My initial thoughts about this campaign.

[bmbpdk]

Hello all.
Ive set myself a goal in 2021, to complete all the campaigns i own, and now is the time for TEW 3.0.

SPOILER ALERT!

I have the following comments about my experiences so far.

Mission 1: Apparently flight did not listen to me when i told them "landing with a three minute interval", for me the mission should have scripted them to hold at the wet waypoint, and then go for landing when told.

Mission 2:
A: DCS´ Comm´s are to underdeveloped for escort missions; the escort have authority and therefore there should be a "Start" "Stop" command.

I have done several escort during my tour in Iraq as a MECHINF, and the escort leader is God, and if you have a problem with the speed or the escort, then find someone else.
I have no way of controlling the escort which i need to to be able to control them, at least some kind of checkpoint, lets say at each sector, then you can thoroughly routecheck up ahead.

B: I dont know if the campaign makers have ever served on deployments, but the escort NEVER EVER leave the convoy before the convoy is inside "the fence".
In this mission i was allowed to leave the convoy while they still had one town, two bridges and 2 roadcrossings to pass.

Since ive been the escort and the convoy in real life, i stayed airborne until the convoy was inside "the fence", just leaving them out there was against everything i learned and experienced in real life and against good escorting procedures.

Mission 3:
The enemy never fired back, never moved, never reacted to our shooting, kinda lame.

So far is a very mixed experience.
But i love the huge amount of voiceovers, even though "two" seems.... immature..., for the lack of better words.
From what i read in the two "Osprey, Combat Aircraft"  i have about the A-10 in Afghanistan, the missions seems very realistic and well made.

Edited June 22, 2021 by bmbpdk

[baltic_dragon]

Hey @bmbpdk! Thanks a lot for your feedback and keep it coming! 

 

Now, as an opening remark I have to admit that I built this campaign when I was relatively new to DCS and even though 3.0 was done after a few years of gathering experience, if I was to build it once again it would have been much different after having extensively worked with several active duty and ex USAF and USN fighter pilots. So you can probably expect the mix of realism with arcade-ism and somewhat "over-talked" missions, which nevertheless should still be fun (I hope).

 

As for M01, the DCS AI is DCS AI, especially when it comes to taxiing and landing. I've tried the way you described and also had weird results with wingmen extending far beyond the runway to go around for ages or just crash.. I might have a look and see if something changed in 2.7, something can be possibly done here. Marking it as "to investigate" item. 

 

For M02: not only I didn't deploy anywhere, I never served in the military (which I regret, but Polish armed forces at the end of the 90's was not a place you'd like to go, unless you were a masochist). So each piece of information as the one you posted is super valuable to me and helps me get better with each campaign. IIRC there is an option to stop the convoy at the entrance of each sector, but adding an option to do that at any time would be feasible. I'll think about it. Same goes for staying with them until they are inside the fence. 

 

For M03: don't think they have anything they can shoot back with apart from their assault rifles. The AI is set to open fire, but probably the in-game parameters for the AI (whichever they are) were not fulfilled. 

 

In any case, thanks again for taking time to post it, if you have other remarks please let me know - I always strive to make my campaigns better / more realistic!

[bmbpdk]

Hello Sir.

Thank you for your reply.

Its always interesting to hear from the other end of the products life.

Yeah, the uncertain 90´s, they turned many things up side down, and many things changed from day to night, so i fully understand why you chose a different career path.

I now understand better why the missions are build as they are, and yes; technical and coding limitations can sometimes change things, i understand.
Tonight i will fly mission 4, no doubt it will be interesting and challenging.

One thing i must add, is that for the very first time in years, have i actually used the A-10C and its systems as it should be used.
Reading the books i mentioned, and real life experience, no plans survives first contact with the enemy, makes adapting and broad knowledge of the A-10C much more vital in your campaign.
I quickly realised that i had become complacent with the "Rail-campaigns", standard missions and instant missions, where nothing change outside the ATO, your campaign is a healthy reminder that you need to train, even though its a simulator, you need to train.
So the requirement to used othervise "forgotten" functions of the CDU and UFC, OSET, TOT came once again alive with your campaign.
Im in no doubt that after completing your campaign, if i dont die :-), i will be a much better Hog driver.

Thank you.
 

[Odessa]

You know, I played some DCS A-10 campaigns years ago and decided to play again recently.
About -  "The enemy within 3.0" I finished only first mission and struggle with second but...
From a point of view of the most of the players  - it is a great campaign!
Maybe I compare  with my experience 7 years ago but still.
99% of players do not know how escort mission looks in real life

And all AI-related things - looks like it is question to ED but not BD

To be honest I am thinking to buy another DCS module and checking now which module has BD campaigns

Edited January 19, 2022 by Odessa
Fix typo

[Rattles]

This campaign is fantastic. Easily the best DCS campaign I have played and I hope you make many more like it (starting with an F-16 one please).

[baltic_dragon]

I am almost done wrapping up the new Raven One, and then moving most of the resources into the F-16 campaign we are working on with Rain (from the Afterburn podcast).

[Odessa]

On 5/4/2022 at 3:17 PM, Rattles said:

This campaign is fantastic. Easily the best DCS campaign I have played and I hope you make many more like it (starting with an F-16 one please).

Try it after overhaul. It looks like "TEW 3.0 on steroids".
We have even debriefings now!
It is a great idea.