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still is good idea keeping an eye on them, just in case.

yeah they do reload [;)] but if the radars are gone they sometimes shoot on visual or IR but with little effect, although they can get lucky.

Good job on this one Mike

Ancalagon,

Things have gone well. This is a fun scenario and a really good one for learning carrier operations.

Here is the latest situation as we close with the end of the game.

You have run out of some type of air-to-air munition, most probably the Phoenix missiles.

When that happens, the planes are switched to reserve and a warning message is generated in the log. I suppose you just missed them (they are green colored and those are often overlooked by the player, myself included).

Ancalagon

Ancalagon,

Thanks! You are correct. I am out of the Phoenix missile. Re arming now, they will be ready for one more pass.

Ancalagon,

Thanks! You are correct. I am out of the Phoenix missile. Re arming now, they will be ready for one more pass.

At this point it's worth checking to see if your AOR has any munitions on board. If it does you can do a RAS (Replen at sea) and restock your CVNs magazines. If not (default) you need to live with it.

Aim-54 Phoenix are the 'long pole in the tent' in late cold war scenarios. A CV Magazine only holds 96 (they are big) so your 24 Tomcats can eat them up in one full loadout. Most scenarios start with a full magazine and fully loaded aircraft which is a bit over the top but does assume the CV has done a RAS to top up.

We in the CMANO community tend to use Aim-54 for shooting anything that flies, but in reality you would not normally shoot them at fighters which can outmaneuver them fairly easily. They are designed for killing Bears and in a pinch ALCMs the Bears are sending your way.

The fallback of course is to use AiM-7s which is a major step down in reliability, range of engagement and POH. Limiting the Phoenix is an easy way of complicating the scenario for the player.

B

The second last strike went well - taking out one more Rebel plane and a couple of ground units.

Here is the last attack...

Game Over

in reality you would not normally shoot them at fighters which can outmaneuver them fairly easily

Albeit they are for the most part unconfirmed, reports of the Iran-Iraq war often point to the Iranians being quite pleased with the performance of the AIM-54 against fighter type targets.

They efforts in maintaining their old Tomcats flying, and the deployment of the Fakour-90 ripoff seem to point in the same direction.

My personal experience in CMANO is that indeed, it does fail too often when fired at max range against advanced fighters. But if you cut the launch range to 70nm (which still outranges anything out there short of an R-33 or XXI century LRAAMs) they become very effective against them.

The real answer of course is lost to the sands of history (like it so often happens in CMANO), and we are all better for it.

Ancalagon

Albeit they are for the most part unconfirmed, reports of the Iran-Iraq war often point to the Iranians being quite pleased with the performance of the AIM-54 against fighter type targets.

They efforts in maintaining their old Tomcats flying, and the deployment of the Fakour-90 ripoff seem to point in the same direction.

My personal experience in CMANO is that indeed, it does fail too often when fired at max range against advanced fighters. But if you cut the launch range to 70nm (which still outranges anything out there short of an R-33 or XXI century LRAAMs) they become very effective against them.

The real answer of course is lost to the sands of history (like it so often happens in CMANO), and we are all better for it.

Ancalagon

Agree on all points. I think that a major limit on what you engage with them is logistics, if you're CV has one full loadout and the accompanying AOR has another, and a replacement AOR is 3 days away - you're not going to use them where something else will work.

B

Gunner98 and Ancalagon,

Thank you very much for your support and help through this scenario. Your insights and ideas were very helpful.

Have a good day!

AAR

What did I do Right?

Learn, question and listen

I started this scenario as a chance to learn more about carrier operations. This was a great scenario for it. I was able to fly a lot of planes of the carrier over an extended period of time. This gave me the chance to try things out and to see how things work.

As the game progressed, I asked questions (on the forum) and got great answers that helped me understand things better, from the capabilities of planes and missiles to setting up missions and to better understand how the game lets me know when aircraft are out of weapons.

Mission planning

I tried a couple of different ways to get the missions to work the way I wanted. One of the best options was to move the mission area around. I used this a lot for the CAP missions off the coast – letting my planes get closer to the coast to entice the rebels to engage.

I also tweaked the settings – especially the investigate contacts option. This gave me more control over the engagements with the Rebels.

Time on Target

I got better over time with getting the strikes to arrive more closely in time and space. Now, this may be because I kept doing the same attacks over and over again, but I understand the mechanics much better now.

Adjusting my approach

Late the first night, I realized that I needed to start taking out the Rebel fighters. Attacking their flanks turned out to be a great approach. It allowed me to set up the conditions for success. I also started mixing up my mission packages – putting F-14s and 18s into them. This gave me more attack range and led to better results.

Remembering the San Juan

It would have been easy to forget that I had a sub. I forgot that I had a carrier battle group in lots of ways. For a while my ASW coverage was way behind the carrier BG. As for the sub, I kept checking on it and used it to take out the container ship, the OSAs and finally to attack land targets with the Tomahawks.


What do I need to improve

My knowledge

I still do not really understand air and naval tactics. I have lots to learn.

I need to understand the capabilities of the armaments and the fighters!

Tracking weapon/armament status

I should not have been caught off guard when the Phoenix missiles ran short. I should have been tracking this.

Tracking my ships

As I said above, I really forgot that I had a carrier BG. I used their weapons, but otherwise let them be. If the Rebels had any anti-ship capabilities I would have been in trouble. Really, I need to remember to pause and review the entire battlespace at times to make sure that things are going well.


Final Thoughts

This was a very good scenario to learn things. I’m so happy that I took the time to do this battle and to try out different things as I went along.

It gave me time to focus on the routine of running air missions without getting overwhelmed with other issues.
The help from the forum was also excellent.

Thanks for the AAR, such elaborate ones are few and far in between.

Glad to have been of a little help, hope you'll keep enjoying the game.

Ancalagon

I'm very glad someone went into this detail over such a length of time to do this AAR. The most valuable things for me were running head first into annoying game issues. For example, the different Bingo calculations when trying to stage your aircraft for a later mission by using a Support order. If we had a way to stage or park the aircraft prior to receiving their mission, that wouldn't need to be a problem. Additionally there was the SEAD Strike not working because the enemy's radars were all turned off, while a SEAD Patrol would have worked. Those sorts of issues are the worst, because they have to do with the user trying to figure out how the computer program works.

Thanks a lot, Mike. I look forward to your next AAR. I've dabbled a bit in this game and this gives me encouragement to fire it up again.

Cheers,
CB

Tester28 and CaptBeefheart,

Thanks for the comments. It was a fun battle, give it a try! I'm going to be kicking off phase 2 soon. Please ask questions and provide advice as I go!

Have a good day,

Mike