DCS Foothold Syria Cold War: Our Experience

For the past two weeks we have been running a very interesting mission in our private DCS server. This mission has allowed us to get back into playing longer and cooperative DCS sessions with our friends for a plethora of reasons. Let's talk about some of the experiences we've had so far in this refreshing mission! The mission is a modified version of Foothold Syria, the same mission we had before. Aaron modified the mission to make it a bit more "Cold War". Not a realistic cold war setting, but one that is a bit more limited in terms of weaponry and aircraft.
We no longer have access to GPS guided weapon or any of the advanced long-range weapons for air to ground engagements. That means that we are limited to older "iron" bombs and just a couple of the anti-radiation missiles for convenience purposes. Air weapons got adjustments too, particularly the number of Active Seeker missiles that are available to certain airframes. This has made us think a bit more about which planes to use for certain roles and missions as now planes that served the same role (F-14A/F-14B) are no longer capable of performing the same missions All enemies have been adjusted to fit these new weapon limitations as well. Air threats are mostly composed of mid and late cold war aircraft as well as a couple of high-skill 4th gen soviet planes that act as the primary aerial threats. Just like in the regular version of the mission, we have the capability of gaining points to call in AI support flights as well as AWACS and tankers. These units have been adjusted to fit the new setting and rules, so they feel quite balanced. I personally feel like I have to pre-plan my missions a lot more now. Before, with the regular mission, it felt like it was extremely easy to steamroll objectives. It felt almost effortless to wipe the map clean off of enemies in just a few sessions. The changes have made it so that progress is a lot slower, but still fair. It is not that the mission is more difficult, but the act that it feels a lot more balanced. Capturing airbases with helicopters while one or more of your friends cover your ingress is great. The same applies to using irons to go against convoys and armored targets alike, it is a very enjoyable experience. I can no longer just stay at 40K feet lobbing GPS guided bombs and glider munitions from ten comfort of my cockpit. If you want someone gone, you will have to get down there, below the clouds, to deliver your ammunitions. To say that this has been a breath of fresh air would be an understatement. I have been enjoying being on the skies with my friends again, all thanks to this mission. About the Author Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos Longtime aviation fanatic with particular preference towards military aviation and its history. Said interests date back to the early 2000's leading into his livelong dive into civil and combat flight simulators. He has been involved in a few communities but only started being active around the mid 2010's. Joined as a Spanish to English translator in 2017, he has been active as a writer and the co-founder of Skyward ever since. Twitter | Discord : Cubeboy #9034