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Yooper posted:Alikchi may, if he chooses, post here. If not then we'll treat this as two distinct command organizations. He and I will coordinate via Discord, but both of us are equal in the scenario so I need his F-14 CAP as much as he needs my SEAD/DEAD. Hi all! Yep, I'll be posting here as well. I don't want to get a bunch of Tomcat and Intruder pilots killed, so (imo) more collaborative this is, the better. The thirty minute turn system forces you to think ahead. I'm the sort of CMO player that likes to pause a lot, micromanage with waypoints and target orders when my missions don't work out.. PBEM constrains that style of play and requires me to "plan" and "think". We will see how that goes!  My initial setup: we must seek and destroy Saddam's secret submarine fleet, reported by Agent "CURVEBALL" to be "at least two Typhoons and three Kilos. I think."   OK, Yooper summarized my actual initial orders. Two F-14B Tomcats (loadout: 4x Sparrow, 4x Sidewinder) of VF-103 "Sluggers" launch from USS Saratoga, followed by a pair of VF-14 "Tophatters" F-14As from USS John F. Kennedy (2x AIM-54s, 2x Sparrow, 2x Sidewinder). An E-2C Hawkeye is also sent up by Saratoga and they all head northeast, in the general direction of Najaf and Al-Anbar. The Tomcats have a bizarrely-shaped Prosecution Zone set up, designed to lure the enemy fighters into engaging outside their SAM envelope. My thinking for this scenario: work from west to east. H3, H2, then Al Taqaddum. Don't get stupidly chewed up by SAMs. Begin by drawing out Saddam's fighters with a light CAP over southwestern Iraq. Meanwhile, I can arm my attackers, do a little recon, and watch Yooper's flyboys run their SEAD. 24 hours gives me time for 2 or 3 strikes, if we take into account rearm time and flight time.  On the carriers, the 6-hour rearming process is 30 minutes in. My best attackers are F/A-18s, and they almost all began the scenario armed with GP dumb bombs. They, along with my A-6s and A-7s, begin taking on new packages of HARMs, SLAMs, and a few Walleyes and Mavericks. Half a dozen F/A-18s are retained ready on deck with their dumb bomb loads, just in case a target of opportunity presents itself. Pictured: rearming aboard USS America.
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Apr 18, 2021 21:30
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 22:01 |
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Turn 2 - USN  First blood to Tophatters 3! He's an Ace now, apparently. He and his wingman used quite a bit of their fuel in the fighting, and are pulling back to refuel at a KA-6D I launched (with some unfounded concern that I might not be able to utilize Yooper's Stratotankers and whatnot.) It is midnight, the morning of January 20, 1991. Looks like it's going to be a hot, clear day. 22.5 hours (46 half-hour turns) remain. I adjust my patrol/prosecution zones slightly. A third pair of Tomcats (from VF-103 "Sluggers") is on the way to the area.  Yooper's Saudi and Brit Tornadoes are streaking in.  A closer look There's a part of me that wants to launch my few available Prowlers and/or F/A-18s right now and go target hunting - I become briefly fixated on the SA-2 site south of Iraqi airfield H2 - but there's a lot of unspotted AAA all around, I'm sure, and early-morning darkness isn't good cover against radar-guided gunfire, MANPADS, etc. I'll be able to do more soon. In the meantime, I adjust flight paths and waypoints and sit on my hands as the carriers continue feverishly rearming their aircraft. Let's see how Yooper's attacks go and move on from there. It's a successful attack! 3 ALARMs are launched, and two smack right into the Bar Lock radar, which promptly vanishes from our scopes. (YouTube link, 2minutes15 seconds, some TacView.) The rest of the turn is quiet.  This is twenty minutes in. The VF-103 Tomcats are wiggling around enticingly near the enemy airfields, but no hostile rises to take the bait. Ten more minutes pass, with the RAF/RSAF Tornadoes now safely well away from contested airspace. It's back to Yooper! Kobold, you'll have a ride in the next Tomcat wing.
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Apr 19, 2021 01:36
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Turn 3 - USN Target acquired! Let's go after that Spoon Rest. Mission "CMDR 30 Days' Prowler Strike" is created. Two Prowlers with HARMS (VAQ-130 "Zappers", USS John F. Kennedy) launch immediately, along with a pair of F-14A Tomcats for escort.  6 Tomcats are already in the air. With the support of Yooper's F-15s, his JSTARS and my Hawkeye, we should be able to keep the Iraqi fighters away from the Prowlers.  At 22:05 Zulu, my Hawkeye detects a Fishbed taking off from Shayka Mazhar airfield, southeast of Baghdad. Looks like it's going for Yooper's JSTARS...  2210. I vector two pairs of Tomcats at the Fishbed. Gotta save the JSTARS! Meanwhile, 30 Days and his strike force have launched and are passing through Saudi airspace.  Another bogey, this one launched from Al Jarrah Airbase. Is Saddam surging his fighters?  My two northernmost Tomcats - a pair from VF-103 Sluggers - launch three Sparrows at the incoming Fishbed. Two miss, the third does not. Tango down.  22:20 Zulu: The second bogey is another Fishbed.  Yooper's F-15s move in to engage the Fishbed (which is going like a bat out of hell, 920 knots). It's chasing the Tomcats right into the F-15s.  But the Fishbed is just too fast. It closes with the Tomcats and gets a missile off before the F-15s engage.  Thankfully, it's a miss.   The MiG's next R-60 doesn't miss. But somehow.. the Tomcat's still in one piece? Only 10.5% damage! Must have been a glancing blow.  The F-15s pull into range, launch a pair of Sparrows, and save the day. No losses for the USN or USAF so far! And with that, my 30 minute turn ends.
