In this persistent dynamic campaign, your goal is to move through the map and capture all zones from the enemy.
As you capture some areas, you will unlock benefits for your coalition such as friendly air patrols, or new spawn positions. Beware as the enemy will also launch attacks to retake what was once theirs.
This is a modified and extended version of the original.
-- Updated 16/04/23 with various changes and tweaks --
I have taken the excellent "foothold" mission by dzsekeb and expanded on it to incorporate Cyprus, Southern Turkiye, Lebanon and some more of Southern Syria than the original mission file.
There are 76 Target zones now.
The mission starts off in Cyprus, flying from Akrotiri, or from the USS Stennis off the coast of Syria. It can be played any way, but it is designed to be more of a reversal from the original route.
I have only placed playable slots for F/A-18C, F-16C, A-10C 2, AH-64D, AV-8B, Hercules mod, UH-60L Mod as this suits my Squadron, but it is simple enough to add more/different units.
Original Mission -
https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3324743/
In this persistent dynamic campaign, your goal is to move through the map and capture all zones from the enemy.
As you capture some areas, you will unlock benefits for your coalition such as friendly air patrols, or new spawn positions. Beware as the enemy will also launch attacks to retake what was once theirs.
The goal is to capture all zones.
Helpful video by @Diesel_Thunder to get you started: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzDlYHViREA
To capture a zone, first you need to destroy all enemy forces deployed there, in order to turn the zone neutral.
Neutral zones can be captured either by assisting friendly AI supply aircraft, which periodically spawn at friendly zones, to land at them, or by loading up supplies and dropping them off yourself using helicopters.
Friendly zones can be upgraded with extra units to improve their defense using the same mechanics as capturing.
If a zone has a group that is missing units, a supply delivery will first restore that group. An upgrade will only occur if all existing groups are in good condition.
These rules are common to all zones, but some zones can provide special bonuses as well, like friendly air patrols, AI air support, or unlock new spawn points.
The enemy AI will also launch attacks to recapture lost zones, air patrols to protect their airspace and supply deliveries to reinforce their defenses, so plan accordingly.
Feel free to use the map to get an idea of what is happening, and use the F10 radio menu to get a report about any of the zones.
Some spawns will be blocked until you capture the zone they are in. The name of the required zone can be found in the unit/group name on the spawn menu.
Some zones have critical structures that, once destroyed, will permanently disable the zone, making it uncapturable for both sides. You can make use of this to easily deny the benefits of a zone for the enemy, at the cost of not being able to make use of it in the future.
Certain zones are not meant to be captured at all. These usually offer certain bonuses, or handicap the enemy if cleared.
You can earn credits that can be used to call in support aircraft.
To call in support you can either use the F10 Radio menu, or use map markers (place a map marker anywhere, and set its label to "help" to display available commands)
Earn credits by:
Destroying enemy units and landing at a friendly zone to claim your kills
Capturing certain zones that provide a steady income
Delivering supplies to friendly zones
Rescuing downed pilots and dropping them off at friendly zones.
Certain missions that periodically appear will reward credits upon completion
~~~~Note on Persistence~~~~
Persistence is also available in case you want to stop and resume the mission at a later time. The state is saved every minute.
In order for persistence to work you will need to edit the following file in your DCS install directory: \Scripts\MissionScripting.lua
Edit the following section:
do
sanitizeModule('os')
sanitizeModule('io')
sanitizeModule('lfs')
_G['require'] = nil
_G['loadlib'] = nil
_G['package'] = nil
end
to look like this:
do
sanitizeModule('os')
--sanitizeModule('io')
--sanitizeModule('lfs')
_G['require'] = nil
_G['loadlib'] = nil
_G['package'] = nil
end
To reset the persistence and play the mission again from the start, delete footholdSyria_1.0.lua found in your DCS save games/missions/saves directory.
~~~~Note for running this on dedicated servers~~~~
For the slot blocking to work, you will need to copy the slotblock.lua file into the savegames folder on the server under Scripts/Hooks and restart the server.
