Best way to get AI JTACs to lase

Hey all,

I’m trying to figure out the best way to get AI JTACs to lase targets.

In my multiplayer mission, I have an F10 menu option to “spawn WWIII”. This creates a huge tank battle, with about a battalion+ of red tanks advancing on a company or two of blue tanks. The player jumps into the A10, Harrier or Hornet (eventually) to help stem the tide.

Interspersed with the blue forces are a few JTACs. What I’m hoping to achieve is have them provide control on targets that they see as the targets advance towards them, using a laser designator to mark, allowing us to use AGM-65E as well as LSS to cue our pods.

The problem I run into is, if I just designate them as FAC, they provide control on targets they see but they don’t mark with laser. If I manually assign each enemy group as a target and tell them to mark with laser, then I just get a bunch of type 3 controls, as the JTACs are made aware of the target before they can even see them (remember the red forces are advancing on the blue forces). I’ve tried using a UAV as an A-FAC, but I find at periods during his orbit he loses line of sight and once he does will not lase, even if he regains LOS.

I’m decent as using the vanilla UI, but haven’t ventured into scripting yet (no moose, mist or ctld yet).

Are there any tricks, or simple scripts, that would allow me to have the JTACs provide control against the targets that are advancing on them, as they see them, while marking with laser? The other thing I’m going to try is several UAVs, invisible and in small orbits right above the enemy (so they never lose LOS). This would be a bit artificial, however...

Any thoughts?

CTLD is by far the easiest way to do this.

Load Mist 4.3.74 or whatever the latest is with a condition of TIME MORE 3

Load CTLD with a condition of TIME MORE 5

Assuming your unit is named JTAC1, you run a DO SCRIPT trigger with this content:

ctld.JTACAutoLase('JTAC1', 1688, false,"all")

And it will immediately start lasing.