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Solid turnout last night chaps. Thanks to @fruitbat, @DD_Fenrir, @BluBear, @PapaBear, @wingflyr, @Zukker, @delta7 and a guest appearance from @Crash along with myself of course. Everyone was able to chip in and make a solid contribution and play their part in the advancement of the campaign. We continue to make good ground managing to take an another airport and FARP in our new drive back to the east. A strong showing by the F16 is starting to show benefits of good team work to attack targets with excellent aircover provided by the F14. Well done chaps.

My friend had to break open the piggy bank and dust off his finest Scottish pound notes to purchase this

Our DCS Server: (This one was massive, over 100GB download and unpack, took several hours!)

@wingflyr You were missed last night Sir. Thank you for the heads up but it all went ok. I had uploaded the very latest version and enabled the splash feature as you suggested. It turned out to be too effective and the guys have requested I turn it off for next time. Other than that it all went ok with the usual smooth performance. The mission started just before dawn but with a small weather front that has moved in with light rain / snow showers in places across the map. Excellent work by myself (well I would say that) @delta7, @fruitbat, @BluBear, @DD_Fenrir and @PapaBear meant by the end of the night we had managed to make more good progress despite some stubborn SAM defences that kept getting repaired. Hopefully we will see a few more faces we are missing and would very much like to have join us next week ( @Squee7e, @Zukker, @Crash, @Squawk, @wingflyr of course) Salute Friar

So following a last little test last night of mission saving and restoring, thanks @fruitbat Syria Mission Control, we are confirming go-live at 20:15 on Thursday. It will start with a small scenario and game play brief. The actual mission will then start at 20:30 for this first mission. Following missions will start probably around the same time, maybe 20:00 but obviously it will live action from the start. I will not be running through the brief again if people join later, which there is absolutely no problem with you doing so. If you need to leave before the end, no problem, just bank your scores. I will NOT be doing the brief multiple times as people join. Happy to answer the odd question when applicable, but that should not be a problem as there will have been lots of people attend the brief so we all know what is going on. I will NOT be acting as a General for this campaign so will not be making tactical decisions. I will advise on potential next objectives but that is all. So please do not ask me "what should I do next Friar?" I have built quite a bit of randomisation into the campaign so even I know may not know what is going to happen next. The mission will also be run with "FOG OF WAR" settings. Icons in game but limited information on the F10 map.

WiWishing you and your family all the best and thank you for all the fun times flying with you during the year. CHEERS

UPDATE 3rd June A difficult night with the enemy putting up strong resistance via multiple air threats and long range SAM defences. After valid efforts from myself, @fruitbat, @BluBear, @delta7, @wingflyr and @DD_Fenrir (well a bit at the end, but still appreciated) we managed to capture Anapa. We have now reached the end of the move up the coast toward the west and will now be starting our fight moving more inland and eastwards. Well done chaps. NOTE: High Command would like to see @delta7 at HQ first thing Monday morning to discuss how he managed to take out our AWACS plane, causing us to have problems locating targets for the rest of the mission. Luckily HQ have been able to call up on the reserves and another unit is on station providing the data-link information.

I know another person who bought the F-16 after he had enough of getting shot down in the sluggish Su 25T when doing SEAD missions over and over again 😉 I've heard he will join you once he finds time to fly again and has prepared the basic controls

Not to blow one's trumpet, but last night I trapped first time on an Essex carrier. (Wingflyer as my witness) I'm not saying it was pretty and it may have been the last available wire, but I done it, honest. This is going to be a fun module!

And some more.....

DCS Server updated to ... latest!

I was sitting on the veranda and suddenly heard something approaching the village. I could get only one shot with my phone camera but I wanted to share it nonetheless. I had never seen one before in real life.

Tamiya Panther Ausf. A 1/35 kit. My first tank for a long while and it took some time to work out how to do the zimmerit. I ended up using Holts knifing putty spread over dry wall jointing tape and I think it worked out not too bad.

I have tweaked the icon settings and uploaded the mission ready for the next time. I have turned on the usual icon detail level but also put on fog-of-war, so its hopefully middle ground difficulty wise.

SESSION 1 REPORT Despite the Red forces putting up consistent waves of defending aircraft, the blue air force managed to stem the tide which assisted the ground offence to make some ground. Gaziantep which started out under Red control was re-captured and despite an attempt by Red forces to take it back (they managed to get a convoy very close to the airfield perimeter and were able to take out some of the NASAMS) it remains in Blue control. The ground team have worked hard and have managed to get one of the NASMA launchers operational again. The Alpha FOB is back under Blue control after being briefly taken by a Red patrol. The red held towns of Abu Talhah and Harim were targeted by helicopter and air strikes and have taken losses to their defenses but still need further attention before we can send in troops to capture them. The key Red airfield of Aleppo suffered many hits but still remains fully operational and must be considered a key target for the next attack if Blue forces are to progress into Red territory. Hatay remains the key front line airfield with flights of F4, F14, F16 and F18 being ferried there to be available for the next mission (see below) SCORES Fruitbat was the first pilot to hit 1000 points but was sadly killed on that "one last attack" so suffered a 10 point penalty....... MISSION TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE All players seemed to be reporting good frames (unlike previous attempts to run the mission ) so it looks like my changes have been a good step forward. I have loaded the mission up on my machine this morning in order to grab the screen shots and it loaded with no problems so looking good for the next session. Feedback regarding AI spawns was that it could be spaced a bit more so I will update the enemy spawn delay from between the current 5 to 8 minutes out to 5 to 15 minutes. Many thanks to all those attended and I hope you enjoyed the experience. Friar

