Took me a while to read all these posts.......and all I can think of to say is that while the"old" LW contingent may have bugged out, their are still a lot of superb LW sticks out there.
Hblair has always made it clear that he loves the 109, and by God, the guy is damn good in it. Fortunately, he is one of the most level-headed guys I've known in AH, and he is likely just shrugging his shoulders at GRUNHERZ's insinuation and Hristo's blunt comment regarding the Rumble that no capable LW pilots remain. GRUNHERZ, next time ya get in the MA, look up hb and go to the DA........you will find that he is a more then competent 109 stick.
Others come to mind.......last night I watched Regurge take a Dora and drag 6-7 guys all around their own base, eventually killing 5 of them before I managed to come in and get a lucky kill on him.....he had to have been outta fuel, or outta ammo, cause he was on a roll!
As to my opinion on the "exodus" of the old guard LW cadre, RL called and they had to take care of things there first....have had to do that myself from time to time. Some of the posts when they left, however, led me to believe that they had this perception that all LW planes should just wipe the virtual skies of any Allied plane that dared to face them. This is a misconception of history, and of reality. Germany was not the technological leader of the world back in the Second World War. They were ahead in some areas, true, but they lagged far behind in others. All in all, the Axis and Allies, in RL, were pretty much even on the techno side........if not, the Unites States would never have been able to hop the Atlantic to fight in Europe and Africa, 'cause it would have been suicide to attempt to do so. Britain would have fallen, been conquered along with western Europe, and the Soviet Union would have been overrun and capitulated instead of fighting back from the dark ages and pushing the Germans back to Berlin.
In closing, Hornet, Hangtime, and others may not have provided the responses you wanted. I will not either.......you seem to want to know what to do about the (to you) absence of capable/competent LW pilots in AH? First, open your eyes: I have already mentioned names of superb pilots who can be found at the helm of LW planes. The others may have been more fanatical about flying only LW planes, but that does not make them more dangerous than our remaining LW contingent.
Second: Instead of looking to the past and lamenting on what you consider to be an exodus and spewing forth comments of doom for the LW, compliment the guys still here in AH hammering out the kills in 109/190 rides. The guys who left did so for whatever reason, and that is not important. What is important is the guys who stayed and share common interests with you. Quit slapping them in the face with the "LW was much better when (insert game ID) was still here" comments.
[ 07-18-2001: Message edited by: eddiek ]