Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: FiLtH on August 08, 2005, 04:37:50 PM
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How to Bomb in Aces High
1. Find a base that others are trying to capture. Its not much use to go off by yourself to destroy parts of a base or town if you have no one else to help you.
2. Select a bomber that best fits the job. If its heavily defended take a B17 or B24 for their guns, although less bomb load. If your side has a lot of support at the base, try a Lancaster with alot of bombs. They drop more ord on target, but have weaker guns and an unprotected belly. Try to get with other bombers at the same time and leave in formation together. The mutaul protection of eachothers guns will greatly improve survival. Also when attacking a town its best to level it all at once rather than piecemeal. Its easier to guage when the town will regenerate this way, without 2-3 bldgs regenerating every few minutes.
3. Take off from a base far enough back to give you enough altitude, so your chances of survival are greatest. Most enemy are low at the target. You will find some up high, but your guns will normally protect you against 1 or 2 enemy. When you take off, use auto climb and fly the runway heading until you reach 200ft. Goto F3 mode and look back at your drones. (Your AI bomber wingman) They should suddenly "twitch" from their heading and start to turn to get in formation with you. Now you are set to turn on the heading you want without fear of losing them, unless you make extremely tight turns(Which will cause them to drift and explode)
4. On the way to target ask how its going there...How much of the town is still up...is the VH up..any GVs. Are C47s on the way in?
5. Based on this info, if you feel you can level the town, inform your teammates of this and ask if someone can start a C47 towards the target if none are already.
6.As you approach the base, approximately 1/2 a sector from target, level off, goto auto-pilot (X-key on keyboard) and stabilize your speed. I use F3 view in bombers. This is an outside view of your flight and makes spotting enemy easier. A real bomber had many eyes, you have just yours, or maybe another if you were lucky enough to have a gunner.
7. Final lineup on target. Use gentle rudder movements from the nose gun to keep the plane level during adjustments. Try not to go up/down during this time as it changes your speed.
8. Target Priorities: There can be many situations as you arrive at target. A goon can be there waiting for just a few buildings to be hit so he can drop. The VH can be pumping out alot of GVs (Flaks M16s Panzers) the friendly fighter cover may be dwindling, and you may need to hit the Fighter Hangers. Use your best judgement for whichever situation arises.
IMPORTANT: Many players enjoy capping a field, and the fun it provides them by shooting anyone who tries to up there. We all do it, it is fun. Dont just roll in and kill the Fighter Hangers just because they are an easy target. Its pointless if the town isnt dead, if the VH is up, or if there is no goon on station. By the time you kill an FH, it will be back up just as the C47 arrives anyways, so all you have down is removed the job of your friendly fighters, who in turn RTB leaving no CAP at the base if the C47 does arrive.
When to destroy Fighter and Bomber Hangers: If the friendly fighter support at the target cannot handle the volume(judgement call) AND a C47 (goon) is in danger, by all means level the hangers. Kill the bomber hangers at that point as well (as long as VH is also dead..its the most dangerous) IL2s can be as dangerous as fighters, so removing the BHs takes them out of the picture as well.
9. Wait till the last few seconds before going to the bombsight view (F6). When you are in F6 view, align with your target and tap the U key. This turns on the bombsight calibration mode. Now hold the Y key for atlest 5 seconds, I use 12 seconds. Now release the Y key and tap the U key to get out of calibration mode. Now where you see the crosshairs, is where the bombs will impact. You do not have to guess or lead the target.
10. After you drop goto F3 mode and look straight down using the 0 key on your keypad. You will see your hits as well as get a text report of this. Check to make sure no enemy fighters are on you.
11. Now continue through the target area. After about 1 minute start a turn back. Use a slow turn so you keep your drones. If too much separation occurs they will blow up and you will lose them. Once you get better at this you can pull up riding the stall warning and make a near vertical spin to head you back in the direction of the target again. If your drones seem to wander, simply turn back into them for about 2 seconds, then turn back in the original turn. This seems to slingshot them back into formation quicker than by not doing this.
