PoorOldSpike

RUSSIAN AAA's vs TOMAHAWKS 1- Out of curiosity I ran these tests to see if the same four AAA's would engage Tomahawks being launched from this Ticonderoga- 2- The Tic launched 10x Toms in quick succession, they fly low most of the way to the target then zoom up and dive like the ones at top left are doing. Note the AAA flak bursts around them, confirming that AAA does fire at the large Tomahawks- 3- The AAA uinits are the same four as I used in the Maverick tests. Here the truck gun lets fly at the incoming Tomahawks- 4- A Tomahawk's view of the tracer coming up at it. NOTE- Only 1 (or sometimes 2) Toms were shot down out of 10, indicating that Russian AAA is not very effective against Tomahawks- 5- The Toms strike home- CONCLUSION- Russian AAA engages large Tomahawks but not smaller Mavericks.

RUSSIAN AAA UNITS vs MAVERICKS 1- The test setup, There are only 4x Russian AAA units in the game as far as I can tell (circled), i added a couple of radars for good measure. I placed a T-90 tank group just behind them for the incoming Hornets to target- 2- The AAA's- 3- The Hornets each launch 4x Maverick F's against the Russians (circled)- 4- But the AAA units DON'T fire, and the Mavs butcher the tanks, indicating that AAA's can't see small Mavs- 5- but the AAA's can see the Hornets and engage them- CONCLUSION- Mavericks can't be shot down by Russian AAA guns so they're immune. I'll run more tests later to try to find a Russian SAM system that'll engage them

HITS ON A DESTROYER In this series of tests the Hornets fired volleys of Harpoon 84D's and Maverick F's at this warship; 5 harpoon hits sank it, and then 7 Maverick hits sank it in another test. Below: noob note, you can check what damage a ship is taking by going to the F10 map like below. A full green bar above the ship indicates no damage, but in the middle pic the bar has shrunk a bit because the ship has started to take hits; and in the lower pic the bar has shrunk a lot and turned red after the ship took more hits and will probably soon sink-

What's PG and Crossroads baker? ----------------------------------------------- CARGO SHIP HIT TESTS Top pic- The Hornets launch a hailstorm of Harpoons at the 3x cargo ships (circled).. Bottom pic- One Harpoon hit is enough to sink each ship. (I later repeated the test using Maverick F's, just one hit sank the Dry and Bulk ships, but it needed 2 hits to sink the tanker.) NOTE- for the record, the ingame Encyclopaedia gives the warhead weight of the Harpoon 84D as 225 kg, but the Maverick F warhead is only 136kg

Given the wide range of SAM's in the game it depends which ones you're talking about as they might not all have the same characteristics. Also it depends whether you're manually-operating them, or leaving them to the AI to acquire and select their own targets.

Thanks guys, I've just run the tests below to see how Russian warships respond to Mavericks and Harpoons. First test: MAVERICK AGM-65F's (TV guided) 1- A group of 3x Hornets each almost simultaneously launch 4x Mavericks in a saturation attack against a Russian Neustrashimy frigate, and the ship begins launching SAMs aganst the Mavs. (Note: for the purposes of the test I tagged the planes as 'Invisible' to guarantee the ship would only see and concentrate on the Mavs) 2- The Sams are Tors, so the test proves that Tors launch against small Mavs. BUT the ships Gatlings DIDN'T fire against Mavs despite my running the test multiple times. 3- The Tors shot down about half the 12 Mavs but the rest got through like this one, and I repeat, the Gatlings never fired at all- Next test- HARPOON AGM-84D's 1-The Hornets release a fusillade of sea-skimming Harpoon 84D's and this time the Tor SAM's AND the Gatlings open up. Presumably the Gatlings radar can see Harpoons but couldn't see the smaller Mavs. 2- Go baby! 3- Eat this Jack...:) (The splashes at top right are from Gatling bursts) SUMMARY- I also ran identical tests with every other Russian ship type, and NONE fired their Gatlings at Mavericks. Some (but not all) did fire their Gats and SAM's at Harpoons, so we can conclude that the larger the missile, the easier it is for ship defence systems to lock onto them. Let me know if I've overlooked anything, and post your comments and death threats etc in this thread. I'll run some ground based tests later to try to get an idea of which ground units can shoot down which missiles..:)

Ship-mounted CIWS are very good at shooting down incoming missiles, even smallish air-launched missiles like this one (Russian KH-29T TV-guided), but on land there seems to be no equivalent CIWS unit, or am I missing something? I think there are none in the real-world too, is that right? Notice too the ships HQ-16 SAMs are also getting in on the act, firing at the small KH-29T, yet as far as I know (correct me if i'm wrong) no land-based SAMs will engage small missiles in the game and in the real world? Below: Missiles-eye view..

I suppose we just have to assume ships are popping chaff and doing jamming "abstractedly" (ie invisibly)..:) I've been testing DCS AI ships to find out which types of incoming missiles they'll fire their SAMs and CIWS against, and they do it pretty good most of the time. Also AI ships are usually pretty good at firing their Anti-ship missiles on their own initiative.

Okay there are a few more keys you might find useful, for example Rt-ALT-J will get you in and out of the vehicle, let me know if you need any more. F7 external view F1 gunsight And you have to set the two things below in order to give paths to units on the map.

