Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnewsc!opus
From: opus@cbnewsc.att.com (robin.g.kim)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games
Subject: Re: Falcon Counterstrike
Summary: It's possible to win.
Message-ID: <1990Sep17.125645.18065@cbnewsc.att.com>
Date: 17 Sep 90 12:56:45 GMT
References: <264.26F1E6E4@keys.FIDONET.ORG>
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 47

In article <264.26F1E6E4@keys.FIDONET.ORG>, Rick.Dieffenbach@f43.n135.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Rick Dieffenbach) writes:
> Who has done something extraodinary with Falcon Counterstrike?  I 
> have caused a Total Industrial Shutdown at Lt Col level, but never 
> at Colonal.   Seems way to hard. 

I've won twice.  The key is to complete the objectives for two or three
missions each flight.  I agree it is difficult, though.  The first time
I "won," I destroyed the last factory by crashing into it!  I guess I took
a little too long trying to get a perfect lock on for my Mavericks.

The second time I survived.  I did it in four missions.  On the first,
I took out the tanks and landing craft, the west bridge, the northwest
factory, three SAM sites, and the train.  I usually try to take out the
power station too, but Sarge didn't give me enough Mavericks.  On the second,
I took out the southeast factory and then the power station.  To take out
the factory, I approached from the EAST.  This allowed me to approach from
a high altitude (to avoid Grails) without having the two SAMs fire
at me.  I was able to launch, do a quick 180, and escape without being
fired upon.  On the third, I wasted a Maverick by missing a tank, which
left me too few to take out the power station.  I blew away the power station
on the fourth mission, but on the way back I flew too close to a SAM site,
and it launched at me.  I can almost never evade Gainfuls, and I thought I
was history.  I hit the afterburner and maneuvered wildly, releasing chaff
as I went.  I was down to one chaff, when I happened to look behind me and
saw the missile was about 2 seconds away from hitting me.  I dropped the chaff,
the missile went by, and that was it.

By the way, I never use the ECM pod.  I always take a single fuel tank, which
I like to drop after it becomes empty, but you can't drop it without dropping
the ECM pod at the same time, so I just skip it.  It's easier to just avoid
the SAM sites, anyway, and also the Gainfuls will often hit even with ECM.
The easiest way to defeat SAMs is to allow enemy planes to follow you at
about 15-30 miles.  The SAMs won't even launch.  I lead enemy planes all
over the map doing this.

> I like counterstrike much better than the original Falcon.  I find 
> the original difficult to use AGM-65's... they seem to never lock on 
> correctly.    Anyone experience the same problem?

Yes, the newer version is much easier, but I still find it more reliable
to get extremely close to a target before pickling it.  Especially when
one miss can blow the whole mission.

Good luck!

						Robin Kim
						att!ihlpe!opus