Flying for anything but stats......

[Jumoschwanz]

Sure, I did it before. Flew to see how many points and impressive stats I could rack up. I had to do it at least once just because the stat pages were there to climb.

For quite a while though I have been flying for other reasons, in combat not with things made by others, but by a personal code.

If I join a server I will always look at how many pilots are flying on each side, and no matter what I will join the side with less pilots. Joining a side with an advantage to me is silly and pointless. I would rather get shot down for all eternity that to fly against the disadvantaged.

The other thing I will fight are silly squads, maps and plane sets.

Servers are started by humans, and they make the maps, and because they are human with egos they usually can never help but put their personal wet-dreams out there no matter how ridiculous they are.

I certainly will not fly for any side which has ridiculously superior aircraft, this might even see me flying on a side that has a manpower advantage, but that rarely happens. I recently flew some very crappy early VVS aircraft against 1941-42 German fighters flown by very good pilots on a map they were very familiar with. I was never a VVS pilot much, but I was certainly not going to zoom around the server in a much better German aircraft shooting fish in a barrel that I could zoom up or away from at will, and probably even out-turn in many cases. So I jumped into one of the shitty old VVS aircraft and got my ass kicked over and over again. My fun was learning the aircraft a bit in the process, and hoping for the chance that I might actually get a chance to shoot one of those point-whores to pieces, which did not happen, but maybe next time..

For instance: I was recently on a server where one side had the Pe-8 bomber, and to oppose it the other side had a very slow 1940 and earlier set of fighter aircraft. The Pe-8 was like a death-star bristling with cannons and guns and it was not much slower than the fighter aircraft it was opposing. The RED team, instead of flying fighters were simply flying around the map in these Pe-8s while the Blue pilots were getting shot down left and right by the gunners. Their fighters did not have the speed or armament to bring the behemoths down.

So I changed the game. Instead of trying to shoot down the Pe-8s and getting blown to bits by the gunners. I simply got some altitude and started ramming them. If I made sure I was climbing at the time of impact I could sometimes even bail out if I was not instantly killed. This was my way of protesting against the silly plane-set, and protesting the pilots that were taking advantage of it to in my eyes unfairly win the map objectives and pad their stats and points. Screw them.

On another server a squad was attacking the base I was taking off from. I had to use the base because they had eliminated my other base after I had done well against them using it. They did not care that Red now only had one base and they had two, it was their server after all and their for their fun. The general public was also apparently there for their amusement. So they vulched me on take-off. I re-spawned and they simply kept flying around the base shooting me each time I did so. Sometimes I got the engine started, sometimes I would even get taxiing or a bit off the ground before they hit me. I just kept respawning not because I ever thought I would get off the ground, but I was just interested in seeing how very needy these people were, that the three of them could not let one aircraft take off and get to at least their altitude before they attacked. I thought it was pretty amazing that they could get enjoyment out of what they were doing, that there were people like that. Oh well.

Sure, I have attacked bases, shot out the AAA, and even vulched aircraft, but I would never do it if that was the only base they had to work from. I simply wanted to force them to switch bases and claim the territory for my side. Very often I will not even shoot at any aircraft again after I get it smoking or shoot off some part of it or sever it's controls. It is just no challenge and it is beneath me to hit the opponent again when they can not fight back effectively.

So that is it. For a number of the 15 years I flew this sim online I flew for myself, but now I am much more interested in flying for other things. For having simple fun or socially and sticking with the underdogs. Maybe I think I can show someone if the only way they can have fun is by rigging the game, they are the ones that are losers in the end.

[dimlee]

Personal code is so... personal indeed.
I have developed my set of rules in early years of IL2 that included, for example, no shooting at paratroopers and at those who landed with lights on or smoking . Quite often I used to stop my attack when I saw my opponent to be badly damaged and still flying. Especially the bomber. I'd salute, wish him safe landing and fly away. Avoided uneven dog fights where several friendly attacked one enemy at once. Etc, etc.
But personal it was, so I didn't complain when others treated me in different way.

In later years I have discovered new fun: just to fly and to survive in one mission as long as possible avoiding temptation of easy kills. P-38 with 100% fuel + tanks roaming just below contrail altitude over swarms of late 109s or Raidens... ah, that was cool.

[Jumoschwanz]

Originally Posted by dimlee

Personal code is so... personal indeed.
I have developed my set of rules in early years of IL2 that included, for example, no shooting at paratroopers and at those who landed with lights on or smoking .

