10-31-2011, 05:40 AM
This obviously isn't a full AAR but I thought I'd throw down things from my perspective for "Moonless"
 At the start of things, Head and I quickly hopped in our Mi-24 Gunship and surveyed our weapon loadout, map position, and orders. We had only a small chin cannon, a few guided ATGM's and quite a few FFAR's. We were positioned a fair distance north east from the rest of the platoon at Rasman airfield. Our orders were to maneuver as we saw fit, do some recon of the target areas and to support the ground troops as best we could. (Supporting the infantry is what air assets are for after all!)
We quickly moved west towards Nagara, north of the target area using the terrain for cover as we didn't want to end up alone and on the wrong end of the AAA that was reported to be in the area. Once we arrived on station, it was apparent that we would not be able to effectively support the platoon from our position, so we made a quick decision to reposition to the southwest of the platoon's ambush location so we could support the initial engagement.Â
After arriving at our new holding position we waited in cover of the mountains for the engagement to start. While we waited, we tried a few practice pop ups. However we were unable to get a good range and firing solution on the expected ambush position. In view of that, we elected to stay put until the fireworks started so we could help mop up. After the infantry platoon opened up, we moved in a bit closer to assist but after hearing initial reports of enemy MANPAAD's we ducked back into cover and utilized pop up attacks from behind the hill until most of the enemy column was down. At that point we continued to provide cover while the assault on the main target area was getting lined out.
Reports from the scouts suggested that some of the infantry fireteams reposition to the north west of the main target area. The commander quickly agreed and we were tasked with putting the Mi-24's large transport bay to use. We approached the LZ and immediately started taking small arms fire from the north east. Fireteams Alpha and Bravo (I think they were the first two?) boarded quickly and we got airborne. We swept around to the new deployment area and elected to drop the troops just behind the designated area to make use of the crest of the hill. Unfortunately, I misjudged the landing slightly, overloading the landing gear dampeners and taking a small amount of damage to the main engine. After reprimanding myself for such carelessness, we proceeded back to the ambush LZ to pick up the remaining squads.
Once Charlie fireteam and the Command element were aboard at the assault LZ we headed back to the deployment LZ to set them down. Another miscalculation on my part flew us partly over the target area, not the brightest of ideas. This time it cost us in the form of taking fire from the AAA canons that the scouts had warned us about. Fortunately before they got a good bead on us, we were safely behind the hill once more. We set Charlie and Command down and received a "Hind, Dismount" order. After shutting down and hopping out Head pointed out that the order was clearly just for the embarked infantry, blushing from idiocy I once again boarded my cockpit...
It quickly became clear that the situation on the ground was heating up so we requested permission to relocate, and provide CAS. Unfortunately due to the heavy coms traffic we were not able to make use of the spotter team for Forward Air Control so we decided that we would be most useful on the north east corner of the target area. Taking a gamble that any MANPAAD's were out of comission by this point we took a high altitude approach so any canon fire from the AAA would be ineffective. Utilizing our radar, we quickly acquired targets for and fired off all our ATGM's (I was unclear on our loadout, I believe we started with six, with two confirmed hits.) After engaging all we could with ATGM's, we started to engage soft targets with the cannon, but due to the small loadout we found ourselves winchester quickly.Â
Radio chatter from the ground forces indicated that they had made an initial pass of the target area and had not found as many enemy assets as the scouts had initially reported. Head spotted a few trucks but was out of cannon and ATGM munitions leaving us only with the ample supply of FFAR's. The issue surrounding that was that while the gunner was the only one able to fire them (in this case), they are aligned with the nose of the aircraft. This presented quite a challenge in gunnery as I had to pilot a good firing solution and call for him to fire once my reticule was on target. After confirming quickly that there were no friendlies nearby, we engaged a technical that was close by, scoring good hits after only a few ranging shots. Head quickly spotted the last truck that the ground teams were searching for and talked me onto the target, dispatching it in short order. Shortly after that the commander called the target area clear and we headed back to the base for some well earned cold, frosty beers! (Okay, that last part may be slightly invented but after such an intense flight I sure needed a beer!)
A big thanks to Head for his fine gunnery. Without that, we would not have been able to effectively support the infantry platoon and we would have been a quite useless addition to the game.
As I mentioned before, that experience piloting for that mission was the most fulfilling experience I've had in Arma 2 and possibly one of the best moments in gaming for me. I personally enjoy flying quite a bit in Arma, but tooling about in the skies is just aimless sightseeing without hard fighting ground forces to support. Sometimes that means laying down CAS, sometimes giving a few elements a lift, and sometimes just putting eyes on things from a different perspective. Its always enjoyable for me, but this was even more so in having a group of this size to support. Thanks again for the opportunity and I'm definitely looking forward to being able to play in a Folk session again soon! (even if I have to keep my boots on the ground) :p Â
 At the start of things, Head and I quickly hopped in our Mi-24 Gunship and surveyed our weapon loadout, map position, and orders. We had only a small chin cannon, a few guided ATGM's and quite a few FFAR's. We were positioned a fair distance north east from the rest of the platoon at Rasman airfield. Our orders were to maneuver as we saw fit, do some recon of the target areas and to support the ground troops as best we could. (Supporting the infantry is what air assets are for after all!)
