is from below shooting up as they won't be able to hit you. But as you may know, (if you've played the mission before), at the start of each wave you generally start parallel or above the bombers meaning you will need to shift to a lower level. Throughout the waves you must protect the four (4) ships from being destroyed. Always keep this in mind.
    3. Wave 1 has 15 dive bombers. Start out by killing one and circling behind the group and come at them from behind. This wave you should have no problem racking up 6-8 kills as they are bunched together in such a way that sweeping runs will ruin their ranks, let alone the fact that the flank guns on the ships decimate them.
    4. Wave 2 has 15 torpedo bombers and is easily the hardest to get the kills on. It's advised that you have a full cannon ready to go for this wave. Aim yourself toward the back of the pack and begin to let the cannons rip working your way behind the pack. Once you are out of cannons simply swap planes, don't waste time trying to gun them down.
    5. Wave 3 has 15 dive bombers and 12 torpedo bombers. With so many targets you simply have to kill three (3) so go straight for the dive bombers which are on the same level as you. Right when you hit that third kill the achievement will pop.
  • Complete the 1st secondary mission objective in the "Fate of Hiryu" mission.

    Start the mission and proceed through it like you would with any other mission. The wing commander will then announce to the group that they should do what they did this morning. The secondary objective will pop up and a yellow circle will appear. Fly to this new marker and when you reach it the achievement will pop. Be weary of impending zeros.

  • Stay near the flight leader all the way to the enemy fleet in the "American Strike" mission.

    After you take off you will be behind the group. Make your you get into the middle of the formation. From this point just stick in the location through the duration of the flight. The achievement will pop until you reach the checkpoint.

  • Land on the Zuikaku at the end of the "Battle of South Pacific" mission on Realistic difficulty.

    The more planes you save during the mission the more chances you have to land on the ship when the secondary objective arises. We will be using FailedSeppuku's pictures again to bend the rules in order to make this easier:

    Thanks to FailedSeppuku for the pictures.

    When the second objective arises and you are tasked with landing on the carrier drop the engine's power to 80% at a mile and a half away. As you get closer begin to drop it more and more and by the time you are ~750m out bring it down to 30%. Deploy the airbreaks shortly before landing. The ideal speed to land at is 80mph.

    If you don't think you will land successfully speed up and take off for another pass.

  • Complete the first objective in less than 5 minutes in the "Tulagi Landing" mission.

    This achievement/mission is another step-by-step one:

    1. Your first objective marker. Fly to the right of it thus sparking a cutscene showing some zeros down in the water.
    2. *The achievement is tested with your killing of the zeros.* You need to destroy three (3) to start and then another six (6) within a five (5) minute time span.
    3. Ignore everything but the objective planes as it will tremendously cut down on your time.
    4. After the original set of planes you will be given another waypoint and another set of six (6) planes to destroy.
    5. Start with your lead plane and then move to your other planes in order to save time.
  • Destroy at least 20 enemy bombers in the "Battle of the Santa Cruz" mission.

    During the mission there are well over 20 enemy bombers flying in the skies. The key to success here is to attack them from the back or from the side. I recommend doing this on the easiest difficultly which should make the process a bit easier for the less skilled like myself at flight.

  • Destroy 5 enemy planes on Realistic difficulty in the "Battle of the Eastern Solomons" mission.

    Confirmed buggy.

    Realistic difficulty is fairly tough for the inexperienced flight simulator so we'll need to bend the rules a bit. Set your custom difficultly to this:

    Thanks to FailedSeppuku for the pictures.

    1. Take off and head for the waypoint.
    2. As soon as you and the other birds are airborne do a big circle to get behind your bombers. This is the opportune position to do the killing of the five (5) enemy planes.
    3. During your flight stick close to the bombers and really focus your attention to the fighters pestering the bombers and not the ones flying around aimlessly.
    4. Speed is of the essence here. And don't worry about black smoke falling planes, the water will kill them for you.
  • Killer

     

    10

    Kill 15 enemy infantry units in the "Battle for Henderson Field" mission.

    There are two ways this can be achieved. You could do the suicide method or the beach strafe method. We'll list them both here:

    Suicide Method:

    1. After you take off head directly for the waypoint.
    2. As you begin to approach beach-side throw your plane into a complete dive.
    3. Using the to zoom in you should see a plethora of enemy units down on the beach.
    4. Simply fly your plane into the biggest group of them and you will grab the achievement.

    Beach Strafe Method:

    1. Like the suicide method take off and head toward the waypoint.
    2. As you begin to close in on the beach, bank right toward the ocean a good distance.
    3. Now make a U-Turn so you are flying directly above and parallel to the beach.
    4. Now drop your throttle, zoom in on the beach and simply strafe shoot the soldiers on the beach.
    5. The achievement will pop when you kill the last soldier needed for the achievement.
 

Secret achievements

  • Take off.

    During the tutorial you will find out how to operate your plane. Once you lift it off the ground the achievement will pop.

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