The Head-On

[CAP1]

Why is it so popular? Is it just a prefered shot of some, can others just not fight well? Granted, i HO, we all HO at some point (for the most part we all do i should say), however i come across those select few who HO just to HO it seems. Im not saying names, so as not to be hated anymore, but there is that select few. Im not saying that the HO shot is stupid, or that it shouldnt be allowed, Im just asking why its so common. And yes, i understand it was also common in World War II.

 

THIS IS ONLY MY OPINION, BUT......


those in fAVOR OF THE HO, will justify themselves by saying that combat pilots used it in r/l. the truth is that those that use it on a regular basis do so for only 2 reasons. 1)no skill(although i personally find it hard to hit in a ho situation), 2)they forget this is a game and want to win the fight no matter what.
 me....i ho once the enemy has tried to ho me. sometimes i win it, most times i lose it. i don't like it, as it takes all the fun out of the fight. i come into the game for fun, and an escape from reality. hotards remove the fun from the game about the same as ace pilots do.

[WWhiskey]

i ho when I'm in a bind, defending a base and outnumbered or if i know i don't have the skill or plane to take down the enemy on other terms!and mostly only if a base capture is inevitable, without such tactics!
 i try not to ho when i am at an even or better position in a fight, if i know that the enemy will not do so as well, or if i;m only trolling for kills. in other words if i meet you while flying around, and i have the time , without the threat of a base capture, or some other reason i need to get past you,, i will not ho, unless you turn in to me , then o well! some don't get that,,  there are more than one reason to engage in a fight in this game, sometimes its duty to your team,, sometimes its for the pleasure of the fight. if i get a one on one tho, i like the fight alot better than the ho, and if your better than me ( most of you are ) then good fight<>S<> and you won't get the "WTH why the ho" in the text buffer

[Anaxogoras]

Im just asking why its so common.

I have a one word answer for you:  Temerity.

[lowfly]

I actually had to look that word up and i have a large vocabulary!  It is also a great answer to the HO question. I have HO'd in certain situations like when i am defending a base, I need to blow through a lot of opposition to de ack a base or something like that but in a normal situation i will not HO until HO'd upon.

[LaFever]

Hmm. Anaxagoras I think I still take the cake with the deft use of "Compendium" awhile back...

People HO more when they stop trying to treat the game more like R/L...like at 2 in the morning when you're glazing at the monitor just pointing at red icons and pulling the trigger...

I get a special sense of satisfaction when a La-7 dweeb opens up first from 1000 out only to get smoked by my skidding Corsair at 200

[VonMessa]

When it comes to furballs, I have given up avoiding the HO in the MA.
 
This rule does not apply in the FSO, snapshots, or AVA.  But in the MA, I am not making it MY responsibility to avoid the HO 

It opens you up for the guy behind you who is actually trying to get a good shot on you.

If you point your nose at me, I will fire.  I will not apologize, please don't expect it.  Do not give me excuses.  I am tired of hearing them.

I am taking Vicodin
I am drunk
I was trying for a front quarter shot
I am new
You HO'd me.

It is a cartoon plane, I can get another.  So can you.  Use a towel if you run out of tissues.

I fly all German Iron, so you can rest assured that I will have cannon rounds.  If they connect, something of yours is going to break or fall off.

Happy flying.   

[Greebo]

Strange isn't it, when its considered more honourable to shoot an opponent in the back. 

[Steve]

When it comes to furballs, I have given up avoiding the HO in the MA.
 
This rule does not apply in the FSO, snapshots, or AVA.  But in the MA, I am not making it MY responsibility to avoid the HO 

It opens you up for the guy behind you who is actually trying to get a good shot on you.

If you point your nose at me, I will fire.  I will not apologize, please don't expect it.  Do not give me excuses.  I am tired of hearing them.

I am taking Vicodin
I am drunk
I was trying for a front quarter shot
I am new
You HO'd me.

It is a cartoon plane, I can get another.  So can you.  Use a towel if you run out of tissues.

I fly all German Iron, so you can rest assured that I will have cannon rounds.  If they connect, something of yours is going to break or fall off.

Happy flying.   

Well if you are content with mediocrity(at best) I guess this is fine.. for you. No one who HO's as a matter of course on the merge will ever meet with regular success in the MA.

