Sinking Ships/Anti-Surface-Warfare discussion (with DCS World 2.5 examples)

[near_blind]

@Franze

most people wouldn’t tolerate the acceptable break from reality.

@Franze

die-hard DCS fans would scream bloody murder if every rivet wasn’t precisely where it should be

I’m going to refer you to this: Razbam Announcement

Many people talk a big talk about rivet counting in DCS, but my distinct impression having watched community for years is the majority of folks will happily make broad compromises for something they want if offered. The current best example is the Falklands, Vietnam or 50’s Korea will probably be the next. There’s a vocal minority that wants everything as close to correct as possible (myself included), or just like to throw wrenches at things, no doubt, we’re not the majority.

@Hangar200

A good point. Since the 2008 Russia-Georgia War and Russia’s 2014 Annexation of the Crimea there is not much left to do with the Caucus theater.

@Hangar200

The Arabian Gulf (a.k.a. Persian Gulf) was an interesting choice. Yes it gives you some carrier action and I assume the intended adversary is Iran. However, as far as “convincing, plausible scenarios”, Iran is basically it. There is only so much you can do with that except run the gauntlet of the SOH, especially since it appears that the map stops short of Bushehr and Kharg island. To me, the lack of Navy assets (at this time), the lack of coastal defense cruise missiles (CDCM) and absence of naval improvements that @MBot described, makes for a rather unconvincing theater at this time

The Caucuses are always going to be an implausible map for anything other than Russia wailing on Georgia. No NATO aircraft except maybe A-10s and Harriers would operate from bases that close to the Russian mainland unless we had pushed in to the hilt, and none of the NATO bases in Turkey are there. Also there is, as you have pointed out, the Montreux Convention which prevents anything bigger than a cruiser going through (and the minor issue that shoving a CVBG in the Black Sea is criminal amounts of stupid). Still, it’s what we have.

I’m more lenient towards the Persian Gulf map. We can definitely use more naval vessels, and a deeper simulation of them, but between what is there, and what we are getting, you can make convincing enough scenarios about contesting control of the strait, or an aggressive air war aimed at crippling Iranian infrastructure. (For we should be getting CDCMs, Wags promised me in the form of youtube video!).

At the end of the day, any map that has sufficient size and enough stuff to bomb can inspire missions with enough application of hand wavium. I’d love a Taiwan Straits, I want Norway or Iceland. I would unironically take a Venezuela.