Game Killer/Game_Killer.bin/243.F3TACTIC.ZIP/F3CTIP.TXT

Text File | 1992-03-23 | 22KB | 460 lines

As most of you have probably realized, Falcon 3.0 is a monster.
After playing different versions of the simulator for several months,
I've still not tried all the facets of the game.  I've mostly
focused on the campaign mode and, through much trial and error,
have developed a few tactics that have increased my success.
I've presented them here for your simulating pleasure.

These tactis are by no means the only ones available, nor are
they necessarily the best.  These just happen to be my preferred
tactics.  There are no warranties either actual or implied!


1.  YOU AS A SECTION COMMANDING OFFICER

When you enter campaign mode you immediatley become the section CO.
The High Command will dictate from unseen offices a list of targets
and expects you to utilize your available assets within the
resupply schedule to achieve those goals.

This means you have the following responsibilites:

        1.  Assigning the proper number of aircraft to achieve
            the objective.

        2.  Assigning the squadron pilots in the most effective manner.

        3.  Manage your weapons and stores supplies.


1.1.  ASSIGNING AIRCRAFT / SECTIONS

Orders from above usually state:  "You have been assigned to lead
a section of X aircraft to do Y".  You should consider these orders
to state *THE MINIMUM* number of aircraft required to obtain the
goal.  Do not be afraid to assign other aircraft to the mission.

OK, so you have 8 planes available for a given mission, how do you
utilize them?  Well, first, it's not necessary to always assign all
8 aircraft.  Consider the target you are striking:

        1.  How strong is the target?  Can two aircraft carry
            enough ordinance to destroy it?

Heavily structured targets may require more weapons than two
aircraft can carry to destroy it.  Maybe a section of two a/c with
6 Mavericks each might be sufficient against an oil refinery or a bridge,
but against an armored column with 40+ vehicles, you'll need lots of
Mavericks to do any real damage.

        2.  On bombing missions, how many targets are available at
            a given site?

Computer driven wingmen will follow your lead, and will attack the
targets defined in the waypoint screen religiously.  When you
specify BOMB as an action for a given waypoint, you can only
specify a single target (if there are multiple targets) at that
point.

Some sites, such as industrial sites, may have 2 or more factories,
multiple bridges, and other high value targets.  You could specify
additional BOMB waypoints over the same site, but then you are
exposing your aircraft to more enemy defenses.  YOU NEVER WANT TO
FLY OVER A SITE MORE THAN ONCE.  If you go sightseeing over the
enemy you will die.

The alternative is to define multiple attack sections.  Perhaps
two flights of two a/c each.  Send the first section against one
factory, the second section against another factory.  Have the
different sections approach from different sides to further
confuse enemy defenders.

        3.  How well defended is the target?

Targets may have two types of defenses:  air cover and surface to
air weapons (SAMs and AAA).  While in EDIT SECTIONS menu, you can
use the TACT and STRAT views as well as the zoom functions on the
map to determine what the enemy concentration is around the target.
Check the icons in the STRAT view:  are there airfields nearby?
Are there enemy bases nearby.  The higher the enemy concentration,
the more likely you will encounter stiff opposition.

heavily defended targets may need a "defense suppression" sweep ahead of
the attacking aircraft to eliminate SAM and AAA threats.   Perhaps a
section of two a/c with HARMS and SHRIKES is required to suppress enemy
radar installations.

Most targets will have some form of air cover available.  Those far
from an airbase will still probably have some air cover avail, even
it's only a couple of lowly MiG-19's.  Remember, the cannon on
a -19 fire just as deadly bullets as that of the SU-27.  When you're
heavily loaded with air-to-ground (AG) ordinance you're not going
be able to dogfight.  The most trivial adversary becomes a legitimate
threat.  In such an environment, a flight of CAP or ESCORT aircraft
are appropriate.


1.1.1 EXAMPLE

Let's take an example:  A friendly armored column has trapped an
enemy armored column between themselves and XYZ river.  They have
requested that TAC air finish them off.  You have 8 planes available.

You look at the maps, and find the target is east of your airbase.
Zoom in until the view becomes a 3D view and you find that the enemy
column is huge.  This implies there are probably mobile SAMs and AAA
in abundance.  Unzoom the view and check the strategic view and you find
an emeny airfield not far to the north and west.  Fortunately, the
south of the target is clear.  Range to the target is fairly short,
so you shouldn't need external fuel tanks.

Expect heavy air resistance.  Also, you're going to need lots of
AG weapons to do any significant damage to the column.  What do
you do?

        OPTION 1:  Assign 4 aircraft to a CAP section, assign 4 aircraft
        to the attack section.  Load the CAP a/c with as many and the
        best air to air (AA) weapons you've got.  Load each aircraft in
        the attack section with  6 Mavericks, 2 Shrikes, 2 AIM 9's (just
        in case) and an ECM pod.  Make your approach from the south, and
        select SEARCH AND DESTROY (S and D) as the action at the target
        waypoint.  More details on waypoints will be presented later.

