I didn't used to hate Andy Hollis. It came on me suddenly when I first saw Longbow 2. Longbow 2 is a small step for a sim, a giant leap for sim-kind. The original Longbow gave us fantastic depth in avionics and great action. The second coming of Longbow will give us an incredible sense of immersion with state of the art graphics and lighting effects, and far greater tactical depth with its new mission editor, dynamic campaign and multi-position and multiplayer modes. You want it all? Longbow 2 delivers!

To be candid, I simply didn't expect to see this level of advancement this soon. Yeah, I know, 3d hardware has been around for a while, but I guess I've gotten used to being disappointed. One wonders where it can go from here? I hope Andy doesn't realize how close to perfection he has come--people have been known to get suicidal when they reach the top! Oh, so why do I hate Andy? Cause until he's finished with it everyone is going to think I've gone la-la til they see it themselves!

As most of you are very aware, Longbow 2 is a mini virtual battlefield product, with a truly dynamic campaign and Black Hawk transports and Kiowa Warriors to team up with. Those escort missions become considerably more interesting when the transports are flown by real pilots in LAN or TCP connection. Course, you may want to fly em yourself and let your team mates fly the gunships. Or, team up with a friend in one chopper. The network features built into WIN95 offer awesome capabilities.

3d hardware has finally become mainstream, and the dreams long dreamt by simulation designers like Andy Hollis, Will McBurnett and the team at Skunkworks are coming to fruition as the overburdened Intel CPUs take a back seat and let the real men play!

In the shot above you can get a sense of what is coming. Not only are smoke effects handled by 3dfx in hardware, add wind and turbulence to the picture and the increased terrain and object detail and you have an astounding environment. Suspension of disbelief, that overused mantra, suddenly takes on new meaning. You hit the target, and it begins to smoke. The smoke plumes out as it gains altitude, and suddenly its caught by the same wind that is rocking your AH64D. You hit the target again and it explodes, fragments scattering, fire roaring. Do this at night and you will be forced to cushion your jaw as it hits the desk. The missile flare lights up the scene where it passes, and the second missile lights up the smoke from the first. The flaming target becomes a beacon in the night.

Or perhaps you've come in a bit too close and someone turns a blinding searchlight on you. You quickly let fly with your cannon and watch the fireworks. Or you've gone on a dawn raid and the fog is still rising off the hills as you approach your target area, the pink hues in the sky still fresh. The Blackhawks begin unloading their highly tuned cargo of special forces. There is a stunning beauty to the scene even as it speaks of death and destruction. Simulation designers have crossed the line into artistry, and we all get to marvel at their work.

In truth, the artistry has been there for quite some time. No one who played Flashpoint Korea or Longbow Gold can have missed the telltale signs of the simulation lover at work. They wanted to give us the best, and from the unbelievable interactive training missions with the virtual instructor in the CP/G to the flight model and avionics and the semi-dynamic campaign, it was a great piece of work.

But we longed for more. We wanted to taste the forbidden fruit. We longed for multi-player and dynamic campaigns. Few of us stopped to think about enhanced graphics and dynamic lighting and the ability to fly in other parts of the strike teams. Now in Longbow II for each helicopter you can play as either the pilot, the co-pilot/gunner, or handle both positions yourself (and yes, we know the Black Hawk doesn't have a CP/G — the second position on that bird is a door gunner). The differing functions of these three helicopter types allows realistic portrayal of a greater range of mission types than could be done with just the heavily-armed Longbow. We wanted more--we got it!

Longbow 2 at night...

So here I am, the objective journalist trying to find the appropriate adjectives to describe my experience of Longbow 2! Longbow 2 truly is a new simulation. Once you've played it you'll realize why there could be no upgrade path to this product. Flash Point was a great step up over the original Longbow, but this is more like the passage from Wing Commander II to Wing Commander 3: its just that much more advanced.

One of the most cool features of Longbow 2 is an entirely new tactical dimension rooted in the new mission planner. Designed by Clark Janes, the latest addition to the Longbow design team, the planner adds new tactical depth and control to an already great simulation.

