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Updated Tutorial: Battle of Abu Dhabi Play Through (markdown)

Jeet Sukumaran 2021-07-01 03:19:13 -07:00
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Tutorial:-Battle-of-Abu-Dhabi-Play-Through.md

@ -198,21 +198,27 @@ Turn 0 is actually a "pre-game" turn, where we will do two things:
3. Select the "Campaign Management" page from the list on the left.
![](https://i.imgur.com/2h0I30d.jpeg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/tmBRonX.jpg)
Here we can decide whether or not you want to allow full unrestricted access to all weapons available in DCS for each platform, or restrict them in some to enhance (or at least modify) gameplay.
In the top box (1) we can decide whether or not you want to allow full unrestricted access to all weapons available in DCS for each platform, or restrict them in some to enhance (or at least modify) gameplay.
For example, if we chose 1990 as the period of interest, checking the "Restrict weapons by date" box will only allow AIM-7's but not AIM-120's for all our Hornets and Vipers.
Similarly for air-to-ground weapons: no GPS weapons will be available.
Of course, *both* sides will be affected by the same weapons restriction.
Obviously, this will have a major impact on the dynamics of the game, potentially make it a lot more interesting and challenging.
By default, Liberation AI plans our side's missions every turn in addition to the enemy's.
We can fine tune how players are assigned missions by selecting one of the options from the "Automatic package planning behavior" drop down box.
In the bottom box (2), we can decide how much of our strategic and tactical planning is done for us by Liberation.
We have already asked Liberation to manage our assets and resources in the campaign setup, and this is indicated by the checked boxes: "Automate runway repairs", "Automate front-line purchases", and "Automate aircraft purchases".
![](https://i.imgur.com/cxPm4Gg.jpg)
But here we can also fine tune Liberation's mission planning with respect to how players are assigned missions by selecting one of the options from the "Automatic package planning behavior" drop down box.
![](https://i.imgur.com/esd6Le5.jpg)
You can read about the various options available [here](https://github.com/dcs-liberation/dcs_liberation/wiki/Squadrons-and-pilots).
For now, we are going to ask Liberation to run the mission planning for us, and set this to "Prefer player pilots", to make sure that sorties get assigned to human pilots first, and only to AI after all human pilot slots are filled.
For now, we are going to ask Liberation to run the mission planning for us, and set this to "Prefer player pilots", to make sure that sorties get assigned to human pilots first, and flights will only be assigned to AI after all human pilot slots are filled.
We also go ahead and ask Liberation to start human-piloted flights as soon as possible, to allow for the fact that humans are, after all, humans, and lack the infinite patience of AI:
![](https://i.imgur.com/djjqA7I.jpg)
4. Select the "Mission Generator" page from the list on the left.
@ -244,90 +250,7 @@ Turn 0 is actually a "pre-game" turn, where we will do two things:
- "EWRS": if we select this, you will be provided a sort of "super-AWACS-on-steroids" feed during the DCS mission.
- "Splash Damage": we almost certainly want this option. By default DCS does not model fragmentation or "near-impact" damage from explosives. This mod fixes is this.
After we have selected all the settings and options you want, close the dialog box, and now you are ready to select our order of battle!
## Setting Up Our Order of Battle
1. As noted above, the darker shaded blue icons are our Control Points.
Also as noted above, Control Points are the primary objectives of our campaign along the campaign axis.
In addition to serving as strategic objectives by which the campaign progress and success are measured, they are all also places at which we base and manage our forces.
2. Let's start with placing some ground units on the frontlines (we *always* want to have some ground units on the frontlines, otherwise you will almost certainly lose the turn).
"Khasab" is the Control Point just behind the front line.
Left-click on the dark blue icon representing this base to call up the resource management dialog.
![](https://i.imgur.com/hEsqWPE.jpeg)
This dialog has two tabs -- "Airfield Command" and "Ground Forces HQ".
![](https://i.imgur.com/O05wq8c.jpeg)
We click on "Ground Forces HQ" tab to switch to managing the ground forces.
On the panel on the left, we see all the various types available for this faction, followed by a number indicating how many are actually at this base now, followed by an indication of how much this type costs in Liberation's notional economy currency.
So, for example, the first row indicates that we have exactly 0 "LAV-25" vehicles at the base, and they cost 7 (million) each.
Next to this is a box with three elements: a "-" button, to remove one unit of this vehicle from the base; a number, indicating how many units of this vehicle we have "purchased" in this turn; and a "+" button, to tell Liberation to arrange for purchase of one unit of this vehicle the next turn.
We scroll down to "M1A2 Abrams" row, and click the "+" button 20 times to command the "purchase" of 20 units of the Abrams tank for the frontlines.
![](https://i.imgur.com/Hz6IcO1.jpeg)
We should see that the while the current number of Abrams remains 0, we have 20 now indicating as coming in the following turn.
We should also see that our "Available Budget" on the lower right of this dialog has gone from 2000 million to 1500 million.
Close the dialog box to return to the main map view.
