Originally posted by easymo:
Does it really take lessons to learn how to gang bang. Does he have "bottom" printed on the soles of his shoes.
Well, I'm obviously biased about the article, but.....yeah, of course it takes lessons to learn this stuff, which is much more than a "gang bang." As Udie said, I've seen many "pairs" really screw up their attacks. Real-world combat crews spend hours upon hours upon hours working on pairs tactics....for good reason. I just finished "Wings of Fury," about jet combat since Vietnam, and I'd guess 75% of the encounters described required coordinated actions of a pair of fighters. Same was true in WWII. That's just talking about getting a kill.....I'm not even referring to real-life where a pair not coordinating turn into a flaming wreck.
One of the things I wish were different in most online flight sims, AH included, is a real lack of emphasis on pairs. I'm not the most experienced pilot, nor probably in the top 90% of the people who write here, but I can count the number of times I've been killed by an actively-coordinating pair on one hand. Most of my encounters here, in Warbirds, etc. have been 1 on 1, or if there are nearby fighters, a gaggle on 1.
For me, the real fun is with fighter pairs.....I wish there was some arena or some ladder or some system that could ensure you could log and on and consistently find pairs fights. I guess you can if you join a squadron or something, but I don't see it enough. 2v2 is really a hoot for me to experience, and is the essense of what air combat is about, in my mind. It's what raises games from the mentality of the loner-shooter-out-for-himself to a game where real-life coordination and practice pay off....that sounds wrong, but I can't think of a better way of saying it.
Maybe it's just me.
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John Sponauer
Senior Editor, SimHQ.com
jsponauer@simhq.com