F-5E: Aggressors Basic Fighter Maneuvers Campaign DLC

good plane :)

Worth every penny! 9/10

Didn't load on DCS from library..

I would like to give my review from a noob DCS pilot point of view. I think this might be useful for new players like me. BTW my sim experience is 250 hours of IL2, and about 90 hours DCS (probably 70 of those hours were spent binding controls lol) I sarted DCS with the F15, and while I learned to fly, take off, land, and operate it's systems in a couple of days, actually using it in "combat" in the campaigns still felt completely out of my control. I could complete some missions, but only after several attempts of trial and error and sometimes I had to look for videos of other people completing the mission and copy their actions. I would like to learn how to make good tactical decisions myself, and eventually to complete missions on the first try. So I thought it would be a good idea to start with something simpler to learn the basics and build up my knowledge and capabilities from the ground up. So I got the F5 and the BFM and ACM campaigns (and hopefully the Red Flag campaign as soon as it is available!). Now, to the campaign itself. It's quality is awesome. From the voice communications to the flight plans, excercise rules, documents, to the missions themselves, everything is very well made with an evident attention to detail. I have seen some criticism because of the high apparent difficulty of the campaign, specially considering the AI flight model wich is kind of unfair. Here is where I think my point of view will help other new players. The first few missions I played where extremely frustrating. Even though I learned to navigate with TACAN in the training mission, following the directions in the familiarization flight was almost impossible for me. It was too much information, and as soon as the subtitles dissappear I forgot everything. Then, the first duel with the F5's, It seemed completely impossible to ever shoot one down. After a few tries I was about to forget about it and play something else. BUT! There is a big BUT. After I read this topic below everything changed. I managed to complete the familiarization flight, and after a couple hours playing the different practice missions I can now kill my adversaries about 50% of the time, force them to the deck another 25%, and timeout the rest. I'm sure with a few more hours of practice I will be able to successfully complete this campaign. And I know my skills and control of the aircraft have improved a lot. Here it is: https://forums.eagle.ru/topic/151941-hints-and-tips-for-the-f-5e-bfm-campaign/ If you are thinking of getting this campaign, do it. It is hard, it is challenging, the AI FM is unfair (not Maple Flag's fault), but if you take your time to learn all the things you need, you will improve and eventually complete it successfully.

The F-5E is one of my favorite planes in DCS so any additional missions or campaigns are welcomed. This was a joy to play through. I look forward to more from Maple Flag.

You must download the DCS BETA or be on the new 2.0 version of the game. You must also buy the Navada map AND the F-5 modules.

This campaign is a series of 1v1 engagements against AI planes. If you're not a seasoned player or retired fighter pilot, you will probably get stuck in mission 3 where you have to win against 3 other F5E's which fly like bunch of UFO's. None of the player's restrictions like energy retention, need to save fuel etc. seems to apply to those AI piloted planes. If you're lucky enough and manage to shot one or even two of them down, you will probably not make it home, due to bingo fuel. Very frustrating experience. This campaign will teach you basics of TACAN navigation, map reading etc. but difficulty curve is just too steep. It also shows the current poor state of the AI. Voice acting is good but gets boring quick. I wanted to recommend this campaign, but it wasn't fun for me. I saw videos on YT where people were shooting down down those AI planes, so if you poses the same skills, you can give it a try, otherwise you will get frustrated very quickly.