Apache Air Assault (a.k.a. Operation Air Assault) Unofficial Strategy Guide and FAQ by Kasey Chang released April 30, 2004 0 Introduction This section is for "what the FAQ is about" and things like that. Feel free to skip this section. If you like the FAQ, please send me a dollar. :-) See [0.3] This FAQ is about Apache Air Assault, the budget helicopter combat game from InterActive Vision, published by Activision Value in the US. In other parts of the world it's known as "Operation Air Assault". 0.1 A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR There doesn't seem to be any FAQ for this budget game, so here it comes. This is a FAQ, NOT a manual. Not that you really need a manual to play this budget sim. This USG only covers the PC Version, which is the only one that exists. Some of you may recognize my name as the editor for the XCOM and XCOM2: TFTD FAQ's, among others. 0.2 TERMS OF DISTRIBUTION This document is copyrighted by Kuo-Sheng "Kasey" Chang (c) 2004, all rights reserved excepted as noted above in the disclaimer section. This document is available FREE of charge subjected to the following conditions: 1)This notice and author's name must accompany all copies of this document: "Apache Air Assault Unofficial Strategy Guide and FAQ" is copyrighted (c) 2004 by Kasey K.S. Chang, all rights reserved except as noted in the disclaimer." 2)This document must NOT be modified in any form or manner without prior permission of the author with the following exception: if you wish to convert this document to a different file format or archive format, with no change to the content, then no permission is needed. 2a) In case you can't read, that means TXT only. No banners, no HTML borders, no cutting up into multiple pages to get you more banner hits, and esp. no adding your site name to the site list. [Small exception: a "small" toolbar with no banners embedded is okay. See IGN or Neoseeker for examples.] 3)No charge other than "reasonable" compensation should charged for its distribution. Free is preferred, of course. Sale of this information is expressly prohibited. If you see any one selling this guide, contact me (see below). 4)If you used material from this, PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE the source, else it is plagiarism. 5)The author hereby grants all games-related websites the right to archive and link to this document to share among the game fandom, provided that all above restrictions are followed. Sidenote: The above conditions are known as a statutory contract. If you meet them, then you are entitled to the rights I give you in 5), i.e. archive and display this document on your website. If you don't follow them, then you did not meet the statutory contract conditions, and therefore you have no right to display this document. If you do so, then you are infringing upon my copyright. This section was added for any websites that don't seem to understand this. For the gamers: You are under NO obligation to send me ANY compensation. However, I do ask for a VOLUNTARY contribution of one (1) US Dollar if you live in the United States, and if you believe this guide helped your game. If you choose to do so, please make your US$1.00 check or $1.00 worth of US stamps to "Kuo-Sheng Chang", and send it to "2220 Turk Blvd. #6, San Francisco, CA 94118 USA". If you don't live in the US, please send me some local stamps. I collect stamps too. 0.3 VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION Gamers who read this guide are under NO obligation to send me ANY compensation. However, a VOLUNTARY contribution of one (1) US Dollar would be very appreciated. If you choose to do so, please make your US$1.00 check or $1.00 worth of stamps to "Kuo-Sheng Chang", and send it to "2220 Turk Blvd. #6, San Francisco, CA 94118 USA". If you don't live in the US, please send me some local stamps. I collect stamps too. For the record, out of ALL the FAQs I wrote (50 at last count) over the past nine years or so, I've received exactly 19 dollars and 4 sets of stamps, as of release of this guide. So I'm NOT making any money off these guides, folks. 0.4 HOW AND WHEN TO CONTACT ME PLEASE let me know if there's a confusing or missing remark, mistakes, and thereof... If you find a question about this game that is not covered in the USG, e-mail it to me at the address specified below. I'll try to answer it and include it in the next update. Please do NOT write me for technical support. That is Activision's job. Please do NOT ask me to answer questions that have already answered in this FAQ/guide. It makes you look REALLY idiotic. I will NOT answer stupid questions like the ones above unless I'm in a really good mood. If you send questions like that, do NOT expect a reply. The address below is spelled out phonetically so spammers can't use spambots on it: Kilo-Sierra-Charlie-Hotel-Alpha-November-Golf-Seven-Seven AT Yankee-Alpha-Hotel-Oscar-Oscar DOT Charlie-Oscar-Mike To decipher this, simply read the first letter off each word except for the numbers and the punctuation. This is "military phonetics" or "aeronautical phonetics" in case you're wondering. This document was produced on Microsoft Word 97. Some editing was done with Editpad (editpadclassic.com). 0.5 THE AUTHOR I am just a game player who decided to write my own FAQs when the ones I find don't cover what I want to see. Lots of people like what I did, so I kept doing it. Previously, I've written Unofficial Strategy Guides (USGs) for XCOM, XCOM2:TFTD, Wing Commander, Wing Commander 2, Wing Commander 3, Wing Commander 4, Privateer, Spycraft, 688(I) Hunter/Killer. Mechwarrior 3, MW3 Expansion Pack, Mechwarrior 4, Mechwarrior 4: Black Knight, Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, The Sting!, Terranova, Fallout Tactics, Starfleet Command Volume II, DS9: The Fallen, DS9: Dominion War, Driver, Warlords: Battlecry, Monopoly Tycoon, Dungeon Siege, and a few others. At least count, that's 52 FAQs (this makes it 53). To contact me, see 0.4 above. 