Operation Foothold Caucasus 11.15.23

[Bones]

Hi all,

I will not be able to make it Wed night and thus will not be able to host Foothold.

If someone wants to take the time to mode their DCS install to run Foothold before then, I can send you the last save and you can host. If not, you will be left with flying something else or canceling until next week.

Let me know...

v6,
boNes

[Hammer]

is there a reason it cannot run on the dedicated server software? are there instructions for doing that?

[Bones]

No, I'm sure it can run on a dedicated server but I would imagine it would take certain changes to it because I had to change some things in my DCS installation to make it work. I could try it myself but I don't want to be THAT guy that breaks your server.

If you want, we can get together and look at it. The only thing is even though we may get it to work, unless the server pauses everything while we are not playing the mission, RedFor will continue to operate and ground we have taken may be taken back by them and their forces replenished by the time we get back to them.

v6,
boNes

[Hammer]

it is our server, not mine.

the server auto pauses missions after the last person disconnects, that is how the surrexen missions work as well.

[Grifter]

If I were to want to upload the mission to our server, is that possible? What would be the procedure? I know that I would have to edit the mission list, but I don't remember the details. And, for that matter, how would I upload the mission the server in the first place? No rush, just curious. Hopefully, I can learn and take some of the burden off of you.

[Hammer]

yes, quite possible.

open the remote desktop connection.
open the shortcut on the desktop for missions folder.
go to local machine
copy the file from your local machine
go back to remote desktop session
paste the file into the missions folder
go to the web gui for managing the server
click the + on the right top of the mission list window
navigate to the missions folder (up two directories, then click missions)(note it only take ONE click on a folder to open it in this app, unlike on the desktop)(the missions folder is in the saved games folder rather than in the saved games/dcsopenbeta folder)
find your mission(s) and click add
new missions shows up in list

[Hammer]

the foothold mission is loaded and running, hopefully Bones can test it tonight. looking in the log file, it looks like it did indeed load the mission saved data. Bones to confirm.

their instructions in the DCS file posting and in the readme are not quite right about where the saved game file is actually located/supposed to go. figured it out by looking at the log.

[Hammer]

Bones believes it is good to go.

[Bones]

So far so good.

v6,
boNes

[Cr33p3r]

I think and hope many will provide feedback based on last nights events. My thoughts:

- Enemy helos are almost indestructible. Xpen hit an Mi8 with a sidewinder and only partially damaged it. Those things can't handle a .22 caliber bullet.
- Is there a way to rescue a pilot? I didn't see it in the options when I landed next to him.
- Enemy facilities are being repaired faster than we can get back to base. Can this be slowed down to about 1/100th of the time?
- Good AI attacks on our bases and well balanced. However, That one air base close by was scrambling Mig21's every time Grifter got close and he'd get shot down with little warning.
- We successfully took Alpha. Lots of combined work. AI Blackhawk went there and landed which I assume took the position.
- F-16 issues. Jedi will have to weigh in on these. Lots or problems he had.
- all the helicopters I got into were cold and dark. not a deal-breaker but waste of time. I could also not rearm the Mi24's at the Napa base. Appa? I forgot.
- Rearming F18's worked fine. They start empty.
- Some people had waypoint issues that made no sense.
- I've got to learn how to sling-load stuff with the Mi8 and Mi24. That is the key to manually taking a location once we clear out the baddies.

The mission appeared to work. We all did work together as much as possible. The enemy is much closer than the Syria mission we've been running and that thankfully lends to helping each other out. Grifter was on his own and I really should have gotten in an F18 to be his wingman.

[Grifter]

Pretty sound write up, Creeper. Thanks for writing this summary! I emailed Bones, and he said he would look into slowing down the enemy rebuild time, although he doesn’t know if it can be done.

He also confirmed my suspicion that we should focus our efforts on securing an air base. We need to conduct SEAD/DEAD and land a C-130 Herc there. Doing so will take the pressure off from getting jumped by enemy fighters. As a mission, foothold is designed to encourage good wing and element tactics; in other words, never fly alone. Always have someone covering you while you strike and vice versa. I’m sure Bones can speak to how to rescue pilots.

