Mission #05 is a close air support mission to assist in repelling an enemy attack near Moqazad. This will be the first 4-ship mission of the campaign and I elect to take my bayou buddy “Boudreaux” for his A2G experience, while I assign top of the A2A leader board pilots 1Lt. Lin & 2Lt. Morris to fly in the second flight loaded with A2A weaponry and only rocket pods to keep them maneuverable.
I notice that as the campaign evolves, my supply list has gotten larger, my money has grown, and I DO finally see CBUs!
Off we go in dim light and poor visibility…
One thing that has always impressed me about SF2 is that the AI will actually pretty much do what you want them to immediately. If it is changing formation or engaging targets…they respond quickly, and roll in without delay. I order my wingman to attack specific ground targets while I let the second element concentrate on A2A with the Engage Air command…
As me and Bayou Buddy arrive in the area, we see there is a mess of a dogfight over our target area.
So me and Bayou deferred and circled back around to let things cool off while Gopher 1-3 and 1-4 dove into the action…
Oh snap…! Player three has entered the game! MiG-21s have arrived in theater with A2A missiles…
Meanwhile, I’m chomping at the bit because the enemy is rolling forward on our troops…pounding them with tank fire…
With the overhead battle hopefully distracting the enemy enough, I time a gap (yeah, I’m using the map) and we push our throttles forward until they bend. I can see smoke wafting up from the battle ahead. This is going to be a low screamer pass with all my CBUs…
It is a good pass…but it is just a smidge behind the advancing armor. I don’t know that CBU-24s would have made a dent anyway, but it was a good effort…
My wingman takes out a tank with rockets and I reef the jet around, select rockets and lay down a spread killing another tank. To my great surprise, just killing two tanks gives us a MISSION ACCOMPLISHED message even though there are plenty of targets left…
As I pull off…a sliver flashes across my HUD - MiG-21! I flip my HOTAS switch to A2A, hear the growl, and let loose three Sidewinders in a few seconds, they start to track, but quickly lose lock. I launch another - expending all of my A2A missiles in just six seconds. I follow up with a quick blast of my cannon and my afterburners are still plugged in. Hits…! I’ve managed to shoot down a MiG-21…!!
I pull gently around to head back to the west and friendly lines and I hear a radio call that “HE’S LAUNCHED A MISSILE”. Not knowing if it is me or someone else (there is a LOT of radio chatter in SF2), I check my six and see an Atoll going dumb behind me, it went straight into the desert…
I have a ton of energy and am settled in around Mach .92 when the fuel low level light illuminates. I ease the throttle back, the MiG-21 is no longer pursuing.
I’ve lost track of my wingman and the second element…I ask for a welfare check and am surprised to hear them all check on. No way!! I order them all to rejoin, then give them the RTB command while I make the short sprint back to base.
The mission is a success!
The breakdown of my engagement with the MiG-21…29 seconds from start to finish!