0.6 DISCLAIMER / COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Interactive Vision (IAV) is the creator of Apache Air Assault. Activision Value (AV), the budget arm of Activision, publishes Apache Air Assault. This USG is not endorsed or authorized by IAV or AV. The information compiled in this USG has been gathered independently through the author's efforts except where noted otherwise. This document is based on the retail version. Thus, any patches applied later may affect its accuracy. I'll just say "AAA" when I need to say the title. You know what I mean. 0.7 HISTORY 30-APR-2004 Initial release 1 AAA General Info 1.1 THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q: Can you send me the game (or portions thereof)? A: No. It's like $5 in local stores. Q: Can you send me the manual? (or portions thereof) A: It's on the CD. Doh! (Game Help). It's just some webpages you can print. Q: Can you tell me how to play the game? A: Read the help. Q: How big is the install? A: About 250 megs of space is used on the HD. You'll of course need more swap space for the game to actually run. Q: Is there a patch? A: None was listed at Activision Value or IAV. Q: What's the difference among the difficulty levels? A: Difficulty level affects amount of damage you do, number and accuracy of the enemy units, etc. Q: Where is the pause button? A: P, or hit ESC to pop up the in-game menu. Q: How do I aim the weapons? A: Depends on the weapon. For the rockets, you must point the cross-hair at the target. Hellfire, on the other hand, merely requires a lock-on, while the 30mm chaingun can be aimed separate from the flight with your mouse. Q: What about some cheat codes? A: See final section. Q: Where is the keyboard reference chart? A: It should be in the box with the "quickstart" instructions. Or print your own copy here: http://downloads.iavgames.com/misc/OAA_KRS.jpg 1.2 AAA HISTORY IAV was best known for its "Search and Rescue" helicopter franchise, which was originally published in Europe. Basically, you fly a variety of civilian helicopters and participate in various hazardous conditions, such as coast guard rescue, emergency medevac, and so on. They also branched out and did a few other games as an attempt to diversify. They did "Beyond Pearl Harbor: Pacific Warriors" and its sequel "Dogfight! Pacific Warriors II" where you take WW2 planes in a third-person sim-lite against enemy planes and ground targets. Operation Air Assault was one of the products they released while they work on the most current S&R title, essentially using the same engine. 1.3 AAA HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS From the README file... MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS WINDOWS 98/ME/2000/XP OPERATING SYSTEM PENTIUM III PROCESSOR, 450 MHZ 96 MB RAM 16MB AGP 3D HARDWARE ACCELERATOR WITH DIRECT 3D SUPPORT CD-ROM MOUSE KEYBOARD 300MB FREE HARD DRIVE SPACE DIRECTX COMPATIBLE SOUND CARD DIRECTX 8.0a OR HIGHER RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS WINDOWS 98/ME/2000/XP OPERATING SYSTEM PENTIUM 4 PROCESSOR, 1.0 GHZ 256 MB RAM 32MB AGP 3D HARDWARE ACCELERATOR WITH DIRECT 3D SUPPORT CD-ROM MOUSE KEYBOARD 300MB FREE HARD DRIVE SPACE DIRECTX COMPATIBLE SOUND CARD DIRECTX 8.0a OR HIGHER 1.4 HOW DOES AAA PLAY? AAA is basically a helicopter shooter that is partly based on a helicopter sim. You use the weapons to shoot variety of baddies in this fictional Mid-East country taking out terrorists. This is sim-lite. You won't find a bazillion controls and HUD modes and stuff like that. This is almost turn-and-burn, albeit with decent graphics and semi-realistic handling. Three difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard) and two physics model (easy vs. realistic) should keep you from being too frustrated. 1.5 BUGS AND FIXES No bugs reported so far. No patch available. The game is very stable and never crashed even once on my test computer, even after repeated task switching. 1.6 EXPANSION PACKS? SEQUELS? RELATED TITLES? The sequel, Apache Longbow Assault (known as Operation Air Assault II outside the US) has been released. 2 Your craft, the AH-64 Apache This is not a treatise on the craft, so I'll just go over the basics. 2.1 THE HELICOPTER ITSELF AH-64A is one of the best attach helicopters in the world. It is very maneuverable with speed up to 145 knots and capable of doing acrobatics. It is armed with 30mm chaingun capable of engaging targets in the front hemisphere (you look, you shoot). Its stubby wings can mount a variety of rockets and missiles (though for this game, you're limited to 8 Hellfires and 38 Hydra rockets). It is very heavily armored (for a chopper), capable of flying on 1 engine only, and can withstand hits from most ground fire. 2.2 FLYING THE CHOPPER Flying a helicopter is VERY different from flying a plane. A helicopter must keep most of its thrust downward to keep itself off the ground. By tilting the rotor in a certain direction, the chopper can be induced to fly in that direction. However, that reduces the lift, so you must adjust the collective to generate a bit more lift to balance out. It's a constant balancing act. Add into the equation two more things: translational lift, and ground effect. Translational lift basically is the amount of lift generated by the amount of air moving past the fuselage. At low speeds its negligible. However, when you're moving fast enough, this would make the chopper rise more than you'd normally expect. Ground effect is the air pushed downward, then bounce off the ground. It also acts as additional lift and only works when you're VERY close to the ground. Finally, by controlling the tail rotor, one can spin the helicopter to change heading without using the main rotor. If you rather NOT worry about all this, use the simplified physics model. 