I never paid much attention to those who switched their lights on. Point-whores often would switch their lights on in the middle of a fight if they took a little hit or ran out of ammo etc., and they expected to be let go to land to get their precious points, too bad for them if I was around. If you start a fight you don't get to leave it just because you switched on lights.

Shooting those who bailed out, I probably did that too as it could also be abused by point-whores who were trying to get half their points instead of 10%. Of course there are also those who actually disconnect to avoid being shot down.

After you flew so long you knew who deserved mercy and who did not, at least by your code anyway.


Of course "shoulder shooters" need to be mentioned, they are scum. More than a few times if someone on my side was shooting past me at my target I would shoot them down points be damned especially if they passed by while they were shooting and got in front of me.

Those who got clean kills or ground attack points flying hard settings, covered the tails of their mates and then got back to their base or at least back over the line before crashing or landing. That is always most impressive to me.

Even if someone really sucked at flying IL2, they could still be my hero if they stuck out flying the hard settings and flew with some sort of honor, flew for some reason besides racking up points.

[dimlee]

Underdogs were mentioned above...
One of the greatest fun was to stick to "worst" craft types on a map and tried to perfect survival tactics and score some victories, if possible. Pe-3bis on 1942-1943 maps, for example. Or Bf-110 in late war scenarios.
I remember spending dozens (or hundreds?) hours on one server with the only Summer3Online map flying exclusively I-153 surrounded by 104Fs, 190-A4s, Yaks, etc. I thought I developed some kind of 7th sense as I learned to turn just split second before being pounded by another boomzoomer. Eventually, Bf and FW drivers on that server upgraded their skills and I moved (reluctantly) to P-39...considered as another underdog by many.

[Jumoschwanz]

Flying "underdog" aircraft is cool, although they are not always really underdogs.

I was one of the first online to fly the 109g2 regularly even on late-war servers. It did not seem like an underdog to me just because it had little less top speed. It ran cooler and turned better. I flew it on Sarah-Zoom server and was shooting everybody up in their stupid I-185s, La-7s etc.. and Sarah said something about it, I said I had a secret weapon, brains. I never liked her or her server and I would just go in there to shoot her and her I-185 down and then type the "sprinkles flowers" thing in the chat bar as she always did to others.

The 109f4 or f2 were always good even against late-war aircraft.

The last few years I often fly older aircraft against a late-war plane-set just because I don't think I could like myself anymore if I flew around in a 25lb spitfire or an La-7 even if everyone else had them.

Just as Dimlee pointed out, any good pilot knows they can do well in a late-war rocketship, so why not make it interesting and rewarding and jump into some older or oddball aircraft.

Knowing the opponents plane choice and flying technique can often let you pick some oddball aircraft that fits the situation and will let you get the job done.

A lot of guys like bombers. If you get to alt your gunners point out where attacks are coming from, and if you are practiced at manning a defensive gun, you can often beat up an attacking fighter so it quits or goes down.

Soon I want to put a track up of a mission I flew ten years ago in a Stuka B2. I had three BSS squad P40s and a P-39 attack me. I got the P-39 and one p-40 smoking, another P-40 crashed in a "maneuver kill", and I blew the other P-40 up with the tail gunner. Yes, they shot me to pieces but I think I could have landed except I ran out of fuel and that put me into the ground hard enough to see the aircraft explode and hand the victory to the smoking P-39, oh well....

[dimlee]

Bombers and their gunners...

I loved Me 163 as it gave me feel of invincibility for 10-11 minutes. Did not have many problems with bombers subject ammo was available. But then there was one incident I never forget. B-24 flying at about 5000 m, clear weather, no escort. I noticed him from below, I had enough fuel to speed up and to blast that brewery wagon from the skies. What could go wrong... His belly in my gunsight, distance about 500 m, I prepared to shoot and - my Komet blew up. Ball turret gunner did it and he was not AI. My jaw dropped. I managed to compose myself and saluted that smart bomber.

And recently I failed to shoot down very skilled Ju-88 over Norwegian waters. I attacked him in P-38 at speeds over 500 kmh from different angles, but he turned right at the moment I opened fire. He did that four times in a row winning enough time for 2 fighters to arrive. They chased me off, damaged and shot me down later.
I do respect bombers who know how to survive.