Alternative Historical/Hypothetical Battles in Digital Combat Simulator (DCS)

[Husky_Khan]

The channel Grim Reapers has a lot of videos like these on their YouTube/Rumble Channels so I decided to make a thread of the interesting scenarios for me. Might include other videos as well from other channels and/or military simulator games as I find them.

But the video the Grim Reapers released today was actually a pretty good battle.

Could a Ticonderoga Cruiser with modern 2020 technology take on the Imperial Japanese Fleet at Midway?

Rumble



YouTube

 

[Husky_Khan]

Who wins? A squadron of A-10 Warthogs or the World War Two era 72,000 Ton Japanese Battleship Yamato (plus destroyer escorts).

 

[Yinko]

The cruiser certainly did better than I expected. Not sure if their sim was real to life, it seems as if they had more missiles than the actual cruiser has as a standard loadout. Maybe I misunderstood? I also didn't see any of the Japanese planes attempt a kamikaze, possibly the sim wasn't set up to allow for that kind of collusion damage? Even with motion tracking turrets, if a mass of flaming metal is coming in then it's coming in.

 

[Husky_Khan]

The cruiser certainly did better than I expected. Not sure if their sim was real to life, it seems as if they had more missiles than the actual cruiser has as a standard loadout. Maybe I misunderstood? I also didn't see any of the Japanese planes attempt a kamikaze, possibly the sim wasn't set up to allow for that kind of collusion damage? Even with motion tracking turrets, if a mass of flaming metal is coming in then it's coming in.

Well the important thing is that they try to make it accurate but can only do so much from the limits of their (heavily modded) Digital Combat Simulator game engine and what units are in it.

When it comes to ships, they typically utilize the full default complement of missiles. So your average Burke III might only have twenty to forty VLS launchers and maybe twenty other missiles in the other tubes but when they do their simulation, it's going to have a full complement of default missiles. And since Burke's can have upwards of 64 or 96 VLS tubes, that can mean a lot of missiles are in the simulation.

And though I never heard it discussed for the AI by the team IIRC, the AI never *rams* the enemy unless specifically programmed to do so (there were earlier videos involving Iranian speedboats attempting to ram a US Carrier within the Straights of Hormuz in a simulation). But flaming planes can crash into and damage ships (or buildings etc) unintentionally.

There are also deconfliction issues in that missiles will target sinking ships or aircraft that were already shot down or in the process of going down, but its really dependent on the context of the situation, like the missile being used, the target and how buggy the simulation is.

 

[Husky_Khan]

A classic Grim Reapers scenario from over a year ago. This was the culmination of several experimental battles using the same scenario and involving things like decoy drones, boghammer speedboats, Silkworm missiles and so forth. This Scenario however incorporated all of those elements and more in an attempt to simulate a hypothetical Iranian strike upon a US Carrier Group transiting through the Straight of Hormuz.



With that said, it's obviously not "realistic" due to game engine limitations. But it's still fun and I feel interesting, if not also illuminating to see.

 

[Husky_Khan]

The Grim Reapers attempt to recreate a scene that took place in 2018 when the British Royal Navy's Type 45 Destroyer, HMS Duncan was swarmed by seventeen Russian jets whilst deployed in the Black Sea.

Check out about 8:00 in when one of the Human piloted planes actually attempts to buzz the Royal Navy destroyer early in the simulation to impressive result...



In Grim Reaper fashion, they'll recreate this scene turning hot with several Human pilots replacing the Russian pilots taking positions all around the British anti-air destroyer.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Another fun one. The Grim Reapers take A-10 Warthogs to intercept a large formation of German Ju-88 Bombers Attempting to Bomb Merry England.



Not only is there plenty of 'BRRT' action, but there is some bonus content IMHO in the beginning and end of the video that really shows how incredible a simulation DCS is even with ground vehicles.

 

[ATP]

I remember old Discovery series where ancient generals from various ages,for example Alexander the Great and Hannibal,fought each other,but forget name.
Maybe somebody here remember it ?

