Aces High Bulletin Board
Help and Support Forums => Help and Training => Topic started by: DamnedRen on August 11, 2007, 02:06:43 AM
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There once was a guy named Boelcke who was one of WWI's top German Aces. He came up with a list of rules which would help his squadmates learn to dogfight and stay aive while doing it. Here's a list and a somewhat simple explanation designed to try and get new dogfighter's think about life in the world of aerial comvat. And, perhaps live a little be longer in the Arenas of AH2.
1)Try to secure advantages before attacking. If possible keep the sun behind you.
Planes were slow back then but pretty much turned equally. As such subtle speed/energy differences can allow one pilot get an advantage over another. Altitude overhead can provide an energy advantage because you easily convert it by dropping the nose and getting an assist from gravity. You can also horde speed and energy in a fight. Forcing one guy to break hard causes his energy state to lower. You can use it to advantage in many ways. Reference the sun behind you...AH2 may be a little more difficult a place to use the sun but you can use it to your advantage.
2) Always carry through an attack when you have started it.
If you plane to get in on someone you must get aggressive and attack. If you give the guy pass by bearing off due to timidity then you may be giving the guy the necessary angles to get a shot off on you. Go after him. Shoot him. Of you give hima break you have only yourself to blame when you're the one who ends up in the Tower. Ref angles...cool word but just means giving yourself the turning room required to get into a shooting position.
3) Fire only at close range and only when your opponent is properly in your sights.
This can be a tough one for a new guy. You must be able to fly into reasonable range to shoot the guy. If you cannot maneuver your plane to within 200-300 yards then you should go into the TA and work with the trainers until you can. Ok, close range and properly in your sights. 100-200 is close...inside of 100 and you risk collision damage with shot up parts unless you are on a crossing path. At 100 -200 yards there isn't too much lead required. Wait for the shot and take it when you KNOW you have it.
4) Always keep your eye on your opponent, and never let yourself be deceived by ruses.
Biggie here. If you can't see him AT ALL TIMES how can you expect to see him make a mistake? Or, see you are loosing a turn fight its time to exit. You better know where he is, which way he turned, what's he'd doing in the turn. Two way street here. You dive on a guy and it looks so durn good and you're just about ready to get a bead for a shot. That's when the hairs on the back of your neck should begin to tingle.
The reason is you are about to get shot by his buddy. Hmmm, nice drag...Speaking of drags...A drag is not a drag if you die doing it. Transmit your intentions to assist the guy you are draggin for.
5) In any form of attack it is essential to assail your opponent from behind.
There is no chance that spitfire can shoot you with his tail pointed at you. HO's are fun but stupid. If there is a 50/50 chance if you dying from a HO but a 98% chance of you winning the dogfight why would take the risk?
6) If your opponent dives on you, do not try to evade his onslaught, but fly to meet it.
Don't give him an HO shot but you turn and become agressive back into him.
7) When over the enemy's lines never forget your own line of retreat.
Simple one here yet forgotten over and over again. For example. You fly to a contested field. The field is a mess. Your plan is to egg the radar tower then fight. Enemy planes can be seen in the far distance. So you arrive at the field and dive right in. Your drop is good and the radar goes down. You look up and there are enemy planes above and around you. What'd you just do wrong? You didn't plan your dive with an attack that takes you away from the inbound enemy and toward your home territory. You should be exiting back toward home and under the umbrella of your own incoming fighters not deeper into enemy incoming.
8) For the Staffel: Attack on principle in groups of four or six. When the fight breaks up into a series of single combats, take care that several do not go for one opponent.
Staffel is squad or flight. Biggie here and one thing people seem to forget. There are more than enough bogies to go around. If you're up with three other squadies and you see a bad guy below. Two go in and two stay up as cap. if all go down, they are all trying to get the kill and stepping on each others toes.
While they're down there the odds increase dramatically that more bad guys are gonna show up and get in. This is important to a single flyer also. It's real tempting to dive in on some lone dude with 5 guys on him. You will get the kill right? Maybe instead you blow all your alt and energy and it becomes your turn to get jumped by higher enemys along with your countrymen.
