"POW rescue" missions discussion thread

[ricnunes]

These are my first two missions that I ever made for DCS World.

Both use DCS:Huey module and the player flies the UH-1H posing as a Canadian CH-146 Griffon with the objective of rescuing POWs located in enemy POW camps but in each mission this objective is accomplished in a different manner as detailed below.

 

POW Rescue:

In this mission the player will have to insert a team of special forces inside the enemy POW camp, while providing cover during the insertion since the camp is guarded by several enemy guards armed with AKs.

 

POW Rescue 2:

In this mission the player will have to escort and provide cover for a pair of Chinook helicopter which will deploy two groups of Special Forces at an enemy compound with the objective of rescuing POWs located there.

 

 

The purpose of this thread for discussion, problems/issues reporting and general feedback.

 

I hope you enjoy these missions and of course any feedback is always welcome.

 

 

EDIT (22-10-2014): Uploaded new versions of these missions with some minor changes based on feedback given here in this thread. I want to take this chance to thank you all for the feedback. And please continue to give me your feedback.

Changelog list:

POW Rescue (1):

- Added the possibility for the player to be able to equip 1 Minigun on the left door mount (in alternative to a M60 Machine Gun). Note that the default weapon loadout is still 2 door mounted M60s.

POW Rescue 2:

- Reduced the default fuel loadout from 80% to 50% (there was no need for such a large fuel loadout in this mission)

 

 

 

Download the missions here:

Mission Area

Edited October 22, 2014 by ricnunes
New versions uploaded

[the_soupdragon]

Sounds good. Will try it later

 

 

SD

[Cibit]

Bloomin marvelous:) Thanks very much:thumbup:

 

Are u planning on linking missions or do we have to find them

[ricnunes]

Hi Cibit,

 

The link for the missions is where it says "Mission Area" (on the top part of the first post and BTW, here as well)

[Cibit]

Doh;)

[ricnunes]

No problem.

Anyway, I changed the first post a bit so that the download link becomes easier to identify.

[ebabil]

gotta try asap

[Dark Angel]

Just tried POW2...lot of fun. However, the Chinooks are a little hard to escort. They fly a little too fast. :)

[WolfK33]

Hi,

 

I just flew both of them, thanks very much for making the missions ! There are much too few .

 

Just a few quick thoughts:

 

I really liked the early morning setting in the first one, as DCS CAN look great. Many missions are always in standard setting...

 

As Dark Angel (Is that a reference to "Stolen Thunder" ? Good Book, just re-read it these days. ) already mentioned, the Chinooks in POW2 are a tad fast, after setting up my radio and looking through the cockpit it was hard to catch up, and on the way home the one surviving was cruising at 133 knots, couldn´t keep up ;-)

And maybe a bit less fuel for the huey in POW2 almost couldn´t get it up in the air as I always try to fly as if EGT was properly implemented.

 

Maybe, as a suggestion, choose an area where the terrain is not so completely flat so it´s a bit more interesting to fly. On the other hand, racing along that road low level between the two forests to catch those vehicles was pretty cool ;-)

 

I also liked that it was doable, that you didn´t have to win WW3 all by yourself...

 

All in all I liked it a lot, keep it up !

Rep inbound !

 

 

Thanks,

 

Wolf

[ebabil]

played pow1 , i killed every single infantry in the camp then re enforcements and then even in the enemy camp adn landed. but nothing happened

[ricnunes]

Thanks for the for the kind words and feedback guys.

 

@WolfK33,

I agree that it's a good idea to reduce the internal fuel load.

Actually POW2 was my first mission and I wasn't (and I'm still not that) familiar with DCS map distances and the Huey fuel consumptions so I preferred to have more fuel than needed than the opposite, but I'll look into it. BTW, what would be your suggestion for a good fuel loadout in POW2?

 

Regarding the escort Chinook part, actually what you should do is NOT keep close to the Chinooks while their are inbound to the POW compound but instead you should pass by the Chinooks and arrive at the compound sooner (as sooner as possible) than the Chinooks so you can clear the enemy compound (from all enemy troops or at least eliminate most of them) before the Chinooks arrive. Actually this is mentioned on the mission briefing.

From what I've been reading this was a standard procedure when CH-146 Griffons "escorted" CH-147 Chinooks in Afghanistan.

 

When the Chinooks leave the enemy compound and return to base they do it at their best and almost maximum cruise speed which is higher than Huey (actually in real life the Chinook is among the fastest helicopters in world). Anyway during this part, there's no threat for the Chinooks.

