So to add on to what @jenrick and @TeTeT posted - last night’s mission was another for the memory banks. It was so much fun flying with everyone - a really fun group here.
Side note - pretty much every day at some point I make a copy of the mission save file which includes the state of the map and player statistics at that moment. I believe the mission saves every few minutes to that file…so my saves are once or twice a day snapshots of the campaign status. I only mention it in case a griefer came along who decided to spend all our credits or go around blowing up our bases. Please let me know if you see anything unusual like that in the server. Right now the server info is posted on a public forum here..but if we ever need to we can utilize a more secure sub-forum or something to post server details.
Our mission for the day was the eastward expansion over to Al-Dahid. Of course, after the 48 hours it took to take Sharjah..I thought little old Al-Dahid would be a piece of cake. Well..it was easier..but it still wasn’t easy.. 
I’m not sure how @fearlessfrog’s passport allowed him access to this thing..but it was entertaining to listen to him attempt an anti-ship attack in the Viggen. Paging @Troll ….
The airspace over Al-Dahid was pretty contested. There was rarely more than a few minutes of peace and quiet over the FARP as enemy CAP flights kept coming down. Last night was a prime example of how valuable a good human BLUE CAP flight is as @fearlessfrog and @chipwich drew most of the action towards themselves while @jenrick and I spent time putting ordnance on Al-Dahid. During one of the pauses in the CAP action we did have a chance to try out buddy lasing with me targeting with the JF-17’s WMD targeting pod and both Frog and jenrick slinging bombs and Hellfires at targets I was designating. The LGBs were definitely easier because you have a lot of time to coordinate and after the bomb drop you have some time to make adjustments..with the Hellfire..it is flying so fast the missile arrives just seconds after firing..so the laser definitely needs to be on and in the right spot…
@chipwich ranging out over the water to hassle some Ka-50s…
The Hornet drivers made some sacrifices for us ground pounders..it was very much appreciated..!
@jenrick putting in the work..it was fun watching through my pod as I was targeting something and I’d see a little black streak whooshing by as his Hellfires would come into frame…
DCS World in VR is simply stunning. 2D screen grabs don’t really do it justice at all..but here I was flying over Sharjah..fleeing an enemy CAP flight while our BLUE was sorting them out. Zipping overhead and seeing the smoke trails from Hawk battery launches..it is just mesmerizing…
The climax of the night had to be this extremely tense moment as Al-Dahid went neutral and the race was on to claim it.
I had bustered back to Sharjah to pick up a CH-47 and loaded it with zone crates and was enroute to the FARP..but so too was an enemy Mi-8 with a sling loaded crate…so the race was on..
Mi-8s are soooooo hard to target and lock and kill when flying fast-movers. I can’t tell you how many shots I’ve missed in the JF-17 trying to take out helos at this point..so I knew it was going to be a challenge.
In the frenzy and pressure of the moment..sh*t happens sometimes..
Everyone felt awful about it..but I thought it was tremendously exciting and fun.. - it was so much tension and pressure and it was just great! I think someone might have gotten some hits on the Mi-8..but regardless..after it dropped its cargo it DID NOT take the FARP for some reason and it remained neutral long enough for me to grab another CH-47 and get back in there…
Passing under @jenrick on the way back to the FARP…such beautiful skies in the fading light..
Once I unloaded the FARP zone supplies I wanted to fly over and pick up my two ejected pilots for the credits. Unfortunately I know nothing about the CH-47 NVG system or interior or exterior lights..and once it got dark over by the FARP it was impossible to really see the ground. I dinged up the CH-47 on landing near one of the CSAR pilots..not sure what exactly got damaged. I finally found the flashlight command and at least got the cockpit lights on…
I elected to head to Sharjah instead of the FARP because I knew I’d probably hit a tower or power line if I tried to land at the dark FARP…
A few of us signed off after capturing the FARP while @jenrick and @TeTeT cooperated to destroy the insurgent camp just north of the FARP. I think that is one of those side-missions that isn’t a “captureable” zone..just something to eliminate..and they did a great job on that!
Server is restarted this morning..so it should go back to daylight. Would you guys like me to change up the weather on the next server restart? I think it is fun to face different conditions…but clouds can certainly make designating a bit of trouble..
