Two of my squaddies and I were on the Russian side tonight for about 40 minutes. Blue sky's make it enjoyable to fight no-Icon. The fights were excellent exercises in staying honest about our SA and what ACM we know by this point. Keeping your head on a swivel had real meaning. Got smoked by one AI for not rechecking my low 6 enough while thinking I was done with him.
We had a great time practicing group tactics and realizing the down sides of getting visually separated along with trying to pick up the sneaking AI in the bushes that go through. Eventually some predictability was evident. But, no-Icons gave the AI enough cover to be just a bit elusive to really saddle up on without working for it.
It's a great exercise arena in basic principles of air combat with just a touch of uncertainty. You definitely start wondering about range and guessing at it for snap shots or judging closing merges. Without an Icon, the time closing the gap from 1000 to 100 yards is fast because you are working on keeping a clear line of sight on your AI. Without an Icon the AI at 300 yards looks a lot smaller than in the MA. Half a 100Mil ring becomes a tiny space to be shooting at 300-400 down range.
If more newer players spent time in the AvA learning to intercept the AI part of every week. I think they would be learning better combat habits for the MA. As long as you keep the sky blue and 12 noon so they have a chance to see them. I finally had fun visually with no-Icons. And that polka dotted terrain can go. It reminds me of the walls in the old Doom game that made some players sick with vertigo when they walked down the halls.