Add missing choppers to Timberline and Able Archer

[sniporbob]

I propose adding the UH-1H and Mi-8MTV2 helicopters to Timberline and Able Archer. They don't necessarily need their own TA to be useful, and here's why:

 

In addition to being my favorite aircraft to fly, they are also great for spotting enemy ground units. They're far superior at that than the A-10's, at least in my experience. I'm actually finding that, given a sufficient number of strikers, the completion of a TA is greatly sped up by having someone in a chopper marking hard to spot targets with smoke rockets for fixed wing assets. The Huey, with it's AI gunners, is also great for spotting that last remaining unit because the AI will often open fire from an incredible distance. Assisting the fixed wings at the main TA is so entertaining that I now completely skip the chopper TA and head over to the big boy TA to help out the A-10's and Su-25's. Recently I've seen other people doing this too. Currently this is only possible on the Leopard and Dragon Shield missions, because the other missions don't even have those choppers. Is there some reason we're not even given the option of flying the Huey or Mi-8 on those missions? I'd certainly like to fly them in Timberline and Able Archer too.

 

Thanks!

[Manawar]

Thanks for your post sniporbob,

 

I think it's a pretty good idea. I'm sure that IronMike or Maverick will take a look and take your suggestion into consideration. It may not hurt too bad to place a couple of those in the missions. We just have to be mindful of how many clients we place in the sim. As you know there is a certain limitation as to how many people we can have flying at one time. 

 

 

S!

[sniporbob]

Right, although I've noticed there are a great deal more aircraft slots than there are players allowed on the server at once. I wouldn't imagine adding the additional helicopter slots would have any performance impact since the server capped at 51 players regardless. I could very well be wrong though. I've never built a mission before and therefore haven't concerned myself with performance related things.

 

Anyway, thanks for the support!

[IronMike]

The reasone we have not added them so far, was that we wanted to give them propper missions (which takes quite a time for the little bugs). But if this support role is something which is common now on the server, we will be more than happy to add them. It will take a few days though, but it will be done.

 

Together with the other "small" modules, they should get missions down the road again. Normally we add them together with WWII/ MiG21/ F86 striker side missions or even give them their own transport missions.

 

In some missions we skip that totally, because more than clients (the number is limited anyway), AI units need to be balanced for game stability.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

S!