Foothold tutorial

Foothold is a persistent PvE campaign: the map starts almost entirely red and the blue coalition advances zone by zone. Nothing resets when you leave — the map's progress, your rank and the bases' stock are saved. What you do today still counts tomorrow.

1. 01
   Join through Multiplayer

   Look for the Chimera server in the list. The mission only works in multiplayer, even if you're on your own.

2. 02
   Pick the blue coalition

   The server is PvE: the red slots exist only for the AI. Everyone flies blue, against the computer.

3. 03
   Use Dynamic Spawn

   In the spawn window choose Dynamic Spawn, then click the base on the F10 map (or pick it from the list). You can only spawn at blue bases — capturing zones opens new starting points.

4. 04
   Read the welcome message

   When you spawn you get your rank, your callsign (e.g. Indy91), the ATIS and the runway in use. On a carrier, the BRC instead of the ATIS.

5. 05
   Land to get paid

   Everything you destroy becomes personal credit, but it only goes into the account once you land safely at a friendly base. Ejecting or dying loses whatever hasn't been cashed in yet.

Comms: as soon as you take off, switch to the tactical channel (CH 3). Use CH 7 on the ground and on approach. Make your Fox calls on tactical — that way nobody gets a fright from a missile warning.

Mods are optional: without them you join and fly normally, you just can't pick those aircraft — and other pilots' may show up with the wrong model or not show up for you at all. Keep the mod on its latest version, the same as the server's.

Chimera livery — F-16C Viper

Chimera's official livery for the F-16C. A livery is visual only and lives on your computer: you only see the Chimera livery on a jet — yours or another pilot's — if it's installed in your DCS.

• Chimera livery for the F-16C ↗A ZIP of about 250 MB on Google Drive. Because it's large, Drive warns that it can't scan it for viruses — that's normal, click "Download anyway".

A-4E-C Skyhawk

The Community A-4E project's Skyhawk: a light attack jet from the 60s, free, with a clickable cockpit and about 1 GB installed. Requires DCS 2.9 or newer.

• Releases on GitHub ↗Download the ZIP of the latest release.

1. 01
   Download the release package

   Use the Community_A-4E-C_vX.X.zip file attached to the release — not the source code's "Download ZIP" button, which doesn't work in the game.

2. 02
   Updating? Delete the old version

   Remove the whole Mods\aircraft\A-4E-C folder and also Config\Input\A-4E-C (the old controls are incompatible — redo your binds afterwards). Never extract the new version over the old one.

3. 03
   Extract into Mods\aircraft

   The result should be Saved Games\DCS\Mods\aircraft\A-4E-C, with entry.lua inside it.

4. 04
   Check the main menu

   Open DCS: the A-4E-C theme shows up among the menu backgrounds and the aircraft joins the module list.

UH-60L Black Hawk

Kinkkujuustovoileipä's Black Hawk. Version 2.0 brought a new flight model, the armed DAP (Direct Action Penetrator) variant and cargo transport. On the server both — UH-60L and UH-60L DAP — fly logistics through CTLD: up to 2 crates, 20 troops and 3,500 kg.

• UH-60L Mod 2.0 (Patreon) ↗The official download page. The old GitHub was discontinued and only has 1.x — don't use it.

1. 01
   Remove version 1.x

   If you already had the old mod, delete its folder in Mods\aircraft before installing 2.0.

2. 02
   Run the installer

   Download the installer from the Patreon page and run it. It shows the latest version, then downloads and extracts everything into your Saved Games folder by itself.

3. 03
   Antivirus complained? Use the manual archive

   The installer is sometimes flagged as a false positive. The same page has a backup archive: extract it at the root of Saved Games\DCS (not inside Mods) — it already comes with the Mods\aircraft structure.

Su-35 Flanker-E

The Codename Flanker community's Flanker-E, with a glass cockpit and thrust vectoring. It's distributed through the group's Discord, which is where the current version's file and instructions live.

• The Su-35S thread on the ED forum ↗Project news and the invite to the Codename Flanker Discord.

