sgilewicz

I’ve been attempting to complete the last mission in the excellent TTQ campaign but seem to be running up against wingmen AI shortcomings and/or A-10 targeting limitations. The two defined targets briefing targets are representative: Target 1: A command post with several support vehicles is sitting in the middle of an open field. The target coordinates given in the briefing are spot on. With the command post set as SPI and shared via DMS left long, the flight is instructed to attack the target with unguided bombs from the south. They respond “Roger” but never hook the target. They call “Rejoining” after about 30 seconds from instruction. The same result occurs if they are ordered to use guided bombs. If the flight is instructed to attack with mavericks they attack and successfully destroy the command post and supporting vehicles. We are flying at 10,000 ft and are about 6 miles south of the target when initiating attack instructions in both cases. Any ideas why the flight will not engage with bombs? Target 2: A large tank convoy (approximately 12 tanks including SAMs) is traveling southeast along a narrow road with trees on both sides of the roadway for its entire length. I can locate the convoy via TGP and share my SPI but repeated instructions to engage air defenses with mavericks are met with the dreaded “Roger” followed shortly by “Rejoining”. I am assuming this is due to interference from the tree line on either side of the roadway. Since there is no portion of the roadway that is clear of trees, what tips do you recommend to get the AI to engage? This is the last mission in the campaign and, although I would like to complete it, I have learned a great deal to this point and can accept moving on if there are no good suggestions for the above scenarios. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

I’ve been attempting to complete the last mission in Maple Flag’s excellent TTQ campaign but seem to be running up against wingmen AI shortcomings and/or A-10 targeting limitations. Two scenarios are representative: Scenario 1: A command post with several support vehicles is sitting in the middle of an open field. The target coordinates given in the briefing are spot on. With the command post set as SPI and shared via DMS left long, the flight is instructed to attack the target with unguided bombs from the south. They respond “Roger” but never hook the target. They call “Rejoining” after about 30 seconds from instruction. If the flight is instructed to attack with mavericks they attack and successfully destroy the command post and supporting vehicles. We are flying at 10,000 ft and are about 6 miles south of the target when initiating attack instructions in both cases. Any ideas why the flight will not engage with unguided bombs? Scenario 2: A large tank convoy (approximately 12 tanks including 2 SA-9s) is traveling southeast along a narrow road with trees on both sides of the roadway for its entire length. I can locate the convoy via TGP and share my SPI but repeated instructions to engage air defenses with mavericks are met with the dreaded “Roger” followed shortly by “Rejoining”. I am assuming this is due to interference from the tree line on either side of the roadway. Since there is no portion of the roadway that is clear of trees what tips do you recommend to get the AI to engage? This is the last mission in the campaign and, although I would like to complete it, I have learned a great deal to this point and can accept moving on if there are no good suggestions for the above scenarios. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

That sounds like it's just the ticket! I've been using the gun for most of these situations but your approach may actually provide me with more time due to greater engagement range using Mavs. Thank you!

There are situations when a target pops into view close to your crate but due to time constraints (target may be a tank close to an allied unit) you need to take a Mav snapshot rather than extend and use the TGP to acquire the target. Suggestions for quick targeting are most welcome!

If the convoy is part of your mission objectives, “engage complete and rejoin” should work, if not “engage ground targets” That was helpful Speed. Since the only SAM and ZSU units are in the the eastern and western convoys, the "engage AAA" command is specific for those groups. Unfortunately a T55 sneaked in after pilot recovery and nailed the helo before I could line him up for a gun run but the mission flow feels right now. Thanks for the help!

I'm attempting a CSAR night mission with 2 wing-men loaded with AGM-65Ds and CBU-97s. We can get the SARDOT pretty clear with the exception of a single convoy of about a dozen vehicles including 2 SA-8s and a ZSU. It's night and trying to ID then plink the AA threats takes too much time and the pilot is captured. Question: How can I command my wing-men to carpet bomb the entire convoy using the CBUs rather than deal with individual targets? Vaicom seems to restrict commands referencing a SPI to individual vehicles which makes the use of CBUs rather inefficient. Does anyone have a technique for bombing a group of vehicles rather than individuals? Many thanks in advance!