We quickly moved west towards Nagara, north of the target area using the terrain for cover as we didn't want to end up alone and on the wrong end of the AAA that was reported to be in the area. Once we arrived on station, it was apparent that we would not be able to effectively support the platoon from our position, so we made a quick decision to reposition to the southwest of the platoon's ambush location so we could support the initial engagement.Â
After arriving at our new holding position we waited in cover of the mountains for the engagement to start. While we waited, we tried a few practice pop ups. However we were unable to get a good range and firing solution on the expected ambush position. In view of that, we elected to stay put until the fireworks started so we could help mop up. After the infantry platoon opened up, we moved in a bit closer to assist but after hearing initial reports of enemy MANPAAD's we ducked back into cover and utilized pop up attacks from behind the hill until most of the enemy column was down. At that point we continued to provide cover while the assault on the main target area was getting lined out.
Reports from the scouts suggested that some of the infantry fireteams reposition to the north west of the main target area. The commander quickly agreed and we were tasked with putting the Mi-24's large transport bay to use. We approached the LZ and immediately started taking small arms fire from the north east. Fireteams Alpha and Bravo (I think they were the first two?) boarded quickly and we got airborne. We swept around to the new deployment area and elected to drop the troops just behind the designated area to make use of the crest of the hill. Unfortunately, I misjudged the landing slightly, overloading the landing gear dampeners and taking a small amount of damage to the main engine. After reprimanding myself for such carelessness, we proceeded back to the ambush LZ to pick up the remaining squads.
Once Charlie fireteam and the Command element were aboard at the assault LZ we headed back to the deployment LZ to set them down. Another miscalculation on my part flew us partly over the target area, not the brightest of ideas. This time it cost us in the form of taking fire from the AAA canons that the scouts had warned us about. Fortunately before they got a good bead on us, we were safely behind the hill once more. We set Charlie and Command down and received a "Hind, Dismount" order. After shutting down and hopping out Head pointed out that the order was clearly just for the embarked infantry, blushing from idiocy I once again boarded my cockpit...
It quickly became clear that the situation on the ground was heating up so we requested permission to relocate, and provide CAS. Unfortunately due to the heavy coms traffic we were not able to make use of the spotter team for Forward Air Control so we decided that we would be most useful on the north east corner of the target area. Taking a gamble that any MANPAAD's were out of comission by this point we took a high altitude approach so any canon fire from the AAA would be ineffective. Utilizing our radar, we quickly acquired targets for and fired off all our ATGM's (I was unclear on our loadout, I believe we started with six, with two confirmed hits.) After engaging all we could with ATGM's, we started to engage soft targets with the cannon, but due to the small loadout we found ourselves winchester quickly.Â
Radio chatter from the ground forces indicated that they had made an initial pass of the target area and had not found as many enemy assets as the scouts had initially reported. Head spotted a few trucks but was out of cannon and ATGM munitions leaving us only with the ample supply of FFAR's. The issue surrounding that was that while the gunner was the only one able to fire them (in this case), they are aligned with the nose of the aircraft. This presented quite a challenge in gunnery as I had to pilot a good firing solution and call for him to fire once my reticule was on target. After confirming quickly that there were no friendlies nearby, we engaged a technical that was close by, scoring good hits after only a few ranging shots. Head quickly spotted the last truck that the ground teams were searching for and talked me onto the target, dispatching it in short order. Shortly after that the commander called the target area clear and we headed back to the base for some well earned cold, frosty beers! (Okay, that last part may be slightly invented but after such an intense flight I sure needed a beer!)
A big thanks to Head for his fine gunnery. Without that, we would not have been able to effectively support the infantry platoon and we would have been a quite useless addition to the game.
As I mentioned before, that experience piloting for that mission was the most fulfilling experience I've had in Arma 2 and possibly one of the best moments in gaming for me. I personally enjoy flying quite a bit in Arma, but tooling about in the skies is just aimless sightseeing without hard fighting ground forces to support. Sometimes that means laying down CAS, sometimes giving a few elements a lift, and sometimes just putting eyes on things from a different perspective. Its always enjoyable for me, but this was even more so in having a group of this size to support. Thanks again for the opportunity and I'm definitely looking forward to being able to play in a Folk session again soon! (even if I have to keep my boots on the ground) :p Â
