New Mission (SP and MP) "Broken Wing" for A-10 w/FC3 (optional)

[Bahger]

Here is my new mission, "Broken Wing".

 

 

"Broken Wing" Singleplayer mission

 

"Broken Wing" Multiplayer mission

 

Two hours ago, a "black" SpecOps UH-60 ("BROKEN WING") crashed near the Russian border. A USMC combat engineer team, "ROADKILL", is en route to recover the helo but intel sources now indicate that the Russians are preparing to mount a raid across the border to steal the bird's classified avionics. ROADKILL has been re-tasked to push to the crash site at maximum speed and to use explosives to destroy the Blackhawk before the Russians get to it. Your task is to protect ROADKILL and to respond to the Russian incursion with decisive force.

 

i. Briefing and mission design intent

 

The briefing for "Broken Wing" is attached to this post as a Word doc.

 

There are two types of sim-pilot in DCSW A-10C; those who RTFB and those who do not. I make missions for people who RTFB. "Broken Wing" is not a free-for-all mission with regenerating targets and recycling client aircraft, but a "single-shot" CAS/CAP sortie with carefully calibrated cooperative assets and threats. The objective for all Air in this mission is straightforward but execution involves making informed decisions about mission timing and threat status. The basis for these decisions is supplied in the briefing and via automated and custom voice comms in flight and will influence tactical choices such as ingress altitude and whether to hold or to push. For this reason, I urge you to RTFB.

 

ii. Client flights

 

I am as guilty as any hard-core A-10C mission designer of cold-start elitism. Some people feel that runway, hot-pit ramp, or air-starts are "arcade". However, this mission is strictly an "alert" scenario, so the player must scramble to get himself and his aircraft in the game.

 

In "Broken Wing" you can select the F-15C CAP flight ("UZI") (runway or hot ramp start, Flaming Cliffs 3 module required), the low-level A-10C CAS flight ("SPRINGFIELD") (runway or hot ramp start) or a supporting high-level A-10C CAS/Strike flight ("DODGE") (air start @ 16,000ft).

 

iii. Difficulty scaling

 

All roles not selected by the player will spawn as AI flights. The AI flies these roles very competently, often more so than a human player. DODGE is the only flight that will not deploy as an AI flight if it is not selected by the player. This was deliberate: by choosing DODGE, the player is essentially spawning in an additional pair of A-10Cs and is therefore recommended to relatively inexperienced players. The truly mission-critical roles are SPRINGFIELD and UZI and these present the greatest level of challenge to the player. CAS flight SPRINGFIELD will have its hands full spotting, sorting and prosecuting two moving target groups in dense terrain. Failure to do so quickly and effectively enough will result in an engagement that will severely attrit the Blue ground force, thereby penalizing the player flying CAS.

 

iv. Voice comms

 

There are extensive custom voice comms in the mission, intended not only to heighten realism and immersion but to enhance all pilots' tactical situational awareness. Listen out for custom voice comms from the AWACS ("OVERLORD") regarding counter-air ops and the USMC combat engineer group ("ROADKILL") regarding its own position, engagement status and rate of progress towards its objective.

 

v. Singleplayer vs. Multiplayer

 

Multiplayer is the more challenging version of this mission for various reasons. Because all client flights hot-start on the ramp in MP (client flights start on the runway in SP), the additional taxiing into position in MP requires the player to make up time. More significantly, in SP, an AI wingman can be over-effective in certain ground-attack roles such as the spotting and killing of air defenses. It is a more impressive demonstration of skill when two human pilots spot, sort and prosecute their targets, as it requires a significant level of communication and cooperation.

 

vi. Required skills

 

This is an intermediate-level mission, although I've seen some pretty high-level players mess it up spectacularly. Effective Maverick deployment from outside SA-9 range is highly advisable, as is CBU delivery (for SPRINGFIELD) and LGB delivery (for DODGE).

 

Players will need to prepare munitions and fence-in efficiently on ingress.

 

Above all, players will need to know how to access and cycle through mission steerpoints via the "Mission" setting in the navigation rotary whose default setting is "FLTPLN". Critical mission steerpoints are provided to all pilots and outlined in the briefing text and illustrations.

 

vii. Known issues

 

- Please ignore initial, automated radio calls from the CAP of "engaging" enemy fighters. The Blue Cap will be more than 50 nm out when it makes this call, and barely airborne.

 

- Similarly, ignore any early RTB call from the CAP. They will stay on task and will not desert you.

