Free Mi-24P Campaign : The Dawn Of The Soviet-Afghan War

[Raffi75]

At what point do you turn on the anti-icing system and pitot tube heater? I always do this on the ground, before turning off the AI-9, and I have no problems during flight. I checked the manual today; the anti-icing system and pitot tube heater turn on at temperatures of +5°C and below.

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

11 minutes ago, Raffi75 said:

At what point do you turn on the anti-icing system and pitot tube heater? I always do this on the ground, before turning off the AI-9, and I have no problems during flight. I checked the manual today; the anti-icing system and pitot tube heater turn on at temperatures of +5°C and below.

I normally turn them on on the ground too, and never had problems with it before this mission. 
Because it did give me problems the first time around, I decided to turn them on immediately after gear up, and that’s when I lose an engine.

I’ll try one last time tomorrow, but frankly this is getting annoying

[Raffi75]

This is a bit strange. I only had one icing problem this campaign, but it was clearly my fault because I hadn't turned on the pitot tube heater. I turned it on in flight, and after a while, everything was fine.

 

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

Yes, it’s as if the generators can’t provide enough voltage/current for all systems if I turn on anti ice on the ground. The electrical panel has the green light indicating the generators are active, yet the autopilot/dampers refuse to stay on.

It’s why I even tried to keep the APU running and turned on the APU generator for good measure, but it didn’t help.

[Raffi75]

2 hours ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

Yes, it’s as if the generators can’t provide enough voltage/current for all systems if I turn on anti ice on the ground. The electrical panel has the green light indicating the generators are active, yet the autopilot/dampers refuse to stay on.

It’s why I even tried to keep the APU running and turned on the APU generator for good measure, but it didn’t help.

Can you send me the tack file?

 

Mission 10:
I managed to complete it successfully. Today was a bit different than the first attempt at the mission.
When the Volk-2 taxied very close to my tail after stopping on the taxiway, it stopped, waited a moment, and then took off vertically. It continued its mission independently for the rest of the mission. It immediately flew from the airport into the mountains. The Oriol-1 froze in a hover again. This time, I didn't have the colored (yellow) message about the troops being loaded, nor the information to select the cargo. After landing and selecting the report, there was no document animation, but the typewriter sound was there.
Despite these minor glitches, the mission ran smoothly. I enjoyed it.

 

Edited August 4 by Raffi75

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

24 minutes ago, Raffi75 said:

Can you send me the tack file?

I have track files disabled. I’ll see what happens tomorrow…

[dggoofy]

On 8/3/2025 at 2:07 PM, Raffi75 said:

Mission 5:
On my first attempt, I completed a night flight along the route. Takeoff and landing were successful, and nothing happened along the way. Only on my second attempt did everything go according to plan.

Mission 9:
I attempted this mission several times (my life). Volk 3 took off vertically from the stand. On my second attempt, Volk 2, 3, and 4 took off vertically before the colonel boarded and circled the airfield. Later, they joined me, and I was able to continue the mission. On my last, successful attempt, Volk 4 took off vertically before entering the runway.

It's an issue with DCS : AI helos takeoff are unreliable. I've had the same problems! Sometimes, all aircraft take off normally from the runway, but other times, the AI just goes completely wild.

I’ve sent a message to ED (Eagle Dynamics) so they can fix this issue.

[Raffi75]

Mission 11:
I don't know why I have a map from mission 10 in my kneepboard and the reconnaissance photos are missing.

 

The same thing happens in mission 12. I checked the campaign files. I'm comparing it to the PDF document that came with the campaign.

Edited August 6 by Raffi75

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

I managed to get past Mission 4 without generator/anti-ice problems

Spoiler

But I forgot to rearm to the loadout mentioned by the briefing, and I had some leftover infantry after I depleted my rockets so I had to use my 30mm to take them out. A door gunner would indeed have been a lot better  

 

[dggoofy]

16 hours ago, Raffi75 said:

Mission 11:
I don't know why I have a map from mission 10 in my kneepboard and the reconnaissance photos are missing.

 

The same thing happens in mission 12. I checked the campaign files. I'm comparing it to the PDF document that came with the campaign.

Damned! You're right. My bad. I fix this issue and upload right now an update.

Sorry.

[Raffi75]

These are minor issues that could easily be improved. The most important thing is that the mission was successful without any hiccups. 

[Sobakopes]

I need advice on wingman taxiing and disappearing on taxi runway at start.

Mission 6 i ve done without wingman. But he appeared in the air when i landed in strip in the end after the 'vampire 1 rolling (for takeoff)' message appeared (when i was in fact rolling after landing having done all objectives.

Edited August 7 by Sobakopes

[Raffi75]

I was going to write about this tomorrow, after finishing the entire campaign, but since the topic is already on the table, I'll write a few words today. One thing that doesn't quite work as expected is the AI wingman's behavior. I noticed during the campaign that the AIs could take off on their own, at different times and in different places, and disappear from the airport while taxiing. Later, they would reappear in the air and perform their tasks. I suspect these are errors related to the DCS itself, not specifically related to the campaign. dggoofy also mentioned this. Despite this AI behavior, the missions themselves ran smoothly and were consistent. Well, maybe except for the first attempt at mission no. 5, where I had a night tour of the Afghan skies because nothing happened. The second time, everything worked fine.

