The Battle for Fulda Playtest #2

[toonces]

Ah what the heck. I took the pics, wrote the AAR; I might as well post it up even if it was an epic fail.

Settings: All sliders favoring Opfor, air and ground settings ACE. PAKs set with Las Vegas max, everything else min. Air tasking max DCA, BARCAPS, high OCA, med SEAD, high Armor, med Infantry, zero Strategic Strikes, Naval Strikes, CCC, Logistics, that sort of stuff.

Day 1, Mission 1: Death Valley.
2xF-15A BARCAP SE of Las Vegas. Load 4xAIM-7, 4xAIM-9, 2xDrops
T/O: 0947

View from the flightline. I have one F-15A dirty skin working, I need to replicate this for the rest of the Eagles. It's ugly, but you'll see why it's vital later...



More activity nearby.



Very quickly after takeoff we get vectored to a Bluefor F-15C flight. I'm getting them locked up, but am easily outgunned by their AIM120s. Sissys- they shoot 3 at me. I go low and full blower. FF4 allows for terrain masking, so I try to get behind this mountain range and hope the missiles guide into a rock instead of me.



If the enemy is stupid enough to shoot long, it is possible to outrun an AIM120. Maybe it's the speed, mountains, or chaff, but I evade the Amraams and roll back in. The F-15Cs are still in the vicinity, but appear to be CAPing and aren't pursuing me. I pop back up to altitude. I've lost my wingman. I can see the Eagles on radar and I have them heading away on TWS so it definately looks like they're in a CAP. I get a low guy, near the Eagles but heading out of the pack. I lock him up and give him the Sparrow.



I get the kill, but as I head downhill to follow up with a heater if the Sparrow misses, I get spiked by the Bluefor Eagles again. So I turn 180 and RTB.

Land 1011, result: failure did not remain in station area. 1 kill- AH-64A, lost my wingman.

[toonces]

My to-be-shortlived stoke is increased by seeing that Searchlight has already been captured at 1130!

Mission 2: Beatty. 2xF-18C OCA strike against Nellis.
Load: 4xGBU-24B/PEN, 2xMk-82, 2xAIM7, 2xAIM9.
Now, I was really, really stoked on this mission. The ATO has me scheduled with 4xF-18C to hit the facilities at Nellis, and 4xF-18C for SEAD. So, I have a 12xF-18C strike package against Nellis. This is an excellent sortie for the Bluefor to fly against. And, if I can put a hole in Nellis, I can CAP Searchlight much more easily.

T/O: 1142

Here are some butt-ugly Opfor A-4s on the base. I know, I know, the skin needs ALOT of love.



We get off deck behind the escorts and the fight is already happening overhead. Check the SAM trail behind my jet, like 20 seconds after takeoff.



We pick up a flight of CF-18s and F-15Cs enroute at WP2. I can hear the other Opfor packages engaging, but I can see there are leakers. I get a hornet off the nose and go head to head with him.

First I give him the Sparrow.



But the fight ends up on the deck and we engage each other with Sparrows.



I catch a Sparrow in the nose, as does he.
The other flight kills another CF-18, my wingman is killed by an F-15C.
From the chute I hear the flight hit Nellis successfully for 50% damage.

Result: in progress, 2xF-18C Opfor shot down, 2xCF-18 Bluefor shot down.

[toonces]

(2 CTDs between Mission 1 and Mission 3...)

Mission 3: Beatty. 4xF-18C Sweep SE Beatty.
Load: 4xAIM7, 4xAIM9.
T/O: 1324.

"What a mess!" - directly from my notes last night.

We pick up a strike of A-10s, escorted by a flight of CF-18s. I'm trying to break out the A-10s, but I never can seem to sort them properly with the doggone CF-18s hassling us. I pick up one and give him 2xAIM7. Both miss.



I go for a third AIM7 shot and that also misses. Damn! I follow one up WVR and go AIM9 on him for a kill.





By now the furball is attracting alot of attention. Going after the A10s and then tangling with the CF-18s has brought us well into the Bluefor side of the FLOT and we are engaged by a flight of F-15Cs. I try to collect the flight and disengage, but as usual my AI buddies have gotten themselves into situation where they are writing checks their bodies can't cash.

I lose -2 and -4 to the F-15Cs; -3 decides discretion is the better part of valor and egresses with me. I hear him declare an emergency and land safely.



Land...looks like I forgot to write down the land time. Result- partial failure, 4xCF-18 kills, lost two Opfor F-18Cs, never saw the A-10s.

[toonces]

Mission 4: Beatty. 2xF-18C DCA SW of Beatty.
Load: 2xAIM7, 2xAIM9.
T/O: 1540

Yeah Baby!



Well, this one is interesting. We drag east over the FLOT and pick up a flight of F-15Cs. I'm not sure what was up with them. They might have been RTB, low on gas, I don't know. But somehow we get the jump on them and get down to it. The fight gets a bit crazy. I know that I hit with 2xAIM7 and 3xAIM9 for two kills. Here's number one-





And this is number two from what had to be an AIM9 shot, right? Maybe not.





I collect up my wingman (check out how visible the skin is) and we work on the third bogey.



I pick up the third guy and go into a full-on dogfight with him. I get an AIM9 hit, and I know he's hurt. He goes super slow and I am overshooting so I go vertical and barrel roll around him. I'm following him closely and totally lose my SA.

And, in a move that seems awfully familiar, this guy maneuver kills himself and I follow him right into the ground. Check the HUD- I'm pulling like 34 units AoA. Not much lift at that AoA...



BOOM!



Result- well, I got 3 Eagle kills, which was nice, but I drove my jet into the ground. So, I'm not sure how to score that. I guess as a good socialist, that's going in the success column.

Result: Success (LOL), 1 Mistral shot at me for a miss (I think).

[toonces]

Unfortunately, that's it. Something's porked.

Stand by for Playtest #3 once I figure out what I did wrong.

[ccc]

i like your AAR posts. nice screenshots, cool skins..if the ground tiles could be more photorealistic..they could look as good as real photos.

imo, don't push yourself too hard on ground war editing.. take a break and enjoy the fun of flying.