Buff gunning

[SCDR]

Ever notice how some people can drive right up to a buff
formation and have all the guns blazing at them and they
not recieve a single hit? Yet they can take out the buffs at will.

So what's the "trick"? Is it luck? Don't say my gunnery is bad, I do
get kills in buffs. I'm talking D400 with my FE showing hits yet
their plane flys away without a problem and they laugh on 200
saying their plane is fine.
Is it because I'm on DSL and they might be on dial-up or cable?
I would really like to know.

SCDR

[Ghosth]

Part of it is your approach.

Stay away from dead 6, come in from high 3 - 9 or 12 oc. Get a bit closer when you fire if you can.

Concentrate your fire on ONE spot!

Wingtips are vulnerable if you can hit them.
Bombers don't fly well at all with missing wingtips.

Even when your not coming in at dead 6 you can't give him a steady shot. That means curving flight paths,  

Teamwork makes a huge difference.

[Max]

Ghosth the way I read SCDR's post is from the other point of view...he's in the gunner position and can't get kills...or enough kills. It happens to me as well.

I normally have buff guns set to d650...assuming the convergence will be tightest, the furthest out. Doesn't matter whether the pursuer is coming in from dead 6, or making slash attacks, most of the time I'll get sprite flashes but the attacker keeps firing away while I watch wings and engines fall away.

Now put me in a Typhoon or N1K2 or whatever has cannons (I like cannons ) I'll make my attack approach usually from hi 3, 6, 9 and when I get within d1200 of the buff, I hear a ping and BOOM, engine's dead, radiator's gone, pilot wound or I'm just evaporated.

If I'm the attacker, I try to open fire d600 out, zoom thru fast and extend as quickly as possible.

If I'm the defender I'll open up at d1200 and watch the tracers for hit sprites. If the attacker is coming in from a hi angle, I kick the rudder so I can get a wider firing solution.

Either way, I'm dead. So how do you guys who live to kill buffs, or live to kill buff pursuers do it with such seemingly ease???

DmdMax

[SCDR]

DmdMax is correct. I trying to figure out how a fighter can come in
on my dead 6 and hit me all day long, yet while I'm fireing back
and showing hits on my FE, the enmy flys away without a scratch.

SCDR

[SuperDud]

I've found flying the american fighters or spitfires will help your aim for starters. Since the bombers use 303 or 50 cals you get use to the trajectory a lot easier. My advice would be to aim for the wings instead of the fuselage. I find I can put a lot of rounds into the engine area and the plane keeps coming. Of coarse the plane gets it's engine tore up but that's not enough to make it go down. Now if you aim for the wings, problem solved. Also, you have ta put concentrated fire on 1 area. I use to spray the whole plane down and would get the same results. Now I pick a wing and stick with it, even if I have to cease fire to realign with the plane 400 off my 6 lol. Other than that I'd say just practice.

[Ghosth]

My bad guys.

Frankly I've never had any problem getting hits or kills in a buff so perhaps I just couldn't visualise that it could be a problem.

First off, when you shoot, are you firing all guns, or just the gun your at? Its a huge difference.

Next while you can burn lots of ammo & get some hits at the longer ranges. I have a hard time doing damage out that far. I like to open up about 600 and try to be nailing em hard by the time they are up to 400 or less.

Fire slightly longer bursts than you would in a fighter. And remember you have to shoot where he is going to be, not where he is.

That can be as much as half a screen ahead of him if he's manuvering and fast.

As for the rest, well sorta reverse my original post.

Get them on your dead 6, if youve made your run don't be afraid to turn to show them your rear.

When they get inside 300 yards, kick that rudder around, duck, dodge, etc.
Make yourself a hard target when he's shooting.

Once he's made one pass and he's setting up for another consider dumping some alt for speed. This will help put him & keep him on your dead 6.

Concentrate your fire. If you get hits on his left wing keep trying to hit him back on his left wing again. Esp with the .30's but even with the .50's it takes several hits in a small area to cause catastrophic failure. Which is what you want.

Better 3 short bursts that all hit in the same place than 1 long one that wanders all over his plane.

[MOSQ]

Use the .target command to help your deflection shooting in a buff. I was amazed the first time I did this how much I had to lead a steady state target that was off my wing.
 I was also amazed at the difference you have in range between firing staraight 12 vs dead 6 in a Lanc. Your nose guns, 303's, in a Lanc have a max range of about 600 yards at sea level. Your tail gunner has a max range of 1200.

Also your altitiude makes a big difference. At high alts the air is thinner, so your bullets fly farther. Yes, this is really modeled ! If you are in a fighter at 25K, you can easily get hits on a buff at 1K. Even the luftwobble cannons have long range at 20+K !  The same applies to a buffs guns however. At 25K you can hit the target accurately at very long range, up to 1.8K.

Here's a good practice session. Take a Lanc out, fly due South at  500 feet. Bring up the dot target at 600 yds. It will be due North, a direct dead 6 shot for your tail gunner. Practice. Move the target in and out at different ranges. Then turn the plane due East. Now the target is off your left wing tip. Practice from your top gunner and side gunner positions. You will have to lead quite a bit to hit the target. If this were a fighter flying faster than your buff, you'd have to lead even more.

Now turn due North and practice with your chin guns. The effective range will be even less.

Now fly up to 20K, rinse, and repeat. You will see a big difference in where you hold your sights at 20K compared to 500 ft AGL.

Same goes for fighter pilots. Your guns shoot a lot differently at 25K than they do at 500 ft. Try it.

[Max]

Originally posted by Ghosth
My bad guys.

First off, when you shoot, are you firing all guns, or just the gun your at? Its a huge difference.

Next while you can burn lots of ammo & get some hits at the longer ranges. I have a hard time doing damage out that far. I like to open up about 600 and try to be nailing em hard by the time they are up to 400 or less.

 

My primary finger trigger is set to fire all guns when in a fighter. Do I have to make a stick set correction to fire all buff guns? When you say "firing all guns" do you mean all 3 formation AC, all gun positions, or both? How do I do that (assuming I'm not now)?

As for distances, I've always assumed that netlag chews up about 600 yds...meaning that if I see a bogie off my 6 at d1200, he's really at d600 according to his FE. Right or wrong?

Thanks for the input Ghosth!!

Max

[Max]

Originally posted by MOSQ


Here's a good practice session. Take a Lanc out, fly due South at  500 feet. Bring up the dot target at 600 yds. It will be due North, a direct dead 6 shot for your tail gunner. Practice. Move the target in and out at different ranges. Then turn the plane due East. Now the target is off your left wing tip. Practice from your top gunner and side gunner positions. You will have to lead quite a bit to hit the target. If this were a fighter flying faster than your buff, you'd have to lead even more. yada yada yada

 

Great idea MOSQ...now why didn't I thnkadat???

DmdMax