Devil's Cross 01A - from start to finish

[zamboni]

Note: I have decided to do videos for each of the missions each with a little walkthrough on what I ended up doing in the mission...

 

After seeing a lot of people having questions about what to do in the Devil's Cross first mission, I decided to go ahead and record an entire mission and post it to You Tube. My .trk files were usually borked and had errors in what actually happened so I loaded up FRAPS and started recording at the ramp at start, and stopping after I landed. FRAPS spit out 50GB of video (1hr 20min of sim time) which was then compressed just under the 2GB limit to upload to YT. I had to lower the bitrate a bit to get it under the 2GB limit so even at 720p resolution it is not the sharpest, but you can basically see everything you need to see in the video. Best to open the viewer full screen to so the HD size.

 

 

I first want to note a couple of things about the mission:

1) I am using Tiger's AI mod so your wingman is more effective and doesn't run headlong into death.

2) Fixed the mission so the CAS1 flight doesn't fly into the ground at their hold waypoint (although their fuel load is still too low that the CAS1 wingman RTBs to base because he is out of fuel)

3) Forgot that I got rid of the dynamic weather in the mission (was thinking that it was one of the reasons why .trk files didn't play back right). So this mission has clear skies and 0 wind.

4) Changed my both my and my wingman's loadout to have 4 Mavs + 4 CBU97s also upped the fuel to 70% to give more loiter time.

5) I use the Easy Communications option.

6) Will probably go back to the YT page and add some notes to the videos to point out some things I did during the flight, and maybe some goofs I did during the flight also

7) Disclaimer: Do not use the video as an example of "the right way to do things". It is just the way I fly....I am not sure exactly the right way to fly a mission to begin with :)....sooooo any tips on how to help improve my flying and shacking are greatly appreciated.

 

8) If you have any questions on what I did or why I did it....ASK!

 

Now....here are a few notes about about flying the mission.

 

In this mission you are tasked with delaying the advance of the Russian 19th Motor Rifle Division. Their advance will take the form of two Regiment columns moving S - SE towards the town of Gori. After contacting JTAC at the contact point, you will be assigned targets from one of the two columns. You will have some CAP cover, help against AAA and SAMs from dedicated SEAD, and there will also be some other CAS flights in the area.

 

There is no rush to get into the air. There is a reason why there are assigned time over targets. If you reach the target area, you may not give the CAP enough time to sweep the area and take care of air threats, and you may arrive before SEAD can take out some of the most potent AAA and SAM threats. Take your time on ingress to get an overview of your target, where he is going and how best to attack them.

 

Do your best with the ordinance and fuel you have and then head back to base. You can't take out the entire Russian Army by yourself! There are other flights scheduled to help delay the forces if you aren't able to do so. As long as you takeoff and land back at base you WILL advance to the next mission in the campaign.

 

Prepare for your ingress and attack.

Although you have dedicated SEAD flights for this mission, you cannot completely rely on them completing your objective! A MiG can get through the CAP sweep, or a SAM may find its target. Be prepared for the SAM threat as if the SEAD was not assigned. Because of the possibility of AA threats, I ingress at around 15000 ft, and will only go lower when I know that there are not immediate AA threats down low.

 

At the control point, I get my assigned target of the Western Column moving south. I hook the datalink triangle and slew my TGP to the area. I then scan south/southwest looking for any moving targets. I first spot two Zeus, and then some tanks leading the column. I check with JTAC and he confirms to me that those tanks are my target. I keep moving towards my IP waypoint and not directly to the target. No use getting over into enemy territory if you are not on an attack run....plus if you go direct to the target, you run the risk of flying over the Eastern column and possible AAA/SAM threats in that area.

 

While I move towards the IP, I started thinking I was going to first attack with a ripple of 2 CBUs from the south along the length of the column. Dropping them at 15K feet with them moving may have them miss entirely. I then change my mind to hit the first few tanks with Mavs. When the Tanks scatter, they will be sitting targets for my next run(s) using CBUs....also it will cause a blockage in the roadway causing a backup of the other armor in the column making it a target rich environment :).

 

How to get in and get out?