12. Repeat the bombing procedure. If all bombs are expended RTB, if not stay on station orbiting the area and stand by in case something needs to be destroyed (Town buildings pop, etc)
13. Gunning: The B24 and B17 are very well protected. Most enemy dont bother to take the time to get altitude directly above you, dropping down in a spot on top of your bombers. This spot makes it very disorienting to the gunner even if in the upper turret. The twin fifties can't point straight up. Its best if an enemy does this to jump directly to the tail instead. Just before they attack, even the best of them usually get a few seconds in range of your tail gun. **EDIT- Im told jumping to a drone plane using crtl 2 or ctrl 3 , will put you in a drone, giving you a different perspective on the high attacker, perhaps giving you a shot. Thank you StarofAfrica2 for the info.
So for the rest of the enemy pilots who want to attack from the six, hold your fire until the icon changes from 1k to 1000. at this time aim slightly high. Not alot. Just at the top part of their plane. As they close fire directly at their nose. Most pilots won't hold a steady course for you. Anticipate this. If they bank left firing. Be ready for them to cut back right. Most gunners get caught chasing the shot. Anticipation, and a slight lead in aiming, is the best way to get hits on the enemy. If you are getting hits, continue firing making minute adjustments in lead until you see them explode. Dont let a burning fighter finish you off before he dies. Judge your ammo. If its early in the mission, dont be wasting it.
Some fighters attacking your six try to be tricky. They want to snipe at 1000 away from you. Simply kill your trottle and suck them into your guns. This closes the gap between you, as well as forces the enemy to decide to break off, or further reduce speed to try to maintain his desired separation. Either choice he makes is good for you. If he decides to match your speed, he will lose the battle, since he usually slows down slower than you, and his slower plane becomes a very easy target.
Missions: Bomber missions are alot of fun. Some are to help capture bases, some are to hit Strat Centers (ammo factories etc). Some are all the way to the enemy headquarters to kill his map radar. When creating a mission allow for escort. You can never have enough escort. Also on the way to target, the mission CO should assign targets. If its a town, have 1 guy hit the left side, one hit center , 1 hit right. If the base is giving the capture teams trouble and the hangers are the target, assign individual hangers to each pilot, including the VH. Three guys dropping on the same target are a waste of ord and time. Coordinate with those already at target, and let them know your intentions.
Of course..these are suggestions. You are free to do whatever you want in the game regardless of other players wishes. These guidelines will simply cause less friction between the two factions of fighters and bombers, as well as be a more effective bomber force.
FiLtH
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I only rate it a 1.5 on the whine-o-meter (out of possible 10)
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Huh?
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Originally posted by FiLtH
Huh?
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Good writeup Filth. :) I'm more interested in KILLING bombers than I am flying them, but it's good information to have for the other guys.
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Thanks..I tried to give some hints in there to the attacking fighters as well. Coming from the top is almost impossible to defend against.
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Originally posted by Krusty
I only rate it a 1.5 on the whine-o-meter (out of possible 10)
I give you a 10 on the "wtf are you talking about-o-meter?":D
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I know. :) Of course, the good buff pilot is practiced at jumping from plane to plane, and even if I'm coming straight down on one of them, the other two might have a shot. Speed and constant movement are the biggest keys. Shot placement is right behind them. Knowing WHERE to hit is just as important as being able to land hits.
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Ya I havent practiced the jumping from plane to plane thing. I confuse easily..next thing ya know id be in the text buffer typing ctrl 1 crtl 1 like a madman. But thanks for telling me that..I will try it. As a matter of fact I think I will add that to the writeup :)
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whew someone brought up the subject!
PS im one of the people who loves dive bombing with heavy bombers:) :)
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Originally posted by Slash27
I give you a 10 on the "wtf are you talking about-o-meter?":D
Hehehe first good chuckle today. Thanks Slash and good write-up Filth.
