Wingman/Flight/Squadern AI

[Viper6 3]

Ok, I'm back with yet another question on how to get my wingman and or flight/squardern to help me, I got a intercept mission in the '68 campange and by the time my flight got there I had just enough time to down 1 of 8 when the "failed mission" banner popped on the screen, after analizing this, I used a different tactic, after takeoff, i put the pedal to the metal and much to my chagrin my wingman and flight were nowhere to be found! I blew by the enemy escorts to the primary, but after downing one my rear view was FILLED with bandits on my tail. I tried calling my wingman and flight to rejoin but nada. I have tried to asign the flight to engage air targets, but they go after the escorts and not the primary. Can any one shed some light on this? Any other tactics i can use? On some other missions my wingman comes back with out EVER firing a shot! Others in my flight don't even drop a single bomb! There has GOT to be a better way!

 

viper6 out!

[Nicholas Bell 117]

I've experienced many campaign intercept missions where it simply is not possible to hit the primary targets before they bomb. I've done what you have explained, plus adjusted waypoints to make the distance shorter. Flown the whole distance, used ALT-N -all to no avail.

 

So what I do is accept the fact I can't win every mission, but I can at least hurt the enemy as much as possible which will help in the long run in a campaign, where the more enemy planes you knock down the less you will see in the future. So I slow down and stick with my slow-ass flight and do the best I can to lead them into a nice bounce situation using the map to help. Gain some altitude and look for a nice ripe enemy flight which is RTB, get behind them and lead your flight in. I usually look for those primary targets which I couldn't reach before they bombed. Once they are home bound their escort will often stray, going their own way.

 

For your wingman, using the Attack My Target command and then helping him by sandwiching the bad guy really helps him score. Once he's on him you can take care of someone else. The rest of the flight will pretty much do want they want, but repeatedly commanding to attack air (or ground) will encourage them to continue (although I believe the AI pilot morale and condition plays a role in determining how "determined" the AI pilot is). Again, it helps a lot to lead them into a bounce situation. Unless armed with good missiles, the AI doesn't do well with a head-on merge.

 

I recently completed an 18 mission 1957 WOE campaign flying MiG-19s and had several aces - the top AI pilot had 9 kills. Overall the AI pilots claimed 46 victories of the 75 victories, the other 29 being mine of course. Will eventually post an AAR on the campaign.

 

My gripe with the AI pilots is not so much their inability to attack, but their inability to defend themselves. Out of 20 original and replacement pilots in the campaign, only 4 remained at the end. At the end I got pretty good at hit and run. I found that going to full afterburner and then giving the Return to Formation command would cause the AI pilots to match or exceed my throttle setting to catch up. Given the "19's" excellent acceleration this was normally enough to get them out of trouble. If only they would match my throttle on the way to the target!

[Viper6 3]

I've experienced many campaign intercept missions where it simply is not possible to hit the primary targets before they bomb. I've done what you have explained, plus adjusted waypoints to make the distance shorter. Flown the whole distance, used ALT-N -all to no avail.

 

So what I do is accept the fact I can't win every mission, but I can at least hurt the enemy as much as possible which will help in the long run in a campaign, where the more enemy planes you knock down the less you will see in the future. So I slow down and stick with my slow-ass flight and do the best I can to lead them into a nice bounce situation using the map to help. Gain some altitude and look for a nice ripe enemy flight which is RTB, get behind them and lead your flight in. I usually look for those primary targets which I couldn't reach before they bombed. Once they are home bound their escort will often stray, going their own way.

 

For your wingman, using the Attack My Target command and then helping him by sandwiching the bad guy really helps him score. Once he's on him you can take care of someone else. The rest of the flight will pretty much do want they want, but repeatedly commanding to attack air (or ground) will encourage them to continue (although I believe the AI pilot morale and condition plays a role in determining how "determined" the AI pilot is). Again, it helps a lot to lead them into a bounce situation. Unless armed with good missiles, the AI doesn't do well with a head-on merge.

 

I recently completed an 18 mission 1957 WOE campaign flying MiG-19s and had several aces - the top AI pilot had 9 kills. Overall the AI pilots claimed 46 victories of the 75 victories, the other 29 being mine of course. Will eventually post an AAR on the campaign.

