FLANKER 2.0 E3 by Dan Crenshaw
	The Ground War I saved the ground war for last. If anything in 2.0 is lacking, it would be this. Some have complained about the "semi-dynamic" campaign, which to me is an oxymoron, but I will defer this rant to another article. Yet as with most scripted/branched campaigns, a little smoke and mirrors can still provide an immersive and engrossing experience. But the fly in the ointment of the campaign is that there are no moving ground forces. The fleets, however, will not be static. The fleets will return fire with on board SAM and air defense systems. While I believe these are just water-based versions of the ground units, I can accept this. And the land based SAM and AAA will engage you in a similar fashion to the original. But there is no ground force interaction. There is no true ground war. If you destroy forces not in your primary target area, they all reappear in the next mission (one of my biggest issues with many "semi-dynamic" campaigns). Attrition must be figured into the scripting, but will not take into account exceptionally good or bad results. Note, however, that the sim is only in beta and this could yet change by release date. If there is any feature that will hold back this sim, this is it. There has already been much-heated debate on the web regarding this issue. The die-hard staunch defenders are the FLANKER faithful, who cannot be faulted for their loyalty. But they are missing the importance of a realistic backdrop for the air war as well as the lack of continuity this type of campaign is destined to create. A Compromise? At the least, the ground forces within a scripted campaign (or mission editor missions) should be allowed to move and interact. It has been done before, JANES F-15 did it with no real problems. This does not rectify the destruction of non-designated targets reappearing in the next mission, but would go a long way to shore up the immersion level of the sim as well as give some sense of purpose to the mission at hand. With no ground war, with no ground force interaction, with no attrition based on performance (instead mission assessment is based on whether you hit that one special target - on that basis you win or lose, no other variable) there is no need for an air war. Click to continue		Mission Editor A Sense of Purpose Yet air sorties are support for the ground troops. Even in Kosovo, there was not air combat for the sheer sake of air combat. The NATO forces were bombing ground troops and installations; units that once destroyed, remained destroyed, and troops that would move and would interact with ground forces they contacted. Had these troops not been in Kosovo, there would have been no air war. I fear that without at least a smoke and mirrors approach to this problem, it will quickly become frustrating to those of us who are trying to win a campaign. How many of us have come back from a mission after obliterating a critical airfield in addition to the factory we were tasked with only to have jets scrambled out of that very same airfield for the next mission? Flanker Salvation? With this in mind, it is fortunate that the Mission Editor is as flexible and complete as it is. I foresee a large bank of long-term goal missions being traded around the web similar to the 48-hour mission the 209th created for 1.5. With the mission editor, it is also possible to create your own mini-campaign with frequent breaks and removal of destroyed units and locations, the possible advancement of ground troops etc. all via editing. SUMMARY FLANKER 2.0 will indeed be a pinnacle in the flight sim community. It will have a similar impact that the original and its 1.5 add-on had, and will be "must buy" for any flight sim enthusiast that wants to experience an beautifully modeled Eastern Block fighter. To compare it to an existing sim would be unfair as it is still in beta, but expect it to rival the heavy hitters already out or due out around the same time as 2.0. But I can't help feeling that Flanker2 is somewhat of an incomplete product in its planned form of release. Thankfully, there are already plans to improve on the deficiencies with an add-on in Su-39. If this second simulation includes a dynamic campaign and moving ground forces, Flanker2 may yet be the new standard that many of us are hoping for. Join a discussion forum on this article by clicking   HERE.
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