Brother Against Brother [In Progress]

[dongonzo]

Bear with me, I haven't written up anything like this before... so it'll probably end up being overly verbose...

So I basically completed the training tutorial scenarios with acceptable figures and decided it was time to do something a bit more involved-- I intentionally picked a scenario with low complexity and low difficulty as I am still learning how to play and didn't want to be overwhelmed. The scenario I chose to start out on is Brother Against Brother, which regards a "fictional heh-heh" confrontation between Venezuela and Colombia.

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Briefing
To all Cmdrs

The situation with Venezuela is deteriorating faster than expected, according to HUMINT the rebels who attacked last week one of our barracks are camped in Venezuelan territory, Government of Venezuela name them politic refugees. An ultimatum has been issued by our ambassador in Caracas.

An operation to attack its camp is underway; await further others.
To CACOM 1: Enlist all fighters to provide with air superiority over the operations area.
To GACAS: All tactical bombers available will be fuelled and armed to attack the rebel base.
All naval units will sail immediately to ARC Bolívar.

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0500 Local

Looks like I have a couple of Naval units, including a rickety diesel-electric submarine, and a maritime patrol aircraft. The maritime patrol aircraft is immediately assigned a surface search pattern around the area of my surface vessels. The surface vessels themselves have been ordered to return to ARC Bolivar and are cruising in that general direction.

Air wise, it appears we have an air search radar, which is immediately turned on- It is located low [2000'] and on the west side of the very tall mountains, so it will be of very limited use. Airbase CACOM has an assortment of Python armed Kfir C.7s and airbase GACAS has a half a dozen OV-10D Broncos mostly armed with Rockets-- and as yet unavailable.

As previously stated there is a high mountain range along the Venezuela border behind which I can hide my aircraft-- I will have to stay below the mountain ridges as much as possible, as my air superiority aircraft have only short range infra-red guided missiles-- so unless Venezuela only has the same, which some part of me doubts, I will be at a serious disadvantage in anything resembling a BVR engagement.

Approximately 510NM to the NE of CACOM is a hostile airfield at Teniente Luis del Valle.

Approximately 120NM to the NE of CACOM, on the east side of the mountain range are predefined rally points along the Venezuelan border. I can only assume for the time being it will be at or very close to the rebel camp engagement area.

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0507 Local

Unknown surface contact SKUNK #10 detected approximately 35nm to the NE of my maritime patrol aircraft, it has been tasked with further investigation. Thick clouds cover the entirety of the scenario, so the maritime patrol aircraft has been ordered down to FL05.

FEATURE SUGGESTION:
With thick clouds and weather it would be nice to have some level of ATIS information for the engagement area, cloud bottoms and tops specifically. I'm not sure of the exact mechanics, but I would figure IR seekers suffer in the thick cloud cover.

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0515 Local

I've been scouting the mountain range for low altitude passage ways through the very high mountain range located to the north-east of CACOM.

SKUNK #10 positively identified as a neutral surface-- some jerk in his yacht wasting my time... returning to maritime patrol pattern.

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0530 Local

Tasking message received.

A specops group has been assigned to my command to cross the border and engage rebels. CACOM fighters are ordered to cover the assault with GACAS strike aircraft providing CAS to the SpecOps team.

Hostile submarine is also known to be operating in the area of my surface units along with a small flotilla of hostile surface ships in a joint exercise with the Cuban Navy. I have been tasked with locating and destroying both.

The approach to the rebel camp through the mountains will have to be re-scouted, the existing one is too far off to the south, making fuel a concern.

I have opted to wait another half an hour for the remainder of my air superiority fighters to be readied before launching them on sorties-- I am really concerned about their limited engagement range and want numerical superiority because of that.

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0550 Local
Javier in the maritime patrol aircraft picks up radar emissions of an Unknown aircraft some estimated 65nm NE of SpecOps Coy. I can only assume it is hostile but will not designate it as so until more is known about it.

Unknown aircraft determined to be using AN/APG-66, now assumed a hostile F-16 and marked accordingly.

