TBone

I just purchased the 3 A-10 qualification campaigns. After installing, I noticed I had those installed but also 3 campaigns with the same title but called "practice" instead of qualification. They appear to be the same campaigns with different names. So, a couple of questions: Is my observation correct that these are the same campaigns? Did I buy something that I already had through the purchase of the A-10C II? Thanks in advance Never mind, I should have investigated a little further. It is a little deceptive though because the "Practice" and "Qualifications" have the same description in the menu.

OK, I'm probably missing something dumb. I got the "cannot comply" and when I opened up the rearm refuel menu it was back at 100%. Thanks all for the responses.

Farp, rotorheads server. Haven't done further testing.

Anyone else having problems defueling? Only tested in multiplayer but when I try to reduce my fuel load I get a "unable to comply" from the ground crew.

What swift said. Also, in game, as far as I know, your acoustic signature is not a factor. So, a manpad for instance, only aquires you when you are "visible" so if you are using cover correctly, fast or slow, it should only be for a few seconds at most which in PvE is not enough time to aquire and shoot. If you take fire from small arms or light armored vehicles, you should be able to break for cover before you get any significant damage. Make note of where it came from and work your way to a safe battle position, NOE, then eliminate the pest. Situational awareness is key. Know the threat as much as possible, always know where you are in relation to the battlefield, always know your route and plan to use the terrain and aggressive maneuvering even when not in contact, always know the next safe terrain feature you are headed to and where you will go if you take fire. I also set direct to home just before I anticipate contact so I can break for the house asap if needed. You really need to stay way out in front of a helicopter. To put my personal tactics another way; I approach the battles pace in a similar way that I do when I clear a structure. Build my SA before I even start my mission. Stop and clear each space from as much distance and cover as possible. Before entering the next space, know where I'm going to go based on the surrounding structure (corner fed room v center fed etc.)to establish a point of dominance. And, know ahead of time my egress if things go south. Like Swift said, a wingman vastly improves survivability whether flying or kicking in doors. Unfortunately in single player, an AI helicopter wingman is more dangerous to you than the enemy is!

I do see that as being pretty true, but I think using good tactics can still help survivability in the PvE environment and it is sound tactics so for immersion purpose, it is good practice. For me though, it is waaaaay more fun sneaking and peeking, shooting and scooting. After I get fenced in, I love ingressing at 110kts and 5ft AGL. Between trees, under wires and bridges, following low ground and dashing across a big clearing to my next piece of cover. Guys that are cruising into the battlefield at anything higher than 100ft are really missing out. A couple rules of thumb to make your NOE flight as realistic as possible; Manpads are the Bain of NOE flying, have the CPG scan the tree line ahead of your flight path. Never follow roads. Assume all roads have wires. When you are crossing over power lines, cross over the tower. When you are going under, cross as close to the tower as possible. Pairs of trees that are spaced far enough apart to fly between were put there by God for you to fly between.

I guess for the vast majority of us that haven't flown an actual Apache, the experience is kind of like using GPS in a city you've never been in before. Meaning, out of a lack of experience, you find the GPS to be doing its job just fine getting you here and there but, for a person familiar with said city you would be like "where the F is this thing taking me?!?" Ignorance is bliss, I guess. That said, I did feel like the Apache lacked nimbleness, and power, bobbing up from a hover is tricky and a bit slow, but I've adjusted my flying to compensate. Staying on top of it so I don't settle with power is a chore and I never remembered having any issues with it flying OH-58A/C so, I figured it was a characteristic of the Apache. But having read some of the info from real Apache drivers, I suppose this might not be the case.

