Somehow, I managed to defeat both Mi-24's..

[WildBillKelsoe]

Hello,

I was under the impression that these AI choppers were extra smart, and the minute that they had me, would be my demise.. Same as you guys..

 

But today, as I progressed into the campaign, mission 8 of deployment, I noticed that these Mi-24's

 

 

 

Come from the other side of the mountains, at least as a spawn..

 

 

So, I decide to use my wingmen as bait.. I let them proceed to task and rejoin/RTB (don't remember), and as soon as they called out the Mi's, I turned towards their o'clock reference, having them max zoomed in on the ABRIS.

 

Now the two bastards were going through the valley leading with the twist to the Northeast of the AO. I hug the ground, and start visual search with cockpit zoom maxed out. Then I suddenly notice 2 gray things next to each other, moving in sync. At first, I shiver, and as they came right on top of me (I'm under 10 feet AGL, practically whooshing waters of the river all around me), they did not fire. In fact, they engage whatever threat is closer to their patrol zone and not anything else unless being lased and getting LWR signals.

 

Luckily for me, I have not locked them up, yet..

 

So, I do a quick centered rotation to face their rear, and get enough altitude to bring them to my HUD and shkval limits, to permit sustained visual and tracking.

 

As soon as I'm high enough, they break their formation, and start maneuvering... Now one of them I lock quickly thanks to pressing both uncage and designate together while moving my HMS to get the bastard in view and to my surprise, it worked!

 

 

In a heart pounding manner, I spam both AA and Hemisphere on the targeting panel. And I already selected the long burst mode for the vikhrs, I get a C and phoot...

 

First bastard goes down and I could see his chute next to the burning wreckage.

 

The second Mi-24 manages to flee before I get him locked, and so I again, duck to the ground, using all nearby elevations as mask and silhouetting. Proceed under 90 KIAs to the AO, in hope of finding the darn devil. Start looking at an arc of 8 to 4 o'clock. He actually starts to show up the minute I overlook the AO from the cliffs to the southwest. I get him locked, and pop 2 viks into his face, and the bastard totals me with his cannon but gets toasted as well, and crashes..

 

I lost just the main hyrdaulics, with the AP channels starting their crazy flashing, I set her down rough, and punch out.

 

 

 

So, what did I learn from this?

 

 

• Mi-24's can't spot (or at least can't shoot immediately below their fuselage) specially when you're hugging the ground and under 1 nm.
  
• Do not engage the laser rangefinder unless you got him locked. As soon as I flashed them, they became aware.
  
• Mi-24's are indeed difficult to spot, but it is easier to actually acquire them based on directional feedback from your wingmen. And most importantly, as soon as they're called out. And ultimately, when they're above you.
  
• Mi-24's service ceiling is 2500 feet AGL. In that regard, the Ka-50 ceiling is 4000 - 5500 feet AGL. But the looking down part becomes tricky, and he is also armed with an air-to-air, which you don't have.
  
• Whenever an air threat is detected, hug the ground at once, cove in a canyon, start the turn towards the o'clock position and knock that zoom in button right in. It is easy to spot him if you're moving under 40 KIAs, but beware, he is still a threat no matter what you do..
  
• Use your wingmen as pawns... and make note of their position and heading relative to you with the ABRIS. zoom in just about enough to get the entire shipmates into view.
  
• Weapon pre-setting is crucial. Perhaps the most important feats would be the long burst switch, the AA, and the Hemisphere buttons. When you're getting him on the shkval as a smoke, he just fired, and when you get him as a flash, he just fired his cannon. Both are serious.. Always have those settings up when air threats have been detected.
  

This is not a guide, guys... More of a.. trial and error... So those rules are not cardinal, and not to be used unless you know where they are ingressing from.

 

 

I hope this track works, but I doubt given the serious nature of the track playback issues in the game..

 

 

Anyways, here it is...

 

 

If I get toasted before I get both down, rest assured that whatever written above happened.

[WildBillKelsoe]

Re-run with photos

 

Acuiring them 3.8 clicks away..

 

 

Shkval acquired...

 

 

Coming straight on top of me...

 

 

Turning to re-acquire...

 

 

Reaquired bandit 1...

 

 

Solid lock on bandit 1...

 

 

Bye bye bandit 1...

 

 

Bandit 1 crash location and BDA...

 

 

HUD looks easier to acquire things visually with this color, not green..

 

 

While attacking the AO, the second bastard pops into view...

 

 

Line up for 2..

 

 

Splash 2... 4 viks instead of 2...

 

 

Hydraulic failure...