2.3 AVIONICS Avionics refers to the special electronics you need to drive the chopper properly. One of the most important is the night-vision toggle. You need this at night to fly, or else you will plow into the ground. To confuse things, you can drop flares esp. at night to attract enemy attention and ruin their night vision. Of course, don't look toward the flare, even with night-vis, or you'll be blinded too. Another thing is the position lights. Choppers have position lights so people can tell which way you are flying. Clearly, in bandit country (hostile territory), that would be stupid. So, turn OFF the position lights once you leave the base. You get wipers for rainy missions, but that's mainly a nice graphical touch and has no real practical effect The HUD can be configured to bright green (default), dark green, or off completely. This may be useful at night when you engage the night vision mode. The "radar" tells you all nearby threats, even if they're behind a hill. Real Apache does NOT have a radar (The Longbow version does, but it stays off most of the time) so this is purely fictional. You can even see the rockets and missiles flying in the radar! The "compass", which gives you the heading, can ONLY be seen from cockpit camera. 2.4 CHAINGUN The chaingun is a 30mm weapon mounted on the chin of the Apache. It fires low-velocity dual-purpose ammo to provide minimum recoil and maximum versatility. It can be aimed separately from the craft's heading (think "Blue Thunder"), making it useful for engaging enemies to the sides. However, the range appears to be severely limited. To kill a baddie, you may need to get within 0.10 nm to ensure a kill with chain gun. To kill larger things, you will need to use a LOT of ammo. However, it WILL blow up jeeps and small buildings and such. To use the chain gun, select it, then use the mouse to move the gun cursor to aim. NOTE: Later you get a free upgrade to "twin 30-mm chaingun". 2.5 HYDRA ROCKETS These Hydra rockets are designed for use against light structures (buildings) though they explode pretty good. They are very difficult to aim as you must go into a hover then try to put the crosshair on the target. With only 38 at a time (two pods of 19 each), you may need to conserve them carefully until you have good targets. The range is decent but the difficulty to aim will restrict its use to no more than 2000 yds. To use the Hydra rocket, select it, then move the cyclic gently to line up the crosshair. You should line up the crosshair onto the target first, then swing gently up and down and fire when the crosshair overlaps the target box. 2.6 HELLFIRE MISSILES The Hellfire anti-tank missile is one of the best anti-armor missiles in the world. Hellfire is laser guided and can penetrate almost ANY known vehicle armor. They also work well against houses and other structures. Reserve these for enemy vehicles as you only have eight of these. To use Hellfire missile, select it, then hit TAB to select the target you wish to hit, keep hitting TAB until you find your target. Wait a few seconds for the laser to lock (the target box gets a diamond as well), then fire! The missile must fly off then hit the target, so it may take a few seconds to hit. Hellfire can be "fast-launched". Once the target has locked on, fire one missile, then acquire another target. The first missile will continue to track the original target. When the second target locks, fire the second missile, and track and third target. You can shoot up to 4 missiles this way, much faster than waiting for one to hit, then shoot another one. Later you get free upgrade to "Hellfire -2" missiles. They behave exactly like the normal Hellfire, but it also does splash damage to surrounding areas, making it possible to kill more than one vehicle per missile. It also takes out all the nearby infantry. 2.7 ZUNI ROCKETS You do NOT get this weapon until MUCH later, like mission 22 or so. Basically a Zuni rocket is a super-heavy Hydra rocket, being 120mm vs. Hydra's 80 mm. You carry a lot less of them (total of 12, vs. 38 Hydras), but they pack a serious punch and you can use them on serious targets, as these don't require that precise of aim. 3 General Tactics 3.1 STAY STILL ONLY WHEN IT IS SAFE If you hover, you'll get shot, as you are an easy target. So don't hover in territory known to contain enemies who will shoot at you. Infantry in general are not that dangerous, so you can take small arms fire for a little while. You can fly side ways by pushing your cyclic to the side then use the tail rotor to turn back toward the desired heading. Remember you can shoot Hellfires and chaingun even when your nose is not directly pointed at the target. 3.2 TURN OFF THE LIGHTS IN INDIAN COUNTRY!! You don't want to make yourself visible in the night, so turn OFF those position lights as you leave the base. 3.3 STAY UNDER 300 FT The lower you are, the less likely a missile'll hit you. In general, don't go over 200 ft unless you are trying to look over a hill. 3.4 FLY THROUGH THE VALLEYS AND RAVINES Never "crest" a peak, fly AROUND it. Fly IN the valleys. It's called NOE... nape of earth flying. It prevents the enemies from shooting at you. 3.5 SPEED IS LIFE Actually, that's the motto of Israeli Air Force, but it applies here too. When you're avoiding shots, speed through the enemy and you'll take less hits. Keep moving up and down, side to side... 3.6 LONG-RANGE ATTACK FIRST Your weapons has excellent range, so use them. Hellfire can hit targets at up to 6000 yd away (technically, it can go even further). The Hydra rockets and Zuni rockets can reach almost as far. 3.7 PRIORITIZE YOUR TARGETS Kill the target with the most threat to you. Armored cars shoot missiles, so they should be killed first. SAM sites are also top targets. Then tanks, then trucks. Infantry alone is only slightly dangerous. 3.8 RIGHT WEAPON ON THE RIGHT TARGET Armored vehicles should be killed with Hellfires. That includes tanks. Zuni and Hydras make a decent backup weapon. If you REALLY get close, you can always use the gun. Buildings and structures should be killed with Hydra rockets. Individual baddies should be taken out with a few rounds of the 30 mm chaingun. Though a rocket or two would work as well. 3.9 USE HELLFIRE FAST-LAUNCH Hellfires can be "fast-launched". As soon as you're locked on, you can shoot a missile, and switch to acquire a different target while the first missile is still in flight. You can then shoot a second missile and track and third target, and so on. 3.10 KNOW WHEN AND HOW TO GET OUT When you attack, you should know which way you need to go to "get out of Dodge". That way if something unexpected popped up you can make another run later. Knowing when is also important. Most don't attempt to leave until it's too late. 3.11 LOOK FOR ALTERNATE APPROACHES Usually the direct route to target is heavily defended. Look for alternate approaches that can get you close enough to shoot without going THROUGH heavy enemy presence. 