Warthogctober - Month of the BRRRT

Summer is over and the exhausting Hornet update finally out of the door, Warthogctober is now upon us, and with it the brand new expansion to the A-10C "Tank Killer".

I have been asked a few times if I would create something for the new A-10. The answer is yes! However, a complete re-write of the existing guide is just not an option since that would mean committing hundreds of hours that I just don't have. I figured that between doing nothing (abandoning new Warthog players in the process since the old A-10 is discontinued) and going full Rain Man on a new document made from scratch, there has to be some sort of middle ground. Therefore, I decided to add the Expansion-specific pages in the existing document (see concept below).

While some may think that the A-10 just got a few new toys (Laser JDAM, APKWS laser-guided rockets, Laser Maverick), the Tank Killer upgrade is much deeper than meets the eye. Some fundamental HOTAS functions have been changed, and I have to go through the entire document to see what the deltas are and adapt the guide accordingly. This is super boring but necessary. The addition of the Scorpion HMCS, while really cool, will also require significant work, as will the ARC-210 radio when it becomes available. I have no estimate on when the Tank Killer update will be completed, but it won't be a walk in the park. I see many challenges ahead.

Keep in mind that before that, I have to wrap up the F-16 update with the updated Targeting Pod, Mavericks and HARM. This is the most pressing matter, and the HARM tutorial is coming along nicely.

On other fronts, I've deliberately put my planned JF-17 update on hold since Deka Ironwork is currently working on the Air-to-Ground Radar expanded modes and other goodies. Once I have time and the JF-17 is in a suitable state, I intend to eventually include air-to-air refueling, air-to-ground radar expanded modes, ECS and smaller other things I glossed over (read: omitted) in the initial release. I don't foresee this happening before 2021.

The additional P-47 variants (D-30 Early and D-40) have new external fuel tanks, armament panels and rockets, but I want to wait until Eagle Dynamics finalizes and hopefully documents these changes before spending energy on that. That Thunderbolt has some serious bang for the buck. 

As for the Viggen guide, I have mentioned in the past that I wanted to give it some much needed love. I don't like its format, it's missing some important information, and I believe it deserves something better than what we have now. I plan to work on this after "Tank Killer" (probably months from now)... if the Mi-24 Hind isn't out by then.

That's it for the news. Stay safe, everyone!