Lots of head on kamikazes?

[Fliegenhund 0]

I just had a third promising pilot killed by a head on Kamikaze. It was an N17 I saw it coming and went up and left to get out of its way, it deliberately came right into my nose and blammo. This is the third time this has happened, has anyone else had this problem? I would chalk it up to myself if it weren't for the fact that I always try to avoid H2H passes in WW1 sims. Thanks for any input!

[+Polovski 460]

I just had a third promising pilot killed by a head on Kamikaze. It was an N17 I saw it coming and went up and left to get out of its way, it deliberately came right into my nose and blammo. This is the third time this has happened, has anyone else had this problem? I would chalk it up to myself if it weren't for the fact that I always try to avoid H2H passes in WW1 sims. Thanks for any input!

 

:) why is that wrong? You made the wrong choice, so did he. Damn dangerous these dogfight things.

[Rickitycrate 10]

It's called "playing chicken" and you are seeing the usual result. Don't do that. Just your hard luck as I am sure that the AI is not programmed for this and I for one have not seen it with any frequency. So many planes, not enough sky.

[Olham 164]

I had a crash over my airfield Epinoy today. It was a scramble, 9 Albatros against 15 S.E.5a

Obvious suicide, but I started, and did quite well for a while. But after the second S.E.5 was

down on the field, someone flew right into me, all red, crack! Dead.

I was pretty upset first. Stupid pilot! To run into me! How sould we win the war like this! etc.

 

After calming down, I saw, the stupid one was me. How could you seriously fly crisscross over

an airfield, getting attacked by no less than 15! fast fighters, and assume, everybody should make

way for you? In your case, Fliegenhund - next time pull away earlier. Stay clear from everyone.

"Situational awareness" is the wizzard's word. S**t like that happened to the best aces.

[Duce Lewis 3]

Not only does he have nerves of ice cold steel, but he can outshoot you on the way there

My best technique is to dive slightly to one side then curve back into him

 

Happy Hunting,

[Bullethead 12]

It takes 2 people to make a head-on collision happen. Thus, regardless of what the AI does or does not do, it's always a minimum of 1/2 your own damn fault .

 

Personally, I never go straight head-on at anybody, because that's mutual destruction from MG fire before we come close enough to collide. Always approach the enemy slightly off-center, side-slipping to hose him and forcing him to side-slip to hit you. If you see him starting to do this, just forget about shooting on this pass. Straighten out and blow by out of his side-slipping field of fire, then early-turn and get on his butt.

 

No offense, but seriously, head-on passes are definitely not things you should be doing. If you had any angles at all prior to this pass, you automatically lose them and go back to an even situation doing a head-on pass. The only good reason, EVER, for doing a head-on pass is if you've got a significant energy advantage over the enemy, or can accelerate (say in a dive) much faster than he can, etc., and you use the head-on pass to disengage. You blow by the enemy and just keep on going, accelerating as much as you can. Hopefully, by the time he turns around to chase you, you're already out of his range or will be within seconds, and are pulling away from him with no chance of him catching up. So if you're not trying to disengage, never do head-on passes. Instead, do something constructive towards gaining angles on the enemy.

Edited July 29, 2009 by Bullethead

[Fliegenhund 0]

Thanks for the input guys. As I said I dont do H2H passes in WW1 sims due to the fragility of the engine and the vulnerability of the pilot. I was in 2/1917 and every mission head rain, strong wind, and huge fluffly clouds. By the time I saw this flight coming they were out of a cloud bank and figured I would pull away as the leader passed on my right. I would think diving in these crates would be asking for your head to be removed by mg fire, at least up and away there is some wood under you :p

[Olham 164]

Fliegenhund, the wood under you wouldn't protect you much from tracer rounds. They went right through.

You have the fine chance now to pick a different wheather; like May or June 1917.

I have started a pilot in Jasta 10, Wasquehal, now, cause my neighbour had wonderful fights there.

Today, he encountered two or three very low flying S.E.5a fighting some Albatros - something I had never

seen before. In his second flight, he came across a flight of Pups, also much lower than him.

Situations I would like to have. So I joined in there, hoping to get the same.

[Bullethead 12]

Situations I would like to have. So I joined in there, hoping to get the same.

 

Cherrypicker

 

When are you going to join me in 20 Squadron in April 1917? If you want action, you'll find it there :yes:

[Rickitycrate 10]

hahahahaha...