Hope this helps.
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Great info!
:aok :aok
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EDIT: Sorry for the hijacking that is about to take place, Ren. I know you mean well but I've got a strong opinion on the matter.
To be honest, I don't think those are good rules to live by in AH. WW2 was so much simpler. Hell chances were your enemy didn't know how to do much other than fly straight. It was such an astounding show of skill to do an immelman.
WW2 and AH2 progressed SO far past WW1 it's like rules for fighting with stones when you're trying to master the laser gun.
I think that those rules will only serve to deter pilots, as they are mostly timid and (let's use a word from the AH community) cowardly.
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Good tips...although #5 make me a bit queasy.
shamus
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Originally posted by Krusty
EDIT: Sorry for the hijacking that is about to take place, Ren. I know you mean well but I've got a strong opinion on the matter.
To be honest, I don't think those are good rules to live by in AH. WW2 was so much simpler. Hell chances were your enemy didn't know how to do much other than fly straight. It was such an astounding show of skill to do an immelman.
WW2 and AH2 progressed SO far past WW1 it's like rules for fighting with stones when you're trying to master the laser gun.
I think that those rules will only serve to deter pilots, as they are mostly timid and (let's use a word from the AH community) cowardly.
Good thought but I think there is a definate difference between flying smart and flying cowardly. Ah2 is the perfect example of the pilot being required to think about his environment which is what I'm using the Dicta for. Think about this for a minute...
How many new guys get up and see another plane then say to themselves, "Well, here I go again. Let's see how long I can last in this fight". Twenty seconds later they're back in the Tower. It sure is fun for the vet's to get a quick kill but doesn't give the new guy any guidence. How many new guys have you seen shooting at D1000-1500? Why can't they get within D600, let alone D100-200?
Ref the Immel in WW1...I believe it was so successful because the guy performing it had a plan. He forced a hard turn which bleed off the enemy's E then went up and parked. He probably wasn't even aware it was the difference in E but only that it worked. The guy he used it again either learned not to do it or pushed up daiseys.
Most of the EUR WW2 guys in Germany actually followed alot of the Dicta. From the history books those 109's boys always tried to position themselves to adequately cover buffs unless "Ordered" not to. The Allies learned the same lessons the hard way. The English flew Vic 3's which offered limited winging protection. Limited protection = the guy who was protected was lead. The Pac guys learned the Thatch Weave. That meant winging. Heck, the Flying Tigers ALWAYS flew to "meet" the enemy. They also found they could dive through from above, take a shot and keep on going. Hmmm, position of advantage? How many accounts have been written about the pilot that put his plane into position using the sun then diving down for a fast pass, shot and bug?
I don't think this opening discussion ever mentioned anything about being cowardly. Just flying smart. Yes, someone can dive into every single fight and die alot. They can also think about the immediate setup and make an intellegent decision to develop a workable plan to increase they're chance of a succesful engagement.
I mentioned buggin out. This raises one question. If you know the fight is heading south on you why stay and die? You know the outcome. Do you just have to be Mr nice guy and give away a kill you didn't have to? Are you flying just to give all those enemy pilots a better score? Why not extend out 1-2k and reseting the fight. No one said you gotta run away. Just reset a fight to at least an advantage or a neutral start.
I like your comments as it also shows the community we are all here to have fun and being cowardly is merely a lack of training and tired of getting killed. There is a way to fix that. Spend some quality time with Trainers. They can show you tactics and how to emply them. Then each engagement will be more fun. After a while you will be looking forward to testing your new found skills. There is a huge difference between flying cowardly and flying smart. One never lets you really feel the thrill of virtual combat and the other gives you the satisfaction of knowing the guy you just fought is back in the tower trying to figure out what to do next. :) 'Sides, I'm fairly sure most folks don't pay their $15 a month just to get up and be a target for every Tom, Dick and Harry in the air. They would like to killl a few guys too~!
