03-22-2016, 01:11 PM
(03-22-2016, 12:32 PM)Sithis link Wrote:We do have known enemy locations. Of course we have to take some risks, but instead of landing between the enemies Kamikaze style we could do two things:
This is getting ridiculous. We did not land "between enemies" and not "Kamikaze-Style". Your pilot landed you on top of a roadblock, that was not what I ordered. Even if I sound like a broken record, I ordered to only land if it is safe.
Quote:Yes, but not thanks to planning and knowledge of the enemy AA set up, but thanks to luck. One unseen terrain feature or one AA in a slightly different spot and that would have been it.
That is where you are wrong. I was 90% sure that the hills would shield us. I know the area, both towns are behind the hills. There is open ground to the east of it, and a narrow valley to the west of the eastmost town. If you don't believe me, go look it up. There was only a small window were AA would be able to engage, which is why I said to fly in from the south.
Quote:It is 100% the leaders task. Espacially when on the next insertion one pilot says it is to risky and the leader says "well you will do it anyway". We are talking transport helicopters not recon choppers. The pilot has no way of knowing weather the LZ is safe until something blows him to pieces. It is the leaders responsibility to minimize that risk.
It is the leaders responsibility to make the mission fun. For me, that always means I prefer a risky approach over a lame duck approach. It does not matter in this case. As I explained above, I was reasonably certain we would be covered. The place that Unnamed mentioned were he got shot down before was within said valley.
Quote:Well we have 1 km walk in several missions, so I did not see this as an issue.
I did. I have played this mission before, and last time it took almost 2 hours. And yes, I anticipated the pilots to be mostly out of work for the second part of the mission once they dropped us off at the final LZ, so I tried to minimize the wait for them. Which, incidentally, is also the reason why I ordered the chopper to drop off the recon team instead of having them walk there.
I struck a balance between (calculated) risks and boring hikes through a featureless desert by night. I will not apologize for the approach I took, and it was BY FAR less risky like you make it appear. There was nothing Kamikaze about it, and the issue with the roadblock was entirely up to the pilot of Charlie and Delta. I believe it was BlinDog and I fell sorry for him because he was more or less forced into the role since it was the only slot left.
However, I will not allow you to pin words like "Kamikaze" on this, the same way I will not allow you to pin that thing with the APC on my orders. I expect enough autonomy from everyone involved. Unnamed and BlinDog did an admirable job getting us to LZ Arizona, just as I expected them to. As I said, I know the terrain, and I was pretty sure that this approach would work, and it did. I wasn't just playing Russian Roulette.
Were I faced with the same decisions, I would take them again, so please stop pretending that I was yelling "Alahu Akbar" and running in with blazing barrels.
I don't need luck, I have ammo.