 

- The mission requires the player to overwatch ROADKILL's withdrawal over BLUEBRIDGE. Unfortunately, if ROADKILL has left burning vehicles on the bridge, the group will occasionally abandon its fragged route before it makes it back across. The trigger for the final mission success message is fired by ROADKILL's presence in this zone. I have extended the zone to cover the area the group covers before the anomaly occurs. Be patient and wait for the convoy to retrace its steps to BLUEBRIDGE. However, if you do not receive a final message informing you of your success in the mission -- or otherwise -- this will be why.

Broken Wing_Briefing.rar

[IADC]

Bahger,

 

Thanks for your efforts on this, its nice to see others getting into the mission building. Will give this a try over the weekend.

[Bahger]

Thanks, IADC. I've been making missions since early Beta but took a long break until recently.

Edited February 18, 2013 by Bahger

[Scarecrow]

Excited about trying this one I was pleased when I saw you were back to mission building The Bear that came over the mountain is a great mission.:thumbup:

[IADC]

Bahger just flew your mission solo (multiplayer version) as my flight buddy is a way at the moment but a quick bit of feed back. I took the dodge flight as i just wanted to get a quick overview on the build. Mission is clean and comms are clear. Picked up roadkill on their ingress and then searched out broken wing to get a rough estimate on their distance from each other to get a time frame on their ToT. immediately started searching for threats and picked up the first Russian units inbound. No mavricks so knocked out the SA9 with GBU12. Lucky shot nailed him right on the bridge. The other A10 flight then started to knock out the rest with MAVS. A second Russian team was inbound and got in a traffic jam behind the SA9 i first destroyed, Bad news for them as it gave me clear GBU12 shot on tight formation that killed 4 vehicles.

 

 

Roadkill planted C4 and pulled out, once across the bridge mission success.

 

 

Suggestions.

 

 

Maybe have the second column come across country off road. Use road Kill as JTAC to provide position data.

 

Once the C4 is planted maybe have some hinds come in to try and knock out road kill.

 

 

Another scenario would be to have an ambush lines up for Road Kill on ingress that assistance will be required. Could also have this on Egress when Road kill is pulling out.

 

 

Please let me know if by flying the dodge flight I may have inadvertently caused triggers not to go off. I will try it again with another online wingman though.

 

 

Great mission and thanks again. Rep inbound for your time and effort

[Bahger]

Thanks, Scarecrow! The Bear was always a favorite of mine.

 

Really appreciate the great feedback, IADC.

 

The mission is a bit of a turkey shoot when a competent player selects DODGE flight; as I wrote, that is intentional, it's an "entry-level" version of a CAS sortie with LGB support. SPRINGFIELD is much more of a challenge, in SP and MP, as DODGE will not spawn and too high, or early, an ingress may well get you lit up by the enemy CAP. A lot of mid-level players are not quick enough with their switchology to be able to maintain SA while playing chicken with the SA-9s; they wander into the envelope while fiddling with their TGPs and get hit.

 

I appreciate your suggestions. My assumption has always been that after their incursion fails, the Russians would be much more likely to lick their wounds and prepare their statements rather than escalate a conflict which they have already lost. That's why, once the helo has been successfully blown up by ROADKILL, the only remaining challenge for Blue is a safe egress.

 

No reason why playing DODGE would incapacitate any triggers, why?

Edited February 18, 2013 by Bahger

[IADC]

Triggers and Dodge was just a thought i had as I wondered if there was something else to come like more attacks on roadkill that would only be triggered by springfield being flown as Client. Will look forward to playing it in Springfield with a wingman. keep em coming, it inspires me to build as well.

 

Cheers

[Crescendo]

Thanks. Bahger missions are pretty much an insta-download.

[Bahger]

Thanks Crescendo, appreciate the encouragement. Let us know how this one plays for you.

[ralfidude]

The links to download are not working currently.

[IASGATG]

Any idea why the mission is no longer found? Did you take it down?

 

Edit: I found it on the User Files, but the links in the thread are dead.

[Bahger]

Just tested both links to the DCS upload/download database. They are both fully functional. Must have been a temporary issue with that site. Please let me know if you experience any more difficulty and I will upload to another source.

[derelor]

Nice mission, thanks!

[Bahger]

Thanks, Derelor. I am very happy you like it. Pls comment/rate it on the download page if you feel inclined.

[nickexists]

The SP link seems to be broken

[splash]

And the MP too.

[Home Fries]

I'm not sure if Bahger updated the missions recently, but the original versions are available at Combat Ace (with permission).

 

Broken Wing (SP)

Broken Wing (MP)