3.12 HILL CREEP One of the most often used trick is to slowly creep up a hill, then go slightly higher to get a lock beyond the hill, shoot, then come back down 4 Enemies / Targets 4.1 TERRORISTS / INSURGENTS / MILITIAS Armed with AK-47's, these guys aren't that big of a threat, but enough of them can give you trouble as "death of a thousand cuts". Cook them from long-distance with Hydras, or fly through and feed them lead from your 30mm. 4.2 ARMORED CAR Armored car, such as older Warsaw Pact BRDM scout cars, have heavy machine guns that can do you some damage if you don't take them out. It's best to take them out from long-range with Hellfire or Hydra rockets. They may also launch RPG/Strela's at you, and that's bad. Take them out from as far as possible. 4.3 TRUCKS Trucks carry a bunch of militia that will jump out and shoot at you when you get close. Otherwise, not that dangerous. 4.4 TANKS Later you may see tanks, ex-Warsaw pact models. Kill them with Hellfire. Tanks will try to shoot at you with their main cannon (like the way Rambo did in Rambo III) so their hits can hurt. 4.5 STRUCTURES Houses, camps, radar, etc. all belong in this category. They don't shoot back, but things that do shoot at you usually protect them. Hydra, Zuni, or Hellfire can destroy structures. You can get really close and use your 30 mm, but why? May have red barrels lying around. You can blow those up and get a really big explosion. 4.6 SAM SITE Fixed SAM launchers that can bring down bombers are significant threats to you... except you generally don't fly high enough for them to engage you. Take them out from a distance. 5 Walkthru This walkthru contains spoilers and should only be read when you're REALLY stuck. 5.1 RECONNAISSANCE You are to recon the enemy camp, inspect the buildings, and engage any confirmed terrorist encampments. Primary Objective: recon the enemy base Secondary Objective: destroy/kill any terrorists discovered during your recon This one is simple (well, this is just the first mission). Take off, then fly at 200 ft and follow the prompt. When you get really close to the target and you see the words "inspecting", go into hover. Repeat for each and every target until primary objective is complete. When you fly over one or two camp sites you may get shot at. Ignore them for now, AK-47's can't damage you. Once your primary objective is finished, go back and shoot at the bad guys. Use your Hydra rockets and Hellfire missiles on vehicles and your cannon on soldiers. Destroy the buildings that house the terrorists, as per briefing. When you take out all of them, secondary objective should be done. Fly back to the ship, and hover near it to end the mission. 5.2 DESTROY THE ENEMY ANTI-AIR Enemy has a radar station that is tracking our moves. We need to destroy it, and that means destroy the SAM sites covering it as well. Primary Objective: destroy the radar station Secondary Objective: destroy all SAM launchers This one gets a little tougher. Follow the specified route to avoid heavy enemy concentration and to sneak up on the target. Fly through the mountain at a low altitude. Take out the first radar station with your Hydra rockets, using the mountain to shield you from enemy attack. Do not attempt to fly over the mountain. Fly around the mountain to take out the second radar station. Stay CLOSE to the mountain, or you'll easily go above 400 ft. Watch out for other SAM sites around the mountain engaging you. Continue in this fashion to destroy all primary and secondary targets around the mountain, and you can go home. 5.3 THE TRAINING CAMP We have found an enemy training camp. Flatten it with extreme prejudice. Primary Objective: destroy the extremist training camp Secondary Objective: kill all extremists. Fly low to avoid enemy radar and you'll approach the camp easily. Take out any armored vehicles you see with the Hellfire missiles. Some extremists will run out. Shoot them with either the Hydras or cannons. When ready, feed the rest of your Hydras to the camp. When they're all gone, you can go home. 5.4 LIBERATING KHARTAUSTI We have contact with Khartausti's underground resistance movement, who is against the local warlord and head of the Solar Martyrs. With the radar out of the way, we will liberate the town. You must destroy any enemy reinforcements heading toward the battle. Primary Objective: Destroy reinforcements heading to Khartausti Head toward the enemy, but go AROUND the town, as there's a pitch battle inside the town while the marines attempt to establish a foothold in the coastal town. Once you're past the town, just fly toward your target, avoiding clumps of targets on your "radar" except your main target. You should find a bunch of armored cars and some trucks. Use Hellfire on the armored cars then use Hydra rockets on the rest. When you blow up all of them, that's it. 5.5 TV SCRAMBLER Enemy has a TV antenna in the area that transmits a code we couldn't break yet. We believe it's a code to other terrorist cells. We will destroy to hamper their communications. Primary Objective: take out the TV antenna Just fly toward the target, but aim a little to the right of it. Head into the ravine when you see it. Maneuver along its course to avoid detection by enemy forces. You only need to take out that ONE target, the TV mast, nothing else. When the TV mast becomes visible, stay low, and take advantage of the Hellfire missile's long range to take out the target. Ignore the enemy shots for now, avoid all ground units. As soon as the antenna is gone, you win. If you got ammo left, feel free to shoot at targets of opportunity to improve your "score". 