3. Now let's set up some support aircraft assets, but at a base that is quite a bit further away from the front lines.
We right-click on "Bandar Abbas Intl", on the southern coast of Iran.
![](https://i.imgur.com/V80XkWd.jpeg)
Under the "Airfield Command", wscroll down to the "E-3A" row and press the "+" twice to acquire two of these AWACS aircraft.
![](https://i.imgur.com/ZK1H3FX.jpeg)
We only need one AWACS operational in every mission, but as there is a turn lag before our "purchases" get delivered, if the AWACS gets shot down in a particular mission and we have only one in the inventory, that means that even if we have the funds to replace the AWACS, we will have to wait a full turn for it to arrive and we will at the very least have to fly the following mission without AWACS support.
We will apply the same conservative logic to our land-based tanker assets: we scroll down the list to find the "KC-130" and "KC-135 Stratotanker" entries and add two of each.
![](https://i.imgur.com/trlX3Pt.jpeg)
4. Now let's take a look at our carriers.
![](https://i.imgur.com/kGwq9ir.jpeg)
The darker shaded naval icons indicate the two carriers we have in play: the fixed-wing CVN carrier strike group and the helicopter carrier ("LHA").
If we are unhappy with the placement of the carriers, we can move them by right-clicking and dragging them to a new location.
![](https://i.imgur.com/rz8q3uX.jpeg)
For example, if this were a (slightly) more realistic play, we may want to move at the carrier out of the Persian Gulf into at least the Gulf of Oman, as carrier strike groups love blue water and are really not comfortable moving into, let alone operating tactically, in restricted waters such as the Persian Gulf proper.
A line will appear from the current location leading to a semi-transparent icon indicating the future location.
Note that the future location will only take effect on the next turn.
For this example, we are going to leave the carriers in the Persian Gulf.
5. Once we are satisfied with the placement of the carriers, we left-click on the carrier icon to call up its asset management dialog.
![](https://i.imgur.com/yxTbaPq.jpeg)
We will add:
- 2x E-2C Hawkeyes, to give us local AWACS capability
- 4x S-3B Tankers, to give us organic refuelin capability
- 12x F-14A Tomcats
- 24x F/A-18C Hornets
Next, we left-click on the LHA to bring up its asset management dialog,
![](https://i.imgur.com/mfPfusA.jpeg)
and add:
- 16x AV-8B Harrier II's
And, with that, we are *done* with the initial order of battle setup!
After we have selected all the settings and options you want, close the dialog box.
6. The final step here is to let Liberation know who are human pilots are.
More specifically, we are going to tell Liberation which of the pilot "roles" are going to be filled out by humans and which will be filled out by AI.
@ -335,7 +258,7 @@ After we have selected all the settings and options you want, close the dialog b
![](https://i.imgur.com/ruPH8iX.jpg)
Here, we see a list of squadrons avaiable to us, and the type of aircraft that they fly.
Here, we see a list of squadrons available to us, and the type of aircraft that they fly.
We choose pilot slots to be assigned to humans, as opposed to the default AI, based on the aircraft.
So, for example, if we want to fly the F/A-18C in the missions generated by DCS, we would need to let Liberation know to assign a pilot slot from an F/A-18C squadron to a human player.
We select an F/A18C squadron from the list and double-click it to call up the pilot assignment dialog:
@ -350,7 +273,8 @@ After we have selected all the settings and options you want, close the dialog b
We can assign as many pilot slots as we need to provide client slots for human players in the game.
And, of course, they can be for different types of aircraft.
We can further fine tune the sortie types generated for human players by selectively checking or unchecking the mission types that the named pilot can fly.
So, for example, if we only wanted to fly A2A missions, we would uncheck all boxes except "Escort", "BARCAP", "TARCAP", and "Fighter Sweep".
So, for example, if we only wanted to fly A2A missions, we would uncheck all boxes except "Escort", "BARCAP", "TARCAP", and "Fighter Sweep".
(If we only wanted to flying *exciting* A2A missions, we would probably stick to just "Escort" or "Fighter Sweep" :) ).
Once we have set up the human pilot assignments, we close the Air Wing dialog.
@ -420,17 +344,6 @@ We left-click on the Blue Control Point (base) next to the front line to call up
![](https://i.imgur.com/cazngXa.jpg)
## "Purchasing" Replacement and New Forces for the Next Turn
One final thing to do before proceeding: think about replacements for any forces we may lose in action during this turn, or to provide resources for more missions (or even mission types) the next turn.
We see that our budget has been replenished somewhat:
![](https://i.imgur.com/co0VvrE.jpg)
This new "income" is based on various resources that we controlled in this turn (factories, oil fields, depots, etc.), and will vary from turn and turn as the the fortunes of war ebb and flow.
We carry out this new force acquisition process as before -- left-clicking on a Control Point base or carrier, and "purchasing" units by clicking on the "+" key.
## Generating the Mission to Fly in DCS
Before anything else, let us save the game in its current state so that we can always return to it if needed.