Calling up the planner gives the player access to four flights of helicopters, briefing data and intelligence, and of course the topographic mission map with overlays. The player can choose what kind of information is displayed on the mission map as well as how that information is presented. You can select and deselect the flight plans of all four missions, modify waypoints, and even choose which mission to fly! You can even add new waypoints IN FLIGHT by calling up the map. Nice touch!

Each time you call up the planner you have a choice of four helicopters and four missions to fly in (in single player games you must assign yourself the Lead role in a flight). Choose your mission, then zoom in the map and carefully modify waypoints to your liking. Still unsure of the terrain elevation on a delicate assignment? The planner has a terrain profiler that allows interaction with the terrain. Simply click on PROFILE on the top menu and then drag a line between two points to call up a detailed cross section of the elevations along the line. The player can then plot a waypoint on the cross section, allowing detailed mapping of the flight route along ravines or around hills or under the crest of a ridge.

The second feature is as advanced as the first, allowing precise times on target for coordinated attacks. Simply put, the planner will calculate when a unit will be at a given point based on assigned speed. A loiter waypoint can be placed with a duration setting to arrange rendezvous. A "rehearse" button puts the units on the planning map in motion so you can watch their progress in concert with one another. You can even choose to display small tags with Time on Target numbers for EACH waypoint.

News and Views

As has been noted in the sim forum, this new Longbow does indeed offer a virtual cockpit. Some of the shots above show the newest feature to go with this view: a padlock mode! Flying with the v cockpit is quite nice, especially in higher levels of detail. But the usability close in is more significant, and I'm sure that players will quickly learn to appreciate the flexibility.

If you prefer the fixed views, they are still in place. And F5 toggles an outside view that is pannable and zoomable to a right and left view just behind the hellfires. Taking this position when hovering at night in relative safety allows an awesome view of the missiles launching and lighting up the surrounding terrain. Really, you won't believe it til you see it!

The game supports multiplayer action via LAN, modem, TCP-IP (Internet) or direct cable connection. Current recommendations are 4-player for LAN and only 2-player for TCP/IP. With the right hardware and some luck as many as eight players can join the fray. Players can take either pilot or CP/G seats, so eight players can fly four aircraft (four 2-man crews), eight separate aircraft or anything in between.

Obviously, its at that level that the mission planner REALLY becomes interesting. Remember Tornado? Well, this is that but in high resolution! Tactical choices become the province of the guy in control who can do some serious tactical coordination work, right down to specifying TOT for each flight. When this involves other human pilots it should be one HEAP of fun.

On the Campaign Trail

Janes and crew have given us two dynamic campaigns. The first campaign is a war scenario set in Iran and Azerbaijan. It's a politically and strategically realistic conflict in the tradition of the original Longbow and Flashpoint: Korea, but in a fully dynamic environment. There'll be lots of chances to earn promotions and decorations, plus a wider range of mission objectives than before.

The second campaign is a simulation of a full-scale war game set at the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, California. It's great practice, and it's especially fun in multiplayer, because it allows multiple pilots to test their skills against each other in a realistic, force-on-force dynamic campaign setting.

Longbow 2 Dynamic Lighting. Click for 60 K image.

Setting up the campaign is the first task, and the options are many. In summary, they are these:

• Theatre of Operation: Random, East, West or Central Azerbaijan, or Fort Irwin NTC
• Time of Day: Random, Day, Sawn/Dusk or Night
• Weather: Random, Good, Fair or Poor
• Weapons Availability: Random, Allow All, No Hellfires, No Stingers, Rockets Only
• Force Advantage: Friendly Advantage, Enemy Advantage, Neutral or Random

The remaining parameters can be set independently for both teams:

• Mission Types: Choose the Objective: Random, Strike, Escort, Recon, CAP, CAS
• SkillLevel: Change the level for computer controlled units on both sides: CAT III (tough!), CAT II, CAT I or Random
• Ground Forces: Select Light, Medium, Heavy or Random for each side
• Air Defenses: Select Light, Medium, Heavy or Random for each side
• Helicopters: Select Light, Medium, Heavy or Random for each side
• Air Support: Select Light, Medium, Heavy or Random for each side
• Artillery Support: Select Light, Medium, Heavy or Random for each side