This is an oldish thread but my 2 cents; It is a helicopter and helicopters are hard to fly. I think some folks unfamiliar think they are getting in an airplane that happens to be VTOL. A helicopter doesn't "fly" like an airplane rather it beats the air into submission. Every input on any of the controls requires a corresponding input of the other controls to maintain stable flight. If you let go of the controls of a fixed wing aircraft, by the nature of its aerodynamics, it wants to remain stable (there are exceptions of course). A helicopter though will try to crash itself and even though the Apache has the trimming features and SAS, it is always best to assume that if you take your hands off the controls, you will die. As far as the accuracy of the Apache flight model, I'm sure there are things that guys like Casmo recognize that the rest of us that have never flown one do not, and those nuances are best left to the experts. Having flown the OH-58 A/C IRL with no such gee whiz systems, I find the DCS Apache fairly easy to fly in comparison. However, when you are shooting and scooting, NOE, and evading, even the Apache is a pretty serious workload. If you aren't at least a little fatigued after an hour or so of combat maneuvering, you are doing something wrong. I think a lot of newcomers to helicopters just underestimate the workload to keep a helicopter stable. Learning to coordinate the controls, adjusting two when inputting on the other is key. I won't go into the technicalities of torque, gyroscopic procession, etc. Suffice it to say, helicopters don't want to fly, and they don't want to do the things you want them to do, you have to use sheer force of will and HIGHLY coordinated control inputs. If you move one control and don't adjust the other two in some fashion, the helicopter will let you know with some weird stuff. One last thought; a lot of flying helicopters is being able to feel the movements. In a sim, you are using only visual cues, in most of our cases 2D, and instruments so a very important sensory input is non-existent. I find this makes a HUGE difference in real life vs. sim. Like I said before, helicoptering is hard work if you are doing it right.

Spot on with the tactics in Afghanistan, biggest threat is small arms and little in the way of cover for a helicopter. Also, in that environment a consideration is brown out from rotor wash when flying low and slow or hovering. Something I'm very familiar with from Iraq. I spent much of my time training in the European theater though, Germany, and it was very similar to what is going on in Ukraine especially since Russia doesn't seem to have progressed much past the Cold War equipment and doctrine, little in the way of an air threat anymore and not much in the way of AA. I think Apaches would thrive in that environment, but I see a day when drones become a less expensive and less risky option to do the same work. One of my favorite things to do was spot and call artillery strikes but that is definitely a job better accomplished by drones these days. We used to joke that the location of the enemy is where the burning wreckage of the Aeroscout is.

That is probably the most prudent thing to do. Or, if you are ABSOLUTELY sure there is no AA threat you can engage from a high altitude. Or if the assets are available in your DCS server, mark it and call artillery or air strike. We did some training for a couple of weeks flying the 58's as FACs for A-10's in Germany. Great fun guiding them into unsuspecting farmers driving their tractor through a field! Would love to get something like that going in DCS one day.

