A few teething problems with AATF: Assistance much appreciated

[Bahger]

I bought AATF this weekend after playing the demo. I'm looking forward to receiving the manual, as it may help with a couple of "issues" that are limiting my enjoyment of an otherwise terrific sim. Two caveats: This is my first experience with this series of games so I may be missing something obvious, and it's also possible that my tactics are deficient. Having said that...

In the Tutorial mission, the following things baffle me:

- The command to dismount infantry from Black Hawks does not always work. I have experimented with different locations, such as clearings, light woods vs. heavy, etc. but 50% of the time the command won't "take", even over the necesary passage of time, and the helicopters take damage from being stationary and exposed.

- Obviously one solution to the above is to attempt to dismount infantry further away from suspected enemy positions but this seems to cancel out the tactical purpose of helicopter airborne ops which, to my understanding, involve close insertion.

- I have tried to use indirect smoke missions to make these problematic insertions easier but do not know from the arty menu acronyms which, if any, of the munitions options are smoke.

- The helos seem unwilling to fly over certin types of terrain such as thick forest. I have tried to insert infantry for a "back door" assault, again assuming this kind of mobility to be tactically appropriate. I have so far been unable to maneuver a helo unit into position.

As you can gather, I have a lot to learn. And I really like the sim, especially the tac-AI. However, I'm a little aggravated by the above issues because I'm caught between a rock and a hard place: close insertion is too inconsistent and time-consuming for the airborne platforms to survive and a more distant insertion inhibits coordination and seems tactically inappropriate. And I don't know why the dismount command appears to work in some circumstances and not in others.

I'd really appreciate being set straight here as this game has great potential for me as long as I can overcome the initial frustration. Many thanks.