A couple AARs from my time fooling around in the A-10 beta. Tons of fun already and I can't wait to see the finished product.

AAR of Hawg11
Day 1 of Operation Georgian Hammer: 9:00 AM

Situation: Georgia invaded by Russia. With Georgia now a member of NATO, units from the US Airforce and Army have been deployed to the coastal city of Batumi to assist in driving Russia back across the border. With Russian mechanized units rolling towards Batumi from the town of Kobuleti to the north, we have been tasked with taking down a bridge to slow their advance.


On the active performing a few pre-takeoff checks.


It'll be a quick flight today, as the target is a short 30 nautical miles away. It's nice to see there are already plenty of friendlies airborne in the area.


In the air on my first combat mission. Training is over and it's my first real test.


Being so close to the FLOT, I deviate from the flight plan and make a 270deg turn away from the next waypoint so that I can gain a bit of altitude and speed. This extra time gives both the targeting pod and mavericks that we have loaded a chance to cool down and be ready for action before we get too close. I also take the opportunity to adjust my countermeasure programs to dump lots of flares and chaff at the first sign of trouble. I won't be loitering too long and there's nothing that requires me to bring any back home.


I needed to concentrate on getting my weapons on the target, so with an automatic setting..it doesn't take long before those countermeasures are put to use. I have a SAM-8 tracking me, the plane is dumping chaff and flares like crazy, and I'm not getting a launch warning. This stuff might be working!


It's doesn't take long before I have the target in sight, lazed by the targeting pod, and a big fat bomb ready to ride the light. At the same time, I'm hoping the traffic on the bridge isn't civilian. With the intense ground fighting I can see around the area, I couldn't imagine anyone taking a leisurely stroll...


..so I drop my first bomb in anger.


Making a diving turn back away from the target (making sure not to obstruct the laser with the wing), I peer back over my shoulder to survey the damage. Looks like my primary mission is done.


With plenty of ordinance left, I engage the enemy armored units in the area. A couple of Mavericks, a few dumb bombs, and many rounds from the devastating GAU-8. The enemy units were trapped on a east-west running road to the north of the now destroyed bridge. So with the hills to the west, I would start my runs from over the sea, make my attack, then turn south and back over water to line up for the next run. (I was having to much fun to stop and take any screenies at this point) I got about three good runs in...then my radar warning receiver went nuts.



















Oh no, we have serious issues! I'm in an uncontrollable roll, it looks like there are pieces of my aircraft that are floating away, and I have warning lights a blinkin' and warning horns a blowin'. :paranoid:


It seems like this fella snuck up on me and put a missile directly into my ass.
Is he winking?


Eject! Eject! I pull the handle and am promptly shot out of the burning wreckage that was my aircraft. As I float down to the sea, I'm somewhat comforted by seeing that Mig suddenly burst into flames...where was that CAP a minute ago?


I see him in a chute too...and damn...if he were closer, I'd paddle my raft over so I could punch him in the nose.

Well, my first real missions didn't end so well. We'll have to do better than this.

AAR of Hawg11

Day 2 of Operation Georgian Hammer : 6:10 AM

During the course of Day 1, US forces have pushed the invading Russian forces several kilometers back up the coast as well as back towards the Russian Georgian border. A large Russian contingent has fallen back into the city of Samtredia and the neighboring airfield at Kopitnari.

U.S. brass is determined to keep the pressure on and has tasked several armored brigades with pushing across the Rioni River and into Samtredia. The USAF has been tasked with eliminating Russain armored units that have fortified their positions at the only bridge crossing into the city.



6:21 AM. After a unintentional swim and a light sleep yesterday, I'm airborne and headed towards the front once again. The boys on the ground must have been busy, as they pushed the front at least another 20 km over the past 20 hours.



Georgia is actually a beautiful country...other than the war below us. Sun rising over the mountains onto the Black Sea...






It doesn't take long for me to snap back to the reality of the situation as I notice a pair of friendly tadpoles showing up on my TAD display.



A pair of F-16s far over me at 19000 ft. and moving fast. I'm guessing that is our CAP for this mission. They are heading in the right direction and pouring on the coals. With our mission so close to an enemy airfield...I'm glad they'll arrive on station before we do.



With the comfort that seeing the CAP provided, I'm able to get my targeting systems prepped a bit early. Zooming into the the taget area on my TAD, I go ahead and start setting a point of interest a bit north of the bridge where I'm expecting the enemy armor units to be dug-in. I also see that I'm already picking up the IFF 'X's of some friendly troops...I'm sure they are itching to go.


