WWII Fighters lesson 6: Team Tactics

Dude Joined: Jul 21, 2003 Posts: 12 Location: USA

Lesson 6: Basic Team Combat Tactics

This is lesson 6/6, to help new pilots get a handle on how to be successful at playing Jane's World War II Fighter's. Since some people will jump to this lesson first, some of the material at the beginning is repeated. I'll try to make that repeated info look the same so you can skip it. To save time, I'm not going to re-define many of the terms, so if you find a something that you don't understand, go back to the other lessons. Graphical illustrations of basic combat maneuvers can be found doing an internet search.

It is okay to have a favorite tactic, but you need to develop all your skills, and learn to recognize when you're in a position of strength or weakness. You have to learn to use all the the tools available in this game. If your only tool is a hammer, then every problem starts looking like a nail. Situational Awareness is knowing the "who, what, when, and where" of your threats or opportunities. It is foundational to the rest of these lessons, and THE most important advice I can give you.

First of all, you can't hit what you don't see. So if you are getting "blindsided" because you don't have a great setup, go back to the lesson about setting up your ww2 configuration and ww2keys files. Once you've reached the point of being visually aware, you will have to be able to instantly determine your greatest threats or opportunities, and automatically know the "how" to deal with the situation.

This comes with practice and repetition. Many times there just is not enough time to remember and think. Instantly and correctly evaluating the whole situation and then executing the right move, starting your turns before the enemy does, makes you look like you're turning faster and can be quite intimidating. Mastering total situational awareness (who, what, when, where) is as much of a skill as any flight control or textbook maneuver. So get a setup that works for you, and practice it. Knowing the "how" to deal with a given situation means knowing your plane, its condition, and your style, compared to the enemy's current strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes you have no choice, but you need to be disciplined enough to keep yourself in situations that play to your strengths, never the enemys.

Team Reviving:

By now, you should be familiar with the goals behind both the Turn-N-Burn and Boom-N-Zoom tactics. Successful execution of the TNB or the BNZ is another matter. I've been fighting in air-combat with propeller-driven planes for a few years now, and learn something new every time I fight. One thing I should have covered in the earlier lessons is that since this is a game where you can revive, "success" is a winning score (total number of kills). So you can make a few stupid moves and still come out the "winner." If you play with no-revives, there is no room for a single mistake. Something about the finality of a no-revive mission puts a lot more skin in the game. If the fight involves more than a 1v1, it is humiliating to have to sit and watch. This is the only "fair" way to fight with teams. Anyone who gets shot will have to stay down until the winning team calls "All Revive." After the revive, everyone should separate 3-5 miles, achieve the same altitude and speed conditions, just like launghing the fight all over again.

Random Reviving:

However, a lot of kids play this game, and it only takes one hot-head to spoil the rules, and most games don't have people with the patience to fight with a logical organization to the mission. Never the less, its worth your while to join in on team-revive fights when you can. Reviving as soon as you hit the ground changes everything. What this does, is put people in a situation of an unearned advantage. Whether someone revives right behind you, or you revive right in front of them, neither situation teaches people anything and those kills should be discounted.

The same goes for people reviving thousands of feet below you. I don't understand why good pilots would want to start any engagement with an EXTREME advantage. Seems to me they'd want a challenge, not just to swoop down for one easy-kill right after the other. However, it is the nature of online dogfighting.

In a 1v1 fight, revive-shooting is not honorable, nor is it really in any circumstance. But in a 2v2 or larger fight, war is hell. If you pass up a revive shot, they'll turn on you, or move in on your wingman, so what can you do? In a large fights, just shoot what you can. It does even out over the long haul. Again, this is intended for new pilots. Since the standard for online dogfights is done with unorganized reviving, that's going to be the main focus and viewpoint of this lesson.

Team Priorities:

Team fighting means it's about getting a winning team score. Sometimes the score is totally lop-sided, both in the overall score and/or the number of kills you get compared to your wingman. Don't get to thinking you're hot, because at the very least, you're wingman was there to distract them.

One of the things that defines a team-player is leaving a wounded-duck in order to go help your wingman. If you play it right, one of you should get an easy kill from the 2v1 situation you have created. Then a little later, you can get the kill on that wounded duck as well. Of course you should make sure your opponent is badly disabled before you disengage, but if you do continue to shoot him until he's dead, he's only going to revive and re-engage you quickly. This leaves you no time to help your wingman. Score-wise, instead of your team gaining two kills, it could easily stay even, or get worse.