1. 01
   Download it from the Codename Flanker Discord

   Grab the latest version in the downloads channel. Avoid stray copies on third-party sites: old Su-35 versions have crashed DCS since update 2.9.6.

2. 02
   Extract into Mods\aircraft

   The aircraft's folder goes straight into Saved Games\DCS\Mods\aircraft, with entry.lua at its top level. When updating, delete the old folder first.

3. 03
   Careful with other Flanker mods

   Running the Su-35, Su-30 and Su-57 mods together can conflict. If DCS crashes on start or the cockpit comes up empty, remove the others and test with the Su-35 alone.

There are two accounts. PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION is what you've earned and not yet cashed in. When you land safely at a friendly zone it becomes COALITION CREDIT — a single pool any player can spend in the shop — and it also adds to your permanent rank.

Rank is permanent and follows the lifetime total you've earned (not what's in the pool). It unlocks the shop's most expensive items: high-value items require a minimum rank.

Every zone on the F10 map carries its name, waypoint number and state. Click the parts of the label below to understand each piece.

A red zone's colour tells you what's still left inside:

• Red — the zone is intact, with live air defence.
• Light red — there are still mobile defenders, but no working air defence.
• Purple — only static structures remain; nothing shoots any more.

The lines between zones show the supply routes. An enemy zone can only be attacked as an objective when it's linked to the blue network — it's along these lines that the front advances.

On the helicopter escort, spawning in the mission's zone gets you a message. Accept it in Others > Ground Escort and a menu appears to make the convoy move, stop, pop smoke and report bearing and distance. It stops by itself when it detects enemies and moves on again when the area is clear. If the convoy dies, the mission fails and restarts in ~30 s. About 70% of the way along it sets up a FARP.

1. 01
   Create the marker

   On the F10 map, place a marker at the spot the command is about — inside the zone, where the FARP goes, on the orbit point. Leave it visible to your coalition, not to everyone.

2. 02
   Type the command

   Type the text from the table below exactly, with nothing before or after it, in lower case. Only smoke takes a dash in front (-smoke); every other command is written without one — with a dash, they don't work.

3. 03
   Click outside to confirm

   The command only runs when you click outside the marker — don't press Enter. The answer shows on screen and, for most commands, the marker disappears by itself.

Shop and information

Support: CAP and tankers

They draw a new racetrack for support that is already airborne, with two markers: one with the 1 command (e.g. arcohere1), then another with the 2 command (arcohere2). The flight goes to point 1 and flies the circuit toward point 2. Blue coalition only; the tankers ignore requests from helicopters and need the same rank as buying them.

Tarawa

JTAC and smoke

The JTAC is the server's most useful tool for anyone doing air-to-ground. Buy it in Shop > JTAC & Intel > MQ-9 Reaper (600 credits) and pick the enemy zone. The drone arrives, builds a target list and starts lasing the highest-priority target by itself, on laser code 1688. When that target dies, it moves on to the next. When the zone goes neutral, the drone leaves.

There are two different loads, and they do different things:

• ZONE SUPPLIES — capture a neutral zone or repair/upgrade a friendly one. Each package also restocks 10 of every weapon category at the base.
• WAREHOUSE ITEMS — only restock the base's weapons, bombs, rockets, tanks and pods.

1. 01
   Pick up the load

   On the ground at a friendly zone: radio menu (\) > F10 > Others > Logistics > Zone Supplies. Choose as many packages as you can carry — each one has a weight and every aircraft has a limit.

2. 02
   Load through the REARM menu

   Open the cargo door and use the rearm menu (Ground Crew) > Cargo > Load. Select one item at a time.

3. 03
   Fly at an honest weight

   With 100% fuel you're probably over the limit. Cut the fuel or take fewer crates.

4. 04
   Unload inside the zone

   Land inside the zone, open the cargo door and select Unload in the rearm menu. Within seconds the confirmation comes and the zone is captured or upgraded.

The C-130J-30 is the campaign's workhorse: it carries up to 4 zone supplies (captures/upgrades the zone and also puts 40 of every item in the warehouse) and far more warehouse items. Open the C-130 checklist, leave the ramp open, use STAGE NEARBY, walk as loadmaster to the back of the aircraft and use Load staged. Give heavy loads enough parachutes (~5 for 11 t items).