 

My gripe with the AI pilots is not so much their inability to attack, but their inability to defend themselves. Out of 20 original and replacement pilots in the campaign, only 4 remained at the end. At the end I got pretty good at hit and run. I found that going to full afterburner and then giving the Return to Formation command would cause the AI pilots to match or exceed my throttle setting to catch up. Given the "19's" excellent acceleration this was normally enough to get them out of trouble. If only they would match my throttle on the way to the target!

Rgr that! I'll give it a go tonight. thanks for the insight and advice.

 

Viper6, out

[+Julhelm 266]

What he said or you could cheat and mod the B-52 to load Sparrows in the bombbay and give it a radar <_<

[RunsWithScissors 0]

Just last night, in various different aircraft, I tried flying around the pattern after take-off, let the other 3 get off the ground, hit burner & busted ass straight to the bombers. The best sortie, I got there in time to kill 2, but the rest of the guys STILL were too far back to help. This is why we need the F-20. I think I could've made it with that. (OK, I just REALLY want one. I've been attempting one as my first aircraft model, since I just can't wait for one, and have determined that I'll most likely just have to wait for one. LOL That stuff is a PITA. You guys who make the planes amaze me.) Anyway, as Nicholas said, I think we're just supposed to lose a few in this sim. Hell, try it in the BoB mod, you'll fail more often than not. But you can still kill 'em after it says you failed!

[+Baltika 85]

Hell, try it in the BoB mod, you'll fail more often than not. But you can still kill 'em after it says you failed!

 

 

Yes, I've run into this problem as well in the BoB campaign. What I've found is that altering the mission waypoints before you T/O does help, at least in BoB. If you go in to mission planner you will see that the game picks out a long looping intercept course to the mission objective waypoint, which is a fixed point. What I do is move the intervening moveable points (point 3 to mission objective point) into as near a direct line as possible, take off manually, then alt N when airborne. Make sure that your final moveable point is between the intercept point and the attacking bomber's target, which is also a waypoint, closer to the intercept point. Using that method, I often arrive on station at the intercept point and Red Crown tells me the incoming primary targets are still 50+ miles away, which gives me plenty of time to manoeuvre my slow-ass flight into a good bounce position, often upwards of 20 miles from the bombers' target, which at BoB speeds gives plenty of time to get a mission success. That's on the few occasions I can get my eight Brownings to knock a hole in the thick hide of the Luftwaffe bombers. . .

 

Just a thought. Good luck

 

baltika

[RunsWithScissors 0]

That's on the few occasions I can get my eight Brownings to knock a hole in the thick hide of the Luftwaffe bombers. . .

 

Just a thought. Good luck

 

baltika

 

 

Oh, don't get me started on the kevlar-kovered Luftwaffe... :fuk:

[+drdoyo 2]

What I do is this for intercepts, sweeps, and TARCAP.

 

1) on takeoff, fly straight until #3 calls airborne (if you have at least 4 planes in your division/flight) before turning to WP1.

 

2) Continue towards WP1 until #4 calls airborne and switch to the objective WP (usually WP5). Then order all divisions and your wingman to return to formation.

 

3) Fly towards WP5 at 63% thrust (AC where AB engages at 70%) until your element/division of 2/4 is formed up then go to AB at no more than 93% thrust.

 

I've found power settings any higher than 63% / 93% causes the AI wingmen to fall behind. For some reason AI won't use full power.

 

4) Turn your radar on to maximum search range and target enemy flights as Red Crown calls them until you target your primary target flight.....then DON'T change targets.

 

5) Run an intercept until you are in weapon range and fireing parameters- ......basically try to mentally picture the spacial relationship of yourself, your primary target flight, and your objective WP. Fly somewhee between the WP and target flight, usually closer to the Objective point and NEVER directly at the target flight. If your target flight is approaching from the other side of the Objective point, it may even be better to overfly the objective point.

 

6) When you can shoot without wasting the shot, order your wingman to fire on your target, and you switch to the next primary target and shoot it ASAP, or best at the same tome your wingman fires. Hopefully you are still BVR. Now with the enemy flight alerted you will have to close, or waste shots.

 

7) Once you visually spot the target flight, order another flight, or your other element to engage air, usually they will tie up or kill the escorts allowing you to engage the rest of the target flight.