Hello! :)

[P-T]

Hi! Long time watcher, first time poster.

Love all the links and screen shots,awesome stuff.

Okay, I just have one thing to ask, I am currently flying an early mission in the campaign of Germany n the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa, in a BF 109 and I'd like to ask, simply,

HELP!

I am so sick and tired of seemingly bullet proof Russian planes. I hate the fact that I have to sit on their six, pounding away with both machine guns and the nose cannon blazing. Only to watch little pieces of chaff float past the canopy!

As for the Bombers? Nothing says frustration more than being a good 70 meters off their tails and again pounding away, as the recticle wiggles and slides away from the target, only to have their buddies start punching holes and smashing engine cowlings from 80 to 90 meters off.

So I humbly ask, nay beseech folks, are their patches/mods that address these very annoying problems?

I can live with wing men who either can't hit the broad side of a barn, or suddenly become master aces and swoop in and take kills.

It's just the damage resistant enemy planes! I'd just like something to at least even the odds. When I hit them with the 20mm I'd like for at least a small hole, nothing major.

*bows* in thanks and gratitude.

 

[seesul]

Welcome onboard!
Greeting from Czech Republic8)

 

[sturmer]

welcome.

as for ur problem, when u fire at the planes do you aim for the hull in general? if so i would suggest to try aiming on their wing, if you indeed fire the 20mm their wings would break off very quickly, its better to set for example the 'enter'-button for all guns. much easier and has more effect.
i also would suggest firing in bursts of 2 secs or so and aim a bit in front of the plane.
for the bombers the same thing firing in bursts, but aim for the engines. dont hang too long and too close behind a bomber or you will get shot down fast
its better to strafe past them then letting yourself be a shooting duck .

sturmer

ps: for mods this is a very good website providing lots of mods,etc.
All Aircraft Arcade :: Index

 

[Amsel]

Welcome!
What Sturmer said is great advice. Wing roots and engines. Also you can fly underneath and aim for the bottom of the cowling and pop the oil coolers with your peashooters.

The Soviet planes are a pain in the neck. Especially the Laggs and the I-115's. They won't fall down very easily.

 

[Thorlifter]

Welcome to the site

 

[GrauGeist]

Welcome to the forums, P-T!

The Soviet aircraft can be difficult to bring down, but they're not invinsable...

There are a number of things to keep in mind when you're firing on an enemy aircraft, and Sturmer did a good job of covering one of the key factors, deflection shooting. When you're aiming for your target, lead on them. In otherwords, aim ahead of thier machine as it's banking (climbing, diving, etc). The further away they are, the greater the lead.

That brings up to another key point: range. You're just whizzing in the wind if your distance is too great. If you look through your gunsight, and cannot tell what type of aircraft that is, you shouldn't be shooting at it. I know that IL-2 has those handy text icons telling who it is and what type of aircraft and it's range...but you should practice with those turned off. Fill your gunsight with your target. Squeeze off a burst and check your hits. At this range, your weapons will do damage, regardless of the caliber. Once you've landed hits, give 'em a good 1 second burst.

Another thing about lead shooting. If you do it right, you'll be landing hits on thier engine. That's a fast way to put them out of the fight. Even if you don't kill thier engine, you've damaged them and chances are good that the pilot of that aircraft will withdraw from the fight and head back to thier base, leaving you with one less enemy in the air and freeing you up to tangle with the next opponent.

I personally don't engage an enemy to blow them out of the sky, I engage to incapacitate so I can move on to the next one. There has been plenty of times that I have been alone and outnumbered by well over a half dozen enemies and I'll get into a turning brawl, landing hits on the nearest enemy and moving on to the next. Only firing well aimed short bursts at a time keeps me in the fight for a long period of time.