5.6 RED CROSS ESCORT The town, showing resistance to the warlord, is under siege. You will escort the armed convoy through the various blockades and deliver the aid. Primary Objective: Protect the convoy truck NOTE: This will probably be the first mission you need to redo, as this one is quite a bit harder than the ones before. Fly ahead of the convoy and neutralize all enemy threats along the road using the long-range Hellfire missiles. Expect to see a truck with militia, then a group of armored cars, then two "checkpoints" with 2 bunkers, 2 armored cars, and militia. Finally, a whole BUNCH of militia armed with RPG and guns near the village with armored cars and even some tanks. You must ration your ammo carefully and don't use up everything before the big fight at the end. Head forward and take out the truck with militia first, aim carefully with the Hydra. Then Hydra the armored cars as they come in a straight line. If you must, use a Hellfire or two, but save the rest for the big fight at the end. Fly forward and right, try to spot the armored cars in the distance. Then put a Hydra or two into each bunker until it smokes or explodes. Gun down the militia. You should see TWO separate checkpoints. One's further down, while the other is on the reverse slope so you have to go hit the far one, THEN turn back to hit the close one. Blast each bunker with multiple Hydras until they're all smoking ruins. Shoot each militia with chain gun until they no longer shoot at you. When you approach the small village, stay low to the ground. Make several passes at the village and destroy any armored vehicles, tanks, and so on. Finish off the remaining troops with your cannon, fly into the city to flush out a few more baddies, and wait for the convoy. 5.7 SEEK AND DESTROY One of our UAV's has been shot down. We must not allow the wreckage to fall into the wrong hands. Destroy the two trucks that have arrived on the scene. We also need you to take out some patrols in the area. Primary Objective: Destroy the trucks carrying the Predator drone wreckage Secondary Objective: Destroy specified hostile forces Fly northeast towards the cargo truck indicated on your radar. Go left of the truck and you'll find a ravine to fly into that'll lead you to the convoy. Fly fast and low, and avoid any enemy troops along the way. You may want to setup right when the enemy crests the slope, before it reaches the town. Destroy the cargo trucks. You should be able to do it in a single fly-by. Fly past the armored cars and tanks in the convoy, you will deal with them later. Fly up into the mountains and use the same tactics on the second cargo truck. It's guarded by more armored cars. Afterward, head back into that town the original convoy was heading for. Use your remaining Hellfire missiles to take out t e armored vehicles from a safe distance. Use up the rest of your ammo, clear out the tanks and such and you can go home. 5.8 CAPTURE THE OIL FIELDS The offensive is about economic as well as military might. The warlord has used local oil money to fund his reign of terror, and we'll take that money away from him. A ground force has been dispatched to attack the oil field, and you are their air support. Do NOT destroy the oil shaft! Primary Objective: Capture the oil refinery by taking out the guards, but do NOT destroy the shaft! NOTE: if the shaft is destroyed, you fail the mission Fly low and fast towards your target. Avoid all ground troops along the way. You may want to head left a bit from the target as going straight leads you to enemy groups. One large group is guarding a "pass" that can be bypassed, but that pass has an excellent position from which to shoot at the guards around the oil field. Save your Hellfire missiles for the armored vehicles that surround the oil refinery. Make several passes at the oil refinery, while you lock-on and destroy the vehicles with your Hellfire missiles, and then finish them off with your Hydra rockets. Do NOT miss when shooting into the oil field. If you destroy the shaft, you will have to start over! Move around the perimeter until you get a clear shot. 5.9 . ERADICATE THE AIRFIELD Now it is time to make sure the warlord cannot obtain new equipment but shutting down his airport. Flatten the airport, esp. the tower and primary hangar(s). Primary Objective: destroy control tower and primary hangars Secondary Objective: destroy the secondary buildings on the airport Fly north through the mountains to avoid all enemy ground units. Go left and around the mountains, then turn back to the airport. If you have excellent aim, you can wipe out the airport from long- range with just your Hydra rockets. However, I doubt you have good enough aim, so... Use the Hellfire missiles to take out armored vehicles surrounding the airfield from a distance. Finish off the remaining vehicles with Hydra rockets, and then destroy the hangers and other objectives with your chain gun and rockets. 5.10 RIVER RAID Don Passo, the drug lord, has entered the picture by resupplying the warlord by sea. Destroy the ships/barges bringing in supplies for the warlord. The warlord has many forces lining the riverbanks as escorts. Destroy them as well. Primary Objective: Destroy all gunboats carrying the weapons shipment Secondary Objective: Destroy all the escort forces on the river banks Follow the river and destroy all boats using your Hydra rockets. The boats are slow so they should be no problem. Save your Hellfire missiles for later combat. You may need to make several passes at boats to destroy them. Move quickly, and never stay in one location for too long. Do not engage the enemy ground forces along the rivers edge yet. Once you have destroyed all boats, your secondary objective will be to destroy armored vehicles. Use the Hellfire missiles to knock out most of the vehicles, and then finish them off with the Hydras. Then you can go home. There are too many enemies to kill, just kill the ones you must. 5.11 PROTECT THE CONVOY A supply convoy heading into nearby town came under unexpected attack. You have been diverted to provide support. Save the convoy, and destroy all hostiles in the area. Primary Objective: Protect the Red Cross Convoy Fly ahead of the Red Cross Truck, and use your Hellfire missiles to seek out any armored vehicles. So what's the catch? You start about 1 MILE from the convoy, and if you don't fly there immediately the convoy goes POOF in about a minute. The valley is extremely narrow and many of the enemy vehicles are in fighting positions alongside the road, making Hellfire shots miss quite frequently. Still, get in there and feed those militias Hellfires... 