Strike DEMOREAD ME - Last Update:RDH 09Oct95 ============================================ Notes ----- In this file, reference is made to icons by name. If the action of an icon is not obvious from its design, right click on it to get help. This demo is basically the game tutorial. The action is therefore much slower than in the actual Commander operations. The operations are graded in difficulty: China is the easiest, then comes Libya and finally the Gulf. The Tutorial Walk-through ------------------------- From the Main Menu you can select to follow a Tutorial that will enable you to begin a short campaign. During the Tutorial you will be given advance warning of all possible threats and advice on how to deal with each situation as it arises. This tutorial consists of a reconnaissance mission, a civilian aircraft intercept and dealing with a pair of hostile MiGs heading for your carrier. You will also set up a No Fly zone display and launch an Early Warning Aircraft. From the Main Menu select Training. This will begin the Tutorial and take you to the CIC screen. Click on the Tactical Display icon (the small map). The Tactical Display will open. This is the main planning screen and shows you all game objects (assets): friendly and unfriendly. Note: If you want to scroll around the map, use the cursor keys or click the mouse around the outer edges of the map in the direction you want it to move. Look to the top left of the screen. You will see the Time and Date when the game first starts, 12:00, 1, January 2000. Note: If at any time, you want to pause the game, click on the arrow on the left side of the Accelerate Time Icon until a P appears in the centre. To resume the game click on the right arrow. For this Tutorial, your first task will be to set up the display of the 50 mile Exclusion Zone around your aircraft carrier: the Nimitz. Click on the Circle Display Control icon below the map. This will open up the C.D.C. Window. Click the Deselect All Circles icon (second down on the right side of the Window) then on the 50 Nm line. Now close the Window. Note: to close any Windows in the game click on the tick box in the top right hand corner of the Window. The Window will shut, and a circle will appear around your carrier indicating the 50 mile Exclusion Zone. Your next task is to launch an AEW: Airborne Early Warning Aircraft, your Eye In The Sky! It is a good idea to have one of these aircraft in the air at all times because the range of their radar is greater than that of your carrier. You can send them quickly to an area you are concerned about. Click on the Edit Mission icon, and choose your route. Click on the Early Warning line and then on the Build Route icon. This will open the Waypoint Edit screen. Note: If at any time you want to return to the previous screen click on the Cancel and Return icon, bottom right of the screen, or click the right mouse button (RMB) when the cursor is NOT over an icon. Note: The icons on the Edit Mission icon are there for you to tailor the route to your needs. You can use the defaults for this tutorial. Click on the Launch Aircraft icon. This will take you to the Aircraft Allocation Window. Select an E2C Early Warning Aircraft Click on the E2C AEW 4 Ready line and then once on the top arrow of the Increase Aircraft icon. The line will change to show that one of four aircraft is selected and that its launch time is +00.00 (immediate). Launch the Aircraft Click on the Launch Mission icon. The screen will change back to the main Tactical Map. A minute or so later you will get a message telling you that A.E.W. 01 01 is safely clear of the carrier.The Early Warning Aircraft will now follow the route laid out on the Tactical Map and relay anything unusual back to your aircraft carrier. Your carrier is now ready and alert for anything. Click the accelerate time icon twice until it reads 20. At approximately 12:10 you will receive a message. A ship has been spotted close to the carrier. You must first identify the vessel and, if necessary, attempt to persuade it to change its course. Click on the Acknowledge and Revert to Normal Time icon. A few seconds later you will get a message from your AEW, "Contact - Bogey 01." You must click on the scramble icon to intercept. Remember: The previous warning message will not appear in a non-tutorial scenario, and if you didn't have an AEW in the sky, BOGEYS could get much closer to your carrier before being picked up on radar. Click on the Scramble icon. The Aircraft Allocation Window will open. Click on the FA18E CAP 8 Ready line, and then once on the up arrow on the Increase Aircraft icon. Click the Launch Mission icon You will now see another route shown on the map heading north east from the Nimitz. A few moments later you will receive another message saying that the F-18 has successfully left the carrier. Note: If the tutorial is moving too slowly and you want to speed it up click on the right arrow on the Accelerated Time icon. Click the Acknowledge icon Click on the Increase Accelerated Time icon until it reads 20. The F-18 you have just launched will follow your planned route and ID the target, sending you messages when it has reached, and is warning, its target. Click the Acknowledge icon At approximately 12:30 you will receive another message: You should be picking up a civilian aircraft on radar soon. A quick buzz (fly-by) by some fighters will convince the pilot to alter course. Click the Acknowledge and Revert to Normal Time icon. A minute or so later you will receive another message. As it suggests, click on the scramble icon to set up an intercept route. Click on the Scramble icon. The Aircraft Allocation Window will open. Click on the FA18E CAP 7 Ready line, and then twice on the Increase Aircraft icon. This will assign two F-18s to this route. Although this is probably unnecessary for buzzing a civilian aircraft, you should always assign more than one aircraft to a route. When