Trollef

Please add me too, thanks!

Yes!

Thumbs up, works like a charm. EDIT: works like a charm in singleplayer. In multiplayer, the exported screens are not clickable and the app window reverts from detecting DCS to searching for it the second you go from briefing screen to cockpit. (It still works it seems, except for clickable displays.

AAR, Georgian Thunder MSN#4 Operation Georgian Thunder, Mission 4 After Action Report, BEAST 4 Last Sunday, the 132nd Virtual Wing, in conjunction with our friends in the 5e Escadre Virtuel de Canada, conducted the fourth mission in our second major campaign, Operation Georgian Thunder. 29 pilots, JTACS, AWACS- and ATC controllers from several wings, including the 3rd Virtual Fighter Wing, the 36 Stormo and vJaBoG32, participated in this mission. This is the experience of BEAST 4, admittedly a bit more elaborate than an after-action report needs to be ;) Tasking and preparation BEAST 4 was a flight of 2 A-10C’s from the 617th Squadron of the 132nd. We had the simultaneously simplest and most complex of taskings: Airborne alert, XCAS. This translates as “takeoff at time X, report to an in-flight contact point at time Y. Receive an air-tasking and proceed to solve the mission.” I.e., we had to be ready for anything: the mission commander could put us in any mission type, anywhere in the area of operations. The mission types for the A-10’s in this campaign had so far focused on Close Air Support (CAS) and Strike Coordination And Reconnaissance (SCAR). Yours truly, the flight lead, is also qualified as a FAC(A)- Forward Air Controller (Airborne)- so I figured there was a good chance we’d be the ones receiving the call if non- planned air support was needed, such as troops in contact or in case anyone got shot down. My first step as flight lead after reviewing the Air Tasking Order (yes, the 132nd uses proper ATO’s, modelled after the real thing), is to take out the map and begin building my situational awareness for planning the flight. Since we didn’t have a pre-planned mission, and our contact point was pretty much in the middle of the area of operations, we had to plan for everything. Based on the other flight’s taskings, intelligence reports from the previous mission, and the briefing for this mission, we generated a pretty good picture of the battlefield. The map filled in with scrawls about active killboxes, SAM-locations and so on. CAS-cards were filled in mission number and other data, ready to be completed on short notice in the air. I.e., if we had to support JTAC HITMAN in Killbox X-ray 4, we knew what threats to expect, other flights working in the area, the location of friendlies, operational frequencies etc. Same for other known missions we had out there. We did not get a fixed loadout for this mission, so I had to plan a suitable loadout; it had to be relatively light (due to our station-time and distances to probable locations) and flexible (due to the different mission types we could be tasked with.) I decided to bring 2x GBU12’s, 2x AGM-65D and a full load of CM-mix each, as well as TGP and full tanks. In addition, we had a jammer pod and two Sidewinders each for protection, and I as lead carried my habitual pod of Willie Pete for target marking. (This has proved very useful indeed, and also for marking e.g. landing locations for CSAR-helis.) My wingman carried a pod of M151’s. Finally, we reviewed the Rules of Engagement and other critical common procedures from the SPINS- Special Instructions- for the campaign. Then weather info and other general such as radio frequencies, flight plans and emergency procedures to go into our mission data cards and CDU. We could tell right away that relatively low clouds would probably force us into the engagement envelopes of enemy MANPADS, so I spent some time discussing how we’d approach different scenarios with my wingman Opterios, who had only received his “Mission Qualified” status earlier in the week. This would be his first combat mission with the 132nd. Planning can take more time than the mission takes to fly, but finally we had a flight plan and a gameplan, and the virtual flight-line awaited. The mission Once in the cockpit, first order of the day is to fire up AC power and establish comms with the rest of the flight. My wingman checked in immediately, and I proceeded to get us start-up clearance from Tower. (The 176th, our dedicated controller-squadron, usually operates Ground, Tower and Approach, but today we were a bit short on controllers, so Ground and Tower was merged.) There was a lot of traffic, with flights starting up, taxiing and taking off, voices in French, German and other accents. We got our startup clearance, pressure setting and updated weather, and started up. I’d planned good time for us, so we had 30 minutes before our takeoff time. Partly this was because we’re stationed at Senaki- Kolchi, which has miles and miles of taxiways and which I knew would be busy, and partly because I wanted to take my jolly good time getting set up. In addition to getting the jet ready, setting up laser codes, weapon profiles and so on, I entered every active killbox and contact point as flight plans in case we needed them. We load the CDU with hundreds of waypoints with a strict naming convention, so creating flightplans is very easy. As I did this, I listened to the main AWACS frequency in order to start building my situational awareness. The airwaves were busy already. We did a formation take-off and proceeded through the controlling agencies- tower, approach and AWACS, ending up on-course and on-time for our designated Contact Point. We fenced in, and a few minutes out from the CP, I contracted DARKSTAR, our air controller, and let them know we were inbound as fragged. (On complex missions, there are several AWACS nets. For example, air-to-air, air-to-ground, in-flight report and in-flight request.) We were immediately asked if we were ready to receive tasking. I was thinking “CAS in a hurry,” but instead we told to proceed to Killbox Papa 1 and conduct a SCAR mission to verify and if possible destroy enemy artillery. Papa 1? It was not an active killbox. I brought out the map. Papa 1 was to the north, well inside enemy territory, and “of course” nowhere near the places we’d expected to provide support. We set course north, and entered the killbox into our CDU’s. I let DARKSTAR know our ETA, asked for a picture of the air-situation and then started using the 15 minutes or so of flight time to prepare. Artillery is very high on the list of target type priorities, right up there with command-and control assets and above even main battle tanks, so this was