Ugh. Me and my big mouth

So, I've been meaning to sit down and do this for a few weeks and have just now found the time. I'll try to keep it short, but it won't be, so I'll try to keep it dense. I was an Aeroscout from 1988-1993 flying the old OH-58 A/C. Back then, the scouts were unarmed for the most part, save a M-16 jammed across the glare shield and my .38 revolver in my survival vest. For this reason, we typically operated in a scout/weapons team with an AH-1S following as our armament. The Apaches and 58D were just coming online when I left the Army. I'm loving the DCS Apache and am chomping at the bit, but not holding my breath, for the Kiowa Warrior. I've been observing how the Apache is being employed on several servers and very much so on the Rotorheads server. I have some observations to offer tactics-wise that some may find helpful. This will apply to the U.S. attack and utility helicopters specifically as the Russian helicopters are designed differently and for different doctrine and they are employed more like very low level, very maneuverable, fixed wing aircraft that happen to be able to take off and land vertically. Keep in mind, I was in a very different aircraft with very different equipment and very different times, but I think this advice should still hold true. If there are any Apache or Kiowa Warrior vets here that have anything to add or critique or correct, I welcome the input! 1) Here's the biggest thing: I see a lot of folks just hovering at 800, 1000, 1500 feet AGL for many minutes, lobbing hellfires at bad guys. If you are doing this, you are really missing the advantage of a helicopter which is to utilize cover and concealment to survive. You should unmask just high enough to spot and shoot the threats that are in range. In some threat situations this may be fine but for the most part, the longer you are way up there, the more likely you are to be tracked and shot down. It also leaves you with less evasion options especially when trying to evade from a state of zero or low airspeed (-60kts). 2) Too much hovering. You present a more difficult target to track when moving even if it is at just 30-40kts and you have a quicker response for the aircraft to deploy to cover if you are engaged. Also, you will increase the flight endurance by keeping hovering to a minimum. This is also a great way to avoid settling with power. Also, if you are hit, it is easier to autorotate with some forward momentum and it gives you a better chance of getting to a safe landing location. 3) Unmasking in the same spot twice in a row. This is a cardinal sin! I learned this in my first trip to Hohenfels maneuver area where we war gamed with m.i.l.e.s. equipment. On a night scout mission, we unmasked from cover and saw a OPFOR tank nestled in a tree line. We immediately masked but didn't get a good fix on the type and exact position soooo, popped right back up in the same spot and this time, Mr. tank had his turret pointed right in our direction and shot us down (simulated)! 4) More of a courtesy: Calling "rifle" on comms and coordinating laser codes with others to avoid targeting conflicts and other pilots frantically dumping precious flares and diving for cover every time a friendly Apache fires a missile. Along the same lines, I typically set my countermeasures on bypass, so I'm not wasting flares on friendly fire, and I don't carry chaff. If you have your helicopter close to or down in the weeds, radar guided AA should be a non-factor and then you can carry more flares. Also, if you limit your altitude, and a radar guided weapon is fired at you, you can easily defeat it with cover or concealment. If you are still with me here, my typical planning and profile looks something like this; Before departure-I set a start point in the TSD, and alternate, and then note a point that is about 10K from the FEBA with good terrain relief or concealment, trees or buildings, and set a release point there, in the TSD. Load 50-60% fuel and 90 flares plus weapons of choice. If there are preprogramed CM's or TGT's on the TSD, I make note of them and plan for my ingress from the RP to avoid contact. Countermeasures on bypass, Acq to TADS, left MFD to Vid/TADS so I can see what the CPG or George is looking at. During the day, I will jump in the front seat for a sec to set TV instead of FLIR if I have no CPG. If someone knows how to do that from the back seat, let me know. After takeoff-Climb to about 800ft AGL so I can safely get my head in the cockpit for a minute without driving into the ground. If no CPG, I get George set up and WASed on hellfires and have him look ahead at the next waypoint. Make sure all exterior lights are off, countermeasures on, weapons armed, gun WASed. Set direct to RP and note the flight time. I usually use flight time plus 30 to 45 minutes, depending how far away I get from the RP, for my bingo time. When I'm all fenced in, I head down to treetop height for ingress, around 100kts, using terrain features to mask my aircraft. Approaching RP-A click or two out from RP I will pop up, keeping my speed up, high enough to get a good view over the terrain. I have the CPG or George do a quick look at 10, 12 and 2 o'clock. If nothing, back down to the weeds and because I'm expecting enemy contact but don't know where or when, I proceed a little more methodically. 40kts, quick pop up every couple of clicks, quick scan, if we make contact, back down in the weeds and head that way at 60kts, quick pop up now and then while under way until I'm in hellfire range. Targets in range- At this point, come to a hover behind cover or concealment noting the terrain around us as we prepare to engage. Identify ahead of time the next firing position and where it is safe to break to cover and always know the safest egress. Unmask, just high enough to see the target and either fire if it has already been acquired or, spot, lase and store, then immediately deploy back to cover. Don't get fixated on multiple targets and drift higher and higher in a hover and remain exposed. Fixating is easy to do and I'm guilty of it myself. Hard to resist easy pickings but when that Strela shows up that I didn't see before or it spawns in near me and I'm 1500ft in the air with nowhere to hide...bad news. Kill one, back to cover, I reposition laterally (not actually flying sideways but actually moving to positions to the left and right of me) instead of moving forward, below the tree line or terrain feature then pop up and repeat. A lot of times it pays off to bob up to just do a scan from 9 to 3 o'clock and, from close to far, to identify any threats you missed, just spawned in, or are a greater threat than your target group, without engaging. When all targets in range are cleared, I go back down, 40kts, bounce cover to cover and repeat the above until new targets present themselves. In the thick of it- I stay low, like weed top level, and moving 30-40kts, unless I am actively popping up to search or engage then quickly back to cover. Avoid flying over groups of trees and if I have to, always make notes of clearings to duck into or autorotate into if I get hit. I don't want to have to crash land into trees. Pop up only high enough to see and engage targets and don't unmask in the same spot twice in a row. If that manpad, Zeus monster or Strela, sees me and doesn't have time to fire, he surely will get me the next time I expose my helicopter in the same location. Great thing about helicopters is if one gets disoriented or loses SA, one can just scoot to cover, land and get regrouped. Egress-No matter what phase of the fight I'm in, I ALWAYS know how I'm getting the heck outta there! At Bingo (ingress+30 to 40 minutes fuel time) or Winchester, whichever comes first, I get down and fast, staying in low ground. 10ft AGL is a lot of work but it's a blast! 120kts, 10 feet off the ground feels pretty fast. In fact, all this is a lot of work and a few hours of it is pretty tiring. Often my rear end hurts from clenching, working rudder pedals. I probably actually have a higher "fatality" rate from pilot error than I do from being shot down. But the more I fly, the better I get. Night and other considerations-The dark offers a level of concealment that allows to fly a little higher up, 200 to 500ft AGL. Keep in mind though that the dark only protects you from visual acquisition. The Apache is fully capable of operating down and dirty in complete darkness and I usually don't change my strategy. It does require significantly more focus and SA to do safely. I will usually ingress, egress and land using NVGs and then transition to IHADDs when I'm close to the RP. In situations where the AA threat is non-existent, flying and attacking from altitude is fine but it is a good idea to stay moving. I'll usually do orbits, engaging as I approach and then breaking when I'm close to small arms range. This makes it easier to maneuver if a threat does appear, make it easier to autorotate if the need arises and uses significantly less fuel than hovering. Like I said, there may be some new considerations that I'm not aware of due to the ancient nature of the helicopter I flew in. I would love to hear some thoughts, positive or critical, on this from Casmo or other guys that flew Apaches or Kiowa Warriors. And one last thing, if anyone sees me, Aeroscout'88-'93, on a server somewhere, feel free to hop in the CPG seat and we'll go put some warheads on foreheads!

