Operation: Blue Flag - Official Tour (Sep 2019)

So, is anyone else bothered by the poor side balancing or is it just me?

I was about to join the blue but darn..... Red is so fast there's almost nothing to defend lol.

Tried out BF today, went really well but a few things I wanted to ask about.

Carrier is not moving.

Can we have the carrier do a box patrol pattern at 30kts? It should be possible with less than 10 Waypoints for a server run time of 3 hours.

Tankers not contactable and very slow.

I was vectored out to a KC130 who was doing around 180kts (can this be ramped up a bit?) I tried every radio frequency given in the -Freq menu but was unable to contact him to get the basket out so I had to RTB to Lavan.

No co-ords for waypoints.

Is there any chance we could have the lat long for Bullseye and other airbases added to the briefing so we can enter Nav data without using the F-10 map?

Server was super stable for the time I was in, looking great guys!

Thanks Mav!

We will look into the items you sent!

There's already a first round winner, redfor has won the first round and the map has been reset.

Remember, teamwork and dedication will win this tour!

Good luck to all participants!

"no changes fore the official tour" - Buddy spike staff

Broken Mirage patch introduced 4 days into official round.

~971 flight hours and 422 pilots on Blue team VS 1456 flight hours and 561 pilots on Red team.

2000's hardware vs 1980's and early 90's hardware.

4 flight of F/A-18 = 24xJSOW A, 8xJSOW C, 8xAIM-120c, 8xAIM-9x and more S/A than any "Acers Kom bats" arcade BS.

Learn the true meaning of "fair and balanced" - PRICELESS

:(

Next time when we neutralize a FARP just before server restart, please fly a helicopter after restart to capture it. Seems I neutralized Fasa in Harrier last night for nothing -.- (other than forcing a blue heli pilot to recapture it... -.-)

Looks like the F-18 broke the stats for flight hours for the tour, it's been stuck at 839:59 for a week

So, is anyone else bothered by the poor side balancing or is it just me?

Yes I've always flown from the Iranian side in my sporadic and brief times on this server and never found the odds to be stacked like this before. Quite proudly I did manage to get 5 kills last night but it's difficult, they're coming at you from all angles and the SA abilities of the Hornet make it hard to beat.

I'm really hoping the upcoming F16 goes onto the Blue side and gives us an edge and helps balance things out.

Yes I've always flown from the Iranian side in my sporadic and brief times on this server and never found the odds to be stacked like this before. Quite proudly I did manage to get 5 kills last night but it's difficult, they're coming at you from all angles and the SA abilities of the Hornet make it hard to beat.

 

 

 

I'm really hoping the upcoming F16 goes onto the Blue side and gives us an edge and helps balance things out.

F-16 hardly realistic for Blue side, JF-17 would be much appropiate.

Venezuela is a close ally of Iran (probably the closest of all) and is flying the F-16...

Venezuela is a close ally of Iran (probably the closest of all) and is flying the F-16...

Sure if BF wants F-16 vs F-16 scenario.

How? They don't have to add the F-16 to the Iranian side, just because there are countries that fly it. Besides that there is already the swedish Viggen on the Iranian side, which IRL would not be on on that side at all. Same with the russian Hornets on BF Caucasus.

I would appreciate realistic factions, but then it should be applied to all aircraft and not just the F-16.

Regarding Venezuela I could comment about that but fear it would derail the thread to politics and its not allowed in here.

You can always send me a PM :)

Best idea I’ve heard yet is to put the f18 on blue and send the f16 to red.

TJ

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Best idea I’ve heard yet is to put the f18 on blue and send the f16 to red.

 

TJ

 

 

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Then blue will have F14,Hornet, Su27 together, that's quite a powerful combination. I think a lot of players would migrate sides in order to keep flying their favorite airframe.

Then blue will have F14,Hornet, Su27 together, that's quite a powerful combination. I think a lot of players would migrate sides in order to keep flying their favorite airframe.

Exactly the idea. All the viper lovers will go red...

Red continues with f16 f15 Harrier and a10c and you even out the ground pounding by giving blue f18.

TJ

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Exactly the idea. All the viper lovers will go red...