an important mission. DARKSTAR told us the artillery would likely be undergoing repairs somewhere in the centre of the killbox. Using the TAD-map, I saw that the killbox was very hilly, with a small village in the centre, and a road following a river running through it from the south-west to north east. Bad: The low clouds and hilly terrain would force us lower than I liked (we’d seen a lot of MANPAD-activity in earlier missions, including me being damaged in the first mission), and we’d probably have issues with line-of-sight for our TGP’s and eyeballs because of the steep terrain. The killbox was also close to enemy air and air defences. As we approached, the RWR blinked with the “29” and “25” of enemy aircraft. We planned to go low level through the mountainous terrain if we were engaged, marking likely valleys leading south as “rat lines” as we proceeded north. Good: few places for the artillery to hide. I decided to start searching the village, as it seemed the most likely place to find them. As we approached the killbox, I checked in again with DARKSTAR and activated the killbox. (Any additional flights working this killbox would now have to check in with me.) As expected, the mountains masked about half of it: we could only see the northern part without entering the box itself. In addition to enemy air, the RWR also indicated SA-10’s further north. We skirted the southern part of the killbox, looking “into it” from a couple of south-facing valleys without actually entering. Nothing. Just as I was about to move the flight closer, DARKSTAR informed us of bogeys tracking towards us from the north. At 20nm, we bugged out. We went low over the mountains and headed south as DARKSTAR sent our CAP aircraft to intercept. We were not on the air-to-air net, but got intermittent reports from DARKSTAR of the air-to-air drama. This happened twice: two times we pulled out south due to incoming enemy air, two times the CAP intercepted. I was looking at our fuel. Finally we got a picture clear; enemy air was either splashed or tracking north. We again set course for Papa 1. We managed to scan the village (no arty) and moved west to clear the southern part of the killbox. I was very worried about MANPADS, and kept my wingman on strict visual scanning as I worked Mk1 eyeballs and the TGP. We found several stationary armoured vehicles, and spotted a small convoy moving north. Not priority targets, so we let them go. We spotted a large radar array on a high hill, which was a priority target, but I still wanted to confirm the presence of our primary objective before starting to shoot. After relocating again, this time pushing north and into the killbox proper, I finally found the target: three MLRS vehicles parked in a copse of trees in the north-western part of the killbox. There were a couple of trucks, and a Shilka and what looked to be a Tunguska defending. I carefully scanned the rest of the area, but found no more artillery. I notified DARKSTAR, and decided to take out the artillery using Mavericks from outside the engagement envelope of the air defenses as the safest and fastest method; I halfway expected to bug out due more enemy air, or even fuel. Once the primary targets were destroyed, I’d worry about the other targets and our fuel. “Two, get ready for attack. Shooter-cover using Mavericks, you are cover I am shooter. Attack from formation, egress west back to IP.” Our Initial Point was the south-western corner of the killbox. We tipped in, me targeting and Opterios all eyeballs looking for tracers and smoketrails. I fired both my Mavericks, and we turned hard back to the IP. Over my shoulder, I saw two hits and confirmed using the TGP. At that time, the third MLRS started firing towards the south! I reported to DARKSTAR to expect incoming artillery somewhere to the south, and told Opterios to “press”, effectively switching roles. Opterios was now the engaged fighter, and I supported. We repeated the attack, and one Maverick later the last MLRS was destroyed. We’d still not seen any sign of active air defences in our killbox, although the menacing “BB” and “CS” of SA-10’s were more or less constant to the north. A quick fuel-check, and I decided to press the attack. Opterios promptly blew up the Tunguska with our last Maverick, then we used GBU’s to destroy the Shilka (air defense assets are high priority) and a nearby BRDM for good measure. At this point, we were approaching Joker fuel, so I dropped my last GBU on the radar array on the way out, then reported to DARKSTAR that we were mission complete, killbox closed and RTB. On the leg home, we had more MiG29-spikes on the RWR, and more activity on the AWACS-net, but we were able to proceed back to our contact point without issue. I pushed to the in-flight report net, and delivered our BDA after consulting the recognition guide to determine the precise model of radar we’d destroyed. Turned out it was a NEBO 55G6; well worth a GBU. However, just as we were setting course from our CP towards homeplate, the RWR went ballistic. We were being targeted by a MiG29! We went defensive. In an A-10, that means disappear, which is hard when you’re the slowest thing up there and with an RCS the size of Texas. I.e. we went low and turning, and stayed low and turning until DARKSTAR cleared us up again. At this point, we were pushing our fuel a bit (I was very pleased we RTB’ed when we did instead of using the last GBU), so we skipped the buddy check and went straight for landing. There were other flights in the pattern, and we could see several other aircraft taxiing, but ATC got us slotted in nicely. A quick overhead break later, and we were taxiing to parking, on-fuel and almost on-time. Mission complete. I’m not going to detail the results or experiences of all the other flights, although there was a lot of high-quality drama this time, especially in the air-to-air scenarios. This is how Beast flight experienced this mission; we gleamed some of the other stuff going on from the radios, but got a lot of surprises when reading the After Action Reports from the other flights. All the targets we destroyed will be removed from the enemy Order Of Battle for the next mission. If I misidentified a target in my BDA, for example by confusing the Shilka we destroyed with an OSA, that will carry through as an error in the intel-report for the next mission as well. Thanks to all who participated, and the mission makers, for making the 132nd what it is. For the record, this picture is not from the mission (I was busy), but it might as well have been, with the clouds and all. It is of Opterios on his mission-qualification checkout-ride.