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Should move it to the help forums
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Originally posted by FiLtH
Ya I havent practiced the jumping from plane to plane thing. I confuse easily..next thing ya know id be in the text buffer typing ctrl 1 crtl 1 like a madman. But thanks for telling me that..I will try it. As a matter of fact I think I will add that to the writeup :)
Thats one of the things I watch for when I'm diving in on a target. I watch to see if the icon moves from one plane to another, or the planes start switching places while I'm getting in position. If it looks like he knows what he's doing, I'll take the side planes first in the formation, to try to limit my exposure as much as possible to the other planes' guns. If he stays still, or if he's starting his bomb run, I'll take the lead plane and maybe get all 3 without even trying. If he doesnt jump to another pilot position, all 3 will go down and I save my ammo. Even if he does jump though, it takes time, and the bomber formation gets all out of whack. Gives me time to climb out and set myself up for the next pass. While the pilot is jumping from one cockpit to the other he cant shoot at me. :)
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Another bad thing for bombers, tip for yall newer ones. If theres a set of bombers below radar (500ft) Take out the main bomber's wing or tail so that it takes a nose dive. Id say about 75% of the time the drones will follow it into the drink and save you some ammo.
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Thank you all for the tips on buff hunting. (Since im back in canoned planes, i enjoy meeting them again ;)). I found that coming in with altitude/speed and diving in from a 3 or 9 position does a pretty good job on staying out of the line of fire. Ive also had good success with zooming in from a high six (real fast), diving below the bomber and shoot him in the belly. The gunner has to change position from top to belly/tail and back again, wich makes him loose target for a second or two.
Against Plumbit... run fast before he gets you in his crazy 26!
Great write up Filth. >S< :aok
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Nice writeup.
For an example, see what knights did to 11 yesterday. It was totally lvled within minutes.
Bombers are verry effective when 3 or 4 formations attack one airfield at a time. I see often one set of bombers come in, 3 minutes later next set etc. Bombers are good, but its much more effective to have 3 or 4 sets come at once.
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The only thing wrong with the write up is that he explains how to attack an airfield. That is best left to heavy fighters. Buffs are more effective against strategic targets, like Skuzzy's server or Pyro's scotch cache.
The trick to shooting down those buffs is in the original post too. :D
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my 2cents worth.
After I've calibrated, i bring up the e6b so I can make sure that my actual true airspeed is close to the calibrated speed.
I've found that within +/- 2mph doesn't make that much difference. After you drop the airspeed makes a slow but noticable increase. If its more than 5mph.. I recalibrate.
During the turn the airspeed decreases. If I find im close but speed is low I close the bomb doors to help the speed increase back towards the calibrated speed. Open the bomb doors drop again.
Repeat.
Regards
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When attacking town or strat you only need 250lb bombs.
As such I think the best weapon is the B17
[list=1]
- BUFF-----Best Town Bomb Load-----Max Formation Rear Guns
- Lanc--------18x500 No 250's-------------6x.50 6x.303
- B17---------16x250-----------------------18x.50
- B24---------12x250-----------------------18x.50
[/list=1]
B17 is faster than both also
Pounds vs. Kilograms
Also remember that bombs are in lbs and kg a kg is 2.2 lbs so
100kg bomb is 220lbs
500kg bomb is 1100lbs
This means that a JU88 can carry more ord than a b17
JU88 20x50kg 4x500kg = 2200lbs + 4400lbs = 6600lbs
Mind you its guns are crap and its slow as
Later all
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A tip that has helped me ENORMOUSLY when flying buffs:
I never fly buffs from the pure F3 position (I mostly fly B17s or B24s btw, so this is for these bombers).
I ALWAYS fly them from the chin gun position:
From the cockpit, after putting the formation on auto-climb, or level flight, I hit the "5" key (B17s) THEN F3. This enables the pilot to steer the formation with much gentler turns, using only the rudder. The buffs will stay on auto-pilot during and after the turns. Moving the joystick will not turn the plane but will give you a 360 degree view around the formation.
This REALLY helps pilots to stay togther if you are flying with other people online in a formation....it also keeps your own three plane formation together much better when making manouvers.
Also, you can jump quickly to other gun positions without having to jump back to the pilot position first.
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J and L keys help when you need to line up on that target that is just outside you bomb site. J takes aircraft left, and L takes it right without losing drones or much speed.
