As with all STRiKE mission sets you should set the Skill Levels for the "Pilot Enemy Skill" to maximum, anything less decreases your enjoyment. Weapons lethality should be set at "5," as should all other settings. The "General" and "Systems Damage" boxes should all be checked, bullet-proof Flankers have not yet been invented...
As most of these missions are "air-to-air" good use should be made of the excellent Film feature of "F/A-18 Hornet 3.0"... and try to spot why you won or lost at a particular point in time. The computer controlled planes will sometimes act as if they are lead-turning you, other times they may seem to "rope-a-dope" you... see if you can spot this.
Please keep in mind that you are flying an interceptor in these missions. During a "Tour Of Duty," when you progress through the missions you must remember that your primary role is "air-to-air"... if you strike against unfragged targets on the ground i.e. targets which you have not been briefed about nor ordered to bomb, like Allied air bases, then you run the risk of being court-martialed, with dire consequences for your career. Sometimes the Allied bases will be protected by F-16s and SAM sites and the loss of your jet is a risk you must not take. The motto for these missions is "Hit fast, and EXTEND like hell!" Don't linger over the battle area, don't wander off on your own bombing missions (unless you are in "Instant Action" mode), and don't go near the American Carrier.
Please send us compressed replays of your best mission for our archives, and for possible future download on our web-site by others. Two films of the Training missions are included in this package. One film is of a Training mission flown by the real "Yuri Gremencho." Simply drag them to your replay folder.
