Best beginner campaign for F-16C Viper?

[Sunbather]

I am going to buy three campaigns for the F-16C, my first plane. I've already completed training and played some of the missions that come with the module. I am now interested in four campaigns and I am going to play all of them eventually but I am wondering which one is the best to start out with:

- Dragon's Fury
- First in Weasels over Syria
- The Gamblers
- Arctic Thunder

Dragon's Fury seems like I would learn the most overall since it has a lot of variety and included A2A. But since it is Christmas (no snow though), I am in the mood for Arctic Thunder... Or are any of the other two campaigns much better to initiate me in real combat engagements?

Inb4: I am not interested in the Red Flag campaign since I don't want to buy the Nevada map.

Bonus question: I wanted to post this on the official forums but I can't post anything there in any subforum / thread. I've registered three days ago but literally can't do anything except liking posts.

[SSerponi76]

Originally posted by Sunbather:

Inb4: I am not interested in the Red Flag campaign since I don't want to buy the Nevada map.

The funny thing is that Red Flag would have been the perfect initial campaign to learn how to handle the complexities and procedures you will encounter in the other campaigns.

FI:WoS, LO:WoS 2, The Gamblers and Arctic Thunder are not easy to chew, especially if you just come out from the basic trainign: if you really don't want to buy the NTTR (IMHO a shame since NTTR is the best map for training) then you should start with Dragon Fury and improve your skill before play the others.

Also: take a look at the Downloads page of the DCS Website, there you will find some free, community made campaigns for the Viper: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/filter/type-is-campaign/localization-is-english/unit-is-f-16c/apply/

[Sunbather]

Originally posted by SSerponi76:

The funny thing is that Red Flag would have been the perfect initial campaign to learn how to handle the complexities and procedures you will encounter in the other campaigns.

Thanks for taking the time to answer, this is really helpful. So... Call me a cheap bsssstrd but I think the Nevada map should cost much less or should even be included in the base game, seeing that the training missions there cost extra anyway. There is simply not much to do on the Nevada map, and being a non-US-American, I don't have any feelings for it. Sure, I could do some roleplay with Mexico (?) invading the US or something but at the end of the day it's simply a training map. Of course, I did some googleing and seems like the veterans don't use the map much either.
On top of that, some of the Red Flag campaigns (e.g. for the A-10C II, another A/C I am learning currently) seem to be somewhat outdated: the changelog doesn't mention any signifcant changes, the reviews here on Steam are lamenting the dated-ness of the Red Flag for the Warthog etc. etc. There is simply too many things putting me off to purchase that map; I rather put 5€ more in the pot and buy the Viggen ;)

Originally posted by SSerponi76:

FI:WoS, LO:WoS 2, The Gamblers and Arctic Thunder are not easy to chew, especially if you just come out from the basic trainign: if you really don't want to buy the NTTR (IMHO a shame since NTTR is the best map for training) then you should start with Dragon Fury and improve your skill before play the others.

Yes. Thank you for that. My feeling also said that I should start with the Dragon's Fury campaign.

Originally posted by SSerponi76:

Also: take a look at the Downloads page of the DCS Website, there you will find some free, community made campaigns for the Viper: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/filter/type-is-campaign/localization-is-english/unit-is-f-16c/apply/

Already did ;) Having such a huge amount of custom missions and even whole campaigns was one of the reasons why I finally jumped into DCS.

[spike2071]

Originally posted by Sunbather:

There is simply too many things putting me off to purchase that map; I rather put 5€ more in the pot and buy the Viggen ;)

There is a free Red Flag campaign (using the Nevada map) for the Viggen. It used to be a paid one, but Heatblur took over maintenance on it and added it for free.

I've only played the Red Flag campaign for the Viper, so I can't add anything else.

[QWAKER]

I think Dragon's Fury is more beginner's friendly, as the workflow is more straightforward. The others you listed will require some knowledge on how to manage radars, mark steer-points and use the TGP to find targets. With that said... if you're looking for fun and straightforward A2A missions, I suggest you try out "Keeping the bear at bay" it's free to download on the DCS site. They're basically a set of QRA missions where you intercept random bogeys at a steerpoint that can sometimes turn hostile. You will learn a lot about formation flying, intercept, working the A2A radars, IFF and all of which won't require you to fly for more than 80 miles.