5.12 SUPPORT OPERATION A friendly ground column will be attacking the town held by hostiles. Support their attack and destroy hostiles in their path. Also check out the nearby river bank for enemy forces and elminate them. Primary Objective: Support the rescue operation from the air Secondary Objective: Destroy the enemy units holding the river ford Fly west towards your target. Avoid enemy ground units along the way. You don't have time to deal with your secondary objectives yet. There are some mountains to the south of you. Fly up and over the mountains as you reach your target, and then use your Hellfire missiles to seek and destroy all of the vehicles located around the field base. If you need to, use a few of your Hydra rockets to finish your primary objective. Friendly column should be arriving now and assisting in the attack. When primary is complete, head for the river, then approach your secondary objective from the flat side so you get better field of fire. Try to arrange so you see only one enemy at a time, so you can shoot one at a time. Unload your Hydra rocket in several successive sweeps towards the enemy ground units. Try to destroy the red explosive barrels to cause secondary explosions. . 5.13 DESTROY THE FACTORIES We have found Don Passo's drug factory. Demolish it with extreme prejudice. Also destroy the barges that have left the factory recently. They may be carrying drugs. Primary Objective: Destroy the drug factory Secondary Objective: Destroy the barges carrying the drugs Take a route around the mountains to reach the drugs factory. Head straight west until the drugs factory is northeast of your location, indicated by your radar. Fly around the mountain, and head east by northeast to your target. Use Hellfire missiles to destroy armored vehicles from a distance. Destroy those who can shoot you, first. Then use your Hydra rockets to demolish the factory, concentrate on the center of the compound. Try to do it from a distance. Watch out for additional ground vehicles on the other side of the compound. When you have completed the primary objective, follow the river, and use your remaining Hellfire missiles to destroy the boats. Then it's time to run for the base. 5.14 PARTISAN ASSISTANCE The partisans will mark Don Passo's drug factories, hidden in towns full of human shields. Use precision strike and take out the drug factories without causing any collateral damage. Engage and destroy any of Don Passo's hostile militia. Primary Objective: destroy more drug factories marked by partisans Secondary Objective: destroy more of those hostile militia From your base, fly immediately northwest towards your target. When the target is within visual range, look for armored vehicles and take them out. Then find the right structure, then use two Hellfires on it. Be sure to target the correct building. NOTE: Yes, it takes TWO Hellfires to destroy a factory. Once destroyed, turn around and fly south to your next target. You can follow the river, but you'll just run into more enemies. It's slower to fly through the mountains but safer. At the next target, there are actually TWO factories on this island. Look for it carefully, don't wipe out the wrong buildings. Use the same tactics, and destroy the structures from a distance. You will need to fly in close to get the last target. If you have any more ammo left, feel free to engage any gunboats and armored cars that you can find. 5.15 UNDER ATTACK We are under attack! This is not a drill! Scramble! Scramble! Scramble! Primary Objective: Destroy all attackers There is an armored car already inside your base, and more just outside, shooting at everything, including you! Immediately go to chaingun and start shooting at those targets! You should be able to blow them up without even taking off by using most of your ammo. Next one arrives, shoot it too, until you've blow up all of the tanks and armored cars close-by. Next, you need to take care of second wave. Another group of armored cars and tanks are approaching from the slope leading up to the base. Your best bet is arm rockets and aim just at where they will emerge, and feed them Hydra rockets just as they emerge. If you missed or they survived, follow up with chaingun and Hellfire missiles. When you're done, you can fly back to the base and finish the mission. 5.16 VILLAGE IN DANGER We have moved the base to a more defensible location. In the meanwhile, a nearby village is under attack by Don Passo's militia. Get there fast and destroy the attackers. The ground forces won't get there in time. Primary Objective: Destroy militia threatening the village Secondary Objective: Inspect the boats at the river Move fast towards your targets indicated by your radar. Avoid any contacts in the way. Go maximum speed. The targets are in a narrow canyon road leading up to the village and if you get there late you can't shoot at them until you get very close. Once the targets are within range, use your Hellfire missiles to destroy eight vehicles as you continue to approach. Then switch to your Hydra rockets or chaingun, and finish off the rest of the vehicles. When your primary objective is complete, go inspect the boats. Easiest way is to approach the boats via the river, then hover when you get close enough. You need to inspect all three to get the goal done. Then you can fly back to the base. 5.17 DESTROY MILITIA BASE We have had just about enough of these militia clowns. The local partisans have pointed us to the militia base, and we'll terminate it, again, with extreme prejudice. Primary Objective: destroy the militia base and guards (without destroying the town) Just follow the road. It will lead you to your objective. Use your Hellfire missiles from long range to take out the tanks and armored cars. Then get close and Use the Hydra rocket to carefully take out the marked structures. Be careful not to destroy the surrounding structures. Once your objective is complete, follow