The dynamic campaign depends on a new structure of AI, with a real time air and ground war functioning around the players, creating an unpredictability and randomness based on modern air and ground doctrine that is truly immersive. Not only does this add to depth of play and suspension of disbelief, it will also greatly enhance replayability. Here is a direct quote from Janes on the new campaign:

"We've designed a dynamic campaign that we think really lives up to the name. It's not a bunch of static, canned missions, nor is it a dressed-up random mission generator. This is a campaign where each mission you fly affects the course of the whole campaign. If you miss a target in one mission, it may very well be right back shooting at you in the next mission, or three missions down the line. The lines of battle will shift and both sides will wax and wane in strength in a realistic fashion, keyed to your success and failure.

Not only will your flying skills affect the whole campaign, but you'll also be presented with multiple missions and potential objectives at each stage of the war. You'll have to allocate your forces wisely, and pick the right situations for your personal attention, if you want to win the war. Reconnaissance will play an important role, because the more you observe, the better you'll understand the battle situation. Furthermore, whether or not you spot a threat while scouting could determine whether or not it shows up as an objective later."

Here are Andy's other comments from our previous interview:

The fundamental real-time AI is not much different than the original game. Much of the groundwork needed was happening in Flash Point Korea, but people just had no knowledge of it unless they looked real hard. Outside the mission though, we used to have only resource management and a persistent world for objects and this is where the work for LB2 has come. In-between missions, a whole scheme for evaluating mission results, building up target lists, building appropriate missions, doing resupply, and moving the forces had to be built. Also, coming up with good ways to present this to the player and allow for appropriate levels of control that are additive without being overwhelming.

How does this actually feel? It feels great, as it should. Not only are you out there in an unpredictable environment, but your success or failure in one mission carries over into each successive mission. And since you are also in contact with three other missions at any given time you feel like you are a part of the bigger picture. Reports from the other flights are constant and keep you involved.

Look for new sounds and stereo and doppler effects in Longbow 2 also. You will be able to tell where gunfire is coming from by its orientation to your chopper. Fog effects, even sand stirred up by your rotor when you are too low, objects that move and articulate just as they should... its all there.

And by the way, the non accelerated version looks very good too, MUCH better than Longbow the original.

This second go round with Longbow 2 will cover some general info and then focus on the new Mission Planner: the heart of campaign play. First, a quick look at the manual.

I don't remember much about the original Longbow manual, but I have taken careful note of this one. It really is a comprehensive piece of work. In addition to the necessary coverage of avionics you'll find sections on ground school, flight training, and specifications.

One of the distinguishing features of the original Longbow were ground breaking tutorials using an AI instructor in the CP/G seat. The tutorials enabled a newcomer to the simulation to dive in and begin learning in a simulated and interactive environment. It worked very well and it involved the player in a way that eased the pain. In Longbow 2 both the Blackhawk and the Kiowa Warrior have their own tutorials.

Kiowa Warrior Cockpit

Action and atmosphere define Longbow 2. The glaring blast lighting of an explosion at night.. the drift of smoke from a destroyed vehicle as it is carried in the wind... the varied sound of tanks, trucks, bmps etc as they pass too close to your machine.. even the varied sound of your own rotor as it strains in accord with your demands, wind and turbulence effects, etc. Its a defining moment for military simulations.

Yes, you will see individual soldiers with rifles, shoulder mounted SAMS, and other weapons. Tank turrets rotate, tanks use main guns and machine guns, explosions have multiple effects... You will even see the commander unbuttoned position, or your own CP/Gs head if you swivel around far enough in the virtual cockpit. Its the chopper lovers dream sim.

Thankfully, you don't even need 3d hardware to enjoy it, but the more hardware you have, the better! Software only mode gives me an excellent frame rate with almost full detail options on my AMD 233. The terrain doesn't look quite as nice, but it looks FAR better than the original Longbow and you have the special effects and ALL the other additions to boot! Lets move on to talk about mission generation, the campaign, and the Mission Planner.

Single Missions and Mission Types

Once you establish your reputation as a pilot, you can move into the new missions. There is a batch of handcrafted single missions that are available in addition to those you can generate dynamically. From the MMPC interface the player clicks on the lower-left side of the screen to access these pre-builts. These are particularly clever and grueling missions that will kick the butt of most players when set on max difficulty.