 

Red continues with f16 f15 Harrier and a10c and you even out the ground pounding by giving blue f18.

 

TJ

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't really see the difference to keeping the Hornet with red team and giving the Viper to blue. The ground strike capabilities of the Viper are pretty much the same than those of the Hornet :huh:

I don't really see the difference to keeping the Hornet with red team and giving the Viper to blue. The ground strike capabilities of the Viper are pretty much the same than those of the Hornet :huh:

Not when it goes live....

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I find this discussion of which side has the best planes rather interesting. My .02 cent analysis. (LOL, in retrospect this is absurdly long, so lets make it my 2 dollars...)

A/A

Blue, they get the F14 which I'd say currently is the best A/A platform in game currently, they also get the M2k (why? the UAE is a real world operator?), which is a great dogfighter. Plus the various FC3 flankers and migs, which well, aren't exactly BAD. All have good SA via datalink. All of these planes have a BVR advantage over Red side planes with their ER missiles or Phoenix. And are at least equal or better WVR.

Red gets the F18 and F15 for A/A. The F15 being the better of the two kinematically, and the F18 having the advantage of the SA page and datalink. And while they can certainly hold their own WVR, they are at a disadvantage in BVR.

Honestly I'd generally give the A/A advantage to Blue largely due to the phoenix and the various ER russian missiles.

A/G

Red

Red has the F18, Harrier, and A10C. All really good A/G platforms, in particular the F18 which is a really good bomb truck with the TGP and JDAM/JSOW. If anything they can clear out an airbase in a few sorties.

Blue

F14, Viggen (F4 esque), Su25T are the main performers, the KA50 kinda helps too. The SU25 and F14 are the main PGM's platforms but a bit more limited than the hornet, the viggen is a nice fast bomb truck, but is limited in terms of attack profiles. The Mirage can carry GBU's but needs a JTAC or someone to buddy lase.

My .02 conclusion.

If anything I'd say currently Blue has a fairly clear AA advantage, and somewhat of disadvantage on strike due to some of the limitations of the F14 and Su25. But I wouldn't call it all that big.

The two new planes coming up.

JF17, on release will likely be equal or better to the hornet strike wise with a TGP, guided munitions and missiles. Air to air, it should be comparable to a completed hornet (PL5/12 TWS). If anything I think this should goto Bluefor since it balances out the multirole/strike capabilities they lack. Also I forsee it likely tipping the scales when used in conjunction with their existing aircraft mix.

F16. On release it will offer almost nothing over the current hornet capability wise aside from better WVR dogfight performance, which is a bit dubious as the hornet and eagle are generally fine WVR, and I'm seeing many fights end before they get there anyway. BVR wise it will be identical to the hornet, same radar issues and same missiles. Honestly its not change much of anything A/A. Initially it will won't be very capable A/G, dumb bombs and buddy lased LGB's. Wags also hinted that the TPOD might come on release or shortly thereafter so in that case it could help blue a bit on the A/G side.

Real world defense considerations

Pakistan and Iran have a weird relationship, but modern day you could make the argument for the Pakistanis selling the JF-17 to Iran. Then again you could probably make a stronger argument for them to support the Saudis or gulf states with whom they have much better relations. So really the JF17 could go to either side.

Oman and The UAE actually both operate the F16, and Iran doesn't. So really this is more of a no-brainier that they should goto team Red. However, circa 2006 with US/venezula tensions there was an offer to sell the semi defunct F16 fleet to Iran but given the existing embargo its pretty clear that Iran wouldn't be able to operate them effectively.

The DCS factor.

Its rather obvious that a good chunk of the player base will join/switch to whichever side has their preferred "new hotness" regardless of capabilities.

Other thoughts on balance.

Not sure why both sides couldn't have F14's? Maybe limit the number on Red side and make em fly off the stennis if people think it would overpower red. That way both sides could "enjoy" the phoenix. And obviously once the F14A comes out that should be the Iranian version.

If Iran gets the JF17 maybe consider putting the M2k on the Red side for "realism", I'm not sure it would add much to bluefor anyway once the JF17 is out, and the real world operator is the UAE.

