Thanks @jenrick - I’ll read it all properly later, but appreciated.
I did managed to shoot a SA-8 today, but it was hard work and I’m not doing it right for sure. Dinner is ready, so my abridged notes:
FARP Dallas is now out of weapons? I guess only a helo + crates can resupply it? I couldn’t do it with the mission resupply stuff and it basically wouldn’t ground crew load weapons for me.
I forgot that I have to work the FCR firing and that George didn’t really want to play with that.
The airfield on the coast that @BeachAV8R and I were going for (the one further south left on the east coast) had an SA-3 where I couldn’t get the stupid Hellfires in range (George had it all targeted but if I hear ‘Negative, not in range’ one more time I’m screaming - seemed super hard to sneak up on it as well. Lost a few helos to that.. Is there an easy way on the video display to display target range or did I must miss it (likely, I was busy screaming a fair bit).
A fully loaded fully fueled Apache is a pain to hover in the mountains, especially with SAMs constantly tracking me, lost a lot of helos today. Often due to me clipping the ground evading.
So I need to work out how to drive the FCR better, use the Lima’s better and take it from there.
Fujairah is neutral and @jenrick is whop-whopping in in a CH-47 to turn it blue.
Found my new favorite weapon..well..2nd favorite..the laser rockets are still my bestie…but this SFW cannister thing can take care of some business (when it isn’t getting shot down..)…
I need a lesson on that too. I was trying to build a crate with a SAM launcher (well..that was what I wanted to do) but kept getting the message that I can’t build a crate in the loading area. So I moved..and that didn’t work either. I need some CTDL education apparently…
I think I died more times last night clearing out convoy, than I have in the preceeding days combined. Regardless it is clear. Grabbed a predator to do some lasing as was able to loft in a hellfire to kill the Tunguska that was the biggest issue. From there working out from the water allowed me to slowly kill everything else off. I decided to mix it up a little as well
There was some light armor staged on a cliff slope in a gravity defying manner that was causing hell with ATGM’s, but nothing that a does of heavy soviet rocket and cannons couldn’t fix. Too bad landing the Hind is one of my weaker skills.
The HIMARs started doing it’s own thing after a few minutes, set off every alarm in the Apache when it started firing off missiles at Khasab. It thinned things out there some, but redfor has run in supplies. I parked two ammo trucks adjacent to the launcher to keep it fed, so for now it’s a steady state between the launch and redfor at Khasab. It’d be easy enough to build a bunch of HIMAR’s and overwhelm Khasab, but what would be the fun in that?
If I get sometime this afternoon, I see about finishing off what @BeachAV8R and @fearlessfrog started at Alpha and putting a FARP there for the push into Khasab. I probably should take up a fast jet with a targeting pod to get practice in before we start island hopping. I am severely out of practice in all my fixed wing stuff that doesn’t involve manual reticle depression.
A Predator FAC allowed me to lob in laser hellfires, and after getting whacked in the above shot, I figured something little faster was in order. While I was loading up a Harrier, the HIMARs decided to help out and proceed to kill off most of the air defense assets, which while appreciated could have happened a bit sooner. I reacquainted myself with shooting laser mavericks, a 2 mavericks and a GBU and Alpha was clear.
Next to capture it, we headed off in a Chinook across the mountains. This honestly would have been a much better route to use the Apache as the terrain from the West was much better to fight from then open water to the East, live and learn.
In the middle of coming in for a fast assault landing, one of my cats decided that was the ideal time to try to unplug various USB devices, with her teeth.
Bounced from Alpha up the coast a bit to setup FARP Moscow which should provide a great ingress point for the fight at Khasab.
Anyone feeling like some logistics flying, Alpha needs some more zone supplies, Moscow can take a couple loads of warehouse supplies, and we can probably use a few SAM/AAA batteries along the west coast if that’s the direction we’re heading.
As an aside, man I wish the C-130 was patched to be able to run cargo. Alpha would have been a perfect spot to do either a tac landing or to airdrop cargo for the capture. Particularly coming in from the West through the mountains. Might have to mess with that in SP to try it out.
I’m glad it wasn’t just me, as it felt like helicopters didn’t really need wheels as I never got to actually land one after a mission.
The AAR from last night for me, even if a bit frantic so I might be missing bits:
@BeachAV8R really really likes that cluster munition on the Temu Jaguar. If they ever do a stuffy version I’m getting it for him for Valentines.