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Thanks for putting this post together. These dicta still apply. All the time, I tell myself, "Fly this sortie like I've done it before." Then I'm in the tower again. Sigh. This stuff keeps you alive.
HONK!
Gooss
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Nearly a Century later...the Dicta remains a guide to follow.
Krusty is just one of those kind of pilots who doesn't differentiate between
the words "extend" vs "run" and "smart flying" vs "dying to Krusty's guns".
Boelcke did make the differentiation and that's why his Dicta stands today vs Krusty's allude to cowardice.
Follow Boelcke's Dicta...Krusty is skilled...but will still fall if you follow Boelcke.
Good stuff, Ren! Keep it coming, Sir!
Just some thoughts.
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great post Ren but I am going to have to disagree with you krusty this applies to AH2 the same as it applies to WW1.
ALL pilots in all wars Lived by these rules if they wanted to live past their first combat encounter.
If pilots flew in RL like they do for the most part in in AH they wouldnt last longer than 15 min in the air.
Most everyone that play this game that I have encounterd watches the show Dog Fights and when you think about it when you hear these pilots talking they are still using the same basic princeables as they pilots in WW1.
All the pilots I have seen on the show basically all did the same thing they only engaged with the enemy when they had the advantage or they got jumped and with skill and lots of luck they managed to get them off there 6 sometimes they reversed it and killed the enemy or they just flat out ran for there life praying there plane would hold together.
I think Rens post is great for the new guy it give them a starting point sure they have to learn alot of stuff but you have to start with the basics
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I have to disagree here.
Not trying to flame, but I am a little surprised, as you of all people know that during scenarios one of the hardest things to get across to everyone is that they need to make a serious effort to not get shot down or KIA. This is not always an easy thing to do when you are trying to accomplish something.
For me, Boelcke's Dicta is what helps me spend more time in the air and less in the tower.
I'm not in a squad so all my flights in the MA's are pretty much solo.
There are alot of people flying with wingmen there, so I am usually at a disadvantage. When I fly I generally have a goal in mind and I have to exercise some discretion in order to have any success in accomplishing it. Following Boelcke's rules definitely helps.
Just as some people take kindness for weakness, some take discretion as timidness, or intelligent as cowardly. They are not the same.....but I think it's funny that there are people that would label anything concerning cartoon combat as being cowardly anyway.
As adrenaline pumping as some of the sorties in AH get, I have yet to experience the same "I'd rather not have to do this" feeling that I sometimes get as a cop.
Originally posted by Krusty
EDIT: Sorry for the hijacking that is about to take place, Ren. I know you mean well but I've got a strong opinion on the matter.
To be honest, I don't think those are good rules to live by in AH. WW2 was so much simpler. Hell chances were your enemy didn't know how to do much other than fly straight. It was such an astounding show of skill to do an immelman.
WW2 and AH2 progressed SO far past WW1 it's like rules for fighting with stones when you're trying to master the laser gun.
I think that those rules will only serve to deter pilots, as they are mostly timid and (let's use a word from the AH community) cowardly.
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Originally posted by StuB:
As adrenaline pumping as some of the sorties in AH get, I have yet to experience the same "I'd rather not have to do this" feeling that I sometimes get as a cop.
:D :rofl :lol
OWNED!:aok
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OK then Krusty.
How about the advice of the #1 Ace of all time?
He narrowed his rules down to just four easy to remember steps.
http://www.savagesquadron.com/dicta.htm
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Sound tactics are universal. Whether applied in 1917 or 2007, it makes no difference. What Boelke laid out was and remains the framework for all air combat tactics to this day. If you read Shaw's, "Fighter Combat; Tactics and Manuevering", you'll see the exact same principles put forth, expounded upon and applied to modern air combat. Also, throughout that book are anecdotal accounts from all era's that re-iterate the exact same principles in vivid and practical detail.
