Originally posted by Kermit de frog
Wow, you are an AH Trainer?
If I bounce a low con and they go nose up into me, I immediately go vert and might either to a flat turn if the enemy is low on E or do a spiral climb if the enemy has lots of E. I believe that the lower con feels that he has the right to ho, which is not the thinking a trainer should be spreading. Let the trainee decide that. When someone bounces me, I do not go nose up to HO them, I will defeat them with ACM using a simple overshoot.
Fighting for me isn't taking these ho shots, or "high frontal" deflection shots either. Personal choice I've made tells me a fight means I get a solution behind his 3-9 line. These ideas would be healty to spread by the AH Trainers.
I never have to hear anyone tell me "hey man, nice ho". Same type of flying also allows me to not hear "nice vulch, nice ack hugging, stick stirring, gang banging, nice running from a fight".
The golden rule seems to apply to AH as well. It'll affect yourself and also ALL of the AH community. This I believe should be taught by you Mace, since you have the power to improve the community, one individual at a time.
First off, I'm simply relating what is the real world norm and it's not a matter of who has what "rights" nor is as simplistic as you're presenting it. Also, remember that I differentiate between a forward quarter attack or "taking him 180 out" and a HO (a term I never heard in RL). A HO being the brainless, pipper on the target, and trigger down until one of you blows up "tactic". As I said before, neutralizing your opponent's attack is both basic and fundamental. Once you learn the basic fighter concepts, maneuvers, and philosophy it's time to move on to more advanced styles and techniques and yes, a high Pk shot such as a saddled in tracking one is usually the most efficient and desirable position but, that does not eliminate fundamental principles.
Of course, a lot also depends on the tactical situation as I mentioned in my first post. In a gentlemanly 1v1 dual you typically start from a neutral position and for go any shots prior to the first merge, that's different from the more realistic MA fights. In a many v many (or when outnumbered and defensive) your first goal is to not die. Your second goal is the reduce your adversary numbers (or find an avenue of escape). In these situations it is usually not practical (or intelligent) to set up your nice, high Pk rear quarter tracking shot because it makes you predictable. You have to deal with what you're presented and not get shot doing it, that typically means capitalizing on shots of opportunity.
Another concept that is rarely discussed has to do with the mental aspects of ACM. There is a tremendous amount to be said regarding the mind-set of you and your opponent. Just as an intelligent use of the vertical to sustain e can make a target nervous, by making him aware that you will take any shot presented to you he learns that he must stay away from your guns. This is called being aggressive and driving the fight rather than simply reacting defensively. It's fear or respect for you (and your guns) that limits his options. It's this that tends to aggravate many players in the game and leads to peevish complaints on 200. They are offensive, have the advantage (in numbers or position) and get PO'd when the target does not play his way. In these cases you're achieving exactly what you want, he's frustrated, impaitent and getting angry because you're doing something he doesn't want and will start to make stupid mistakes that will let you kill him. To summarize, when you're outnumbered and defensive take whatever shots you can when they present themselves. If this is forward quarter then by all means it is the correct and proper choice.
I'll repeat myself here in saying that I do not agree with the pure HO fighting style wherein a weak pilot simply plays point and shoot like an FPS game. Why? Mostly because it's just plain foolish. Put yourself in a RL situation and ask....would you really, by choice, put yourself in a situation where at best you have a 50% chance of dying? No, not unless you're defensive and have no choice. In AH, you do see far to many play the HO game because they don't know what else to do and there is no cost to a suicide attempt. This is not the way I train. The same goes for guys flying through massive ack, suicide porkers and bailing bombers.
As far as what you think trainers should teach, well let's just say I respectfully disagree. You're certainly entitled to your opinion and I respect and understand what you're saying but I teach according to what I know from my own experience and training. I believe that the most enjoyment from the game comes when you put yourself into a real world mindset and ask, what would I do if those were real guns? Since I know exactly what that is, that's what I will teach.
