I wanted to express something I thought might help newbies somewhat.
In WB and AH, I do fly for an organized squad, vadr's III/JG2 (3 of us here), but not being an on-line personae or highly social individual, most of the time when I'm on AH in the Main Arena, I end up flying all alone unless a squad mate happens to be there. This generally works well for me as I can come and go from the arena as I please and don't have to deal with a whole bunch of structure and orders etc. It's downside is you have to pay real attention to your SA and always fight only with the philosophy of "My Time, My Terms, My Ground". It does get a little boring at times due to the lack of social interaction with the community, but I experienced something the other night that gave me another option to heighten the simulation enjoyment.
I ran into a pair of bad guys above me, which was very unusual.
There was a P47 and P38 at 35k headed for a group of our guys who were much lower. Westy happened to be in the neighborhood and noticed I was outnumbered and hollered he was on his way. I danced with these two until he arrived and we began a great 2 versus 2 fight using intuitive wingman tactics, even though we're not in the same squad and hardly know each other. He's a super virtual pilot and reads the "in...out" wingman patterns very naturally. He focused on the JUG (he was also in a JUG) and I went after the P38. I got lucky and bagged him, then turned back to check Westy. Apparently westy had got the better of the ACM in his 1vs1, as he was now on the six of the other JUG, who was running for the deck and headed home for his flak cover. I stayed parallel but high, in order to cover westy as he continued his pursuit into the bad guy's homeland. After some T&B down low while I stayed up on a perch watching for any support the bad guy might get coming in, westy nailed his hide and turned for home. He had damage and was vulnerable down low, so I said I'd walk him home with cover, but joked it didn't mean we were going steady.
All in all, it was great fun with an outstanding pilot whom I hardly knew. The wingman concept changes your way of thinking as you now have to deal with SA that covers both yours and his buns. It also permits engaging in fights that you would normally run from if alone.
My point is, I think I've been missing something obvious I could do on-line to add enjoyment to the game. Periodically, anyone could simply ask on country channel if there's anyone else who would like to wing up. I think if a new player, who most likely hasn't even joined a squad yet, was able to fly wing in the MA with a more experienced pilot, it would both improve their enjoyment of the game, plus they might die less often during the learning curve stage. The result, perhaps a two week trial player who signs up permanently due to a positive experience with the flying and the community.
In any event, just wanted to share that experience. If there's any new players who'd like to try this, then just check for the "old badger" on-line and it would my pleasure to fly your wing and die gloriously together. Heck, the same applies to the vets. If you'd like to spend time keeping me out of deep "ca ca", then just holler and we'll go "pick a fight" someplace.
Regards,
Badger
Looking for a different kind of environment to discuss your favorite on-line flight simulator?
http://www.egroups.com/group/flightsimsonline [This message has been edited by Badger (edited 09-20-2000).]
