Single mission tutorials

[Ratfink]

I'm struggling to find if anyone has made tutorials for the bundled single player missions - Hideout, In the Weeds, etc.

 

For example, I haven't been able to complete In the Weeds mission as I haven't worked out the best tactics. If I pop up, I get engaged by SA-11. If I stay low, there's not much time to find & engage all the targets at each waypoint and I take hits from cannons as I pass over. Wingy is a dead loss.

 

I have completed Camp Yankee and Hideout but I'm not sure my tactics were exactly what Hog drivers would really do, so just looking for some basic guides.

 

Cheers!

[cichlidfan]

These threads might be useful:

 

A-10C Warthog - Hideout - Video AAR

 

My guide for Hideout mission

 

My mission guide for "The Serpent's Head"

 

Hideout - Start to Finish

[Yurgon]

For example, I haven't been able to complete In the Weeds mission as I haven't worked out the best tactics. If I pop up, I get engaged by SA-11. If I stay low, there's not much time to find & engage all the targets at each waypoint and I take hits from cannons as I pass over. Wingy is a dead loss.

 

I tried to fly the mission a couple of times but never managed to win it. I think I managed to clear the first two or possibly three waypoints when I ran out of visible targets, got closer to suspected targets and then got shot to pieces. And that was after rearming two or three times because I felt like Mavs were the best weapon under the circumstances.

 

I think it's a rather difficult and long-winded mission, but it does a good job of enforcing low flying while finding and engaging targets - which is what it's all about. :)

 

I just read in the description that there's a JTAC available. I don't know if that's a new feature, but IIRC I never used the JTAC when I flew it. Might make things easier.

[Ratfink]

These threads might be useful:

 

A-10C Warthog - Hideout - Video AAR

 

My guide for Hideout mission

 

My mission guide for "The Serpent's Head"

 

Hideout - Start to Finish

 

Thanks, those are exactly the kind of guides I was looking for!!

 

Is there one for In the Weeds though?

[Ratfink]

I tried to fly the mission a couple of times but never managed to win it. I think I managed to clear the first two or possibly three waypoints when I ran out of visible targets, got closer to suspected targets and then got shot to pieces. And that was after rearming two or three times because I felt like Mavs were the best weapon under the circumstances.

 

I think it's a rather difficult and long-winded mission, but it does a good job of enforcing low flying while finding and engaging targets - which is what it's all about. :)

 

I just read in the description that there's a JTAC available. I don't know if that's a new feature, but IIRC I never used the JTAC when I flew it. Might make things easier.

 

I have been using the JTAC but not found much use after the 1st targets, the next ones come up too soon - you cannot really orbit or loiter while keeping a distance before JTAC comm is complete. Normally I would orbit a safe distance with enough altitude to acquire the targets with TGP. At such low alt the TGP is useless.

Please do try the JTAC and see how you find it.

[Yurgon]

I have been using the JTAC but not found much use after the 1st targets, the next ones come up too soon - you cannot really orbit or loiter while keeping a distance before JTAC comm is complete. Normally I would orbit a safe distance with enough altitude to acquire the targets with TGP. At such low alt the TGP is useless.

Please do try the JTAC and see how you find it.

 

Phew, I just finished the mission and, for the first time, cleared all waypoints AFAICT. :)

 

It did take a long time, though, some three hours I think. Twice I went back to Soganlug for repairs and twice more for rearming.

 

I guess the first test for the pilot is to realize the total uselessness of Cluster Bombs in this mission and either rearm right away with something actually useful, or toss the stuff into one of Tbilisi's many lakes. Or, as P*Funk put it in another context but regarding a similar payload:

 

Holy drag index batman. :surprise:

 

Nothing to add there. :D

 

My Wingman successfully cleared the first waypoint of targets, but when I sent him to engage the second group of targets, he got shot (I think by a ZSU-23) and went RTB - at way too high an altitude, so while I was trying to be a good leader and guide him home, he got himself shot out of the sky. Guess the moron didn't read the briefing. :D

 

So, most of the work was still left to be done. I think I flew like 5 or 6 circles over the riverbed until I finally managed to engage my first target.

 

By the time the second group was cleared, I contacted the JTAC, who did a pretty good job guiding me onto the remaining targets. One time he went "No further tasking available. Good job! You may depart." I called him again and he did in fact have further tasking available. Gotta be adamant, I guess. :music_whistling:

 

The really tricky part was to figure out where to fly so that I could see and engage my targets while at the same time staying low enough to stay out of the SAM's LOS and keep enough distance to the AAA units deployed somewhere in the plain.

 

The AAA got me several times. I finally managed to spot one of those units and kill it with my last mav (while I was limping on one engine and had one MFCD out of business - and god only knows what kept the wing together :music_whistling:).

 

With that AAA gone, the rest of the mission went fairly smooth. As I went for the final groups I realized that I could use the hills to the south of the riverbed to my advantage so that I stayed out of the enemy's radar cover (both from SAMs and AAA) most of the time and only got very short periods of radar exposure while I took on the last mission critical units.

 

On the other hand, I had tons of SAMs launched at me and expended several loads of Chaff, mostly during the early stages of the mission. I think most of the SAMs lost LOS right after launch as I went down for cover, but I guess there's no use bringing a full stack of Chaffs to hell/heaven/the-great-beyond, right? :D

 

See screenshots for a couple of impressions. :thumbup:

 

[Ratfink]

Wow Yurgon, thanks! And well done for getting it completed!!

[TheThumper]

Yes, Congrats Yurgon! I too have been trying to complete this mission. It takes a lot of patience and I have very little, so a very good exercise for me. I can't wait to post that I have also completed this!

[Yurgon]

Wow Yurgon, thanks! And well done for getting it completed!!

 

Yes, Congrats Yurgon! I too have been trying to complete this mission. It takes a lot of patience and I have very little, so a very good exercise for me. I can't wait to post that I have also completed this!

 

Hey, thanks, guys. :)

 

I think if I flew the mission again, I would try to send the Wingman to engage Air Defenses near the first group of targets and hope he gets rid of some of the Shilka units. As far as I can tell, there are only around 4 of them in the valley, so each one really counts in terms of opening up maneuvering space.

 

The mission targets are no match for Mavs, but any other weapon is useless (except maybe large volleys of rockets). Without altitude, tossing bombs on BTRs and MBTs is just a good way to eat rounds and test the Hog's survivability. :)

 

But I think the real key to mission success is patience. Whenever I got hit, I already knew I was within Shilka range, I just wanted to get a little bit closer until the Mav would lock on to a target. In the end I got lucky I could still limp home and get repairs. :music_whistling:

 

Good luck to both of you for your next attempts. :thumbup: