[A-10C] Kill Box Interdiction

Version 0.1

FEATURES:

- MP: 4x A-10C (Add any/more aircraft you wish - it will not break any triggers)

- Detailed brief, area map and mission data card.

- Randomisation of target locations on each launch.

- Randomisation of threat locations and difficulty on each launch.

Hey all, this is my first publicly released mission. It's fairly simple in its design but should prove to be quite challenging. It is aimed at those who enjoy a more 'hardcore' experience and requires pilots to interpret the detailed briefing and develop their game-plan accordingly. There is intentionally very little 'scripting' or prompting to walk you through every step of the mission. Just read the brief, build your SA and hunt for targets like a real A-10 pilot. :thumbup:

I'd be very keen to hear your feedback on how you found the mission.

Specifically:

- Were targets too easy or challenging to find and engage?

- Were threats too easy or challenging to defeat?

- Did you enjoy the scenario and pace of the gameplay?

You will be joining the campaign in the first hours of the ground offensive. You're rostered on for the PM shift as the 81st EFS spins up for Offensive Air Support (OAS) missions striking priority targets behind enemy lines.

By this point in the scenario the air war has raged for many hours with much of the OPFOR's IADS and C3 network in the 81st EFS' AOR heavily degraded. OPFOR air assets have been almost completely attritted and air supremacy has been achieved. This has paved the way for the commencement of the ground war and a shift towards OAS missions.

This evening you're fragged to support elements of a US Army, Armoured Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) as they advance deeper into OPFOR territory. The ABCT's lead element is a Combined Arms Battalion (CAB) consisting of two tank companies (14x M1A1 MBTs) and a Mechanised Infantry company (8x M2 IFVs). The CAB is pushing north from the township of Mercury along Mercury Highway. Their preliminary objective is to capture the township and high ground surrounding Yucca Pass. Upon securing that location they will hold to reinforce and resupply before pushing further north in the early hours of the following morning.

This means that for the duration of your time on station, you will be operating within an open kill box and will not be required to coordinate your attacks with friendly ground forces.

TASK: KILL BOX INTERDICTION

MISSION OBJECTIVE: Interdict OPFOR MLRS batteries operating within Kill Box 128LQ4.

The Ground Forces Commander has specified that tactical fixed wing assets are to prioritise targeting OPFOR MLRS units operating 5 to 20 miles forward of friendly lines. Rotary Wing assets will provide CAS for the ABCT, striking key targets to their immediate front within 5 miles. Finally, Battalion armour will deal whatever is left.

OPFOR MLRS batteries pose a significant threat to the ABCT. Intel suggests that they have the ability to employ chemical weapons from relative safety deep behind the FEBA.

There are two major routes of advance within the kill box, Mercury Highway to the east and Tippipah Highway in the central area (figure 2). The Ground Force Commander has requested both these routes and the area around them be sanitised. It is possible that some MLRS batteries are already in place and could pose an immient treat to the advancing forces, timely engagement of OPFOR MLRS batteries is cruical.

Be advised that friendly ISR assets are continuing to work the target area and may provide Dynamic Targeting solutions. Any potential MLRS battery targets detected by JSTARS will be passed to HAWG41 via the air battle manager (FOCUS). Be sure to listen out for any priority tasking while on station.

Ensure you keep all fires north of the township of Yucca Pass to remain within the open kill box. The dimensions of the kill box are also depicted in the flightplan (KB1-5). Note: Kill boxes are a Fire Support Coordination Method (FSCM) used to deconflict strikes. This means that these waypoints are for reference only and do not impose any tracking requirements.

At this time, Creech AFB is currently 'Neutral' - It is on the friendly side of the FEBA but there is no ground support on the field. Therefore no rearming/refueling is available and it is to be used as an emergency divert field only.

FIG 1. Area of Operations:

Kill Box 128LQ4 shown in yellow.