But the heart of this new simulation is the DMG, or dynamic mission generator. The beauty of the system for single missions is ENDLESS variety with little effort. When you want to fly a single mission you specify some particular parameters and the generator creates one for you on the fly! Very cool.

The parameters you will choose from for single mission generation include location, time of day (day, night or random), weather (good, fair, poor or random), weapons availability (no stingers, no Hellfires, rockets only, random) and force advantage (Enemy, Friend, Neutral or Random).

As for the mission type you can choose from CAP, CAS, Strike, Escort, Recon or Random. The inclusion of the random option was another touch of genius. By choosing random for every category, for example, you can set yourself up for a completely unpredictable situation, much like a real pilot might face on any given day.

Enemy ability is set just as in Longbow original, on a sliding scale from TOP GUN CAT I to low end CAT III. The next set of choices apply separately to yourself and your opponents. You're left to select Ground Force Concentration, Air Defence Capability, Helicopter Concentration, Air Support and Artillery Support. The choices here are heavy, medium, light or random.

Notice the smoking pieces flying around...

But most likely your main interest will quickly shift to the campaign. With its new DMG this is the heart of Longbow 2 and what will give it maximum replayability. After all, entry into the campaign means there is a flow and direction to your fighting. Your choices and performance will influence the movement of the battle lines and the eventual outcome of the war.

The Campaign portion of the simulation gives you three choices: Fallen Crescent (the Azerbaijan campaign), and Fort Irwin NTC which is broken into two different scenarios. The first allows you to fight with US hardware against US hardware; the second simulates the enemy using Russian equipment. Then it gets interesting, because the choices you make in the mission planner are critical to the campaign.

As you begin a campaign you choose the time limit, up to four weeks or UNLIMITED. In another improvement on the originalthe player can begin and save multiple campaigns, so you can be playing at various levels of difficulty or realism and continue with whichever your mood dictates until the campaign is complete.

Campaign variables include Ordnance Replacement and Helicopter Replacement. These settings can be toggled for Fast, Slow or Average. Want maximum realism, choose Average or Slow. This setting determines supply intervals for both aircraft and ordnance during your campaign. Intel can be toggled as Limited to create a real "Fog Of War" and as a result not all the information you are given will be as accurate as it otherwise would.

Realism settings for the machines themselves allow the player to limit Radar Longbows and limit Other helicopters. Limiting R Longbows will mean replacement may not always be as quick as you would like, and limiting Other choppers means that the Kiowas and Blackhawks will not be instantly replaced. Ditto with weapons supply.

The campaign flows like this: initially the missions you will fly are to ensure that you can safely transition to an offensive posture. Before you fly any CAS for example, you will cover supply missions for the front lines and do recon. The ground war is integrated seamlessly into the campaign engine, and you are only one part of that team effort. Here are the criteria for your sides advance:

• Supply. Ground forces must have sufficient ammunition and/or fuel supplies. If the armor commander doesn't have enough resources to sustain an offensive move, the units will remain defensive and the battle line will not move. Supplies arrive in convoys, which you will occasionally be asked to escort. In the same way, whenever recon detects an enemy supply convoy you will be asked to destroy it to prevent the enemy from going offensive.
• Armor. Ground forces must have ample armor. If armor resources are lacking, the unit will retain its defensive posture. Like resources, armor reinforcements arrive in convoys. (However, supply convoys ALWAYS take precedence over armor and you will protect them first).
• Accessible Support. Ground forces must hae support in adjacent sectors. The armor commander on the ground (controlled by game AI) will not overextend his troops in the flank position. If the flank is left vulnerable, ground units will move into a defensive posture and wait for rear support.

In other words even fantastic performance on the part of the player in one sector will not guarantee victory. Its up to the player to monitor all sectors of the battlefield and ensure that front line units are well supplied and ready for an offensive push.

This in turn means that taking out SAM and AAA sites early on is a good idea. It will help in later efforts to support ground units. But timing comes into play also: ground forces can't sustain an offensive push for long. Once an advance is stopped it may take several days for the offensive to begin again. And if there is too much of a gap between your destruction of SAM and AAA emplacements they may be replaced by the time the next offensive begins. All this points to the importance of the Mission Planner, and thats the reason why so much care has been lavished on this component of Longbow 2.

