What is your "flow"?

[Somnus]

I understand (most) of the basic mechanics of the game and how to play it that way, but one thing I'm struggling with is understanding the correct flow or mindset when going in to a scenario.

I'd be curious to know what you all did when you first opened a scenario. How do you decide what you should do and in what order? What are some common things that you check for or do before things progress to the point where you're reacting to the current situation?

Most of the time I just start up a scenario and let it run for a little bit, or send out a few planes (if available) to scout, but I know this isn't the most effective!

Thanks in advance!

[JPFisher55]

I like to try to take control of the air space with many fighters. Also, I usually devote a lot of helos or A/C to ASW patrol.

[HalfLifeExpert]

All of this depends on the scenario in question. Some have a slow start like Trapped Under Ice or Battle of the First Salvo. Some require action almost immediately, like USS Midway Vs Cuba.

Generally the briefings give a good sense of whether or not you will need to start doing things immediately or whether you can afford to pace yourself. (Remember, the freedom to pause whenever you like always allows you to pace yourself). Another good indicator is how much time the scenario gives you before it automatically ends. Most scenarios I have played range from 6 hours to 2 days in game time. At or less than 24 hours and you will probably need to do stuff quickly, more than that and you will probably be able to spend some time letting the game run while you figure stuff out.

JPFisher's advice may work for a number of scenarios, but it may not for others. When I first played Old Grudges Never Died, I waited a little bit before launching my first pair of F-16s, as I knew that I only had 8 ready for combat at the outset, and that it would take over two hours to get the next bunch ready, so I didn't want to scramble them too early if I didn't have to, knowing that I was going to have limited resources at the outset of the scenario.

Since aircraft take a realistic amount of time to get ready for another mission after landing, you should try to avoid being too hasty when scrambling too many of your planes, you may find yourself in a bind where the enemy is bearing down on you and your available number of aircraft is suddenly very small.

I made some critical errors in my first play through of USS Midway vs Cuba, where the main Cuban strike force was bearing down on me, and I only had a handful of F-18s in the air to take them on, and most of my escort ships had used up their SAMs early on against Air-to-Air fighters. It really came down to sheer luck that the Midway survived, despite a couple AShM hits, as their very survival depended on the maintenance crews getting the next few F-18s ready to take off. It got to the point where my eyes were glued to the screen, and I was really sweating nervously as those Mig 23s and 29s were bearing down on my largely defenseless battlegroup. Ideally you should never get in that situation.

[magi]

i play in editor mode.... i first try to understand the mission.... i then check all the assets and loadouts and position... if something is really unright to me.... i change it... for instance... the formation disposition... or if the asset balance is wrong for the mission...

when i start game play... i focus on two things first... that i have a decent defensive posture considering the threats as defined from the briefing... and ISTAR... i want a good picture of the area of operation and opfor's disposition and intent.... so i can come up with a plan to prosecute the mission... i prioritize the threats.. once a feel defensively secure.. i start dominating the battle space.....

what i am weakest at... is organizing assets and enough of the right munitions to have some success in the first alpha strikes against challenging targets.......

[ExNusquam]

I've always found these tips are helpful for Command. Intended for Falcon BMS, but the same principles apply.

Recon and getting a backline (AEW, ELINT, ASW, BARCAP) going are always initial priorities, because even if the scenario starts slow, it's always helpful to start working on defenses and building SA immediately. As soon as hostilities start my first order of business is KILL RADAR. Every cruise missile or standoff weapon is going to get shot at anything that seems even tangentially related to IADs. Offensive counter air sweeps are run against anything that can detect you. Fighting inside the bad guy's sensor coverage sucks, so my goal is always to deprive them of any sensors ASAP.

[wqc12345]

I tend to take my time.. very methodical about my approach.

1) understand your command assets and their capabilities
2) understand their load outs and how they relate to the problem
3) understand the ROE and WRA of all your stuff
4) get your objectives outlined and in what order makes sense
5) setup recon within the limits of your AO and your opponents posture
6) SEAD/CAP activities for A/C and ASW for Naval
7) Strikes and Naval attacks are usually last for me.. and sometimes, I wait a long time before I do any blowing up

I tend to write scenarios that penalize the player who wants to hit the "I win" button of Tomahawk missile slam. I like to have ever escalating events and penalties for poor setup. I like to think of "what will a lazy player do with this scenario so I can whack him if he does it.." and I love playing scenarios that are setup that way.

But, I guess my overarching philosophy is always patience and information..

[CaptCarnage]

You forgot to make an analysis of enemy capabilities and how they relate to problem. Otherwise, good list.

It can take hours before I hit the play button

[Gunner98]

I probably spend between 2-3 hours doing the analysis outlined above. In the process I'll set all my baseline missions, if there is a major strike I'll set up the missions for that but probably not add assets yet. Then I save a 'Start state' and squirrel that away.

Once I hit play, I let things set up for 10-15 min of game time. then re-assess based on contacts, make changes and another squirrel save, then go in to play.

Timeline priority:
ISTAR
Air superiority
Recon
SEAD
Strike
Cleanup or regroup (depending on success)
Repeat as needed

B

[Pergite!]

www.dtic.mil/doctrine/new_pubs/jp3_30.pdf

[:D]

[kevinkins]

Taking into account scenario time is the prime way I determine the pace of my deployment. It's incumbent on the designer not to fake the player out by front loading a long mission with a major AI commitment of their OOB. Unless this situation is possible to glean from the briefing. After that I would say make any load out changes early in the mission. I like placing recon behind a creeping CAP. With a print out of the briefing nearby, I let the battle unfold. At some point you will feel you will never have the time to get the mission completed and that's when the pace has to pick up. Definitely not a technical approach but base on feel more than anything. You don't get into too much trouble and can pick off easy points as the scenario ends. All this very scenario dependent.