Attacking bombers is a tricky task, you need to know the bomber's strong points and it's limitations. Typically, I prefer to attack high and from thier 4 O'clock and dive under after my attack then climb and bank back towards them, hitting them at thier 10 O'clock in another dive. I aim for the bomber's wing-roots or engines, but understand that hitting a heavy bomber's engines doesn't always mean they'll go down. Instead, try and damage or break thier wing. Always try and hit the same spot on each of your passes, but never stay in the same spot, they will kill you. If you must attack from a level 6, take out the tail-gunner as quick as possible, then go to work.

 

[chook]

Hi P-T. Finally another Sydneysider! I can't help you though. I still can't even rescue the admiral in stage 2 of heroes of the pacific. Can do it on every level except ace. Look forward to hearing from you more and also a big welcome.

Sean

 

[P-T]

Wow! A big thanks to all the replies.

Okay, thank'e for all those tips. I must admit to running with the text icons on. But I know my rounds aren't going ot hit the bad guy if I'm shooting off beyond about 40 meters.

The thing that annoys the heck out of me is the "Gun waggle". The opposite effect of the phenomenon known as 'Recticle ducking'. The way the gun sights, both your own and your allies, is made to DELIBERATELY swerve off the target. Nothing more annoying than watching your ground defenses swing ans sweep all over the sky, while the enemy flak and tail gunners nail you EVERY time.

For fun once, I loaded up all my flight with 250 lb bombs and went after the enemy air field. On the first pass, some even before they'd let go thier loads, more than half the flight had been destroyed. Either wings taken off or such other severe damage that they went in.

The sort of same/revers is true trying to shoot at enemy planes. You fly at them, swoop bank and etc get on their six, only to watch your cross hairs wiggle and slide every where but on the target.It's maddening!

Okay, I know I'm nothing like a good pilot, but these things are really taking the fun out of the game. Making it hard for the payers is one thing, but in a mission where it''s six enemy fighters, eight enemy bombers against just you and a wing man?

I've found a mod/patch that bumps the enemy AI a little and that does sem to be helping. The more Rookie a pilot, the less 'smarts' they ave behind the stick. In some of the first missions I actually saw enemy planes stall out of the air. But the 'recticle' wiggle is driving me NUTS!

Sorry to seem like I'm venting, it's an awesome game, but this one aspect is very annoying. Again, thanks for all the hints and helpful tips. I will definately try and work on my flying.

 

[GrauGeist]

The reticle "wiggle" is the result of body movement as the aircraft shifts in flight. The reticle image is projected against a peice of prizmatic glass set at an angle to allow you to look through the projection. As your body moves, your angle of vision will shift, causing the reticle to drift.

Of course, this happens in real life, and the game reflects that.

Best thing I can suggest, is get familiar with your aircraft...practice, practice and then practice some more!

After a while, you should be able to land hits on your target by habit, without relying on the reticle.

 

[P-T]

Thanks for the info, but, um, , I'm flying with the 'glass' cockpit. You know just the instruments and the wide open sky?

*cough* So...after that confession,



Yah. the lil' yellow dot that sits in front of your view will NOT stay on the target. When your base guns open up on the bad guys you can see the tracer fire 'spiraling' around them as opposed to taking pieces out of their planes.

When you're coming up on a bad guy from directly on their six ( Single seat fighter bomber kind of thing ) and the lil' dot starts wiggling every where BUT on the plane after lots of Km of dead flat flight there's something 'squirrel-y' going on with/in the system.

Still, thanks for the help.

 

[GrauGeist]

...I'm flying with the 'glass' cockpit. You know just the instruments and the wide open sky?

Ahh..."Chuck Yeager" mode...

That makes more sense now!

The later series of IL-2 had a number of "no cockpit" mode reticles to choose from, if you press CTRL+F1, you should be able to toggle through them.

There is a static "no cockpit" mode reticle that looks similiar to the reticle found in the full cockpit's gunsight, with the crossectioned circle, which I think you'd like a whole lot better.

The reticle that you're describing is the "fighter jet" reticle. This particular reticle has a "lead indicator" that seems to be wandering, but is actually indicating your lead on the target. Wherever that little dot is, is where (in theory) your rounds should be hitting.

I just stick with the full cockpit, for the most part...it really adds to the immersion