The simple truth is, in cartoon combat as in real combat, dead pilots get no kills. Any tactics employed that keep your weapon involved in the overall protracted engagement is a good thing. Sometimes that means dis-engaging from a bad situation then re-engaging with an advantage, sometimes that means beating feet when things really get bad, sometimes that means securing a significant altitude advantage to offset numerical inferiority. But, the mindset is to consistantly exercise good tactics and allow yourself the chance to perform in combat to the maximum potential of both yourself and your chosen aircraft.
To ignore sound tactics and piss against the wind so to speak is pure folly. Sure, doing that could provide some sort of learning experience on occassion. But, for the most part the net result is simply you die and fail to realize the maximum potential value of yourself and your plane to the engagement.
There is the one immutable problem when equating Boelke's laws to our game. That is obviously that highly trained and experienced pilots in war are a precious and rare commodity. Of course, in the game, trained and experienced pilots are an infinite resource. So, the emphasis on the preservation of that resource is a non-factor in AH. But, this does not mean that there is no value in exercising sound tactics to keep yourself "alive" and an active participant in the engagement. If for no other reason than the time involved in getting yourself back to combat readiness after being re-planed causes you to temporarily be a non-factor in the fight.
In AH, during a protracted engagement between two fields, the value of good tactics exercised collectively becomes quite evident. If two teams meet between two fields with relatively equal numbers the side that inflicts the most causalties to the enemy while suffering the fewest of its own will tend to "push back" the fight toward the enemy field. If both sides kill and die at the same rate the "front" remains static. Sure, because we don't really die the total number of pilots involved never changes, but the relative E states of those planes will inevitably tip more and more in the favor of those that die less and against those that die more as they are forced to re-plane and re-aquire E. Not only that but the 'less effective' side will have less room to accumulate E prior to being engaged as they are pushed back closer and closer to their field. Therefore, good tactics ends up causing your team to be in a position to capture more bases in the end.
So, as you can see Boelke's tactics are just as relavent in cartoon air combat as the real thing, just for slightly different reasons due to cartoon pilot immortality...
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Great Post Ren , Thanks!
and nice follow-up Zazen, thanks as well!
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As Zazen mentioned we have unlimited resources in the form of books, trained pilots and trainers at our fingertips in AH2. We also have the one thing that all those WWI and WWII and even Korean War Pilots never had. We have a flight sim which provides us with the ability to try out any and all tactics and we can do it over and over until we get it right or decide, "hmmmm, maybe the tactic won't work in that situation".
How many of those original WW pilots actually got the chance to try any and every tactic over and over without bein forced to push up daisy's? We just end up in the Tower...
If you really think about it $100 says every single one of those guys would have loved to have something like we have. They get to try it out see, what works then take it into the air. Imagine how many kills Hartmann would have had if he'd had a sim to try out his stuff on!
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Whenever I see this I think of another version put out by our old frield Bullethead more than a few years ago now.
"Dicte Bullethead"
Know everything, report everything, use everything.
The purpose of ACM is to gain an advantage, therefore always start with an advantage.
Altitude is potential speed. speed is potential angles, angles are kills.
Time is your greatest enemy--keep the pressure on and kill quickly.
Overcome your own greed but instill and exploit the greed of others.
Play your game not your enemy's.
Drano
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A lotta folks are jumping on me about my post here.
Let me tell you why I disagree.
1)Try to secure advantages before attacking. If possible keep the sun behind you.
First of all the sun doesn't really play into 90% of AH sorties. It's also predicated on knowing 100% of the time exactly where your enemy is (so as to place yourself between them and the sun). You don't need advantages to attack. Pressing the attack is the advantage itself. You can be on even footing or even at a disadvantage.
I can't believe somebody brought up "Dogfights" in a serious topic, but since it's here, let me put it this way: What do you think being jumped/bounced is? That's a disadvantage, and the pilots in question STILL fought (that is, they didn't dive to the deck and RUN as many pilots in WW2 did the second they were bounced). Also that show has many cases where the folks in profile are at a disadvantage and still persevere.
2) Always carry through an attack when you have started it.
