Just awful

[Cunning_Fox]

Overall I have been enjoying the campaign, very atmospheric, and have now reached the mission in which you are told to attack hill 39. Sigh....

 

I just tried this mission 7 times in a row, mostly due to the MANPADS on the hill and short range SAMs that are in two west-east lines slightly to the south of it. In one attempt I managed to shoot down all four Su-25s, but then spotted a smoke trail coming from the hill, a Stinger fired at max range... and of course I got hit again. Game over. No matter where you are hit and by what, the MiG's engine always dies immediately.

 

Rather a dreadful experience IMHO trying to hunt missile armed Su-25s in a SAM infested area. It seems best to stay north of the river or west near the coast and wait for a Su-25 to venture there and to stay high lest a Su-25 comes specifically for you launching R-60s on the way in.

 

 

 

This guy gets me.

 

The only way I’ve done it which does not require playing several hundred times over and over again is staying over the FARP and hunting down SU-25Ts, don’t even think about going next to the hill as that is pretty much impossible (unless you are extremely lucky) and leave the Su-25As alone. Watch the buddies though, as they tend to bait you into attacking lead and then launch an IR into you.

 

Zoom from the top and circle the FARP at 2,000 meters looking for targets. Engage them on their egress from attack as the first Su is followed almost surely by his buddy who is literally going to get you in his sights as you try to take the lead on the ingress.

 

 

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[Cunning_Fox]

They have admins? That's news to me.

 

 

 

One of them said to me something along the lines of “Screw you, but I know you wouldn’t understand cause English isn’t your first language”.

 

That’s the “fluffy” version, the wording was... very different. This is bad, I mean even below steam-kazareal and VEAO-don’t-you-say-nothing-bout-muh-Hawk level bad.

 

 

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[Apache600]

I've mentioned it before. Don't attack the hill! and because the mission parameters change, you don't have to.

 

For your info / viewing pleasure, here's the MiG-15 Mission 8.4 details below (in the spoiler):

 

 

The mission requires you to defend against the attacking SU-25T's. The helicopters even abandon their attack on the hill, so you should do the same. Of the 4 enemy SU-25T's, only 2 of them are carrying an R-60 Air-Air infrared missile. And each of them only have 1 (the opposite pylon from the R-60 is actually just a red smoke marker.) You also only have to actually kill 2 of the 4. The others will retreat, and there is an associated sound file with that (give it about 3 minutes after shooting down the second one and that'll trigger)

As for anti-air defenses on Hill 39, it's really not that bad. There's 1 manpad, 1 SAM Avenger, and 2 Vulcans. And of course a slew of tanks and APC's that'll fire light machine gun at you. But you should never get that close. Here's a picture that shows the Anti-air threats at the hill. It only extends out 5km's from the hill, so it's not really that far reaching.

The things you must do in this mission are to continually monitor your six, and to have the situational awareness to know where the hill is and to stay away from it.

 

 

[AeriaGloria]

It’s also important to remember to jettison the bomb load you don’t need once your tasking changes.

[Cunning_Fox]

I've mentioned it before. Don't attack the hill! and because the mission parameters change, you don't have to.

 

 

 

For your info / viewing pleasure, here's the MiG-15 Mission 8.4 details below (in the spoiler):

 

 

 

 

The mission requires you to defend against the attacking SU-25T's. The helicopters even abandon their attack on the hill, so you should do the same. Of the 4 enemy SU-25T's, only 2 of them are carrying an R-60 Air-Air infrared missile. And each of them only have 1 (the opposite pylon from the R-60 is actually just a red smoke marker.) You also only have to actually kill 2 of the 4. The others will retreat, and there is an associated sound file with that (give it about 3 minutes after shooting down the second one and that'll trigger)

 

As for anti-air defenses on Hill 39, it's really not that bad. There's 1 manpad, 1 SAM Avenger, and 2 Vulcans. And of course a slew of tanks and APC's that'll fire light machine gun at you. But you should never get that close. Here's a picture that shows the Anti-air threats at the hill. It only extends out 5km's from the hill, so it's not really that far reaching.

 

The things you must do in this mission are to continually monitor your six, and to have the situational awareness to know where the hill is and to stay away from it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Monitor your six” I’ve spent 80% of the mission looking over my shoulder for possible missile launches.

