Mission 15: How is it supposed to work?

[SamJM]

So first time playing this mission, we engaged the F4's successfully and then on the flight back Weed got jumped by an SU-33, which I engaged and shot down. I then had to refuel and join up with Blade.

For some reason Blade was sat at about angels 30 and Mach 0.1 and then before I got there he randomly ejected and so I wasn't able to progress with the mission.

 

I assume the above (excluding Blade ejecting of course) is exactly how the mission was intended?

 

Since then, it has not gone down like that, sometimes the SU-33 shows up while we're fighting the F4's and it kills me, I've also killed it before it shot down Weed which clearly broke how things were intended to go.
I've been experimenting a bit with extending as far as I can before engaging the F4's so the SU-33 isn't as close, which seemed to work on my last attempt but it jumped me instead of Weed on the way to the tankers, Weed didn't even finish his "Break right, chaff, flares" call before I exploded. And even if I did avoid it I would have had no choice but to kill it which then wouldn't trigger the whole downed pilot part of the mission as me and Weed weren't joined up so it only had one target (me).

 

I'm not sure whether to consider it bugged or whether it's just a finnicky set of triggers, or whether there is something I can do to make it work as intended. Seems like it only worked exactly as it was meant to on my very first attempt.

[baltic_dragon]

There is no single way to play it, and it depends on many factors whether you manage to nail the F4s before the Harriri arrives or not. If Weed gets shot down and you destroy Harriri, there is a separate additional part with CSAR where you wait for the assets that are supposed to pick Weed up. If he is alive, he rejoins on you. Of course there is a possibility that some of the triggers fire exactly at the same time and then the mission doesn't work as intended (I can't predict all the possibilities), but normally it worked OK. 

 

And yes, Harriri sneaking up like this is fully intended and mirrors what happens in the book Please let me know if you manage to get some success with it!