Knowing when to say "No, I'm outta here" is an important skill. Especially in any non-1-v-1 situation. Heck it's even the case in some 1v1 situations. Fuel, damage, ammo count, position, situation, E, speed, these all come into play, and just saying" always carry through the attack" isn't good enough. I like that it's related to the killer instinct and being aggressive, but as a universal rule it doesn't help to follow your target and get 1 kill while 5 guys saddle up on you, when you could have broken off the target and headed for home before they got within firing range.
3) Fire only at close range and only when your opponent is properly in your sights.
Now THIS I agree with. It took me a long time to learn, I must admit.
4) Always keep your eye on your opponent, and never let yourself be deceived by ruses.
Also agree with this!
5) In any form of attack it is essential to assail your opponent from behind.
Disagree wholeheartedly. In any form of attack? Well if your opponent is low and you're high and you dive and he climbs, you get a front/top 45 degree angle shot and pop him (I had this happen to me Sunday) that's a damn good firing angle IMO. Not even a HO, more like a "through the canopy" shot. Side shots as the plane passes through your plane-of-orientation are also wonderful shots. Bombers I would never suggest attacking from the rear (due to the way they work in this game). So I cannot agree with this at all. In this game the perfectly-dead-6 is a pretty hard shot to kill with. If he turns even a little he's 50% easier to hit.
6) If your opponent dives on you, do not try to evade his onslaught, but fly to meet it.
This could be taken many ways. I take it to mean point your nose at the enemy. By trying to, you turn, climb, bank, whatever, and spoil the diver's attack profile. In that respect, sometimes it is better to simply dodge the enemy, then move to attack after they have failed. I don't know if that's simply a different way of thinking about the same thing, of it he meant something more simplistic.
7) When over the enemy's lines never forget your own line of retreat.
That one I agree with! Always know which way is "safe"! Which way heads back to base.
So you can see how I disagree with some of these. If strictly adhered to (to the letter) they lead to nothing but timid, scardy-cat pilots that dive from 12k above you, if they miss they hit the deck and run outside icon range then climb back up to 20k.
Oh... wait... We've got an MA full of those already. :noid
Never mind.
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9) make sure you have a decent internet connection. that 1,000's of a second of delay could mean the diffrence of landing kills or being one!!!!!!
how many times have you closed to d200 and either you or the guy your fighting is warping that minute amount making it impossible to get a hit then to find yourself d200 infront with no tail!!!!!!!!
10)make sure your pc can handle the gfx settings you have.
every one[/COLOR] has experienced a frame rate drop because of there settings being to high for a game. that split second freeze means the diffrence of a plane being in your sights or his!!!!!!
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Krusty,
I would just look at it as a difference of opinion rather than "alot of people jumping on me" thought.......
I would venture to say #5 was directed mainly at fighter vs fighter
#1 - is seriously a good useful tactic in aces high, especially with the sun so BRIGHT. I use the sun myself and I can pick up on it pretty quick when people like Platano or Bighorn( un sure of his new gameid ) or some others are using the vertical toward the sun.......
#6 - I would split the opinion 1/2 way with this one, only reason being the frontal shots seem so much more lethal to connect with and easier than trying to evade an attack from the high 6 or rear of the 3-9 line.......
if you was fighting a longtime vet player, especially from Air Warrior then yes I would go with the fly to meet his onslaught, if you was flying against your average don't care for ACM and have no wanting to learn it, I would swing the other way and use an overshoot maneuver perhaps.......
but in the end we all perceive these statements in different ways........I myself look at them as how Ren has described them, and do not see how you are interpeting timidity & cowardly in line with his descriptive explanations of the Dicta. I would place those claims on people who do not know the basics of Situational Awareness, basics of BFM and or anything in regards to aerial combat fighting....
or more pronounced as cherry pickers/ score Ho's, and hordeflyers........
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Okay, difference of opinion then.
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Originally posted by Krusty
A lotta folks are jumping on me about my post here.
1)Try to secure advantages before attacking. If possible keep the sun behind you.
First of all the sun doesn't really play into 90% of AH sorties. It's also predicated on knowing 100% of the time exactly where your enemy is (so as to place yourself between them and the sun). You don't need advantages to attack. Pressing the attack is the advantage itself. You can be on even footing or even at a disadvantage.
I can't believe somebody brought up "Dogfights" in a serious topic, but since it's here, let me put it this way: What do you think being jumped/bounced is? That's a disadvantage, and the pilots in question STILL fought (that is, they didn't dive to the deck and RUN as many pilots in WW2 did the second they were bounced). Also that show has many cases where the folks in profile are at a disadvantage and still persevere.
I couldn't agree with you more!!! Let me clarify a few things. Lesse, the sun can play a role but I originally mentioned not so much. "Dogfights" is a somewhat serious topic since that's what most folks do in AH2 and many new folks would like to learn how to do it.
Ok, you specifically say "what do you think being jumped/bounced is?" I absoluely agree with you!!! The guy that did the jumping/bouncing did what??? He did number 1! He secured an advantage. You are absolutely correct and I agree with you 100%! No argument here.
2) Always carry through an attack when you have started it.
Knowing when to say "No, I'm outta here" is an important skill. Especially in any non-1-v-1 situation. Heck it's even the case in some 1v1 situations. Fuel, damage, ammo count, position, situation, E, speed, these all come into play, and just saying" always carry through the attack" isn't good enough. I like that it's related to the killer instinct and being aggressive, but as a universal rule it doesn't help to follow your target and get 1 kill while 5 guys saddle up on you, when you could have broken off the target and headed for home before they got within firing range.
Again I agree with you and already mentioned buggin is an important skill. It doesn't even have to be from having another 4 guys roll in but if you can see how your fight is progressing you may find out it's not one you're gonna win you need to decide when and how to bug before it's too late and you end up back in the tower. There are many ways to bug from the middle of a fight. They can easily be learned in the TA.
5) In any form of attack it is essential to assail your opponent from behind.
Disagree wholeheartedly. In any form of attack? Well if your opponent is low and you're high and you dive and he climbs, you get a front/top 45 degree angle shot and pop him (I had this happen to me Sunday) that's a damn good firing angle IMO. Not even a HO, more like a "through the canopy" shot. Side shots as the plane passes through your plane-of-orientation are also wonderful shots. Bombers I would never suggest attacking from the rear (due to the way they work in this game). So I cannot agree with this at all. In this game the perfectly-dead-6 is a pretty hard shot to kill with. If he turns even a little he's 50% easier to hit.
Again, you are correct in that I didn't specify fighters. Bombers are a different proposition and can be addressed separately. Suffice it to say, "attacking buffs from astern" puts you into the bombers guns for an extended period of time. The longer you are in gun range the more he can perfect his aim. I apologize for not saying Boelcke was a figher pilot with few bombers buzzing about the sky's of WWI and that we should think of his Dicta as for fighter combat. Anyone who missd this I apologize. What I did say was it's much easier to have your guns pointed at the bad guy without his guns being pointed at you.
So you can see how I disagree with some of these. If strictly adhered to (to the letter) they lead to nothing but timid, scardy-cat pilots that dive from 12k above you, if they miss they hit the deck and run outside icon range then climb back up to 20k.
I agree on your last point! The good news is that most folks tend to understand that nothing can be strictly adhered to or as you put it "to the letter" as any intellent person knows that everything you set up at the beginning of a fight might just as easily be tossed out the window after the fight is engaged. By the same token, many fights can end up with the outcome you planned all along. :)
You get no argument from me!
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You have to place Boelcke's rules in context. He was laying out some simple and basic fundamentals for new pilots, most of whom didn't survive their first few flights so had little opportunity to learn it on their own.