I don't really see the difference to keeping the Hornet with red team and giving the Viper to blue. The ground strike capabilities of the Viper are pretty much the same than those of the Hornet :huh:

If anything I'd say Blue needs a better multirole striker which the JF17 will be on release. On release the F16 will be a less capable F18.

Other thoughts on balance.

Not sure why both sides couldn't have F14's? Maybe limit the number on Red side and make em fly off the stennis if people think it would overpower red. That way both sides could "enjoy" the phoenix. And obviously once the F14A comes out that should be the Iranian version.

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Very interesting post (I didn't want to quote the entire post in my reply though), personally I find that the Phoenix is a good missile to get the Hornets to go defensive and try and go for a closer kill with a Sparrow or SW, rarely does a Phoenix actually connect as they can be defeated quite easily. Occasionally get lucky though especially if fired TWS at a couple of guys in formation (managed to plink a couple of Harriers out of the sky the other day like that!)

It would be a nightmare if both sides shared the same airframe, already ID'ing targets is difficult. I'm terrified of firing on a friendly and spotting a Tomcat and then having to figure out if it's a friend or foe will not be nice.

I find Red seems to have a numbers advantage, there is also more flying on red than blue (currently 6 red to 2 blue for example), so it's not the airframes that make it unbalanced just the number of players. I just think having the F16 on Blue might draw more players to Blue and balance out the numbers on each side a little bit. Obviously it won't work if loads of Hornet guys abandon it and go for the Viper.

It's interesting to discuss though. I'm sure whatever the admins do with the server it will be great, currently it's my favorite pvp server.

Very interesting post (I didn't want to quote the entire post in my reply though), personally I find that the Phoenix is a good missile to get the Hornets to go defensive and try and go for a closer kill with a Sparrow or SW, rarely does a Phoenix actually connect as they can be defeated quite easily. Occasionally get lucky though especially if fired TWS at a couple of guys in formation (managed to plink a couple of Harriers out of the sky the other day like that!)

 

It would be a nightmare if both sides shared the same airframe, already ID'ing targets is difficult. I'm terrified of firing on a friendly and spotting a Tomcat and then having to figure out if it's a friend or foe will not be nice.

 

I find Red seems to have a numbers advantage, there is also more flying on red than blue (currently 6 red to 2 blue for example), so it's not the airframes that make it unbalanced just the number of players. I just think having the F16 on Blue might draw more players to Blue and balance out the numbers on each side a little bit. Obviously it won't work if loads of Hornet guys abandon it and go for the Viper.

 

It's interesting to discuss though. I'm sure whatever the admins do with the server it will be great, currently it's my favorite pvp server.

Hm, thats an interesting perspective, I've never had too much trouble getting kills with the phoenix PVP, and have eaten my fair share of them (coincidentally in a harrier...:music_whistling:). I mainly fly strike on the BF PG server, and seldom survive to the merge when I do. I do better when I load up for AA in an F15 for example, so it depends on the circumstances. I hadn't really though about target ID and thats actually probably the best argument I've heard for keeping specific airframes on one side. Though I think both sides do get the F5 as a counterpoint. All that being said, as I mentioned I don't think its wildly unbalanced in the A/A arena. The Phoenix mainly being the most useful for "strategic AWACS" interventions for Bluefor since you can plink awacs outside SAM range, while Redfor can't.

As for the numbers thing, I think thats entirely dependent on time of day, I see alot of Euro guys flying blue midday (US time). There are times where its blue-fest, and other times when its a red-fest as you say. As for the F16 drawing players, maybe thats right, maybe not. I think the fascination with the viper will last about a month, and then people will go back to what they were flying before because its more complete/capable. As I mentioned, the EA viper will not really add much to either side IMO, it will be marginal for A/G until it gets a TPOD and better PGM's for either side, and A/A it will be better than the F18 at WVR, but be on par with either the hornet or flankers for BVR.

So, is the tour over? Who won? Can we now switch sides again after each campaign?

Iirc, red won 5 rounds, blue not a single one (sadly stats overview has been reset already, maybe someone took a screenshot of it?). Afaik it's planned to return to pre-tour status again, to be able to switch sides again, yes.

Alright, thanks :thumbup: