Quote:
Originally Posted by Roblex
I am getting conflicting advice from players. Some say that with close convergence ball ammo does more damage while others say ball ammo is a hangover from when the RAF did not have enough AP & Incendiary to use it in all belts otherwise they would not have used ball at all. I have to say my ignorant brain would say anything that ball can do, AP can do better.
Similarly they never would have bothered with observer rounds as incendiary gave visual feedback plus damage.
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I use ball ammo as it's part of the default (and actually 100% historical) loadout. The Mk.VII ball is actually very effective in the game - you can shoot off parts of the target, even bomber engine if you hit well.
In real life, ball was just standard infantry ammunition (except more strict quality control) and pretty effective in numbers when you hit the target. It is true though that ball was used due to stock problems with other specialised ammunition, especially new DeWilde incendiary. But there was plenty of the others, RAF have had tons of them as it was ammo made since 1920s or ealrier. It was just a matter of mixing a versatile and effective types of ammo. Later, they added more deWilde as there was more of it available.
AP was actually dissapointing and ball was apparently doing a better job in real life. Germans stopped using the AP for fighters after they learned they're not very effective against modern planes in Spain. They only used AP for 110s for ground attack roles. The problem was that the round deflected as it penetrated the thin metal skin of the a/c and never made it to the actual armour plate. So too much energy was lost at the first impact with the aircrafts shell and the trajectory was changed so much it turned the round innefective.
AP is still pretty effective in game - mind you the game is modelled perfectly regarding to RAF ammo, just the effect in the actual game is not what it was in real life necesarily. We have to distinguish between historical info and what works in game.
For the game:
Ball Mk.VII - lots of damage, parts shot off (ailerons, elevators, whole engines..), good with PKs when you hit the cockpit.
AP - plenty of damage - lots of oil leaks, knackered engines, PKs
White Incendiary Tracer (Buckingham) - more effective than DeWilde in pyro effect - lots of engine and fuel tank fires
DW - slightly worse than Buckingham, same effects, nice flash on impact
You will PK with anything if you actually hit the cockpit and any ammo will perforate radiator if you hit it. I personally find the default belt a good mix of everything and it's more about how you hit him and where rather than if you use more AP or ball.
Above info based on No.401s research and empiric testing.