I feel like I’m kind of out of date when it comes to DCS World multiplayer. I’ve been on at least a few of the popular servers out there in recent times. Back in the spring I had a pretty fun stint flying the Gazelle on Heatblur’s Cold War server running some fun recon ops but since then it’s been very little. One of the things that I’ve been looking for is an easily accessible PvE training server where a friend or two can hop on some modules and go test some stuff out. I think I might have found that!

Back in the day

There were three servers that I used to frequent when I wanted a good DCS World multiplayer experience. Hoggit’s Georgia at War, Persian Gulf at War and the Training Server. The first two were a kind of simplified (compared to modern DCS servers) dynamic campaign setup where players fought against the AI and attempted to push them back and take control of ground objectives as the battle pushed its way along the map. It was fun and challenging but also mostly approachable. When I wasn’t there, I was often on the groups training server because that was a good place to see if all of your module knowledge was coming together nicely… or not.

Through the passage of time, a couple of neck issues on my part, change in personal schedules, and various other issues… my DCS multiplayer time had become limited. When I was flying, it tended to be single player. And single player is great! But sometimes you want to do something else and fly in a more dynamic environment that you can take a friend or two into. Thus, my search for a new training server began.

The other night I landed (or rather took off from) the 4YA Training Server. It was well populated when I saw it on the server list and when I joined I saw a modern DCS World multiplayer experience. Dynamic spawns with a huge list of modules available, hot starts available, labelled target zones, and enough stuff going on that you could curate your online experience to an extent based on what you wanted to learn.

I decided to hop into the DCS: MiG-29A Fulcrum. Its the module I’ve been flying the most recently and its an insanely fun airplane to fly around. My combat abilities have slightly improved and I decided to take the jet up into the hot combat zone well to the north of the Senaki launch base.

After a smooth takeoff and a fun performance departure, I turned north and got on with the AWACS controller to get some steering guidance. A couple bandits over 150 km away. Off I went climbing up through 33,000 feet.

The first contact on my radar was the AWACS, an E-3 Sentry, which was also providing me with the targeting information.

After that, things started to a get a little more complex. A player flown Su-27 had also entered into the zone and engaged a distant bandit. It going down in a ball of fire easily visible from dozens of kilometers away. My turn was coming up as another hostile target, confirmed by AWACS, was on my nose.

I struggled to get a lock initially but switching to the head-on mode and closing the distance allowed the radar to get me a firing solution. Launch authorized and fire! An R-27 flew off the rail and, in the high altitude air, left a tremendous streak behind it as it bore in on the target.

I practised some rolls back and forth as the missile homed in on my radar’s target. I was curious to explore the gimble limits and the quality of the track, particularly online, but nothing seemed to phase it and I received confirmation that my target had been destroyed: visually and in a message from the server.

Ahead of me, the Su-27 had scored another kill as I went looking for my next target. This area on the server appears to be the hotzone where enemy aircraft and air defense systems fire back. I was worried that I might run into trouble with that as the MiG-29 has less situational awareness than the F-16 and F/A-18 that I’m a little more used to flying.

But I pressed on and was looking to engage another target but by now I was deeper into hostile territory. Before I could get a solid lock on the next hostile, my RWR started making lots of the bad beeps. Ground radar lock. I looked around and sure enough, missile trails were coming up against the Su-27… and me!

My defensive manuevering is rusty and I didn’t get into a good defensive position right away. I held the countermeasure button and flares and chaff began flying away from my jet… but it was too late. The SAM had me and my MiG-29 spiralled down into the ground.

Inauspicious return but lessons learned

With quick start-up times, not overly long flying distances, and low stakes… 4YA’s Training server experience on this first sortie was a good one. I was able to get some learning done and deal with enemy opposition that I wasn’t really factoring in.

That’s all part of that training experience no matter if you’re a rusty veteran or a newbie out for their first multiplayer experience.

I’ll be back on there again! You may want to check it out too!