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#1652617 - 10/17/05 02:31 PM First successful mission in F4:Allied Force  
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 91
RFT Offline
Junior Member
RFT  Offline
Junior Member

Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 91
Leamington Spa UK
I'm something of a newbie at F4:AF- I've maybe got 5-6 hours on it now. after a couple of abortive campaign attempts, I thought I'd try the "Power Station Strike" TE that ships with the game. here's how it went...

I studied the breifing closely- my main concern to start with was the selected weapon of GBUs- I swapped these for the dumb equivalent, the Mk-84. With the bombsight modes the F-16 provides, I'm finding the ease of use of the iron bombs to outweigh the extra accuracy of the laser guidance, particularly as we're attacking a large, well defended building, I did't want all the faffing around with lasers. I made a careful note of the target building's co-ordinates in order to zero-in the approriate steerpoint to make things even easier, a tactic i'd used with success on a bridge strike I'd done a few days ago (shortly before a pair of MiG-29s blew my out fo the sky)

The first hiccup occurred on the ramp- I couldn't remeber how to enter the steerpoint info. after a minute's stabbing at the ICP, and mindful of the need to get going, I decided to leave it and use the radar to pick out the right target.

after what seemed like a long taxi to hold short of the runway, I missed the braking point and stuck my nose out over the main runway. I was beginning to think this may not be my day.

Anyway, with the aircraft properly lined up and the appropriate permissions, it was time to go. Full afterburner pull on the stick, and.. man, this thing is heavy. Those big droptanks and bombs did thier best to prevent me taking flight, but finally we got off the ground. Gear Up, I turned to head to the push point.

With the plane on course and slightly ahead of the speed caret, I knocked the autopilot on while I did a little housekeeping. Master Arm on. Lights Off. mess fruitlessly with the ICP trying to change the steerpoint. not long after takeoff my A-A radar picks up the F-15Cs that are protecting us from MiGs.

still slowly climbing over soeul airbase, I can hear the ATC chatter of the F/A-18s that are going to be our SEAD flight. I realise I must be overspeeding a bit and back off the throttle.


with the package assembled and identified (apart from the Strike Eagles that are certainly there, but I haven't seen them) we head out across the FLOT and into the range of enemy SAMs.

A quick word with AWACS confirms no enemy fighters, but I tell my wingmen that they're weapons-free anyway. It's not long after this that things really start to happen. I see a SAM trail go up in front of me, and hear pilots calling out "engaged, defensive". I assuem this must be the SEAD flight getting to work and switch on the jammer. a check of the HSD shows I'm about 30 miles from the target, so I skip ahead a few steerpoints and start trying to find the target with the ground radar.

but- first things first, I remember to switch my bomb release to drop both the mk-84s. I've already learned enough not to make second passes...

with the plane now in A-G mode, I start trying to pick out the building i want from the radar returns, but don;t have much luck. again, i'm stymied a little by knowing what function I want (to maginfy the scope around the cursor), but not knowing how to do it. still I persist anyway, but as insurance, start to climb for plan B.

At 10 miles out, and still not happy with the results of using the radar, I resolve to do things visually, as it's clear and I can now clearly see the reactor buidling. At around this time, I start hearing the F-15s calling out missile launches, claering the skies of MiGs.

I get the pipper over the target and pickle. I order my wingmen to attack my target. As I pickled a below-the-hud solution, I now have to wait. but I get jumpy as the flak starts to burst around the plane. the RWR is also lit up with lots of little numbers relating to SAMS, and although none have got a lock on my, i'm not keen to maintain straught and level any longer than neccessary. I take my thumb off the pickle button and dive, bringing the target back into sight. The "below-the-HUD" line is still shown, but i'm happier with the solution so pickle again. and now wait. I hear two cries of "bombs away", presumably from my wingmen and suddenly wonder when my bombs are going to drop. or maybe they have. either way it's too late to worry about it as I heave the nose up, narrowly missing the cooling towers. the sharp response to the stick hints at the answer, and looking over the wing confirms, the bombs did drop. Now, to make myself scarce...