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Originally posted by FiLtH
How to Bomb in Aces High
2. Select a bomber that best fits the job. If its heavily defended take a B17 or B24 for their guns, although less bomb load. If your side has a lot of support at the base, try a Lancaster with alot of bombs. They drop more ord on target, but have weaker guns and an unprotected belly. Try to get with other bombers at the same time and leave in formation together. The mutaul protection of eachothers guns will greatly improve survival. Also when attacking a town its best to level it all at once rather than piecemeal. Its easier to guage when the town will regenerate this way, without 2-3 bldgs regenerating every few minutes.
FiLtH
Very nice Filth. I think you can take point 2 and make a new thread out of it called "Why 99.99% of the failed base captures failed".
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Originally posted by BlueJ1
Another bad thing for bombers, tip for yall newer ones. If theres a set of bombers below radar (500ft) Take out the main bomber's wing or tail so that it takes a nose dive. Id say about 75% of the time the drones will follow it into the drink and save you some ammo.
be sure to ping those drones so they are not just proxy kills though :D
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Great write up Filth. I have been trying to bomb offline for like 2 weeks now with not to much luck. Thats because I was doing it the old AHI way. Didnt know they changed it.
Do you not have to click on the map anymore??? I did just to be safe and hit right on.
Another question is whats a good salvo and delay settings for like a town and then like a hanger. At first i had B24 with 250lbs and a salvo of 6 at a delay of .5 , but didnt get to many buildings in town then went to salvo 6 delay .75 and that seemed to pretty much put a good line all the way across the town. Any better suggestions???? Havent tried any Hanger busting yet so any suggestions there would help.:aok
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I always set salvo to one...and drop 'em exactly where I want them.
You don't need to click on the map in your calibtarion anymore...just go into calibration mode ("U" button) then put the cross-hairs on the target by manually moving them, then hold down the "Y" key and keep the hairs right on the target for a minimum of 5 (but more is better) seconds. Then hit "U" again.
....oh...and don't forget to open the doors "O" key.
:)
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Azul, heres my rules when I bomb. When Im dropping on any kind of hangers I use a delay of .05. This is more like precision bombing, works best with larger ordnance. When hitting a start factory or a town I generally use a delay of .10, used with smaller ordnance its a killer.
I believe its the B17 that can carry 20 smaller bombs. Head to a radar factory, worth the most perks, salvo all and make a delay of .10. Then make a diagnol pass on the factory, one corner to another and you will devestate it.
Also, when going for a cargpet bomb effect, if you somehow lost your drones, I usually salvo about 1/2 my load and have a sorter delay. This alows for a second pass.
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to all that have the PATIENCE to use bombers in this game. They may or may not be the most fun, but they DO work effectively.
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Originally posted by Schatzi
Thank you all for the tips on buff hunting. (Since im back in canoned planes, i enjoy meeting them again ;)). I found that coming in with altitude/speed and diving in from a 3 or 9 position does a pretty good job on staying out of the line of fire. Ive also had good success with zooming in from a high six (real fast), diving below the bomber and shoot him in the belly. The gunner has to change position from top to belly/tail and back again, wich makes him loose target for a second or two.
Against Plumbit... run fast before he gets you in his crazy 26!
