Return of the Deathstar

[BaldEagl]

I'd like to see an option in the hanger to take:

1.  A single bomber or a formation with the ability to man your own guns as we have today or
2.  A single bomber with no option to man your own guns but with the ability to invite up to 6 gunners and a bombardier, each with the ability to be wounded or killed and each with the ability to jump guns in case of less than a full crew.

This would allow formations to continue to be used in scenarios (and in the MA) while providing a little fog of war in meeting a lone bomber.

Those long flights with six of your squaddies all packed into a B-17 were some of the best times in AW.  

The ability to fly a bomber full of gunners into a furball was an entertaining side activity.  In this scenario, with the capability of claiming up to eight kills on a single bomber, furballing in deathstars may find more limited use but having the ability to fire on different targets approaching from different angles would be appealing.

I say leave it to the player to decide what's to their best advantage and add another aspect to the bomber game both for the buffers and the fighters that hunt them.

[bustr]

Any chance you would have the problem like seeing planes taking off from the CV except they spawn in the air 100yds away from the CV? This would cause the attacking pilot to see rounds coming from out of thin air all around the bomber. So he could be making what he thinks is a normal pursuit curve that will throw a single gunner off, just to fly into rounds coming out of left field and not from the bomber he sees in his gunsight.

[caldera]

Bring on the deathstars, as long as I get a kill for each gunner on board.

Six gunners?  <Newt voice> "It won't make any difference" 

[save]

Only if they decrease bomber effective gun range to 800.

Today it's 1500 yards effective range, even from front, and sides (!).

Ohh  and lets equip axis fighters with R4m rockets.

[Coalcat1]

Give me a MiG-19 and well talk... 

[Lusche]

Today it's 1500 yards effective range, even from front, and sides (!).

Maximum range depends a lot on speed, altitude and direction of firing. Effective range is mostly much less than 1500yds.

Ohh  and lets equip axis fighters with R4m rockets.

Only with a massive perk.

[save]

Either you have not met some Experten gunners, or you way of fighting is different  from mine.
Normally I do the classic high 12 attack, and if gunners are not good I get a kill.

Many experten B17 gunners have you smoking at 1.5k, and when you hit the  trigger at 600-800 yards trigger , you don't have any wingtips anymore.
99000,chris3 and some other guys make you pay, even with the smallest, most heavily armored plane in-game.

lesser skilled gunner oil you at 1000 on a high 12 attack,or even from the side. only from top you can get a free kill, if the lead plane don't roll and drones warp (I see that more often now than for 6 months ago)

I can live with perks for R4m, then I can spend my 15.500 perks on something useful, and not just collecting them for fun.

[bustr]

You still need to find the answer to, if you have more than two guys in the plane will we see the same effect as CV. Where guys spawn 100 yards away from the deck, then do their takeoff in thin air never touching the deck? This will mean an attacking fighter will suddenly get a bullet stream out of thin air away from the bomber.

[Lusche]

Either you have not met some Experten gunners, or you way of fighting is different  from mine.
Normally I do the classic high 12 attack, and if gunners are not good I get a kill.

Many experten B17 gunners have you smoking at 1.5k, and when you hit the  trigger at 600-800 yards trigger , you don't have any wingtips anymore.
99000,chris3 and some other guys make you pay, even with the smallest, most heavily armored plane in-game.

'experten' like that are extremely rare, end even those you named (which I fought against countless of times over the past 9 years) usually have bad cards vs. a carefully set up attack.

The standard buff player has a hard time hitting something beyond 1000 even on his six (closer than that it's changing rapidly). When attacking bombers at other angles than 6 oclock, I mostly get only random hits at that range, a single ping or two cause by the huge dispersion of the formation guns.

[matt]

 

[BaldEagl]

You still need to find the answer to, if you have more than two guys in the plane will we see the same effect as CV. Where guys spawn 100 yards away from the deck, then do their takeoff in thin air never touching the deck? This will mean an attacking fighter will suddenly get a bullet stream out of thin air away from the bomber.

It shouldn't be any different than guys sitting in all the manned guns on a task force.  Besides that it worked in AW.  No reason it couldn't here as well.

An ideal loadout for this would be a pilot/bombarier with upper, tail and ball gunners that could jump to the waists and nose if needed.  I'm guessing being able to converge all those guns at any distance within range would help compensate for the three ship formation converging at 500 yards not to mention the ability to track multiple cons.

[Zerstorer]

I for one would like to welcome our new deathstar overlords.


This just in....999000 was just spotted leaving a tattoo parlor.

[XxDaSTaRxx]

If we get deathstars the luft weenies get this mounted in the nose of 109s



EDIT: Blast I forgot. 109s would never be beautiful or worthy enough to tote that cannon

[thndregg]

Many experten B17 gunners have you smoking at 1.5k, and when you hit the  trigger at 600-800 yards trigger , you don't have any wingtips anymore.
99000,chris3 and some other guys make you pay, even with the smallest, most heavily armored plane in-game.

Done it.

[Volron]

Done it.

(Image removed from quote.)

I love doing that.