the path back to base. 5.18 MAYDAY One of the other Apaches are down and the enemy force that shot it down is approaching them fast. We can't allow the survivors to fall into enemy hands. Get there fast and destroy the attackers while the rescue force scramble to reach them. Primary Objective: Protect aircraft crew Basically, shoot all enemies that come close. The group is rather large, so use rockets when you can, use Hellfire for the "leakers" that got past your rockets. Take off and head in the direction you're facing, follow the path, and it'll lead you to your objective... A chopper is down on the beach near the bridge. When you get to the bridge, hover and start looking for targets. Many of them should be coming down onto the beach. Take them out one at a time. You'll see two groups, with maybe a straggler. Take them all out, and you can go home. 5.19 INSPECT THE LABORATORY We have received word that Don Passo is working on a refined version of his favorite drug. We suspect that the lab is nearby. Check out this suspect location, and feel free to wipe out any hostiles in your way. Primary Objective: Inspect the laboratory structures Secondary Objective: Destroy enemy forces encountered en route Follow the path near the base north by northeast slowly, take out any enemy vehicles you encounter. You should have reached the lab just as you destroyed the last guarding vehicle and completed the secondary objective. Just fly through the town slowly to inspect all three buildings, then fly back to base. 5.20 DESTROY THE LABORATORY Now that we know for sure that's the lab, it's time to make sure Don Passo's plan remain just that.. a plan. Destroy the guards around the lab, then the lab itself. Primary Objective: Destroy the lab structures Secondary Objective: Destroy enemy units guarding the lab Don't waste ANY ammo! You will be VERY short on this mission. If you follow the road you'll run into a ton of enemies, so you may need to approach the target from the river instead. Fly north by northeast (heading 30) to reach the river, then turn to heading 270 (west) and follow the river to the lab. Consider taking the right branch instead of the left to come up behind the enemy units. There is one group outside of town, and one inside the town. Stay at long range and nail as many enemy vehicles as you can from long-range. Then go in and use your Hydras and chaingun on the rest. Then just destroy the buildings and go home. 5.21 DON PASSO ATTACKS Don Passo has launched a retaliatory strike against the nearby partisan town. A bunch of heavily armed "civilians" are attacking. You have been diverted from patrol to assist in the defense. Primary Objective: destroy any vehicles attacking the nearby town Secondary Objective: destroy another drug factory in a nearby canyon Quickly dive to 200 ft to avoid enemy radar. Fly towards your first target, using the radar to avoid any enemy units along the way. There is a rock ledge just before you reach the first target. Slow down and use your Hellfire missiles to seek and destroy the targets and complete your primary objective. Next, follow the nav cursor to your secondary objectives. It is hidden within a canyon, so you will want to approach it carefully. Use your Hydra rockets or your new Zuni rockets to destroy the target and complete the secondary objective. You should be able to kill the factory without even engaging the escorts if you move carefully. 5.22 DON PASSO TRIES AGAIN Don Passo has managed to bribe one of the mechanized units to switch sides and is attacking the town again with fresh forces. Our forces have managed to bottle them up against the bridge but they won't last long. Destroy Don Passo's forces before they break through. NOTE: You get Zuni rockets from now on. Primary Objective: Destroy the hostile mechanized units. You start with missiles in the air looking for you! Dive hard and get below 200 ft and drop a flare as well, and weave and see if you can avoid the missiles. Follow the river directly South and you should see a bridge. Turn northeast towards your targets indicated by radar. When you see targets, hit them. Destroy as many vehicles as you can with your Hellfire missiles from as far as possible, then get in there and use the rest of your weapons. 5.23 THE TEMPLE BASE Don Passo's militia is based around this ancient Mayan temple. After you destroy the guards around the perimeter, we'll assault the interior. Do NOT destroy the temple itself. Good luck! Primary Objective: destroy the guards around the temple WARNING: DO NOT destroy any of the structures on/next to the pyramid, or you will fail the mission. Fly around the mountain in front and look for the river. Follow the river toward your target. You can see the road leading up, but do NOT take it. Instead, go up the "hill" just to the "right" of it, and try to get close enough to just peek over the edge to target your Hellfires. When you run out of targets, creep closer. When you're out of Hellfires, move in and use your rockets to take out the rest of the enemies. There should be only a couple more vehicles left. Then you need to take out the few guards on the temple itself. While it's tempting to feed a rocket into each target, don't. It's too easy to blow down the temple. Instead, use the chaingun to gun each militia down. When you get all of them, the mission ends (you don't even need to fly back to base!) 5.24 ELIMINATE DON PASSO We found Don Passo's HQ and we got the word to take him out for good. Primary Objective: Destroy Don Passo's HQ. Friendlies are on the way to assist, so don't shoot THEM. Immediately descend to an altitude under 400ft. If you look about heading 235 or so there should be a ravine there for you to hide while make your way to the target. Do it quickly, as they will be engaging friendlies. When you get close enough, slow down and creep forward, looking for targets and kill them, as many as you can from a distance. Stay at a distance, circle the base. Do NOT overfly the base or you'll PAY for it. Take out the structures specified, including the hangar, radio tower, and so on. When you take out the last target, that's it. 5.25 ESCORT THE