New unknown aircraft contact approximately 30nm NE of Coy detected using Slot Back [N-001VEP Mech], assumed hostile Su-30MK2 Flanker C.

The F16 appears per the database to be less of an air threat, because it doesn't look like the U.S. exported Aim-7/Aim-120 and it is probably being used in a ground attack role... the only A/A weapons it can field from the looks of it are its cannon and Python-4 missiles.

The SU30 is a real threat, carrying shiny new R-77 AMRAAMSKI missiles with a 50nm range.

[dongonzo]

0600 Local
Squad 111 #s 1,2 and 3 ordered off the ground. 4,5 and 6 followed by 7,8 and 9 will follow as they get
into the air. 10 and 11 will be held in reserve on the ground just in case.

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0605-0615 Local
First Kfir group designated Rat Patrol 01 launched from CACOM and directed NE toward hostile aircraft at the Venezuelan border. They have been ordered to stay just a few hundred feet above the ground.

F-16 and Su-30 contact lost.

...

Second Kfir group designated Rat Patrol 02 launched from CACOM, following Rat Patrol 01

...

Third Kfir group designated Rat Patrol 03 launched from CACOM, following Rat Patrol 02.

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0622-0635 Local
Su30MK2 contact re-established approx 120nm NE of Rat Patrol 01


0626
Unknown air contact Bogey #15 detected approx 110nm NE of Rat Patrol 01, probably F-16, but no distinct emitter information. It has as a fire control radar though, marked hostile.

...

Unknown air contact Bogey detected approx 100nm NE of Rat Patrol 01. Emitter matches SU30MK2, designated Su30Mk2-MR16 and marked as hostile.

...

The RWR sensors on these Kfirs really suck, the maritime patrol aircraft WAY out to sea is the only thing
I have doing a decent job of determining aircraft type.


Getting close enough to that Sukhoi to engage it is going to be an enormous pain in the ass-- and that's assuming it's the only one, which a sinking feeling tells me it isn't.

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0638-0645 Local
Eep, another fire control radar "Bogey 17" detected 43nm east of Rat Patrol 1. Marked Hostile.

...

Jesus K-hrist... another fire control radar "Bogey 18" 113nm east of Rat Patrol 1. Bogey 17 redesignated Multirole 17 is close enough to have a bearing figured, he's coming right at Rat Patrol 01.[X(]

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Multirole 17 VID as SU30MK2.
VAMPIRE VAMPIRE VAMPIRE!!
Yes, three of them, I'm not just being enthusiastic.

...

Rat Patrol 01 destroyed, they got off a single Python that missed. I mean seriously destroyed... bang, bang bang within seconds of one another... I had seriously hoped for better. I need to make sure I don't pop up prematurely... also I've learned that manually selecting weapons to employ doesn't work as well as I had hoped... next time I'm going to just mash F1+click target and hope for the best.[:@]

...

Rat Patrol 02 destroys SU30Mk2 with Python 3. WHOO! MASH F1+CLICK WORKS!

Yet another air contact, Bogey #22 detected approx 80nm ESE of Rat Patrol 02. Fire control detected, marked hostile.

Yet, yet another air contact, Bogey #24 detected approx 65nm east of Rat Patrol 02. Fire control detected, marked hostile.

They're everywhere ...

0644
Multirole 14 VID as SU30MK2, RP-02 ordered to flank speed directly at it. I got lucky and they met pretty much at the ridge as I was flying low through the valleys to avoid their superior radars as much as possible. My masterful Colombian pilots, trigger happy due to being geeked out on cocaine got the drop on him and blasted him out of the sky with their 30mm cannon. 2 Python-3s fired as well with no result.

Ordered Rat Patrol 02 to wiggle back through the mountains, hopefully I can lure some of the remaining hostiles into the mountains for Rat Patrol 03.

As it stands right now there are at _least_ 4 hostile aircraft still on station, probably more. One of them is almost certainly an F16-- another is definitely an SU30Mk2... the remaining two remain undentified.

