Hello,
I've been playing combined arms now for a while and noticed a few things:
* While playing US Forces as a ground commander, my Paladin Artillery Units were unable to destroy even weak targets standing still like APCs. Shells were hammering into the ground just beside the APCs but nothing happended. The only thing that got destroyed by time were ZU-23 AAA guns. In contrary, the russian artillery shredded my Bradley Platoon as shells hammered beside them.
* The M1A2 Abrams stands no chance against a T80U. The missiles they fire outrange the M1A2 by far and my platoons are destroyed before they can even reach the T80Us. While I can understand that it is just like that in reality, it degrades the ground commander to a position where the only thing he can do is advance to positions already cleared by air. Perhaps another mission design is needed to give them more sense. At the moment it makes more sense to send Bradleys into the fray because they have TOWs and drive faster while they get destroyed just like an M1A2 with one missile or hit by SABOT.
* As a JTAC, I noticed that no one is ever firing at me. In addition, I was able to destroy a complete SA-11 site and Tunguskas just with my Humvee .50 cal. Are damage calculations going to be re-worked?
* Shooting smoke pods as an JTAC, I noticed that I have unlimited smoke with ultra precision. Is shooting smoke getting enhanced in future releases?
* I know that the super detailed F10 map is a powerful asset for a JTAC. However, I think a map where I can read grids more easily would be better. I'm having a hard time pinning down locations of enemies my air recce reports.
* Not having the ability to use Track IR makes being a JTAC a bit of a challenge when trying to find the A10 in the air, looking out for threats and friendlies. Is TrackIR support for vehicles implemented in a later release?
* The ground forces only drive with ~35mph, even when advancing an enemy position, set to state red and the slider put to 99mph, while these vehicles are capable of driving 60mph or faster when operated manually. This nearly doubles the time needed for my tanks to shoot the T80s. Do I miss something or is this a bug?
* Forests do not conceal ground forces and the AI begins shooting with missiles from T80s through them. Currently, there is no way to advance under concealment. Will forests be sight/missile blocker in future releases?
* I tried to set Infantry as an usable asset but noticed that every soldier is an own symbol on the map instead of the entire squad which gets a bit cluttered when for example an entire Stryker Brigade is moving. In addition, US Forces in DCS don't have anti tank capabilities on foot at the moment. Are these planned to be implemented?
I think the groundforce commander is still a bit out of place because his assets lack many features and concealment was never a factor in DCS. Otherwise a great step forward and I like the extra dimension added to DCS.