Boelcke's Dicta

[Krusty]

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.

Never mind.

[hyster]

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!!!!!!

[TequilaChaser]

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........

[Krusty]

Okay, difference of opinion then.

[DamnedRen]

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!

[Mace2004]

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.

[StuB]

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.

[brucerer]

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.

[/B]

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.

[DamnedRen]

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.

[Tachus]

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)

[PanzerIV]

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.

[kvuo75]

I'll just say...  For me, it's all easier said (or read) than done. ACM really is an art.