How to Bomb in Aces High
1. Find a base that others are trying to capture. Its not much use to go off by yourself to destroy parts of a base or town if you have no one else to help you.
2. Select a bomber that best fits the job. If its heavily defended take a B17 or B24 for their guns, although less bomb load. If your side has a lot of support at the base, try a Lancaster with alot of bombs. They drop more ord on target, but have weaker guns and an unprotected belly. Try to get with other bombers at the same time and leave in formation together. The mutaul protection of eachothers guns will greatly improve survival. Also when attacking a town its best to level it all at once rather than piecemeal. Its easier to guage when the town will regenerate this way, without 2-3 bldgs regenerating every few minutes.
3. Take off from a base far enough back to give you enough altitude, so your chances of survival are greatest. Most enemy are low at the target. You will find some up high, but your guns will normally protect you against 1 or 2 enemy. When you take off, use auto climb and fly the runway heading until you reach 200ft. Goto F3 mode and look back at your drones. (Your AI bomber wingman) They should suddenly "twitch" from their heading and start to turn to get in formation with you. Now you are set to turn on the heading you want without fear of losing them, unless you make extremely tight turns(Which will cause them to drift and explode)
4. On the way to target ask how its going there...How much of the town is still up...is the VH up..any GVs. Are C47s on the way in?
5. Based on this info, if you feel you can level the town, inform your teammates of this and ask if someone can start a C47 towards the target if none are already.
6.As you approach the base, approximately 1/2 a sector from target, level off, goto auto-pilot (X-key on keyboard) and stabilize your speed. I use F3 view in bombers. This is an outside view of your flight and makes spotting enemy easier. A real bomber had many eyes, you have just yours, or maybe another if you were lucky enough to have a gunner.
7. Final lineup on target. Use gentle rudder movements from the nose gun to keep the plane level during adjustments. Try not to go up/down during this time as it changes your speed.
8. Target Priorities: There can be many situations as you arrive at target. A goon can be there waiting for just a few buildings to be hit so he can drop. The VH can be pumping out alot of GVs (Flaks M16s Panzers) the friendly fighter cover may be dwindling, and you may need to hit the Fighter Hangers. Use your best judgement for whichever situation arises.
IMPORTANT: Many players enjoy capping a field, and the fun it provides them by shooting anyone who tries to up there. We all do it, it is fun. Dont just roll in and kill the Fighter Hangers just because they are an easy target. Its pointless if the town isnt dead, if the VH is up, or if there is no goon on station. By the time you kill an FH, it will be back up just as the C47 arrives anyways, so all you have down is removed the job of your friendly fighters, who in turn RTB leaving no CAP at the base if the C47 does arrive.
When to destroy Fighter and Bomber Hangers: If the friendly fighter support at the target cannot handle the volume(judgement call) AND a C47 (goon) is in danger, by all means level the hangers. Kill the bomber hangers at that point as well (as long as VH is also dead..its the most dangerous) IL2s can be as dangerous as fighters, so removing the BHs takes them out of the picture as well.
9. Wait till the last few seconds before going to the bombsight view (F6). When you are in F6 view, align with your target and tap the U key. This turns on the bombsight calibration mode. Now hold the Y key for atlest 5 seconds, I use 12 seconds. Now release the Y key and tap the U key to get out of calibration mode. Now where you see the crosshairs, is where the bombs will impact. You do not have to guess or lead the target.
10. After you drop goto F3 mode and look straight down using the 0 key on your keypad. You will see your hits as well as get a text report of this. Check to make sure no enemy fighters are on you.
11. Now continue through the target area. After about 1 minute start a turn back. Use a slow turn so you keep your drones. If too much separation occurs they will blow up and you will lose them. Once you get better at this you can pull up riding the stall warning and make a near vertical spin to head you back in the direction of the target again. If your drones seem to wander, simply turn back into them for about 2 seconds, then turn back in the original turn. This seems to slingshot them back into formation quicker than by not doing this.
12. Repeat the bombing procedure. If all bombs are expended RTB, if not stay on station orbiting the area and stand by in case something needs to be destroyed (Town buildings pop, etc)
13. Gunning: The B24 and B17 are very well protected. Most enemy dont bother to take the time to get altitude directly above you, dropping down in a spot on top of your bombers. This spot makes it very disorienting to the gunner even if in the upper turret. The twin fifties can't point straight up. Its best if an enemy does this to jump directly to the tail instead. Just before they attack, even the best of them usually get a few seconds in range of your tail gun. **EDIT- Im told jumping to a drone plane using crtl 2 or ctrl 3 , will put you in a drone, giving you a different perspective on the high attacker, perhaps giving you a shot. Thank you StarofAfrica2 for the info.
So for the rest of the enemy pilots who want to attack from the six, hold your fire until the icon changes from 1k to 1000. at this time aim slightly high. Not alot. Just at the top part of their plane. As they close fire directly at their nose. Most pilots won't hold a steady course for you. Anticipate this. If they bank left firing. Be ready for them to cut back right. Most gunners get caught chasing the shot. Anticipation, and a slight lead in aiming, is the best way to get hits on the enemy. If you are getting hits, continue firing making minute adjustments in lead until you see them explode. Dont let a burning fighter finish you off before he dies. Judge your ammo. If its early in the mission, dont be wasting it.
Some fighters attacking your six try to be tricky. They want to snipe at 1000 away from you. Simply kill your trottle and suck them into your guns. This closes the gap between you, as well as forces the enemy to decide to break off, or further reduce speed to try to maintain his desired separation. Either choice he makes is good for you. If he decides to match your speed, he will lose the battle, since he usually slows down slower than you, and his slower plane becomes a very easy target.
Missions: Bomber missions are alot of fun. Some are to help capture bases, some are to hit Strat Centers (ammo factories etc). Some are all the way to the enemy headquarters to kill his map radar. When creating a mission allow for escort. You can never have enough escort. Also on the way to target, the mission CO should assign targets. If its a town, have 1 guy hit the left side, one hit center , 1 hit right. If the base is giving the capture teams trouble and the hangers are the target, assign individual hangers to each pilot, including the VH. Three guys dropping on the same target are a waste of ord and time. Coordinate with those already at target, and let them know your intentions.
Of course..these are suggestions. You are free to do whatever you want in the game regardless of other players wishes. These guidelines will simply cause less friction between the two factions of fighters and bombers, as well as be a more effective bomber force.
FiLtH
