Hey guys,
Before I surface it more on ED Forums with an appropriate poll I thought I’d ask good people on Mudspike what they think… so here we go:
Introduction
10 June 1999. Russian Federation is sending a number of aircraft for the famous Le Bourget Paris air show, which is also widely regarded as a place where lots of trade deals are being made. Among other aircraft (like MiG-29s and Su-30, one of which will have a bird strike on June 12th, as it happened in real life) there are four new attack helicopters, Ka-50s that are going to perform a live - fire demonstration on the sidelines of the air show.
The advanced base is set up north of Paris in Normandy, where last test - flights are going to take place before the big show. Luck has it that these are being performed at the same training range as a new advanced French radar / antimissile system (which would be relevant for what happens next).
During one of the sorties a violent thunderstorm breaks out. Just before landing the lightning bolt strikes the French installation which erupts in a fireball. The Ka-50s momentarily loose their nav systems and a few moments later warning panel turns into a Christmas tree.
Mission ends and new one loads - the helicopters are in the air at the exactly same spot as before, but on 10 June 1944, during an ongoing air battle between American and Nazi forces…
More info
So yes, the idea would be to transfer a limited number of assets back in time. I’ve heard so many DCS players talking about “what if” scenarios that I believe that would be something many would really like to see.
This would also enable lots of very nice features and missions. What would seem to be an overkill at first quickly could change into a very interesting and demanding scenario. Imagine that the Russian outpost with limited forces and ammo, 4 Ka-50s and perhaps some Mi-24s / Mi-8s (for expanding the campaign) and small detachment of ground forces shows up on a map in the middle of the Nazi - controlled territory.
First few missions would be about stoping an angry German advance. Then trying to do some recon, find the positions of US troops, trying to get there and make contact. Then another set of missions while working together to make a corridor between the outpost and main D-Day force. And finally cooperation in doing some strikes behind enemy lines, working with Russian special troops acting as spotters etc. The possibilities are countless.
Also, that would solve an issue of not having any NAV aids that otherwise would be difficult to explain. And could be very interesting if player was given some detailed maps and asked to do a navigation based on landmarks / directions / distances.
All that against a well-researched historical background about unit strengths and movements in that period of time.
I think the campaign could be very engaging danger - wise, as German AAA would still be quite deadly, encounters with FW-190s and Me-109s interesting (though I have no experience here, I know that meeting with Ka-50s even in F-15 can end badly for me, so I think it should be quite fun).
Now I see only two real cons:
- DCS users like things realistic. So don’t know what the reaction would be like.
- It would require Ka-50, Normandy + WW2 assets… but then, if I had a good campaign like this for A-10 released by someone I would quickly buy the WW2 stuff even if I wasn’t into that period.
Looking forward to hearing what you think!
BD
but I’d love to do a helo campaign!
