I am a HUGE Tom Clancy fan and began my war sim passion with Harpoon and Harpoon II naval combat simulator. And I love all the movies on the topic. Once I got DCS, I try to recreate some of the scenarios from his novels. Like Red Storm Rising and Hunt For Red October. And other scenarios based on real word events, like Operation Praying Mantis against Iran. I also spent 4 years in the USN onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71 as an Aviation Ordnanceman. I worked in the magazines (the G-3 division of the Weapons Dept.) and specifically in the missile mags. Phoenix, Sparrows, Winders, HARMs, Mavericks, Shrikes and all the other bombs, rockets, mines, torpedos, etc. If it was carried on the aircraft, I took care of them. We would get a loadout sheet every day that showed what operations were scheduled and what ordnance was needed. Also, tracking and maintaining the weapons that were always out, like the air-to-air loadout the Tomcats all carried. When one would go into its maintenance cycle, the weapons were transferred to the next active shooter. There was always an Alert 5 on deck, and an Alert 15. One ready to go in 5 minutes, the other in 15. Anyways (sorry, I get long winded when talking about this stuff) When I got the Super Carrier module from DCS and I saw that the TR was included, I was one happy camper. The Hornet, Tomcat were my first purchases. Love this idea for a series. Try and do a few videos on the cold war at sea. Lot's of people also have that itch like I have!

@Sidekick65

2 ай бұрын

Thanks for taking the time to write that. I'll certainly take a look at giving The Boat a look as well.

This is a great series. I like how you narrate this. It makes a lot of sense. When I make "frontline" types of scenarios, I'll often start the AI ground units only once my flight's planes get close to the action because otherwise, as you said, the battle starts, it lasts 30 seconds and you've missed it when you get there. To simulate the effect of surprise, I'll sometimes activate the MANPADS/SA-13 or SA-9 AI after bombs have hit the area to simulate the effect of surprise, because let's be honest, no one wants to fly in a wall of IR missiles that seem to have known where you've been since you took off from your airfield. That way you know that if you risk a second pass, the enemy defenses are "awake".

@Sidekick65

2 ай бұрын

Great ideas. Thanks!

This is a colossal hit! Thank you. You cover numerous thing what nowadays going through my mind in connection with DCS. Like afghan map, aircraft selection, AI problems. Teamwork and tactics application. Sir, thank you again. I hope there will be more series, what cover more aspects of the cold war eras, and roles, after this serie wrapped up.

@Sidekick65

2 ай бұрын

Thanks so much for the feedback. I hope to continue making thus kind of content and to provide a place for discussion on my Disord channel. I would love to hear more suggestions about what you want to see.

Too bad we don't have the F-111, that is the A2G king.

Lots of good ideas on the video, looking forward to more, and specially If you can craft something for COIN warfare for the A-10A that would be a blast. With Afghanistan coming, I will love to fly the A-10A on realistic COIN scenarios but without being able to contact the JTAC is a bit difficult!

This could not have come out at a better time. I was just thinking about making a misson with the hawg.

@Sidekick65

2 ай бұрын

Great! I'll be interested to see what you come up with!

Anyone else smiling at 7:15 this is what you’d see….zsu-23-4’s as far as the eye can see. Least there weren’t sa-8’s 😃

In the marines from 79-87, Ivan was 10 feet tall and had a gazillion assets, and in order to win we had to own the night. Hence the emphasis on nighttime strategies. Luckily none of that got tested.😊

@Sidekick65

2 ай бұрын

Good to know. Thanks!

I started DCS 4 years ago with the A-10A what a hidden air to ground monster in the FC3 pack. With mavericks CBU97’s and that 30mm you can do a lot of damage in one sortie

@Sidekick65

2 ай бұрын

That you can.

Thank you Iain.

A bit off topic but I’d just like to ask, how do you get your HUD to look so clear with all the info on the glass. What is your FOV set at? Are you using head tracking or VR. Thanks for any info, great content love what you do, love flying the hog but is such a complicated weapon system 😉

@Sidekick65

2 ай бұрын

I use head tracking. I run the sim at 1440×3440 but record the videos at 1080x2560. The Hawg is a handful, but it's a bit better if you stick to the simpler weapons like rockets and iron bombs and don't bother with a TPOD or the HMCS. In a sense treat the C model like an A for a while - it flattens the learning curve a bit, i think.

Hawg has been my favorite aircraft since early 80s. Saw them in action close up at the Grayling MI bomb range several times. No other aircraft can replace it. It's major flaw is being under powered.

Great video 👍🏻 thanks

@Sidekick65

2 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

Great Video! - MORE!

@Sidekick65

2 ай бұрын

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it!

you sound like ron swanson from parks and rec.

@Sidekick65

2 ай бұрын

Thanks... I think...

do you ever play online?

@Sidekick65

2 ай бұрын

Not much. I host MP sessions sometimes - but I don't spend much time on online servers.