Gents, I'm running a 17 9700k on an Asus Z390-E motherboard and a RTX 2080. I, for obvious reasons, wish to upgrade to a 30 series. Does anyone know if the 30 series is compatible with my mobo? I understand that if it is and I do upgrade that I will have a bottle neck at the CPU. I'm willing to live with that until I build a new rig. In the meantime, I'd like to run DCS at a bit higher settings and FPS. Any insight would be appreciated!

LOL! Well my friend, I'm not sure my mission is a good example of anything lol. It is a work in progress with no real mission assignments or structure yet. I've just been adding elements, working with them and testing until I get results close to what I want. I'm hardly an expert. Most of the work going forward is going to be cleaning up callsigns, start times, and maybe streamlining and taking out elements that are not vital. I still have some issues that I think are just inherent in the ME. For instance, you can get a group of helicopters to do what you want, run it a hundred times flawlessly and then add a completely unrelated element to the mission and all of a sudden, helicopters are broken. One of my biggest frustrations is getting aircraft to RTB without driving themselves into the ground or circling endlessly until they run out of gas and crash. This is especially a problem with Harriers and Cobras on the Tarawa. I can fiddle with stuff, get them working and then all of a sudden they just break. My after action on a mission shows that I have very high attrition of aircraft but most of it is them just driving into the ground, running out of fuel or colliding with each other rather than from enemy action Just start with one unit, one set of instructions, experiment until it works then add another. But like I said, you will find in some instances adding something to your mission will change the behavior of an established unit even if they are completely unrelated in task, type or location.