Hammer, thank you for the directions above. If we do edit the foothold mission, I can now upload the new version to the server! Thanks again!

[Bones]

Here are some thoughts from Recluse who modded the missions (NOTE: He did not write them):

Enemy Helos:

I read about this but I didn't go into the Mission Editor to make the changes since we managed to get past them usually:

- Apparently there are special options in the Mission Editor for Mi-8 that seem to be on by default that give them more armor and more ability to suppress their IR signature. Very much OP!
There are so many AI RED MI-8 units that I never bothered going in and stripping these options.

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RESCUES
You can rescue a pilot, but only in Helos (maybe other aircraft which can be modded. I think the OV-10 works) When flying a Helo you will get coordinates. When you land near them (or hover above) there is an F10 Menu option under Logistics to pick them up. Then you need to bring them back to a friendly base. I never tried it, but this is how it is supposed to workL

Added search and rescue option for ejected pilots. You can now pick up ejected pilots in logistics enabled modules and drop them off at a friendly zone for a credit reward.
To pick up a pilot you need to either land in close proximity, or get into a stable hover under 150ft AGL in proximity of the ejected pilot, and sel ect the CSAR/Pick up option fr om the logistics menu.
To drop off the collected pilots, you need to land inside any friendly zone, and use the CSAR/Drop off option from the logistics menu.
You can carry a maximum of 4 pilots at the same time, and you can pick up friendly as well as enemy pilots.



REPAIR TIME:

Repair time is based on Supply Lines. In Caucasus stuff is pretty close. To get in an capture, you need to do one of two things:

- Maintain CONSTANT CAP to shoot down supply helos until the BLUE AI get off their asses
- Have someone who can fly a Helo or C-130 to do the supply drop. USUALLY what we did was, pound the base, and when it was CLOSE to complete, send up the Helo or Hercules while someone finished off the enemy units and flew CAP for Helos so the Supply Drop could go in AS SOON AS the base was Neutral

Cold and Dark Helos:

All of the UH-60L's should be Hot Starts. I know I missed a few Apaches, but there should be at least one Hot Start at every base. I never bothered editing any KA-50's or MI-24's or other typically Eastern Bloc choppers that were on the BLUE Side. You don't have to Sling Load most helos. You use the F10--->Logistics menu to LOAD CARGO. You can even modify a file to allow you to load CARGO in an APACHE, but it flies like a pig. I think I may have already done that for the Caucasus Foothold.

WAYPOINTS:

Don't count on them. Units that were placed by default should have a complete set of WP's that are pretty much correct. If I had to edit in some units by Copy/Pasting from another base, or adding them new, their WP's would be completely off. Unless I was 100% sure, I would create my own WP's with ScratchPad for that particular flight.



Also, it kind of goes without saying, but you have to be TASK FOCUSED. Better to ALPHA STRIKE one base and clear it out with mutual support than have people piecemealing it all over the map, which leads to never degrading an enemy base before they have a chance to reinforce, and increasing the chances of getting shot down. While contrary to ONE PASS, HAUL ASS, when a flight finishes AG sorties, it helps to remain on station for CAP duties and Supply Helo intercept while others are doing their AG duties or re-arming and refuelling. It is a tough choice because you risk losing your points by getting shot down, but if it prevents an enemy re-supply, it is almost worth it.

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Recluse modded the mission a bit more stripping helos of their armor and IR supressors ans changing to hot starts all the helos he could find (there are alot)

I'll see about it getting into the server.

v6,
boNes

[Grifter]

So some takeaways from Recluse’s write up:

We should alpha strike a single target, ie. The closest enemy airbase.

We should race track our strikes. Provide mutual support as we attack, providing air cover after we’ve binned targets.

We should use our credits to activate Blue AI air support.

We should actively hunt and destroy enemy choppers.