Well it was nice to try the AvA set up for a short while to keep things fresh, but I have to agree it didn't seem to work for either side. I think a lot of your observations stemmed from it, Oddcaf.
From being on the Axis side, my observation was that there were 60-70% Brewsters up and flying on the Allied one on any given sortie. That's not really a bad thing - I'm not going to tell people what to fly. But it isn't surprising that you saw more picking and "face shots." Many people aren't willing to have 2 minute sorties by trying to tangle with a Brewster on its terms for one, hence the BnZ/picking. Secondly, for those of us who are, when you commit to an all-out turn fight against a significantly better sustained turner, your best hope in many cases is to acquire a front quarter shot they can't return early. It's just not realistic or reasonable to expect, for example, a 190 or many of the 109s to saddle up on a Brewster for very long, especially if the fight starts in a classic head on merge. To expect someone in a much worse turner to (1) turn with a better turner; and (2) pass up what will likely be their only shot just isn't fair or reasonable.
Anyway, if you're in the better turner plane and you get hit with a front quarter shot in a knife fight, if you're going to get aggravated it needs to be with yourself, because you hold all the cards. I don't really let face shots bother me (and there were plenty of guys on the other side taking them too) because they're avoidable and help me force an overshoot, but that took time to learn and they did bother me years ago until I learned. I'm not a fan of these artificial handicaps as I don't think they engender learning, but that's just me.
Finally, just to keep things in perspective, as frustrating as it is to be picked by a faster plane that won't commit to a fight, it's also pretty frustrating to accept a fight on the better turner's terms only to have 2-3 more slow planes show up and pick you. I had to say something when one guy got frustrated that I bailed on our 1v1 and extended in my 190, but there were 2 more Brewsters bee-lining for me. Realistically, what does he expect?
Regardless, it was for the most part fun, and it did get more fun as the evening went on. I think we should keep holding it in the AvA and I think we'd all do well to remember that there is no opportunity to win/lose perks in there, or obtain a score, or complete an achievement, and so there's absolutely no reason not to challenge yourself and just have fun with it.