you have clicked twice on the FA18E C.A.P. line it should read: FA18E CAP 2/7 Scramble: 2, +00.00 Note: If the FA18E sent out earlier has returned quickly, or you have been slow to respond here, then the above message may read "2/8". Click the Launch Mission icon. You will now return to the Main Tactical Screen with the new route shown on the map. Click on the Acknowledge icon when the "Safely clear of the carrier" message arrives. Any time now you should receive a message from Scramble 01 (the first F-18 you launched to intercept the ship). The message will read: Scramble 1 01: Warning Bogey 01. This means that the F-18 has reached its target and is flying over the ship. The aircraft will continue to buzz the ship until it changes course. Click the Acknowledge icon Another minute or so and then another message will appear: Scramble 1 01 reports Bogey 01 is now turning away. The first F-18 you launched has completed its task and will now head back to the carrier. You will receive messages alerting you that the aircraft is about to land, also when it has safely touched down. Simply click on the Acknowledge icon when you have read the message. At approximately 13:10 you will receive a message from Scramble 2 01: Engaging Bogey 02. Click the Acknowledge icon. Then another message from Scramble 2 01: Identification of target - Airbus 01. This is definitely a civilian flight. Followed by: Scramble 2 01: The Airbus 01 is now turning away. The fighters' task is complete and they will return to the Nimitz. Now you will plan and launch a CAP (Combat Air Patrol) mission. These missions are used to place combat aircraft in an area of suspected hostility. We will now set up a CAP mission to patrol north-west of the Nimitz. Click on the Edit Mission icon, and then choose the C.A.P. route by clicking on Combat Air Patrol. Then click on the Build Route icon. The Waypoint Edit Window will now open: Click on the Launch Aircraft icon and the Aircraft Allocation Window will open. Click on the FA18E CAP 5 Ready line. Click twice on the Increase Aircraft icon and then on the Launch Mission icon. The new C.A.P. route (a large triangle) will now be shown on the Tactical Map, with the two F-18s making their way to the first waypoint. Now, comes your final challenge in this Tutorial. At approximately 13:30, an incoming message will read: You should be picking up a couple of MiG-29s on your radar soon. These are dangerous and should be intercepted. Click the Acknowledge icon. Do NOT click the Intercept icon when the next message concerning the MiGs arrives: A.E.W. 01 01: Radar contact - Bogey 03. You already have two aircraft in the air. They are close to the inbound MiGs. The following instructions tell you how to reroute the CAP aircraft. This is not strictly necessary because the MiGs will fly through the CAP aircrafts sphere of influence. A CAP aircraft will be vectored automatically to any threat which appears within 150Nm of it. Click the Acknowledge and Revert to Normal time icon. Click on the in-bound MiGs on the tactical map (top left) to select them as your present target. If a selection Window opens then select Bogey 03 and close the Window. Click on the Edit Mission icon, and then Interception from the Choose Route box. Click on the Build Route icon. The Waypoint Edit screen will open. Now click on the Save Route icon. Make a note of what the route is called: I-Cpt 01 You will then return to the Main Tactical Screen. Now all you have to do is re-assign the aircraft on the C.A.P. to the new MiG Intercept Route. Click on the F-18s (small dots) on their CAP route. Select one of the F-18s if a selection Window opens: C.A.P. 01 01 or C.A.P. 01 02 Now, click on the Mission Summary icon. This will open the Summary of Mission screen. In this, one of the present missions will read: FA18E CAP 2 C.A.P. 01, In air Click on this line so that it is highlighted and then on the Change Route icon. The Change Route screen will open. Click on the line: I-Cpt 01 (This is the MiG intercept mission you have previously created). Click on the Accept New Route icon. You will now return to the Main Tactical Screen. The aircraft's route will have changed to the new intercept route. Note: The F-18's old C.A.P. route will not have been deleted, so once the aircraft have completed the new intercept, you can easily re-assign the aircraft to their previous orders in exactly the same way. A few moments later you will receive the message: C.A.P. 01 02: Engaging Bogey 03. Your F-18s are engaged in combat with the MiGs. These MiGs are intent on blowing up you, your wing-man and your carrier. It is advisable in situations such as these to take control of the aircraft you are sending out. So let's jump into the cockpit of the F-18 scramble 3 01. Click the Acknowledge and Return to Normal Time icon. Click on the Tactical Map as close as you can get to where your F-18s are. The Choose Asset Window will open. Click on the line: C.A.P. 01 01 and close the Window. Click on the View Asset icon (the Camera below the Tactical Map) and a Window containing a 3-D view of that aircraft will open. To jump into the cockpit, click the Aircraft icon in the Window. Click the Aircraft icon. You will now see the F-18. Use all your skills (and the key guide) to defeat the incoming aircraft or you may be responsible for the loss of your carrier. When in the cockpit, use Ctrl T to get instructions from the Task Force Commander (TFC) about how you should deal with the threat. The TFC is governed by a set of Rules of Engagement and so a threat must either show hostile intent or get too close to the Carrier before you will get permission to shoot it down. In this tutorial, the MiGs are definitely hostile and you get permission to eliminate quickly. In other scenarios you may have to adopt other tactics, like "buzzing", "warning shots" and "shoot to disable". The tutorial ends when, either the MiGs are downed, or your carrier is destroyed.