The HO Myth

[Helrazr1]

I, for one, am not particularly fond of the HO, much like 90% of the folks in this game, but I've come to look at it as a "fact of life".  It's gonna happen, why whine about it.  

My big problem is when you get some cocky ****, unarguably God's gift in a warbird, that will HO you, take a few rounds, have a collision, then whine because you decided to break right to avoid collision.  I guess the majority of people on here are psychic, and would have known that he was going to his left, which after the math, adds up to a nice HO collision.  Then he decides to light you up on 200 for being 1 of a thousand insults because you went the wrong way.  As if I'm happy that both A/C are fireballing to the ground.

Is there ettiquite on this?  Maybe we should say that Knights go right, Rooks go left, and Bish maintain heading?  Would that work?

Long write up to make one simple point.  EVERYONE is guilty, at some point, of taking a HO shot that could have been avoided, so why the crying about it?  You have no right to whine about someone using tactics that you yourself use regularly.  

For the record, I think HO's are for those who have no confidence in their ACM abilities.

[Guppy35]

I don't care at this point about HO's.  I figure I'm gonna get HO'd in a 38.  I also know I won't shoot at the first merge.

This sometimes can be a problem of course

The other night I was in with two and a N1K came in Cannon's blazing.  I went nose to nose and boom, lost most of my left wing and and engine was smoking.  He extended 4K before turnining around.

I was barely in the air so for giggles I just pointed myself back his direction.  He HO'd again and missed.  His buddy in an LA5 then did the same thing and got pings but I was still flying.  He then extened 4.5K before reversing and coming back in nose to nose.

In the meantime a Hurri IIC had shown up, so I ruddered my nose towards him.  He started HO'ing from 1K out.  Understand There is little I can do cause with half a wing I'm going down one way or another when that engine dies. Going straight with little rudder turns into them is all I've got.

The Hurri some how misses and the N1K has now reversed from another 4K extend.  He finally gets me.  And of course as I'm falling in my usual large amount of pieces, the LA5 comes by and is shooting what's left of me despite my having no tail or wings.

I think that's the main beef many folks have.  Learn something besides HO'ing and extending before HO'ing and extending again and again.

It would seem to me that in those circumstances in particular when the numbers are in the other guys favor, that maybe, just maybe they might want to fight it out a bit

[Kurt]

Originally posted by DREDger

Why not just stop tuning 200 if it bugs you that much... ?

Who gives a sheet what some jerk on that other team thinks about your approach?

You make it sound like there is some law that says you must read channel 200.

Screw the punks... Shoot 'em in the face, and don't tune 200.... easy squeezy.

[SkyRock]

SkyRock<----owns Kurt!:aok

[Suave]

If you're not shooting then you're not hoing.

If nobody shoots then it's not a ho, if one shoots then only one is hoing.

That's why it's called merging at the beginning of a duel and not hoing.

[Holmes]

I am not a Myth...
 
 I'm a Mythster!

[Kurt]

Originally posted by SkyRock
SkyRock<----owns Kurt!:aok

Hey, are you complementing my 'Who cares what others think' attitude?  -- If so, thank you, you are a prince among men.

or

Are you assuming I'm a Ho-tard?

If its the latter, we can make a D.A. appointment.  I'm on most Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays after 6pm pacific.

You'll probably win, but at least you'll understand I'm not a Ho-tard.

However, in Main arena, I'll shoot anyone in the face if I think I can do it without getting shot...  The direction your airplane is pointing is your problem, not mine.

[SkyRock]

Originally posted by Kurt
Hey, are you complementing my 'Who cares what others think' attitude?  -- If so, thank you, you are a prince among men.

or

Are you assuming I'm a Ho-tard?

If its the latter, we can make a D.A. appointment.  I'm on most Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays after 6pm pacific.

You'll probably win, but at least you'll understand I'm not a Ho-tard.

However, in Main arena, I'll shoot anyone in the face if I think I can do it without getting shot...  The direction your airplane is pointing is your problem, not mine.

It's good, just catch me on and say DA!  I don't think youre a HO tard by the way sir.......................I think you're a HO twit!  

[Fruda]

Originally posted by Stoney74
Exactly how are you supposed to initiate a merge without setting up a or a near beak to beak pass?  It is extremely easy to judge whether the guy is pulling pure lead on your nose.  I see it all the time and the thing that kills me is that the other guy is losing any kind of angles advantage to do it.  I fly the P-47 a lot, and when I first started using it regularly, I thought, "hey, point those 8 guns at anyone and common sense will mean they try to avoid the HO".  FALSE.  My favorites are P-51's with a weaker gun package and a water cooled, 1 ping wonder, engine.  I can't tell you how many times I get Ponies pulling pure lead on my nose when I'm in a Jug.  Regardless of how you feel about HO's, tell me, does that scenario make any kind of sense?  I heard one person describe it on 200 as "flip of the coin jousting" and that is all it is.  I think there is all the reason in the world to use a HO pass in a defensive situation, but that doesn't mean you have to go to guns as you pull through.  You make the pass to take away angles from the bad guy, not joust.  But, I'm not going to attempt to regulate others' behavior in this game.  If people want to blow their angles advantage by pulling pure lead on my nose, I'll figure a way to slip past, maybe with a few pings/maybe not, and then work for a low deflection shot.  Especially if its any of the heavy cannon planes.  Unless you're outnumbered and/or defensive, pulling pure lead on the bad guy is a poor choice, even if your personal history has proven it effective.  Maybe you've just been fighting the suckers...

1: But, this isn't always the case. I've had run-ins with quite a few people who have feigned breaks and put pull pressure on the rudder just a hundred yards or so in front, and then spray my windshield. So no, it's not always clear.

2: This is true. However, back when I flew in the MA a lot, I never went for my guns on a merge. But, things change, and when you get killed by somebody feigning a break and hosing you with a dozen Hispano shells, you begin to change face on the matter. Most of the time, I won't spray an oncoming pilot --- I'll keep my feet steady on the rudders, and if I see tracers coming my way, I will do my best to roll out. Of course, that doesn't always work...

3: I figure that I've been fighting a lot of unskilled pilots, as the ones who HO me don't really show much in the way of ACM, or furball tactics, for that matter. It seems that all they can do is HO and run.

[rshubert]

Originally posted by Kermit de frog

I smell Noobs.



Why even bother to take a "high deflection" shot when you can play "saddle up" and actually win the fight.  I guess some people just want the "kill" and not the "fight".  It's their 14.95 blah blah blah egocentric, blah blah blah.

Because, in the MA, there are always a bunch of gomers that will clear your target's six, knocking you down in the process.  Saddling up works good in a one-on-one situation, but not so good when there are several unengaged enemies out there.

You take whatever shot you are given, and try to be in a position to control the engagement of the other enemy planes when you come out of the first pass.

[Chalenge]

Its simple really. The one kill this guy might get this sortie is the one that comes headon so hes gotta spray and wiggle the controls all over the sky and hope the bits and pieces of his airplane and a few cannon rounds hit something soft.

Oh and you should also be aware that what you see is not always (read: never) what the other guy sees. Then theres the lying ho bastages that say you went headon when in fact you shot him where the sun aint shining. Oops I guees he wasnt seeing what I saw.