FIG 2. Target Area:

- Route of friendly advance displayed in the South.

- General location of OPFOR units displayed.

OPFOR Commanders are effectively concealing their forces from our ISR assets but JSTARS has been able to intermittently locate columns of vehicles moving towards killbox 128LQ4 from the north east and north west MSR's.

MRLS Battalion:

INTEL suggests that there four MLRS batteries in the AO. These batteries typically consists of 6 launchers and associated resupply and C2 vehicles. OPFOR are fielding the BM-21 Grad and BM-27 Uragan MLRS systems in a combined battalion.

- BM21s have a maximum range of 10nm. For them to effectively engage the advancing CAB they will need to be positioned in the southern region of kill box 128LQ4.

- BM27s have a maximum range of 18nm which will allow them to engage from deeper in the kill box.

A Battalion sized armored blocking force is operating in the 128LQ4 AO. Multiple T-55 MBT companies are positioned defensively around the southern Yucca Flat area with more modern T-80 companies being held in reserve slightly further north.

Two mechanized infantry companies are holding in a defensive posture on a strategic oilfield in the northern Yucca Flat.

An Air Defense Battalion has deployed multiple AAA and IR SAM batteries for point defense of the above armor and mech inf units.

IR SAM, MANPADS and AAA are all known to be present within the AO. Expect these systems to be providing point defense for the MLRS batteries and concentrated around the armored/mechanised infantry companies. (Figure 2.)

SIGINT platforms have detected intermittent SA-15 emissions from 3nm South West of the Groom Lake (BE260/6). This puts a SA-15 WEZ just on the edge of the assigned kill box for this mission. Don't stray to the North East of the killbox! SA-15s typically operate in batteries of four and will likely be in place to protect the strategically important Groom Lake airfield. This will be the target of strikes later in the campaign.

Mobile SA-8 systems have also been detected within the AO but cannot be accurately located at this time.

Unit Intel Officer notes:

SEAD assets have been stretched thin and as such a dedicated SEAD sortie has not been generated to support your mission. Be mindful of the threats and their capabilities - engage or avoid them at your discretion.

Nellis (KLSV): Conditions at Nellis are nominal with winds out of the East/South East at 15 knots. Cloud is scattered at 6800ft MSL. No other significant weather is expected.

Target Area (KB 128LQ4): Weather over the target will provide a challenge. Winds are out of the East at 20 knots. Cloud is few at 6000ft and scattered at 8000ft. With the terrain elevations in the AO this means that there is occasional cloud on the ground around the ranges to the West and North of the kill box.

MISSION DATACARD:

This datacard has been partially pre-filled with all relevant info for this mission. It is attached to this post as a .pdf

CREDITS:

I would like to thank Stuka of the 476th vFG for his awesome NTTR mission template which forms the basis of this mission. His work on the Google Earth plugin has opened an awesome avenue for mission planning. This can be used to good effect for planning for this mission.(http://www.476vfightergroup.com/showthread.php?4342-NTTR-map-info-public-release)

Also Eddie of the 476th for the blank mission datacard which I have used here as a guide for this mission.

Kill Box Interdiction v0.1.miz

Killbox BAI DataCard.pdf

Looks great, Dusty, thanks for your work!

I'll definitely put this one 8n my queue, fantastic attention to detail!

If all goes well, we will try it tomorrow with 319th! Will post feedback here if we do! Many thanks!

If all goes well, we will try it tomorrow with 319th! Will post feedback here if we do! Many thanks!

Awesome, appreciate it!

We've just finished, feedback coming soon!

Hey Dusty! Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, but here we go - our feelings after testing. I will put some of the stuff in the spoiler window below not to ruin fun for others.

Alright. So, from the beginning:

BRIEFING

Very good, well written and interesting to read. The maps are a welcome addition. If I may suggest something, you might consider doing some kind of summary with most important points, like main targets, ROE etc. But all in all very solid part - together with the mission card, very useful.