 

 

@ebabil,

Did you pick up the SF team at their camp (located south of Senaki-Kolkhi airbase) before heading to the POW camp?

You can only deploy the SF team at the POW camp if you pick it up first.

[ebabil]

Yes i picked them up. They dissappeared before landed and subtitle said "SF team is on board" or something like that. Labels were on so i am sure of it.

[WolfK33]

@ricnunes, when I flew it again i lowered fuel to 45% I think and I still had plenty left when coming home.

[ricnunes]

@ricnunes, when I flew it again i lowered fuel to 45% I think and I still had plenty left when coming home.

 

OK, I will lower the fuel to either 45% or 50%.

 

I will report back when change this and when I upload the newer version.

[ricnunes]

Yes i picked them up. They dissappeared before landed and subtitle said "SF team is on board" or something like that. Labels were on so i am sure of it.

 

Well, I don't know what to say about your problem with the POW Rescue 1 mission.

I played it either by evacuating myself the SF team plus the POWs or by ordering the "Slick" (the unarmed Huey that may support you on call) to pick up the POWs and later by evacuating the SF team.

 

Without any further details on what happened to you, I can't seem to figure out what's happened in your end.

 

 

Anyway, the steps needed to accomplish this mission are the following (don't worry, these aren't spoilers since this should be well documented within the briefing and mission itself):

 

1- Takeoff and head for the small SF base located south from your initial position.

 

2- Land at the special forces base (LZ is marked with Blue Smoke) in order to pick up the special forces (SF) team.

 

3- Note that in order to pick up the SF team you have to wait a bit for the SF team to be considered as being "picked up" (You'll receive a message indicating when the SF team is "on board").

 

4- Head for the POW camp

 

5- You have to land at the POW camp in order to deploy the SF team - It is of course advised that you clear the POW from most or even all enemy soldiers before deploying the SF team or else the enemy will have an "easy time" shooting your helicopter down to pieces.

NOTE (This is a bit of a Spoiler, I admit): The enemy reinforcements are sent once you directly overfly the POW camp (you don't need to land in order to trigger the enemy reinforcements) - You don't need to necessarily kill the enemy reinforcement but if you let them get near the POW camp, they may of course hamper the entire operation!

 

6- Once you get the confirmation from the SF team that they already have secured the POWs you are presented with 2 different options and you have to select one of them in order to progress. These options are accessed by using the radio -> press 'F10' key -> select the appropriate option by using either the 'F1' key or the 'F2' key.

 

6.1- If you select "'F1' -> I will pickup everyone option" you need to:

6.1.1- Land at the POW camp in order to pick up both the SF team and the POWs.

6.1.2- Wait until you get the confirmation that everyone is in (this may take a few seconds)

6.1.3- Take off and return to base (Senaki-Kolkhi)

 

6.2- If you select "'F2' -> I will send the Slick to pick the POWs" you need to:

6.2.1- Wait until the "Slick" (and unarmed AI Huey) lands at the POW camp (it may take around 3 minutes for the "Slick" to reach at the POW camp).

6.2.2- After the Slick picks up the POWs and takes off, you need to land at the SF camp in order to pick up the SF team yourself. NOTE - "Slick" never picks up the SF team!

 

7- Independently of what option you choose, you must return and land at the Senaki-Kolkhi airbase!

 

 

Sorry for the long post and I hope this helps...

[the_soupdragon]

Am I supposed to have weapons on the SF Huey? I have the door gunners but that is it. It is a bit difficult to take out the enemy in the compound with just the door gunners. (This is in POW1 Mission)

 

SD

Edited October 21, 2014 by the_soupdragon

[Lilkiki]

Am I supposed to have weapons on the SF Huey? I have the door gunners but that is it. It is a bit difficult to take out the enemy in the compound with just the door gunners. (This is in POW1 Mission)

 

SD

 

Agree with that, as far as the AK47 soldiers are way to effective in the sim !

 

I tried to change the loadout of my Huey with Miniguns, but that didn't worked

 

 

Mission story is nice though ;)

[ricnunes]

Yes, the Huey in those missions is supposed to have door mounted machine guns only since it mimics Canadian CH-146 Griffons whose armament in real life consist solely on door mounted machine guns, such as FN MAGs (in the game we have M60s which are very similar), Miniguns and GAU-21 (which aren't modeled in DCS:Huey).

