AV-8B HARRIER ASSAULT

QUICK START GUIDE AND COMMAND SUMMARY

Before you start put your joystick in the mouse port!

STARTING THE ACTION

1. Run TAWADS.

All battle planning and control of the landing operation is done using the Tactical Amphibious Warfare Data System (TAWADS) in the command centre aboard the Tarawa.

The game will start in the command centre of Tarawa. To start the action the commander must instruct the TAWADS battle computer to commence operations with SABER, the pre-loaded battle plan. Click on the TAWADS screen (The central monitor showing a map of Timor on the screen). This will open the TAWADS interface.

2. Activate a battle plan.

Your control pointer is limited to the BATTLE PLAN SELECTION window, which will show SABER as the current battle plan. To start this plan running, click on the go icon. There will be a short pause as the simulation runs in fast-forward mode, taking the task force from your current position (8am on day 0, 2 hours sailing time from Timor) to the first waypoint at which flight operations are scheduled.

The fleet will now be off the east tip of Timor, and the time will be 9.30am. Click on the exit icon (bottom right of screen) to close TAWADS.

Notice that a light is flashing on the WHITE telephone in the foreground.

This is to tell you that AV-8B are available to be flown. If you don't go to the Pilots Briefing Room to accept a mission, after a short delay the mission will be allocated to a Harrier flown by the computer.

PRE-FLIGHT PREPARATION.

1. Go to Pilots Briefing Room. Clicking on the WHITE phone will take you to the Pilots Briefing Room.

This is dominated by a large whiteboard display, which currently shows the missions waiting to be flown. Combat Air patrol is always available if there is a Harrier on deck. The next mission on the list is an interdiction sortie to the east tip of East Timor. This area has only light defences, so, for your first operational sortie we suggest that you accept this mission. Click on mission HA\1-1 TO ACCEPT IT.

2. Intelligence Briefing.

The Whiteboard will now give you the following information:

a. The primary target and secondary targets for your mission.
b. The flight plan for this mission, including the assigned waypoints.
c. The defences you are likely to encounter.

Read this info carefully, then click on ACCEPT to continue.

3. Aircraft Arming.

The armourers will already have installed a suitable combination of ordnance for this mission. Click on OK to accept this weapon load.

FLYING THE MISSION

1. Take-off.

You are in the cockpit of your aircraft, and the engine is running. Ahead of you is the flight deck of Tarawa. Press the W key to release the wheel brakes, then 0 (zero) to run the engine up to full throttle. When you reach the end of the deck pull up the nose and press the G key to retract the Gear (undercarriage). 

2. Fly to Target

Your left hand MFD is showing the EHSI navigation display with waypoint 1 selected - this is your target. Press / until the scale at the top right on the EHSI reads 7. Turn the aircraft to keep the line to this waypoint vertical in the display. When the line shortens and the waypoint (the small cross at the end of the line) is about halfway between the outer edge of the EHSI display and the aircraft symbol at the centre of the display you are approaching the target and should be able to see it in the forward view.

Don't expect the target to appear directly ahead - the Nav system is only as good as the data it received from TAWADS. Minor errors could result in the target appearing to one side or other of the flight path.

3. Attacking the target.

You will be using Hydra unguided rockets to attack the target. Press BACKSPACE until HYD (followed by a number) appears at the bottom left of the HUD.  This indicates that the Hydra rockets have been selected, the number indicates how many rounds each of the underwing launchers carry. A T-shaped marker in the HUD shows the predicted impact point of the rockets. Fly until these are over the target then press the FIRE or SPACE to release the rockets.

4. Return to Tarawa

Cycle through the waypoints on the EHSI display (the ; key) until a T is shown at the top right of display.  This is a TACAN radio navigation beacon carried by Tarawa as a navigation aid for its aircraft. Either fly back to Tarawa using the EHSI display to guide you, or select the autopilot (A) and just sit back and watch it do the work of flying you back and landing the aircraft. Even if you've flown back manually, we'd recommend that for your first few flights you turn the autopilot on for the landing.

When you have landed, ask for a debrief by pressing CTRL D.  This will take you to the Pilots' Briefing Room. A summary of the success of your mission will be shown on the whiteboard. If you would like to fly another mission, click on the right hand monitor in the briefing room to see what's available to be flown.

