We’ve been tasked to provide overhead escort to a convoy of vehicles driving in the valley between Karachaevsk and Verhnyaya. Initially the support will be provided by a pair of Mi-24s and we’ll pick up the route midway down the valley.



As we get spooled up back the FARP the convoy proceeds under the cover from the Mi-24 flight…



For this mission I’ll have a wingman – something to keep in mind when making decisions.



We head south down to the entrance of the valley before picking up the road eastbound where we will relieve the Mi-24 flight.



Zoomed in through the HUD we spot the convoy passing the small village partway down the valley. The Mi-24 flight spots us and gives us a brief overview and heads back to the FARP.



The convoy has a scout unit several hundred meters in front of them while the main convoy consists mostly of trucks.



As we continue up the valley we keep our eyes peeled. I saw a tracked vehicle near the far end of the operations area and I almost blew it up before realizing it was not an enemy vehicle.



Scanning carefully we spot a group of insurgents in positions on the north side of the highway, obviously setting up an ambush. They don’t actively fire at me, so I can take my time and set up for a hovering rocket attack.





The rockets blow up in the tree line and insurgents fall left and right.





I figure I’ve prevented the attack and briefly pull my attention away from the area to check on the status of the convoy. The lead element comes around the bend and comes under vicious attack. I turn back to the hillside and am surprised to see a whole bunch more troops sliding into position beneath the trees. Holy crap! I switch to my cannon and start lacing the area with rounds as I sweep the tree line.





I think I’m doing a pretty good job but somehow an RPG squeaks through and blows up the scout unit.





Enraged I put my remaining rockets blindly into the trees hoping to kill any remaining insurgents.



As the convoy pushes through the ambush no more units are destroyed. We stare up the valley into the sun and I send my wingman forward to recon the route ahead.





Soon enough the convoy releases us as they approach their destination.



My wingman and I rejoin and head back to the FARP.



In the debrief I’m curious to see how the action occurred. I can see the obvious – my initial rocket attack killed a fair number of insurgents, then the scout opened up with his cannon killing more while I hit a few more with cannon rounds. From what I can tell, it appears the scout and his dismounts were killed by a shot that occurred at 7:49:26 by Unit #5 (Infantry AK) but I’m unsure of what the weapon type was (5 45x39) (RPG I assume?).



The mission is a success however and I’m looking forward to mission #3.

BeachAV8R

Nice AAR Beach.

When all else fails hit them have everything you got.


Wheels

Great AAR Beach! You know you've got quite the eye for how to set up those screenshots. They are dramatic to a degree, very well positioned. I take it you must fly the mission and then utilize screenshots from the track file?

Thanks. And no..I actually take those screen during the mission. Just use the pause key a lot. I need to investigate using the tracks a bit more..but I've heard they don't often playback the same as the recording. I'll give it a whirl though..!

Interesting...yes it is difficult to use them (tracks) due to the problems...hence was wondering how you captured such good shots. I've tried myself and tracks usually are something different from what I've flown.

Looks like the insurgent infantry blew up that APC with just a 5.45x39 mm bullet, probably fired from an AK-74. Although maybe it was just hit earlier by an RPG and there's a delay before the vehicle explodes and is counted as "dead".

I wonder if after the "RPG" call from one of the units that there isn't a script that just blows the APC up regardless of whatever else is going on. Probably so.

I think so. I've killed everyone on this hill long before the convoy arrived. So i decided to stay in front of the hill and wait fo the convoy and Voila! Soldiers appear as the scout bmp arrives, he explodes and i switched to my cannon and kill everyone again. i think it's a trigger zone for the scout bmp. But anyway, great campaign from start to the last mission!