If so,i would love to see battles of commanders from 500BC to,well,maybe not 1800,but 1650AD.
Becouse i am sure,that many medieval/ancient armies could win at least to 1650AD,as long as their soldiers would not run from boomsticks.

 

[49ersfootball]

The cruiser certainly did better than I expected. Not sure if their sim was real to life, it seems as if they had more missiles than the actual cruiser has as a standard loadout. Maybe I misunderstood? I also didn't see any of the Japanese planes attempt a kamikaze, possibly the sim wasn't set up to allow for that kind of collusion damage? Even with motion tracking turrets, if a mass of flaming metal is coming in then it's coming in.

Howdy from the Alamo City. Watching this thread very closely.

 

[Husky_Khan]

A video to post that's rather timely considering recent reported events. The Kinzahl KH47M2 Hypersonic Ballistic Missile versus Gepard SPAAG's, IRIS-T and Pac-3 Air Defense systems.



The Hypersonic Missile Testing portion is actually only the first half of the video, because as expected, the testing doesn't take much time since the KInzahls are zooming across only a fifth of their range at speeds of around Mach 10. And as noted in the video, the KInzahl's are launched at 200 miles from the MiG-31 instead of their stated range of a thousand miles away or whatever due to engine limitations of the game engine.

They finish the video by trying to penetrate the three layers of air defense in Su-27 Jets.

I remember old Discovery series where ancient generals from various ages,for example Alexander the Great and Hannibal,fought each other,but forget name.
Maybe somebody here remember it ?

If so,i would love to see battles of commanders from 500BC to,well,maybe not 1800,but 1650AD.
Becouse i am sure,that many medieval/ancient armies could win at least to 1650AD,as long as their soldiers would not run from boomsticks.

It sounds familiar. I remember the History Channel had a show called Decisive Battles that used the Rome: Total War engine to depict historical battles and events but I honestly can't recall the name of any other show like that which had that sort of Historical Versus.

There was Deadliest Warrior on Spike TV which had historical leaders face each other, but that was in single style combat for the most part. And I think Hannibal fought Ghenghis Khan in that show for some ridiculous reason.

 

[ATP]

A video to post that's rather timely considering recent reported events. The Kinzahl KH47M2 Hypersonic Ballistic Missile versus Gepard SPAAG's, IRIS-T and Pac-3 Air Defense systems.



The Hypersonic Missile Testing portion is actually only the first half of the video, because as expected, the testing doesn't take much time since the KInzahls are zooming across only a fifth of their range at speeds of around Mach 10. And as noted in the video, the KInzahl's are launched at 200 miles from the MiG-31 instead of their stated range of a thousand miles away or whatever due to engine limitations of the game engine.

They finish the video by trying to penetrate the three layers of air defense in Su-27 Jets.



It sounds familiar. I remember the History Channel had a show called Decisive Battles that used the Rome: Total War engine to depict historical battles and events but I honestly can't recall the name of any other show like that which had that sort of Historical Versus.

There was Deadliest Warrior on Spike TV which had historical leaders face each other, but that was in single style combat for the most part. And I think Hannibal fought Ghenghis Khan in that show for some ridiculous reason.

I remember Deadliest Warrior.It was no-named warriors,not commanders usually - althought once Vlad tepes defeated and impaled some chineese general.
Usually it really do not had sense - for example,including stone age warriors to fight dudes with steel or even bronze was simply not funny.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Not Grim Reapers but... looks fun. A far smaller YouTube channel named 72nd Vipers set up a simple simulation of a US Ticonderoga Cruiser versus Russia's Slava-class cruiser, the Moskva. Needless to say this occurred before the Moskva decided to slip beneath the waves.



Russian Flotillas often did pretty good in DCS simulations due to their ability to spam large amounts of missiles, especially the giant Russian anti-ship missiles as well as being bristling with anti-air defenses, helping illustrate the potential shortfalls of video game simulation compared to reality.

 

[Husky_Khan]

A brilliant idea IMHO.

Counter-Insurgency (COIN) Aircraft Versus WW2 Fighters in Dogfights!

GUNS ONLY!