I fixed it. Some combo of resetting my audio devices and re-installing some C++ redistributables; no idea specifically what fixed the problem, but I have sound now. Loving 1.5 / 2.0 alpha!

Of course :)

After upgrading from 1.2 to 1.5, I have no sound at all in-game. All other apps and system sounds are ok, it just DCS 1.5. And the exact same issue in my install of alpha 2.0 for that matter. I've updated sound- and graphics drivers (dxdiag tells me DirectX 12 is running), but I'm not sure if it could be a C++ issue? Log-files attached. Thanks in advance! Logs.zip

Great news! We've always enjoyed your missions tremendously. "We" meaning MP please ;)

I just downloaded 2.0 and have this exact same issue: SOUND: XAudio2: can't create SourceVoice SOUND: SND_Renderer failed to start SOUND: can't start renderer Any word on a fix? Or an alternate driver? (My 1.2 works fine.)

For information, the 617th Squadron (A-10C) is now temporarily closed for recruitment, having filled all the currently available trainee-slots. At 22 pilots, we are unfortunately unable to take any more at this time, but we'll post back here as soon as we have a date for the next class. Meanwhile, our other squadrons are recruiting, and the 132nd is extremely pleased to announce the formation of the 23rd Special Tactics vSquadron, dedicated to the JTAC-role. We'd also like to share that our second major campaign, Operation Georgian Thunder, just kicked off, with almost 30 pilots, JTAC's and air controllers from several different virtual wings participating in the first mission. These are large-scale, complex and interconnected campaigns, with persistent Order Of Battle and realistic Air Tasking Orders. This is what all those hours in training is for. It is what the 132nd is all about. The after action reports from the first mission are still coming in, but intel so far suggests that despite the success of many of the packages, a second front is about to open...

Same here. Tried all of the above. Completely breaks any mission where I have to fix something in e.g. Teamspeak, or if I have to restart Teamspeak. Any word on what causes this? Or even a fix?

Congrats & best of luck friends :)

We've started this campaign, did the first mission and it was a blast. Looking forward to the next ones. Many thanks for making this- it is appreciated!

"Welcome to Suse" worked fine for us after saving it in 1.2.7. We did manage to n00b up and kill the F/A-18 pilot, so that kind of put a premature end to it- and I guess any remaining scripts etc which depended on the pilot being rescued, and I'm not sure how much of the mission was left at that point, but at least up until then it worked 100%. This is a very good mission to introduce "new pilots" to complex and realistic combat operations.

Ranger, I opened it in 1.2.7 mission editor, saved it (made no changes) and launched it again with a single A-10 and a Huey. It all worked beautifully. We ran it until Pontiac's dustoff. I'll be running it again tomorrow, the full mission with more players, and let you know it goes, fingers crossed the problem can be fixed by simply saving it in 1.2.7!