Yes I'll have to make an effort to learn scripting and stuff because the major downside of DCS for me at the moment is the fact that my created missions play the same boring predictable way every time with no surprises. If I knew how to assign random starting locations to units and random appearance chances, every mission would be refreshingly different every time i play it. Some guys tried to help me with it a few weeks ago but the problem is I hate computers with a passion and trying to learn gives me a headache. By contrast, some other wargames/ sims are dead easy to randomise, but lack DCS's sensational graphics..:)

Thanks, I tried deleting them as an experiment but it apparently never made a blind bit of difference, the mission proceeded as normal without a hitch. So I'm assuming they're only really meant for hardcore simmers/ wargamers/ mission creators to fine-tune things and not for mere mortals like me, so as a compromise I won't delete them or mess with them, I might as well just leave them alone..:)

Thanks, yeah I know what the abbrevs stand for (Tactical Air Nav System/ Enhanced Position Location Report System/ Close Air Suppt) but what do they actually DO in the game?

When I place units in the editor, they have these entries (circled) automatically assigned to them. Are the entries important? Should we leave them alone or - gulp- just delete them as unwanted clutter?

A few eye-candy shots- https://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=ForumsPro&file=viewtopic&t=14431

1- If by 'Playable' you mean units you can actually get into and be the driver or gunner, I don't know if there's a list somewhere, but the good news is you can get into the vast majority of ground vehicles..:) Below: In the Editor, tick the 'Player can drive' box. (If it's not driveable the box will be greyed out) 2- The bad news (old hands will correct me if I'm wrong) is that when you're inside a vehicle on the 3D screen and driving it around, the other members of your group won't follow you,...grrr...so the only way to make them follow you is to click on your unit on the map and give it a path like below. 3- ..and then your group members will follow you to hell and back like below, firing at the enemy on their own initiative if they spot him..:) 4- the only unit in the American 'Armour' category that is NOT driveable is the Patton (below) but even though you can't get in it, you can still give it a movement path on the map, and away it goes like this- (You can also do the same with any other non-driveable vehicles)

I know they pop it in the real world and in other naval sims, but I've yet to see them do it in DCS, or is there a special option or something we need to select to make them do it?

No problems here. I just ran tests starting my plane group (three SU-25T's on the Caucasus map) at 10k then ordered them down to 4k at w/p 1, and they also held it through w/p 2, then they began orbiting w/p 2 at 4k bless their little cotton socks. I suspect we have to follow the exact sequence below to make it work- Select group leader on map and click a map location to place w/p 1. Drag slider to 4k. Click map to place w/p 2 Right-click to lock everything. Left-click to clear the map. Go back to plane. PS- one way of finding out your Comb Arms version is to use Settings>Misc>Theme>CA to get this pretty pic like mine, it says 1.5 at top right..:)

Yeah the Burke has got more bugs than fleas on a hound dawg's back. In this screenshot it launches SM-2 SAM's against incoming missiles but they explode in midair above the ship. Also, although the CIWS are firing, there's no sound effect with them. As if all that's not enough, it doesn't seem to want to launch its Harpoons against enemy ships-

Thanks, and incidentally I see a guy in the Battle Academy wargame forum is asking how he can get rid of "red numbers" so I presume the same thing has happened to him, I'll pass on your solution to him on the offchance it'll work for him..:)

Stupid question but a string of red framerate numbers appeared in the top left corner of my monitor screen (I must have accidentally hit its key or something), it was interesting but the next time I started the sim it'd gone. So just for the record what's the key to toggle it on and off?

Hi, exactly what weapons and kind of target are you talking about?..:) If I knew I'd run tests.

SUB-LAUNCHED ASM TESTS PIC 1- They seem to work okay as long as we remember the target has to be BEHIND the sub like this (no don't ask me why, I dunno)- PIC 2- the sub automatically dives to peri depth. Hit R-Alt-J to get in, this is the periscope view. Hit key Q to select the YJ-84 missiles (readout at bottom right confirms selection), then sweep the periscope around looking for a juicy target. Note:minimum missile range is about 7nm, they won't lock onto anything nearer than that. Their maximum range is about 30nm, any ships further than that won't lock. PIC 3- hit = to zoom, then Ent to lock up a ship like this. Note- it might take several seconds before the yellow lock brackets turn red, a countdown clock will appear in bottom left corner- PIC 4- when the lock brackets turn red, click the left mouse button to fire the missile, then go to external view with F9 to enjoy the show if you like. F6 will give you a missile ride if you're up for it. Key F1 will get you back to peri view. Note the sub doesn't have to surface to launch- PIC 5- the missile then begins a u-turn like this to home in on whatever ship you've locked behind the sub- PIC 5- People are on the pitch, they think it's all over ! Inset- it is now !..:)

Yeah I've tested all three submarines and they're still largely a work in progress, but we can still have a bit of fun with them, check out my 'Submarines' thread here- https://forums.eagle.ru/forum/english/digital-combat-simulator/dcs-combined-arms/7113637-submarines

5- pan around to the Tanker and hit = to zoom in. Then hit Ent to lock the ship, and when the lock bars turn red click the left mouse button twice to fire a torpedo, or keep clicking to fire more- 6- hit F6 to follow the torpedo, you'll have to use the mouse wheel to zoom out a bit to see it better- ...or you can hit F10 to see the YU-6 torp on the map- 7- Accelerate time by hitting L-Ctrl-Z a few times if you like (and L-Sh-Z to return to normal time) and you can pause with the pause key anytime (it's key PB on my keyboard). Here the torp is about to strike home (see the bubble trail)- 7- That's a bingo !

SUB TORPEDOES TESTS Just thought I'd throw this basic tutorial together for any fresh-faced wide-eyed innocent noobs who wander into this thread seeking spiritual enlightenment.. 1- In the editor create a simple mission by placing a Type 093 Attack Sub and an enemy Elnya tanker on the map a couple of miles apart without any orders- 2- Start the mission (after saving it if you like) and hit key F9 to see your sub and the tanker- 3- within a few seconds the sub has dived to periscope depth on its own initiative- 4- hit Rt- Alt-Jto go to periscope view. Note the readout at bottom right telling you you've got 6 x YU-6 torpedoes in the tubes-