Molon Labe
10-14-05, 06:55 PM
First off, I want to thank Cyklop for helping me test the NCHQ version of Taiwan ARG escort with the LW/Ami mod.
Killing the Kilos used to be a cakewalk in DW 1.01. No longer.
I took the MH-60 against Cyklop in Kilo hull 386. For those of you unfamiliar with Taiwan ARG, the US side has an FFG escorting 2 LSD's to near shore; two Kilos are standing in the way. There's also several Chinese skimmers shooting missiles at the FFG and a 688I supporting the ARG for ASW/ASUW/Strike purposes.
In DW 1.01, the mission basicly went down like this: The Kilos would hang out at PD and try to shoot down the choppers. If the chopper pilots got too aggressive, they'd get shot down and that would pretty much ruin the US's chances. Or, if they played smart, they'd detect the Kilos on DICASS/Dipper easily and fire from outside SAM range, possibly dropping close when the Kilos were already evading... Kilos die. It's basically a boring, "gamey" slugfest on the surface with whoever died left feeling like they got ripped off (the airdales got mad because SAM shots should be the exception, not the rule, and the bubbleheads were mad because they had no choice but to hang out on the surface, leaving PD meant certain death).
With LW/Ami, this mission can be played as it was meant to.
I started out rushing 15 nm ahead of the group to lay a VLAD pattern. Due to bad AI doctrine, the AI Kilo cavitated and gave himself away. The 688I fired on him and I moved in as well after dropping 3 buoys. I marked the cross of 2 VLADs and dropped a DICASS there. That DICASS picked up contacts all over...the AI kilo...and also active decoys from Cyklop, who had been spooked by the incoming ADCAP. I wasted precious time doing MAD runs over the decoys. Eventually, I thought I had located both subs. I dropped a Mk50 on the AI Kilo, but my solution was off. A second torp on snake also missed, although it nearly acquired the nearby Cyklop, prefering a decoy instead. But, LW/Ami torp sensors are much less sensitive, so you have to be on the money...and I wasn't. I was carrying an ASM on my third hardpoint, so I had to reload. A buoy showed Cyclop running towards the group, so I promoted it and hoped hed be attacked.
Ran back to the OHP and rearmed. Got back up and started the search over again. Nothing. I tuned in from buoy to buoy and came up empty. Dropped some more buoys, still nothing. Then, I switched to a buoy close aboard in case he slipped in really close...found him, he was moving off behind the group to get a wakehomer shot. I hovered, set the RTE to go past the LSD before enabling, and dropped. Then I tried to box him in by running 2.5 nm south of him and sending a torp north. The first torp missed because it enabled too late, it snaked the wrong way first and was past him in it's second turn. The second torpedo circled in the right spot, but he had run out of its acquisition range!
Unfortunately, Cyklop didn't know the Kilo too well, and wasted a bunch of torps by shooting them too deep. He managed to get two hits on the LSDs though. I ended up crashing on my 2nd reload attempt. Plenty of inexperienced mistakes all around.
But, in spite of us both botching our games, this was a really fun dive! It actually felt like I was doing ASW work. Cyklop actually got to be sneaky, instead of waiting on the surface waiting for the hammer to drop. Locating was hard to do, and munitions had to be delivered with precision. It wasn't easy for a lone helo to do, nor should it have been...although with human players in the 688I and FFG coordinating together, we could have put the picture together much more easily...just like in real life. :up:
Thanks again to Cyklop, LuftWulf, and Amizaur for all they've done. :rock:
Killing the Kilos used to be a cakewalk in DW 1.01. No longer.
I took the MH-60 against Cyklop in Kilo hull 386. For those of you unfamiliar with Taiwan ARG, the US side has an FFG escorting 2 LSD's to near shore; two Kilos are standing in the way. There's also several Chinese skimmers shooting missiles at the FFG and a 688I supporting the ARG for ASW/ASUW/Strike purposes.
In DW 1.01, the mission basicly went down like this: The Kilos would hang out at PD and try to shoot down the choppers. If the chopper pilots got too aggressive, they'd get shot down and that would pretty much ruin the US's chances. Or, if they played smart, they'd detect the Kilos on DICASS/Dipper easily and fire from outside SAM range, possibly dropping close when the Kilos were already evading... Kilos die. It's basically a boring, "gamey" slugfest on the surface with whoever died left feeling like they got ripped off (the airdales got mad because SAM shots should be the exception, not the rule, and the bubbleheads were mad because they had no choice but to hang out on the surface, leaving PD meant certain death).
With LW/Ami, this mission can be played as it was meant to.
I started out rushing 15 nm ahead of the group to lay a VLAD pattern. Due to bad AI doctrine, the AI Kilo cavitated and gave himself away. The 688I fired on him and I moved in as well after dropping 3 buoys. I marked the cross of 2 VLADs and dropped a DICASS there. That DICASS picked up contacts all over...the AI kilo...and also active decoys from Cyklop, who had been spooked by the incoming ADCAP. I wasted precious time doing MAD runs over the decoys. Eventually, I thought I had located both subs. I dropped a Mk50 on the AI Kilo, but my solution was off. A second torp on snake also missed, although it nearly acquired the nearby Cyklop, prefering a decoy instead. But, LW/Ami torp sensors are much less sensitive, so you have to be on the money...and I wasn't. I was carrying an ASM on my third hardpoint, so I had to reload. A buoy showed Cyclop running towards the group, so I promoted it and hoped hed be attacked.
Ran back to the OHP and rearmed. Got back up and started the search over again. Nothing. I tuned in from buoy to buoy and came up empty. Dropped some more buoys, still nothing. Then, I switched to a buoy close aboard in case he slipped in really close...found him, he was moving off behind the group to get a wakehomer shot. I hovered, set the RTE to go past the LSD before enabling, and dropped. Then I tried to box him in by running 2.5 nm south of him and sending a torp north. The first torp missed because it enabled too late, it snaked the wrong way first and was past him in it's second turn. The second torpedo circled in the right spot, but he had run out of its acquisition range!
Unfortunately, Cyklop didn't know the Kilo too well, and wasted a bunch of torps by shooting them too deep. He managed to get two hits on the LSDs though. I ended up crashing on my 2nd reload attempt. Plenty of inexperienced mistakes all around.
But, in spite of us both botching our games, this was a really fun dive! It actually felt like I was doing ASW work. Cyklop actually got to be sneaky, instead of waiting on the surface waiting for the hammer to drop. Locating was hard to do, and munitions had to be delivered with precision. It wasn't easy for a lone helo to do, nor should it have been...although with human players in the 688I and FFG coordinating together, we could have put the picture together much more easily...just like in real life. :up:
Thanks again to Cyklop, LuftWulf, and Amizaur for all they've done. :rock: