I agree, why I don't BnZ much, thankfully it's game, and can up another pixel plane after I get horded, I'd much rather just get down in "the thick of it"
[rant]
Depends on what your definition of BnZ is. The BnZ you see most players do is not BnZ, it's more of a Zoom and Haul Arse Because I'm a Timid Git maneuver. BnZ by its nature is an aggressive tactic, one where you put pressure on the opponent until he's dead, not let him safely regain his energy and altitude after you've made your Zoom pass and *cough* extend for 3 sectors. The point of BnZ is to relentlessly attack the opponent until you gain an angle for the shot by making him repeatedly break to avoid your attacks and burn his energy so that he can no longer maneuver to avoid your attack, giving you an angle for the kill shot. Usually, the first pass is a feint designed to make the opponent break, setting you up for the following attack. A well flown BnZ attack should take no more than 3 passes, 4 tops and that's if the attacker is 'tap dancing' on the head of the opponent to set him up for the following attack. Nor should you extend beyond d2.0 away (unless the other guy has sufficient energy still then d2.5 should be the furthest), otherwise you give the target the opportunity to regain his energy and altitude. In a multi-threat enviroment where you're the only good guy against 2+ bogies, there is nothing wrong with using BnZ tactics nor is anyone 'dweebish' if they use BnZ tactics properly. Even in a 1v1 enagement where it might not be safe to lose your energy state to turn fight (i.e. close to enemy base) then BnZ is also a valid tactic.
There are also some (quite a few actually) that have absolutely no clue as to what BnZ is and think that automatically any move in the vertical is BnZ or think that you fly a certain plane that all you can do is BnZ. There is (or was, haven't seen the twit online in a few weeks) a player in the MW that got upset at me because I wouldn't enter into a lufberry fight with him on the deck. Instead, I used vertical turns to get inside of his better turning Hurricane IIc. After shooting him down a few times, this caused him to get upset and claim all I can do is BnZ and not angles fight, yet none of my vertical maneuvers are ones used for BnZ nor did I have the energy to do so, I used basic vertical turns like Yo-Yo's and Chandelles. Another time I ran into the same player and he dove on me and instantly put the fight into a downward spiral fight (nose low turns are the P-38s forté) and I was easily able to turn with him and shoot him down. Afterwards, he started screaming how I could only BnZ, despite the fact our fight was a turn fight, just in the vertical instead of the horizontal.
I'm not saying that you don't know what BnZ is, I'm sure you've been here long enough to learn what it is. I'm just pointing out that the majority of the community's attitude towards this tactic is born out of ignorance and there is nothing 'dweebish' for using BnZ tactics if you employ them properly. Like I said, it's an aggressive tactic and in a multi-threat enviroment can be a sight to behold watching a single plane dive and dance amongst the hord sending the ignorant masses down in flaming wrecks.
[/rant]
ack-ack