How does this work?  Assume you already know how to define the waypoints
such that the AA aircraft reach the target zone prior to the attack
aircraft (we'll discuss this later) and set up a CAP patrol.  Four
CAP aircraft should be sufficient to keep enemy aircraft out of the
region.  When the strike aircraft arrive, they are are appropriately
armed to destroy vehicles with the Mavericks and destroy radar units
with the Shrikes.  ECM gear is usually pretty effective against SAMs
and AAA, especially before a missile has been launched, so the
the strike aircraft can roam at will.  By using the S&D option,
strike aircraft will roam the target area destroying any hostile unit
it finds.  Don't use S&D when you have a specific building to destroy,
but against armor columns, I figure it's the best choice.

As a variation, you might want to break the CAP section into two
smaller sections and set up a CAP position between each airfield and
the target zone.  This way you are less likely to get all aircraft
committed on one front and get an unpleasant surprise from the flank.


        OPTION 2:  Assign a section of 2 aircraft as CAP, loaded with the
        latest and greatest AA weapons you have available.  Set their
        speed in the waypoint section to be 50 to 75kts faster than
        the other sections so that they will reach the target first and
        sweep it clear of enemy fighters.  Define a second section of
        2 ESCORT aircraft and overlay their waypoints exactly on top of
        the attack section's at the same speed.  However, after reaching
        the target, set up a CAS screen of waypoints.  Define the
        remaining 4 aircraft as the attack section as in OPTION #1.

This provides the same basic attack package as option #1, and the
same CAP protection as the variation of OPTION 1, but also provides
air cover for the attack flight while enroute.  Remember, the
attack guys are heavily loaded for combat and can't defend themselves
without jettisoning their ordinance.  If you don't hit the target,
but kill 20 MiGs the mission is still recorded as a failure.

        OPTION 3:  Define the CAP/ESCORT as either defined in OPTION 1 or
        OPTION 2.  Break the  attack section into two small sections of
        two a/c each.  Load the first section with 2 HARMS, 2 SHRIKES,
        ECM pod, 2 laser guided bombs and 2 AIM-9's.  Define the
        speed in the waypoints screen such that these guys reach the
        target  after the appropriate CAP sections, but before the other
        attack  section.  Set the action as S and D.  These guys will
        procede to destroy SAMs and AAA since most of their weaponry is
        dedicated to this task.  Define the last section of 2 a/c with
        lots of Mavericks, ECM and anything else you can throw on the
        wings.

With this option, you have any CAS package you prefer, but now you
have more ability to deal with the surface to air threat.  A section
of two a/c can carry a total of  8 HARMS, 8 Shrikes, and 4 Laser
Guided Bombs.  If all goes well, you could kill 10 or more
surface to air threats from a standoff range.  When the second
attack section shows up with a total of 12 Mavericks and 4 Laser
Guided Bombs, the result can be devastating to the enemy.

1.1.2  SUMMARY

Of course, factors such as distance (requiring fuel tanks in lieu of
weapons), and less a/c available (perhaps only 4 or 6 a/c instead of
8) will affect all of these decisions.  You'll have to evaluate
each individual mission and decide what's best.  It's a tough
decision, and the lives of your pilots depend upon it, but you
didn't make section CO by passing the tough decisions to others.

My general rules of thumb for assigning aircraft sections:

        1.  Use multiple sections of two planes each rather than
        one section of 4 or 6 planes.  Wingmen tend to stay bunched
        together (the very definition of wingmen!) and are less
        effective.  Independent groups of two are more flexible
        (you can assign flights to cover more area) and utilize
        the plane more fully.

        2.  Always have a CAP flight available.  If you have a
        strike target, make sure there's somebody to keep the
        fighters off the attack a/c's back.  If you're flying
        a CAP mission, make sure there's another section of
        aircraft stationed between you and your base.  When you
        run out of weapons and have to bug out, you want somebody
        watching your back.  Nothing is worse than being on final
        approach with gear down about to touch the runway when a
        burst from a MiG cannon grounds you permanently.

        3.  Use defense suppression techniques liberally.  SAMs
        and AAA are deadly.  Once they've been eliminated,
        however, the target is ripe for the picking.  You have
        a generous supply of Shrikes and HARMS:  use them!

        4.  Don't forget to use the ECM pods on any a/c that are
        likely to encounter surface to air threats.  They have a
        weight penalty, but are effective.  Just remember to
        turn them off when you're trying to avoid detection altogether!