Once I cross waypoint 5, I go ahead and call in the SEAD that just announced it was on station...if they can take out any SAMs before I get there, my job will be a hell of a lot easier. I haven't seem them yet, but I hope they're close.

As I cross my initial point and turn on the targeting pod, I find my hunch was right and there are plenty of units stationed near the bridge. I'm quickly able to designate a T-72 out in the open and have my wingman begin his attack.



With several other units nearby, I make a few passes with Mavericks...breaking away before getting too close. A couple misses and one hit...I'm still struggling with getting a solid lock with them. That said, my #2 is an absolute sniper, and having much better luck. Between us and the friendly artillery units across the river..the whole area is starting to smolder.



After expending my Mavericks, I still have a couple tons of ordinance to deliver. Lazing another T-72 with the Targeting pod, I dive in with a guided bomb, and cut it loose.



Damn! Missed! I was pretty sure I had this one plinked...not to be. And who the hell is shooting at me?



I immediately order #2 attack any additional air defenses. He affirms the order as I swing out, and soon calls 'Guns! Guns! Guns!'



As I weave my way out of range, I see our armored units bogged down at the bridge...which has collapsed. I have no idea what happened, but there are still a few enemies that may endanger them.



After noticing a few additional tanks lined up nicely along a tree line, I reverse, coming in for a gun run from the east. Hey..seeing my #2 shoot his made me jealous...and it's there for a purpose.

I aim slightly below, pull the trigger, and watch my rounds walk right past him.



Pulling out, I see tracers flash by my canopy, and hear some rounds impact my aircraft.



I'm in control though...the flying parts are still working, but I've lost some systems here. All my steam gauges are busted, and bits of my internal navigation. So I have no airspeed or altitude displaying on the HUD or the gauges...no VSI either. I am still getting waypoints up on the HUD...so I think this is a good time to bug out.

As I pass back over the city, I see how much damage has actually been done...there are fires burning everywhere, including from several collapsed buildings. Once again I wonder about the impact on the civilian population.



Out over open water, #2 surveys the damage to my aircraft. There are holes from small arm fire all the way from the wing root to the nose. I'm just glad I'm sitting in a titanium bathtub. I'm also happy that I never was spiked by any enemy aircraft or major surface to air threats. I did see an air to air engagement before I started our attacks, but it was far above us and way off to the west. I guess that our CAP and SEAD did their jobs well and hope they've all made it home safely.



On final for landing...and it's going to be a tough one without airspeed or a VSI. Switching to an alternate source brought my altimeter back to life, but it seems kinda pointless now.



Thankfully I'm able to put it on the ground 2 times! I got a nice bounce on touchdown and had to really get on the brakes to stop before I ran out of runway...but stop I did.


As I climb out of the cockpit, a few things are on my mind....

Were the troops ever able to make the crossing and take the city?

Will I be heading back to Samtredia tomorrow?

Will my crew chief kill me from bringing in his plane all shot up? Hey...I least I was able to bring this one back.

Great AAR reports!

I agree heavily!

Can't wait to see how the campaign goes for ya.

Me? I'm still in training. Guns and CCIP good, off to Mavs, CCRP and LGBs when time permits...

Very nice AAR Cheapshot.

Very well done, Sir!

Nice reports.

A VERY, VERY important point to remember about this campaign is that you often have air cover, SEAD, and CAS flights on call. From the radio menu ( \ ) select Other and you can often see a list of assets you can push from there IP hold points to enter the fight.

For some missions, you also use this to direct ground forces to move out to objectives.

This is new features of DCS that we hope will make the battlefield much more interactive.

All that being said, this campaign is still very incomplete and buggy. The next beta update will be much more clean.

Awesome AAR's. I really enjoyed reading these. Makes me more jealous I can't afford to pre-order and try out the beta yet lol. Maybe this weekend if I can talk the old lady into it lol. Looking forward to reading some more.

Realy nice, thanks for that. I am going to have to dive into the campaign soon.

Thanks for the kind words all. I'm not able to cover every mission, but I'll try to write them up for any 'big' or interesting sorties.



I've struggled with the radio a bit, unsure of what's user error, and what's beta. But I can see how it's going to be much more interactive than the Shark.



I've been keeping track of campaign bugs, crashes, etc. while using the editor to make my way through/around missions that are buggy or may crash out. I know you don't need them posted yet, but I'll likely re-run them from the beginning once you update and see what's still having issues. I'm very anxious to see how much improvement has been made.

It's only beta, but I can already say with confidence that the Warthog will be mounted on the hard drive for a long long time.