The Air Defence up north was/are quite fruity, and Red Air always seems to be busier now, as we creep up towards the Iran coast. What I found worked better was rather than fixate on the SA-n threats with HARM TOO mode and then get shot down with enemy fighters while fiddling with buttons, or even fixate on the enemy fighters and get shot down by anti air threats while fiddling with the attack radar, was to just worry about the fighters first and then use Self Protect SP mode on the HARM. When it got a lock, and usually a ground to air missile on the way, I’d just lob the HARM off willy nilly, go 3 or 9 o’clock on the EWR to try to notch/evade it and then poop some chaff (I know what I said). That seemed to knock a few of the SA’s out and let me keep some semblance of sort order on the red fighters.
At one point we had nine (9!) fighters clambering to kill @BeachAV8R and his probably illegal cluster munition. What I found worked was using the AWACS, getting low in the mountains and then circling up practically underneath them to throw up a 120C as a sort of jack-in-the-box surprise. I got more or less all of them, with the help of bumbling AI F-16’s that condescended to finally actually do an occasional CAP (while still mostly get shot down by MiG-21bis’s).
So we finished up on the night with a good feeling of taking the final UAE base now I think.
I doubt we could get a weapon through that defense..but a toss bomb LGB to take out that runway might not be a terrible idea. Unfortunately I’m not able to fly tonight..and not until late tomorrow…so you guys will probably be done with Khasab by then…
Finally got Fujairah cleared out after I finally tracked down this enemy squad that was marching at the fringes of the zone…I’m guessing they were the rejects from Stripes..
I just had a quick fly, lost a couple harriers with shamefully little to show for it (a mission kill on an Su-25T and the knowledge that going up solo against the Khasab SHORAD with nothing but a bag of rockets was not a good idea. While I did get the drop on them, they dropped me too!)
So I went and rescued my poor pilot (the one that survived the contact with the enemy) in this beautiful thing:
In the next day or so while the server is dormant I will update the .miz file to the most recent one Leka has tweaked. These are the lastest changes. The .miz files are retroactively compatible so the mission saves and our statistics will still work. I will be sure to back everything up just in case though…
First my apologies to @jenrick.. We had both spawned into a heli at the same spot causing us to blow each other up and designating us both as teamkillers. The penalty was some 1000 points. Very unlucky.
I was trying out this CTLD stuff.. Turns I don’t have enough rank to spawn in a SAM to transport and set up, not even an AAA. What I could though, was load up some MANPADS. So for a price of just a 100 credits, I did just that.
All soldiers on board.. I am barely recent in the hind. I think I flew a few practice attack sorties with Petrovich a few months back and that has been it.. No clue how to even manage all these lights and systems but I figured I could fly north a bit and put these guys on the approaches to charlie.
I’m a bit scared of a havoc in the area. He has much better night attack equipment than I do and could probably just shoot me down with an ATGM or his flexible gun. But if he doesn’t notice me I could get the drop with my MANPADS maybe?
Launch! I was barely a minute away when the MANPADS were already shooting. They had found a Fencer that I didn’t even see on any EWRS or the F10 map.
Great succes! Seems to have been worth the credits as we still have way more than 10k. Wondering if we get a refund if we retrieve them later or if we can resupply them or something.
Can you or @jenrick give a short tutorial on how to build a CTLD box..? Every time I try to build one I get a message that says you cannot build in a loading area… and no matter where I move I can’t seem to hit the right formula.
Oh man..the hills are alive with MANPADS… I guess we should be grateful that there are not human red side players… though that would certainly create some interesting scenarios I’m sure.
… and sorry about the nighttime ops..I saw @schurem was on the server so I didn’t get a chance to reset the server before I left the house this evening. I can reset it at about 9 PM Eastern…
I tried a bit of CA, just to get my $9 worth after 17 years. It’s not exactly World of Warcraft III but things do move.
I had the indignity of having to beg @jenrick to spawn some units in for me , as I lack rank (didn’t anybody care about the Tactical Commander t-shirt I’m wearing?) and I now have some armor winding their way North. I think Khasab will be all gone by the time they arrive but it does prove you can move units ok.
Here’s the units on the way from K.A.S. and their general route:
Here’s the ‘road’ through the mountains, pretty much the only one in the map that goes North (Alpha has no road north, and you can’t spawn at a CTLD Farp):
Hmmm I haven’t tried a box yet as these troops went directly into the the troop compartment without using the box system. I was trying just now to see if I could assemble a Humvee but I got stuck with a problem of my own. I couldn’t unload cargo without opening the door, but my door was clearly open. All I know about CTLD, with regards to your problem, is that the scripts won’t allow you to unload in the vicinity of a base. It was too dark (and too late) for me to try again.
I didn’t have my chat window open…