1.2  ASSIGNING PILOTS

You're in the campaign mode now.  This isn't training and it
isn't instant action.  This is the long haul and you've only got
30 pilots and 18 planes to accomplish your missions.  Who knows
how long the war will go?  You have to use your resources wisely, and
that includes assigning pilots.

1.2.1 MANAGING PILOTS

You have 30 pilots with varying abilities and skills in dogfighting,
bombing accuracy, flying ability and fatigue.  When looking in
pilot information, there are two numbers separated by a "/" for each
attribute.  The right hand number is the maximum that pilot is
capable of, the left hand number is the current state based on
fatigue and number of missions flown.

Your first tendency may be to pick the 8 best dogfighting pilots and
send them on every mission.  However, you'll soon see their fatigue
rating drop and their current scores will become lower than the
worst pilot in the squadron.  Soon after they will be shot down and
gone forever.  During WWII, the Japanese kept all top fighter
pilots in combat and never rotated them.  Even the best will
eventually get a bad break and be shot down, and by the end of
WWII, the Japanese had almost no experienced pilots left.

The USA, however, took a different approach.  Pilots with 30 or so
kills were the leading aces (compared to 80+ for contemporary
Japanese pilots) and rotated back to the US to train other pilots.
Overall pilot skill reached (and maintained) a high level for the
US.

So, if you want to win the war, you'll have to rotate the pilots.
How are you possibly going to manage 30 pilots with names you've
never heard before?  Simple:  change the names.  You'll probably
want to name the CO after yourself and put in your callsign.
Go to the pilot info screen, click on the pilot name in the upper left
window, then click on the "name" box and change the name to something
appropriate.  Press enter and then select the "callsign" box.
Change the callsign and press enter.  Scroll the window in the upper
right down one and repeat.

What do you name your pilots?  Use familiar names.  Use names of
friends and family, other PC pilots, movie characters, actors,
anything that is *very familiar*.  Select callsigns that remind
you of the person.  If you use "Terminator", "Destroyer",
"Killer", "Destructo", "Deathmonger" and "Doomslayer" type names
down the board, you'll never remember who is talking to you
when in combat.  Put real world nicknames in for callsigns, or
anything that reminds you of the person.  The bottom line is,
when one of the pilot name's is quoted to you, you should be able
to repeat his/her callsign almost immediately.  All communication
during flight in F3 is accomplished with callsigns.  If you have
multiple sections of a/c it is imperative that you know who is
talking to you.

Another suggestion:  think about the personalities of the people
you select to honor in the game.  Try to put names of people
who are more inclined to air to air combat with pilots with
good air to air skills.

1.2.2  MY SOAPBOX

You as a human will be flying every mission.  If you're like me,
you want to keep track of kills you score.  This implies that you
will have one pilot with your name.  However, as you fly this pilot,
even though his computer scores do not affect your flying, his
fatigue rating will drop.  If you fly 8 missions straight with this
same pilot, you may have a great kill record, but it will be unrealistic
since no human could go 48 hours without sleep and still keep the
combat edge.

Now, maybe this doesn't bother you, but there is so much other emphasis
on realism in F3 that I feel the need to more accurately model the
pilot situation.  I have, therefore, created, 4 pilots with my name.
1 is the CO, the other 3 are LT's.  I watch their individual fatigue
ratings and do not push any of them beyond normal human limits.

This just adds a little additional touch of realism.  The other
option is to let your namesake rest and assign another pilot to
your plane, then fly the entire mission on autopilot.

1.2.3 ROTATING PILOTS

Remember to rotate pilots and give them rest.  Also, don't send
all the best pilots up in the first two or three missions and then
be stuck with the bottom of the barrel.

Poor pilots will only get better by flying.  Good pilots will only
become poor by flying too many consecutive missions.  Mix your
pilots so that that section leaders have high skills and wingmen
have lower skills.  Through effective rotation of pilots, you'll
eventually have an entire squadron of effective pilots.

1.2.4 SUMMARY

Remember, campaign mode can't be won by going it alone.  You need
the other pilots to ensure your success.  Also, their success is
a direct result of your leadership and decision making.

You can go to pilot information and view your personal kills, but
you can also go to squadron records and know that you are directly
responsible for every number on that page.  If your squadron has
a high number of kills, then YOU have a high number of kills, regardless
of your individual record.  If your squadron has low kills and many
pilots MIA or KIA, then you are losing the war, despite your
personal record.


2.  FLYING THE MISSION

Now that the assignments are made, you take on a double role.  Now,
you are still the CO, but you are also one of the mission pilots
and have a vested interest in seeing that the mission is executed
as safely and as effectively as possible.

2.1 WAYPOINTS

Even after you know who is flying what aircraft, you still have to
decided how they are going to get to the target.  Computer generated
default waypoints seem to employ a direct, up-the-front-steps
approach that may conserve some fuel, but is more likely to get you
shot down.