[Olham 164]

What crates are you flying there, Bullet? Two-seats, I assume?

You know, I would REALLY love to be the "guardian angel" on your tours;

in an S.E.5a or a Camel. Rickitycrate could join with his 2seat. That should be fun!

[Bullethead 12]

What crates are you flying there, Bullet? Two-seats, I assume?

You know, I would REALLY love to be the "guardian angel" on your tours;

in an S.E.5a or a Camel. Rickitycrate could join with his 2seat. That should be fun!

 

Here in 20 Squadron, we fly Fees as fighters. Most of our missions are offensive patrols to places like Douai, looking for trouble from the likes of MvR and his lads. We also do some defensive patrols behind our lines, escort the odd Quirk, and occasionally go after ground targets.

 

Now that we've introduced the Lufbery Circle tactic, we do rather well. When I started here (and restarted many times), the squadron would go to pieces on the initial Hun rush and the scattered fugitives would be hunted down individually. It wasn't fun at all, but I kept at it because I know the Fee did much better in real life, so I viewed it as a challenge to solve and am now happy with my solution. The defensive circle (usually) sees at least my flight through until the Huns either go away or blow all their energy trying to get at us. If they do the latter, then the old Fee can hold her own tangling with them. In fact, over the long run, we usually get more of them than they do of us, although we do have our bad days.

 

I find flying the Fee to be a good change of pace for me. After all, I've been flying conventional fighters in MMOFS games for many years so it's been a long time since I've had to start a new learning curve. I feel that getting the hang of the Fee has made me a more well-rounded fighter pilot. True, in the Fee you don't have to aim your own guns. However, the ACM involved in living long enough amidst a swarm of Albatri to achieve a good position for your observer is nothing to be ashamed of, given the relative performance of the planes.

 

Another thing I like about Fee fights is that they're usually (at least since starting to circle) not battles of annihilation. Often only 1 or 2 planes per side go down and everybody else goes home. I find this more realistic than scout dogfights, where 1 side is usually wiped out.

 

And anyway, if you live long enough, you get to fly Brisfits

Edited July 30, 2009 by Bullethead

[Rickitycrate 10]

Bullethead, I like your style man. Not going for the glorybirds and a relative easy time of it but rather taking on the Fee and sticking with it and learning her and developing tactics to be relatively successful. A sim experience is what you make of it IMHO and you are far from flying arcade there.

[Olham 164]

So it's Fees you fly? God lord - I would have to be a real good escort then...

Jim, do you still fly the Roland sometimes?

[RAF_Louvert 101]

I agree with you Bullethead. I've been learning the Fee as well, along with the BE2. A very challenging shift in tactics as compared to the scouts.

 

Also, I gotta' tell you all, when I first saw the title of this thread I thought it meant something TOTALLY different and was wondering how it made it past the censor.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Rickitycrate 10]

So it's Fees you fly? God lord - I would have to be a real good escort then...

Jim, do you still fly the Roland sometimes?

 

I still fly the walfisch and enjoy it a great deal. I like the strutter too. I really like the bebe and N17 but I wish they carried more ammo. I can work the throttle to great advantage with the Nupes. When playing P2 I was looking forward to the walfisch. I am not disappointed. I have an attraction for what might be called the second tier of planes. I have not flown the later years higher performance crates much at all. I'll get there. Just can't see working backwards in the technology and history but to each their own. I like what walfisch has to offer and I like her lines. She strikes a fetching pose IMO.

[Bullethead 12]

So it's Fees you fly? God lord - I would have to be a real good escort then...

 

Don't you read my reports from the front? Almost all of them are by Fee pilots. That was the 1st thing I picked to fly and I'd say about 60% of my time in OFF has been on Fees now. I've done tours in many other types, scouts and 2-seaters, on both sides, and especially like Camels. But I keep going back to the old sow, my "big leg woman", and she keeps taking me back no matter how many hot young things I've been with since I put her down last time.

 

You really should give her a try. She doesn't get many men, so she'll cook, clean, and pay the bills for you as long as you take her for a ride once in a while .

 

I agree with you Bullethead. I've been learning the Fee as well, along with the BE2. A very challenging shift in tactics as compared to the scouts.

 

Bravo! The Fee seems grossly underappreciated in this forum. The more converts I can make, the better.