ATO 12195

October 10, 1999 Lt. T. "Viking1" Armstrong

I just received orders to fly my third mission across enemy lines since the start of this conflict four days ago. Our task: escort two Blackhawk Transports carrying Special Forces to a location 15 km across the FEBA. We leave at dawn, 0530.

Unfortunately, we expect heavy air activity in the area, and ZSU 23 emplacements are known in the area. The ZSU 23 is one of the most deadly A2A platforms in the enemies arsenal. As I'm checking my AH64D Longbow prior to the flight, I am all too aware that the pilot lost on a mission two days ago had encountered a ZSU 23.

Finally its time to go. After ensuring the weapons loadout I climb into the co-pilots chair and we start our final systems check. Its 0515. My wingman "Paco" checks in a moment later in his Texan drawl... He's all set, and so are we.

We spent a good deal of the morning poring over the intel and maps, ensuring as few high crossings as possible, but also avoiding the valley floors. The best place for this machine is halfway up a slope where it can blend against the background clutter. On top is too visible against the sky, and on the falley floor is too open to radar detection and attack from overhead fast movers.

At 0525 we start the turbines and a couple of minutes later "Jinks" the pilot engages the main rotor. Everything is good. "Weapons Hold" is declared for the benefit of Flash and we are away.

We rendezvous with the Blackhawks at 0540. This is the easy part. At 0545 we pause at the FEBA and I order Flash to pop up and scan the area. As his data comes across the link I see two AAA units and one unknown less than 1 km from our entry point. I shift our route slightly and we duck down and are on our way.

0552

The eastern sky is getting brighter as we head for our second waypoint in hostile territory. We're just slowing for a turn when a truck pops up at eleven oclock and one kilometre. Suddenly we are under fire from small arms! The single soldier appears on the FLIR and a quick cannon burst sets him straight. We dont' take on the truck, much as we would like to, though I wonder what its carrying.

0557

We're approaching the final point prior to target when we are jumped by a pair of Havocs. Shit! They must have popped over the ridge--we had no warning at all. Paco has locked up the first and is firing his cannon just as the second releases a missile with MY name on it. I see the flash of the release at my one oclock just as Jinks is letting go with the cannon. A second later we set down with a klunk and the missile hits the ground rather too close to us! We feel the force of it but don't take any damage.. someone must be praying...

Jinks got a piece of the Havoc and we see him spinning out of control at nine oclock, finally hitting the ground with a huge explosion. But now we've got tracers whizzing past us from our six oclock se we pick up and are on our way quick! Radar shows all clear overhead...

TO BE CONTINUED in Preview PART III...

The Mission Planner

During the campaign in Longbow 2 you serve as the Task Force Commander. The main vehicle of your authority is the Mission Planner. The Mission Planner is laid out quite intuitively and is a quick learn. Thats good, because its a powerful tool that once mastered will either ground your success or your failure.

Arrayed along the top are your main selections: System, Overlays, Map View and Waypoints. Most of the time you will access Map View and occasionally Waypoints; the other two selections are for you to set up the way the map appears and to exit the mission or the game itself. Once you set up the map the way you like to see it the settings are remembered so you won't use this that much.

The Waypoints selection is mostly to allow the player to declutter the map when necessary. From this menu you can choose to display any one or all of the four flights generated by the campaign engine, or you can restore waypoint defaults after any of your editting experiments to those suggested by the planner.

Clicking on Briefing brings up a text screen that is white on black like a chalkboard. It lists five items on the left: Friendly Situation, Enemy Situation, Mission Details, Weather, and Command and Signal. Normally you will start with the first section and then select each in turn, but its "Mission Details" that will give you the information that will help you make your most important decision: which mission you will personally fly.

From here you will move on to Tasking. Tasking allows you to choose the choppers that will fly the mission as well as juggle pilot assignments. In single player mode this means you choose your position as pilot of one of four machines which range from the Longbow to the Kiowa Warrior to the Blackhawk Transport. For Longbow itself you can choose from the Radar Longbow (R) or the Non-Radar Longbow (NR..an updated Longbow Apache without the radar mast). If you feel the mission you like to fly warrants the change, you can even swap your Kiowa for a Longbow or vice versa.

