Computers - http://maxpages.com/catzmm/MiG

A computer-tasked mission deep into North Korea
If you've played MiG Alley you've probably discovered there is a whole lot more to it than just chasing MiG-15s high above the Yalu River. That's the beauty of this sim—to win the war, you must be more than just the ace of the base. A clarification: until Rowan patches MiG Alley, winning the war actually refers to the "Spring Offensive" and not the "Entire War." Stick and rudder skills are important, but you'll need to learn to prioritize targets and allocate limited sorties. This latter requirement might seem like torture to a player that just wants to "pull on the pole," so to speak. Consider this a warning. You can let the game automatically generate the tasking, but you will probably lose. At least that is the consensus among the MiG Alley faithful on the flight sim newsgroup. Many thanks to Ken Cook, a beta tester and frequent newsgroup contributor of MiG Alley advice.

Zoom into a target to get a better look
Killing MiGs has its place in a successful campaign. You have to keep the MiGs from interfering with your fighter-bomber missions. You as the overall commander must be able to stop the flow of men and supplies coming from the north. You must destroy enemy supply facilities, drop bridges, and cut rail lines to succeed. But the number of available targets is huge compared to the number of missions you can launch in a given flying period. Here's a breakdown of the targets on the planning map on the first day of the Spring Offensive: 29 bridges, 25 airfields, 25 trains, 6 marshaling yards, 33 truck convoys, and 26 supply facilities. You're not required to destroy every one of these, just prevent the enemy supplies from reaching the front.

Mission planning considerations
Tales from the Usenet and personal experience indicate a quick and painful defeat of United Nations forces if you give control of mission tasking to the computer. Take the time to read Chapter 3: Mission Planning in the MiG Alley Pilot's Handbook. There are many aspects of mission planning, and you can do as much or as little as you want. The pitch to you is simple: read the chapter and practice the mission planning tutorials.

Cursor over an icon reveals the target name
To prove a point, allow the computer to allocate the sorties. The computer defaults every strike sortie against three choke points (bridges) deep in North Korea, and has all the Sabres conducting a MiG sweep up along the Yalu. This is a recipe for disaster. Reallocate the airplanes and notice how the computer requires a minimum combination of 16 aircraft to conduct a mission. This can be a minimum of eight strike aircraft and eight escort Sabres, or all 16 can be strike aircraft. Here's a catch. The default mission construction appears to be eight airplanes tasked as air-to-air escorts, four tasked for flak suppression, and the remaining aircraft to hit the assigned target. If you assign 16 strike aircraft without any Sabre escort, then you effectively guarantee a failed mission, since only four will attack the assigned target. It's a major waste of sorties to have your fighter-bombers flying escort in an area with a negligible MiG threat. The computer will also frag missions against low priority targets with insufficient force to succeed. In the Spring Offensive, time is not your ally. You cannot afford to waste sorties. Clearly you cannot afford to blindly let the computer assign your tasking.

F-80s outbound for Flak Suppression
So what's a gamer to do? Select the target and the composition of the strike force. Clicking on the Target List icon pops up a box with targets sorted by military regions (you can also sort them by activity level). Unless you know Korea like the back of your hand, you will spend excess brain bytes trying to figure out target location using this box. A more efficient method is to just look at the map and note the red target icons. Running the cursor over an icon reveals its name; and a click brings up its dossier. Now you can see the activity level, the flak threat, and the MiG threat. Now decide: Do you really need Sabres to escort that bridge strike? Do you need Flak Suppression in a low flak area? There are reports that Flak Suppression flights require lots of customizing to work effectively. Fortunately you can save your custom mission profiles for future missions. Military Intelligence is not perfect, and MiG Alley's is no different. Sometimes the intelligence briefing is even wrong—expect little flak over the target and then lose the entire strike package to heavy flak the dirty rotten Commies brought in that morning. Pretty neat, just like real life.

Turning room to re-attack
One technique is to attack targets that are in the same general area during a flying period. Then only assign Sabres to escort one or two of the strikes. This essentially provides a MiG CAP for that entire area. Try this on the first day by attacking Osan airbase, Pyongtaek airbase, Pyongtaek supply depot, Suwon airbase, and Suwon supply depot, all in the first flying period. There will be heavy MiG activity in the area. While Sabres will engage any MiG threat, strikers will only attack their specific target complex. "Target complex" is a subtle way of suggesting you take the time in your mission planning to study the target. Click on the target icon and zoom in all the way. Now you can see the relative position of flak and mission-critical targets.

Air-to-air considerations
The basic Sabre formation in MiG Alley is a four-ship flight consisting of two elements or pairs. The welded wing was the basic two-ship combat formation for Sabre pilots. If you've read Robert Shaw's book on air combat you know the current wisdom regarding the welded wing formation. Sabre wingmen had two responsibilities: don't get separated from your leader and look around. Flying formation took priority over "checking six." The flight lead concentrated on killing MiGs while the wingman hung on for dear life and soaked up the unobserved kill.

Rockets on target
Okay, that over simplifies it, but the typical Sabre formation had a "patrol" and "fighting" position. These positions are modeled nicely in MiG Alley. In the "patrol" formation, wingmen fly approximately 35 degrees aft of their leader's 3-9 line at a distance where they can still read the large numbers on the fuselage. In the "fighting" position, the wingmen collapse toward lead's six o'clock at a distance where they can read the small numbers on the vertical stabilizer. In real life wingmen were expected to maneuver within a 35-degree cone off lead's tail. If a wingman saw a bandit closing from six o'clock he was to report it and attempt to get line abreast with his leader for mutual support. The idea is to present a targeting problem for the MiG. The MiG picks one Sabre and the other Sabre counter-attacks. This was hard enough in real life; it's a bear in MiG Alley. Wingmen will never tell you they're engaged defensively or that they've been damaged.

Speedbrakes extended to control a rejoin
You will encounter bandits of various abilities. Don't get complacent. The MiGs in the early encounters are not very aggressive nor do they defend themselves very well. Take this opportunity to practice your best offensive BFM (Basic Fighter Maneuvers) and stomp MiGs. When the MiG you singled out flies a big level circle, don't put him in the gunsight and merrily chase him around the sky. If you find yourself in a co-speed tail chase it's time to use a low yo-yo and cut across the bandit's turn circle from below. It bears repeating what current fighter pilots are taught: Only put the bandit in your gunsight when you are ready to shoot him. In other words, when you're on the offense, use the padlock feature and keep your target somewhere near your canopy bow as you maneuver. Don't practice bayonet BFM. As you arc across the circle, align the MiG's tail with the tip of the outside wing. This controls your closure and will keep you on the offensive. A quick tap of the C key and your wingman will tell you if you're clear. If you get no reply, check six! If the MiG sees you and reacts, you won't out-turn him unless you cheat and use flaps. The other option is to maneuver toward the MiG's six o'clock to preserve your offensive position. The MiG may lose sight of you and might relax his maneuvering. It happens, just like real life. Then again, he may be setting you up to get bounced by another MiG. It happens. There are three things to remember for a gun kill: You must be in range (that's less than 500 yards to hurt a MiG); you must have your guns/nose in lead of the MiG; and, if you want a tracking shot, your Sabre must be in the same plane of motion as the MiG. Good hunting and check six.

mmorphon00@yahoo.com

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Page Updated Mon Feb 28, 2000 8:25pm EST