PREPARATION

It looks like you have used the "prepare flight" option, as we started with different HUD and MFCD settings than usual, which was a bit unexpected, but forced us to work a bit more during flight preparation, which I consider to be a good thing.

I am not sure about starting with an empty aircraft, forcing players to rearm at the beginning of the mission - I feel that some preset loadout would be welcome (especially if tailored to the mission itself, sometimes the choice of weapons made by the mission designer makes the mission much more interesting).

MISSION

We got to the AO without any problem and received tasking from Focus. Finding targets was quite difficult due to the cloud cover - even though the clouds are scattered, they still obstruct the view and it takes time to be able to position oneself to actually spot what you are looking for. This is a very nice feature! However:

One thing we found really lacking are the voiceovers. This mission could really use some, both from Focus and from the helos. We had no idea what the other flights were doing (the Apaches were just loitering over the airfield most of the time, but in AAR we saw that they engaged some targets). Perhaps it would be useful to add their tasking and flight plan to the briefing.

Coming back to VOs - it would add a lot to immersion and also would help in raising the SA of players. The way it is built now, it gives only very basic data and once we found the MRLSs we were not really sure if that is our target or not. Also, after destroying two groups which we believe were primary and secondary taskings, there were no feedback, RTB message, good job etc. On that front the mission could use some improvement.

The placement of enemy units, attention to detail etc is great, there are lots of targets down there and lots of things going on, which is nice. If I may suggest something, though, it would be nice to add a bit of urgency at some point - for instance message that the batteries are preparing to open fire and giving players 5 minutes to destroy them. It is a personal preference though.

Now for the SAMs:

I am not sure if we succeeded, as we got no feedback (were we supposed to get any)?

All in all we had good fun and we are looking to trying future versions of this mission! Many thanks!

Thanks very much for your feedback Baltic!

It looks like you have used the "prepare flight" option, as we started with different HUD and MFCD settings than usual, which was a bit unexpected, but forced us to work a bit more during flight preparation, which I consider to be a good thing.

This is something I cannot take credit for! It is just an default that comes with the base mission template made by Stuka of the 476th. Having options like the radalt tape and slightly switched up MFCDs will probably take a little while to get used to but I think they are good additions also.

I am not sure about starting with an empty aircraft, forcing players to rearm at the beginning of the mission - I feel that some preset loadout would be welcome (especially if tailored to the mission itself, sometimes the choice of weapons made by the mission designer makes the mission much more interesting).

Noted, thanks. Initially I wanted aircrew to do their own weaponeering for each flight. Unfortunately DCS has no proper pre-flight planning/DTC/weapon selection options yet which is frustrating, I think you're right though - I will select a fitting loadout for the next versions.

One thing we found really lacking are the voiceovers. This mission could really use some, both from Focus and from the helos. We had no idea what the other flights were doing (the Apaches were just loitering over the airfield most of the time, but in AAR we saw that they engaged some targets). Perhaps it would be useful to add their tasking and flight plan to the briefing.

The AH64s are on the datacard and mentioned in the first paragraph of the mission briefing. The reason why I haven't added any comms with them is that in reality they would be working a different frequency while they operate CAS strikes in close proximity to the friendly armour. There is also a UAV that operates within the AO that is not on comms. Apparently an all too common thing on todays theaters, unmanned systems are notorious for not deconflicting with aircraft or being properly incorporated with the ATO. Please think of this as additional realism. :joystick:

Coming back to VOs - it would add a lot to immersion and also would help in raising the SA of players. The way it is built now, it gives only very basic data and once we found the MRLSs we were not really sure if that is our target or not. Also, after destroying two groups which we believe were primary and secondary taskings, there were no feedback, RTB message, good job etc. On that front the mission could use some improvement.

 

...I am not sure if we succeeded, as we got no feedback (were we supposed to get any)?

I agree with you there, voice-overs are being worked on and will be incorporated shortly.