LOL! Not to worry. Your secret is safe with me! Thanks!

Hi Sabre, The Mission Planner map shows 3 SA9 emplacements posing danger to the CSAR choppers. I have attached a picture with each SA9 site labeled. I can find site 1 quite quickly but 2 and 3 which appear to be southeast of ARCO don't seem to exist and, in fact are not shown as suspected SAM sites in the A-10C - TAC24 Mission Data.pdf map. Since I can remove SA9 site 1 quickly it has become perplexing that the remaining SA9 sites seem MIA. Are the two maps at odds or am I mistaken? Thanks for any help!

Thanks Sabre. That's good info. I've gotten this far so it's just a matter of time and yes, I do use the practice missions to work out the proper techniques. They are a real godsend! Thanks for the reply.

I've been attempting TAC24 for the last few days but have some concerns regarding the sequence of engaging SAMS and authenticating the downed pilot. If I take out the 3 vehicle SAM setup close to ARCO center point prior to being told by Uzi to clear the area of SAMS the authentication process doesn't seem to trigger. If I wait for Uzi to instruct SAM clearance, followed by taking out the before mentioned SAM site, the authentication process is launched. Unfortunately, by the time he is authenticated there is a 3 vehicle squad (truck, ZSU and IFV) almost on top of him and the virtual pilot is captured. I know I need to be quick about directing and reacting but this seems a bit over the top. What am I missing (because I know it's me!). Thanks!

Never mind! Just noticed that 2.5.6 included single mission updates in the mods/campaign folder. I just copied them to the mods/aircraft/A-10C/single missions folder and all is good. Looking forward to completing the TTQ campaign. These campaigns (BFT, AFT & TTQ) have been a superb training tool. They have really made me work and dig into the hows and whys of the A-10 systems. Many thanks for these!

After the 2.5.6 update single TTQ missions seem to load but then skip to the debriefing page (where you are offered the option to "fly again". I tried the "fly again" option but it's stuck in a loop and just shows the summary page again. The campaign is unaffected and is working fine. It's probably a simple fix but I need direction. Thanks!

That did it. Just passed the practice mission. A bad assumption on my part regarding easy comms. I thought frequencies were automatically selected using easy comms. You know what they say about "assume"! Thanks for the direction and quick reply. Much appreciated!

I'm using Vaicom Pro with Easy Comms enabled in DCS. I have not been able to communicate with the downed pilot and am checking the F10 menu frequently. Any clues? Thanks.

Bingo! That got the campaign back on track. Even though I have no clue why this happened, at least now I know how to circumvent the problem in the future. You are a gentleman and a scholar sir! Thanks.

Hi Sabre, Thanks for sticking with this. This is the highest campaign number and its associated lua entries" [48] = { ["stage"] = 10, ["mission"] = "A-10C - TAC19.miz", }, -- end of [48] Obviously much is missing. The questions "how to fix?" and "why did this occur?" spring to mind. Many thanks for your help!

Hi Sabre, Understood but here is the lua entry for TAC19: [46] = { ["datetime"] = "Mon Apr 27 20:42:34 2020", ["agKills"] = 3, ["aaKills"] = 0, ["stage"] = 10, ["deathsCount"] = 0, ["result"] = 75, ["mission"] = "A-10C - TAC19.miz", }, -- end of [46] The result meets the criteria and I received a Q- if I remember correctly. Ideas?