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

Mission 5:

Spoiler

Just did what ended up being my first attempt, as I was shredded to pieces by the 2nd ZUU-23 (at least I know where it is now! ).
Oh and as a general hint to make night missions and "city glow" look better: personally I increase gamma to 2.8 for such missions (from the default 2.2): it is dark enough to be realistic and bright enough to be able to just about make out other helicopters if you know where to look... And it doesn't completely wash out cockpit lighting
But it is something ED really should improve (night lighting in general), along with the ridiculous accuracy of Mk1- eyeball guided AAA 

 

2 hours ago, Sobakopes said:

I need advice on wingman taxiing and disappearing on taxi runway at start.

That's not something campaign makers have a lot of influence over, really. They can try to mitigate some of the issues with AI through clever use of waypoint special commands etc, but in the end it's up to ED to fix.

[dggoofy]

17 hours ago, Sobakopes said:

I need advice on wingman taxiing and disappearing on taxi runway at start.

Mission 6 i ve done without wingman. But he appeared in the air when i landed in strip in the end after the 'vampire 1 rolling (for takeoff)' message appeared (when i was in fact rolling after landing having done all objectives.

Indeed, as Raven pointed out, I have no control over the AI's behavior. In my campaigns, wingmen operate independently. Understand that it’s a separate aircraft to which I assign orders to follow the leader and carry out missions.

You can prevent an AI aircraft from taking off by placing an obstacle in its taxi path. This is harder to do with helicopters. Sometimes it works, but other times, for unknown reasons, they take off vertically from their parking spot.

In the case of the Soviet-Afghan War Dawn campaign, if you’re supposed to take off from the beginning of the runway, your wingman should, in principle, follow you. However, I’ve already noticed that it sometimes takes off directly from its parking spot instead.

If you’re supposed to take off from Charlie, I’ve created two wingmen: one that taxis and another that takes off to follow you. There’s no other way, because by default, AI always takes off from the start of the runway.

That’s why I included the warning: "Don’t worry about your wingman—he’s doing his job!"

During test, I had very few issues with AI. 

[Raffi75]

In most cases, the AI took off from the runway. The exception was when I was traveling slowly and the distance between the two helicopters was too small (obstacle?). In that situation, it took off, stopping behind me on the taxiway. A similar situation occurred when four helicopters were taxiing and the distance between them was too small. Three or four took off from the taxiway.

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

1 hour ago, dggoofy said:

There’s no other way, because by default, AI always takes off from the start of the runway.

Yes, you can clearly see that in action in Yoyo's Mi-24 campaign, for example: there it takes roughly 8 minutes for the wingman to take off once you're in the air. Basically AI helicopters think they are heavies, and taxi/take off like a C-5 Galaxy would.
So much for "the year of the helicopter" ED promised us years ago, eh? 

[Raffi75]

2 hours ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

Basically AI helicopters think they are heavies, and taxi/take off like a C-5 Galaxy would.
 

In Afghanistan, the vast majority of takeoffs were from the nosewheel. This was due to altitude, air density, and the takeoff weight of the armed helicopters. This is entirely appropriate.

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

48 minutes ago, Raffi75 said:

In Afghanistan, the vast majority of takeoffs were from the nosewheel. This was due to altitude, air density, and the takeoff weight of the armed helicopters. This is entirely appropriate.

I know that. What I said is something entirely different...

[Raffi75]

Hi @dggoofy, Can you help me?

Mission 12:
I don't know, I don't understand, I'm clueless. I'm having trouble taking off. I've tried with less fuel. I've tried without the UB-32, and I'm still having trouble taking off. The helicopter feels like it's too heavy, and I still feel like the rotor is too light, not holding onto the air. I had to work really hard and fiddle around to get it to take off. This is very strange.

Another thing: Volk 2 is powered on and takes off shortly after the mission begins. The dialogue indicates that the entire start-up and take-off procedure should proceed normally.

When I reach the area where Raven is, nothing happens. I don't receive any communication. I'm flying around in circles, doing nothing. Maybe I did something wrong.

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

10 minutes ago, Raffi75 said:

When I reach the area where Raven is, nothing happens.

Buy me a drink, and we can see if we can work something out 

[Raffi75]

4 hours ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

Buy me a drink, and we can see if we can work something out 

Not that I have anything against it, but you look a little out of it. 

 

[Raffi75]

It worked.

I don't know why I had the most trouble with mission 12. I managed to get the takeoff. I found a way. The Volk-2 took off on its own and flew straight to the area where Raven was. It hovered nearby and refused to interact. 

Only the last time did it work. Well, except that it took off on its own again, but this time it joined me and didn't cause any further problems.

As I wrote earlier, aside from minor AI issues, I really enjoyed the entire campaign. The concept, the variety of tasks, the dialogue, and the overall atmosphere were excellent. There was never a moment of boredom. The mission length is perfect for me. 

I'm looking forward to the next installment of Major Ivanovich's adventures. 

 

 

 

Edited August 9 by Raffi75

[jojojung]

Really the best campaign I played in DCS. Great! Thank you!
In mission 5 the wingman doesnt fight at all against the ZSU near the palace and the ZSU is sniping in the night as always. 
The mission is to difficult I think, when you have to go with missles and gun in a knife fight with the ZSUs in the middle of the night.
But thats only my personal opinon. When the wingman will fight too it might be possible but without you really get shot out of the sky when approching with your limited range weapons.
I orderd the wingman to primary task and to defense AAA without any outcome. He is circuling around.
DCS must work on the AI for years because it often destroys everything in SP. But you dont earn money with AI bug fixing I think...

[Sobakopes]

Surobi pass mission is outstanding.

I've never done something like this before.