From now on I'll log onto the CFC ts server when I go online Ted, but I might also go on the newwings ts server from time to time when on Wargrounds.
Btw, the Hanriot is a fine kite but has very poor forward visibility, making it hard to line up a shot :P.
Pip, pip,
Conky
Roger that Conkers. I joined up with a guy on NW TS the other week and had a very good prang. He was much better than me, but I was at least able to act as bait/distract people attacking him.
A few things occurred to me after our efforts the other night:
trying to fly together with two different types is tricky
some experimentation is needed to find the best way to fly together and maintain visual contact
if we want to survive we have to be more disciplined about when and where to pick a fight
we need to learn how to make the 2v1 situation count: time the wingman's attack to coincide with target low on E after dodging the leader's bounce
All pretty obvious I know, but the third point is one that I struggle with on my own - I get bored flying around, so am tempted into any sort of scrap, with predictably disastrous results.
Hi Ted,
A bit embarrassing today, we had altitude on these two Albies and they still handed our asses to us, pretty as you please :D.
We did get a few though 8).
Pip, pip,
Conky
Quote from: CfC_Conky on June 05, 2015, 09:49:51 PM
Hi Ted,
A bit embarrassing today, we had altitude on these two Albies and they still handed our asses to us, pretty as you please :D.
We did get a few though 8).
Pip, pip,
Conky
Well I think we have to accept that in SE5, Spad VII or Spad XIII, we have to have enough altitude differential to equate to a "safe" speed differential before contemplating an attack. Even when you have that, you have to have the discipline to truck on through and only change course minutely to try to get a shot. With two of us the trick should be (to my mind) that the leader forces the evasive manoeuvre, but does not deviate his own course to try to get a shot, and then the trail-plane tries to take advantage of a near-stationary target, but without compromising his own E-advantage.
The motto has to be "live to fight another day". It's just pointless to tangle with the Central scouts in the Entente in-line crates.
Quite so Ted, quite so.
Pip, pip,
Conky
By the way Ted, how does one 'Boom and Zoom' in ROF without tearing the wings off? Even when the wings stay on, the 'Zoom' part is pretty feeble, with only a few hundred feet gained no matter what my speed at pull up. The opponents usually have little trouble catching me up and then it's 'hors de combat' for Conky! :D
Well, the way I do it is to not zoom at all - just blow on through and keep diving. Seems to be the only way to achieve a safe separation. Remember to throttle back and close the rad though. Only when I'm pretty sure the other guy has given up or lost sight of me do I start climbing. For obvious reasons it's best to do this in friendly territory.
Having said that I followed that routine the other day and the guy just kept following at a distance and maintaining his altitude - short of flying off the map, or landing before he could catch me, I was stuffed.
I have seen the vids of Requiem showing how it's done and it looks like you have have to fly incredibly smoothly and efficiently in order to retain any energy advantage you might have started with. Obviously helps if you can hit the target hard in the first pass as well.
Well if you are flying in pairs, try having one of you stay high and if he tries to follow you up the number two gets a pass. Classic rope a dope.
I say chaps; seems I can 'fly' RoF online without my ping going up and down like Matron's drawers. But was on the 'Aces Falling' server; 'tis a Silly Place'
Quote from: =CfC=Fitz on June 11, 2015, 09:31:44 PM
Well if you are flyeing in pairs, try having one of you stay high and if he tries to follow you up the number two gets a pass. Classic rope a dope.
Hi Fitz,
True enough, and a little harder than in IL2 because of the poorer visibility from the kites even if you can stick your head over to one side. Also, the Boche are a crafty bunch, usually flying in groups or at a minimum, pairs.
And let's not forget, I'm still a ROF noob! ;D
Pip, pip,
Conky
Been having a few decent prangs lately in two-seaters; it's kind of fun to complete the recon missions and the odd bombing sortie. So far the Entente aircraft have better performance but the German gunners are much more alert and competent. Unfortunately some wanker took the gunner's position yesterday and shot the tail of our kite just for fun (his, not mine >:() but otherwise I quite enjoy the bigger birds.
Will be Roffing today at the usual time...
Pip, pip,
Conky
about the techniques. i prefer firing with minimum waste of ammo.. if i can get the enemy plane in mid range , i shot a short strafe in him with hope i'l shot at least one reservoir of fuel.. in that case if he will end up in my tail . will not venture too far..or run out of gass
The 'no icons' Wargrounds server doesn't seem to be running?
Well, we did much better today Ted ;D.
Right up until we kicked over that hornet's nest at Popperinghe... :D
Pip, pip,
Conky
Ah well; had a few interesting scraps but didn't see much action. In fact i nodded off during a long uneventful pootle (well it was nearly midnight!) and got rudely awakened by a DVII's chattering Spandaus
Quote from: BalDaddy on June 18, 2015, 12:00:51 AM
Ah well; had a few interesting scraps but didn't see much action. In fact i nodded off during a long uneventful pootle (well it was nearly midnight!) and got rudely awakened by a DVII's chattering Spandaus
That last map was brutal BD, sun in our eyes, facing hordes of DVII's flown by those devils from Jasta 2 & 5 :P
It was fun going round the patch with you however :D.
Pip, pip,
Conky
Quote from: BalDaddy on June 18, 2015, 12:00:51 AM
... didn't see much action. In fact i nodded off during a long uneventful pootle...
Unfortunately it is one of the drawbacks of RoF MP (unless you go to "the silly place" where the reverse is the problem). I have to admit that if I'm on my own I generally get fed up after a couple of sorties - about an hour or so. Talking of being on my own, have you tried TS recently BD?
