Ju-87G Stuka

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by RPS69

On the other side, Stuka G weapons, were reasonably effective, the main problem with the aircraft itself, was it's low surviving capability once it was attacked by enemy fighters... as long as enemy fighters weren't as useless as the ones on Rudel's accounts.

It's not that Soviet fighters were useless, it's that Rudel was amazingly good. There's one incident where went up against an ace Soviet pilot (probably Lev Shestakov) while flying a Stuka and won.

Originally Posted by RPS69

I use it at 300m, and calculate firing time by dive angle, and height. When I reach near convergence distance, I fire a single shot, and take care to climb again. Is useless to try a second shot, because you will only score near misses on the sides of the tank. Thay are a damn small target.

This is exactly how you do it.

45-60* dive angle aiming at the tank's rear deck, while trying to keep your airspeed down. Time your shot for 300 m or closer, take your shot and then immediately pull out of your dive so that you just miss the ground.

Flaps and dive brakes up, full throttle, and then some sort of evasive action - like a climbing turn - while you extend range and regain altitude.

In the game, you can make repeated attacks. In real life, pilots who survived to become veteran pilots learned that it was "one and done" - unless you were absolutely sure that any flak in the area had been neutralized.

Originally Posted by RPS69

IL2 tanks won't change direction and make your aim somewhat more difficult. Same as ships, they don't engage on evasive maneuvers, so it is actually easier to score a shot, because tanks are trotting ducks on a row.

There's also that stupid, predicable "bump and turn" obstacle avoidance routine that all ground vehicles in IL2 use. If you take out the lead vehicle in a convoy, you know exactly how the rest of the convoy will react and you can use that to your advantage.

At least for convoys of soft vehicles or lightly armored vehicles, you take out the flak guns first. Then you take out the lead vehicle which will bring the rest of the convoy to a stop. For soft vehicles, you can then strafe down the column, working from front to back. For AFVs, pick them off one by one making side or rear attacks, but starting from the front of the convoy.