Well, I couldn't help myself. I was pretty jazzed with the first mission in the new Su-27 DLC campaign that I wanted to peel the onion back a little bit more.
SPOILER ALERT - Mission #02 SPOILERS below!Link to The Ultimate Argument DLC:
LINK!So our second mission looks like a basic CAP while our Russian forces move south through the Roki Tunnel toward Tskhinvali. The briefing maps are good and even the Mission Planner map is cleaner and clearer on this mission. Nice job with the graphics and supplemental information on this mission. I still wouldn't mind more information, but the campaign is building a picture and I'm starting to get into it now...
This is a dusk mission and our two ship will fly out and perform a CAP until a relief flight comes to take over...
The Su-27 is bad-ass looking. Such beautiful lines! (I know..I rave too much about it..)
Nice takeoff view with the lit up cockpit and the sun low on the western horizon...
And off we go. This time I try to keep a bit reduced power to let my wingman catch up faster. I think in the previous mission he was using too much burner trying to join resulting in too much fuel usage...
Another flight will be heading out on their own mission. It's not hard to wish for (eventually) a dynamic campaign that has all these guys off doing their own things and affecting the overall outcome of the campaign. Someday perhaps!
We head south toward the Roki Tunnel...
I don't care what people say about the tired DCS World graphics - I think they still look awesome. Sure, roll on with EDGE, but what we have is still really, really good...
Coming up over the crest of the divide and looking down into the Roki Tunnel valley...
I drop down into the valley to give the troops a morale boost...
They are on the move toward the south....
I climb back up to CAP altitude and soon pick up a flight coming from enemy airspace. I still don't have a grasp on the air-to-air radar modes in the Su-27. I don't know how I could further sort these contacts (it looks like three?)...
Meanwhile, off to our right I see a MLRS (or Grad I guess) launching toward the north..so my assumption is that those are bad guys shelling our guys coming down from the north...
I get a lock on the inbound bandits and take a 27ER shot. The first shot misses...
So I send another downrange...
Boom!
The other Su-25 leaks through and we go zooming past each other..but I notice he has no A2G ordnance, so maybe we scared him into dropping it...
I let my wingman off the leash fearing that I'm missing something and he goes to work...
The airspace looks clean and a minute later we get a radio call (again, nice work on the Russian voiceovers from what I can tell..they sound great..) warning us that the convoy south of the Roki Tunnel is coming under fire from attack helicopters...
I put it into burner and smoke up to the north. Through my HUD I can see tracer fire as the ground units try to shoot down the attack helos...
I have no idea what mode I'm supposed to use to engage helos - but I can't seem to find a radar mode that can pick them up down low. So I switch to that LNGT mode that seems to be like the uncaged Sidewinder mode and point my nose in the general direction of the threat. I can't see the helicopters visually, but soon I get a tone and a launch authorization. Hope there are no friendly helos around!
My first missile gets spoofed by a helo popping flares and hovering right up against the side of a steep canyon..so I send off another and pop my speed brake to try to give myself more time to see the results and adjust...
It's a hit!
As I pass over a ridge I see another helo hovering just on the other side, out of view. Thinking he might have A2A missiles, I start popping flares as I pull up and out of the valley...
Turning back to reengage...but now I can't spot the helo...
Beautiful!!
The convoy has taken some damage and dispersed under attack...
I troll up and down the valley trying to find that damn helo and I make a half a dozen passes and can't seem to locate it (I am NOT using labels, but I am using external views obviously for screens, which does give a bit of extra SA...)..
Finally, on one pass up the valley, I don't see the helo but I hear him (I know, not realistic)..but it gives me enough of a clue that I soon find the helo...
Down he goes, attempting to autorotate to the valley floor below...
With the helos out of action, we return to our higher cap and point our nose back to the south and the most likely direction of enemy incursions...
I am getting a solid lock tone or something on my RWR, but I don't know where it is coming from. Maybe my wingman?
I have a target locked, and fire a pair of heat seekers, all I have left...
A lot going on in this image. My two missiles get spoofed and I'm just firing another one (plane on the right). I've also given my wingman the engage my target command and he is firing (bottom of the image).. The Su-25 is jinking and dropping flares, having defeated my first two shots...
My last missile departs the rail...
Boom! And a fraction of a second later, my wingman's missiles zips into the wreckage and adds to the carnage...
We turn back to the north and see heavy jamming coming down...
Damnit! Not again! This needs to get fixed. He ran out of fuel again...
The relief flight shows up and we are cleared back to base. I join up on the relief flight and fly a little formation on him. Before I depart for home base, I'm sure to show him my under belly and the fact that I have no missiles left..<g>
The 140 km flight back to base is beautiful in the setting sun...
On short final..the mission isn't over until you bring the beast home in one piece!
This mission was a LOT of fun. It is a great mission design with a really nice mix of action and (most importantly for me) it isn't too hard. You can fly the whole thing without labels or much in the way of confusion. I like the fact that the enemies aren't over saturating the area and it is pretty easy to keep track of what is going on. The helicopter fight was a nice little feature and after this second mission you are starting to feel invested in the well being of your convoy. The sunset lighting is gorgeous and overall the mission is really good, with nicely set triggers and pace of events unfolding. You can tell a lot of work goes into getting these missions balanced and adjusted so that you can accomplish them on one fuel load but keeping you watching your gauges. Very well done and now I'm excited to fly #3...
BeachAV8R