I have a mission in which ground troops spawned when some Chinooks landed in a zone(unit in zone, unit speed less than 1) to simulate dropping off troops since I was having a hell of a time getting disembark to work. Also, the enemy would launch an aerial illumination flare in the zone. All of a sudden about a wee ago, after many times running the mission, the landing helicopters no longer trigger the actions. Same issue maybe?

No, you haven't made a mistake. I'm a recent adopter from P3D as well. I agree, getting AI to work properly when building missions is frustrating and time consuming. Lots of testing, fiddling and experimenting. I'm becoming better at it but it is AI after all and there is some randomness to the behavior in AI because....well...its AI. I actually have a pretty good mission going which is the retaking of the Oman Peninsula. The AI can for the most part fight a layered joint forces battle without intervention and then I just assume roles within the mission to support the battle. CAP, CAS SEAD etc. The AI doesn't always do what it is supposed to but trust me, in war, most things don't go the way you plan them. As far as coming from P3D, DCS is a much prettier and better performing platform. The Devs are very good at improving things that need to be addressed and seem to be interested in making an excellent product. The community is MUCH more helpful, mature and far less toxic than the P3D, X-Plane community. All my inquiries in the forums have been treated with respect and everyone is helpful even if I ask a dumb question. I stopped participating in P3D forums and places like the PMDG forums because of the condescending attitudes and developers dismissiveness of user concerns and a lot of times just plain rudeness. Welcome aboard! You'll figure out the AI, just takes time. Start small. Yes it could use improvement but this is still a heck of a cool simulator.

So, I paid for this map in pre order to take advantage of the sale. I however run The stable DCS version, not open beta? Typically how long until a new module/terrain is out of beta? I know that some modules are released directly to the stable version and I did not see any indication when purchasing Syria that it would be released in open beta. Did I miss something? Can I expect this on all new terrains? Will Syria still install when it is out of beta without a new purchase?

How about Helos on the Tarawa? They land but no refuel/rearm or departure.

I had issues for awhile with helicopters also. This is what I didafter getting very helpful advice here: Under the group trigger tab (not a waypoint action) I put what I want, Attack Group, Search Zone etc. I find it is best not to give the AI much leeway so I almost always put Attack Group unless it is a follow on strike. Then under waypoint 0, put your ROE, RTB etc. Also, use switch waypoint under perform command at every waypoint to keep the AI on course all the way to the waypoint prior to engagement. Then, create a trigger zone that your AI will pass through on its route and about 8 miles from target. Use the trigger actions to trigger Push Task and select Attack Group, etc. This gives the AI very strict rules but works well, especially if you are doing a phased engagement with lead heli groups taking out AA and then following groups attacking armor or doing a zone search. They still get a mind of their own sometimes.

First, thanks to those that have helped me so far in my quest to learn the Mission Editor. I'm plugging away, making some pretty cool things happen. So far I have a pretty good, progressive battle scenario going with AI forces doing movement to contacts, screen operations, passage of lines and ultimately a good battle to retake the Oman Peninsula. When I'm happy with it, I plan on creating supporting missions within the mission to fly. Again thanks, lots of positive help from all! Now for my latest conundrums; 1) Is there a way to create zones that my AI aircraft will not wander into? There are areas of enemy occupied territory that need to be prepped prior to aircraft entering but my CAP and CAS have a tendency to wander in and get shot down. 2)Harriers and Cobras just will not recover after return to Tarawa. I get about 10% successful landings. The harriers crash on approach and most of the time the Cobras climb to 11,000ft and circle until they run out of fuel and crash. Every once in a while I get a successful landing. Thoughts? 3)I have a couple groups of Apaches and Kiowas that run their missions but then instead of returning to their designated base, they fly offshore and land, or crash, on the various ships in the mission. 4)Most of the AI aircraft do not return and land successfully on carriers or airfields. It's a bit frustrating when the after action shows very high attrition, 75%-90%, not from being shot down but rather failure to RTB successfully. It seems hit or miss with a few making it but most do not, even when the waypoints and enroute instructions are identical. 5)I noticed that my cruise missals sometimes, when given attack point, will overfly the point, circle then crash. Even if the target is dead, shouldn't they continue to attack since it is assigned an area to attack, not an object?

