Jane's F-15: Preview Part V - Campaign!

First lets consider the briefing and targetting portions of a campaign mission. The shot above right is a zoom in shot (about five levels of magnification) from the briefing map for the Iran campaign. In this first mission the targets are personnel tents and a GCI radar installation northeast of Lar. Its critical that the radar be taken out, since the electronic integration of the battlefield is modelled. If you fail to take out a key position in the network, the entire network can be alerted to your presence by one intercept station. If you mess up on this mission, later incoming aircraft will have fighters vectored on them and SAMs ready and waiting.

This next shot is zoomed in one more step from the shot above right. The center of this shot is the same target area as the complete Briefing screen shot at the opening of this article. Now you are getting a better view of the target area and its relation to the flight plan. You can still zoom far beyond this, bringing resolution all the way up to about .08 nautical miles.

As a result, the briefing is an invaluable tool for checking all the transition points, like fence in, as well as getting the best fix possible on enemy defences. Take a closer look at the larger Briefing shot above right and you will see that the ingress route is carefully chosen to pass outside the ranges of two key detection and defense emplacements. The red circles, of course, represent the detection range of the ground radars.

Now lets zoom in about four more steps. We will then have a good tactical map that gives us the lay of the land in detail, including defensive positions. The line that crosses this jpg is an artifact of compression so just ignore it.

This shot now gives us a good tactical map. Zooming a step beyond this requires you to pan the map to get a view of the important positions, including defensive SAM sites. But the transition from here to targetting later becomes more natural after you've had an in depth perusal of the Briefing.

In the shot that follows you will see the entire Targetting Map. You can access this map after you have Armed your flight. Usually you will use this map only to confirm in your mind who is hitting what, so that when you hear TWO call "Breaking off to the left" after giving permission to engage the primary targets you will know he isn't after some bandit. Of course, if you do decide to change target assignments, this is the place you will do it.

The Targetting map can also be zoomed, but the default setting seems to be about right. In some cases targets may be spaced far enough apart that you will have to zoom out or pan the map. If you do trade targets or designate another target entirely, and you feel a change of loadout is in order, you can then to back to the Arming station if you so choose.

At the beginning of the briefing you will have read a text screen and carefully noted your call sign and the call sign of any escort you may have been assigned. You will also have noted the location of the Bullseye (a map location determined prior to flight that is used to help pilots refer to locations via radio without having the enemy know where they are, where they are going, or where the target is). After this its time to fly!

Once on the runway you will be contacted by the tower and cleared for takeoff. You may also be informed of other local traffic. You will then call on your flight to "Run em up!" and away you go! By the time you are in the air (takes longer than most simulations since thrust, lift and drag are more accurately modelled) you may also get an AWACS call informing you of any other conditions you need to be aware of. Shortly after this, most likely even before you reach cruising altitude, any escort you were assigned will join up with you and let you know that they are now in place.

Before you settle back for the flight its a good idea to ensure that your flight are all nose-cold, unless you want to give the enemy special notice that you are inbound! (If thats your preference, go with AT&T instead!) And then its best to check in with AWACS for the big picture. Be sure you have TEWS selected, and I set my TEWS to semi-automatic so that I don't have to personally manage the jammer. You can also choose to go fully automatic which will then take care of chaff also. The problem is that you will go through chaff VERY quickly on AUTO setting, and you still have to dump flares manually anyway.

Once this is done, ensure that you are at the altitude you want, choose the appropriate AP setting, send a formation command if needed and then enjoy the ride! The first campaign mission into Iran is a long flight, where the first campaign mission in Iraq is usually more of a recon mission.

Incidentally, I've talked a lot about wingman and flight interaction and control. In F15 your WSO will call an inbound missile and when he does so you can padlock on his threat! You can usually pick it out when its a bit over a mile which gives you time to react unless you are moving way too fast. Incredible coordination of gameplay features, and one more of those little things that will make this sim a much bigger hit than some have anticipated. For the rest who have been on the edge of their chairs, you will be very, very happy!

The shot at left is the white hot mode of the HUD FLIR enhanced view. If you click on the image you will bring up a full size screen shot (112K). For a whack of brand new shots including some awesome action shots and night engagement shots, go to F15 Screens II. Caution! Heart patients and those on anti-depressants should NOT access this page! Combat Simulations will not be liable for anyone ignoring this warning!

I've had a chance to play with some more air to ground weapons and I must say that F15 in its late beta impressed me much more than F4 in the demo. And yes, when you launch that sidewinder you will see the smoke trail curling in response to the path of the missile. Realism in systems and weapons, and excellent flight modelling and effects combine to give an incredible experience. As most of you know, F15 went GOLD this past weekend and the CDs are probably in mass production already. Here we go!!

Finally, for those of you who are intimidated by a simulation of this depth, you don't need to be. F15 comes with a separate manual for the faint hearted and those who want to ease into the more challenging modes of play. Remember how in Strike Eagle III you could keep track of everything around you on the easy mode TEWS display? Does this shot bring back memories?

In short, this casual play version of the Tactical Electronic Warning System gives you information that system does not display in expert (reallistic) mode. In casual mode this display will give you the location of all aircraft around you, friendly and enemy, as well as show you which aircraft you currently have locked. In the case at right, I've locked up a friendly F16! Furthermore, even when you aren't using the TEWS your WSO is using it and he will call the location of enemy aircraft and inbound missiles.

The TEWS isn't the only simplified system in Casual play mode, radar is also much simpler to operate and targets are simpler to lock. In addition, in Casual mode targets are automatically prioritized according to mission goals. Ground targetting is simplified in much the same way as air to air targetting. These adjustments and the ability to fly with an easy flight model, combined with the ability to scale back enemy AI, make F15 accessible to the casual pilot.