[BiPoLaR]

just passing through trying to avoid a PNG on this thread

[BaldEagl]

I was sitting in the tower at a V-base last night with one friendly flying around on the deck.  A con flew in, also low, and the friendly turned toward him.  I could tell right away he was going to HO and in fact he did on the first pass but the con didn't.  They both reversed and headed straight toward one another.  One from my 10, the other from my 2.  They both HO'd, they both started smoking, they both went down.   

The friendly ends up in the V-base tower; "Thanks for the help guys".   

[Soulyss]

Why is it so common?  Well, it is the simplist most basic way to get shots on a target.  Simply point your plane at what you want to hit, and shoot.  Having the other plane turning toward you (and into your guns) makes things that much easier.

As far as being an inefficient way to score kills (50/50 odds at best)- that's actually pretty good odds for a fairly large group out there.  Anyone who has less than a 1/1 K/D is doing worse than 50/50...

Why would someone not take the HO shot?  An "ace" might avoid the HO for several reasons-  50/50 odds aren't good enough, and he/she'd rather maneuver for a safer position to shoot from, or maybe he/she sees the HO as a "low-skill, beneath my level of expertise" tactic.  For someone not all that skilled, those ideas don't really apply. They may just want the kill, and not care about how they get it.  And honestly, against a superior pilot the HO may be the best option they have to win that particular fight.  If they try to out-maneuver the ace their chances of winning the engagement may drop significantly below 50/50.  For them the option may not be about whether or not to take the HO, but whether or not they can get the shot off before you do (whether you intended to shoot or not...)

In reality, it's a no-brainer that if you let your opponent get his guns on you he's likely to shoot at you.  If you're getting hit, you've screwed up.  Who really cares what angle the bullets come from?  I think the real reason the HO is such a sore subject is that folks are embarassed by being beaten by the simplist, most basic shot possible, before they're able to put their super-uber maneuvering skills to practice.

The trick is to kill the other guy without getting killed yourself- not to kill the other guy because he was nice enough to not kill you when he had the chance.

After reading through the posts here I think this summed up the answer to the original posters question.  In a lot of cases the HO is  the best chance they have of winning that particular engagement.  The problem as I see it with this behaviour is that it becomes ultimately a developmental dead end, just like speeding around the arena at 400+ mph.  It allows a new pilot a better chance at survival but becomes a crutch to developing the skill set that allows them to take the fight a bit deeper.  That requires CONSTRUCTIVE losses in furballs and dogfights, which you can't get by HO-ing on the first merge.  

From my own example I learned more about ACM in a couple months flying the relatively slow yet manuverable F6F and not taking the Head-On then I did in my first couple years flying the P-51 because the ability to dump the nose and speed away from the fight was just too tempting for me when I was starting out.  The flip side is if I was in the F6F from the get go would have I gotten too frustrated by constantly dying to stick with the game?

[waystin2]

I will pull out the HO only when the situation dictates.  Otherwise I avoid it, as it seems that I never get the 50/50 split with the other guy.  It seems more like I might get 30% of the wins in this situation.
Situations that I deem HO as a viable tactic are:

1) Outnumbered by enemy cons.  Gloves are off when you have more than one aircraft swooping around trying to kill you.

2) The enemy con manuevers to an HO position despite my best efforts to manuever around to a firing solution on their six.

3) The enemy con(s) is between me and the target I intend to put my ordnance on.

4) Defend a line in the sand between the town and an airfield that you are attacking.

I am sure there are some other situations that I may use it, but it very much is a choice of last resort. 

Way

[papa43]

The head on was one of the main tactics used by American pilots, They turned into the attacking aircraft and gave them a face full of 50's and hispanos...common sense. I'll HO anyone attacking from an advantage. I'll use a 190 D9 and HO any bomber. Thats how the German pilots attacked the B17 stream. It worked well.

[CAP1]

The flip side is if I was in the F6F from the get go would have I gotten too frustrated by constantly dying to stick with the game?

quite possibly. i tried the pony, and the p38 to start. couldn't survive long enough to learn anything. that's why i switched to the "dweeb" rides. i don't consider them to be that, although many do. they kept me in the fights long enough to leanr something. then i started moving out to the f6f, and hopefully someday the p38 again.

[2bighorn]

The head on was one of the main tactics used by American pilots

It wasn't...