A week ago I successfully finished TAC18. The next day I fired up TTQ expecting to see TAC19 for my next go. I was greeted with TAC18 again. Thinking I must have pressed cancel when exiting the campaign, I proceeded to to refly TAC18 and moved immediately to TAC19. I exited from TAC19 and completed TAC19 earlier this week making sure not to press cancel. I exited DCS and today when loading TTQ I see that TAC19 is my current mission AGAIN. This is the second time the campaign has failed to advance after successful mission completion. I followed Sabre's advice and tried a DCS repair and a campaign uninstall/reinstall but no joy. Here is the logbook.lua entry for TAC20 if that helps: [47] = { ["datetime"] = "Mon Apr 27 20:43:26 2020", ["agKills"] = 0, ["aaKills"] = 0, ["stage"] = 11, ["deathsCount"] = 0, ["result"] = 0, ["mission"] = "A-10C - TAC20.miz", }, -- end of [47] I must admit to being a bit freaked that I've gotten this far if only to get stuck :cry:. Many thanks for any help you guys can provide.

Okay, I got through it but a bit shaky. Two adjustments made: 1. Was not getting a Ray Target call when latch set to on so I set to off and held the nose wheel button for the duration. 2. Instead of orbiting, I made a straight and slow run directly towards the target while waiting for the gunship to prosecute. I've done this twice so it works but I'm not sure why latching is cranky and a direct run in is needed. Thanks so much for your help and if you have any thoughts on what I have seen here please share them!

I posted this over at the A-10C forum and Puma was kind enough to point me here. Here is my dilemma: " I'm getting toward the last missions in Maple Flag's Tactical Training Qualification and can't say enough good things about these qualification campaigns. However, I have run into a bit of a roadblock in the latest mission which is titled "CAS Mission Management - Night". The situation is this: Airborne JTAC calls for immediate support, issues a 9 line and requests gunship support with IR pointer. I enter the coordinate data into the CDU and slave the TGP to the new steerpoint followed by selecting a target and making it SPI. This is where things start to go south. Using the F10 options, I call "Fire mission". The gunship responds affirmatively. I then begin painting the target with the IR pointer and get a flashing P in my TGP. Next, I call "Transferring target coordinates" and the gunship responds "Received". I begin a slow orbit over the target trying to keep it painted as much as possible. The Problem: The gunship never leaves its orbit to make an attack run and there are no other commands available for gunship comms. I'm sure it's something I'm missing but I've spent a week going back to TFM and dozens of YouTube videos on lasing targets but no joy. Oh, and many thanks!"

I'm getting toward the last missions in Maple Flag's Tactical Training Qualification and can't say enough good things about these qualification campaigns. However, I have run into a bit of a roadblock in the latest mission which is titled "CAS Mission Management - Night". The situation is this: Airborne JTAC calls for immediate support, issues a 9 line and requests gunship support with IR pointer. I enter the coordinate data into the CDU and slave the TGP to the new steerpoint followed by selecting a target and making it SPI. This is where things start to go south. Using the F10 options, I call "Fire mission". The gunship responds affirmatively. I then begin painting the target with the IR pointer and get a flashing P in my TGP. Next, I call "Transferring target coordinates" and the gunship responds "Received". I begin a slow orbit over the target trying to keep it painted as much as possible. The Problem: The gunship never leaves its orbit to make an attack run and there are no other commands available for gunship comms. I'm sure it's something I'm missing but I've spent a week going back to TFM and dozens of YouTube videos on lasing targets but no joy. :helpsmilie: Oh, and many thanks!

I have Kneeboard Builder installed on a different drive than my Windows drive and I enable the shortcut to execute with Administrative rights but I still see a grayed out Modify.

I have the same problem with the GUI but I am flying the A-10C so age isn't the issue here.

LOL! Yeah, I've tried it that way and it is inconsistent at best. It doesn't seem to specify the SPI without a compass direction. So if another similar target type is closer to the wingmen they often blow you off and attack the closer target. That's not to say they always listen when issuing compass direction but it seems much more consistent. Thanks for the reply.

Quick question: Does a Vaicom phrase exist for instructing wingmen to attack from the most direct route rather than the specific compass directions? Thanks!