To HO or not to HO

[MrLars]

I just take it for granted that all F4U-C's are going to HO me given the chance. So I hunt C-Hogs 'cause I get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing I just killed another uber cannon weilding Dweebhog pile-it  

Lars

[SwampRat]

 

Originally posted by llbm_MOL:
Unless you just suck once your on his six and you cant hit toejam  

Uhhh...ya thats pretty much me  

[SwampRat]

 

Originally posted by Toad:


SwampRat...are you at Offutt? I used to be 38th.

Ya Toad 20th IS

[eskimo]

For base defence, I do it all the time.
I figure: he invested 15 min to get there, and I have only invested 1 minute.  If we both die I win, because I am back defending the base 30 seconds after I die and he is 15 minutes away, I can now find the goon or HO his wingman.

I also HO whenever I feel that I stand a better chance of surviving than my opponent.  

eskimo

[Gritz]

The headon thing is great; it's like a Gieger Counter for discovering who the whining morons are.

I can't even believe this is debated.

Whining moron.  That's what you are if you complain about a headon.  You're a moron because not only did you put yourself in the mind-numbingly stupid situation of actually INTENTIONALLY putting yourself directly in front of your oppponents guns, but you were actually idiotic enough to complain about it over an open channel.

People start whining about this and all I hear is:

"I helped my enemy put HIS gun to my head and now I'm very upset that he pulled the trigger!   I'm a naive screwhead that believes there's honor in war!  He should have given away all of his advantages so that I'D be in a better position to win!"

YES you take a headon shot if you both decide to be stubborn or if you feel like rollin' the dice.  

NO there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with taking a headon shot.

YES you're a FOOL for putting yourself in the position of allowing the scenario occur in the first friggin' place.

YES you're showing a decided lack of character by whining about it.

YES you're fellow pile-its are losing a little bit of respect for you every time they listen to you whine about "the dweeb that just headon'd me"

YES headons were a very real part of combat air-to-air combat in WWII

NO I'm not about to blow a gasket.


Gritz
33rd Strike Group



[This message has been edited by Gritz (edited 01-14-2001).]

[Spatula]

I never HO, i will actively avoid the HO by making a lead turn under NMEs nose. I havent been hit in this scenario for longer than i can remember, and it sets you up as well.

[Spatula]

 

Originally posted by Jimdandy:
SwampRat. I know this wont make you happy. But I started out the first couple weeks trying my best to be a gallant solder and turn off at an angle when approaching head on as to show I was not going to HO them.

If your turning away from them from a front qaurter approach im not suprised you got your bellybutton handed to you.

[Jigster]

 

Originally posted by Creamo:
Old Dick Bong sure didn't mind the HO, concidering it accounted for almost all his kills.

Anyway, if you start pulling a lead turn and slightly into the verticle at 1.0yrds on the merge, not only are you going to gain the angles, its virtually impossible to get shot.

Matter of fact, ive never gotten hit with this tactic. Only time I get HO'd usually, is when Im HO'ing. :0) I think you'll find that true yourselves.

That's because Ol Dicky was a horrible deflection shooter.

Then ya got a guy like Chuck Yeager...he learned his lesson when he got shot down his 9th mission to a HO vs a FW. After that, he avoided them  

------------------
   
33rd FW www.33rd.org

[milnko]

Seems to me the solution should be readily apparent to eveyone:

Always HO, but do it with TRACERS off
that way if film is rollin' it looks like ya did a cold merge, and the enema doesn't see ya shooting on his FE 'til it's too late.

  I crack myself up!

[AKDejaVu]

Its silly not to shoot when the enemy is in your sites.  It is also silly to stay in the enemy's sites for longer than necessary.

What makes you a dweeb is how often you fail to find a good balance between these two.

AKDejaVu

[Hans]

I go for the headon when I have a lower E state, because I doubt I can get behind the guy.  Its the only chance to shoot him I will get, then its just waiting to be shot down from behind.

If I have a wingman, I don't ever go for the risky headon.  I use wingman tactics and try to get him to commit to chasing one of us, so the other gets a free shot at his 6.

Hans.

[TheWobble]

Folks..this is Biff, Biff was addicted to HO'ing for 30 years, after squinting through the gunsight at the oncoming fighters for so long his face finally stuck this way.
HAVE WE LEARNED A LESSON!?

[hblair]

yep milinko, thats another advantage to having tracers off, if you're in a situation where ya gotta HO, you peel the guys wing, you can play it off on channel 1 like you collided, because he never saw you shooting anyways.  

[SwampRat]

Ahh, the question remains.  Why is there so much squeaking about the HO while it would appear that everyone (nearly) does it.  I mean really...as often as I see "HO DWEEB" and similar ch1 messages (I'm guilty), and posts about it on this BB I would THINK the HO wouldn't be so prevalent. Must have been an off night for me cuz I swear every pile-it that got into any position to take a HO shot did so.  Sometimes of course you can tell it's a real flight-sim newbie..you know, the guy that starts blazeing away about 2k out lol, but other than that, with all I hear bout how easy it is to avoid the HO, and knowing from experiance it really is a waste of ammo and a good bet you'll lose a wing even if ya do manage to hurt the other guy, I just don't see why everyone does it unless it's just a pure lack of discipline.  Of course the field defense excuse posted earlier this thread is a good one, but that only detracts from the overall realism IMHO, thank cod for scenarios.
I wouldn't want anything to change concerning the HO, cod know's one of the things I hated (HATED) about AirWarrior was that you couldn't get into a fite without the "other-guy" turning head-on into you...due to the lack of collisions and the safety of knowing he wouldn't get any damage even if the attacker was blazing away head-on, it was the same old tedious dogfite over and over and over.
Thanks for the responses
...Gritz, ...sheesh

[prz]

Wobble, nearly p...d my pants ;-) Great stuff.

Avoiding HO's easy: Around 1.2+ start a small barrel roll around the guys vertical axis and time it so you can pull a lead turn under the guy's nose. He'll end up adjusting his aim all the time for your roll and looses sight under nose when you pass. From there on, game's on.

I agree that often it's best to take a HO when in low-E and the guy is pounding down on you. Important to have nuff E to keep nose steady up, I enjoy getting people to do it with not nuff speed nad their nose bouncing all over the place when I'm accelerating coming down. Those are the best HO kills ;-)