Great write up Filth. >S< :aok
Schatzi, if you use speed as your weapon, you dont need cannons. The planes I hate attacking the most are B-17s and B-26s. They are tough, and have a decent field of fire, esp. in formations. Just about anywhere you come from they will have at least one gun that can track on you. Ju88s are rough to attack too, esp. if the pilot knows his business. So I use the same routine for just about all of them. Take your time, get in position at around 2k out until you are above the bombers. I usually line up on either the left or right bomber first, whichever one I am closest to, just off its outboard wing and above (just as you said, on the 3 or 9 o'clock position). Get speed up to at least 200 and roll down on him, pushing negative Gs as much as possible until I just see the bomber's nose. As range drops inside 1k I rudder sideways and roll the plane so the nose centers on the inboard engine and start firing at d600, holding it down until I either pass the plane or see flames. Pull the nose up to keep from losing too much alt, and just climb gently out and back up. Once you are at least 2k out, pull into a steep climb and get your alt back, then while you are getting back in position you wait for the first one to blow. And it will. Fire = death for that bomber. Sometimes I get lucky and take off a wing. Sometimes I get really lucky and the pilot was in the plane I shot down. By now he's cursing and frustrated because I'm still alive in spite of his lazer 50s. Repeat on the second outside buff, mirror image of the first attack. Stay on the rudders until you are past him and need all the speed you can get to get out of gun range. Get back to your perch. I like to wait for the last one until he's lining up on his target, and he's sure I'm hurt or at least not attacking. If you time it right, you'll never see a more frustrated buff pilot. :) Thats just the warmup though, once he and his buddies come back for revenge the fun really starts. :aok
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Azul ill add something to this post later today.
StarofAfrica2...lots of times if an enemy is near during my drop...ill play "bombsight boy"...all the while lurking in my guns as I near the target. Then they come and "SURPRISE!" I not bombing this pass! :)
The cat and mouse stuff can be alot of fun.
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yeah its fun to sit there and wait till they reach d600 then let rip at the cockpit :)
Love it
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Never said I made it out of every encounter unharmed. :) Its the good buff pilots that make it interesting. If it was all newbs that didnt even know I was there, what fun would that be? I had a duel like that last week against TrueKill in some Ju88s. He's a helluva good shot with those buff guns, and I was hurt pretty bad. I managed to get all 3 of them, but he took off my wing as I got his last one, so even though I got credit for all 3 kills I still consider it a draw.
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Heres some ways I bomb fields and towns.
Remember its best to use ord on town first as those buildings stay down longest.
I use B24s with 8 1000lb bombs usually, although smaller bombs will get the job done. The green lines are direction of attack. It doesnt show exiting the area and turning around, but you should get the idea. The small target is the aimpoint for your drop. Each "target" represents the release of 1 bomb.
Aim for points on the target that will spread out the most damage, making the most of your blast radius.
(http://FilthysForum.homestead.com/files/AHTOWNAIMPOINTS.jpg)
Most of the town will be down after your first pass. You will have 2 bombs left to destroy remaining buildings if needed. If others are left when you are empty, call them out and have friendly fighters finish them for you. Or go in low and use your MGs to finish them off.
If the base is giving your team a hard time, and the C47 is in the area to capture, go after the Fighter Hangers. The following pics show small, medium and large airfields.
(http://FilthysForum.homestead.com/files/AHSMALLAAIMPOINTS.jpg)
(http://FilthysForum.homestead.com/files/AHMEDIUMAFAIMPOINTS.jpg)
(http://FilthysForum.homestead.com/files/AHLAFAIMPOINTS.jpg)
For Vehicle bases its best to try to capture it intact without wrecking the VHs. All you need to do is kill the 3 AA guns ( 1 manned, the other 2 are AI.)
But if you need to kill the VH aim at the point shown. For V bases I normally take 2000lb bombs and drop just 1 at the area shown. If you are using 1000lb bombs, drop 2 at this point. Ive found its more reliable.
(http://FilthysForum.homestead.com/files/AHVBAIMPOINTS.jpg)
For ports, again all thats needed is the AA to be killed, but as you can see theres alot of it. If you need to kill the VH because its spawning alot of enemy GVs, drop 2 bombs on the aimpoint. Use the rest for what AA guns you can get.
(http://FilthysForum.homestead.com/files/AHport.jpg)
As you can see many of the aimpoints are not directly on top of the target. This is because your drone wingman also drop 1 bomb when you do. Theirs will hit to the left and right of yours, and slightly behind. It should concentrate all the explosive force in one small area, directly on the target.
Try it out and see if it helps you.
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Thanks Filth
...I am not really into buffs but that because I have never been able to hit anything with them. I am sort of getting sick of fighter all the time so I have been wanting to do a couple buff runs just for something diffrent.
I saved the pics and gonna try and get my printer to work:rolleyes:
Thanks again