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While adjusting Target Type and Mission Type does have an impact, it is not possible to zero out the sliders. I monitored the frag order for ten campaign hours in each campaign I ran, and in spite of my sliding the Anti-Shipping target slider to the extreme left, naval missions were still flown.
The other difficulty is a bug that prevents your changes from being saved. Once you exit a campaign and re-enter you will have to reset your adjustments in the PAK screen. Other changes appear to be saved.
Furthermore, in spite of the many changes I made to the Mission Type and Target Type priorities, the ATO changed only slightly from the default unmodified campaign to the two modified campaigns. I maintained exhaustive ATO lists for each campaign. I suspect a few bugs in the AI here too.
Is It Worth It?
The test of the change of strategy is the actual progress of the campaign, as well as the number of pilots/aircraft lost vs. the number of enemy targets destroyed. I tracked the default "Rolling Fire" campaign as well as my modified campaign for the first fourteen hours to observe the differences, recording the frag order as well as mission result. The AI level for both campaigns was "Rookie," and the following are the results I recorded (campaign results at 1500 hours, 1800 hours and at 2200 hours.)
Default Campaign
1500 Hours
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- Pilots killed = 2
- Aircraft lost = 2
- Missions flown: 40
- AA Kills = 7
- AG kills = 23
- Static Targets = 5
1800 Hours
- Pilots killed = 3
- Aircraft lost = 3
- Missions flown: 66
- AA Kills = 10
- AG kills = 31
- Static Targets = 5
2200 Hours
- Pilots killed = 4
- Aircraft lost = 4
- Missions flown: 114
- AA Kills = 17
- AG kills = 40
- Static Targets = 5
Click to continue
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Strategic Campaign
1500 Hours
- Pilots killed = 3
- Aircraft lost = 5
- Missions flown: 34
- AA Kills = 6
- AG kills = 24
- Static Targets = 8
1800 Hours
- Pilots killed = 3
- Aircraft lost = 5
- Missions flown: 69
- AA Kills = 9
- AG kills = 28
- Static Targets = 8
2200 Hours
- Pilots killed = 5
- Aircraft lost = 6
- Missions flown: 113
- AA Kills = 19
- AG kills = 33
- Static Targets = 13
Aircraft and pilot losses are almost the same after virtually the same number of missions (113 vs 114). The most substantial difference is the number of static targets destroyed, reflecting the difference in campaign priorities. This chart shows the differences:
Statistically the difference isn't significant, but it would be worth monitoring the campaign through a second and third day of progress to continue to monitor the progress. Until the bugs in this system are fixed, however, it probably isn't worth the attempt. Watch for a followup to this article in late April or May.
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