It is always in your interest to cover your wingman. Never the less, if one of the enemy planes has already got your wingman dead to rights, and the other one is closing in on you, its not going to do your wingman (or your team score) any good to run to their aid (if you're going to be late anyway), only to end up with someone on your rear.

The Initial Engagement:

I can't over-stress how important the initial engagement is to the outcome of a fight. There are lots of people who don't believe they're good at HTH shooting and so they are not. Never the less, its your responsibility to take out (or at least engage) the opponent you start across from. If you let your opponent take you down and fly away to help his wingman, you're leaving your wingman in a 1v2. As hard as that is to overcome, its no where near as hard as allowing both enemy planes to survive and maintain thousands of feet of an altitude advantage on your team when you guys revive. Even if your wingman die while he brings his man down, by the time the three of you revive, the enemy team has Top-Cover from your opponent.

If they're smart, that initial survivor is going to keep you and your wingman ducking for cover while the other enemy plane climbs for an altitude advantage. There are teams of players in this game that specialize in that V-BNZ tactic and it takes quite a bit of work to turn the tables on them. Many times, if you let your wingman down on that first pass of the game, its just not possible to get back on even footing for the rest of the entire match. By then, the score is totally lop-sided. Which is another reason to master the art of HTH shooting.

You've got to keep your opponent from helping his wingman kill your wingman. At the very least, if you get in trouble, bring the fight down, next to the ground and make your assassin burn off all his energy before you die. Its true, you can run but you can't hide. If you abandon your wingman, guess who's the next target after the enemy planes take your wingman down? Many times, it doesn't matter what your skill level is as much as it does your effort and persistence to stay in the fight.

HTH Tactics:

As you pass, if you're still alive, you have probably started an early turn against a wounded bird. Try to bank your turn back toward your wingman and his enemy. If you didn't kill your enemy outright on the first pass, he's probably hit hard, and that bank turn may give you a great line-up on your wingman's opponent. If you decide to switch to this other target, be sure to keep track of the 1st enemy.

HTH Alternatives:

If you just can't seem to master the HTH, there are other tactics which will net you and your team kills on that first engagement. You can avoid the HTH rush, and pull and early turn on your enemy. Lots of times, this encourages him to go for your wingman right away. So you have to get your stern conversion quickly and keep them occupied. Another real danger with this move is that it may put you in the other enemy's gun-site.

Some people choose to totally ignore their direct opponent and join in with their wingman to double up on one guy on that first pass. They rely on the high speeds to complicate the shot for the disregarded opponent. The obvious drawback is that one of the enemy planes gets that free shot. There are no guarantees, but if you double up on one of your opponents, they're at least going to get hurt. This may also distract them from taking out your wingman, leaving you and your wingman against a single healthy pilot. Try this if one of the enemy pilots is really good, and his wingman isn't.

You can also switch opponents with a criss-cross. This can be done early or any time later. If the initial separation is 5 miles, there's plenty of time. From far enough away, you can privately tell your wingman to switch, and get a good HTH shooter on another one, instead of being out-classed. If the switch is later, close to the pass, then many times you can catch one or both of the enemy planes in a HTH shot, without them focusing on the correct planes. This is like a sucker-punch. Basically, you and your wingman both turn toward the other enemy plane at the last minute. Try to keep your turns relatively horizontal. You're risking turning in front of your opponent (which is always bad), but if they don't make the high-speed deflection shots & realize what you're up to, both of them just might get shot in the face at very close range. Get a handle on these skills and as well as HTH shooting, and you'll be the team that dictates the situation for the whole first part of the mission. Like I was saying, do whatever it takes to get the victory on that first pass, because it will give you a great start toward a winning score at the end of the mission.

Low-Level Tactics:

Now that you know how important it is to get off to the right start, and some basics of how to take advantage of your wingman, you should have a good foundation to practice some of the general strategies. But to be successful, you have to have the discipline and skills to make them work. Again, this is fluid thing, so its best to be familiar with all the tools from other lessons, so that it becomes your second nature to match the right tool to the corresponding situation.

Watch out for friendly fire. If you're close enough to hit your wingman with over-spray, you're close enough to bait the enemy and let your wingman polish him off or vice-versa. If they're locked in a Death-Spiral, then let your wingman get out of the way, do a scissors or yo-yo to get the timing just right. If the enemy plane gets your wingman involved in a Death-Spiral, don't just join in the merry-go-round. Remember, whoever breaks out of the Death-Spiral first dies. So hang out to side and wait for the opportunity to snipe that enemy with a deflection shot. If you miss, do a short H-BNZ move, but don't fall in to the TNB trap. When you're the one in the Death-Spiral, see if you can turn it into a Vertical-Loop. If you keep the loop Horizontal, there are two phases of the Death-Spiral where your wingman can't shoot your opponent without shooting you. But if it’s a vertical loop, your wingman can shoot as soon as they get in range.