Airdrop: fly straight and level, slow down until the W symbol on the HUD sits at ~6-7 degrees and release the load over the destination zone. CTLD cargo dropped in flight assembles itself in ~30 seconds. Keep every item of the same set within 2,000 m of each other — and don't drop on top of houses, or it won't assemble.

Every friendly zone has a warehouse with a FINITE amount of weapons — the only exception is the starting base, marked [WH], which has unlimited aircraft, fuel and weapons. At any other base, each rearm consumes the local stock. If ten pilots load AMRAAMs at the same forward base, the eleventh takes off with just the gun.

The stock is rebuilt in four ways — from slowest to fastest:

1. 01
   Pick the right category

   Radio menu > Others > Logistics > Warehouse. You can take "10/15/25/50 of everything" or just what's missing: A/A Missiles, A/G Missiles, A/G Rockets, A/G Bombs or Plane fuel-tanks and pylons.

2. 02
   Load through the rearm menu

   Same as Zone Supplies: door open, rearm menu (Ground Crew) > Cargo > Load. NEVER through CTLD.

3. 03
   Unload at the base that needs it

   Land inside the zone, Unload in the same menu. The stock goes straight into the local warehouse.

In a hurry and the pool is full? Shop > Capture & resources > Resupply warehouse with 50 (200 credits, rank 2) drops 50 of every eligible item at the chosen zone without anyone flying anything. It's the cheapest way to reopen a forward base in the middle of an operation.

Aircraft with the CTLD menu: CH-47F, C-130J-30, UH-1H, Mi-8, UH-60L, MH-60R, Mi-24P, Bronco, SA342 (troops only) and others. Not all of them carry everything: the Ka-50, AH-64D and OH-58D carry no cargo.

TROOPS — the whole way, from the hangar to the objective:

1. 01
   Land at a friendly zone and ask for the troops

   Radio menu > Others > CTLD > Manage Troops > Load troops. Choose the group: Squad 8, Platoon 16, Platoon 32, Anti-Air Soldiers, Mortar Squad, Engineer soldier, Zone Spy or Demolition Team.

2. 02
   Check what's on board

   CTLD > Inventory > List boarded cargo shows troops, crates and the total weight against what your aircraft can still take.

3. 03
   Fly to the objective

   Troops dropped within 5,000 m of the centre of a neutral or enemy zone walk there by themselves and engage whatever they find. Dropping closer is always better — they walk slowly and die on the way.

4. 04
   Land (or hover low) and drop

   Manage Troops > Drop ALL troops. The "ALL" matters: it's the whole package that captures or upgrades the zone.

5. 05
   Need to pick them back up?

   Manage Troops > Extract troops, pulling up close to them. Returned to the same loading zone they came from, the cost is refunded.

• Zone Spy — drop it within 5,000 m of an enemy zone: it infiltrates, turns on intel for 60 minutes, goes back to the drop point and waits for extraction.
• Demolition Team — goes into the enemy zone, destroys the structures and comes back to be extracted. It doesn't capture or upgrade, but it pays the credits for the structures destroyed.
• Squad 8 / Platoon 16 / Platoon 32 — ordinary capture troops. The bigger, the more firepower.
• Anti-Air Soldiers and Mortar Squad — light support to hold a freshly taken zone.

CRATES — ordering, hauling and building. A crate isn't the equipment: it's the packaging. Big systems come in sets of several crates, and only become a unit once built.

1. 01
   Order the crates at a loading zone

   CTLD > Manage Crates > Get Crates, and choose the category: Anti-tank, Support, SAM/AAA, SAM Add-on or FARP. The menu shows how many crates the set needs and the weight of each; they appear on the ground beside you.

2. 02
   Load

   Manage Crates > Load Crates > Load ALL (or one by one). Only crates within 65 m of the aircraft go in — and within your type's crate and weight limits. Sling loading works too.

3. 03
   Drop in the right place

   Manage Crates > Drop Crates. Drop every crate of the same set together: "Drop and build" does it all at once when you're already at the final spot.