Time Control

If no AV-8B missions are available to be flown, you can speed up the simulation, fast forwarding to the point where the next batch of missions are ordered. To do this, go to the command centre, click on the TAWADS console, then click on the digital clock at the top right of the map display. A menu will open, offering the following options:

Stop Time - This pauses the simulation.

Normal - The simulation runs in real time - this is the normal operating mode when playing the game.

Fast - The simulation runs at 4 x normal time. This can be useful while units are on the move, but little else is happening - for example, if landing craft are heading from the assault ships to the beachhead.

Step 1 Min - This is an alternative method of temporarily speeding up the game.

Step Next Mission - This advances the game to the point where the next mission is about to be launched.  This allows the player to fast forward through parts of the plan in which no operations are to be launched. For example, plan SABER contains relatively few night missions for the AV-8Bs. If none are scheduled, selecting Step next mission will advance the simulation to dawn of the next day.

Pause the Game - You can pause the simulation at any time to cope with phone calls or other interruptions. When aboard Tarawa, go to the Command Centre and click on its digital clock. If you're in the cockpit flying a missing, press the P key.

A MORE ADVANCED SESSION

When you're ready to learn more about the game, the next sortie to be described will show you how to create an immediate mission (one not contained in the battle plan), fly it, then save the game state.

This example follows on from the previous one, and assumes that it has been flown. If you've flown other sorties in the meantime, you'll have to quit from the game. If so, reload it NOW! Restart plan SABER and refly that first mission, (or let the computer do it for you.)

CHECKING ON ACCESS IN TAWADS

When you have flown your interdiction mission you will receive a pilots debrief telling you how successful you have been.

However, as the commander, you will want more of an overview, telling you how that mission fitted into the "Big Picture" of the overall campaign. Remember, while you were busy with your own sortie, other military operations have been under way. To get this you must run TAWADS again.

1. Run TAWADS.

From the command control room click on the TAWADS screen. This will run the TAWADS computer.

2. ZOOM INTO THE TARGET.

Your previous mission was to attack a fixed base on Jaco Island, at the East end of the main island. Zoom the map view into this island by clicking with the pointer over the island until the name Jaco appears next to a white square indicating a fixed base or town. You may have to move your map view to keep Jaco near the centre of the screen. This is done by clicking on the MAP SCROLL icon (four arrows) at the bottom left of the screen.

3. Open the intelligence window. Click on the intelligence icon (top right of the screen). This will open a window over the top right corner of the map.

4. Select the base to get an intelligence report. Click on the white square by Jaco with the LMB, the intelligence window will show the state of the selected object - in this case, Jaco. This is an Indonesian military base containing two buildings - the information window will display the number remaining. If you have been very successful, this will read 0, but it is more likely to be 1 or even 2.

We will assume that one of the targets remains. Requiring the creation of an unplanned mission to send another aircraft back to Jaco Island to attack the remaining target.

CREATING AN IMMEDIATE MISSION IN TAWADS

1. Open the AIR PLAN window. Click on the AIR PLAN mission icon (near the top left) - a window will open top left with the words HARRIER WAYPOINTS in it. You must now enter the waypoints for the mission.

2. Enter mission waypoints. Double click with the pointer over Jaco, a red waypoint icon will appear (a pyramid with the top cut off) under the pointer. You have now indicated to TAWADS that Jaco is to be a waypoint for the new mission.

3. Change the Waypoint Type. Click on the backgound of the HARRIER WAYPOINTS window to open its sub-menu. Click on PRIMARY TARGET. This action tells TAWADS that Jaco is not a navigational waypoint, but a target to be attacked.

4. Finish the Mission Entry. Click on the EXIT icon in the HARRIER WAYPOINTS window to finish the entry of the mission - this window will close. Exit TAWADS by clicking on the TAWADS exit icon to exit the TAWADS system.

Selecting and Flying the Mission

The red light on the Pilots' Briefing Room telephone will be flashing. Click on the phone to go directly to the briefing room. Your new mission will be shown as second on the whiteboard. It will be named:

    INTERDICTION H/O-O PRIMARY TARGET JACO

Follow the instructions in earlier PRE-FLIGHT and FLY MISSION sections to fly this mission. As you fly combat missions, you will hear the sound of explosions. These are the result of ground-based combat between the Marines and the Indonesian defenders. When the mission is completed you will be returned to the Pilots Briefing Room. Clicking on the telephone will take you back to Command Centre.