At the same time, don't volunteer to get shot by your wingman. If they're lined up HTH with an enemy, they have to shoot or they're toast. So don't get directly behind that enemy plane and in your wingman's line of fire. If you start shooting, your wingman will be facing fire from two planes. Conversely, if your wingman is right behind someone, stay away from a HTH line up on that enemy plane. Bait your wingman's target into turning for an easier shot. Turn in a direction so that if that enemy engages you, they'll have to bank, and allow your wingman to close the distance with Lead-Pursuit.

Obviously if you're being chased, you'll want to run to your wingman. But before you get too close to your wingman, bank off to the side and force your pursuer to choose between closing on you (and letting your wingman get on their rear), or engaging your wingman and setting you free.

When chasing an opponent that is chasing your wingman, have your wingman SLOWLY bank to one side or the other, just enough for them to maintain a safe distance. Then put your wingman in Lead-Pursuit (point your plane ahead of your wingmans path), do not chase the plane that is chasing your wingman. This is THE fastest way to close the distance.

If the two of you are chasing one opponent, split up side by side or vertically by a few thousand feet. Then if the target turns on you, break away from your wingman. Playing this Cat & Mouse game gives an easy HTT shot to your wingman, and keeps the target from getting a double kill. Because it is not too hard for one pilot do a reversal and shoot two planes closely lined up (with one right behind the other).

Horizontal-Vertical BNZ:

The HV-BNZ strategy is a two plane combined tactic of one plane doing the Vertical-BNZ, while the other does the Horizontal-BNZ. The key is for the V-BNZ plane to stay directly above the H-BNZ plane, but always at the correct altitude to be temptingly low, yet just out of reach. When an opponent chases the H-BNZ plane, the V-BNZ plane is right there to swoop down for the easy kill. If the enemy climbs to face the V-BNZ attack, the H-BNZ plane can quickly reverse and make the kill from below. You and your wingman can trade off assignments, but when done correctly, this tactic is devastating. The H-BNZ plane gets most of the action, but again to make this successful, the V-BNZ plane must remain at just the right altitude and close to directly above the H-BNZ plane but at all times. Too high or too far away, then there are no easy (quick) kills, which in effect removes the H-BNZ turn-around threat as well.

Since the H-BNZ plane will be lower and in the heat, they'll be the lead plane. But because they're lower, they'll be much faster in level flight, so they have to make sure the top cover plane can keep up. The V-BNZ plane's altitude should be protected at any cost, and not forced to dive to keep up. Obviously this strategy fails if top cover is lost. Which should tell the H-BNZ plane where their priorities lie. If the H-BNZ plane gets killed protecting the V-BNZ plane, they can revive and be right back in position quickly, but it takes a lot of time and work to get the V-BNZ plane back to the right altitude advantage.

My favorite planes for this strategy are the P-51 for the V-BNZ plane because of its speed, climb-rate, roll-rate, and its got the longest duration of firepower. The P-47 is an obvious choice for the H-BNZ plane, if the pilot knows how to handle it and keeps the enemy planes separated whenever possible.

Vertical BNZ (V-BNZ):

One of the simplest strategies is the Vertical Boom and Zoom. If you're the plane that is wounded or low on ammo, act as the bait. Make mock-attacks and retreat by climbing toward your wingmans line of sight. Whenever the enemy chases and stalls, your wingman should have simple low-danger shots. If you get killed, your wingman with altitude should provide top cover and allow you to get back to a superior altitude. It it the top planes responsibility to maintain altitude and keep both enemy planes busy. They don't have to get kills! It pays much higher dividends to allow both of you to get high first.

The Circle V-BNZ formation where you and your wingmen form a circle at a high altitude. When you dive down to attack someone, one of your wingmen follows you (about a turn radius away) followed by other wingman as needed. If you get killed, the guy who got you is toast. That circle formation moves to cover any of their wingmen who dove for an attack. They should stay directly above any of their wingmen until they are back in safe formation again.