 

Speaking of the POW1 mission, this mission should be quite doable with door mounted M60 machine guns (Default armament) since the AI door gunner have a skill of 100% set for this mission and there are very few enemy soldiers in the POW camp (the number may vary since it's kinda randomized but I shouldn't expect more than 6 soldiers).

 

Don't forget to order you AI gunner to "fire at will" (LCTRL+3 and LCTR+4 for left and right gunner respectively). However, sometimes taking over the machine guns could probably be a good idea (and order the "autopilot" to orbit around the camp).

 

If you change the loadout from door mounted M60s to door mounted Miniguns this mission (POW1) should be a "walk in the park".

[Yurgon]

I like the mission idea and had fun flying to the mission area. Good job there.

However, I had trouble getting rid of the enemy soldiers.

Lilkiki said:

I tried to change the loadout of my Huey with Miniguns, but that didn't worked

Same here.

ricnunes said:

Speaking of the POW1 mission, this mission should be quite doable with door mounted M60 machine guns (Default armament) since the AI door gunner have a skill of 100% set for this mission and there are very few enemy soldiers in the POW camp (the number may vary since it's kinda randomized but I shouldn't expect more than 6 soldiers).

I played the mission in the current 1.2.10 and my door gunners hardly ever fired although I gave them clear LOS and ample opportunity (both set to "Free Fire" of course). I also tried my luck with the 60s on several passes, but I suck at aiming them. After taking a lot of hits, my gunners were finally KIA.

I then decided to fly again but equip miniguns...

ricnunes said:

If you change the loadout from door mounted M60s to door mounted Miniguns this mission (POW1) should be a "walk in the park".

... but after "Rearming complete", my chopper was devoid of armament. I could re-equip the 60s, but no joy with the miniguns.

It appears you activated the airfield's warehouse for the ammunitions, setting evrything except the M-60s to 0 quantity.

I think if you tick the "Unlimited Munitions" checkbox, players should be able to equip the helo at their own discretion, which would be nice so as to give us a better chance to cope with AI gunner deficiencies.

Edited March 27 by Yurgon
Attachments removed

[ricnunes]

Hi Yurgon,

 

Yes, indeed I ticked the "Unlimited Munitions" checkbox on the "Warehouse in airport" option.

My intention was indeed to limit the weapons that the player can select on this mission, or resuming the only weapons that the player can select are the M60s. For some reason I was under the impression that if you selected the weapons on the briefing ("Mission Planner" button) you could select any weapon but couldn't rearm those same weapons (if they aren't present in the "Warehouse in airport" option that is).

Guess I was wrong and I'm glad that I was since like I said the purpose was indeed to avoid the player of equipping any weapons on the helicopter (except for the M60s) and the reasons for this are:

1- If the player could selects rockets for example or even Miniguns, the mission would become too easy since there are only a few guards on the base and those weapons would annihilate them quickly.

In theory there's a total of 12 soldiers but 7 of them have a 50% possibility of actually spawning on the map, which gives a theoretical possibility of having around 8 guards during the mission (but this number could be higher or lower due to the 50% random factor).

2- The objective of this mission is to insert a small team of Special Forces (4 guys) and you also have to extract them later or if the player wishes, evacuate the POWs as well.

Well, a Huey (or CH-146 Griffon) armed with door mounted miniguns can't or hardly can transport a considerable number of passengers when equipped with such weapons.

 

 

I'll give a few suggestions on how to complete this mission:

- The briefing indicates that there are soldiers on the guard towers (there are 4 in the POW camp). The 4 soldiers that "man" the towers (1 on each tower) always appear on the map (they don't have the 50% possibility of spawning) and are easier to spot since the towers are quite visible from the air and should be easier the spot the soldiers on the towers. Deal with those soldiers first. Then deal with the rest later.

- The AI gunners for some reason sometimes don't fire even if the enemy target is well visible and there's a good line of sight. But I noticed that sometimes the gunners work better when orbiting the target at a higher altitude and at the same time (when orbiting at a higher altitude), enemy soldier armed with AKs don't seem to be so effective in shooting and hitting the player's helicopter.

- Other times when the gunners don't engage while orbiting, making dashing, straight-line and high speed passes seem to make the gunners to become more effective when engaging the enemy.

 

 

I could however, reduce the number of soldiers if most here feel that will give a better balance for this mission? Does someone have a suggestion about what would be a "good" number of soldiers in the POW camp (so that it doesn't become either too hard or too easy)?

[Yurgon]

Hey, thanks for the comprehensive answer. :thumbup:

 

Yes, indeed I ticked the "Unlimited Munitions" checkbox on the "Warehouse in airport" option.

