Welcome Welcome to VMFA-531 Mission Pack 'Gold', for Wings Over Vietnam (WOV). This pack covers the entire set of missions flown by Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 531 (VMFA-531) between the dates of April 13 through April 30, 1965. Where possible I have tried to stay true to the historical write-up of Mike Wanamaker and Lee R. De haven*, given the constraints of the publicly available aircraft and ground objects in WOV. Where necessary, certain stock aircraft and ground objects are used in place of their historical counterparts.   *Special mention goes to Ken King (531_Ghost) for commissioning this work.   NOTE: This mission pack has been optimized and tested to work with the October 2008 patch for Wings Over Vietnam.   VERSION: 1.0   Missions included in this Pack This pack contains over 60 single missions, scripted to reenact the engagements undertaken by the F-4Bs of VMFA-531. You will also get the chance to fly sorties in support of VMFA-531 in other aircraft, such as the A-6A, F-100D (acting as a Misty fast FAC) and the F-105D.   Acknowledgements, Disclaimer and Terms Thank you to all those modders that have provided the prerequisites I have used in my mission packs. If there are any problems with these missions and my own modifications, then please contact me directly, not the authors of the prerequisites. Note that some models used by this pack may have different terms and conditions (consult the accompanying documentation for details).   Released under Fair-Use terms, as defined at CombatAce   Special thanks Some contributors deserve a special mention, either for explicitly granting me permission to include their work in this pack, or for publishing their work under the aforementioned Fair-Use terms at CombatAce, and therefore permitting its inclusion in whole or in part in this pack*: Kesselbrut – US_Squad_early and VC_Squad ground forces, updated by TeTeT**.
Ravenclaw_007 – Martin Baker Mk7 Ejection Seat, used in F-4B.
Suicidal – Type-21 Frigate.
Sundowner – VMFA-531 (early) F-4B skins.
Swambast – M18 smoke canisters, used with the marker smoke effects in missions involving US ground troops.
Veltro2K – C-141A transport aircraft, and KC-135 tanker aircraft.
*Please contact me if you feel this list is incomplete or contains errors. Thank you.   **Included in this pack after consultation with USAFMTL.   Contents This mission pack replaces all previous VMFA-531 mission packs that I have published since late 2007. Briefly, the contents are as follows: New smoke marker effects
New formations
Comprehensive mission briefings documentation
60+ scripted single missions
Static aircraft with low-rez skins to populate your airbases during scripted single missions
Pilot skins to personalize your strike aircraft
FM tweaks to provide an auto-opening canopy for each strike aircraft used by this pack
Loadout enhancements to match the ordnance expended during the 'real' missions
A static frigate and carrier to replicate carrier task forces for both Yankee and Dixie stations
Comprehensive target definitions for each mission, with some enhancements to existing friendly airfields
New type definitions to support the new targets
Full airfield approach, tall structure anti-collision and ramp flood lighting for all friendly airfields
  Installation Download this pack to a neutral location on your local machine, extract the files, and then consult the detailed ReadMe for installation instructions.   Files are included to drag-drop this mission pack onto a clean install of WOV (patched to October 2008) with minimal configuration required. Detailed instructions are also included to perform a merge-install.   A final word This 'Gold' release of the VMFA-531 mission pack completes the set originally published in a series of mission packs from late 2007 onwards. This final version is intended to replace those earlier separate mission packs by offering everything in one place, re-written and enhanced to make full use of the October 2008 patched version of Wings Over Vietnam. The work presented here is the culmination of over 2 years worth of effort. I had a lot of fun doing it, learned a lot, and met some good people along the way. I hope that you enjoy it. I think you will.   Good luck.   comrpnt (February 2010).