To avoid an HO ...
Think about (pre-merge) how you are going to fight this guy AFTER the merge and not how you are going to shoot him BEFORE the merge.
Thinking of how to kill BEFORE the merge is what leads to an HO scenario due to the simply fact that you have to get your guns onto the target. Now if your opponent has the same mindset (kill BEFORE the merge), you now have the recipe for an HO encounter.
I AWAYS try to not merge nose to nose. As the opponent draws closer to me, I am always trying to keep some separation (right or left). Once I see them nose into me (pulling lead), and then start to fire ... they just lost the fight.
It is very hard to pull lead and hit your target due to the fact that in most cases, you must pull your nose so hard that you actually lose sight of the target.
With that in mind, now I pull into him - nose down a little bit - an execute a lead turn which sets me up for the next turn that will result in me being attached to his 6 or a snapshot before he ever realizes where I went.
Remember this ... those that fly with the intention of trying to kill BEFORE the merge are so engrossed in accomplishing their task, that when they fail ... they have not thought about what they need to do after they fail and that is why they usually die a quick death.
I would say that 99% of the people that I run into that try for the HO BEFORE the merge ... die within 1 to 2 turns ... if they stick around. There is nothing much you can do with a La-7 HO master that just flys in straight lines trying to HO anything and everything in its path.
Bottom line ... nose to nose merges are a DA merge (as far as I am concerned) ... MA merges - try to keep some separation and plan your 1st two moves before you actually merge. Things might change at the merge, so you might have to abandon your "pre-plan", but at least your mind is "setup" mode and not HO mode.
ACM means Advanced Combat Maneuvers ... a nose to nose HO merge is not "Advanced" by any means. ACM requires split second decisions with the intention of reversal and/or gaining the advantage for the kill.
Someone that is new to this game is basically stuck with Basic Flight Maneuvers (BFM) until they get enough stick time to advance to ACM.
Like I said above, ACM requires split second decisions such as ...
Altitude of the fight
Your plane - what are the strong and weak points
His plane - what are the strong and weak points
Your speed - what are the strong and weak points of your plane
His speed - what are the strong and weak points of his plane
Angle/position of your plane in the fight
Angle/position of his plane in the fight
Any other enemies in close proximity
These all fall into play while tossing and turning at speeds over 100+ mph and more which are why these all must be taking into consideration within a second or less.
Remember this ....
Anybody who dies to the guns of their opponent is due to making a wrong decision ... simple as that. It doesn't matter if they are a 10+ year vet or a 2 week trial pilot.
You will hear/see ...
"Oh ... that was a lucky shot"
"BS ... xxx plane can't do that !!!"
etc.
These are all reasons to deflect the fact that they screwed up.
What they need to say is ...
"Oh CRAP ... I made a bad decision !!!"