4. 04
   Build

   Manage Crates > Build crates, with the crates within 65 m. Building takes about 30 seconds. "List crates nearby" shows what's on the ground and how much is missing to complete the set.

5. 05
   Repaired, got it wrong or gave up

   Repair restores a damaged group using new crates. Pack crates turns what's built back into crates (Pack and Load loads them; Pack and Remove takes them off the map) — it only works with the group within 120 m, and built FARPs can't be packed.

Want a FARP without flying a single crate? Buy Deploy FARP in the shop (1000): place a blue marker reading farphere at the spot and a CH-47 leaves the nearest friendly base to build it. The spot has to be outside zones, at least 10 NM from an enemy zone, on flat ground and within 100 NM of the departure base. The FARP only appears when the helicopter lands.

Every zone goes through the same three states: ENEMY (red, full of defenders), NEUTRAL (clear, ownerless) and FRIENDLY (blue, producing and serving as a spawn). Capturing is taking the zone from the first to the third — and only the second step needs cargo.

1. 01
   1. Pick a zone linked to the front

   You can only attack a zone linked to the blue network by the F10 lines. The Missions menu already points out the recommended one — the Attack mission exists exactly for that.

2. 02
   2. See what's inside

   Buy a JTAC MQ-9 (600) or Satellite Intel (300), fly the Recon mission over the zone, or drop a Zone Spy within 5 km. Without that you go in blind into a zone that may have a SAM switched off and waiting.

3. 03
   3. Clear the defenders

   The zone has to lose ALL its ground units to go neutral. Follow the colour: light red means the air defence is dead, purple means only structures are left. Bombing the enemy runway first keeps the fighters on the ground while you work.

4. 04
   4. Deliver supply or troops

   A neutral zone doesn't turn blue by itself. Bring Zone Supplies by plane/helicopter, drop CTLD troops inside it, or buy the capture mission (300) and let the convoy go.

5. 05
   5. Hold for 120 seconds

   The label shows the percentage and the zone starts changing colour. If everything doing the capturing is destroyed or leaves, the capture is cancelled. Stay overhead and protect it.

6. 06
   6. Build up the defences

   A freshly taken zone is a counter-attack target. Deliver more supply (or buy Resupply/Full Upgrade) to raise the groups, and consider a CTLD SAM or a permanent upgrade.

Capturing pays 200 contribution to whoever delivers, and every zone upgrade pays 100 — more than many kills. Hauling crates is, honestly, the most profitable way to play Foothold.

When a pilot ejects and survives, the helicopter crews get the call. The downed pilot keeps 75% of the credits they hadn't cashed in yet: whoever picks them up earns 200 for the rescue PLUS those kept credits, and has to land at any friendly zone or FARP to drop them off.

You can also rescue by landing: set down within 650 m of the pilot and keep the aircraft on the ground — they run to you and board once they're within 20 m.

If the pilot comes down near a friendly zone (within 3 NM), they run back by themselves and recover their own credits. If they come down in an enemy zone, they stay rescuable as long as they're alive — and if the zone is captured, they go home.

PRIVATE ESCORT: when you take off in an A-10, C-130/Hercules, AV-8B Harrier, F-15E or AJS-37 Viggen, the escort offer appears. Accept it and two fighters start flying above you (offset set per type, up to 10,000 ft). By default they only engage if engaged and protect within a 40 NM radius; switching to Flightsweep sends the pair out hunting.

EWRS: the early warning builds the air picture with the coalition's real radars. Each group picks what it wants to see, and the setting is personal — you can leave the helicopter at 20 NM and the fighter at 100 NM.

SHIPS: the carrier group sails by itself as the front advances. In Stats and Settings > Carrier Navigation you see the active groups and can send one to another cleared area — the warning comes 5 minutes and 1 minute before the turn. Controlling the carrier requires rank 5. The Tarawa takes commands by marker on the F10 map: type tarawahelp in a marker to see the list (tarawahere, tarawahereandstop, tarawahere1/2 for a racetrack, tarawareturn). The route has to stay in deep water and in friendly or neutral territory.