In the following sections, I mostly discuss computer controlled
aircraft.  Any section that you lead can always make snap, on-the-fly
decisions.  Computer controlled a/c will fly the waypoints as if they
were engraved in stone and to the letter.  The following tips should
not only help you survive, but also increase the return rate of your
squadron pilots.

2.1.1  STRIKE SORTIES

Before sending strike aircraft into the lions den, take a few minutes
to check the STRAT view on the waypoints map. Look for the follwing things:

    1.  How deep in enemy territory is the target?
    2.  Is the target surrounded by hostile bases, or is one side
        bordered by friendly troops?
    3.  Using the zoom view, observe troop locations and defense
        positions.  The maximum zoom view is you equivalent to
          satellite intelligence photos, and you should use it
         to it's maximum advantage.

Coordinate your attacks to take any advantage you can based on the
above results.  If one side of the target is bordered by friendly
units, use this as a corridor to bring your strike a/c in.  If
the target is surrounded by hostile forces, perhaps you should break
the strike force into small, two plane units that attack from different
directions (e.g., one from the North and one from the East) and
egress in different directions (e.g., one section escapes to the
West and one to the South).

The bottom line is:  Don't take short cuts when planning the
waypoints.  Take the extra time to use the additional views and
intelligence available.  It's there for a reason and may just save
your simulated life.

2.1.2  CAP SORTIES

Spectrum Holobyte was very generous in their implementation of
waypoints, especially in the air to air arena.  For example,
if you define a series of CAS waypoints (say wp's 1 through 3)
and then another waypoint (wp4) as a LOITER waypoint, that
section (when under computer controlled pilots) will fly through
the series of CAS waypoints, fly to the LOITER waypoint, and (fuel
permitting) will repeat the cycle of CAS waypoints.  They will
repeat this cycle endlessly until they hit BINGO fuel.

Sounds wonderful, right?  Set up a constant CAS sequence, set their
speed so that they arrive at the target ahead of the strike a/c and
clear the way, the strike a/c come up the pipe, launch their weapons,
fly home, and sometime later, the CAS guys will get tired and go
home.  Isn't this great?

Answer:  NO!

Once the CAP guys begin their flight sequence, there is no way to
tell them to knock off early and go home.  You may depart the scene
of the crime and be sitting on the runway at home and the CAP guys
are still cruising around in enemy territory.

Once you've made your presence known (taken offensive action at the
target) you can bet that enemy is going to respond.  Surviving surface
to air units are going to on the watch, and the longer the mission goes,
the more chance enemy air units have of intercepting you.  You're leaving
those CAP guys hanging and they may not come home.

Try the following:  instead of using the infinite CAP sequence, define
more waypoints that will ensure the CAP guys stay around long enough
to cover you, then head for home when the strike team bugs out.

For example, normal computer generated waypoints for a CAP mission
over an enemy target usually place 3 or 4 waypoints circling the
target, then head for home.  This one pass may not be sufficient to
protect you, but the LOITER mode is too dangerous.  Add a few waypoints
to the "circle", or even enough waypoints to circle the target
again.  That should give the strike team plenty of time, but still bring
the CAP flight home safely.

Don't get me wrong, the LOITER function does have a use.  When you
are assigned to patrol along the front and stop all enemy aircraft
attempting to cross, the LOITER function is ideal for this.  The job
in that case is to hang out as long as you can, usually close enough
to a friendly base that you can bug out and take cover.  Defining
multiple CAP flights (as described in section 1) and using the
LOITER function is ideal in this situation.

2.2  ARMAMENT

Finally, let's consider armament.  There's not much to say here
except this:

    BE SURE TO TAKE THE RIGHT WEAPON FOR THE RIGHT JOB.

Don't take Durandals to kill tanks.  Be sure the weapon you have
is big enough to trash the target.

Also, make sure you've got enough "other stores".  If there's a
high concentration of surface to air threats (more than zero units)
carry ECM pods.  Maybe not every a/c needs one, so use your best
judgement on where to assign them.  They are heavy and there's no
sense carrying that extra weight if you're flying a milk run.

Lastly, don't cut yourself short on fuel.  Falcon 3 will let you cheat;
if you're on your way home and you're too low on fuel to make it,
you can hit "esc" and select "end mission".  But with all of this
emphasis on realism, who wants to do that?

3.  CLOSURE

That's about it.  None of this information is earth-shattering or
ground breaking, but some of it takes some time to learn.  I wanted
to share what I've learned so that others can start enjoying the
game sooner.  My methods are in no way the only way to play, nor
are they probably the best.  They just happen to be what works for
me.

Falcon 3 is a great game and I hope everyone out there enjoys it
at least 1/2 as much as I do.    CLEAN, CLEAR, AND NAKED!