That's why I fly the two-seaters when they are available. Getting the recon missions done will sometimes unlock additional aircraft and ground attack targets are usually wide open to attack and are good practice for the more 'serious' server missions. Barring that, hanging around friendly balloons will generally yield a fight or two.
Pip, pip,
Conky
Had another prang with Zigrat last night. It's incredible the disparity in ability between us. Mostly what happened was that he shot someone down and I got shot down while trying to "help". And often he would save me having offed his own target. And we were flying SEs at about 1500' over the mud. The only thing I can offer in my defence is that it was 23.00 here and I was most of the way down my Stella "pour le fridge" pack...
Hi Ted,
Thanks for helping us get down in one piece this evening! I really like the F2B, it climbs well and is fairly maneuverable. We'll have to switch seats next time.
Pip, pip,
Conky
Well, historically it was a beast of a machine, so we ought to be able to get some kills. As to who should fly, I really don't know. No false modesty here, but my thought was that you were the better option with the stick. That said I was pretty disappointed that I didn't manage to at least damage our assailant, so maybe we should switch seats.
Quote from: =CfC=Father Ted on June 21, 2015, 11:20:11 PM
Well, historically it was a beast of a machine, so we ought to be able to get some kills. As to who should fly, I really don't know. No false modesty here, but my thought was that you were the better option with the stick. That said I was pretty disappointed that I didn't manage to at least damage our assailant, so maybe we should switch seats.
When I'm at work we usually alternate flying legs so you're next! ;D
I've also got to figure out how to reload the Lewis guns, on the SE5 I sometimes see the magazine vanish then reappear. I'll have to have a look at the key mappings again. I also wonder if using a single Lewis is more effective from an aiming standpoint, though you are limited to sixty rounds per drum.
At least it appears our pairs work and aircraft and navigation skills are improving 8).
Pip, pip,
Conky
Roffed a bit today Ted, bagged a Camel in a Pfalz, damaged a HP and forced a Spad into ripping his wings off. Got shot up twice but was able to limp back to base. A pretty good session all around.
Pip, pip,
Conky
Coincidentally, I've just finished a RoF session - nowhere near as successful as yours, mind. I was on TS with a guy I've mentioned before, Zigrat, and another chap, so it was educational, but I was a little embarrassed by own ineptitude...
Hi Ted,
Were you flying for the King or the Kaiser? I'm doing my best to stay away from the Alby DV and Fokker DVII. I rathe like the Pfalz DIIIa; good, but not great although a nice stable gun platform, decent visibility too. I like to think that opponents underestimate it as well.
Pip, pip,
Conky
Unless the odds are stacked I generally fly for the King, and usually in the SE5a. Part of yesterday's problem was that the guys I was flying with were happy to go looking for trouble at low alt, and I just can't tangle with anyone in the SE.
Also, thinking about it, there may be a disadvantage to flying with others you don't know well - a lot of my SA was taken up by the social side of things, plus trying to work out where my colleagues were. We've flown together enough, and on the same maps in IL2, that there is a certain amount of shorthand for locations and what we're doing. But in RoF, with strangers, I'm a bit taxed.
Hi Ted,
As far as navigation goes, I find the map in ROF very accurate. It has taken a while to get used to flying so slowly but I've gone back to my old bush pilot days and do fairly well. Basically, the map square are 10km wide and at a rough cruising speed of 150im/h this translates to roughly 4 minutes to cross a square. Being a bit off on speed doesn't really matter since you'll be able to see your anticipated ground feature even if you are a bit off using the aforementioned formula. The trick is to start navigating as soon as you take off; note your heading and any clearly visible ground features and you should be alright. Luckily, airbases, factories and the like are easy to spot and using my LAR (looks about right) method of dead reckoning means I can usually make my way home even through an oil-spattered windscreen.
Pip, pip,
Conky
Hi Ted,
We really cleaned up today 8)! Some of the chaps we were flying with are very sharp aren't they?
I'm still rocking a k/d ration north of 1, which apparently puts me in the minority of pilots on Wargounds ;D.
I'm beginning to quite like the SE5a although it could use a second Vickers on the cowling.
Pip, pip,
Conky
I've been Jasta fodder enough times to enjoy reading the bleatings about "gangs of SEs on TS" in the chat - fun times indeed! Definitely a much better experience than lone-wolfing, especially with Zigrat on our team.
I need to work out my gunnery. I find it much harder than IL2, particularly the lack of visual feedback of bullet-strikes.
Agreed on that Ted regarding gunnery, especially with offset or top wing armament. One feels one has really achieved something if one downs a Hun, especially online! A sense of satisfaction missing somewhat on the SAS server, unless it is one of Conky's prangs of course :)
Various offspring will be returning to their place of studies shortly, so hopefully our meagre bandwith will be mine! All mine!!
Bit miffing that barely half a mile away they have full fibre service. Contemplating digging a wee trench with some long jump leads therein.
Hi BD,
In the SE5a, I just aim the main gun, and if the Lewis hits it's a bonus! :D In RoF the bullets seem to go anywhere but straight at the target; I almost never use the sights, just get in close, point the kite at the other fellow and hope for the best!
Bounder,
I'll pop on/off this morning (my time), with luck we can get you sorted. Needless to say, all other Chaps are invited 8).
Pip, pip,
Conky
Hey Ted,
Another good prang today, sorry for taking all the credit for the photo recon on chat, it was a team effort! Without your keen eyes I would have blundered into those scouts. I was able to bag another kite after you left the server, N17 vs EIII. I think the Lewis guns might be better weapons v the Vickers due to their higher rof.
Pip, pip,
Conky
Good on yer! I'll be about tonight sometime - after 2100GMT most likely