Destroy GVs from the air

[SpitLead]

Was playing for the Rooks over the weekend.  The Knights mounted an aggressive ground attack on our base.  I took off in a heavy F4U with rockets and bombs.  I made MANY passes on GVs but only got maybe 1 kill.  While other guys can seem to make a single pass and get a kill.  What's the secret?  I've tried zooming in with the gunsight to be more accurate and this doesn't help since the movement of the sight is now much more pronounced.  Also, when using cannon fire the dirt gets kicked up so that I can't see if I'm actually hitting my target or not.  Anybody got any good tips to make the kill percentage go up on strafing attacks?

[XNachoX]

What i found that works best is zoom in 3/4th as much as u can so as not to make it bouce as much,  If it's a tank aim for the front or the back or the turret....there's much less armor on top and on the front and back, so ur chances are MUCH better in succeeding.  I hope this helps.

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XNachoX
 
NIGHTHAWKS "WE BAD"
ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!
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[This message has been edited by XNachoX (edited 03-05-2001).]

[SpitLead]

Thanks XNachoX.  Love the pic of the P47.

[TheWobble]

unless yer using the magic 20mm dont even bother, I hit a panzer with over 1500 rounds of 50 cal (and a few 20mm) from my P-38, totally emptied ALL ammo at it the other day and cause NO damage..better use the C-hog.

[Seeker]

Killed a Panzer just now in a P38, in company with a 109. I got the kill, though I don't belive the 109 got an assist.

1) come in flat, you're much less likely to auger.
2) Yes, the dirt kicks up, but you can still see the white hit "sparkles" through it.
3) in the P38, at least, start firing a bit long, say 800-600 out, and as soon as you see the sparkles, add the cannon.

Took me about 4 passes, 400 MG rounds and 50 cannon rounds. About half the passes I zoomed in to fire, and zoomed out while firing (button on stick).

I think this method may be a bit hazardous for a flack, the flat approach would give him too much aim time.

[Tac]

Seeker, the 109 most surely did the killing damage and you got the kill due to you getting more hits on the tank. It happens to me all the time. When my 2k of bombs fall 5ft from enemy tank and do no damage, I strafe the mothers from behind or from directly above (places where there should be the LEAST armor... seems AH doesnt have this modeled) and hit them a LOT, yet the tank goes on. Then a chog comes along, pings it twice and kill it.. I get kill. Strange no? Guess I get kill because I put more non-armor penetrating holes on the tank's hide than the 10 shells of magicalturbohispano that did penetrate and killed.

I have parked a panzer/ostie on the rwy in front of a P-38 and emptied ALL the ammo at point blank range. The gv at best got a driver wounded or turret damage (and that was RARE. I did that test 20 times, only 2 times did the tank get damage). And mind you this is in a plane that is SITTING in the rwy and the enemy tank at less than d20 and firing at its rear armor.

I really would love to know how people manage to constantly score direct hits with bombs on moving GV's.. I seem to get them when I luck out.

[TheWobble]

whats funny is that there are people here that will tell you that in real life emptying all 2000+ rounds of 50 cal from the 38 into a panzer wouldent damage it..they have rocks in their heads.

their stupid reason is that the 50 cal only had 1/2 inch of penetration and the 20 mil had 3/4  and that justifies how 100 rounds of 20 mil will blow up a panzer and over 2000 rounds of 50 cal wont damage it at all...like i said ROCKS IN HEAD.

[This message has been edited by TheWobble (edited 03-05-2001).]

[Soda]

Only strafe panzers with hispano armed birds, you won't get anything for your efforts in anything else.  The P-38 isn't a great choice, only 1 cannon, Spit's, only 2, so the Typhoon and C-Hog rule the day.

Bombs are a great choice, a single 1000lb bomb can toss a tank in the air, but you do have to hit pretty close so practice accurate bombing.

Typically, I'll try and get 2 GV's with bombs, leave the rockets in the hanger, and then strafe 1 or 2 more if I can.  Osties are a problem though, often the bombs are a better idea against them since you don't have to get as close as you do using guns.

A final point, look at the convergence settings on your cannons, you want to set them out nice and far so you can start shooting earlier and not be bracketing the target.

-Soda

[Sancho]

I always bomb ground vehicles, unless facing M16s and M3s, which can be killed with 50cals.  P-47D with 3 bombs and rockets can kill 4 GVs in a good sortie.  Dive right for the target, 60 degrees down angle wings level, with crosshairs on target.  Pickle off a bomb about 800-1000yds and then pull up sharply.  Usually this rewards me with a kill.

BTW, I've read of panzer kills by flights of jugs making repeated strafing attacks.  I'm not sure which model tank, but in most cases, the kill was effected by penetrating the external fuel stores and igniting them. The burning fuel leaked into the tank and the crew evacuated, often climbing out of the burning tank into a hail of 50 caliber bullets.  Other kills were made by knocking off the treads by gunning the front main gear, and taking out the tank's mobility.  As far as 50 cal penetrating mid-late war frontal tank armor, I doubt it would be possible, but penetrating the top, rear, or even bottom armor (by bouncing rounds off a hard road surface into the bottom of the tank) could possibly result in kills.
--
Sancho
http://www.jump.net/~cs3" TARGET=_blank>63rd FS, 56th FG
"Zemke's Wolfpack"
   
Hell hath no fury like 8 50 cals and 18 fire breathing cylinders.



[This message has been edited by Sancho (edited 03-06-2001).]

[MiG Eater]

Typhoons and F4U-1C's are the best armed fighters for attacking ground vehicles.  For gunnery attacks on tanks, approach from the rear corners above the elevation of the main gun.  I hold the pipper steady on the tank at 1k out and open fire with rockets or guns a 2x convergence distance.  I rarely use the zoom as it promotes target fixation.  At convergence distance, I pull up to avoid the machine guns.  This has the effect of hitting the thinner armor on rear of the tank as well as the tread.  They key to single pass kills to to land all of your shots on the tank and not the dirt.  

For Ostwinds and M3/M16's, use teamwork. One pilot draws the fire into a low percentage shot while the other attacks from the opposite direction.  In my experience, the M3's single machine gun is as effective and deadly as the quad .50's on the M16 in the hands of a good gunner.  

MiG

[TheWobble]

all good advice and all but i still dont see how anyone could believe that a panzer could take over 2000 rounds of 50 cal to the softest points of its body and not take ANY damage. the 20 mil has.25 inches more penetration over the 50 cal. but that doese not justify how 100 rounds at .75 inches of penetration woull blow a panzer sky high and 2000 rounds at .50 inches of penetration wont even damage it..doesent make any sense.

[Lepton]

Historically, the 20mm round was not a great tank killing round, although it did see some service against the early war tanks. Kills of tanks did occur with both .50 cal and 20mm rounds, but by the middle of the war, this was mostly due to lucky penetration of the top, usually thin armor, over the engine compartments.

Overall, AH does not do a great job of modeling tanks (I suspect because it focuses mostly on aircraft). The armor on tanks seems to be pretty much the same all around, and Ostwinds do not behave as if they have open tops. I'd agree with Wobble that the 20mm round is currently far too effective against tanks as compared to the .50cal round. My guess is that they have been juiced up in order to provide some form of anti-tank capability for aircraft. If the 20mm round was as good against tanks as it is in AH, one wonders why the Russians developed all those big bore airborne anti-tank guns.