South is safe. I you are assigned the Western column, egress west is safe. East is not safe because it may cause you to fly over the other column. Avoid north....there may still be some SAMs left up there. Do attack runs from the south and egress back south or maybe west.

 

If you have the eastern column, East of that column and south is safe.

 

After I made my first run with Mavs to hit the front of the column, I tell my wingie to attack AAA from the south. He only fires off 1 Mav, so I know that SEAD must have done their job well (Otherwise the wingie would have shot all of his Mavs at AAA/SAM threats). So I knew it was safe to go a bit lower if I needed to (beware of MANPADS though!).

 

After my Mavs run, I decide to plink the tanks and BMPs with the CBUs. I use 1 CBU each pass....I know they probably don't do this in RL, but the CCRP release with the CBUs are pretty darn accurate with no wind! (Note....on the RAMP I changed the CBU burst height to 700).

 

The wingie and I were able to take out the tanks and BMPs and JTAC told us we were free to go home (actually wingie had his tail shot up a bit and RTB). I looked and saw some artillery left and with a full cannon load and little low altitude AA threat, I decided to go guns and take them out :).

 

Even with this extended time over target and trip back home, it wasn't until I was on the taxiway at base before the delay triggers kicked in and I started to get additional points for the mission. Although the wingie and I didn't hit the front of the other column, the other CAS flights did their jobs in help delaying that column.

 

I know I have written enough, but want to add one more thing. One thing to help you with reviewing what happened, I highly suggest downloading Tacview. Even though it is a post mission took, it does help you with situational awareness on what was going on in the battle, and you can see things that you may miss in replaying a .trk (if the .trk replay works for ya!) For instance, when looking at the .acmi file for the video above, I was wondering why a CAS mission only had one member, and it turns out that the missing plane actually crashed midair with a C-17 right after takeoff! If you want to see what the .acmi of the mission in the video looks like you can download the .acmi here.

 

Anyways, enjoy the video.....and if there are any questions ASK! Either I or someone here in the forums will probably have an answer for ya!

Edited May 5, 2011 by zamboni
Changed the title

[nemises]

Great Job!..thanks for sharing

[Tracer2k]

this was really entertaingin.. by the way, what was the annoying more code in the end? :P

 

edit: yes i mean Morse code :)

Edited May 3, 2011 by Tracer2k

[Juuba]

Morse code?

 

ILS now beeps the code all the time. The Volume control is busted. :)

[112th_Rossi]

Great video. Can't say I use ILS that often. Only for very low vis approaches.

[Zenra]

Nice job, zamboni. Thanks for taking the time to write it up and for uploading the ACMI file - this is very instructive.

[Sinky]

Morse code?

 

ILS now beeps the code all the time. The Volume control is busted. :)

 

I see, thought I'd just forgot how to turn it down in the period I was away from the sim. Great video zamboni.

Edited May 3, 2011 by Sinky

[jctrnacty]

Wow, i wanted to make the same thing. Thank you for saving my time :-)

[hassata]

Very nice!

[jctrnacty]

After watching this video i realized again how great is this game.

[RodBorza]

Zamboni,

 

Great video. Watched the whole 80 minutes of it with pleasure.

 

Some nice moments:

- Seeing the big, beautiful C-130 rolling right in front of your nose. Big, noisy, nice propeller noises. Beautiful This game is great!

- Seeing all the other flights landing/taking off as you taxi. Nice!

- When there is nobody tho harass the A-10, the gun rules!

 

Some LOL moments:

- Your notes: "labels on/labels off"; "Sun" - LOL; 29 on RWR - "Go away" Mega LOL.

 

- Questions:

- The ATC gives you altitude in pressure "QFE 3857". How do I translate that to feet, or how do I read that in the altimeter???

- What code the ILS morse code gives? For my account, I got "IVZ"? Is that correct?

Edited May 4, 2011 by RodBorza

[joey45]

7) Disclaimer: Do not use the video as an example of "the right way to do things". It is just the way I fly....I am not sure exactly the right way to fly a mission to begin with :)....sooooo any tips on how to help improve my flying and shacking are greatly appreciated.

 

in other words

"do what I say, not what I do..."

 

Will have to watch it after work.