 

 

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[Cyrus]

I completed the mission by staying over the river and breaking off any pursuits of Su-25s moving to the South. I managed to shoot one down and damage another which then ate a SAM, after which the other two Su-25s left the scene.

 

Now I reached mission 14 (rescuing 2 Mi-24 pilots). I do not understand it very well or it seems broken. After the Mi-8 lands and I get the message that the pilots are safely on board, nothing happens! The Mi-8 stays put on the ground and does not take off, whilst the other helicopters keep circling.

 

I destroyed most of the enemy infantry expect for three individuals that do not even reach the Mi-8. How to solve this?

[Cyrus]

I just tried the mission for the 2nd and 3rd time. In the 2nd attempt I destroyed all the enemy infantry, nothing happened. However, in the 3rd attempt I was still busy taking out the infantry in the wheat field, when the mission suddenly progressed with the Mi-24 exploding and the rescue Mi-8 taking off. Ok, nice, next mission.

[Apache600]

Mission 14 (8.6) is currently bugged, please see this post from yesterday: https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3737317&postcount=14

[Cyrus]

Overall I have enjoyed the campaign, but then I stumble upon the next to last mission in which you confront the C-17. I really do not understand this mission's design.

 

You are in a MiG-15bis very far from your base, external tanks empty and dropped, then you have to shoot down a C-17 (easy), but afterwards you have to dogfight no less than 2 F-5Es (on expert AI) on your own! Although the messages suggest to run for your own front lines, this is completely impossible as the F-5Es are far faster aircraft. They rapidly closed the distance to my MiG-15bis, which was already barely controllable at max speed nearing mach 1. So I got into a dogfight, managed to shoot one down, but your fuel quantity rapidly diminishes trying to fend off 2 enemy planes at once. I got shot down when I had 300L left, I would not have made it back to base anyhow.

 

How are you supposed to finish this mission? Clean AI F-5Es are some of the best dogfighters in the game, see the Red Flag campaigns with this type.

Edited January 6, 2019 by Cyrus

[AeriaGloria]

I’ve only been able run from F-5s by using terrain.

[Cunning_Fox]

I’ve only been able run from F-5s by using terrain.

 

 

 

Yeah terrain and a lot of turning. I sometimes pop the brakes and flare to let them overshoot. They tend to go off into a climb. Watch your 6 and try to predict their next movement. Also, flying upside down tends to screw with their aim, so I sometimes turn my plane into upside down position. Mostly it’s terrain and speed management.

 

 

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[Apache600]

Neither of the two F-5's are set to Expert AI, one is set to Good, the other to High. And there's a Radio Message that comes through saying that if you're being pursued by the escort fighters, to run to our front lines. You're even given headings to fly to get there. So i'd recommend running, not fighting. Cunning Fox listed some good tips to help throw them off while you're enroute to your friendly forces.

[Cunning_Fox]

Just awful

 

Neither of the two F-5's are set to Expert AI, one is set to Good, the other to High. And there's a Radio Message that comes through saying that if you're being pursued by the escort fighters, to run to our front lines. You're even given headings to fly to get there. So i'd recommend running, not fighting. Cunning Fox listed some good tips to help throw them off while you're enroute to your friendly forces.

 

 

 

“Before it was cool” when 15 was released you didn’t have much to play with. When I was making the 15bis missions I tried to use everything from Mustang and F-5 up to MiG 21 and Mirage 2000 (when they came about). It is fun to fight against impossible odds once in a while. The sense of achievement you get when you tear down a new-ish fighter on a 15bis is overwhelming. Mostly going fast does you no good as you get loss of control and rudder reversal. But if you let them tail you and then use the brake they either go high or they pass you and try to reduce speed to circle back. That’s when they get the triple cannon treatment. You can fight like this even with wet feet with no terrain cover (provided you get really close to them so their missiles fly past). But what I did in my missions is I’ve sent a fighter screen next to me, so that their radar missiles would be fired at my buddies.

 

Also, in a close quarters dogfight, the F-5 tends to spend their missiles very quickly and they fire them off at very bad angles. Sure, you get shot down once in a while, but it isn’t the same as fighting a Sabre. That thing is vicious.

 

Though, in the future if you make adjustments to a campaign, it’s much more fun to blow up tanks dodging Shilka than to get an IR missile up you afterburner.

 

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Edited January 7, 2019 by Cunning_Fox