Alpenwolf

So maybe it is about time I went for the VR experience? Hmmm...

Couldn't agree more, but I still prefer GOOD quality (graphics) over the 3D experience. One day maybe...

Excellent content! Great commentary! Well done all of you!

The R-60's are added in all "F-14A missions". All-aspect missiles would end all turn fights! Most kills would be head-on, quick and sudden. Strikers and helicopters would have a harder time than it is anyway.

Of course NOT! You can destroy them.

The mission will kick off this Saturday, 28.08.2021, around 1830 zulu.

Server News: Operation Search & Destroy is now fixed and upgraded. It will not be part of the daily missions, but I'll put it online once in a while: - Added 18 x Mi-24's (2 x slots). - Su-25T's removed. - Instead of 14 x Ka-50's, it's now 10. - Weather adjusted -> Light clouds. - Fog removed. - Mi-8's and UH-1's can't deploy tanks and other armoured vehicles any more! - Mi-8's and UH-1's can still deploy KUB's/Hawk's, EWR's, JTAC and ammo trucks. - Mi-8's and UH-1's can now deploy an assault team consisting of 2 x AK-47's/M4's, 2 x Anti-Tanks, 1 x MG and 1 x MANPAD. - Added T-72B's/Abrams and BMP-2's/Bradley's around the FARP's for commanders to reinforce their towns/lakes with. Use your units sensibly. - To make it fair, the additional T-72B's outnumber the Abrams by 1,67:1. - Jahrom Town is too big to capture and hold. Therefore, the coalitions are tasked with capturing and holding the industrial area ONLY! - Briefing images adjusted. - Briefing adjusted.

Can't be the mission, mate. No way.

That's not caused by the mission, I'm afraid. Might wanna check your graphics card?

That's a very short notice and we'd hardly get more players, I'm afraid. I'll check it out.

Round 6 has been cancelled for this weekend. I received an urgent call from work today and it looks like I've got to work over the weekend. Sorry, folks!

Cancelled! Just had a word with Maverick and with currently 8 vs 8, the Mariana Islands being not too friendly to many PC's and the mission setup, we've decided to cancel the event. I'll try and design something quickly for the Caucasus map and we'll find a new date once the mission is ready.

Makes sense, and I've been leaving the dust filters switched to on in the Ka-50 and Mi-8 for years now. I'll have to double check. On the other hand, when flying the Ka-50, I do fly at speeds less than 30 kph and sometimes even hover while scanning for targets.

Well, I was right after all then. I mostly fly very low hugging the ground to avoid being detected by enemy fighters. That being said, the dust filters have to remain on, otherwise I wouldn't be having any engine issues as mentioned above. On the hand, the Mi-24 doesn't require that as it seems and that was the confusing part for me.

According to the start-up procedure in the training mission, the dust filters are turned off once the helicopter is airborne. Why is that? I've been flying the Ka-50 and the Mi-8 ever since they were released and if the dust filters are off, especially when airborne, at some point the engines' performance/power will start decreasing. Is that changed now? I remember this very well back in the day when I was learning how to fly the Ka-50, that it took me a while to figure out what was causing the problem. If it's all snowy and only then, the dust filters are switched to off, otherwise they're always on as far as I know.

Helicopters will have a hot start for the event.

Thank you very much! Bless you, brother.

Round 6 kicks off this Saturday, 21.08.2021, around 1930 zulu. See here for the change log.

Helicopters Tournament 14: 1 week to go and we're on. Signups are still open. See here.

We'd need at least 10 vs 10 to make it happen. Still some time though...