PHASE 1 - SESSION 2 Red air resistance continue to be a constant threat, although not as intense as in the first engagement, however, they still managed to claim a number a victories. Blue air force certainly gave as good as they got, if not actually winning more duels and enabling the ground war to continue. Aleppo was again the main target and its defensive units taking multiple hits. It still remains operational however. Ground was made to the South East of Hatay with the town of Abu Talhah being captured by units of the 82nd deployed by Ch-47. Despite being taken there are still some Red resistance units in the area who will no doubt stage an attempt to recapture it at the next opportunity so some thought should be given to protecting the Blue ground units that are occupying. Alpha FOB became fully operational again for rearm and refuel following the arrival of a supply convoy. Harim has again taken significant damage and may well also be ready for an assault. Advise strongly that further recon takes place before committing boots on the ground. SCORES LOGISTICS Hatay was again supplied with ferried aircraft and the stocks are as follows During the course of the mission stocks of Hellfire type "K" missiles were nearly depleted and a re-supply mission was required. Stocks were flown in my Ch-47 from Incirlik. MISSION TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE No major issues were report and the session seemed to run smoothly. From the scores we can see that @DD_Fenrir has flown under different pilot IDs and his score has been split over the two sessions so far. It is therefore recommended pilots join the campaign with the same name to ensure your scores are maintained correctly. SUMMARY I hope you all enjoyed this session and I look forward to next week when we might finally get our hands on Aleppo. Friar

I have just added two new versions of the Caucasus map to our server. I have taken the current v3 (built by Fen) and made them a winter version and also removed the WWII asset pack for those who do not have it YET.... As of Sunday morning 16th Feb I have put the no WWII asset pack version up.

Hey chaps, I have just loaded up the mission as if we were going to run week 2. I am pleased to report that the mission loaded, took a while but it loaded all ok. Alpha FOB is still showing blue as it Abu Talhur, the JTAC is showing as being located there as well (I moved him to the FOB right at the end of the mission). and... The planes that were ferried from Incirlik to Hatay are showing as in stock. I also kicked off the enemy AI and planes started spawning in So... Based on this quick test, I am prepared to say that I think we are now in business to run the Campaign as I had hoped, at last! Many thanks once again for all your trust and patience to get this working.

Ramrod 564 DCS event will be hosted on Sunday 23rd of February; briefing at 2000 GMT. Mossies and Mustangs available. @BluBear @fruitbat @Friar @PapaBear @wingflyr @Zukker @Squawk @DD_Sheriff @FoolTrottel @delta7 @Perfesser @T_O_A_D

on a Friday, early in the evening... 🙃

Blubear Air-to-Air refueling "chuck us a sandwich mate..."

Our DCS Server:

Our DCS Server:

Since more and more of us are getting the mighty Viper, this post is going to go through the steps you need to do to get the full functionality of datalink, rather than just the basic functions that you get with a dynamic spawn. Full functionality gives you the ability to not only share targets with the push of a button, but you can see what targets your team members are targeting, both air to air and air to ground on the HSD, you can hook team members via the HSD and have visual cues as to where they are in the helmet, In general its a real situational awareness huge plus especially in air to air. On top of that it allows for the full power of the HTS pod to be utilised, and quickly get PGML 1 locks on enemy SAM's, by using 3 or more HTS pods to triangulate the enemy SAM positions, and are accurate enough to use JDAM's on, negated the enemies ability to turn of its search radar when HARM's are employed. Once you have done it a few times, it is very easy, and takes a minute, and can be done at the airfield before moving. It is however critical it is done perfectly, otherwise it will not work. First up, press the LIST button, then hit the ENTER button, then use the DOBBER switch and go right twice, this will show the STN page on the DED, see below, Next we have to populate the STN numbers. These are 5 digit octal numbers, and there are 8 available slots, for a total of 8 team members. The critical thing here is, that everyone populates this list with the same numbers. I suggest we use the same numbers as a Dogz standard and just use, 00200 00201 00202 00203 etc up to 00207. We only need to populate with enough numbers as vipers flying. To enter these numbers you need to Dobber up and down until the Asterix's are bracketing the slot you want to enter, In this screenshot number 2 slot is ready to be set, as shown by the Asterix's bracketing it. once the number is typed in via the ICP, press enter on the ICP. Lastly everyone needs to pick a unique own ship number between 1 and 8, which we will have to allocate there and then on comms, to get to that, dobber down until the own ship number is bracketed, as shown below, Enter your number and press Enter. That is the Datalink set up. To get the full HTS pod functionality, one extra step has to be taken to add to the TDOA network, and that is to add the T in front of the STN number. this is quick and easy, just dobber down in front of each STN number to get the Asterix's either side of that position as shown by there position in the first screenshot, and type any number on the ICP and the T will appear, that' all that need to be done. Happy flying!