The Tasking screen also brings up a weapons inventory. This isn't just a nice touch! Depending on how you set up the campaign parameters when you first generated the campaign will determine whether you have an unlimited supply of a given weapon or realism in both COUNT and RESUPPLY times. If you are flying in a realistically configured campaign you will quickly realize that you can't destory every target out there because you feel like it. And escorting resupply missions suddenly takes on a whole new meaning! The inventory list tells you what is remaining in supply: every weapon and chopper is listed here.

From Tasking you move to the Map screen. This is where the vital decisions regarding route, target, and flight coordination are made. The map allows four levels of zoom as well as choice of display for icons, grid lines (at 5k), and will even display Time on Target on the map. It has two main modes: contour (like an engineering map, all in grey shades) and colored elevation as you see in these screens. Some of its more innovative features include a Profiler which allows you to get a side profile of elevation between any two points. The Profiler even overlays the effective range of the weapons you carry. VERY nice...

The other unique feature of the planner is a "Rehearse" button which allows you to actually see your flights travelling according to planned TOT along their routes. This assists in the planning of a coordinated strike. More basic features are those we are accustomed to: you can move, add or delete waypoints.

From Tasking you move to the Map screen. This is where the vital decisions regarding route, target, and flight coordination are made. The map allows four levels of zoom as well as choice of display for icons, grid lines (at 5k), and will even display Time on Target on the map. It has two main modes: contour (like an engineering map, all in grey shades) and colored elevation as you see in these screens. Some of its more innovative features include a Profiler which allows you to get a side profile of elevation between any two points. The Profiler even overlays the effective range of the weapons you carry. VERY nice...

Once you start planning missions you will use the profiler each time. I usually invoke it two or three times per given mission route, experimenting with cross sections across the target and from a few different angles of approach. Remember: you don't want to cross high ridges unless necessary and you don't want to follow routes along valley bottoms either.

The other unique feature of the planner is a "Rehearse" button which allows you to actually see your flights travelling according to planned TOT along their routes. This assists in the planning of a coordinated strike. For more information on how the campaign actually takes shape in Longbow 2 see the preview Part II.

More basic features of the planner are those we are accustomed to: you can move, add or delete waypoints. Its not just a convenience; without that ability you can't accomplish the goals you will need to set for yourself to conclude a successful campaign.

ATO 12195

October 10, 1999 Lt. T. "Viking1" Armstrong

I just received orders to fly my third mission across enemy lines since the start of this conflict four days ago. Our task: escort two Blackhawk Transports carrying Special Forces to a lcoation 15 km across the FEBA. We leave at dawn, 0530.

Unfortunately, we expect heavy air activity in the area, and ZSU 23 emplacements are known in the area. The ZSU 23 is one of the most deadly A2A platforms in the enemies arsenal. As I'm checking my AH64D Longbow prior to the flight, I am all too aware that the pilot lost on a mission two days ago had encountered a ZSU 23.

Finally its time to go. After ensuring the weapons loadout I climb into the co-pilots chair and we start our final systems check. Its 0515. My wingman "Flash" (he once strode into our munitions bunker with a lit cigarette) checks in a moment later in his Texan drawl... He's all set, and so are we.

We spent a good deal of the morning poring over the intel and maps, ensuring as few high crossings as possible, but also avoiding the valley floors. The best place for this machine is halfway up a slope where it can blend against the background clutter. On top is too visible against the sky, and on the falley floor is too open to radar detection and attack from overhead fast movers.

At 0525 we start the turbines and a couple of minutes later "Jinks" the pilot engages the main rotor. Everything is good. "Weapons Hold" is declared for the benefit of Flash and we are away.

We rendezvous with the Blackhawks at 0540. This is the easy part. At o545 we pause at the FEBA and I order Flash to pop up and scan the area. As his data comes across the link I see two AAA units and one unknown less than 1 km from our entry point. I shift our route slightly and we duck down and are on our way.