Flying and Air Combat Missions

To get your first experience of air-to-air combat, go to the Command Centre, and use TAWADS to create an Immediate Mission with one of the airstrips on the south coast of East Timor specified as the primary target.

Go to the Pilots' Briefing Room and accept the newly created mission. As you approach the airstrip, defending fighters should try to intercept you.

Once you're familiar with the landscape of East Timor, you can simply go the Pilots' Briefing Room, accept the Air Combat Mission which is normally available, then head for an enemy air base.

SAVING GAME STATE

Assuming that you have been fairly successful in your attacks on Jaco Island, we will now save the state of the game, so that you can return to it in the future.

1. Click on SAVE icon in the Command Centre (a diskette on the table). This will open the SAVE/LOAD screen.

2. Click on one of the 10 available slots. It will become highlighted.

3. Click on the Save Game icon (arrow pointing at a disk). The current game state will be saved to the hard disk, and the selected slot will now contain the name of your saved state. It should read something like SABER 0/9:50.

The save name is made up to the name of the plan currently being run, plus the current date and time. The example shown contains Plan SABER at the state it had reached by 9.50am on day 0 of the campaign.

4. Click on the exit icon to return to the command centre. This saved game can be retrieved at any time to re-entering the SAVE/LOAD screen, clicking on the slot which contains the saved game, then clicking on the Load Game icon (arrow pointing away from a disk). Full details of the SAVE/LOAD facility are provided in Section 7 of the manual "Aboard the Tarawa".

KEYBOARD CONTROLS

Engine and nozzles:

Engine ON/OFF - E
Engine thrust - 1 to 0 (0-100% in 10% steps)
                or, = (Increase) and - (Decrease)
Nozzle posn   - SHIFT 1 to SHIFT 0 (0-100 deg in 10 deg steps)
                or, SHIFT + (Lower) or SHIFT - (Raise)

FLIGHT CONTROLS

Joystick Left or Mouse  - Roll left
Joystick Right or Mouse - Roll right
Joystick Down or Mouse  - Pitch up
Joystick Up or Mouse    - Pitch down

Num Pad +  - Pitch trim +
Num Pad -  - Pitch trim -
Num Pad *  - Remove Pitch trim
CTRL E     - Eject
< - Rudder left
> - Rudder right
Z - Calibrate joystick
A - Autopilot off/on
B - Airbrakes
W - Wheelbrakes
G - Landing gear up/down

WEAPONS & NAV SYSTEM
F - Drop flare
C - Drop chaff
R - Radar altimeter ON/OFF
N - Weapons in salvo
' - Change bomb aiming mode
[ - Cycle left MFD
] - Cycle right MFD
/ - EHSI range
; - Next waypoint
I - FLIR on/off
CTRL R - Jettison all unused weapons
BACKSPACE - Next weapon
SPACE, Joystick 1 or LMB - Fire weapon
ENTER, Joystick 2 or RMB - Mark ground target

VIEWS

Cockpit view:

F1 - Look up/down
F2 - Forward view
F3 - Left 60 deg
F4 - Right 60 deg
F5 - Left 120 deg
F6 - Right 120 deg
PAGE UP (Num Lock OFF) - Zoom in
PAGE DOWN (Num Lock OFF) - Zoom out

Outside Views:

M   - Missile View
J   - Enemy View
V   - Outside View
O   - Camera View
F7  - Rotate left
F8  - Rotate right
F9  - Rotate up
F10 - Rotate down

TIME CONTROL

X - Fast time
P - Pause
S - Single step (when paused)

GAME CONFIGURATION

Q      - Toggle Engine noise ON/OFF
CTRL A - Advanced model
CTRL J - Joystick
CTRL K - Keyboard
CTRL M - Mouse
CTRL Q - Toggle all sounds ON/OFF
CTRL S - Simple model
ESC    - Menus
ALT X  - Return to Command Centre

ALT K  - TSR keys on (This opens a window which allows you to give keyboard commands to any “Terminate and Stay Resident” routines you may have in your computer. Most players will never need to use this facility.)