A little tip for the beginner in base defense...
1. Do not lose air superiority
I see this all the time. A raging battle happens between two fields, about 30 miles apart. The enemy has about 1.5~2 times as many pilots than we have. Naturally, the fight is tough. Often the clash of fighters is pushed back over the skies of our own field. The attrition rate is high.
What does the typical newbie do? He takes out a M-16 or an Ostwind and starts blasting at things flying by.
Here's a tip:
Don't give up aerial defense unless there is no way you can survive the fight, or the base has already fallen under a vulch phase. Take a plane, and take off.
Every pilot who gives up his plane and enters a AA vehicle, is a pilot missing from the skies. By giving up his plane, and confining himself to the safeties of the ground(which ultimately, lasts only for a short time), he makes it harder for the other pilots to defend the base. The A2A odds become even tougher for the remaining pilots who up planes.. the vicious circle starts... more pilots run to GVs... aerial defense becomes tougher.. and more run to the ground again...
...and soon, the enemy completely overwhelms the skies over the field.
Do you think you will survive long when you are in a GV?
If the enemy controls the skies over our field, then the jabos and bombers will come pouring in. The field is wide open for punishment. How good are you in the M-16 or Ostwind? Can you shoot down all of those ten enemy planes flying 2.5k away? Can your friends do that? Can your GV shoot down a Lancaster before he drops bombs over your head?
By giving up a plane, you invite the enemy to take the field. You allow him to roam free at all altitudes. You allow him to destroy your field objects at will, and ultimately, the base will lay in ruins, completely CAPed and vulched, guys like you in GVs hunted down one by one by skilled pilots.
The best form of defense, is by relentlessly upping a plane and meeting them in a fight. Never give up your plane. You are the terrors of the skies, not an army grunt. Your GV skills are of no use and no help. The moment you leave the skies you leave an empty hole where more enemies will come through.
As long as fighters keep upping and fighting, the field will survive, no matter how many enemy planes are inbound. With some luck, an excellent pilot will soon join your ranks at the base. With a bit of coordinated effort, cooperative defense, and good communications between each other, a field can survive upto three times as many enemy planes. 3 to 1 odds are survivable. As long as you and your friends are flying around, they can't go down to deck. Some of them must remain to fight you, and the goons or jabos will try to avoid you, which will make them take more time.
More enemies will up to push you down, the darbar grows larger, and there's a good chance some of your furball lovin' country mates will come to your aid.
However, once people start trading planes for GVs, people will not come to help. Why should they risk getting vulched on take-off, when you yourself, is merely but hiding in a GV, which is utterly ineffective?
Don't give up your plane.
When your field is already vulched, when 5~10 enemy planes buzz around 100feet above your field.. when nobody can possibly up a plane... this is the time to up a GV.... not when five of your friends are fighting against ten enemy planes from a distance, and you still have time to up a plane.
2. Threat assessment
We all love kills. Sometimes, kills are so hard to get that giving up a kill in front of you can be difficult. But with correct threat assessment and judgement, you can get plenty of more opportunity to get kills.
Ten enemy planes are inbound. One of them is a suicidal dunce. He drops low and just strafes somthing on the field. Then 3~4 friendlies nearby latch on to him.
Do you join the fray? What about the rest nine enemies inbound? Where can you be of more help? Where can you get more opportunities for a kill? By chasing one enemy plane down low, where you are not needed, you open up a hole in the air that lets nine more enemy planes come above you and your friends... and then, guess what? You are all dead.
Or, is it because you are so skill-less and cowardly that the only kill you can earn is when you have four more friendlies chasing the same guy as you?
Hellllllooo? The fight is over there, not here.
3. For Pete's sake, get out of the damned ack
For Pete's sake, get out of the damned ack. The longer you stay low in your ack, the easier for the enemies to come overhead, which will make it more difficult to maintain local air superiority.
Hey, I know. Seeing many enemy planes above you is scary. But being the typical newbie, aren't you usually in a La-7? Why are you in that 380mph deck-speed plane in the first place, when you aren't ever gonna use it?
Get out of the damned ack. Being low is a bad thing, but that doesn't mean you can't survive. As long as you have some amount of SA, it is not too hard to pick out which enemies will try to shoot you down. Rarely do all of those enemies just pick on you.
It is a risky fight, but if they come down to fight you, they become low. When they become low, friendly pilots soon see an opportunity, and they usually arrive in time to save you. You can actively choose to spread the fight out so the fight draws further away from your own field, and your friendlies have some time to up and prepare themselves.
However, as long as you stay in that ack, the bad guys will come to you. They will knock the acks down, they will suppress all your friends with the alt they have, and they will shoot you down to.
Man, thanks for being no help at all.
4. Don't go after the buffs
Don't go after the buffs if they've already dropped their load.
Are you such a hotshot? Can you shoot down all three buffs without any damage? Or are you just a typical average guy like me, who'll probably get hurt by engaging a buff formation alone?
Buffs that already have dropped their load, is like a giagantic bullet sponge. The more you shoot at it, the less ammo you have to fight the enemy planes. Soon you run out of ammo.. or you are hurt.. then the enemy fighters come in. You are chased and hounded ammo less and damaged, and you will be shot down miserably.
