Seriously, this game is so unrealistic! I thought this was supposed to be a modern war game, but in reality it's a game for toddlers.
This game is about 20% realism, but seriously lacks the depth and strategy of other war games.
I also play a game called "Command", that is more like 90% Realism.
Want to send a ASF on patrol?
Here's how.
1°) Select Your Planes OOB menu
2°) Select the Airbase in the menu list
3°) Check what airplanes are currently in the hangars, by asking the technical team a updated report.
4°) Check the report, and consider what plane is currently fit to fly.
5°) Select a loadout, depending on what is actually at hand in the base. Some loadouts may not be available because of logistics and may require time to bring to the said base if they are sensitive (MOAB)
6°) Assign the loadout to a plane, but make sure that the plane actually has enough hardpoints or is of a design that is compatible (Don't hope, if you're playing India, to attach your NATO standard Sidewinder to a SU that wasn't retrofitted to NATO standards !). Please notice that technical crew may be a bit slower to prepare to flight equipment that they are not used to work on (Technical crew that usually handles 12 F16 will struggle heavily if you have landed a F35 on their base and you ask them to prepare it)
7°) Determine Fuel requirements for the mission at hand (no pansy fancy calculator, you get your fingers out of your ass and you do the maths), and assign it to the plane. Too much fuel has defaults. If the mission is too far, consider a Fuel Drop Tank, but make sure that it's compatible with the Loadout (heavy loadouts don't work well with Fuel Drop Tanks)
8°) Select the Air Strip for the plane to position itself. You may select "auto" which will make the plane go in the air as soon as it received navigational command, or "manual", which is handy in case of planes you want to "keep ready to take off" but don't want in the air (quick defense, for example)
9°) Go to general map, draw a "patrol" order, which must have a minimum of 3 points in order to establish a flight route. It can have more than 3. For each points, set Navigational Rules and Rules of Engagement. They define a large array of things like "how and who you engage". If your plane has been loaded with Light Air to Ground Ordinance, you probably want to ensure that this plane will flee if it is pursued by Air Superiority Fighters, and will engage light vehicles, not heavy vehicles that it can't really hope to destroy efficiently. Once it's done (You can refine the setting detailed as much as you want. Technically, you can order the plane to not bomb Toyota pick ups, and only Ford Pick ups, if such is your desire, and you can also define the behaviour of the plane if it doesn't manage to identify what kind of pick up it is)
10°) Confirm Patrol Orders
11°) Return to Planes OOB, assign the Patrol Mission to the plane.
12°) Greenlight Patrol Mission, Greenlight Rules of Engagement.
Wooosh, the plane takes off, and follows its mission. It successfully finds en engage a SAM that didn't had the time (or maybe the plane evaded identification) to acknowledge the threat. The SAM is confirmed hit (destroyed ? no idea), and the plane is strafing to check. At that moment, radar identification confirms that what looks like an interceptor is approaching your plane at high speed. According to its rules of engagement, your plane immediatly retreats toward his airbase and to the safety of your own air defense system.
Then, you don't understand why, but the interceptor simply goes through your anti-air system, and conveniently light one missile at your plane, that despite flares, is damaged and fails to land on the airstrip. The pilot has ejected safely.
What happened ? Did i forgot to mention that beyond Unit Rules of Engagements, Base Rules of Engagement, you also had a theater and General rules of engagement panel, and that in the scenario, as it was depicting the tense situation of a cease fire, the SAM were ordered to not automatically engage bogeys, as they may very well be the planes of a super power, and we don't want to infuriate them at that time?
Welcome to Command.
This game is about 20% realism, but seriously lacks the depth and strategy of other war games.
I also play a game called "Command", that is more like 90% Realism.
Want to send a ASF on patrol?
Here's how.
1°) Select Your Planes OOB menu
2°) Select the Airbase in the menu list
3°) Check what airplanes are currently in the hangars, by asking the technical team a updated report.
4°) Check the report, and consider what plane is currently fit to fly.
5°) Select a loadout, depending on what is actually at hand in the base. Some loadouts may not be available because of logistics and may require time to bring to the said base if they are sensitive (MOAB)
6°) Assign the loadout to a plane, but make sure that the plane actually has enough hardpoints or is of a design that is compatible (Don't hope, if you're playing India, to attach your NATO standard Sidewinder to a SU that wasn't retrofitted to NATO standards !). Please notice that technical crew may be a bit slower to prepare to flight equipment that they are not used to work on (Technical crew that usually handles 12 F16 will struggle heavily if you have landed a F35 on their base and you ask them to prepare it)
7°) Determine Fuel requirements for the mission at hand (no pansy fancy calculator, you get your fingers out of your ass and you do the maths), and assign it to the plane. Too much fuel has defaults. If the mission is too far, consider a Fuel Drop Tank, but make sure that it's compatible with the Loadout (heavy loadouts don't work well with Fuel Drop Tanks)
8°) Select the Air Strip for the plane to position itself. You may select "auto" which will make the plane go in the air as soon as it received navigational command, or "manual", which is handy in case of planes you want to "keep ready to take off" but don't want in the air (quick defense, for example)
9°) Go to general map, draw a "patrol" order, which must have a minimum of 3 points in order to establish a flight route. It can have more than 3. For each points, set Navigational Rules and Rules of Engagement. They define a large array of things like "how and who you engage". If your plane has been loaded with Light Air to Ground Ordinance, you probably want to ensure that this plane will flee if it is pursued by Air Superiority Fighters, and will engage light vehicles, not heavy vehicles that it can't really hope to destroy efficiently. Once it's done (You can refine the setting detailed as much as you want. Technically, you can order the plane to not bomb Toyota pick ups, and only Ford Pick ups, if such is your desire, and you can also define the behaviour of the plane if it doesn't manage to identify what kind of pick up it is)
10°) Confirm Patrol Orders
11°) Return to Planes OOB, assign the Patrol Mission to the plane.
12°) Greenlight Patrol Mission, Greenlight Rules of Engagement.
Wooosh, the plane takes off, and follows its mission. It successfully finds en engage a SAM that didn't had the time (or maybe the plane evaded identification) to acknowledge the threat. The SAM is confirmed hit (destroyed ? no idea), and the plane is strafing to check. At that moment, radar identification confirms that what looks like an interceptor is approaching your plane at high speed. According to its rules of engagement, your plane immediatly retreats toward his airbase and to the safety of your own air defense system.
Then, you don't understand why, but the interceptor simply goes through your anti-air system, and conveniently light one missile at your plane, that despite flares, is damaged and fails to land on the airstrip. The pilot has ejected safely.
What happened ? Did i forgot to mention that beyond Unit Rules of Engagements, Base Rules of Engagement, you also had a theater and General rules of engagement panel, and that in the scenario, as it was depicting the tense situation of a cease fire, the SAM were ordered to not automatically engage bogeys, as they may very well be the planes of a super power, and we don't want to infuriate them at that time?
Welcome to Command.