The enemy is on their last legs. There is no more room for them to retreat east in the valley. For this mission, our task is to bloody an enemy supply depot that is grouped on a road leading out of the valley.
The default waypoint setup for the mission had too many points and did not leave enough room for the target run in. So I adjusted the waypoints and used the measuring tool to measure the distance from the initial point (#4) to the target waypoint (#5) and came up with 17,000 meters which gives me a distance of just over 10 miles to fly and acquire targets.
A close study of the target area map shows this should be a pretty easy area to spot from the air with a distinct bend in the river and the road paralleling the river as it heads north.
I set up a custom loadout for this mission. I figured with the target area being easy to spot I could use the extra Mavericks so I loaded "K" Mavericks instead of "D" Mavericks. A big mistake. I also loaded the big Mk-84 bombs and 4 Rockeyes.
Now THIS is a strike loadout!
We were lucky enough to get a SEAD escort which did a pretty piss poor job of tidying up the approaches to the strike area. They managed one HARM kill and one JSOW kill, which was helpful since it was on one of the lethal 2S6s. But they paid dearly since they didn't maintain their standoff range..
As I headed out over the area to the south I gave my wingman the "Attack Air Defenses" command and I was very pleased to see him roll in immediately and fire a Maverick. I gave him the rejoin command which helped him stay out of harms way.
I continued to loiter and gain altitude to the south side of the valley while I managed my wingman.
I ordered him again to attack air defenses and I was surprised this time to see him dive for the deck and do a low approach toward the target area using terrain masking. I figured he was a dead man. Particularly when he designated one of the deadly 2S6s. Tracers arc up at him as he goes eye to eye with the enemy and he gets his Maverick off the rail.
Surprisingly the attack works and my wingman rejoins unscathed! I thought for sure the 2S6 would get him or at the very least an infantry IR SAM. With most of the serious anti-air threats neutralized, I started heading toward the target area at over 20,000 feet. Slewing my Maverick seeker onto the target area I realized that the "K" model wasn't well suited to finding targets against a busy background.
Check out the difference between the "K" and this "D" imagery of the same location. The "D" makes spotting targets much, much more easy.
With the "K" being a non-starter, I select my Mk-84s and do a high altitude delivery. I roll in at a very steep angle (over 80 degrees) and pickle above 15,000 to have a pull-out above 10,000 to avoid low altitude air defenses.
This guy out driving a car on a beautiful afternoon through a war zone has some pretty miserable luck. Not only is a 2000 lb. bomb about to fall on him, it is going to do so right next to a fuel truck. Must have been some bad karma going on there...
The ensuing explosion from my Mk-84s was pretty impressive. I wish I could have used a shallower angle with more dispersion though. If I were any of the guys in the remaining trucks I think I'd be hoofing it on foot away from the scene.
I take a glance at my fuel gauge since my custom loadout only included 50% fuel to give me a bit better climb performance.
I give my wingman permission to engage the pre-briefed targets and figure he is safe since there seems to be little air defense threat left. Meanwhile, I roll in for a strike with my Rockeyes, again from high altitude.
I pop flares and pull hard to stay as high as possible, still worried about the MANPAD threat.
My Rockeye run is pretty disappointing. I think they are designed for a much more shallow and high speed delivery and the resulting pattern for mine is compressed and not very effective. Later analysis shows I did kill two vehicles, but it wasn't a good performance.
Meanwhile my wingman has taken a liberal interpretation of the term "briefed targets" and seems to have a fetish for killing tanks nearby. Even with his iron bombs he is a dead-eye.
His mission totals later are 4 T-80s and the S26 - the best performance I've had by an AI wingman and a great help to the mission!
With a little better idea of the disposition of the enemy supply trucks I have a little better luck and can get in closer with my "K" Mavericks. But I still get quite a few misses.
And finally it is down to gun passes to mop up the last of the supply units.
We get a mission success just when I'm worried we'll have to return to base to rearm and refuel. I couldn't have done it without the help of my wingman - he did a fantastic job. As I fly home I do so knowing that we now own the entire valley. What a great mini-campaign!
In the debrief I'm surprised to see that my Mk-84 strike actually did substantially more damage than I thought. Six vehicles were destroyed including two anti-aircraft emplacements that I didn't even know were there! Good luck for me!
The campaign is officially over!! Great job by Wags putting that together. I'm looking forward to checking out the "Red" side campaigns next! Thanks to everyone for the encouragement, hints, tips, and watching me bumble my way through the missions.
BeachAV8R
I've learned a lot and there is much more to explore for sure!