Difficulty? Is it this easy?

[Lt. James Cater]

In WOV any trip up North is to be taken with the utmost seriousness.

 

No matter where you go you stand an excellent chance of getting shot down. Even if you avoid the SAMs, the horrors of countless triple A just waiting for you to get low and slow is enough to give one pause before setting off.

[Viper6]

In WOV any trip up North is to be taken with the utmost seriousness.

 

No matter where you go you stand an excellent chance of getting shot down. Even if you avoid the SAMs, the horrors of countless triple A just waiting for you to get low and slow is enough to give one pause before setting off.

 

Ain't that the truth!!

[Jarhead1]

There is NOTHING easy about going "up north", the flak is thick, the sams are deadly, and the MiGs are out to have some fun and ruin ur day. I dont take it lightly going up there, but if u want, go right ahead, lol.

[Viggen]

If your flying a Thud or gunless USAF F-4, hit the deck as soon as Hanoi is on the horizon, or your wingmen start calling "SAM launch!" or your RWR lights up. Hit that burner and get to your target, use what ever form of bomb dropping you like (but dive bombing in that is quite dangerous), light the burner again and LEAVE, on the deck.

[Lt. James Cater]

If your flying a Thud or gunless USAF F-4, hit the deck as soon as Hanoi is on the horizon, or your wingmen start calling "SAM launch!" or your RWR lights up. Hit that burner and get to your target, use what ever form of bomb dropping you like (but dive bombing in that is quite dangerous), light the burner again and LEAVE, on the deck.

 

 

The approach i use i've posted many times before... Swing east north of Yen Bai, head over to Thud Ridge, go full power and dive down to the weeds on the east side of it, head straight for downtown, go full burner at pop up point to get to roll in altitude, roll in, drop bombs.

 

Getting out is really something. You can head for the Red river and try to make the hills or you can go on the long trip out over the water. It doesn't matter if you are low or high. Either way, if something goes wrong you are in deep kimchi!

Edited December 28, 2008 by Lt. James Cater

[Viggen]

I've run out of fuel once or twice...that sucked...had to bail in the water.

[MigBuster]

Well, after trying WOV it really hooked me because I was actually able to fly an aircraft fairly good, without having to be an actual pilot:) So I actually immediately purchased WOE and WOI.

 

The only thing I'm curious about is the difficulty of the enemy. I have flown quite a bit of missions in WOV and WOI but haven't even come close to failing yet. I'm playing on the hard setting for enemy. I basically fly straight for the target and usually destroy it. I have yet to be shot down by a SAM or other enemy aircraft without really using any kind of tactics. I wish I was that good, but I don't think it has anything to do with my skill level since I'm a newbie at best.

 

Is it really always this easy or am I missing something?

 

Can recommend an F-100D campaign in WOE 1962 if you have everything on Hard as you say - if you have Oct 2008 the AI has an annoying tendancy to try and shoot you down - in previous patches you could just ignore a lot of the enemy Migs!

[Lt. James Cater]

Can recommend an F-100D campaign in WOE 1962 if you have everything on Hard as you say - if you have Oct 2008 the AI has an annoying tendancy to try and shoot you down - in previous patches you could just ignore a lot of the enemy Migs!

 

That is a great way to introduce someone to these sims. You can rack up the kills in a Hun but you do have to keep an eye out for the rest of your squadron.

[eraser_tr]

Never particularly like flying the hun. No radar either to locate enemies or help calculate a lead for the gunsight. I'd go with a thud first.

[Lt. James Cater]

Use the Hartmann method.

 

Get in so close that the target fills your sight then let loose with your guns.

[Gr.Viper]

Mind, TK said, that setting AI difficulty to hard not only increases the number of good pilots amongst the enemies but also dumbs down your wingmen. So I switched to normal.

[Lt. James Cater]

Mind, TK said, that setting AI difficulty to hard not only increases the number of good pilots amongst the enemies but also dumbs down your wingmen. So I switched to normal.

 

That answers a whole lot of questions i was about to ask in the near future. I'm still going to use hard setting, I love the challenge.!

[+JonathanRL]

This reminds me when I once replaced a A-4 squadron with the A-1 Skyraider. THAT was utter suicide!

Had to change the target list for the squadron just to make it past the first two missions.

[Gr.Viper]

I love the challenge.!

I feel challenged enough when my F-4C is loaded with AIM-9B and AIM-7D and I can't get a lock on a flight of 8 head on because they are lower than me

 

And seeing your wingman going straight at you, firing a Sparrow, that zips past your pit, and smashes the face of the MiG that crept up behind you is really satisfying :yes:

[zmatt]

Yesterday I had fun flying a SEAD mission with AV8-B's. It was just two of us. With Fighter cover provided by F-15s. They weren't very helpful. The mission at first was going pretty good. The target was in the mountains so I kept her low and as close to the mach limit as I could and crept under the radar most of the way up. The Mav's I carried made quick work of the air defenses at the air strip we hit. They only had a flight of Mig-21mfs guarding the place and they were no match for the AIM-9 Lima's. Things started to go bad once we began to RTB. A flight of 5 Mig-31's came out of nowhere. I tried to dogfight with one of them but ran out of guns. I ended up out maneuvering him and he hit the dirt. My wing man and I hit the deck and full throttle and hoped we could get past em. Fat chance. They followed us all the way home. I had 4 Aphids fired at me. Dodged em all somehow. They finally broke off 10 miles from home. They either got scared of the stinger sites or they ran out of fuel. Either way I'm not complaining. THAT was hairy. I had a few near misses with mountains on the way back and I was acutely aware of the finite number flares and chaff I had. The F-15's never came to help. I kept asking TACOM for support and they wouldn't give it. I'm surprised my wing man made it out. I would have to attribute it to the Aphids being unreliable, but we all know that's not true.