[zamboni]

Thanks for the comments. Its really hard to 1) learn all of the systems, 2) learn how to use the weapons and then 3) put everything together to attempt a mission. I always have a problem with situational awareness. Is that missile launch a SAM or a friendly Mav? Where exactly is SEAD or CAP, did they do their job? Even watching a video it is hard to tell just what I am doing in the cockpit because there are so many different key presses that you can do on your hotas and not see in the video. It is hard to make notes on everything that you do in the cockpit also.

 

There are a lot of times in the video that it looks like I am looking at my seat, but that is usually me looking down at the keyboard. When I do that, I am usually searching for the 2, 3, 4 keys to change the AP modes....there was also one time during the video where it looks like I was looking at the side of the HUD, that was because I was reaching down to refill my drink :)

 

Some LOL moments:

- Your notes: "labels on/labels off"; "Sun" - LOL; 29 on RWR - "Go away" Mega LOL.

 

- Questions:

- The ATC gives you altitude in pressure "QFE 3857". How do I translate that to feet, or how do I read that in the altimeter???

- What code the ILS morse code gives? For my account, I got "IVZ"? Is that correct?

 

Re: LOL moments, I kinda put them in there because that was what I was thinking at the time when I was flying. After my last guns kill I turned on the labels because I thought for sure that there was some more armor in the area...didnt think we got them all :). The one time I looked left and saw oooooh the sun! I should turn and stare into the sun! (Would be really impressed if the sim modeled a lingering bright spot if you stared into the sun too long :) )....and when I was heading home I saw the 29 on the RWR and thought "Dammit....finished the mission only to get shot down by a Mig on my way home"

 

As for the questions. I really haven't figured out the pressure thing. I read somewhere that the numbers ATC gives you aren't correct. There was a thread yesterday or today that kinda talked about the QFE stuff and a calculation, cant remember which one at the moment.

 

Not sure about the Morse Code, but I was heading back to Vaziani

 

I think I am going to do videos for the rest of the Devil's Cross missions, maybe starting tonight :)

[BlackRazor]

- The ATC gives you altitude in pressure "QFE 3857". How do I translate that to feet, or how do I read that in the altimeter???

 

You roll the pressure set knob (lower left corner of the altimeter) until the value in the small window in the altimeter is the same as the value given to you by the ATC.

However as zamboni said due to a bug the value given by the ATC is always wrong so forget it.

Until ED fixes the problem you can set the altimeter in two different ways according to preference:

 

• Zero the altimeter while you are on the runway threshold before takeoff
  
• While you are on the runway threshold before takeoff set the altimeter to the airfield elevation (you can find this information and much more in these charts.)
  

[RodBorza]

Black Razor,

Thanks for clarifying that.

 

Zamboni,

 

It's a nice video. But I cannot say much because I happen to like any videos showing a entire mission :). It is my daily dose of DCS:A-10 at this moment. (Due to work relocation I'm living with parents again and my computer and flight simming related stuff (joystick, game, video card) are at 1600 miles from me right now. So, if I cannot play, at least I can see others doing it.)

 

Well, back to topic. I really like to watch others doing missions so I can compare and learn: what others do right and wrong, how can I improve myself.

Situational awareness is always a problem. Much more in a aircraft like the A-10 where you have no radar and you have to go round and round after each attack. It is not like a strike aircraft where you just have to go, bomb and get away, all in the flight plan. The good side however, is that you really have to learn to navigate: look at the compass (be it the digital on HUD or the backup on the canopy), use references on the ground to locate the enemy (liked the way you were looking at roads looking for enemy armor; it's a good tactic. :thumbup:); etc.

 

Once I get back to simming, I want to make a video about using the support flights. Once they get in, and IF, only if, you use them at the right time, the mission should be a success. I always send SEAD first and I keep an ear out for AWACS call. When it says enemy at 40 miles out, then it is time to call the cavalry ("CAP").