0552

The eastern sky is getting brighter as we head for our second waypoint in hostile territory. We're just slowing for a turn when a truck pops up at eleven oclock and one kilometre. Suddenly we are under fire from small arms! The single soldier appears on the FLIR and a quick cannon burst sets him straight. We dont' take on the truck, much as we would like to, though I wonder what its carrying.

0557

We're approaching the final point prior to target when we are jumped by a pair of Havocs. Shit! They must have popped over the ridge--we had no warning at all. Flash has locked up the first and is firing his cannon just as the second releases a missile with MY name on it. I see the flash of the release at my one oclock just as Jinks is letting go with the cannon. A second later we set down with a klunk and the missile hits the ground rather too close to us! We feel the force of it but don't take any damage.. someone must be praying...

Jinks got a piece of the Havoc and we see him spinning out of control at nine oclock, finally hitting the ground with a huge explosion. But now we've got tracers whizzing past us from our six oclock so we pick up and are on our way quick! Radar shows all clear overhead...As we gain speed up the hill Charlie 88 calls out that he is under five 15K to the south of us.

0605

We crest a small rise at one km from the LZ. TADS shos an encampment across the valley at 3 km. We creep toward the LZ at twenty feel and 30k, stopping about 1/2 km out, nestled against the base of the downward slope of the hill.

The Blackhawks set down and begin to unload. We order Jinks to stay put while we assume a position 2 km along the valley and a bit higher. We're just transitioning to hover when we hear fire from the valley near to Flash' position. I see the glare from his cannon and then its quiet again.

0615

I watch the special ops team enter the compound, then there is gun fire again. It carries on for five minutes and then ther are a couple of small explosions. A moment later men are heading for the Blackhawks.

Suddenly we have company, two bmps coming down the valley floor. We lock up the first one and fire a Hellfire. Down he goes,lighting up the night as the Hellfire impacts.

We are rising to get LOS for the second bmp when there is an explosion off our beam and something in the compound goes up with a brilliant flash. The second bmp is a smoldering heap a moment later and we are underway for home.

Ground activity in Longbow 2 remains as intense as in Gold, and can be even more intense. Watching 3d modelled soldiers debark and enter an encampment is quite cool, only now instead of only guarding them you can fly them in yourself!

As has been pointed out in various places, you don't have to have a 3d board to get excellent detail and effects from Longbow 2. But in order to get the kind of terrain richness you see in these shots with a good frame rate, you will need a 3dfx board. If you are in the market, I recommend the Canopus Pure 3d. It has 2x the texture memory of anything else out there and you will get maximum benefit in a sim like Longbow 2 but also in other demanding Glide products like F22: ADF. And if you are into it, you can connect the output to your TV with a regular cable or even SVHS. Both cables are supplied with the board.

Here is a great shot that shows the detail lavished on objects in this sim. Coming up on one of these towns in the late evening is quite a sight. Watching the fireworks start is even more impressive....

But if you can't make the dollar commitment, don't despair. On my P180 the sim still looks great, running on a 2 meg Matrox board with detail cranked quite high. The final frame rate should be even better than what I am currently getting because debug code will be gone.

Lest you think that the only special effects are those generated by your own weapons and impacts, think again! Explosions and damage effects have also gone up a generation with Longbow 2. If you are in a relatively safe position and in hover hold you can enjoy some awesome object views, watching MiGs, Havocs, ground vehicles, tanks, troops and just about anything else you can think of! Hmm.. I wonder if LB2 might meet a nice A10 sim one day...

Now, about those Blackhawks! These transports are quite an experience to fly. I confess that I prefer the Longbow, but there are times when only the Kiowa or Blackhawk will do. Here are a couple of recent shots. Most of these Blackhawk shots are courtesy of Bill "Cowboy" Wilson. Notice the door-gunner.

Getting caught in a fire fight or some kind of crossfire at night can be... well, distracting! In truth, it makes it tough to hang on to a joystick, they get a bit sweaty!

One advantage of this level of realism is that you can tell where the action is at night by the light show. I was cruising on a quiet recon mission when I heard a distressed call from Charlie 89. I knew from the briefing that C89 was only about 10 k to the south. I crested a hill and swung my head southward, and sure enough I could see some action! I was amazed! I saw something burning and what looked like an outgoing Hellfire in transit. Incredible.