Edited December 29, 2008 by zmatt

[Lt. James Cater]

Yesterday I had fun flying a SEAD mission with AV8-B's. It was just two of us. With Fighter cover provided by F-15s. They weren't very helpful. The mission at first was going pretty good. The target was in the mountains so I kept her low and as close to the mach limit as I could and crept under the radar most of the way up. The Mav's I carried made quick work of the air defenses at the air strip we hit. They only had a flight of Mig-21mfs guarding the place and they were no match for the AIM-9 Lima's. Things started to go bad once we began to RTB. A flight of 5 Mig-31's came out of nowhere. I tried to dogfight with one of them but ran out of guns. I ended up out maneuvering him and he hit the dirt. My wing man and I hit the deck and full throttle and hoped we could get past em. Fat chance. They followed us all the way home. I had 4 Aphids fired at me. Dodged em all somehow. They finally broke off 10 miles from home. They either got scared of the stinger sites or they ran out of fuel. Either way I'm not complaining. THAT was hairy. I had a few near misses with mountains on the way back and I was acutely aware of the finite number flares and chaff I had. The F-15's never came to help. I kept asking TACOM for support and they wouldn't give it. I'm surprised my wing man made it out. I would have to attribute it to the Aphids being unreliable, but we all know that's not true.

 

You're a braver man than i.

 

The moment that those Mig 31s came on the scene, i would have slammed the throttles to the fullest and headed for the weeds.

[zmatt]

The MIG's had me out gunned no doubt but they aren't dog fighters. The things take a city block to turn. I was able to stick on his tail. The only thing I am lacking is good gun control. How do you hit stuff? Often times I end up closing in on them and passing them up and slam on the brakes. Either that or I waste time spraying at them and every now and then I get lucky. Are gun kills really this hard or am I bad at it?

[Lt. James Cater]

The MIG's had me out gunned no doubt but they aren't dog fighters. The things take a city block to turn. I was able to stick on his tail. The only thing I am lacking is good gun control. How do you hit stuff? Often times I end up closing in on them and passing them up and slam on the brakes. Either that or I waste time spraying at them and every now and then I get lucky. Are gun kills really this hard or am I bad at it?

 

I consider myself a damn fine gunfighter and use the technique of the immortal Erich Hartmann to great effect. "Get in close until the windscreen is filled with the enemy".Yep, it really does work!

 

At one point in a Hun i was averaging just 40 rounds of 20mm per kill. The risk you take is colliding with the target. I've done that perhaps 7 times. Just hope you are on the right side of the frontline when that occurs!

[New Guy]

Back on the SAM topic, what sort of SAMs the NVA had up north beside SA-2s and SA-7? Haven't got enough information about them... Thx

[zmatt]

They operate SA-6's but it wasn't until the mid 70's that they could have been deployed at the earliest. So a little late for the war. They also operate the SA-9. Although I'm not sure if they deployed them against US forces.

[MigBuster]

Back on the SAM topic, what sort of SAMs the NVA had up north beside SA-2s and SA-7? Haven't got enough information about them... Thx

 

Have a good source that states SA-3s were there in 72 for what its worth

Edited December 29, 2008 by MigBuster

[spriggs]

1. I'm annoyed when you call for assistance, red Crown denies you but sends someone for everyone else.

2. When doing Escort/strike missions, the enemy interceptors are always smaller than the formation of bombers and aren't nothing compared to the escorts.(Applies in First eagles to)

3. As of right now with the recent patches, I'm satisfied with the AI's fighting capability. How easily a MiG-21/17 latches unto your F-4's rudder and fires 23mm rounds at you, flashing past the cockpit. Not entirely tho, I someday wish the enemy could learn from previous dogfights they were involved in(Making the generated Aces and pilots you have fought against and escaped alot more deadly and challenging.) even if that seems impossible now it could happen in the near future.

 

Example: 4 A-4F's escorted by 2 F-8's

 

2 MiG-21's come in as interceptors, thats when I think in my F-8 cockpit that "Shouldn't the enemy send at least 6 mig's?" I'm currently hunting for the coding for air intercept missions yet I've found nothing...

To counter that however, I lead a flight of at least 8 fighters on intercept missions to handle escorts :3

 

Either that or I just always strive for a more difficult and deadlier challenge in the sim 8l

Edited February 17, 2012 by spriggs