Exactly. Nothing new here on my part. I mentioned the .ini because for those who don't know the series, the custom creator won't let you create any campaign you want. It only lets you add one custom plane/squadron into an existing campaign. And I really wanted a campaign centered around the A-4.

I added some extra units, bumped all of the Red forces down the tech tree, so to speak. Tried to use the appropriate US squadrons for the time, but coudn't find any Atlantic livery for the F-8J. I think the A-6 squadron is wrong too, but oh well. It's still fun. And I'll enjoy tweaking it down the road.

Very nice Arthur.

Amazingly, my dropping of a $1 million piece of hardware into the North Atlantic, never to be seen again, has been deemed a "mechanical mishap" and I'm flying again in a few hours, while No. 300 is the Atlantic's newest artificial reef.

Another SEAD. Drat.




Things go wrong as soon as we're on target. That AAA gunner must be a fecking marksman, because on my first pass, my left stabilizer is shot off, and I'm forced to dump my load and limp home.


I'ld have asked my wingman to finish up alone, but a MiG-21 is in the area, and that would just be sending a good pilot to his doom.

I'm determined not to lose another airframe. The handling is tricky, it wants to roll and the nose wants to drop, but I manage to get 310 back on the deck, safely.


Next mission is a strike. Take out the fuel tank. "It already wants to explode, all we have to do is give it a little push." says Lloyd. Lt Lloyd, that is.



I take off with some cluster bombs and 250 pounders, and I make sure Lloyd has some Sidewinders as well as bombs so that he can be my de facto escort.


When we are about 20 miles from the airstrip, we dive for cover for a nice little canyon run up to the target.


I lead the attack, and the AAA opens up on me. Maybe I'm still gunshy from the last mission, but I panic. A bad release, and I call for my wingman to mop up. As I'm coming back around for a second pass, the target fuel tank explodes, and I dump my ordinance and get out of Dodge. "Bandits! I see them!" from the radio. I look up, we're in a bit of a furball.


Over my shoulder, I see a silver streak. It's a MiG-21 about to have me for lunch. I start scissoring like mad, and before you know it, he's close enough that I can tell he's not wearing his oxygen mask. And I think his eyes might have been green.


He's damaged, but still out for blood.


On the last pass, I have a nanosecond to put one or two rounds from a short spray into his plane. The wing comes off. I got a kill. Against a frontline supersonic fighter.


I am now full of adrenaline. WHERE IS THE NEXT VICTIM!!!??? I see a Su-7 making it's attack run against friendlies.



I make a beautiful arc, sweep in behind him. He's fixated on the Marine tanks below him, and I open fire. The Su-7 executes an impressive triple-gainer before it plummets to Earth in a smoldering heap. I just got a second air-to-air kill, in a fighter-bomber with no lead-calculating sight. I feel a little full of myself at this point.




The Crusaders in the area finish off what is left of the Soviet fighters, and Lloyd lends a hand to the other strike package by diving on a AAA site. I really think he deserves a Silver Star today, and me a Bronze. But that just passes thru my head for a moment.






We head back to the Shangri La while Bears burn

and fellow airmen make their ways home:

A pilot and WSO who've earned their combat pay today.


That crazy new British fighter than can land like a chopper and operate from tiny airstrips.





I want 3 more. The Worlds's first Skyhawk ace...

Like the Bear pic.

I've always wondered how you keep the balloon from going up in these cold war scenarios.





Or will that come later?

Dontcha know? Tu-95's were made of flash-paper, balsa wood and oily rags. I think the engines ran on compressed hydrogen!



When one side's defeat was inevitable, it probably would've happened.

eek indeed

Very enjoyable AARS, well done!

April 22, 1969

Friendly ground forces are making a final push today. The Russians are cornered, and we believe they are close to surrendering. A massive attack on their last airbase should seal their fate, eliminating any chance of reinforcements.

Our role, since we're so damn good at it, will be SEAD.


Self and Lt. Lloyd take off, and begin our ingress. Every available plane is in the air at this time, either as part of the strike, or flying fleet defense. At the ingress point, we turn towards target.



We're the first ones in, but the rest of the package is right behind. It's a massacre. The few MiG's that get off the ground are shot down immediately by the Phantoms.


We swoop down on targets of opportunity while the Intruders and Corsairs bomb the hell out of the place. It looks more like a B-52 strike.





The Marines roll in, easily securing the area...


...and our work is done. We all head for home. A piece of cake.









The last naval recon plane is chased off, and shot down.





The next day, I'm talking to a Marine Captain who was at the surrender. Says the Russians seemed to be in strangely good spirits. Some were even smiling and laughing, enjoying some good American cigarettes. All had lost comrades in the battle. A lot of them had already seen horrific battles in West Germany. They were ready to stop fighting. We're ready to stop fighting too. But Europe is still in flames. I have a feeling we are not heading home any time soon.

More flames galore.

Back in the day, Air Force magazine published grainy photos of the Backfire in somewhat of a mysterious and ominous manner. They were the first glimpse by the West through a spy's camera. However, it proved to be one of those red herrings similar the MiG 25 that had folks at the time very concerned about their well being.

Good to see the Phantoms have taken care of those in your campaign.

Look again. It's a Blinder. Backfires were not introduced until 1972. The Blinder can still carry a serious ASM, but not 2 like the Backfire can.

I remember seeing those same grainy photos when I was a kid. Before that, the only place I had seen a Backfire was a line drawing in some Micrprose manual. Real photos were exciting!

I was a little disapointed that I never got a cruise missle attack. Could have been a fluke, and since this campaign was based on my 1975 version(which was based on the stock Northern Sabre itself) which hammered my fleet to splinters with bomber attacks, I was a little surprised. The bomber fleets are almost identical between the 2. Maybe I got lucky? Anyway, later I might try it with a Crusader. For now, I'm going for a change of scenery. Tomcats in the Eastern Mediteranean, or maybe F-105 over Vietnam or Europe.

F-105s are going to be quite a challenge, especially over SAM-infested East Germany.