As is always the case, fundamentals are just that, fundamental and in no way prohibit experience from expanding on them. When you consider these "rules" as guidelines and understand what they mean you are in a far better position to judge when they can be broken to your advantage. As someone else mentioned the dicta are still taught, as I recall they were covered in basic flight and repeated again in advanced and the RAG. TOPGUN even teaches them on the very first day just in case anyone forgot, so they remain a valid starting point. That's not to say that the dicta are the end-all of basic "rules." Boelcke doesn't address overshoots, belly checks, fence checks, energy management, comparative performance, etc., etc. Nowdays we'd never send a new pilot into battle without Boelcke and a lot more.
It's interesting that the sun has been mentioned several times. This is one of the areas that is not that accurate in AH. It is a bit too bright and in RL you can use your hand to cover it so you can see better (not to mention using your visor) but what's really missing is the "bullseye". In RL, sunlight refracts in the atmosphere. I'm sure that everyone here knows that but what they don't know is that refraction creates a unique "tool" in RL that we don't have in AH. It's a "ring" of light directly opposite the sun. This appears as a bright circle around your aircraft's shadow and occurs anytime there is even a slight haze in the air (basically about 99% percent of the time). If you maneuver to place this "bullseye" over your adversary you're in the sun and he can't see you. This makes it relatively easy to put yourself in the sun for your initial attack or while maneuvering in the vertical and it's used more often than you might think. Put the bullseye on him and you can extend in the vertical, pull down early, change direction, etc., and he has no idea what you're doing until you come out of the sun early, late, or in a different position or direction than what he expected. It's a nice tool and tactically significant...at least in RL. While I'd like to see it in AH it is definently way down on the priority list and something very few of us know about (and miss) but understanding this phenomenon makes that part of the dicta easier to understand because it's easier to apply than you might think.
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Krusty, I hope you don't think I was jumping on you about your opinion.
My comment at the end of my post was about the MA commandos who squawk about cowardice and bravery in the virtual skies, not you.
Anyway, you make very valid points concerning how parts of the Dicta might not apply to a given situation. That's just how life is though. It's not like fights follows some sort of flow chart. There will be times when things don't follow the usual pattern.
I still say that trying to follow the Dicta is a good thing, especially if you don't have a wingman.
I also agree that the sun isn't modeled in the best way in AH, but it's better than nothing and can still be used for a little bit of an edge. When I have the opportunity I often try to come in from the sun during a bounce, or if I am defensive I try to climb up into it. It's subjective, but I think it really helps me out when i can use it.
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Originally posted by Krusty
2) Always carry through an attack when you have started it.
Knowing when to say "No, I'm outta here" is an important skill. Especially in any non-1-v-1 situation. Heck it's even the case in some 1v1 situations. Fuel, damage, ammo count, position, situation, E, speed, these all come into play, and just saying" always carry through the attack" isn't good enough. I like that it's related to the killer instinct and being aggressive, but as a universal rule it doesn't help to follow your target and get 1 kill while 5 guys saddle up on you, when you could have broken off the target and headed for home before they got within firing range.
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I think you've taken the word 'Attack' to mean 'Engagement'. I read it as:
If you're going to dive on a guy and try to shoot him, then follow through with that attack - dont change your mind half way through. Once you have completed the pass / manouvre then you can make a decision about your next move.
Maybe i'm wrong, it's happened before.
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brucerer, yer right! IMHO, Boelcke's Dicta is designed to be the stepping stone that gets the new guy thinking about dogfights. You took a piece of it and called it an engagement. A rose by any other name.
Read, interpret, try it. See what works, what doesn't. If it doesn't get with a trainer in the TA and find out why.
Hope this helps.
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I'm sure today, just like in Boelcke's day there are plenty of pilots that think some or all of these are over-rated.
Of course in Boelcke's day most of them died :) (Guess that made him right)
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All i got to say is the Dicta can be used in AH with success, although may require some slight rethinking, the information is great, some good tools are knowing what your plane can and cannont do and tactics that exploit your strenghtes and the opponents weaknesses.
That is all the input I have, i hope it sways some opinions.
:D
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I'll just say... For me, it's all easier said (or read) than done. ACM really is an art.