Mission 6

[Jayhawk1971]

That was intense. My question would be: is this mission "hardcoded" to have one single outcome, or are there "branching options"?

 

Spoiler

Is there a way to save the business jet, and Magic? I was doing high-speed passes across his nose, but had to watch both the Yak and my wingman get shot down by that SA-11. Then I raced at full burner towards those MiG-25's, launched my Phoenix from further out to at least force one of them defensive, but they shot down the E-2 before I was in Sparrow range. Got them both, though, so I at least avenged by buddies.

 

Does the mission design allow for a different outcome?

 

[Aa416295]

Spoiler

I lost the Yak, but saved the E-2. Surprisingly my wingman survived too.

 

[Reflected]

Haha, the campaign is so heavily story -driven that all threads are full of spoilers

 

Spoiler

It's not possible to save the airliner (hence the title of the mission), but you can easily save the E-2 if you hurry and employ your phoenix properly. So the mission has 2 outcomes. 

 

Edited June 20, 2021 by Reflected

[Jayhawk1971]

vor 10 Stunden schrieb Reflected:

Haha, the campaign is so heavily story -driven that all threads are full of spoilers

 

  Inhalt verstecken

It's not possible to save the airliner (hence the title of the mission), but you can easily save the E-2 if you hurry and employ your phoenix properly. So the mission has 2 outcomes. 

 

 

This is exactly what I was missing the most in DCS: a good story. A reason to learn all those systems. So I am very happy that you, and Baltic Dragon, and a couple of other very talented mission designers are putting in so much effort to give those of us who prefer SP some fun entertainment (while still maintaining realism).

 

Spoiler

How would you employ the Phoenix in this situation? I launched in TWS-Auto from about 56 miles , and the missile went stupid immediately after launch. The lead Foxbat kept disappearing from radar, so Jester was prioritizing the wingman. Should I instead try to get a STT lock on the lead MiG, and pray that Jester doesn't lose the lock? 

 

I've read something of a "SP workaround" with high closure rates: jump in the backseat and switch aspect to "nose". Maybe that'll help with radar detection?

 

[Reflected]

No idea why they go stupid, I always managed to get them to kill from 30-40 nm. Go high and go fast when you launch. Then again, there can always be a temporary missile bug, it happened before.

[Jayhawk1971]

Seems like the Phoenix got wonky again post-patch. Others in the HB subforum are reporting having similar problems with the -54's. 

[Reflected]

Oh no

[Cpt. Weber]

Most probably that's the reason why.

I had the same issue with the mission, the faster you go, the less chance to see them, they just disappear.

It gave the mission a pretty depressive flair, I couldn't see and target the first guy going for the AWACS because he was too fast. Until I got in range and slowed down enough to see him, it was much too late.

 

It also kinda borked the next mission for me as well...

[Reflected]

Damn, for the next one, Phoenixes would be crucial...

[Jayhawk1971]

I somehow made it through mission 7 despite the faulty (sabotaged by Russian sleeper agents in the Hughes factory?!)  AIM-54's (I did jump into Jester's seat and set the aspect switch to "nose").

 

Spoiler

Still, only one out of my six 54's hit a Backfire (last one launched within 10 miles I guess). I did set target size to "large", though, so no idea if that helped the last one or hindered the first 5. Got two more Backfires close in, one with a Sidewinder, the other with the gun. The other Tomcats got the rest, and the couple of ASM's that got launched were taken out by the SM-2's of the fleet.

 

[Reflected]

That's definitely wrong, I tested that mission for over a year and I managed to get all my 6 phoenixes to hit, always. Hopefully this bug will be solved soon.

[Jayhawk1971]

Weird. In Mission 10, my Phoenixes worked flawlessly.

 

Spoiler

I launched at around 46 miles out at the lead element of those SU-27's, in TWS-A, while climbing at full burner. However, I did not set aspect to "nose". The first Flanker tried to climb but maintained course, the second Flanker tried to beam then turned back right into my missile head on. Neither of the bandits used chaff, so I guess chaff resistance of the Phoenix seems to still/again be the problem. 

 

Edit: then again, according to Tacview, neither did those Backfires in Mission 7. I'm confused. Sometimes, the Phoenix at least initially tracks, while another goes stupid right off the rack: never changes course (no loft, nothing). 

Whatever the reason, I still immensely enjoy this campaign. Great mix of missions so far, with some surprises, great voice acting...just a lot of fun! 

Edited June 22, 2021 by Jayhawk1971

[ClydeBigBird]

I failed mission 7 twice earlier today. 

Spoiler

First time my phoenix missiles lost lock and flew over the bombers, second time I tried to intercept more quickly but they disappeared from radar before I could launch.

Sounds like I exceeded the max closure rate the radar could track (after launch in the first attempt, before in the second).  

 

Is the way to deal with this to jump in the back seat and switch the target aspect switch to Nose (or just reduce closure)?  One of the HB guys said on Sunday that it would be set to Nose by default in the next patch, but the patch notes from two days ago don't have any F-14 changes listed. 

 

EDIT - yeah, flipping the target aspect switch to Nose sorted it out and the Phoenix missiles worked as I would have expected in previous versions after that 

Edited June 25, 2021 by ClydeBigBird

[Panny]

When I play I often just jump into the back and hit nose target aspect. 

Ultimately as you get better it goes a long way to get comfortable with the RIO seat, so you can have an understanding of what Jester is trying to do or what he's doing wrong.

But yeah target aspect nose is key to set. I heard in a future patch nose will be set default