The idea though is that on this interdiction mission you will not have overbearing support to assist you with the targeting of the MLRS batteries. I wanted to make them illusive and challenging to find. I tried to make it fairly clear in the briefing that the MLRS batteries were the priority target and that they were in the form of BM-21 and BM-27 systems (encouraging the player to look up the threat so you can positively ID them on your own terms). Perhaps I need to make that information a bit more explicit.

You're right in terms of the lack of feedback though. I had set mission success criteria in the ME but I've only subsequently found out that this doesn't really have an impact on MP missions and is used for campaigns only! :mad: In the next version I will add a trigger that alerts the player when a battery has been successfully attritted.

Now for the SAMs:

 

Apart from one SA-8 placed in the cloud, we had a feeling that they are so far from the targets that we could have loitered over the launchers with only occasional tracking from OSAs. Perhaps you should really put them closer to the targets, so they can really offer some protection and make players think about their approaches / attacks more. We didnt encounter any MANPADS and two Strelas we saw never launched at us, but perhaps we were too high

 

Ok awesome, I'm a little surprised and impressed that you found this to be on the 'easier' side with regard to the threats, nice work!

 

The SAM threats should randomise to some degree on each mission. It is quite possible that you get an easier go of things with fewer IR SAMs and SA8s but the next time you load up it could be a lot more challenging.

 

I'll have to investigate the cloud cover though, on the several occasions I played the mission through I was still able to target the SA8 that pops up to the north west and covers roughly the northern half of the kill box.

Hey!

Point taken on Apaches, you are probably correct, though again some information about them from Focus would be welcome, like "Be advised, Enfield flight has begun its operation in killbox XXY", to make things more alive :)

In general it is always a struggle between realism and fun, because in real life there is much less action of course. Nice touch with the UAV, good we didn't fly into it ;)

As for the SAM:

As for the feedback, I meant actual information that the targets are destroyed. If you have an UAV in place, it could transfer the data back to Focus, who could inform you that the primary / secondary target is destroyed.

I like the idea with randomising the SAM threat.

All in all we enjoyed the mission, the things I stated are just to make it even better. We look forward to flying it again + trying future versions.

Cheers,

BD

...though again some information about them from Focus would be welcome, like "Be advised, Enfield flight has begun its operation in killbox XXY", to make things more alive :)

-snip-

As for the feedback, I meant actual information that the targets are destroyed. If you have an UAV in place, it could transfer the data back to Focus, who could inform you that the primary / secondary target is destroyed.

Good points! I will endeavour to add that SA building comm.

Again, really appreciate the feedback, thank you BD!

:D

Hi Dusty,

Thanks for the mission - we had fun flying it! To be honest, the only time clouds played a limitation for me was in finding that one SA-8. We had a lot of difficulty finding the SA-8s. We dedicated a single ship to that tasking which took almost 3 hrs to accomplish ( Great Job Doughboy ;) )

A part from that I must say that the cloud layer added realism requiring an extra step and patience before engaging.

Without wanting to repeat what is being said, confirmation and radio comms would enhance this mission a lot!

We would love to test more of your missions whenever you have them ready ( should that be on your future agenda ) but also news versions of this interdiction mission..

Well done and thanks again.

- Reaper

Hi,

thanks for providing a multiplayer mission scenario. :thumbup:

I now played it for a few times and it is fun.

One thing I noticed is that the last group of tanks (Bradleys?) get stuck at some waypoint just south of Yucca Pass. Maybe you want to check on this.

Actually we added some more planes like M-2000C (for buddy lasing with the A-10), Su-25 (/T) and also Hueys and Ka-50s.

If you want to try it out we have the -=BFU=- Game Server Dedicated running the mission right now this saturday night.

We plan to repeat it in the future but currently we are not really happy with the alpha and prefer flying the stable.

So hang in there and wait for NTTR being more promoted again.

Regards,

CB