My intention was indeed to limit the weapons that the player can select on this mission,

 

[...]

 

I could however, reduce the number of soldiers if most here feel that will give a better balance for this mission? Does someone have a suggestion about what would be a "good" number of soldiers in the POW camp (so that it doesn't become either too hard or too easy)?

 

I think there's nothing wrong with the number of enemy soldiers. I've taken on forces much larger than that. The problem, IMO, is with the AI gunners not being efficient enough under the circumstances presented in this mission, but that could change at any time with a new patch.

 

I just modified the mission and flew it with Miniguns as door-guns. My gunners still weren't too efficient, but this time I had the upper hand and finished the mission easily. Also, I'm used to heavy loads. It may not be 100% realistic but it works for me. :)

 

I think if you allowed the players to change armament to their personal taste, the mission would be more enjoyable.

 

I mean, the M60s should be quite capable of dealing with a few soldiers, but seeing as they sometimes aren't, why not leave it to the player to choose the approach they think is best suited to achieve the objective? And if I understand you correctly, Miniguns aren't that extraordinary for the CH-146, or are they?

 

In any case, I like the mission, thanks for sharing it! :thumbup:

 

Oh, and here are a couple of screenshots I just took. :)

[Lilkiki]

 

I think if you allowed the players to change armament to their personal taste, the mission would be more enjoyable.

 

 

:thumbup:

[Cibit]

When I get kidnapped the only guy I want leading my rescue is Yurgon;)

[ricnunes]

I think there's nothing wrong with the number of enemy soldiers. I've taken on forces much larger than that. The problem, IMO, is with the AI gunners not being efficient enough under the circumstances presented in this mission, but that could change at any time with a new patch.

 

I just modified the mission and flew it with Miniguns as door-guns. My gunners still weren't too efficient, but this time I had the upper hand and finished the mission easily. Also, I'm used to heavy loads. It may not be 100% realistic but it works for me. :)

 

I think if you allowed the players to change armament to their personal taste, the mission would be more enjoyable.

 

I mean, the M60s should be quite capable of dealing with a few soldiers, but seeing as they sometimes aren't, why not leave it to the player to choose the approach they think is best suited to achieve the objective? And if I understand you correctly, Miniguns aren't that extraordinary for the CH-146, or are they?

 

In any case, I like the mission, thanks for sharing it! :thumbup:

 

Oh, and here are a couple of screenshots I just took. :)

 

 

 

First of all, thanks very much for your feedback! :)

 

You're right that sometimes the M60 gunners seem to suffer from some kind of "cerebral paralysis" while other times or even suddenly they start to work well.

 

Regarding Miniguns on CH-146 Griffons, yes they (Miniguns) are part of the CH-146 Griffon weapon inventory (they were often used in Afghanistan for example) but they seem to be used only when the CH-146 is performing roles such as recon, fire support or Escort and not when they carry passengers. When they carry passenger the armament (when fitted) are door-mounted C6 machine guns (C6 is the Canadian name/version of the FN MAG) which is very similar in terms of "performance", role and even size and shape to the M60 machine gun that we have in DCS:Huey.

 

However I agree with you that having the possibility of equipping Miniguns would make this mission more doable without the need of reducing the number of enemy units. And as you say it gives a side benefit of allowing the player to customize the weapons loadout a little bit.

So in regard to what you said and in line with my objective for this mission I came up with a compromise which I believe should make "everyone happy" (if that's ever possible, LoL :D ):

- In the "Warehouse in airport" option I added one (1) Left Door minigun so that a player can equip his/hers helicopter with Left Door minigun in alternative to the Left Door M60.

For example the player can have his/hers helicopter armed with 1 Left Door minigun and 1 Right Door M60. This IMO doesn't make the mission "too easy" while at the same time reducing weight which is useful for loading the passengers. This also mimics a realistic loadout seen on a few CH-146s in Afghanistan (armed with 1 Left Door minigun and 1 Right Door C6).

 

NOTE: Just uploaded new versions of both POW1 (with the change mentioned above) and POW2.

 

 

And BTW, those screenshots are awesome as well as the AAR (After Action Report) on that post. Thanks for posting it and I'm glad that you liked the mission :)

I can also say that you were very, very lucky in at least one instance while playing that mission. (I won't say here because I don't want to spoil ;) )

Edited October 22, 2014 by ricnunes

[ricnunes]

When I get kidnapped the only guy I want leading my rescue is Yurgon;)

 

LoL, indeed :D