[Q] Air unit weapons loadouts can't be changed

[JeffP]

I'm playing the Brass Drum scenario and have run out of AIM-120's. I was loading my F/A-18F's and E's with an AAW heavy package which uses 6 AIM-120's. I would like to switch to the light package that includes 6 AIM-9's but it seems that I can't change weapons packages because the light package includes 2 AIM-120's that I don't have. That means that I have to continue to use the AAW heavy package so I'm having to fly anti-air missions and patrols with 2 instead of 6 AIM-9's. The situation is the same with the F-35. If I select any package other than ferry the OK-Ready button is disabled because all of the packages include AIM-120's. This means that I'm stuck with the packages that were last selected when I had AIM-120's available. Am I doing something wrong other than using up all of my AIM-120's? Is their a work around? Or does the program logic need some tweaking for weapons selection? Thanks!

[Maromak]

Hi Jeff,

You're not doing anything wrong per se. Many players including myself have run out of AMRAAMs on this scenario. You'll need to come up with an alternate strategy which might include 1) more manual control of your AAW fighters so they don't spam missiles 2) take out the source of the enemy air by killing their runways and runway access points 3) let your ships use their SAMs instead of your AAW.

[JeffP]

Thanks Maromak! All great advice. The AI does love to shoot off all of those AIM-120s. I think I'll start using light loadouts off the get go at the risk of losing a few more aircraft. Not a palatable solution.

For the developers, it would still be nice to be able to change loadouts even if you only have some of the weapons available. And thanks for a great simulation! I know it will only get better.