Burner fully lit, I turn tail and head for home, flak still popping around the plane. I start to climb. a quick look over my right shoulder, and I see smoke rising from the target, which is already impressively far away. Calling AWACS, I'm told there are 2 MiG-21s behind me, but at enough of a distance that they shouldn't be a threat.

as we head back towards the FLOT and relative safety, I hear a shout from one of the Hornets. Downed by unknown forces. The pilot hist his chute and they call for a chopper. one of his wingmen flies RESCAP.

Back up at 15,000ft, I suddenly see large dark shapes up ahead of me. It's the Strike eagles. I'm moving a lot faster than them and fly over the top of thier formation, but give them a roll and a wave to say well done. It looks like our mission was a success.

just before we cross the FLOT, I drop the now empty tanks- my first successful use of the selective jettison mode. I get a master caution (which puzzles me, but a check shows that it's because i'm now in the wrong stores config mode for the FLCS, so i fix that). Now at the helm of a lean, light plane, and 2 sidweinders and Amraams going begging, I find myself wanting to find some trouble, but AWACS says there's nothing around so I just head on home.

with the plane about 10 miles from the runway, and descending to 2000ft in accordinace with the tower instructions, I go to switch my lights on. I usually use the hat for lookign around the cockpit but for some reason i decided to click my way and around and hit the idle detent. the engine starts to run down.

I must have been at around 5000 ft at this point. quickly I hit the jfs to restart the turbine and waited for it to spin up. the needle moved agonisingly slowly to 20% and then stopped. oh, yes, idle detent again, which i clicked and the engine span up more until it suddenly kicked back to life and the jet statrted to fly again. after thanking my lucky stars, (and cursing the placement of certian on-screen hotspots) I got back in the pattern and went into my final.

A strong crosswind made for a tricky approach with the velocity vector under a load of alphanumerics, but i made a clean touchdown and smooth rollout.

Another long taxi took me to the aircraft shelters and I popped the canopy and switched the plane off, feeling very happy at my first completed mission.

The debrief told a mostly happy tale. the power station was knocked out, though it had been my wingmen's bombs that had done it- mine had missed.

The F-15E flight had done respectable damage to the ancillary buildings
The F-15Cs had accounted for 6 or 7 MiGs, but thier mission was counted as failed as they'd wandered off station.
The F-18s succeeded in their mission as there were no losses to enemy SAMS or AAA, however they lost two aircraft, with one pilot rescued and the other MIA. Presumably they were shot down by MiGs before the F-15s got them all.

My head swelled when I looked at my rating of excellent, despite the minor ATC violation and not actually hitting or killing anything.

what I learned:
It's possible to survive missions (I was beginning to doubt i'd ever manage it)
Need to spend more time reading the radar docs
Need to re-learn that ICP trick.

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#1652618 - 10/17/05 11:31 PM Re: First successful mission in F4:Allied Force  
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 10
Huwie Offline
Junior Member
Huwie  Offline
Junior Member

Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 10
UK
Great story, RFT! I'm on the learning curve for F4AF myself and that report was very encouraging. In fact, what am I doing here when I could be playing...? \:\)

#1652619 - 10/18/05 11:23 AM Re: First successful mission in F4:Allied Force  
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 3,745
hbxov Offline
Senior Member
hbxov  Offline
Senior Member

Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 3,745
UK
Nice read,thanks.
And Well Done! \:D

#1652620 - 10/18/05 05:52 PM Re: First successful mission in F4:Allied Force  
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 24,314
BeachAV8R Offline
Lifer
BeachAV8R  Offline
Lifer

Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 24,314
KCLT
Cool story...isn't it awesome when you get back alive and manage to put a hurting on the enemy??! Good luck with the rest of the campaign..!

BeachAV8R



#1652621 - 10/19/05 04:25 PM Re: First successful mission in F4:Allied Force  
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 91
RFT Offline
Junior Member
RFT  Offline
Junior Member

Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 91
Leamington Spa UK
well, it's not a capaign, just a TE, and I flew it again today to try doing it with LGBs (having re-learned the ICP thing and read up on using the A-G radar) and got swatted out of the sky like a moth. 6 SAMS launched on me in the space of 45 seconds...


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