Appreciate the quick response and help. Guess I'll just keep experimenting and eventually get it figured out. I have about 20 pages of notes and scratch outs and revisions. Trying to put something together for the OH-58D as I was a scout in the Army 88-93. I've actually been so wrapped up in world building that I haven't flown in 3 weeks. FYI, I came over from decades of MSFS and P3D, flying tubes in the simulator. DCS is proving to be a much, much better community! Super helpful people, higher level of maturity. P3D peeps are fairly toxic, especially in the forums. The PMDG forum is full of people just waiting for someone to refer to something by the wrong nomenclature or not signing their posts(God forbid) so they can pounce with some venomous remark. This includes developers who are just as toxic. Much thanks! Edit: Sorry, one more thing. I'm at a point now where the AI won't even engage. I did notice that on occasion, the shoot down of a friendly will get the other friendlies to go to work but for the most part they circle a few miles out side the engagement zone for a while then RTB. Previously, they were messing dudes up! ROE, maybe a threat in the area they don't like? If I put "no reaction" to threat, doesn't help.

Issues 1)Harriers takeoff from Tarawa runway hot. Flt of 4. First 2 always crash on take off. They do not do a STOL takeoff, rather they go to half flaps and nozzles to the rear like a regular takeoff. Also, they do not spawn in on any instruction other than take off from runway hot. 2)Deep into building a scenario, elements that were established as following routes, attacking desired targets as ordered, doing CAS etc, just suddenly break after several test runs through the mission. Like they just say "F" it, I'm not doing what you told me to anymore. 3)Cobras are about 50/50 on returning to the Tarawa and landing. Half the time, same parameters for every mission, the fly out near the Tarawa, climb to 12,000ft and fly circles until they run out of fuel and crash into the ocean. 4)A-10's that were flying into CAS for an airfield capture suddenly make one pass with mavs then book it home or turn away short of the target zone and rtb. They previously would stick around causing mass devastation and expend all ammo. While I do make changes to elements or add new ones in the mission, I do not alter those that were established as working. build one Group, test then when t works, add another. Then, $h1t just stops working. What am I missing? is this a quark of the AI or am I inadvertently changing parameters that I'm not aware of?

Probably a dumb question but....Flags! How the f@#$ do they work? More specifically, what is a flag? I see plenty of information on using them to trigger actions, etc. but can't seem to find out exactly what a flag is or what it represents in the context of the mission editor. Disregard. Just watched a couple YouTube vids. Got it.

Is it possible to have the attack helicopters unmask from terrain, trees, buildings, and fire from a hover? Typically, at least in the Army, helicopters move NOE (nap of the earth) into firing position, pop up, fire and return to cover. So far, I have only been able to get them to attack targets like little slow airplanes that fly in from 1000 ft, fire then fly low over the enemy, take loads of enemy fire, fly out a few miles and repeat. On a moving attack run, they should fly in right on the deck, pop up a few hundred feet, fire and immediately break right or left and dive into masking terrain. Is any of this possible or is it mission editor limited? The reason I bring it up is I flew scouts in the Army 88-93 and super look forward to the 58D. I'd like to create some realistic screen, guard and movement to contact missions for when it arrives.

That worked and I think I have it all ironed out on my end as well. Think I had conflicting waypoint instructions. Super appreciate the help!