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Apr 20, 2021 18:16
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Radio Free Kobold posted:Can we get a detailed damage report on that Tomcat?  The blast busted an electro-optical TV camera system and damaged an engine. Personally I would RTB if my engine was in the yellow, but he wants to expend all his missiles, I guess. More power to him! bibliosabreur posted:Huh. Didn't have the Toms turn and fight with their Sidewinders? R-60s are only limited all-aspect, if I remember correctly, whereas AIM-9Ls and -Ms are happily all-aspect. I thought it might be because they were hitting their fuel limit - I ordered them to turn and attack, but the AI just went RTB anyways - but this makes more sense: quote:Near as Alikchi and I can tell, if one my units engages a hostile in Alikchi's turn, his units won't go offensive until mine have finished attacking. Hence the AIM-7 kill. Alikchi fucked around with this message at 01:26 on Apr 21, 2021 |
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Apr 21, 2021 01:24
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USN Turn 4 Onward! Two Prowlers, escorted by two Tomcats, enter HARM range of the Spoon Rest radar near H2.  Missiles away!  Please turn away more quickly before you wander into AAA range.  That's better.  The HARMs began their dive on the Iraqi radar.  Blammo! Another hole opened in the Iraqi air defence system. Congrats to 30 Days and his crew.  Prowlers and Tomcats head back for the carriers..  As another wave launches. This Prowler pair has orders to target the Shilkas that JSTARS spotted in Yooper's turn. Off to the east, I can see a wave of USAF, RAF and Saudi aircraft angling towards Baghdad... Alikchi fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Apr 21, 2021 |
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Apr 21, 2021 19:18
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USN - Turns 5 & 6  00:00:00 Zulu. The Prowlers heading for the Shilkas have a problem - the Shilkas refuse to light up their radars. Their OODA loop is all messed up. I switch their mission from a direct strike on the Shilkas to patrol and prosecution SEAD. If the enemy flips a radar on, the Prowlers should react and take it out.  To supplement the Prowlers, I launch a group of three Intruders, led by Commander Pthighs. The southern Shilka (and a 57mm AA battery) that JSTARS spotted are a bit exposed. I’m gambling that the Intruders can take them out without straying into range.  00:19:13 Zulu: The Iraqis launch another fighter, a Hawkeye spots it, and a pair of F-14s (of VF-32 “Swordsmen”) go after it.  00:20:00 Zulu. Jay Bird radar indicates that this is another Fishbed.   Sparrow away!  He’s trying to evade..  .. without success.  My Turn 6 is relatively quiet. The Intruders are slowly edging towards H2/H3, while Yooper’s Wild Weasel Phantoms advance in the east.  Finally, my F/A-18s, A-7s and A-6s are almost fully rearmed. The next few turns should see a lot of poo poo get blown up.
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Apr 23, 2021 21:52
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bibliosabreur posted:This is the first time I've seen the 3D rendering tool in action! My understanding is that it costs a pretty penny on top of CMO's absurd grog price. It goes on sale sometimes - I think I got it for 10 or 15 bucks. But yes, the stuff you can do with it and DCS is really cool. CMO.. mostly glamour shots. Gun dogfights are great fun to watch though
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Apr 24, 2021 04:51
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USN - Turn 7 Things are really coming together now. The three Paveway-lugging Intruders with Prowler buddy, led by CMDR Pthighs (AKA "Black Falcon 1"), have been loitering unnecessarily, but they ended up in an advantageous position. I turn them (3) northwest with direct orders targeting the Shilkas. A pair of patrolling Prowlers (4) hang out nearby, blasting OECM and waiting for targets to light up. To the south, a huge wave of Yooper's Aardvarks (2) is coordinating nicely with my eight Hornets, led by hotshot pilot CMDR Gervasius.(1).  CMDR Pthighs is probably saying something cool like "smoke em if ya got em, boys" in this shot.  For once, all my aircraft appear to be doing exactly what I've told them to do.  Cool.  5 minutes later, a mixed strike has departed the carriers: 4 Intruders with Maverick anti-tank missiles, and 4 Hornets - two with Walleyes, and two with SLAMs. They'll be the cleanup crew, presuming anything worth bombing survives the onslaught Yooper and I appear to be set to deliver upon H2 and H3.  Pthighs' wing is soaring in. Here goes nothing... Videos: End of Phase 1& Beginning of Phase 2 (x5 speed)  Success! Looks like two Shilka kills, wiping out the southern platoon, and multiple 57mm AA guns knocked out. All ordinance expended, the Pthighs gang heads home. As far as I can tell, there was no return fire whatsoever. Our guys are gonna have a field day here.  The Navy pilots catch sight of the Aardvarks passing by on their way to H3, low to the east at 12,000 feet. They wave.  02:20:00 and the Aardvarks are launching GBU-15 CWW bunker-busters. It's 5:20 AM local, still dark enough for a bit of visual cover.  