Multiple bandit tactics
 

Hey all.

I can go 1 on 1 with most anyone in my spit, but when I start to add enemies (dogfight 4 or more), or even a nice 10 man team battle, I quickly become swiss cheese.

I know enough to get on the tail end of a crazy train, but I was wondering if anyone else had any advice or tactics they use in the middle of a mess like that.

Rigno
PS. Seraph and Morgoth made bacon out of me this morning. Not my finest hour. But you just wait. I've got the XVI now. :)

Hehe, we apologize sincerely ;). Be careful though, the XVI doesn't turn as well as the IX. As for tactics.. Try to play as a team, even without communications. Do not chase after a target that's already being targeted, quite useless and very annoying. There's a player that shoots down almost as much teammates as enemies.
Also watch out you don't turn on someone's 12 when you're not paying attention. When there's 2 bogies coming for you it's usually best not to turn after the first one right away. This can be tricky though, because No.1 might turn to you anyways.
Make a choice between kill and evade. When you're tailing someone with a bogie on your six, be decisive. You may want to break off and try to lose your tailer. In realistic this choice is quite difficult, since it's hard to get someone off your six with the arrows and all.
Know when to switch target. Especially in 2v2 it's hard to know when to go after one or another. To be entirely honest, me and Morgoth were talking to eachother, so we knew when we should switch. At the start of the match for example, there were two circles going on, until we decided to move towards eachother and take eachother's targets, getting out of an infinite loop. Difficult to do with a random teammate though. Also the reason I don't like 2v2 too much.
In a furball.. don't be afraid to switch target, it's chaos everywhere and when someone turns on your 12, just go for it, unless it's very obvious there's already someone chasing him.
For the rest... I have no idea. Tbh I don't really use any tactics, so the above is just rambling in the hope it makes sense :). Being in contact with your teammates is a big help though.

Keep up your speed, try to maintain an altitude advantage and BE PATIENT!

The XVI doesn't turn as well as the IX? What's the advantage? Better firepower and top speed?

Yeah, communication with your partner has got to be key in 2v2. As for the big furballs, I suppose I'll just keep practicing.

It seems like the BF's hit harder, but the Spit is much more manuverable. How much less turning ability are we talking about here, because I certainly wouldn't want to get to the point of a BF, because I don't hit as hard.

The IX barely outturns a La-7, which in turn barely outturns a XVI, which in turn outturns a 109. Don't worry, you'll outturn 109's without a doubt. The XVI has better firepower I believe (don't have it myself ;)). Top speed.. no idea. Morgoth might know it.

Hmmm... Just trying to figure out what plane will put me in the best situation.

Right now, I'm playing a lot right on the deck and get sucked into turning contests (which don't turn out so badly since I'm flying a spit). I imagine if I start flying a BF, that I should be taking more high speed attacks and not getting sucked into the turns. If I see a guy going flat circles, extend out and bring it around?

Hmm, problem with B&Z (boom and zoom) at the moment is that the zoom usually doesn't work out all that well, since you can't pull out real fast and disappear. In a busy server it could work, but since B&Z is meant as kind of a surprise attack, the realistic mode arrows usually ruin it. Before the update you should probably stick to turning planes. If you want to try something fun, fly the I-153. It turns like crazy, so you'll outturn any plane in no-time. It's very slow however, so if you're up against people with experience they'll just fly away from you and come in to B&Z. You should also tune down the elevator sensitivity, else you'll be spinning every other second.

I still dont know wich one I preffer, the spit XVI or IX.
I think im going with the IX.
The advantage of the IX over the XVI is its turn radius. The IX turns just slightly better.
The XVI has a bit more gunpower, and a better roll rate. But since most fights are turning fights (until the fix comes and blackouts show up), I choose the IX most of the time.

As far as top speed, I'm not sure, but I felt the XVI being a bit better low to the ground, and the IX more an allround performer.

Just try to find friendlies when you are in trouble, and hopefully they will hit your enemy. just 1 hit can get him off your tail :cool:

To answer you question about the spit and bf109. yes the bf109 has a bit more firepower. But I would swap that for more manouvrability any day. How much less agility are we talking about? well, when I get a head on with a bf109, when im in a spit ix, I will be on the bf109's six within 10 seconds. If the 109 is an ace, it might take a bit longer, but it will happen. in my eyes, the bf109 are easy meat, unless it is a G-6! Damn im afraid of those guns :P. And a good pilot in a K4 will be able to outrun your spit if he plays it well

Good luck flying mate ;), dont put too much hope in the XVI, it will not do more good than the IX imho

EDIT: did you adjust your elevator sensitivity? when flying the IX I like to put it 4 or 5 clicks down. When flying the XVI 5 or 6. maybe it helps ;)

That was exactly my feeling. No point booming and zooming if there's no way to feasibly make it possible until a patch. Might as well get used to the spits. I just have to be a little smarter in group situations so guys like .... Seraph... don't make cheese out of me.

Alas. It's a great game anyways. Patience is probably a good idea after a spawn.

I suggest you try the Yak-3, La-5FN, and La-7. They can outturn anything, and have a good speed. The Yak-3, is actually faster than the La-5FN, and just a little below the La-7. It also has a better turning radius and such than the La-5FN or La-7. Any of those planes are good for down on the deck dogfighting/chases.

As for tactics, always keep your head on a swivel, and don't fly in the combat zone for more than 30 seconds. You'll become food if you do. Always keep turning and moving as well as you can. Like said before, don't keep going after one target. If you see another enemy closer, go for him. You never know if you have a tail, which luckily when I went after a closer target, my tail wasn't expecting is, and lost me :cool:

So also, you can fake your enemy out by diving towards the ground and then pulling up before you hit the ground, that always works for me.