 

Ayway, have a nice campaign. This game is great and keep getting better and better (that is, until DCS:F-15E comes out... :D)

[Ozz13]

this video is the reason I'm whipping out the credit card today and ordering a Trackir

[andysim]

you wont regret getting TIR. Its one of the best upgrades you can make to a PC for flighsimming. I know that goes for any head tracking but I stick to TIR cause it works well :megalol:

[Nate--IRL--]

Brightness down Contrast up..... all this time I have been turning the map off... genius, thank you. By the way it is frustrating as hell watching that video and not having it follow my head movement :) You don't realise how dependent on TIR you become until you don't have it.

 

Nate

[RodBorza]

By the way it is frustrating as hell watching that video and not having it follow my head movement :) You don't realise how dependent on TIR you become until you don't have it.

 

Nate

 

LOL. That's true! I thought it was just me. :megalol:

[fael097]

you wont regret getting TIR. Its one of the best upgrades you can make to a PC for flighsimming. I know that goes for any head tracking but I stick to TIR cause it works well :megalol:

 

question about TIR:

 

when you stare to a point other than the center, lets say the battery switch on the right console. will the camera stay still enough to click it with my mouse?

 

I tried both freetrack and facetracknoIR, and it's a bitch to click buttons. you might hold your head as still as possible, but the camera will always move. regardless of filters, curves, deadzones, thats just not useable except if you want it just for panning around, rather than clicking buttons. the deadzone is in the center, rather than where your head stops, and thats frustrating, because the center of the cockpit, is more to the UFC instead of the hud, so if you zoom in a bit, you'll see half the hud only. also, increasing filter parameters will only make your movements smoother - and "laggy'ier" - to a point that if you have too much filter on, you move your head, and ten seconds later, the camera movement reaches the place. that for nothing, because it still wont keep the camera steady at the point your head stands.

 

thats why i ask about track IR. i had too many frustrations with free tracking systems, wich are fun, but not useable. i spent quite a few bucks. broke a microsoft webcam trying to remove the IR filter (now it captures image in green/magenta only!) bought a lame philips cam that has low fps, and not even a mic included (comes with a stupid headset) and then i bought a ps3 eyecam wich im satisfied with fps (30 steady, 640x480) and 4 internal mics. but it doesnt have an adjustable support so i can't place it over my monitor, but only over a flat surface like my desk (lame, because it has to point up to capture my head, and keeps showing my chin instead of my face) lol... that not to mention the clip widh leds i had to make for free track to work (or not). anyways, just to show how much money i ended up wasting with "free" tracking systems.

 

track IR is pretty expensive, specially for me that will have to import it. but if I manage to be sure that it works exactly as I want, then I'll consider buying it.

 

thanks in advance

[GGTharos]

Yes, but you have to set it up so that the tracking clip doesn't go out of view partially. If it does, for whatever reason, that's when you get the jittering. Another option is to turn on TIR's 'precision' mode for when you wish to click buttons, which makes the resulting motion of your virtual head slow. You'll want to turn that off (it's all done with a hotkey) once you're done clicking.

[jeffyd123]

hi Fael...

 

I tried, for years, to use freetrack and facetrack... they both essentially suck. the TIR is best used with the pro clip BTW.

 

You;ll like your TIR... it takes some getting used to clicking in the pit as you must stay very still, but youre used to staying still and having your head bob like your dead drunk anyway.

I have mapped a pause (as well as center and Precision) to my stick. I rarelly use pause. Some days it seems like my TIR doesnt want to track as good as others so I need to use pause.

 

Be sure to check out the "quick look" for your instruments. I remapped the standard key (CTRL + NUM0) to just NUM0. the TIR is locked out when using quick look.

Edited May 4, 2011 by jeffyd123

[sorcer3r]

I tried both freetrack and facetracknoIR, and it's a bitch to click buttons. you might hold your head as still as possible, but the camera will always move.

 

Freetrack (+ PPJoy + TIR Pro Clip) works fine for me . By using PPjoy you can additionaly tune the freetrack axes in DCS-options.

 

Its not perfectly smooth, but i have no problems pressing buttons.

[Nufsed]

Great Vid, I'm glad I'm not the only one to forget to re-set my Altimeter..;-)

[jeffyd123]

hey zamboni... what stick are you flying with? I was surprised to see how smooth your flight was and noticed that you were flying with your gun armed the whole time.