There have been many recent threads concerning individual pilot ability, scores, streaks, k/d ratios, kills per unit of time and the like. I thought I would add my views about this in a new thread, so here it is.
I have been a wargamer for about 4 years now. I’ve been with Aces High only about a month. The planes here fly rather differently from those of the Dark Side, eg. 190s that can turn with your Spitfire, or so it seems. As a RL pilot (small civilian types) I must say that the planes in Aces High are closer to what I would have expected than those of the Dark Side. I’m still learning all this new stuff, so don’t expect an unblemished scoresheet from me just yet.
On the Dark Side, my best concerted effort was to finish at no. 8 on the fighter board, although this included a
great deal of jabo work, with 166 guns destroyed plust many buildings destroyed. The aircraft kills I got were kind of incidental <lol> and I was flying my favourite Dark Side mount, the F6F. I could have finished at no. 5, but I stopped flying on the last day of the ToD because on the Dark Side, there is no Perk Plane system, and during that last day, 60% of the planes flying would be Me262.
Whenever I see guys talking about scores/streaks, what occurs to me is how little these guys are doing for the overall War Effort. I can remember when I was going for my 20-kill streak medal, hiding behind the other friendlies, and giving myself that extra 5K alt. as a safety margin, running away if a con even became visible above me, never clearing another guy’s 6, never lifting a finger to save a field under threat because I might lose my streak…
This is unrealistic, and is not how WW2 was fought! So if you are getting 40+ streaks, ask yourself what you are doing for your country. I can remember guys on the Dark Side who would cruise around at 25K, and who would let the other guys do the dirty work for stirring up the enemy, and would then zoom down for easy pickings – get a kill and zoom back up. Could I ever rely on a guy like this to help me if I were in trouble? Nope. And where would these high streaking guys be when their country needed them? Quite possibly they would have switched to whichever side was winning at the time.
Admittedly, I used to moonlight with a Dark Side squad known as
The Scanian Griffins. These were a fearsome bunch of 190 pilots led by a Swedish guy called –rudu-. I used to get some great scores when I joined them, and only ever died once – my own fault – prop struck surface in P47 chase.
How do I feel about streak chasing and score mongering? Boring, boring, boring!!! I was so glad after I got my 20-streak medal, because it meant I could go back to jabo. I think I got killed the very next sortie – it was great! <lol – Osama would love me>
There is no shame in being shot down. Many of our own RAF were shot down, but their efforts protected us from the Nazi jackboot. Many survived. On the other side, Franz Stigler the famous 109 pilot, was shot down 17 times! And RAF veteran Ray Holmes was out of ammo when he engaged a Dornier he believed was going to bomb Buckingham Palace, so he rammed it, causing it to crash. Needless to say, he had to bail.
Still, Aces High is only a game, so perhaps we must allow concessions for streak dweebery and side switching
The AH scoring system needs further enhancement for long streaks to be taken in context. I would (if I could) add the following stats.
- Number of vulches
- Number of side switches
- Number of times pilot failed to rescue friend in need
- Number of times pilot engaged in 2+ v 1 fight
- Number of times pilot ran away from battle, fearing loss of streak
- Number of times pilot simply lay in wait at 25-30K and the number of friendlies who were with him at the time
Personally, I like seeing good results in the process of doing something worthwhile for the war effort. Scores and streaks for their own sake while my country loses field after field leave me feeling empty and cold.