A bit of advice to those new to Beyond Visual Range weapons employment; the Crank is the most fundamental tactic to be employed and if you don't know it or how to use it you are putting yourself at a significant disadvantage when engaging other BVR capable enemies in DCS. The purpose of the Crank is as follows: To limit your downrange travel by reducing your relative velocity towards the enemy thus keeping you further from the enemy (and potentially out of his weapons employment envelope) till the time your missile impacts than if you had kept driving toward the bandit To reduce the weapons employment envelope of the bandit by significantly offsetting the intercept point, causing (i) any missile he employs to pull a significant amount of lead and thus expend energy, and (ii) extending the flight time of that missile and thus depleting it of further energy and reducing it's terminal phase manoeuvrability and therefore lethality.

Looks like I have bought it. Just need to calibrate pointCTRL and go through the video settings. Should be done this week (I get quite busy sometimes)

Looks like I will have to buy it. Other news, virtual desktop working and my PointCTRL finger pointing clicky thing isnt f##ked up, virtual kneeboard works, so it is looking promising.

Quick thrown together mission is now live on the server. All WWII planes (inc I16 and trainer P51) are available from the Blue land base. Red targets as marked. Mainly ground attack.

I said no more DCS but now the Cold War map and this makes me think again.

Monday 2nd June Last night for a change of scenery, myself Fenriir and Max kicked off a new Foothold campaign based on the Syria map. The scenario opens with us flying from Akrotiri or from the Carrier. These are the only Blue operational bases. The first phase objective is for us to secure Cyprus before we can attack the mainland. This campaign is the latest version and has new features such as naming pilots that they are going to hunted down in response to actions they have carried out. For example Max attacked an airbase and then received a message to say that "Squeeze has been targeted and a flight of two have been scrambled" Fen also got a similar message for one of his war atrocities... This will not replace the Caucuses Campaign which is still on going, but gives us the option for a change if we feel like it.

To Command the Sky: The Battle for Air Superiority Over Germany, 1942-1944 Examines the people, technology, command decisions, and events in the struggle for control of the skies in World War II https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9781560980698/Command-Sky-Battle-Air-Superiority-1560980699/plp

Currenthill a Mod maker for DCS has been recruited to DCS. His Mod with be included into the game. I have had his Mods in my folder for years for personal enjoyment. DO NOT DOWNLOAD AS THEY WILL BE INCLUDED INTO NEXT DCS UPDATE. THIS IS TO CHECK OUT WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR DCS COMMUNITY FOR FREE. NOW I LOVE THESE TYPE OF MODS. Check out his wed site video and be amazed what he has contributed over the years for free. THERE IS ALSO A VIDEO BELOW ALSO, H.I.P. SERIES that highlight all that is coming and was released lately. Cheers. Currenthill MilSim Currenthill MilSim My assets are distributed in Military Asset Packets per country. You can browse the assets per country using th... DCS FREE ASSETS PACK | Current Hill & ED | Germany Map Resources | HIP Server Test Results - YouTube DCS FREE ASSETS PACK | Current Hill & ED | Germany Map Resources | HIP S...

DO NOT UPDATE YOU VIDEO CARD DRIVER TO VERSION 576.02 RELEASED ON APRIL 16 OR YOU MY HAVE PROBLEMS WATCH THIS VIDEO I think NVIDIA is doing this on purpose now... New driver issues. BEWARE!!! I think NVIDIA is doing this on purpose now... New driver issues. BEWARE!!!

The moment when you realize you never really played the singleplayer part of a game 😄

I need to get a bigger hard drive.. That map is going to push the limits of peoples computers me thinks. Not just the area, but the fact that its all populated, at least on the Syrian map there's plenty of sea and desert!

Our DCS Server:

Our DCS Server:

Then I made them into uploadable movies to YT. Enjoy! I often dig through the gigs of stuff I've saved to hear our voices and Camaraderie. I've been aiming to do this for years, and I might as well do it now and get rid of the large files off my PC. Besides, I'll probably never get that involved in this game again. I had broken my ankle that fall and was off work for 8 weeks, so I had time to brush up on things. This next one is just me finding a flight of Beufighters online while piloting a 109 and after watching it a few times I think Kira was actually in one, thus the reason we were quiet I think.

I have just uploaded a new version which I hope will correct a couple of the issues. The crew chiefs should now all speak English I have removed the display of points / kills to stop the screen being obliterated when @PapaBear does what PapaBear does. Should also help VR users. You now only have to land at the airfield and stop for 10 seconds to bank your points. The whole airfield is a safe zone. I may be on this evening to check these out, but if you want to test it please do. The mission can be re-started via the comss F10 menu, where you will also find other features.

Our DCS Server: