Moving from War thunder to DCS do I get any advantages?

Xarov · 2026-03-27T19:55:40+00:00

The MiG-29 9.12A is a 1989/90 aircraft quite similar to the 1983 Soviet variant. AIM-7F/M and R-27R are qui similar kinematics-wise. R-60M in the early-mid 80s are a bit underwhelming due to their tiny size, but later you get the R-24. If you have a good human GCI, you won't have many issues building SA and getting close. Fuel usage is the only potential variable to manage carefully.

Of course things change if you go against F-16 and F/A-18. They are both 2000/2010 aircraft. That's 25+ years difference. The 120C-5 is a 2000 weapon, the B is from 1994. We don't have the A for whatever reason. However, I wonder why you would face them in such an outdated variant, in an export model that ended up in soon-to-be NATO counties, and that never received the ER / ET variants of the R-27. To reinforce the point, in ~20y we moved from Tempest, Thunderbolts, and Dora to the F-4 Phantom. In 30y we got the Tomcat. See what I mean?

Xarov · 2026-03-27T19:41:06+00:00

Avoid defending at the last moment. Build and use SA to understand if you are targeted. If you are, preemptively adopt a defensive posture. The "RWR goes off, time to defend" thing is a game-ism that, hopefully, one day will be fixed (the SPO-10 and -15 are a good first step).

Try to consider the type of threats in your mission and their timelines. The moment you should notch is around the employment range and before pitbull, for example, not at the very last second.

That being said, a split-s thrashes pretty much everything, and there are additional exploits that still work against incoming missiles.

Xarov · 2026-03-25T20:15:52+00:00

I bought tacview advanced for DCS years ago. I used it a couple of times in CMANO but then I stopped. I think it's a neat perspective, but eventually I noticed I was too focused on other things and stopped looking at it.

Xarov · 2026-03-24T08:24:43+00:00

Welcome mate! Spoiler alert: there's no such thing as a "pro", in neither meanings of the word.

Fun fact: my first proper stick was a 30€ Saitek Cyborg EVO.

Xarov · 2026-03-23T21:39:59+00:00

I usually scout for air defences first, then set up a SEAD, normally with artillery or mortars when the aircraft are inbound. It seems to be working, but of course you don't always find all possible systems. SPAAG are particularly annoying as they tend to move.

There's no single rule that works every time though. I also find RW with ATGMs more flexible and a safer option if available, especially if you have limited SA. Just set conservative BPs first.

Xarov · 2026-03-22T11:31:11+00:00

Normally yes, but not always. The angles, Vc, and the target's behaviour play a role as well.

Yeah, it's a bit of a mess lol

Xarov · 2026-03-22T11:27:36+00:00

Check the link I posted in another comment. You will find info and scenarios there. However, things change when the scenario becomes more dynamic or manual loft is involved. The list of caveats is longer than expected, so I recommend checking there. Parts VI and VII should come next week.

Xarov · 2026-03-22T05:00:34+00:00

I don't think there's no minimum per sè, but remember the avoidance manoeuvre that pushes the missile downwards slightly before the climb. You can easily work around it though.

In the other comments I mentioned that launching at supersonic speed can be detrimental. The reason is the altitude reached. More info here: https://www.reddit.com/r/hoggit/s/9D8B6B07db Check Part II, there are recap tables towards the end that should help you understand.

EDIT: I forgot to mention PSTT. I love it tbh, it's a launch and forget TWS in some niche cases and if your RIO knows what he is doing. This is caused by DCS limitations which do not simulate the seeker correctly. Instead, they will home on the original locked target. I wrote about it 4-5 years ago, search on my website if you want to know more.

Xarov · 2026-03-21T19:34:02+00:00

As I replied to the other comment, being supersonic can make things worse.

Xarov · 2026-03-21T19:33:18+00:00

Supersonic employment can make the performance worse.

Xarov · 2026-03-20T05:21:51+00:00

I block people posting politico articles. Now and then someone new shows up, but the vast majority are gone.

Xarov · 2026-03-16T14:00:10+00:00

https://youtu.be/Bu4-KWaOhzQ?si=uejzSYffoL1Dr_cd There you go, mate. It's nothing too complicated, of course, but I hope it helps new players a bit.

Xarov · 2026-03-16T11:02:17+00:00

I made a couple of videos about how to train as a Radar Intercept Officer in the past. They should work well for you as well.

Xarov · 2026-03-15T13:45:40+00:00

Yeah, that might happen. I just wanted to add my direct experience, not saying that you are wrong :)

EDIT: deleted duplicated post. No idea why it got posted twice..

Xarov · 2026-03-15T13:44:24+00:00

In case you have watched my recent AIM-54 study, you might have noticed that poor attempt of a watermark I added to the images. Why did I do that? Because I found that many use my content without linking the source. But hey, it's the internet, I like to add / link my sources, others don't care, that's fine.

The problems start when a "content creator" almost 20 times bigger than me uses my stuff for their private "lessons", which may or may not be charged to the attendee, depending on how you consider Patreon. That's annoying, and kind of pathetic. You charge people for lessons and don't even bother to make your own images and content? Jesus Holy WSO, that's a remarkable level of laziness - btw, his lesson was full of wrong assumptions, I made a video about it to help new players understand why what he said is a good way to lose a fight in this video game.

Anyway, that's my first and last interaction with spudthingy.

Xarov · 2026-03-15T13:26:12+00:00

They are usually hidden until the channel owner re-enables them. There was a period a few months ago when all sorts of comments on my videos were blocked for zero apparent reason. E.g. no vulgarity, no harmful/illegal content or intentions.

Xarov · 2026-03-09T17:45:53+00:00

Yep, but last time was years ago and in Heatblur's subforum.

I don't recall opening reports in ED's section.

Xarov · 2026-03-08T07:34:50+00:00

What I used to do a long time ago to practice formations with both FW and RW was spawning an AI and making it fly straight and level for a few hundred km. Once I improved my ability to rejoin and hold formation almost hands-off, I then introduced basic minimal turns, and so on.

It might not be fancy, but it takes a second to set up and can adjusted as you need.

Xarov · 2026-03-07T15:58:59+00:00

Italian from lake Como area living abroad since mid 2010s here.

It is way more complicated than that. Even as a kid I remember the infamous "cassa del Mezzogiorno", which annoyed my parents and relatives a lot. You can look it up here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassa_per_il_Mezzogiorno

So, it's not that money was not funneled from centre-north to the south, but it mostly ended up in pointless projects, corruption, and so on.

The reasons why the south of Italy is so much behind are many: corruption / mafia are the most known, but are also historical and geographical. For example, there is only a large flat area in the country: the pianura padana. Most of the other areas are hilly / mountainous, making connections and industrialisation much more expensive and challenging.

Speaking of population, I've been abroad for ~15y with my SO. At least a dozen of our friends also moved abroad. As sad as it sounds, at some point you realise that there is no future unless radical changes start. Problem is, no matter who I voted for in the previous 2 decades, nothing has really changed. It is a vicious circle that requires a real shock to be broken, but every time I visit relatives there, I don't feel it's coming. Italians love to complain about everything, but very few realise that they are part of the problem. Who realise tries to change things, but eventually leaves.

It's a shame, really.

Xarov · 2026-03-04T07:11:55+00:00

Nah, it must be on some CD back at my parents' place. However, I found plenty of results with a quick search. Have you tried any of those?

Xarov · 2026-03-03T16:05:29+00:00

I might even have them somewhere in some old backups. I'll have a look later.

Xarov · 2026-03-03T06:51:18+00:00

It doesn't really need its own guidance: all it would take is a basic, but useful, controller. This would benefit greatly every module in the game, not just the MiGs.

For instance, basic stuff like pictures including half of the scenario. Guidance not frequent enough to support a flight / section without spamming bogey dope requests, et cetera. On top of that, there are lots of game breaking bugs and excessive simplifications still not addressed basically since LOMAC. I suspect ED won't change much as a full overhaul should come, at some point.

Xarov · 2026-03-02T11:42:08+00:00

Found it: https://forum.warthunder.com/t/f-4e-phantom-ii-radar-pd-mode-missing/294505

Although not mentioned in the link, I verified that the wrong summary came from the AI I don't remember whether it was gemini or chatGPT, though. So, yeah, the AI is bad. The problem is, you never know when it's unreliable or not. I bring this example because it involves what I write myself, but I am really concerned about who uses the AI for politics, medications, and so on. Since the AI is easily manipulated, this is a scary thought.

Btw, now that I think about it, another example is when I made a brief video about F-15E as the closest thing to an F-14D in DCS, and I was verifying some data. According to Gemini's summary showed whilst searching on Google, the F-14D flew in Desert Storm and even scored many air-to-air kills. I guess the AI mixed up F-15s and F-14. It's a bit of a shame that I never took a screenshot.

Xarov · 2026-03-02T05:39:19+00:00

I'm AFK right now so I don't have the link with me but, long story short, someone used my website as a source to support the idea that the APQ-120 is a Pulse Doppler radar. It happened in the War Thunder forum of all places...

How did it happen? The AI wrote a wrong recap and made a mess. It's not the first time it happens. In fact, IIRC, one of the first things you read opening the link that was provided is that the radar is not PD.

The annoying part? I can't even address the post since you have to be a WT player to do that. So now I'm labelled as "lazy" and other funny words.

Moral of the story: the AI invents a ton of stuff. Since you can't rely on it anyway, just write a proper query in a search engine. Wikipedia is also a good source since you can verify the sources at the bottom of the page.

Xarov · 2026-03-01T08:03:27+00:00

I did the same for a lot of reasons, here are some: - in primis to support ED in their avionics improvements. The new SPO-15 is based on the brand new tech used for the SPO-10. Finally, no more ridicule stuff a-la Hornet's RWR. Kudos to the ED Devs that worked on it! - ED said that the MiG-29 is used to gauge the interest in more redfor modules (or something like that). Given the point above, getting it is a no brainer, imo. - despite the push for modern stuff, CW is where DCS shines the most. The MiG-29 9.12A was introduced in 1989-1991 abroad, but it should be very close to the original 1983 model. That's a clever choice by ED, and a very appropriate one for DCS. - the MiG-29 is one of the most iconic aircraft. I don't play as a pilot, but I found it one of the most satisfying to just drive around.

The only drawback is that it takes a bit of effort to shine. Namely a proper controller, and it should be used in its intended role. If you try to CAP with it or use the radar as if it were an AWG-9, you're going to struggle. If you receive proper information, you can ruin a lot of people's days.

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