Falcon 4 - Daring Thrust (www.combatsim.com)

Daring Thrust

by by David "Hunter" Proeber

Intelligence

Rumors have been flying that DPRK armored units were spotted on the other side of the DMZ. You are assigned to go up on a regularly scheduled morning DCA flight. No enemy activity is expected but you are to remain on a high state of alert. AWACS in the area reported an odd ECM spike from a DPRK SAM 5 site as the last F-16 returned from its station. It's not confirmed, but be careful.

Counter-intelligence
( Hints, if you need them. Those brave at heart wanting more surprises, stop reading here.)

This campaign has closely modeled the North's ability to utilize MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters in a limited CAP environment. Mi-24s and Su-25s have been tasked to strike at the heart of the small but lethal U.S. force north of Seoul. It's your job to maintain air superiority. While you can switch loadouts, resist the urge to go after DPRK ground attack units. They are no match for M1A1s, unless DPRK air units go unchallenged.

In mission 1 (3756), you are on a basic DCA flight up along the border. You'll discover U.S. armor units already under attack by Mi-24s that slipped under ROK air defense radars. Headquarters unit is already under attack. Lose just 10 percent of that unit and coordination of the three armor units falls apart and the DPRK march into Seoul unchallenged.

In mission 2 (BARCAP, 1031), you know the bad guys are out there but where are they? Note the assigned 45 minutes on CAP. You can bet the bad guys know when you took off. Go figure when they show up on radar. You can lose the entire war on this mission alone.

In mission 3 (DCA, 3760) You'll find an onslaught of DPRK forces. Make sure no attacking air units get under your radar.

In mission 4 (TARCAP, 7368), you're going to guard a SEAD flight that finally takes on that pesky SAM-5 site that keeps showing up along the FLOT. A little hint, it took us a while to get those F-4Gs armed for a SEAD flight. Don't go blowing yourself up by flying over that SAM site until they've gotten in there and gotten the job done. Remember, you're there to keep the bad guys in the air from shooting down the F-4s.

In mission 5 (ESCORT, 3762) We've finally got the goods on the location of the DPRK command and control headquarters leading the march on Seoul. We've got eight A-10s loaded for bear and a couple of Navy EA-6Bs equipped for stereo. Don't let any MiGs spoil the party.

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In mission 6 (DCA, 3785) Rumors are spreading that the DPRK are running low on Su-25s. They've converted some MiG-23s over for bombing purposes. They too have found our headquarters unit.

In mission 7 (ESCORT, 3771) Post strike analysis shows that we were right on the location of the DPRK headquarters unit. We were off on the bombs. Return to finish off what survived the first round of bombing.

In mission 8 (BARCAP, 189) The bad guys have finally figured we're getting a lot of information from our lone AWACS. Keep any MiG-29s or other riff-raff out of our air space.

In mission 9 (ESCORT, 3780) That DPRK rocket artillery continues to rain down on our M1A1s. Give the U.S. Army a hand and accompany a flight of Falcons going hunting.

In mission 10 (SWEEP 3787) Happy hunting.

In mission 11 (BARCAP, 116) The bad guys are almost out of air planes. Keep them out of our air space.

In mission 12 and 13 (ESCORT 413 and 3824) The Air Force rushed over some B-1Bs from Guam. We have discovered that rocket artillery battalion as the entire center of the enemy's mass. If our ground forces haven't knocked it out yet, the B-1Bs can win the war, here. Make sure they arrive as scheduled.

In the final DCA and BARCAP missions, we've held off a certain DPRK victory. But we haven't won either. These are stalling missions designed to force a stalemate. Keep the last elements of the enemy's air assets from destroying our headquarters unit. It's time to let the politicians get the job done.

NOTES

I have found no bugs in this campaign. Having played it about four times I find it easier to win if I carefully use my wingman to engage enemy MiGs while I go after Mi-24s and Su-25s. Using the "attack my target call" (W-1) at about 35 miles out results in a good percentage of wingman intercepts.