V-BNZ Defense:

Obviously, when people get thousands (sometimes even just a few hundred) of feet of altitude on you, you are at a MAJOR disadvantage. There are no magic tricks or fancy maneuvers to change things around. Even if you do everything perfect, if the people with the altitude are any good, you are going to die. The last thing you want to do is ANYTHING that makes it easier for them.

The easiest thing from their stand point is to have you climb halfway up to them, until you completely stall, they dive a little bit, shoot you in the back, then climb back up, while you fall to the ground, you revive, and repeat. Of course, they know you won't try to climb from 1,000 to 10,000 feet, or at least not many times. So they'll bait you, and make it look like they are just within your reach. The target window only tells you how far they are from you in two dimensional space, without any real altitude information. So you'll have a hard time grasping their speed as well as altitude. In addition to a great view, all they have to do is dive down, keeping their speed up, and just before you get in gun range, they'll just climb back up.

They have the advantage, and will wait for you to stall, then you are dead. What they hate, is giving up their altitude advantage. I have seen them actually refuse to come down to shoot! That is if you stay low enough. What's hard for them, is to dive straight down, try to hit someone who is 50 feet off the deck, and recover without crashing. They can do it, but it’s the most expensive kill for them. If someone is directly below them, then they can't out run them to get a good passing shot unless they dive and spend some altitude. If they try to dive straight down, the speed builds up fast, making it hard to hit anything, with the possibility of their plane becoming uncontrollable, and crashing.

Never the less, it is possible for them to cut the engine, slow the dive, get an approach shot, and zoom away. But all that takes effort and costs them energy, which is what you want. Force them to spend as much energy as possible for every kill. You must be patient, and wait for them to make a mistake and become vulnerable. They will be trying to trick you into climbing and stalling, and since there are two or more V-BNZ pilots, it is never easy. Additionally, many of them have voice-comm's (like Roger Wilco), helping them work together. This means your teamwork becomes even more important.

You and your wingman can try to stay side by side. That way if one of you gets attacked, the other one can attack the attacker. If the V-BNZ pilot has a wingman that is low, then you and your wingman and should double team them. The drawback to staying together is that both of you could end up with both V-BNZ pilots over your heads, and its not making them work too hard to get a kill. Plus it makes things easier for them to cover each other. If you split up, one pilot should keep the V-BNZ pilots busy, while the other pilot can go for altitude. The advantage to this is that since lower planes are faster, and as long as the runner stays low at first, if one of the V-BNZ pilots chases, they'll have to dive (expending energy) to catch the runner.

When one of them gets shot down, try to keep them down with the 2v1 tactics discussed above. While you're beating up a V-BNZ pilot's wingman, try to bait the guy with altitude and let your wingman do the killing, and vice versa. You can run up the score on the single opponent while the other V-BNZ pilot goes for position, but the idea is to minimize their kills. You will not be shown any mercy when that V-BNZ pilot comes back with altitude on his side. Isn't war hell? Whenever you see someone run off going for altitude, be careful about leaving your wingman and going after them. If you adopt this strategy, make sure your wingman is not out-classed by his opponent. By the time you chase that V-BNZ pilot down, it may cost your team a lot of points.

Whichever counter strategy you choose, the goal is to get them to spend as much energy as possible to make ANY kill. Run off a long way, stay low and then climb, turn underneath them, whatever it takes. There is no easy way out and its just going to take time, discipline, and work to get back on level ground again. The worst thing to do is fly up to meet them, let them wait for you to stall, kill you with your nose pointed to the ground, and then let them fly right back to where they were, totally unharmed. Again, the threat of this should scare you enough to make sure the initial engagement is costly for your enemy. Anyway, the heart of what I'm saying is to know the other guys game, and not play into his strengths. Be patient and force him to do what he doesn't want to do.

Additional Tools:

A few last suggestions: If your graphics card has video out, send that signal to a VCR and record your dogfights. You'll see many things you could have done better, and you can analyze situations over and over. Improving your flying skills will greatly improve your fighting skills. There are people flying obstacle courses and race track missions. These missions will teach you things about flying you would never notice in a fight because you're too busy fighting. Of course any newer more powerful computer will allow you to turn up your graphical details improving the enjoyment, realism, and your shooting skills. A new toy for online pilots is something called the Track-IR (http://www.naturalpoint.com/prod/packages.htm). This device allows you to move your view with a twist of your head. And it is scaleable so you can simulate looking all the way behind you with just a slight turn of your neck, so you can still keep a full view of the computer screen. So it is almost like you are sitting in the cockpit of your plane. Hope this info helps.