So we'll get to see OV-10A Broncos, A-29B Super Tucanos, and the IA-58 Pucara versus WW2 Warbirds including the BF-109 K-4, FW-190 D-9, Spitfire IX, P-47D Thunderbolt, P-51D Mustang and Mosquito.



These are usually pretty neat videos. They've done other videos such as A-10's versus WW2 Bombers and WW2 Warbirds versus Modern Helicopter Gunships which were neat and this should be much the same.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Five minute re-enactment of when a F-15 Fighter dropped a laser guided bomb on an airborne Iraqi Hind Helicopter during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. The only known confirmed aerial kill of an aircraft with a laser guided bomb (so far).

 

[Husky_Khan]

Appropriate for the Fourth of July. Beyond 2025 era US Carrier Group versus a UK Carrier Group.

The US Carrier Group consists of:
1 SuperCarrier
2 Ticonderoga-class CMP Cruisers (SM-2, SM-3, SM-6
4 Arleigh Burke Class-III Destroyers
24 F-35C's with air to air configurations (Stealth Configuration, 4 AIM 260 JTAMs, 2 AIM-9X)
24 FA-18F's with air to air configurations (12 AIM 260 JTAMs, 2 AIM-9X)
24 FA-18F's with anti ship configurations (4 AGM-158C LRASM, 2 AIM-9X)
2 AWACs

VERSUS

The UK Carrier Group consisting of:
1 Queen Elizabeth Class Carrier
4 Type 45 Destroyers (SeaCeptor CAMM, Sea Viper/Aster 30)
2 Type 26 Frigates (SeaCeptor CAMM)
36 F-35B's with air to air configurations (Stealth Configuration, 3 Meteor and 1 Aim-132 ASRAAM)
2 AWACs

 

[Husky_Khan]

For the Tomcat (and Super Tomcat) lovers out there.

F-14B Tomcat Air Wing versus ST-21 Super Tomcat Air Wing.

An interesting distinction being the F-14B's being armed with the long range AIM-54 Phoenix Air to Air Missiles that were never properly replaced by the AMRAAMs which were seen as only medium ranged for much of their lifespan. The ST-21 Super Tomcats would be equipped with the AIM-120D's however which are modern and extended range.



Along that similar line is another battle which pits F-18F Super Hornets against ST-21 Super Tomcats.

In this fight the Super Hornets would be equipped with the just developed AIM-260 JTAM or Joint Advanced Tactical Missile which is a Beyond Visual Range Missile which has a significantly longer range then the AIM-120 AMRAAM it is designed to supplement or replace.

Meanwhile the Super Tomcats would be equipped with the researched but never fielded AIM-152 AAAM developed by General Dynamics/Westinghouse (GDW). This long range anti-air missile was meant to replace the also long range AIM-54 Phoenix with even better range and even higher speeds.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Grim Reapers attempted to recreate the 'Night of the Vampires' Engagement (as improbable as they find it to be) from the 1986 Tom Clancy novel Red Storm Rising where a Soviet anti-ship Bomber force engages a mixed US Carrier Battlegroup.

The original version of the 1986 era.



And a modernized 2020's version.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Finally a question maybe a few people have asked... who'd win a dogfight between Attack Helicopters and F-22 Raptors.

 

[Husky_Khan]

The Tsar Bomb, the largest nuclear weapon ever tested and almost too big to use, versus the Imperial Japanese Fleet attacking Pearl Harbor.



Who will win?

It's not actually just that. The players first run will be Tu-22 Backfire Soviet Bombers doing a "conventional" level bombing run with dumb bombs first.

We also get to see how far away the blast affects planes in the sim.

With a special appearance by assorted Kaiju... What?

 

[Husky_Khan]

Latest variation of Iranian Swarm Attack Upon a US Carrier Battle Group but this time it occurs off of the coast of Syria due to recent events apparently. For whatever reason the Carrier Group is only forty five miles off the coast of Syria as Iran strikes at them with 150 Silkworm Anti-Ship Missiles, 150 Shahed drones and 50 explosive Boghammer's armed with three machine guns and a MANPAD.