Quote:
Originally Posted by major.kudo
Rookie - Not do deflection shooting. It may be made very rare. However, it hardly hits.
Average - Rarely does deflection shooting. Inaccurate and will seldom hit.
Veteran - Sometimes do deflection shooting. And sometimes hit.
Ace - Use deflection shooting.
|
Remember, there are different types of deflection shots. A deflection shot at a target 100 m away from its 5 or 7 o'clock (i.e., 30 degrees or less deflection) where your speed is almost the same as the target's is very different from a "crossing shot" at a target 300 meters away, going 500 kph, from its 3 or 9 o'clock (90 degrees of deflection).
While we're mostly in agreement, consider the alternate scheme
Untrained - Doesn't do deflection shooting. Aims guns right where the target is, ignoring things like deflection, target speed and bullet drop. Starts shooting from well outside of effective range of guns. Shoots long continuous bursts of fire that that jam guns.
Rookie - Doesn't take deflection shots from more than 45 degrees "angle off", has trouble with calculating target range and speed, leading them to vastly underestimate lead required for shots with more than 10 degrees of deflection. Might start shooting well outside effective range of guns, especially against large targets. Likely to use long continuous bursts of fire that jam guns.
Average - Doesn't take deflection shots from more than 60 degrees "angle off," has some trouble calculating target range and lead for shots with more than 20 degrees deflection. Occasionally shoots outside of effective range of guns. Sometimes takes long bursts that jam guns.
Veteran - Doesn't take deflection shots from more than 75 degrees "angle off" has some trouble calculating target range and lead for shots with more than 30 degrees deflection. Uses short "ranging bursts" to judge if fire hits, then attacks using repeated bursts of 1-2 seconds. Gun jam unlikely.
Ace - Doesn't take deflection shots from more than 90 degrees "angle off" (i.e., will shoot at target from any angle). Has some trouble calculating range and lead for shots with more than 45 degrees deflection. Uses short "ranging bursts" to judge if fire hits, then attacks using repeated bursts of 1-2 seconds. Gun jam unlikely.
Also, a possibility is that a pilot's chance to hit with a deflection shot might be something like SQRT ((100 - degrees of deflection) * modifier for pilot skill / modifier for range to target / modifier for size of target / modifier for target speed relative to attacker) = % chance of hitting. That is, even a rookie ought to be able to get a fair percentage of hits with a low deflection shot, but even an ace ought to have trouble hitting with a high deflection shot against a fast-moving target.
Additionally, all but Ace pilots should be much more timid about getting close to their enemies. Rookie to Veteran should try to shoot from the default convergence ranges for their guns - typically 300 m.
And, now that I think of it, only having fighters attack from the convergence range of their guns is a great way to make IL2 AI combat less lethal. For example, British doctrine in 1939 was to have their guns converge at 450 yards! In mid 1940 this was amended to 250 feet. This despite the fact that your typical rifle caliber MG isn't that effective against against aircraft beyond 100-200 m. By contrast, most aces preferred to have their guns harmonized to converge at 50 (Erich Hartmann) to 150 m (James Lacey and a number of USAAF aces).
Given that just about every list of advice for novice fighter pilots from Boelke's Dicta on emphasizes the need to get close before shooting, that implies that most pilots WEREN'T getting close. Making a Rookie to Average pilot start shooting at 500 m and stay outside of the gun convergence point (e.g., at 300-400 m) would make "Average vs. Average" combats much less lethal, even without fixing deflection shooting.