 

[213]

then you discovered they were friendlies. mission fail.

[WildBillKelsoe]

how could they be friendlies when no Mi's were allocated to the mission??

[WildBillKelsoe]

Wait a sec... you're trolling, huh??

[Tornado_Pilot]

A chute besides the wreckage?

 

Does the MI24 have an ejection seat?

[WildBillKelsoe]

A chute besides the wreckage?

 

Does the MI24 have an ejection seat?

 

I'm sure they got some of my wingmen too..

[Bushmanni]

Nice work. The pictures don't make the situation completely clear and my advice might not be suitable for the situation but the Shkval shows 2.1km to the second Hind when you locked him. At that range it's usually best to shoot with the cannon unless you can launch missiles immediately as the cannon shells are going to reach the target quicker than missiles and prevent him shooting back with his gun.

 

And regarding the "enemy helos will kill you instantly if they see you" myth, the main problem with air threats is to find them before you get shot down. If you can see the enemy helo before it engages you it's likely you will kill it safely unless you fumble with the systems. It's a good idea to practice spotting attacking enemy helos as spotting is a skill even though it might not feel like it. And then there's also the strategy side to seeing things as there are ways to make it easier to see targets like skylining them by flying low and using a scanning pattern to maximize scanning efficiency and spotting speed.

[Speed]

Great job! Very satisfying, eh?

 

 

First bastard goes down and I could see his chute next to the burning wreckage.

 

The Mi-24 is not equipped with an ejection seat. The chute you saw was actually the parachute of one of the fighter jocks who had previously been shot down at a higher altitude over the area.

 

You told a good story, and most of what you say is correct and good advice, however, there are a few things that seem to be inaccurate:

[*]Mi-24's can't spot (or at least can't shoot immediately below their fuselage) specially when you're hugging the ground and under 1 nm.

 

I hope you're right, but the AI seems to be uncanny many times about target spotting. There's a good chance they didn't react to you because they were going after your wingmen. The AI is very bad in air to air about fixating on one target and ignoring all others.

 

[*]Mi-24's service ceiling is 2500 feet AGL. In that regard, the Ka-50 ceiling is 4000 - 5500 feet AGL. But the looking down part becomes tricky, and he is also armed with an air-to-air, which you don't have.

 

I can't vouch for the veracity of these numbers- where did you get them from? At the very least, I believe you mean meters not feet.

 

Anyway, Mi-24s are not armed with air to air, they have ATGM missiles like you, only, I think theirs are crappier for engaging air targets (much slower).

 

Anyway, good job.

[Speed]

Wait a sec... you're trolling, huh??

 

Pretty sure he was just joking. I laughed, at least :)

[Rotareneg]

Here's how I handled them:

[WildBillKelsoe]

the AI seems to be uncanny many times about target spotting. There's a good chance they didn't react to you because they were going after your wingmen. The AI is very bad in air to air about fixating on one target and ignoring all others.

 

To that extent I stand corrected. Further tests with Mi's coming at my face and me wheels down on the ground confirms your opinion. They just shot 2 missiles to my face as I was lying still and spooled down.

 

 

I can't vouch for the veracity of these numbers- where did you get them from? At the very least, I believe you mean meters not feet.

 

In the in-game encyclopedia, their ceiling as 2500. Dunno if its meters or feet, but either ways, they're still capable of aiming as high as 4500..

 

 

Here's how I handled them:

 

Quite a good job there mate. Early as can be.

 

However, judging by the number of times I got shot and the location of the shots, every time, the valley leading to the AO (the one connecting both ingress and TP1) is your friend.

 

I think the trick is to lure them into the valley. But I think the most logic tactic, specially in this map, is to locate a narrow valley, one where you will have a sniper view limited cone without the need to look everywhere, and higher than their ceiling.. so he certainly stands out.

[AlphaOneSix]

The service ceiling of the Mi-24 is 4500 meters, or just about 15,000 feet. I'll have to double-check the in-game encyclopedia for any error.

[WildBillKelsoe]

The service ceiling of the Mi-24 is 4500 meters, or just about 15,000 feet. I'll have to double-check the in-game encyclopedia for any error.

 

 

for you only..

[power5]

Here's how I handled them:

 

Nice, I thought you had it on pause when that clip started till I saw your target moving in your shkval. Nice hover. I can never get that stable.

[WildBillKelsoe]

guys, stay away from AO once the call for bandits is issued on the radio. assign a holding area far away and run like hell to it.

[Shein]

its situations like these I wish the werewolf had a chin mounted chain gun...