Yooper's forces update me on their activities in the Baghdad area during the previous pulse - they've been Wild Weaselling around, and blasted another Bar Lock and AA battery a few minutes ago.  The GBU-15 impacts. Looks like a good hit.  Paveways are next to go after the ammo revetments.  In they go...   02:21:26 Zulu: Boom kapow  This series of disconcertingly large explosions jolts an Iraqi radar tech awake, I guess. An SA-14 Gremlin flips on its radar and starts lobbing missiles at the F-111 Aardvarks. 492nd #11 takes a nonlethal hit as all three Aards dive and evade.  One Aardvark, #14, is lethally unlucky.  But my patrolling Prowlers take their shot. HARMs streak in towards the SA-14. The approaching F/A-18s of VFA-138 "Marauders", led by Gervasius, fire an additional three.  02:23:06 Zulu: Only one of the original three Aardvarks is making it home. A fresh pair more pass it on their way north. The pair of Prowler-launched HARMs are locked on to an SA-6 battery. Another SAM is launched at the Aardvarks..  .. and while one HARM misses, we get a good armor-penetrating hit on the SA-6.  As the new trio of F-111s lines up to dump Paveways on targets, the three F/A-18 launched HARMs... all miss.   More good hits on the revetments.  Looks like that pair will make it out safely. Next wave is up, more GBU-15s are coming in...  Another half-dozen F-111s follow up with Paveways, mostly hitting the hardened aircraft shelters.  Then revetments and surface ammunition bunkers... As the bombardment continues to stream in, I hit 02:30:00 and hand the turn over to Yooper.
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Apr 26, 2021 00:26
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USN Turn 8 With H3's air defences (and mission objectives) almost entirely neutralized, I shift my patrol/prosecution zones around to focus on airbase H2. Four Intruders with Mavericks are vectored in at low altitude, with orders to attack an SA-2 battery and other SAM sites.   The Intruders fire their Mavericks at treetop level and peel off.    That might have been overkill. Heavy damage reported!  More Gervasius Hornets are directed towards H2.  They launch a flurry of Walleyes and SLAM missiles…  The Walleyes miss their target, but the SLAMs ensure that the SA-2 is extremely, definitively out of action.
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Apr 27, 2021 19:58
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USN Turn 9 We're clearly still in control here.  I tighten up the Gervasius SEAD zone over H2. Time to scour the place for emitters before we come in with the heavy hand.  Two VFA-82 Hornets armed with HARMs make a flyby of the base..  .. and draw fire, which is returned energetically. HARMs away.  Stay down, SA-8.  A few minutes later, a team of Yooper's F-15s put down a Foxbat that stuck its nose out, about 50 miles west of Ramadi. I hope his ejection seat worked because this feels a bit like clubbing seals.  Another wave of HARM Hornets means another wave of misses, baby!   As my turn concludes, I shrink the SEAD patrol zone yet again. Intruders are bracketing H2 as Hornets provide overwatch. If anything lights up... well, we'll probably miss it again, but the enemy will run out of SAMs before we run out of HARMs. I think.
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Apr 30, 2021 19:13
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USN Turn 10 Well, we did some real damage to H2’s air defences during the USAF turn, but we lost two A-7s in the process.  I put together a small mission with a mix of A-7s and A-6s lugging Mk83 dumb bombs and Paveways. Airspace should be clear enough now to start blowing up the hardened aircraft shelters.  10 minutes in and not much is happening in western Iraq, but I note Yooper’s boys Wild Weaseling west of Baghdad again.  Outkast would never write a song called “HARMs over Ramadi” but it’s what we’ve got.  As the turn ends, two of Yooper’s F-15s are chasing an enemy fighter - a Mirage - over the Euphrates. It’s destroyed in the next turn (see Yooper’s post above, lol). USN Turn 11  That mixed strike is on its way to H2. My map is absolutely littered with contact reports at this point.  USAF Wild Weasel F-4s and F-16s, supported by Saudi/Brit Tornadoes, advance in the east while my Intruders and Corsairs work north in the west.  10 minutes in and I assign another mixed strike, this one targeting the H3 airfield.  Those F-16s are doing good work.  Here come my boys.  Here come my boys’ Paveways and Mk 83s.  One penetrating hit!   It’s raining thousand-pounders.  Only light damage reported on this one. Boo. Hopefully wrong.  Ah well. Zero casualties and plenty of ordnance expended. I’ll call that one a good mission.  The H3 strike is in the air now.  And the Iraqis have put up another Mirage. He seems intent on menacing Yooper’s guys buzzing Baghdad.  As my turn ends, that Mirage is getting a little too close to the F-4s for comfort...
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May 5, 2021 18:52
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 22:01 |
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It was a lot of fun! I hope PBEM gets more popular, the implementation is great and I'd love to do more.
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Jul 1, 2021 02:20
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