Yeah, I better write a whole book of rules! Might become a bestseller too. All servers have the same rules more or less; Don't teamkill, use comms (SRS/TS/Discord/etc.), then there is the politically correct part of it; Be nice to each other, don't swear, etc. Nothing else is really needed, unless players start causing problems! Attacking airbases was always a welcome option. At some point it became everyone's favourite option and mostly the only main option! Players did that, which caused frustration among other players, and I had to react. Now, take this one old example from the very first weeks and months of the server's "life span" (ACG as it was) and apply it to all the problems I've been encountering ever since. Some of you just always tend to forget who causes these major issues, which then pushes me yet again into the corner, where I have to react, knowing it will never be perfect or live up to everyone's standards. Not saying that I've ever tried to please everyone. That's just impossible and is not the issue here. You of all people should know better being around the server all those years how things are changing in a very inconvenient way. Back in the day problems like this were rare. Nowadays, it's becoming some sort of a regularity! You're one of the OG's who are still around where most of them just left as I've mentioned multiple times. The admin part of me is still here, however, the player in me goes online only occasionally. Therefore, I fully understand how annoying it's become to players like yourself with rules and restrictions popping up every now and then. Maybe this is like everything in life. The OG's move on and newcomers take over. And that's exactly what I meant in one of my recent posts saying, I don't know if it's worth it any more. I really don't.

Well, I haven't played very often lately because it's getting frustrating, mate. Players who teamkilled and bombed their airbases are still banned. Those remain banned! They didn't even reach out to me on the forums because they're probably not there anyway or just don't care at all. They'll just find another server where they can unleash their attitude again. Reports about teamkilling like that are one thing and are important, while the messages I've been receiving lately are something else. The EWR F-5 player will receive a last warning.

And there's nothing I can do about it. Years ago, I had the mission Phone Booth running without EWR's (actually, AWACS, as it was the case back in the day) for both sides. It was fine to try it out once or twice. After that players used to leave the server immediately when the mission went online, and at some point started asking for AWACS to be put back. So that "pilot project" failed right away. So, either we're blind or we see everything! Even helicopters and while spooling up are sometimes spotted -__-

The thing is, this has never been an issue on the server. NEVER! All it takes is one guy and here we are talking about it. And you're wrong, it doesn't take that long to set up EWR's. 1-2 minutes to start up your Mi-8 or UH-1 (maybe 3 minutes for Mi-8's), 30-60 seconds to pick up the EWR crate (sometimes even quicker than that - depends on the player) and 2-3 minutes to carry it outside the FARP's/airbase's parameter to deploy it. It really is is just a couple of minutes. There's always been helicopter pilots willing to do that or deploy anything else of high impotance. I guess, with the one player ruining it for them like that made it less incentive to do the job. If you or anyone else see him doing that again on the server, just warn him, please. Otherwise, and once again, I'm forced to react -__-

Thanks for the feedback! I keep saying: It's only 5 bloody units 4 x F/A-18C's need to take out at Tinian to enable 4 x F-15C's and 2 x M-2000C's operating from Saipan Intl airbase. That's 6 formidable fighters who will make it hard on Red to regain or maybe even gain air superiority. Yes, Red maybe has more fighters in the beginning, but not to the extent it's impossible for Blue to take out 5 units. Red has only Mi-24P's that spawn at Tinian. MiG-21 slots are reserve slots. That means MiG-21's can be transferred to Tinian. Besides, Tinian airbase is very low on AA missiles, so after 60-90 minutes they're surely out of missiles, except maybe for R-60M's and R3R's. That being said, it really isn't as if Red is spawning there all the time. So again, destroy the 5 units to enable 6 more fighters. All ground units are AI controlled. That means no units are hiding in the trees or the like. All units are in the open, otherwise they wouldn't be able to fire at enemy aircraft, so that's not the problem either. In round 1, at some point Blue managed to enable the Eagles and Mirages (I believe after 1,5 - 2 hours). That quickly became a nightmare for Red, who eventually lost all advanced fighters later on and were left with MiG-21's mainly. I did GCI yesterday for Blue for about an hour. Some players were still struggling with the systems onboard trying to figure out how to fire their missiles. On the other hand, The_Tau flying his Tomcat took out 2 x MiG-29A's, 1 x J-11A and 2 x MiG-21's in one sortie. I believe he even took out a helicopter with guns before RTB. The point is, it always comes down to who's flying what and how good they are at it. It's an open event, so surely mishaps are guaranteed. Therefore, I'll have to make some adjustments and announce the changes soon.