Puffy Ack Whine Thread - WARNING: pictures

[caldera]

     Despite the absolutely ridiculous number of hours flown last tour (due to the usual winter time layoff - and having no life  ), I mostly stayed away from CV groups and Strats.  That is because it is finally starting to sink in through my thick skull, that a defending fighter is in far more danger from auto-puffy than enemy bombers are.  I learned this the hard way, by getting shot down just about every month by friendly fire. 

     Truth be told, I have actually seen Strat puffy kill a bomber (including one B-29) exactly 5 times in the many years that I have been hunting them - so it does happen, just not too often.  Have witnessed bombers getting torched over CVs, but can't confirm if those were from auto or manned puffy ack.

     Anyway, I estimate that I have tried to kill enemy bombers over friendly CVs and Strats a maximum of 25 times this month.  In those few times, my plane has been insta-killed four times by friendly puffy.       No other hits were taken prior to the insta-kills.  The number of deaths is atypically high, but it does happen much more often than it does to the intended targets of the ack.

     Yeah, it's only four deaths - who cares?  It's the seeming invulnerability of level bombers that is in question here.  Of course friendlies should get killed in the ack, but why wouldn't straight and level bombers take damage or die much more often than they do?  Just who is it that the auto-ack is targeting anyway?  It seems amazing that bombers so rarely catch fire or get pilot kills like this.  Do bombers have puffy-proof glass?  The puffy explodes all around the formation, making a nice safe coccoon of doom for a fighter to try and wade through.



These guys weren't even firing at me (I have all the films, if anyone wants):

Exhibit A - F4U-1C:








Exhibit B - F4U-4:



This one hit so close, I just went poof before the blood hit the windscreen.


Exhibit C - Spit XVI:






Exhibit D - Tempest:



This hit wasn't even close. 







There you have it.  <F> Puffy Ack.


<end whine>

[RedBull1]

These were not the pictures I was hoping for o_o ... *sigh* but I agree

[Nathan60]

Stop Flying into the Flak, or if you do you accept the risk.

[715]

Note that all of the bombers the puffy was firing at are untouched

[tunnelrat]

Puffy ain't nothin but hoe's and tricks compared to 5" guns... just sayin.

[titanic3]

More fun - pop 3K in a CV battle, *ping*. "Oh, you wanted to fight? Here, have a (insert damage here) instead."

[The Fugitive]

You want to test this? Up a set of B17s and meet a friend from the other side over a cv group. Fly a nice tight formation with your friend in the enemy buff and count the hits you both take, and how many trips over the CV you have to make to lose a buff, 2 or all 3. Then compare notes.

[LCADolby]

Wirb ace for Ehrler 

[Babalonian]

Friendly puffy whammied me last night for the first time all month.  I noted my wreckless and agressive behavior, made a record of the results, and will further continue with slightly more effort (now) at avoiding friendly puffy (particularly when I'm slow).

[Scotch]

Whammy!

[Nathan60]

You fly into Flak you press your luck

[guncrasher]

last time I flew b26's to sink the cv I got about 2 or 3 kills from their own ack while I was in the bombers postions  .




midway

[surfinn]

Had a enemy 262 dogging my FM2 a couple of Weeks ago. Couldn't get an angle on him and there was a enemy cv close by, I flew into the edge of the enemy cvs puff range and kept it there. The tactic worked the 262 had to egress with a smoking engine.

[Noir]

I wonder how many complains it will take before something is done about puff ack

[SmokinLoon]

For the thousands of puffy ack that have gone "puf" around me, I can say that it is inevitable that I am sometimes going to be hit.  If this was an every mission/every flight sort of thing, I'd wonder.  but as it is it is real simple: the longer you are in puffy ack the more likely you are to get hit.  Also, HTC is on record saying that puffy ack is in a box around a plane.  When you are in range of a CV you will in range of the puffy and when in range of the puffy you get the imaginary box around your plane.  The best way to avoid puffy damage is to get out of the range of the CV.  Roll the dice and take what you get.

I personally dont have an issue with take some damage from puffy ack, friend or foe, it is a "simulation" risk and either way I dont lose any sleep over it one way or another.

I'll vote for HTC to keep it as it is.