I wish I had the RP01 engagement to do all over again, they got stomped really badly with those AMRAMMSKIs.... a little overzealous on my part.[:(]

[dongonzo]

0650-0700 Local
Multirole 18 VID as F-16A at 6nm, RP03 ordered to engage. I lost a Kfir to an AIM-9, but downed the F-16 with a Python-3.

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Get those remaining Kfirs in the air! I am out of weapons and running for my life through the mountains, it is my assumption that the F-16 on my tail is faster than me.

...

After taking an uncomfortable amount of cannon pop-shots at my Kfirs, the Falcon on my tail is disengaging, must be out of ammunition

...

I wish that had gone better, it looks like they have 3 in the air remaining, two F-16As and an SU30Mk2... At least one of the F-16As is Winchester and has a long flight back to base, another SU30 arrived on station not too long after the fighting broke out, but I appear to have lost my pursuers in the mountains.

The score at the end of the 1st quarter is 5 to 3, not great... but could be worse most likely. Intense.

...

Remaining Falcon contacts lost... I hope I have enough fuel to RTB ;_;

SpecOPs team sees a Falcon flying SE away from the mountains so the remaining F-16 did not give chase very far...

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0715-0720 Local
RTB order issued, once I'm well out of the mountains and no longer have to worry about them popping up to max-altitude for their flight home. It looks like they'll have enough fuel to make it back to the airbase... barely...

Suggestion:
Please allow manual altitude/speed control when RTB... also being able to yank aircraft out of maintenance would be nice. I could seriously use those other 3 Kfirs, even if they have stress cracks in the wings.

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SpecOps Coy has crossed the border into Venezuelan territory.

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0735 Local
Those bastards killed my maritime patrol aircraft-- it eluded two R77s and I thought I had lost him in the cloud layer, but he kept on me and finished me off with an R73... if I do this scenario again I'll have to make a note to not stray too close to the VZ border with the patrol aircraft.

Honestly I had a vector for an SU30 moving in the general direction of that aircraft, but it had been picking up sporadic signals for most of the scenario, so I thought he was at the far end of the vector instead of the close end-- my mistake, an overabundance of caution, especially when dealing with unarmed, slow and sluggish aircraft is in order for future scenarios.

I'm really bummed-- I loved that piece of junk and Javier was a bro ;_;7

I even Save-Scum'd several times to see if I could shake the heat seekers... but they're some 85% to hit... probably could do it if I tried enough times, but that's meta-gaming to the max.

I'm at -75 now, and feel like a failure... though personally I think the scoring is a bit askew... those SU30MK2s are brand spanking new and cost a lot more than Kfirs of the 70s... it's like Mig-15s picking-off "lol-no-guns" F-4s... bit of a disparity in value... oh well...[8|]

On the up-side Rat Patrol 04 didn't run into any hostile aircraft, so I used them to scout the rebel encampment. They got shot at by a few [what I believe to be] Manpads, but they all missed. So far I have three mobile units on the ground, just south of their estimated location that I had marked with a rally point. The remaining Kfirs have landed safely and are being re-armed with more Python missiles for more anti-air combat.

If VZ rearms and relaunches their SU30 and F16... and I have no idea why they wouldn't... it's going to be very troublesome to maintain air superiority over the rebel encampment-- even if I jump them, they have better weapons, turn faster, climb faster and have a better top speed. I still have several hours to get RP04 back to base and rearm them before I need to really think about stuff like that-- I'm very glad they didn't run into any air patrols... I'm going to need every Kfir I can get moving forward, I've lost too many already...

Meanwhile, my SpecOps team has wandered into the damned mountains, probably because I didn't assign them any way-points and they just headed north by default-- needless to say they are moving very slowly at 1kt... I'm going to try and get them out of the mountains and into the foothills in hopes they can move along a little faster... they're about 8nm from the mobile units I passed over with RP04-- putting the earliest strike at present
around 15:00ish...

I still have no clue where any VZ sub or surface fleet is, and losing that maritime patrol aircraft will seriously hamper my attempts to find it. I do have a helo I can search a little bit with, but I think it's mostly going to be luck involved with finding any of their naval units.

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[to be continued ...]