cold war warrior mission 4

[andqui]

how on earth am I supposed to complete this? This mission by the way, is the CCW_04_02 mission in the mission folder.

 

The target the FAC gives me, a MLRS battery, is in a field. Using the F10 map, I see that there are three Roland SAM's forming a triangle around the target, with each SAM around 5-15 km away from the target. No matter how I approach the target, I will get a roland fired at me. I only have S-8 rockets, so there's no way for me to kill the roland unless it's out of ammo. What I've been doing is staying at extremely low altitude while attacking the target, hitting maybe one or two vehicles on each pass, while sending my wingie to attack SAM's, effectively making him SAM bait.

 

Using these tactics, the best I have been able to achieve is to have two vehicles left, and I got shot down by a Roland that I couldn't quite dodge (the fifth fired at me, btw) as I lined up for the final pass. This was exploiting a gap made when one Roland ran out of ammo- sacrificing my wingman in the process. As I was extending away, the roland to the NW got me, and while I guess I could have avoided him, I only got that far by cheating and using the f10 map and repeatedly pausing and looking around.

 

I can't think of any other way to do it- I can't come in from way up high because the sky is completely overcast at 1800 meters.

 

To me, it seems extremely stupid to send a pair of Frogfoots only armed with rockets to attack an artillery battery 10 km behind enemy lines that has extremely good AA defense, when the only briefing on the target was the location from the FAC. A real pilot's first warning in this type of mission would be his RWR lighting up.

 

How should I complete this mission realistically? I would think that a real Su-25 pilot, upon approaching the target and seeing a SAM looming large on the RWR would choose not to attack such a target, FAC or not. This type of mission seems to be meant for a briefed, planned hit, with a SEAD strike to help, not a virtually blind attack guided only by some map coordinates.

 

any suggestions, or should I just chalk this mission up as unrealistically demanding and move on the the next one?

 

thanks

[slug88]

First, IIRC you don't have to destroy all of the target vehicles to complete the mission. In fact I believe that all you have to do is simply fly to the target area, and make it back to base. The idea is that you should try to complete the objective, but survival is the first priority and the only requirement to advance. I've only gotten halfway through the campaign so far, but I've completed most missions by simply unloading all of my ammo in one or two passes and then heading back to base, irrespective of whether or not I ever even hit anything.

 

Second of all, this campaign takes place in what is essentially a WW3 scenario. If you read the initial brief you might recall that most of the Soviet forces deployed in Europe have been eliminated, and your goal is to delay the Nato advance until reinforcements arrive from the Far East. Basically it's a retelling of WW2 with 1980's technology. Given that perspective, do you still think it's unrealistic to assign Frogfoot on extremely dangerous missions with low odds of success? In the early years of WW2, Soviet forces, including aircraft, were routinely sent on suicidal missions in desperate attempts to delay the German advance. I don't see why things would be any different if Nato was advancing into Russia in 1989.

 

BTW, it is possible to complete this missions without use of F10. I succeeded in one or two tries, and I'm an average Frogfoot pilot at best. In fact, the challenge of locating your targets the old school way is one of the most interesting and appealing aspects of this campaign IMHO.

Edited July 13, 2010 by slug88