Su-25T first campaign mission

[ratkandy]

Hi, I'm fairly new to DCS. I'm trying to graduate from the target range to the campaign mode in the Su-25T, and I've failed and been shot down many, many times. I've never yet seen the primary target marked with orange smoke.

 

Is there a walkthrough, or a video that shows this mission being done correctly?

[159th_Viper]

Welcome :)

 

If nobody beats me to it I'll post a walkthrough of sorts for you.

[troye]

Hi there, I'm also relatively new and working my way through the SU-25T campaign. I've progressed a bit further than you, but have noticed that very often when they talk about orange smoke, it is actually green smoke!? It is not very visible and you have to be within about 5km to see it and relatively low. Targets are not always exactly where the waypoints indicate, but somewhat off-set. Also, if you loiter too long the smoke will stop (which is probably realistic).

 

So you have to take out AA positions early and from far away (I find the Vikhr missiles the best for this) and then get closer to see the smoke. There is generally only one or two AA missile or gun positions to worry about but it is important to scan the area from far away (5km+) with the Shkval TV thing [RShift-O] and learn to recognise the shape of AAA guns and AA missile systems, so that you can lock-on and eliminate them quickly. Soldiers with shoulder mounted AA missiles are the hardest to spot but there are always two of them together and easier to spot on higher magnification.

 

If you're really struggling, i suggest turning on labels and then fly to within about 3-4 km of the labels as they will start identifying. Most of the AA will fire if you get to within 2-3km - there's a fine line between identifying targets and becoming one :-) Be ready to jink and drop flares at the first sign of an AA missile launch though. Also try to skirt the area at a 90 degree angle as missiles have a harder time tracking from the side.

[159th_Viper]

.....but have noticed that very often when they talk about orange smoke, it is actually green smoke!?

 

Quite correct.

 

In the first campaign mission there are 4 possible starts, three with the correct briefing and one with what seems to be an incorrect briefing referring to Orange smoke when it should actually be Green, or so it would seem.

 

I flew that particular mission quite quickly just now and noticed that your primary threat is SHORAD, in particular Stinger MANPAD's. As such your best bet would be to engage from over the water (feet wet) or at a height exceeding 3500m. In this instance to take the pressure off just engage feet-wet. Locate the smoke, egress over the water, turn to target and prosecute.

 

In this particular mission the primary target as marked is along the coast:

 

 

 

Hope that helps.

[esb77]

Another tip that will help a great deal for the Su-25T campaign is that you should always look at the briefing map before the mission starts (when you get the briefing and default weapons loadout) and make a careful note of all of the air defense units.

 

Once the mission has started do the same again with the F10 map.

 

There are air defenses that won't show up on either map, but knowing where some of the SAMs are is better than not knowing where any of them are.

[ratkandy]

Thanks for the advice. I also found a youtube vid by a guy who makes this look easy. And I got shot down about 20 more times trying to replicate it.