 

I still fly the walfisch and enjoy it a great deal.

 

You're a better man than I am, then. While I agree the Roland is a sexy ride and rather formidable in her time, I can't fly that thing without puking. It's the complete inability to see down at all except for that little notch at the wing root. You can't even see the horizon once you get above 500 feet, and that tends to make me queasy when using TIR. And if somehow I get through that, I always crash on landing due to a complete inability to see the ground coming . So pilot's notes on this beast would be most appreciated.

[Hasse Wind 46]

I must confess I'm something of a Fee man myself - they make about half of my confirmed kills in my current MFJ I career in Jan. 1917. There's nothing better than meeting some Fees with my faithful Albatros D.II. Or maybe there is - meeting some Quirks!

[Bullethead 12]

I must confess I'm something of a Fee man myself - they make about half of my confirmed kills in my current MFJ I career in Jan. 1917. There's nothing better than meeting some Fees with my faithful Albatros D.II. Or maybe there is - meeting some Quirks!

 

From my POV, I consider the D.II to be badly outclassed by the Fee. Most of our opponents are D.IIIs and we break slightly better than even against them, even when flown by Bloody April's German aces. When we meet any of the last few D.IIs still around, therefore, we kick their butts.

 

Obviously, the difference in opinion here is the AI. The AI flies the Fee like a conventional 2-seater instead of a fighter, even if the squadron is listed as a fighter squadron. Thus, AI Fee pilots are highly prone to run away. On top of this, the AI makes no allowance for the fact that Fee gunners in a formation can't cover under each others' tails. Thus, to a German human, Fees are even easier to kill than Quirks, because not only do you not have to worry about tailgunners, but the engine is exposed from a rear attack. When you're flying the Fee, it takes skillful leadership to work around this problem.

 

OTOH, I find the AI of the Albatros D.II to be too quick to trade energy for angles. Granted, it must to some extent because it's slower and less zoomy than the D.III, but the problem is, the AI does this against a plane that can out-turn it with ease and isn't any slower once it becomes a turnfight. The result is a that I often find D.IIs that can't shake me or run away from me. I almost feel sorry for them. D.IIIs are a different kettle of fish; it's hard to get them to slow down and play the Fee's game while living long enough to make that happen. But because they are our main opponent, I've gotten fairly proficient at it, or at least making them go away and pick on A Flight instead :yes: .

 

I suppose the only way to settle this is in an MP duel. I'm sure we'd both be surprised . Problem is, I have satellite internet, which precludes realtime MP gaming. I hear Hamachi might solve that, but it poses security problems I'm not willing to accept for such a test (no offense). So, maybe some other person proficient with the Fee, who has landline broadband, will act as my second?

[Olham 164]

Read some of your reports and noticed they where about Fees, Bullet - but I had thought, you might have

gone on to the more effective designs like the Bristol fighter.

Anyone tried the Hannover? She can perform at highest altitudes, I read.

[Hasse Wind 46]

I suppose the only way to settle this is in an MP duel. I'm sure we'd both be surprised . Problem is, I have satellite internet, which precludes realtime MP gaming. I hear Hamachi might solve that, but it poses security problems I'm not willing to accept for such a test (no offense). So, maybe some other person proficient with the Fee, who has landline broadband, will act as my second?

 

That would be quite the fight I'm sure! I'd be very careful when attacking a flight of Fees led by such a talented pilot. But even though the AI can't put up such an effective fight and use all the right tactics when flying the Fees, I can't go attacking them carelessly - they can easily shoot my Alb down or disable it by damaging its engine. I consider Fees to be much more dangerous opponents than Quirks, which are easy prey for Albs, as the poor guys can't even shoot back properly when attacked from behind. Fees are also more manoeuvrable than Quirks.

[Olham 164]

What's a"quirk"? A Fee is an FE2b, I suppose? And a "quirk"?

[Hasse Wind 46]

What's a"quirk"? A Fee is an FE2b, I suppose? And a "quirk"?

 

A Quirk is the BE.2.

[JimAttrill 24]

A quirk is what the RFC pilots called the Be2. Strange name, but there it is. I first came across this name in 'War Story' by Derek Robinson. A young pilot delivers one from England to a FE2b squadron (why?) and writes it off. He then flies as an observer in the FEs. Well worth the read.

Edited August 1, 2009 by JimAttrill