Bought CAP: once the flight is in the air, the Dynamic Control menu lets you destroy it, hold it in a racetrack (default: engages only if engaged), order it to engage everything, move it to another zone or move it by distance/direction from your position. Out of air-to-air missiles, the CAP returns to base.

MANTIS: every red SAM is tied into an EWR and AWACS network. They stay OFF until an early-warning radar detects you — don't trust a silent RWR. Take down the EWRs and the network falls (a backup system turns random SAMs on for a short while). Mobile groups run when they detect a HARM, and the SHORADs fire and relocate.

• The enemy CAP grows with the number of fighter jets online — A-10s, C-130s and helicopters don't count towards it.
• Red CAS, SEAD and ground attack are unlimited and don't depend on the number of players. Bombing the enemy base's runway holds the planes, but NOT the attack helicopters.
• When you capture certain zones, red may answer with Scuds, a ground offensive or artillery against your zones.
• Ground units patrol instead of standing still, and react when attacked: they pop smoke, disperse, hide, and dismount infantry and MANPADS.
• When blue pressure rises near the front line, red speeds up supply and CAP — and may force a counter-attack.

Pick the map below. These targets sit outside the normal capture queue: they earn credit for the coalition pool and, in several cases, ease the enemy pressure across the whole region.

The coordinates of the secondary targets are on the mission's kneeboard and in the Missions menu. Each zone's label on the F10 map also carries a reminder of what it is — in Syria and Afghanistan it describes the zone in one line.

1. 01
   "My cargo vanished in mid-air"

   You loaded it through the CTLD menu. Zone Supplies and warehouse items are only tracked through the REARM menu (Ground Crew > Cargo > Load) — even if CTLD offers "get and load". Loaded through CTLD, the package stops existing for the mission.

2. 02
   "I didn't get my credits"

   Contribution only becomes credit when you LAND safely at a friendly zone and the landing is validated. Ejecting, dying or leaving the server in the air loses whatever hadn't been cashed in yet.

3. 03
   "I clicked the menu and nothing happened"

   Most of the time it's the cargo door (or ramp) being closed — the CTLD here needs the door open to load and unload. After that, check the distance (65 m for crates) and your aircraft's weight limit.

4. 04
   "I can't build here"

   Building equipment isn't allowed inside Foothold zones or loading FARPs. Move away from the zone and use Build crates again, with every crate of the set within 65 m.

5. 05
   "The SAM doesn't show on my MFD"

   It's on purpose: on this server each SAM group rolls whether it spawns hidden or not. And with MANTIS the SAMs stay off until an early-warning radar detects you — a silent RWR isn't a clear area.

6. 06
   "The base has no weapons left"

   The local warehouse is exhausted. See the rearming module: the automatic refill takes time, but someone can bring warehouse items, or buy Resupply warehouse with 50 for 200 credits.

7. 07
   "I dropped troops and they vanished"

   If the zone was already blue and needed nothing, the troops are sent back to base. Troops are for capturing a neutral zone, clearing an enemy zone or upgrading a friendly zone that's asking for supply.

8. 08
   "The capture got to 80% and went back"

   It was cancelled because everything doing the capturing died or left the zone before the 120 seconds were up. Stay overhead protecting it until the zone changes colour.

9. 09
   "This blue zone is empty"

   It's by design: as the front advances, the defence groups are moved to the front line. The zone is still friendly and still serves as a spawn.

10. 10
    "My FARP/vehicle vanished after the restart"

    What you build is saved, but there's a limit on how many come back: 3 FARPs, 3 HAWK/NASAMS systems, 8 launchers, 2 IRIS-T, 4 HIMARS, 2 Humvees, and so on. The most recent ones take priority; troops on foot don't come back. A FARP saved too far from the current front is also discarded.

11. 11
    "Two jets, and the enemy CAP blew up in size"

    The red CAP scales with the number of fighters online. A-10s, C-130s and helicopters don't count towards it — but enemy CAS, SEAD and ground attack are unlimited and don't depend on how many are flying.

12. 12
    "The menu is in Portuguese"

    You can change it: Others > Stats and Settings > Set language > English, then go back to the slot (reslot) so the menus are rebuilt.