JOURNALISTS Escort these journalists to the nearby airfield. While we don't expect opposition... Don't let your guard down. Primary Objective: make sure the journalists make it to the airfield There really isn't much to this... Destroy ALL enemy vehicles in the area. Some are hiding near the airstrip itself. Just charge down the road and blast EVERYTHING. Destroy everybody to make sure the journalists can get through. Their Humvee can't take much damage, so don't let them take any. Head toward the airbase and start shooting all nearby tanks and armored vehicles. Use rockets, Hellfires, and more. Shoot everybody until there's nothing else moving except the journalists. Then wait for them to reach the airbase, then head back home. 5.26 BURY THEM ALIVE We will destroy the cave entrances to bottle up the terrorists. Destroy the guards around the entrance. Primary Objective: Destroy the cave entrance Secondary Objective: Destroy the guards Fly northeast towards your target. When you get near the entrance, fly low and slow, and make your approach from the east. The cave entrance is in a bowl-like depression that opens to east. Use your Hellfire missiles to seek out the ground vehicles, and then use your Zuni rockets to take out the caves from a distance to complete your primary objective. Taking out the rest of the ground vehicles is trickier. Use the rest of your Hellfire missiles to seek and destroy those vehicles that you can see from a distance. Destroy the remaining hostile vehicles with Zuni or Hydra rockets. That should finish the secondary objective. Then fly home, and that's it. 5.27 DESTROY THE REFINERY Don Passo seems to have left some of that "super drug" and it's in this refinery. We'll need to destroy it... all of it. Primary Objective: Destroy the refinery Secondary Objective: Destroy all the hostile units guarding the refinery There are two ways to do this... the flashy way, on the standoff way. The flashy way: Fly north towards the old refinery. When you approach the refinery, unleash your Zuni rockets as you fly by the refinery. If you make a big enough explosion, you will destroy all of the ground vehicles that are surrounding the refinery. If you destroy all of the ground units, your secondary objective will be complete. If it is not complete once you pass the refinery, turn around, and use your Hellfire missiles to destroy any remaining units. Then use your Zuni or Hydra to finish off the primary target. The standoff way... Almost the same, but approach the refinery slowly. It's surrounded by mountains, but if you approach it slowly you should find a spot where you can just see the refinery without exposing yourself too much. Use this angle to dump your load of Hydra rockets into the refinery, then fire off Hellfires against armored cars and such on any that survived the big explosion. Creep in closer and destroy the rest of structures and vehicles with Hellfires and remaining rockets. Fly home and you're done. 5.28 PREEMPTIVE STRIKE The terrorists are gathering for another attack. We will surprise them with a night assault. Primary Objective: destroy the gathered enemy forces. Fly northeast towards the enemy ground units. As you make your approach, use your Hellfire missiles to take out as many vehicles as you can from a distance. Finish off the rest by making several fly-bys and use your Zuni rockets. When you finish all of them, you can go home. 5.29 TERRORISTS RETREAT The terrorists are retreating into a canyon... We'll catch them before they can get away. Primary Objective: Destroy the convoys heading into the canyon Secondary Objective: Destroy the guards at canyon mouth Fly northeast towards into the mouth of the canyon. Destroy the first four units (2 pairs of 1 armored car and 1 truck) with Hellfire missiles. This will complete your secondary objective. There are two main groups of enemy units that have split into two different paths in the canyon. It does not matter which one you take out first. They are traveling in a straight line, so use your Zuni rockets on a strafing run and follow up with Hellfire and/or Hydra rockets. . Destroy both groups, fly back to the starting point, and you're done! 5.30 CLEAR THE CANYON We are ready to assault the canyon, where the mastermind is believed to be held up. Move in and help the ground forces clear the canyon. Primary Objective: clear the canyon of enemy forces Basically, take it VERY slowly, and conserve your ammo. Move up until you can see one target. If it's close, hit it with rockets or gun. Then check for far targets, and hit them with Hellfires. Repeat until you do all of them. Zunis and Hydras are your primary tankbusters. Keep the Hellfires for long shots and chaingun for point-blank shots. One lousy tactic is fly extremely slow and a few feet off the ground. This way you can get VERY close to the enemy vehicle, then blast it point-blank with the twin chainguns. 5.31 FINAL ENCOUNTER We're ready to assault the enemy palace HQ. Expect a LOT of opposition, but you'll have plenty of friendlies supporting you. Good luck. Primary objective: destroy the palace There are WAY too many targets for you to hit. You can only blast yourself a path and go straight for the target... the palace. Fly fast and under 100 ft and fly past the enemies, stay to the LEFT side of the canyon as there is a bit of room there. The small arms fire cannot hurt you much, and try to avoid the bigger stuff. Turn and follow the canyon until you come to that hill in front of palace. There should be an area where you can clear to give yourself a bit of room. Use your Hellfire to blast open a hole through the guards around the palace so you can get close enough to hit the palace with rockets. As soon as all structures around the palace and the palace itself are gone, that's it! You're done! 6 Miscellaneous 6.1 CHEAT CODES Type in these cheat-codes when you're "in" the chopper. You should get a confirmation that the cheat has been activated. It must be reactivated each mission. JKMSUC Immediate Mission Successful JKGODM Indestructible Helicopter JKAMMO Unlimited Ammo You get these codes after finishing the campaign on any difficulty level. --THE END--